Here is this week's news:
Attendance since the start of this new term has been good - as a whole school, we have 96.5% attendance which compares to a county average of 94.9%, and 31 of our children have 100% attendance! A big well done and thank you to you all for your efforts.
We had a great day yesterday, when the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation coach visited us - please see class dojo for photos of classes taking part. The children were buzzing with excitement and enthusiasm after their sessions, which was great to see.
A huge thank you to all the children who entered our 'Look Who's Talking' competition. We were very impressed with the entries. Thank you to those children who stood up in assembly today and presented their talk.
Next Friday is a 'Bag2School' day - bags were handed out today to all children. Please bring your filled bags by 9am on Friday morning, or place them carefully over the fence by Squirrels classroom on Thursday evening so that they sit under the canopy overnight in case it rains. Wet contents will not be weighed and will be rejected. Many thanks.
I just want to make you aware (with lot's of notice!) that we will not be able to run the After School Club on Wednesday 5th March due to compulsory whole staff training in the hall. Hopefully this will give you enough time to organise some alternative child care for that afternoon.
LEGO Club reminder - please note that there is NO Lego club on Monday 20th (next week) as there is a joint training meeting for teachers with the other schools in Tewkesbury. This has already been sent out on School Spider but just thought I would let you know again.
Miss Gladstone
Congratulations this week go to...
Joe T
Francis A
Joseph M
Tia L
Robert V-C
Xander B
Alex T
The Young Voices choir!
23rd January - Reception and Y6 height & weight (and vision for reception only) checks
24th January - Bag2School day
17th - 21st February - Half Term holiday
5th March - No After School Club today due to staff training
19th March - Cyber Security evening
14th - 25th April - Easter Holidays
28th April - INSET DAY - school closed
5th May - Bank Holiday - school closed
26th May - 30th May - Half Term holiday
25 June and 26 June - Tewkesbury School Big Step Transition days 2025
11th July - Year 5 trip to Tewkesbury Medieval Festival Schools Day
18th July - Last day of term
We currently have a vacancy for a mid-day supervisor to work during lunchtimes - if you would like to join our team or know anyone who might be interested, please let Miss Gladstone know or email Mrs Tingle at bursar@twyning.gloucs.sch.uk .
Please can everyone make sure all school dinners accounts are in credit at all times. Many thanks.
Menus for this term are now available from the school website - click to download or ask at the office for a printed copy. www.twyningschool.co.uk/page/school-lunches/106163
Yesterday our children had a fantastic time with our visiting cricket coach. All classes had a session during the day. Local clubs (such as Tewkesbury Cricket Club) provide opportunities for children to take part in cricket courses to encourage engagement in the game. Children have been sent home with leaflets about these courses (see below for digital copies). You are able to register now and will be contacted in February when the programmes go 'live'. The courses are very popular so I advise that you register as soon as possible if your child is interested. Mrs Leggett
All children in Reception, Years 1 and 2 are automatically entitled to a free school lunch. After that, the cost of a school dinner is £2.71.
Whilst your child may already be enjoying this entitlement they may also qualify for the pupil premium. Pupil premium is a benefit available to children from reception right through to age sixteen.
The pupil premium is a grant that provides additional funding to state-funded schools in England to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.
So even if your child currently has a free meal, they may also qualify for this extra payment, which we usually use to pay for part of any school trips and residentials they may go on, and also any additional activities that we believe would benefit your child in school.
You can apply for free school meals/pupil premium at any time during their school life, but if you believe they qualify, apply now so that they will benefit from the pupil premium element even though they may already get universal infant free school meals.
If you believe your child may be entitled to free school meals, please look at this link www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/education-and-learning/free-school-meals/apply-for-free-school-meals/
Please can you all reserve this date in your diary: Wednesday 19th March 2025, 6pm - 7:30pm in the school hall
I have booked PC Williams from Cyber Intelligence, Gloucestershire Police to run an information evening for parents about safe internet use for children which I would like to urge a parent from every family to attend please. The presentation was recently shared with headteachers in Gloucestershire at a conference and it was extremely useful although at times quite hard-hitting! The Cyber Intelligence team will be able to share statistics, information and advice about how you can make your child's internet use as safe as possible. I have decided to hold a creche service in one of the classrooms so that we can support anyone who may not be able to get childcare. I will give you more information nearer the time! (Miss Gladstone)
There are a lot of coughs and cold about at this time of year, as is often the case, but unless your child is really unwell (see below) we encourage you to still send them in to school. We are able to administer Calpol and antibiotics in school - forms are available from Mrs Bowen in the Office so please call in with any medication and complete one if necessary.
Please click the link below to see NHS guidelines regarding illnesses.
www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/
Please remember to report sickness/illness daily to us via School Spider or email to Mrs Bowen on admin@twyning.gloucs.sch.uk. It is important that illness is reported to school first thing in the morning, otherwise your child's absence could be recorded as an 'unauthorised absence'. If your child is frequently absent due to illness we may ask for a doctors note as per our attendance policy.
Pupils must arrive in school by 8.45am on each school day. The register for the first session will be taken at 9.00am and will be kept open until 9.15am. The register for the second session will be taken at 1.05pm and will be kept open until 1.15pm.
Please click this link to view our School Attendance Policy, Absence Request forms, and other attendance documentation.
www.twyningschool.co.uk/page/attendance/101727
The Channel 4 series, The Dog House is looking for couples, individuals, friends and families who are seriously considering bringing a rescue dog into their lives and are willing to share their reasons for doing so.
Please follow this link to apply:
The Dog House | Channel 4 or email thedoghouse@fivemilefilms.co.uk
We are noticing that there are a few children who are coming to school with alternative drinks such as squash or juice in their water bottles. Please can I remind you all that our policy is for children to drink water only as part of our healthy schools status.
Can we also remind you that we encourage the following foods as suitable snack choices at break time:
Fruit, vegetables, cheese, cereal bar, fruit bar.
We do remind children not to eat crisps and chocolate at break times where possible.
Thank you so much.
Please click on these links to view our guides to contacting school. We have also linked relevant policies for reference.
Before and After School Care
Fees for our before and after school care facility are £3.50 for a morning session and £7 for an afternoon session.
Balances should be cleared by the end of each month at the latest. Many thanks. If you use government vouchers please email Mrs Tingle at bursar@twyning.gloucs.sch.uk to advise when you have made a payment, each time you do this.
How do I register my child?
To register for Before or After School Club, please complete and send in the booking form which can be downloaded from our website or ask Mrs Bowen for a printed copy. These forms should be returned to Mrs Bowen at admin@twyning.gloucs.sch.uk .
Please see below some useful links to a few excellent wellbeing and mental health resources and an amazing digital therapy app for children:
www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/media/mujkq12k/gcc_3002-cyp-mental-health-handout_aw-crop-large.pdf
hubofhope.co.uk/concerns?concerns=86&latitude=52.0286023&longitude=-2.1466844
It is important to continue to 'make a noise about bullying' and we hope that this link to the BBC's anti-bullying resources will be useful.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/curations/anti-bullying-week
We would also like to bring to your attention a helpful guide on finding the ratings of online games and social media applications. This is a universal guide for any entertainment content:
Aurore Chatron-Michaud comes to school to teach private French classes in small groups. These lessons happen during the lunch hour. If you would like to sign your child up please see the information below and scan the QR code.
Some useful links:
If you believe your family to be eligible for Free School Meals, please click on this link:
Health and sickness information "Is my child too ill for school?"
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/
Register for School Milk:
A collection of links to find and get help in all sorts of situations from Anxiety, Health related, young persons help, depression and much more:
hubofhope.co.uk/concerns?concerns=86&latitude=52.0286023&longitude=-2.1466844
Contact
Please feel free to make contact with me via email head@twyning.gloucs.sch.uk should you need to speak to me. During evenings and weekends, I may not be able to respond to you straight away but I will make contact with you during normal working hours as soon as I can. Many thanks for all of your support.
Kindest regards
Miss L Gladstone
Headteacher