February Newsletter 2020 In this months newsletter...
• An update from Friends of Newton
• Sculpture competition in Blackwell Parish
• Fire talks in Years 2 & 6
• Attendance Update
• Our visit from Laura Samuel, Commonwealth Games silver medal triple jump winner
• World Book Day
• Sports Experience Days this term- Archery
• Newton Carnival Float making
• Key Dates
Team Friends of Newton
1 - Friends of Newton at the school disco
Our Friends of Newton group are in full swing this term and have many exciting events planned. All
funds raised are going to be spent of the refurbishment of the playground. The aim is to raise funds of around £2000.
For updates, please keep an eye out for the FON display board on the school wall as you enter on to the school premises.
The following events are already in the pipeline:
• Key rings are being sold, using the photographs taken in December, for the bargain price of £1. These would make an excellent gift or simply will look great on your keys!
• After the Mothers/ Special Person lunch on Wednesday 25th March, the group are going to be
in the hall with a raffle. There are some amazing prizes up for grabs so please come along if you can make it.
• On Friday 3rd April, the group are organising an Easter Egg hunt for the children around the school grounds. This has been set up on Parent Pay so log on to your account for further details.
• On the last day of each term, the school is going to have a non-uniform day. Voluntary
donations of £1 will be set up again on Parent Pay for parents/carers to make a voluntary contribution if they would like to.
I'd like to thank our Friends of Newton group for all of their efforts so far this year! Our children have
already benefited from some excellent events including disco's and our pancake breakfast. It really is
appreciated!
Sculpture Competition
There is still time to get your entries in for the Blackwell Parish Sculpture Competition. On Friday 14th
February, Andrew Frost, a local tree surgeon artist came into school and impre ssed us with his tree
carving of an owl. The children were given four choices to choose from in assembly and the owl was voted for.
The winner of the competition will have their designs brought to life by Andrew and the final
masterpiece will be located on the Newton Trail. If you have any competition entries, then please
submit them into the competition box in the main corridor. We hope you enjoy our before and after pictures featured below.
To find out more about Andrew's work, please click on the following link: https://www.treeart.co.uk/
2 - Before shot
3 - The finished product, amazing!
Fire Talks in Years 2 & 6
On Tuesday 25th February, we had a visit from Larry who works as a community fire officer advising
children in schools about Fire Safety. The children in Y2 and Y6 had a wonderful afternoon talking to
Larry about Fire Safety. After the workshops, Larry was amazed about the behaviour and levels of
engagement from our children. His comments and thoughts about our school made us very proud. Well
done Year 2 & 6 and thank you for Larry and the Derbyshire Fire Service for providing these workshops for school.
4 - Year 6 pictured with Larry
Attendance Update
Our attendance is on the up and is now just over 95% as a school. We all know that over the recent
months, there have been children off due to illness and of course this cannot be helped. Thank you for all of your support with increasing our attendance over these past few months.
A polite reminder to all parents/carers that you have a duty of care to inform the school if your child is
absent. The office will contact you in the morning for a reason for absence if this is not done. As a school,
we have a duty of care for all of our children and any unexplained absences do need to be chased up for
Safeguarding reasons.
We would also like to remind parents/carers about the procedure for applying for absence during term
time. A form from the office must be filled in and submitted. Mr Wray will review each application and
will make a decision as to whether the reason for absence is 'exceptional'. When making a decision, Mr
Wray will liaise with other schools in our cluster to ensure that the decisions we make are fair in line
with the other cluster schools. It goes without saying that the schools preference is that no child misses
any time during the term however we do understand that sometimes external factors can make this
challenging for families. Please don't hesitate to get in contact if you have any questions regarding this procedure.
A visit from Laura Samuel
On Wednesday 26th February, the children had a visit from Laura Samuel. Laura competed in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and won a silver medal for the Triple Jump.
During her visit, she spoke to the children about her journey into sport. It was very inspiring! The key
message was to always follow your dreams because with hard work and determination, anything is possible. Afterwards, the children took part in some active activities with Laura in the hall.
In addition to this, Laura also rewarded children bronze, silver and gold certificates for their fundraising
efforts. A huge thank you to everyone that sponsored the children, you helped to make this event and
experience for the children a reality.
To watch Laura in action during the 2014 CommonWealth games, click on the link
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/commonwealth-games/28554598
World Book Day
On Friday 6th March, we are having our World Book Day. The children have been invited to come
dressed as their favourite book character for the day. Teachers will also be planning some fun and interactive activities throughout the day celebrating our love for books and reading across school.
Sports Relief Day
On Friday 13th March 2020, it is Sports Relief Day. The children are invited to wear something sporty for
the day. Voluntary donations of £1 will be available through ParentPay. These donations are obviously
voluntary and your accounts will not be charged if a contribution is not made.
Sports Experience Afternoons
Some of you may recall that during the autumn term, we provided the children in school with an
opportunity to take part in fencing. This term, all of the children will be taking part in Archery. This will
be provided to each class for one afternoon per week. The aim of the sessions is to provide all of the
children with an opportunity to try a new sport. At the end of the sessions, your children will be
signposted to local archery clubs if they would like to take part in the sport on a more regular basis. We are sure the children will really enjoy these afternoons!
Newton Carnival Prep!
This year, the children at Newton will be working with a local artist Emma Raynard to design and create
a float for the Newton Carnival. Emma will be coming into school to work alongside the children over
the next couple of months. School Parliament are in the process of organising an election so we can
decide upon a theme for the float. Once a theme has been voted for, Emma will be working with the
children across school to make items for the float. We will obviously keep you informed about this! We
would like to say a massive thank you to Platform 31 https://www.platformthirty1.com/ for funding eight sessions for Emma to work in school with our children.
Governor Recruitment
There is currently a vacancy for a Parent Governor. To find out about the role of the school governor,
please link on the following link https://www.nga.org.uk/Governance-Recruitment/Be-a-school-governor-or-trustee.aspx
If you are interested in this role, then please speak to Mr Wray who can then pass on your interests to
member of the local governing body.
INSET Days
Our last two INSET days will be on the following dates:
Monday 20th April 2020
Friday 26th June 2020
On these days, school will be closed for all pupils.
Key Dates
Friday 6th March 2020- World Book Day
Friday 13th March 2020- Sports Relief Day
Wednesday 18th March 2020- Parents Evening
Thursday 19th March 2020- Parents evening
Wednesday 25th March 2020- Mothers/ Special Person Lunch
Friday 3rd April 2020- Easter Egg Hunt (Organised by Friends of Newton)
