Newsletter May 2015

Dear Parents

It’s finally here, half term that is, a mere 160 hours in school since the term began. I started the new term by

asking the children if they had noticed anything new, not many responded – even the members of SDY who had

been registered by Miss Hampshire!! We also welcomed Mrs Brady to teach Art and several new pupils into the

Ralphie fold. Other new additions were from both Mrs Murfet and Mrs Davey, whom welcomed healthy baby

boys into their families.

The highlight of the half term so far for the majority of the Year 5’s was their Bikeability week, most of them

probably weren’t as excited about their optional tests this past week. Swimming sessions up at Freman have

also made this term start with a splash.

Year 6 were fully focused on their SATs and then as soon as they had finished, tests were forgotten by most –

especially with the fun non-uniform day and the architecture, construction workshop that followed.

Year 7 have been responsible for some of the nicest smells wafting through the school from the Food Tech

room – pizzas being the highlight. They have also been the most smug as they are the only group to not have

had any assessments – but not to worry, there is plenty of time when we return!!

This half term has been a busy time for our Year 8’s, there have been assessments which are used to provide

information to Freman for transition. They have also taken part in the National Maths Challenge, achieving 1

gold, 9 silver and 8 bronze certificates. Marbles have become a big part of their lives as they work collectively

to earn their privilege of eating first and picnicking outside.

Maths Challenges have been of a high frequency, with our Year 8’s and 5’s entering the County versions. The

former coming seventh and the latter coming third. Other intellectual tests were undertaken in the form of the

House Quiz, with questions researched and set by some of our own Year 8’s and compared by Mr Palmen -

Salisbury were the overall winners.

In games lessons there have been a wide range of activities going on: cricket, rounders, golf and anyone with

orange trainers or socks has been doing long jump for athletics. Our key stage 2 girls took part in the district

kwick cricket tournament with both teams winning their groups. The Year 8 boys reached the District Football

Plate final and the key stage 3 girls performed brilliantly at the regional round of the Lady Taverners’ Cricket

but unfortunately didn’t make it to the National Finals.

I hope you all have a good break and look forward to next term where thoughts turn to moving on and moving

up.

Mr Spong

Term Dates

Summer Term 2015

Half Term Break Mon 25th May – Fri 29th May

2nd Half Term Mon 1st June – Fri 17th July

Term ends Friday 17th July at 2.30pm

Autumn Term 2015

Inset Day Weds 2nd Sept 2015

1st Half Term, Yr5 only Thurs 3rd Sept – Fri 23rd Oct

1st Half Term, All School Fri 4th Sept – Fri 23rd Oct

Half Term Break Mon 26th Oct – Fri 30th Oct

Inset Day Mon 2nd Nov 2015

2nd Half Term Tues 3rd Nov – Fri 18th Dec

Occasional Day Fri 4th Dec 2015

Term ends Fri 18th Dec at 2.30pm

Spring Term 2016

Inset Day Mon 4th January 2016

1st Half Term Tues 5th Jan – Fri 12th Feb

Half Term Break Mon 15th Feb – Fri 19th Feb

2nd Half Term Mon 22nd Feb – Fri 1st April

Good Friday Fri 25th March 2016

Easter Monday Mon 28th March 2016

Term ends Fri 1st April at 2.30pm

Easter Holidays 4th April 2016 – 15th April 2016

Further term dates can be found at:

http://ralphsadleir.herts.sch.uk/calendar/

Dinner Money

Summer Term 2015

Per Day - £2.25

Per Week - £11.25

1st Half Term - £55.00

2nd Half Term - £78.75

Whole Term - £133.75

If your child is going on one of the various

school trips please deduct the appropriate

amount.

Cheques payable to

Ralph Sadleir School

Please put the child’s name and ‘dinner

money’ on the back of cheques.

Please refer to our website to read our

policy on School Dinners Bad Debt

http://ralphsadleir.herts.sch.uk/school-

dinners/

**********************

Changes to meal patterns

A meal pattern has been set for your child.

Any changes to the pre defined patterns

must be notified to the school office

before registration otherwise you will be

charged for the school meal.

Please contact the office if you have any

queries.

Attendance

If your child is absent from school it is

essential that you telephone the school

before 8.45am.

If we do not hear from you, your child’s

absence may be marked as unauthorised.

FREE SCHOOL MEALS APPLICATIONS

Herts County Council is working to promote free school meals and educational benefits to make

sure that as many eligible children and families as possible get the support they are entitled to.

Families are able to apply in any of the following ways:

Online: at www.hertsdirect/org/freeschoolmeals.

Smartphone: using the LookingLocal app available from app stores.

Digital TV: The Community Channel – press the red button

Wii/Xbox/PS3: at www.lookinglocal.gov.uk/hertsdirect

Phone: 0300 123 4084

We can help you if you do not have access to the internet.

Ofsted Parent View

Parent View gives you the chance to tell Ofsted what you think about our

school at any time of year. It is also a great tool to help us know which areas

are working well and which can be developed further. This is a short

questionnaire and will only take a few minutes of your time but provides

Ofsted with valuable information about our school.

Parent View asks for your opinion on 12 aspects of your child's school, from the quality of teaching, to

dealing with bullying and poor behaviour. Ofsted use the information you provide when making

decisions about which schools to inspect, and when. By sharing your views, you'll be helping our school

improve. You will also be able to see what other parents have said about the school. Or, if you want to,

view the results for any school in England. Access via the school website or

http://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/login?destination=give-your-views

Jane House – School Family Worker

I would like to introduce myself as School Family Worker for the 11 schools within the Rib Valley Schools’ Partnership

for Buntingford, Puckeridge and surrounding villages. I am based at Edwinstree Middle School in Buntingford.

My role is to provide greater access to a wide range of support for children, young people, parents and families.

In the New Year I will be arranging a series of Parenting courses and Family Learning Workshops. Course details will be

sent via Parent Mail.

Family Lives Services over Christmas

I would like to let you know of an excellent helpline called Families Lives. They provide support 24 hours 7 days a week

and continue this service throughout the Christmas holiday period;

Family Lives free helpline – 0808 800 2222, available 24/7 and via Skype.

Online 1 to 1 chat with a Family Lives worker – www.familylives.org.uk/how-we-can-help/online-chat

Email - parentsupport@familylives.org.uk

Online community support – www.familylives.org.uk

Online parenting groups – email your phone no to ParentsSupportHerts@familylives.org.uk

My Teen Brain – understanding teen behaviours

From Hertfordshire County Council Childhood Support Services

Being the parent or carer of a teenager is not always easy. We can struggle to communicate, worry what our

young person is doing and can be baffled by their behaviour. However, recent interesting research on the

adolescent brain has given us an insight into adolescent development and enabled us to better understand this

period in a young person’s life.

In response to this research Hertfordshire County Council’s Childhood Support Services have launched My

Teen Brain. The initiative aims to highlight what happens in the teenage brain, in conjunction with experience

and environment, can affect many aspects of teenage behaviours including emotions, relationships, behaviours,

sleep, attitudes to risk.

Information for parents and carers is available on our dedicated website. The website is to provide practical

information on all aspects of teenage development, to enable us to better understand teenage development and

the role that parents play in the lives of our young people. There will also be parent workshops running, more

details of which are available on the website.

http://www.hertsdirect.org/services/edlearn/css/teenbrainlanding/

Music Tuition at Ralph Sadleir

Every child at Ralph Sadleir has a one hour lesson of music per week. In addition to these lessons, every child

has the option to enrol with Hertfordshire Music Service via the school to participate in extra music tuition.

Lessons available are: Clarinet, Flute. Saxophone, Drums, Viola, Cello, Piano/Keyboard, Guitar (electric and

acoustic), Brass (Trumpet and Trombone). Singing lessons are also available.

Hertfordshire Music Service will guarantee to provide 33 lessons per year which is an average of 11 lessons per

term on the required instrument. (subject to availability).

The 2015/2016 fees are £133 per term for 20 minute lessons, and £198 per term for 30 minute lessons.

The fees are payable within 30 days on receipt of a notification which the school will forward to you in the

term prior to music tuition commencing. When making a new application you are requested to attach a cheque

for the cost per term.

To cancel music tuition, a full half term written notice must be given or payment of a half terms fees in lieu of

such notice must be made. Please email cancellation instructions to: admin@ralphsadleir.herts.sch.uk An email

from the school will be sent to you confirming cancellation of lessons.

Term Lesson to be

Cancelled

The final date for

lessons to take place

Deadline for school to

receive cancellation

letter

Autumn Term 2015 23rd October 2015

18th December 2015

Fri 4th September 2015

Fri 23rd October 2015

Spring Term 2016 12th February 2016

1st April 2016

Fri 18th December 2015

Fri 12th February 2016

Summer Term 2016 26th May 2016

22nd July 2016

Fri 1st April 2016

Thurs 26th May 2016

Further details can be found on our website - http://ralphsadleir.herts.sch.uk/music-tuition/

Parking

The school works closely with our community to ensure that issues that may affect our local residents are

discussed and resolved to a mutually beneficial level.

It is imperative that when parents visit our school either to drop off or pick up their children that they do so with

due care and attention and do not put others at risk. They should also give consideration to our local community

and park safely and in appropriate areas. It may result in parents parking a small distance away from school and

walking into the school grounds to drop off or collect their children. It is important to our school that positive

relations with our local community remain in place and do not diminish due to inconsiderate, dangerous parking

by our parents or visitors.

On 2nd February 2015 East Herts Council launched a mobile parking enforcement service dedicated to the

enforcement of yellow line ‘zig-zag’ restrictions outside schools. The launch of this initiative is in part a

response to reports and complaints from members of the public concerning dangerous and inconsiderate parking

outside schools and is in line with the Council’s overall parking enforcement strategy.

The emphasis will be on deterrence, although a Penalty Charge Notice will be issued where a parking

contravention occurs.

In addition to the above, the Police and the Civil Enforcement Officers will be making regular trips to the area at

the beginning and end of the school day to monitor the situation. In addition to these visits a member of the

Senior Leadership Team will be monitoring the situation and we will not hesitate to pass details of car number

plates to the police and mobile parking enforcement service if we see dangerous driving or parking in the

vicinity of our school.

Whilst writing, we would like to remind parents of the following:

o The speed limit in the school front car park is 5 MPH. This speed is set in the interest of the safety of

pedestrians using this car park. On more than one occasion, we have seen near misses due to parents

driving too quickly.

o Parents dropping off or collecting their children are NOT permitted to drive into or park in the school

grounds unless they have prior agreement of the school.

o Even when this agreement has been made, if there are no available car parking spaces, please park

outside the school grounds and walk into school to collect your child(ren).

o Calling into the school office with a query at the start or end of the school day is not an excuse for you to

park in the school grounds. This is being monitored. o Do not block cars already parked or double park your car as this is a hazard to other vehicles entering and exiting

our car park and therefore could endanger our pupils when they are exiting our school.

We have a number of mini buses and taxis that use our parking facilities and therefore in the interest of

safety other vehicles should not use the car park until after 4.00 pm.

We would also like to ask parents collecting their children to support the school in three other ways and so

reinforce what we tell the pupils:

o Please use the pavements around the car park and do not take a short cut.

o Please be mindful of other pavement users and don’t force them into the road.

o Please walk down to the crossing lady if you have to cross Station Road.

We appreciate your continued support in this matter.

County Maths Challenge

A team of Year 8 mathematicians came second in their regional heat of the County Maths Challenge and

successfully progressed to the County Finals of this event.

The final required teams to undertake complex problem solving and demonstrate observation and estimation

skills. Fifteen teams from across the county qualified for the final and the Ralph Sadleir team finished in a

‘middle ranking’ position. Harvey B, Will H, Emma L and Gemma M should be congratulated on their

excellent achievement.

Humanities News Page

Is your child interested in the news but not sure where to start? Would they like to follow up on topics raised in

the classroom about current affairs? Would you like to broaden their topics of conversation!?

Having an interest and awareness of current affairs gives students an enormous advantage both in their academic

performance in the Humanities subjects as well as creating well rounded citizens of the future!

Our ‘Humanities News Page’ will detail links to current news stories relevant to the subjects of History,

Geography and RE. They may be linked to topics which have arisen in class discussion or just be a way to keep

up to date with current affairs.

Please take a look - encourage your child to have a look and stay informed!

Ralph Sadleir Association

The Ralph Sadleir Association has had a history of significant success over the past few years; this is wholly due to the

continual drive and enthusiasm of four dedicated members. Over the past year it has managed to raise a significant amount

towards a new school minibus. Without its drive, to raise funds from parents and the local community, this would not have

been possible.

Two of our members will be leaving the Association at the end of the summer term, when their children move on to

secondary school and, as such, the Association will struggle to continue without further volunteers. Parents have been

generous with their support and time at our fund raising events but we really do need to enlist more people to join our

committee to help plan and organise events.

If you are interested in joining the Ralph Sadleir Association, by becoming an active member of the committee, we would

be delighted to hear from you. You do not need to be a parent of the school, we would welcome any volunteers from

within the community. Please contact us at rsa@ralphsadleir.herts.sch.uk

Many thanks

Linda Parperis, Chair RSA

A FREE workshop for parents and carers of boys and girls from the age of 9.

‘Raising Boys – the Middle Years’ –Wednesday 1st July – 7pm – 9pm at Ralph Sadleir School, Puckeridge.

‘Raising Girls – the Middle Years’ – Tuesday 7th July, - 7pm – 9pm at Edwinstree School, Buntingford

These 2 hour workshops aim to give an overview of adolescent boys and girls to help parents with behaviour

management, communication and support.

For further information or to book a place, please call Jane House on 01763 271446.

Sports Round-Up!

Rounders and cricket fixtures are underway and the under 11 girls showed how much potential they have by romping to

victory in both groups of the NEH District Kwik Cricket tournament yesterday, booking their place in the final where

they will be hoping to qualify for the County round! These girls haven’t had a great deal of time together but have

worked very hard to get to their current level, and who knows, with more time and practise, they could become a really

top side.

A huge well done to all who have participated and competed as part of the school teams, next half term promises to be

even more hectic and we hope for more success.

Year 5 Hertfordshire Maths Challenge by Eloise, Laura, Luke and Jack

On the 20th May, Eloise, Laura, Luke and Jack went to a Maths Challenge at Little Hadham Primary School. Miss

Bickerstaff took us to the school which took about 15 minutes.

When we got there, we saw a few other schools sitting at their tables (our table was at the back). Every table had four

pencils, plain paper for calculations and a score sheet with four rounds. We sat down and waited for the rest of the

schools to arrive.

In total, there were 15 schools including us. When the test started we picked up our pencils and answered the first

question. It was a lot quicker than we thought. We finally finished the first two rounds and it was time to have a break –

orange squash and a biscuit!

Mrs Brown (Year 5) also came to support us.

Here is a question for you to solve: 99 x 1.54.

Think carefully about the most efficient method!

The final result was that we came 3rd out of 15 schools. We were delighted.

Year 5 learn to cycle safely on the road

During the week of 5th of May, most of Year 5 took to their bikes during Bikeability Week. They started the week by

checking that they all had the basic skills of riding a bike, such as checking wheels, balance and learning how to signal.

Everyone got through this important test and gained their Level 1. Now they were ready to start practising on the road the

following day.

Children worked in groups and learnt different skills like taking U-turn when needed, steering around stationary cars and

learning when to signal. All this was put into practice on a busier road the next day. We all had great fun – apart from

when some of us got soaked to the bone on one of the days. Speaking to the children, they really feel that they have

acquired useful skills that will help them keep safe on the road for many years to come.

Please visit the Gallery page on our website to view some more photos of Bikeability Week.

Author Visit from Washington D.C.

As part of the Rib Valley Book Awards and during a meeting at Ralph Sadleir on 19th May, we were lucky enough to

speak with Cristin Terrill, the author of 'All Our Yesterdays' via Skype. It was a great opportunity for pupils to speak to a

published author. The pupils asked many interesting questions including: "What inspired the book?" The answer being

insomnia and a late night viewing of the film 'Terminator', and other very important questions on whether British or

American chocolate was the best. Cristin definitely prefers British chocolate! It was great for the pupils to be able to chat

in a very relaxed way with a published author and realise that they are very approachable people. It also made pupils

realise that to succeed takes a lot of hard work. Cristin is a very disciplined writer, who writes 2,000 words every

day. She is also an avid reader and believes this is essential in order to become a successful writer. In the next newsletter,

we will be able to reveal the winner of the Rib Valley Book Awards 2015.