What a term it has been! It has been fantastic to have a full term with everyone in school and long may it continue. thank you for working with us to ensure that we keep everyone as safe as possible.
We continue to ensure that the well being of the children is central to everything that we do in school, with children showing their resilience and determination as the term has gone on.
We have continued the festive spirit this week and ended with a bang.
School life
Monday night saw the choir invited to sing at the majors Christmas service and they represented the school fantastically well, with superb behaviour and delightful singing!
Another amazing festive week in school. This week we have had a Silent disco, Christmas lunch, Online Panto, Rock Kidz and Reindeer.
STar/mathematician/writer/ Reader of the week
creative writing
Time to get the creative writing again, I'm looking forward to your festive writes this week!
Well done to the previous winners!
Entries Due by Thursday 6th January
Here is a festive video for you this week and the title 'The night the animals came to the garden.'
Nativity
A huge thank you to SongBird Wedding Films for recording the evening performance of the Nativity. Another amazing job!
LETS LOCALISE
Congratulations to all of our Raffle winners! We raised almost £300 from it. Thank you for your support!
During the festive period we will be holding a Quiz on 27th December. Join in to win!
https://www.letslocalise.co.uk/entertainment-details-view?eventId=12270
We will also be holding an online Bingo event - buy your tickets for Bingo Fun in the New Year.
https://www.letslocalise.co.uk/entertainment-details-view?eventId=12271
School Dinners
Please be advised that from Monday 3rd January 2022 there will be a small price increase to the cost of school meals.
The Trust has not implemented a price rise for the last two years but an increase is now necessary to cover increased staffing costs caused by a rise in both the National Living Wage and employer National Insurance contributions, coupled with unprecedented pressures causing increased food costs.
The current price is £2.25 for a main meal and a dessert. This will increase to £2.35 per day (£11.75 per week).
Children entitled to free school meals, and those in the first three years of school (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) who are part of the Universal Infant Free School meals offer for Key Stage 1 pupils, will not be affected as their meals are government funded. A decision has also been taken to maintain the £2.25 rate for all Nursery pupils.
This small increase will allow the Trust to continue to offer a varied menu which exceeds the government nutritional standards for school lunches while offering good value for money.
If you think you may be eligible, it is important to apply for free school meals, as it not only saves you money but the school will receive additional funding which enables them to further support pupils from qualifying families. If you are unsure about your eligibility for free school meals, please speak to the School Office who will be happy to assist you. All queries and requests for support are confidential and we will always work with families to ensure that a solution is found.
Thank you in advance for your continued understanding and support, and please don’t hesitate to contact us with any queries.
We also have a new menu in the New Year:
After school clubs
A ParentMail has gone out today for afterschool clubs. These will be Art Cub for KS1, Board games for KS2, Drama for Year 5 and 6 and Choir for KS2.
We are hopeful to add some more in the new year with external providers if restrictions allow, so keep an eye out in the New Year for additional clubs.
opal
I'm pleased to share that the Play Team will be expanding in january as we successfully appointed an additional two members of staff who will be part of a team to continue to devlop OPAL in school, making playtimes even better! We have lots of plans and we can't wait to get them going for the children to have even better playtimes!
We also ask that you send in waterproofs for your child. Thank you for bringing wellies in, however now that we are into winter, and will be when we come back in January, the field can be quite muddy. When we set off on our OPAL journey we wanted to make sure that children were outside for as many days as possible, including days that might be a bit wet and muddy. It would be fantastic if children could bring in waterproof trousers and top (or their coat if that suffices) on a Monday and they can go back home on a Friday, similar to PE kits. This will ensure that uniform is not getting muddy, but the children can enjoy all the play opportunities. Thank you for your support on this.
This week's Golden Welly Winners are:
Well done to Chloe Buckley for winning this weeks Golden Welly award, for being a superstar on the playground and always coming up with creative games for her and her friends to play.
Well done to Ben Williams for winning this weeks Golden Welly Award, by showing everyone his enthusiasm for dancing on the OPAL stage at lunch time!
Well done to Matthew Lambert for winning this weeks Golden Welly award by having lots of fun at play time, being kind, and understanding how to use the OPAL equipment safely.
Toy Appeal
Thank you for all of your kind donations to make a difference to children in the Teesside area this Christmas. Also, thank you to the school council and Head Boy and Head Girl for a fabulous idea and thinking of others and the local community. They were greatly received and will make a difference to children across Teesside this Christmas.
What's coming up in the school calendar
E-safety and local news
This week we invited Lindsey, the community PCSO to speak with KS2 about the importance of staying safe online and cyber bullying.
The children engage honestly with the session and reminded them of the importance of staying safe online, the importance of understanding how to report anything by pressing the CEOP button on websites and remembering that even online we shouldn't speak to strangers.
Finally
Thank you for all the kind words, cards and gifts on behalf of all of the staff. Your support really does mean a lot.
On behalf of all of us at Galley Hill, have a Merry Christmas and here is to an amazing 2022.
See you all in the New Year.
Take care and stay safe
Mr Anthony McGeeney