Dear Parents and Carers,
I cannot believe that it is half-term! How has that happened so quickly?
As reported in the newsletter last week, Gideon Amos visited North Town on Thursday to sit the Year Six Reading SATs paper that all year six children completed two weeks ago. On finishing the exam, he commented that it was like an O Level (GCSE) paper. I fed this back to the year 6 children and reiterated to them how proud we are of them.
We have so much to look forward in the last 7 weeks of the school year. Can I please ask that during the nice weather that the children come to school with sun cream applied, sun hats and water.
Wishing you all a smashing half-term break.
Best wishes,
Mark Braund
Timings of the School Day from September
From September, We will no longer be having staggered start times at North Town. The gates will open at 8:40 for all children and will close at 8:50. All children will be able to walk to class at 8:40 instead of waiting on the playground. The school day will finish for everyone at 3:15pm.
What is Pupil Premium?
The Pupil Premium is an additional grant allocated to all schools by the Government to support the raising of attainment of pupils eligible for free school meals.
The Government has given the school the freedom to spend the grant in the way that it thinks will best support the raising of attainment of pupils’ eligible for free school meals and to choose the areas where it will have the most impact. At North Town School, we aim to ensure that pupils who are eligible for free school meals perform to the best of their ability and make as much progress as their peers.
The school uses Pupil Premium funds to ensure that these pupils are motivated to succeed, are engaged in their learning, develop a positive self-esteem and develop the skills necessary to achieve academic success.
How do I know if my child is eligible for the Pupil Premium?
Eligibility for the Pupil Premium includes those recorded in the recent census who are known to have been:
* eligible for free school meals (FSM) in any of the previous 6 years
* children adopted from care or who have left care.
* eligible for the service child premium in any of the previous 4 years
Your child may eligible for Free School Meals funding if you or your partner receive one or more of the following:
- Income Support
- Employment & Support Allowance (Income Related) – not Contribution related
- Income Based Jobseekers Allowance – not Contribution based
- Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit, provided you do not also receive Working Tax Credit, with an annual taxable income (as assessed by HM Revenue & Customs) that does not exceed £16,190
If you think that your child may be eligible to qualify for pupil premium funding or if your circumstances have recently changed please do not hesitate to contact the school office. This funding, if eligible, will be received each year that they remain at primary school, regardless of how your circumstances may change.
You can apply for Free School Meals by clicking on the link below:
Free school meals (somerset.gov.uk)
Funding
We have successfully secured an additional £10,000 of funding from the Trust for some repair works to Tree Bottoms (empty building behind Class 5KN) and were wondering if any of our parents have access to match funding. We have so many things we would like to accomplish within the school, but continuing budget constraints make this a huge challenge.
If you believe you can help or know anyone who can, please let the school office or Mr. Braund know.
Following on from this, if any parents have links to a business or company who would be prepared to sponsor the school or support some of our projects, please let us know.
Staplegrove Road Gate Buzzer
Please be aware that we are experiencing significant issues with our gate buzzer at the moment and the situation is deteriorating. If you are visiting us outside of the usual drop off and collection times, please keep pressing the button until you receive a response from the office team. The team are not ignoring you, the system is not connecting with our handsets in the office.
The system is due to be replaced but this has been delayed and is now unlikely this side of the summer break. Please bear with us!
Second Hand Uniform Sale
Thank you to everyone who donated any amount at our recent second-hand Uniform event – you raised nearly £40 for school funds. Look out for news of another Uniform event over the next few weeks!
School Resources
To preserve the precious resources and books we do have; we will be starting to send home reading books in a clear plastic bag. It is hoped that this will preserve books for future use, especially when our budget is increasingly diminished. We would like to ask for parent/carer support with this in making sure your children are looking after school property when it is at home and returned to us in the same condition.
Celebration Assemblies
As of Friday 26th May, house points certificates will be awarded in class up until the end of the academic year. This will replace the Friday celebration assembly. We recognise that we want to give the children every opportunity to achieve the current certificate they are aiming for.
From September 2023, as part of our new behaviour policy that we are working on, we will no longer be having a house point system. We do recognise the need to provide opportunities for parents to visit the school and will be inviting parents of every class in to school once a half term to look at the children’s work with your child. We will update you on this towards the end of the academic year.
North Town Wrap Around
The wraparound contact telephone number is 07566 733010 . This will be on during the hours the provision will be open. Please also use this number when coming to collect your child in the evenings when arriving at the Staplegrove Road gate. We will eventually have a gate buzzer but unfortunately this has been delayed.
We also have a contact email address: wraparound@nt.huish.education for any queries you may have. Please do not expect a reply outside of the normal school hours.
Wraparound Booking Window & Payments
A gentle reminder that the booking window closes four days prior to the session taking place, please make sure you book in time. If you do not manage to book a session, please get in touch with the office team who will be happy to help.
Where the office team have made a booking on your behalf, the expectation is for the parent to access the MCAS app and pay the outstanding amount as soon as possible. For parents who may already have outstanding amounts, please be aware that we will be unable to make future bookings for you until you have paid and uploaded a sufficient credit to cover the outstanding amount and subsequent bookings.
If you are using childcare vouchers or the government gateway to pay for your wraparound bookings, please ensure that you continue to keep your account topped up to cover the sessions required and continue to make your voucher payments to cover the sessions you will require. It would also be helpful if you are able to confirm once you have sent a payment, the amount, child/children it relates to and how you would like the amount divided across the various sessions.
Year 6 Business Project – Ice Lolly Sale
Yesterday’s Ice Lolly sale made a further £200 for the Year 6 Business Project. Thank you to all who contributed, helped, and purchased!
North Town Cricket Team
After a very busy half term, our North Town cricketers celebrated another win over King’s Hall school. In what was a fantastic afternoon, our school team played exceptionally well with a display of superb bowling, and wicket keeping from Charlie. We had wickets being taken by: Noah, Theo, Myles, Aayan, Herbie, Alex and Ishaan. The team were well supported in the field with a sensational run out from Seb, and outstanding catches from Theo and Myles. A special mention to our top scorers: Herbie (12) and Noah (11). Well done, North Town!
Dance for Dementia – red & yellow mufti day
Last Friday, the children and staff, dressing in a sea of Red and Yellow, had a great time taking part in a Danceathon with Archie the Scarecrow. As you know the school and nursery work closely with the charity Reminiscence for Learning and our local residential home Abby Field, raising awareness of Dementia. Thank you for your donations, you can still donate to the Just giving link below.
Making Memories for Emily – Tuesday 23rd May 2023
On Tuesday the children had the opportunity to take part in activities organised by student from the Richard Huish College to raise funds for Emily. Her final wish to share a holiday to Disneyland with her family. Thank you to you all for your generous donations, we raised £170 for Emily’s ‘Go Fund Me’ page.
Dates for the diary – 2023
Friday 26th May – Last Day of Summer Term 1
Saturday 27th May – Sunday 4th June – Half Term
Monday 5th June – School Open – Start of Summer Term 2
Thursday 8th June – Year 6 Leavers Photos – tempest photography
Thursday 8th June – Year 5 Greek Day
Friday 9th June – Mufti Day with Chocolate Donations for the Summer Fair
Monday 12th June – Year 3 visit to local Mosque
Tues 20th June – 09:30-11:30 KS1 Sports Day (R,1 & 2)
Thurs 22nd June – 09:30-12:00 KS2 Sports Day (3,4,5 & 6)
Friday 23rd June – PTA Summer Fair
Thursday 6th July – Summer Concert at Richard Huish College – Time TBC
Monday 17th July – Year 6 Production – Dress Rehearsal at Richard Huish College
Tuesday 18th July – Year 6 Production – Performance
Thursday 20th July – Year 6 Leavers Service at St James Church at 10:00 am
Friday 21st July – INSET Day – School Closed to Pupils
Saurday 22nd July – Sunday 3rd September – Summer Holidays
Monday 4th September – INSET Day – School Closed to Pupils
Tuesday 5th September – INSET Day – School Closed to Pupils
Wednesday 6th September – Start of Autumn Term 1 – School Resumes