Twyning School - Newsletter 07.02.2025

Here is this week's news:

I hope that you have all had a great week - it's been a busy one here as normal. Today there have been lots of fun maths games and activities taking place as we celebrate 'Number Day' (photos on Class Dojo). The Y6 Buddies have made games which they played with the Rabbits children.

The school discos are next week on Wednesday 12th February. We are really looking forward to them - I am sure the children are too! If you have not yet paid for your children, please see Mrs Bowen in the Office. Thank you to all the parents and staff who have volunteered to help at these events. It is very much appreciated.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Gladstone

Platinums

Congratulations this week go to...

Poppy Y

Frankie D

Gabriel A

Ethan W

Nika R

Izzy P

Dates for your Diary

12th February - Valentine's Disco evening.

17th - 21st February - Half Term holiday

5th March - No After School Club today due to staff training

19th March - Cyber Security evening

25th March - Rabbits Class visit from 'The Animal Man'

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

squid games - tv show and online gaming app

You may have heard of Squid Game, a programme on Netflix that has been very popular recently. It’s rated 15 due to its violent nature and sexual content. But there have been reports of some of our children at Twyning also watching it and talking about it at playtimes. Children might also have seen parts of the programme recreated as challenges on social media, for example on TikTok, or they may have seen or played an online game that’s based on it. Recently, there have been some media reports of children recreating violent aspects of the show, though there haven’t been reports of any children being seriously hurt.

What should parents do? It might be tempting to, but don’t directly raise Squid Game with your child – they might be unaware of it, and mentioning it could make them more likely to seek it out. Do let your child know they can talk to you about anything they see online that they find upsetting. If you hear them talking about Squid Game or if they mention it to you, talk to them about how the show isn’t meant for young children. For more pointers on talking to your child about online safety, see this page on the NSPCC website: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/talkingchild-online-safety

We’d encourage you to take this opportunity to check your Netflix settings for your child’s profile. You can set maturity ratings so that your child only sees TV shows and films that have a rating suitable for their age. To do this from a web browser, go to your account page, open the ‘Profile and Parental Controls’ settings for the profile you want to manage, change the ‘Viewing Restrictions’ setting, enter your Netflix password, set the maturity rating level for the TV shows and films you want to allow in that profile, select ‘Save’ . You’ll need to have set up a profile for your child in your account to do this. See how to do this here: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/114275

PTFA CHANGES - can you help?

Sadly our Chair and Treasurer are stepping down this year. After many years of volunteering, it is time for them to pass on the reins to a new committee. Without a new committee forming, our PTFA will have to fold. Please have a think and put your name forward if you can - the existing chair and treasurer are willing to give a full handover and offer any assistance that you may need. Please see the posters in the PTFA noticeboard on the playground if you are interested in forming a new committee and/or volunteering as a committee member.

laptops!!

WOW! A huge THANK YOU to our PTFA for buying our children 20 brand new laptops! They have been delivered today and will be set up very soon by the Gloucestershire County Council ICT experts ready for class use after half term.

Well done and thank you to everybody who has supported PTFA events and fundraisers in any way - your contributions have helped make this happen. We and the children are VERY grateful!

science week - 7-16 march

As you may already be aware, it is British Science week during the week beginning Monday 10th March. During this week we will be completing lots of different science activities in our classes. We are keen to involve you as parents so if you work in a scientific environment and are willing to come into school to talk to the children or even run a small workshop please contact Mrs Abell on habell@twyning.gloucs.sch.uk Many thanks!

clubs for term 4

Clubs after half term will be as follows:

Mondays: Dance (years 4-6), Mrs Abell (festival preparation) .

Tuesdays: Multi-sports (years 1-3), Miss Thomas (16 maximum).

Wednesdays: Tag rugby (years 4-6), Pete Healey.

Fridays: Netball (years 4-6), Mrs Leggett.

Dance club has already been filled by those returning Feet First dance festival reply slips.

There will be no multi sports club on Tuesday 4th March.

Please email Mrs Bowen with requests for multi-sports, tag rugby and netball. Clubs will start after half term but multi-sports will not take place on Tuesday 4th March due to parents evenings.

feet first dance festival

Wednesday 26th March

Tickets are now on sale for the dance festival. Please see the following link. I suggest you purchase tickets promptly as they sell out quickly. This is for the parents of the children in years 1-3 who took part in dance club before Christmas, and those in years 4-6 who have replied to the recent letter and will take part in dance club after half term.

https://cheltenhamtownhall.org.uk/event/feet-first-dance-festival-part-one/

cross country race 4

Yesterday, the first race of the Spring took place at the Vineyards. This started the second part of the cross country season, with a final race next week followed by a fun run and presentations after half term. As always, our children ran with determination and resilience. Our top girl and boy were Isla in 8th place in the girls' race and Leo H in 5th in the boys' race. Congratulations to all of our runners: Leo H, Leo N-S, Tom, Leighton, Alex, Jesse, Joe, Ethan, Scarlett, Florence, Beau, Lea and Isla.

non-stop cricket festival

On Tuesday, ten of our pupils took part in the Move More Tewkesbury and Cheltenham non-stop cricket festival. This was run by coaches from the Gloucestershire cricket federation and nicely followed our cricket day in school. We played four games against other Cheltenham schools, with the emphasis on fun and improvement rather than winning. Our children had a great time and all improved their batting skills particularly. Well done to Elliott, Edward, Lewis, Kellan, Ethan, Naomi, Tia, Eva-Jayne, Lacey-May and Beau.

Parent pay accounts

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

vacancies

We still 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 .

snacks and 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.

communications with school

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

communications with school

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 .

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.

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

Some useful links:

Safeguarding and E Safety: www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/curations/anti-bullying-week

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

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/

Please click this link to view our School Attendance Policy, Absence Request forms, and other attendance documentation. www.twyningschool.co.uk/page/attendance/101727

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

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