100% RAFFLE WINNERS In this edition of ‘The Magic of Marlborough’ we congratulate Iga from Bumblebee Class, Blake from Bumblebee Class, Timeea from Saturn Class and Adam from Zeus Class as Marlborough’s winners of the 100% attendance weekly raffle over the past fortnight. They each take home a £5 Toys R Us voucher to use towards the cost of an item of their choice. We congratulate them and applaud their families for their commitment towards having the best possible weekly attendance!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND SEE YOU IN 2017!

As we come to the end of the autumn term, and my first term as Headteacher of Marlborough Primary School, I take this opportunity to thank all the children, staff, parents, governors and friends of Marlborough for the warmth and support you have given to me. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know members of our school community, drawing on all the feedback received to evaluate provision and inform areas for development.

A lot of positive changes have taken place at Marlborough over the past 15 weeks; from assemblies and after-school clubs, an increase in opportunities for children to become more actively involved in developments at Marlborough and take up positions of responsibility, to the introduction of behaviour incentives, school rules, clear school values and learning dispositions.

Next term the staff and I will continue to focus on improving the quality of education afforded to all our children, again drawing on feedback, resolute to ensure Marlborough Primary School truly is “For Every Child’s Bright Future”.

Until then I wish you a restful festive period spent with family and loved ones and peace, good health and an abundance of happiness in 2017!

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss D. Anazodo Headteacher

EDITION 8, 21ST DECEMBER 2016

THE MAGIC OF MARLBOROUGH NEEDS BAGS OF HELP...FROM YOU! The Staff, Governors and children, supported by our fantastic friends of Marlborough (FoM), have been working very hard on plans and fundraising to improve our playground at Marlborough Primary School. One of the areas we are very eager to develop is the little bit of disused green space we have hidden behind the fire evacuation points (the old chicken spot!) We would like to develop this area into a kitchen garden and relaxing retreat for all children to enjoy. They would benefit from sitting amongst the greenery, looking after chickens (that we would like to return to this area), and get involved in planting and growing fresh produce such as herbs, fruits and vegetables. We intend to grow and use all our fruit and veg within the healthy meals prepared and served by the kitchen team at lunchtimes. Our kitchen garden will be developed by volunteers and enjoyed by our whole school and wider community. We recently bid for funding from Tesco to gain as much financial support for our ‘Magic of Marlborough’ garden project. Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its Bags of Help initiative across England and Wales. The scheme sees three community groups and projects in each of around 200 Tesco regions awarded grants of £5,000, £2,000 and £1,000 – all raised from the 5p bag charge. You can find out more at www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp We are delighted to have been shortlisted as one of the three projects selected to be awarded a grant, but how much we are awarded depends upon YOU! The public will now vote in Tesco’s local stores between 1st to 31st December on who should receive the £5,000, £2,000 and £1,000 awards. We need the most votes to be granted as much funding as possible. We are therefore urging you, when planning to do any grocery shopping during the voting period of 1st to 31st December 2016, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE… ABANDON ASDA, MISS-OUT MORRISONS, SET ASIDE SAINSBURY’S, WALK OUT OF WAITROSE AND LEAVE OUT LIDL because every little helps Every Child’s Bright Future at Marlborough. CAST YOUR VOTE IN LOCAL TESCO AND TESCO METRO STORES TODAY! Thank you for your continued support.

Miss Daphne Anazodo Headteacher You can follow our social media for more information about our project developments as well as all the latest updates, information and events taking place at Marlborough Primary School.

Marlborough Harrow magicofmarlborough MarlboroughPrimary

@Marlborough_Sch

GOODBYE AND GOOD LUCK As we come to the end of the term we say goodbye to several members of our Marlborough Team. Sally McCarthy – SENCO Miki McManamon – Class Teacher, 2 Owls Rowena Sewell – HLTA Year 6 We would like to thank them for all of their commitment and dedication to Marlborough over the years. We are sure that you would like to join us in wishing them well as they move on to new ventures.

FESTIVAL OF SONG: WINTER WARMER We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who came along to our Winter Warmer on Monday 19 December. It was fantastic to see our whole community come together. Not only were we treated to fantastic performances by the children but there was an opportunity to pick up some last minute Christmas gifts at some of the many stalls in the hall. All of the money raised from this event and the mufti/crazy hair day will go towards improving the facilities in the playground We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Friends of Marlborough for all of their hard work organising this event as well as all those parents who volunteered to help on the day. These events cannot happen without the much valued support of our parents and carers - we really appreciate it.

CRAZY HAIR

As part of our fundraising day on Monday many children came to school in festive mufti and sporting crazy hair styles. Everyone made a fantastic effort and choosing winners was extremely hard, however the winners were Abrial from Dolphin Class, Mustafa from Zeus Class and Alise from Butterfly Class, with the overall winner being Lasya from Shark Class.

RECEPTION: OUR FIRST NATIVITY

On Monday 12th December and Tuesday 13th December 2016, children in Reception performed a special assembly for the very first time. ‘Our First Nativity’ was enjoyed by an audience of children, staff, parents and carers. We were extremely proud of our Reception children as they told the story

of the nativity through song.

YEAR 2 CHRISTMAS PRODUCTION: RUDOLPH THE RED NOSE REINDEER

ARTiCLE 12

Children have the right to give their opinion and for adults to listen and take it seriously

Over the past few weeks we have enjoyed watching Year 2 perform their Christmas production of ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’. The Year 2 teaching team and children specifically chose to prepare for and present this wonderful Christmas story of triumph over adversity to follow-on from the Anti-Bullying curriculum learning the whole school has been focussing on in recent weeks. Councillor Christine Morgan, who attended to see Owls Class perform was so impressed by children’s confidence, acting, narration of the story and singing has promised to return to Marlborough Primary School to enjoy the sharing of more curriculum learning and teaching! Well done Year 2 and thank you to all the staff and parents for supporting their preparations.

WINTER MUSICAL SHOWCASE On Thursday 15th December 2016 Marlborough’s musical superstars took to the stage twice to showcase the music ensembles and solos they have been working very hard on throughout the autumn term. From guitars and clarinets to choir singing, trumpets and recorders, the audience were treated to an outstanding array of the musical talent in school. The showcase concluded with Christmas carols sung by our school choir and accompanied by Mr Nondo playing piano.

Thank you to all the Music Tutors who continue to teach and support the children in developing their skills and talent. A special thank you to all of those who attended to show their support; and to Ms Potter and Mr Nondo for organising a very successful winter showcase.

We hope that more children will consider taking up learning and instrument and / or joining the choir in future months and years.

BRONZE TRAVEL PLAN AWARD

We are delighted to announce that Marlborough Primary School has received confirmation of receiving the Bronze Travel Plan Award! The Junior Travel Ambassadors, together with Mrs Roberts, have worked very hard completing travel surveys and holding Bike It Workshops/coffee mornings throughout the term. The school will now begin working towards the Silver Award.

ADVANCED NOTICE: MORNING DROP-OFF

ARRANGEMENTS ARE CHANGING Marlborough Primary School was recently audited by Harrow Advisors in relation to the policy and procedures it takes to ensure the safety and well-being of its pupils. We have been busy since working on the areas for development identified through the school’s own self-evaluation and recommendations from the Harrow team.

One of the actions identified was a need to reduce the timings of opening and closing the gates in the morning. This is to ensure that all children are in school on time and ready to learn and the premises are secured as soon as children enter the building, ready to learn. As I’m sure you will understand, supervising entry to the school and building is a crucial part of safeguarding the children.

From 5th January 2017, the school gates will open at 8.40am. Children will need to go straight to their class lines (Reception, Years 1 and 2 go straight to their classrooms) where the class teacher will be ready to greet and lead them into school at 8.45am. The gates will close again at 8.55am when registration closes. Any child who arrives at school after 8.55am will need to enter via the main office where they will then be registered as ‘late’ and sent to class.

We kindly request that parents make their way to the gates in advance of them closing and avoid disruption to lessons by watching children through windows, entering the building or initiating meetings with class teacher’s after 8.45am when the school day begins. Teachers are more than happy to meet with parents to discuss concerns or issues a child might be experiencing outside of the teaching and learning day. To ease congestion through entry points we encourage parents to enter via the bottom gate and leave via the top gate (nearest to the cycle park).

YEAR 6 SCIENCE WORKSHOP

The Year 6 Science Workshop at Salvatorian College was a mind-blowing trip. I felt as if it was a massive honour to be invited. After entering the school, we had a little tour and were introduced to some teachers, we were also accompanied by some children from Years 7, 8 and 9. When we went into the science block we had some goggles on so we could mix gases. We had some metal and gas so we mixed some together and it went into a test tube. A few minutes later our teacher took a match and put it in the tube and it made a popping noise. Later on we did my favourite thing about the trip, we held fire! The teacher mixed some gas and washing up liquid and then set it on fire. It was epic, but you had to separate your hands really quickly. After what seemed like hours of fun we had refreshments and returned to school. Riella, Athena Class

ggd

A SPECIAL VISITOR

Earlier this week the children in Early Years received a visit from a very special person. Santa took time out from his busy schedule to pop in to wish all of our Nursery and Reception children a very happy Christmas.

96+% ATTENDANCE CLUB On Wednesday children from the 96+% Attendance Club enjoyed a Christmas movie, popcorn and refreshments in the hall. This reward is part of our new incentive scheme to reward those children with a good attendance record. We would like to thank parents for their continued commitment to ensuring their child’s regular attendance and hope that more children will be able to join the 96+% Attendance Club next term.

AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS

We have a number spaces available in the following clubs: Gym Club Year 3 – 6 – Mondays 3.30 – 4.15pm Magic Club Year 3 – 6 – Tuesdays 3.30 – 4.45pm Dance Club Year 2 &3 - Tuesdays 3.30 – 4.15pm Dance Club Year 4 – 6 – Tuesdays 4.20 – 5.05pm Gym Club Year 1 & 2 – Wednesdays 3.30 – 4.15pm Re:generation Club Year 3 – 6 – Wednesday 3.30 – 4.30pm If your child is interested in a place at any of these clubs, please contact the school office for more information. In January we will release details of our new teacher led after school clubs. Children in Years 2 to 6 have told us that they would like more sports clubs to be offered in the new term and so we will be introducing Korfball and Multi-skills clubs as well as Go Noodle, a health and fitness club. Full details of the new clubs and how to apply will be sent to parents when we return to school in January.