Twyning School - Newsletter 25.10.2024

Here is this week's news: 

Thank you to all the staff and parents who volunteered at Wednesday night's Neon Disco - the children all had a fabulous time and we raised £585 towards PTFA funds which are currently being saved towards purchasing new laptops for the children to use.

This morning, the Bags2School collection raised a further £56.  Thank you all for your donations! 

We break up for half term today - I wish you all a wonderful and relaxing time!

Platinums 

Congratulations this week go to...

Violet V

Daisy A

Gabriel A

Harry A

Lucas D

Dates for your Diary


4th, 5th, 6th November - Parents evenings Mon, Tues, Weds 


13th November - PTFA  AGM meeting in school 7.30pm - all welcome!


14th November - Reception 2025 parents information evening 6:30pm in the school hall.


15th November - Children in Need day


22nd, 25th, 26th  November - Book Fair in school


22nd November - Non-uniform day - please bring bottles and/or chocolate for the School Christmas Fair


29th November - Non-uniform day - please bring small gifts for the secret wrapping room


7th December - School Christmas Fair 12-3pm


11th December - Nativity 2pm - Rabbits, Squirrels and Foxes 


11th December - PTFA meeting in school 7.30pm - all welcome!


12th December - Nativity 9.30am - Rabbits, Squirrels and Foxes


16th December - Year 4, 5 & 6 Christmas Carol Service at Church End Church 6pm


18th December - School Christmas Lunch


19th December - Cinderella Panto at The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury


20th December - Break up for Christmas Holidays


23rd January - Reception and Y6 height & weight (and vision for reception only) checks


24th January - Bag2School day


25 June and 26 June - Tewkesbury School Big Step Transition days 2025 


Staff Structure update

I have been working very closely with governors over recent months to evaluate and review the staff structure of our school including our leadership team. As you know Mr Davies (our Deputy Headteacher) will be leaving us at Christmas. With careful consideration, we have decided to replace the Deputy Headteacher position with two Key Stage Leaders instead. This opportunity has of course been shared with staff and I am delighted to let you know that Mrs Abell and Miss Taylor have been successfully recruited for these roles. This structure is very typical for a school of our size and I am very excited about the opportunities that this offers for us. Therefore, our leadership team will consist of:

Miss Gladstone (HT)

Miss Ginn (SENDCO)

Mrs Tingle (Business Manager / Finance)

Miss Taylor (KS2 Leader - covered during maternity leave by Miss Gladstone)

Mrs Abell (EYFS & KS1 Leader)


My congratulations to Mrs Abell who will start this role in January 2025 and Miss Taylor who will start this role on her return from maternity leave. 

clubs - term 2

Monday Young Voices - Years 4-6, with Mrs Mulligan

Monday     Dance - Years 1-3, with Mrs Abell


Tuesday Book Club - Years 4, 5 & 6, with Mrs Bourton


Thursday (except for 28th November)

Taskmaster Club - years 5 & 6, with Mr Davies

     (limit of 15 children, names will be drawn out of the hat - you will be 

     advised by email if your child has a place) 


Thursday     Football - Years 3 & 4, with Mrs Leggett


Friday Netball - Years 4-6, with Mrs Leggett


Please email Mrs Bowen in the office on admin@twyning.gloucs.sch.uk to book your child into a club. We will reply after half term to advise if you have got a place.


Clubs will start in the second week back, beginning the 11st November and will run for 5 weeks (with the exception of Taskmaster club - see above).

gate control - be aware !

 Please can I remind everybody that when the school gates are locked, to please be careful when you are being let in, and not to hold the gate for anyone coming along behind you, unless you know them. If the gates are locked, everybody should ring the bell and wait to be asked who they are (if we can not see you on the video screen) before being let in. Many thanks.

sickness information

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.

children in need 15 november

We will be joining in with Children in Need day on Friday 15th November. We are encouraging donations in return for children wearing their own clothes with something yellow/Pudsey bear (if you have anything).  We will be having a cake sale after school so please bring cakes in the morning! We will also be running a danceathon so sporty clothes or clothes suitable for dancing would be preferable! 

school attendance

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 


Royal British Legion - Poppy Appeal

The Royal British Legion Poppy box is now in school. If you would like to make a donation in return for a poppy, wristband, snap-band, reflective key chain or a zip-pull, these will be available at the office hatch. 

music tuition with mr pope

Mr Pope has a few spaces available for private music lessons during the school day. Please see the flyer for costs and details and email Mr Pope on aidanpopemusician@gmail.com to arrange lessons. Lessons are usually timetabled in the afternoon on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon.

snacks and water bottles

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.

dinner money and free school meals

Please note that ALL school dinner accounts should be in credit at all times. If your child is in year 3 or above you will need to ensure that they have a credit balance loaded onto their account to cover their needs.

The cost of a school dinner is now £2.71.

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/ 

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 

Many thanks.

communications with school

Please click on these links to view our guides to contacting school. We have also linked relevant policies for reference.

contacts and emails 

guide to contacting school 

communications policy 

parent code of conduct 

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 .

WELLBEING & MENTAL HEALTH

Please see below  some useful links to a few excellent wellbeing and mental health resources and an amazing digital therapy app for children:

luminova.app/gloucestershire 

www.onyourmindglos.nhs.uk/ 

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 


Safeguarding and E-Safety

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:

www.askaboutgames.com/pegi-age-ratings#:~:text=Essentially,%20the%20PEGI%20rating%20on,deemed%20suitable%20for%20adults%20only. 

Some useful links:

If you believe your family to be eligible for Free School Meals, please click on this link:

 https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/education-and-learning/school-transport-and-free-school-meals/apply-for-free-school-meals/


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:

https://www.coolmilk.com


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