St Luke's C of E Primary School, Glossop

St Luke’s Newsletter

19.10.17

Dear All,

Thank you to the PTA for the disco on Friday everyone had a good time and they raised over £300 for your children.

Well done to the Gymnastics squad who had a great time at the competition on Friday.

Also well done to the Map Quest teams who enjoyed the challenges they were set in Manor Park.

Today is house challenge afternoon. This is one of the children’s favourite afternoons when they organise themselves in their houses to complete as many of the challenges as they can.

We finish for half term today with the children returning to school on Monday 30th October.

That first week back is very busy with;

 the rescheduled cross country on Monday 30th
 Bag 2 school on Tuesday. This is an opportunity for you to get rid of any old textiles and shoes, the company will recycle them and give us money for school fund – win, win. In fact I need to have a sort out myself. Please bring your bags of textiles and leave them under the porch on Tuesday.
 Sports Award Evening on Wednesday when the Prime Minister, Deputy prime Minister and Chancellor will pick up our Gold award.
 NSPCC in on Friday 3rd to work with the children on their Speak out Stay Safe project. This means there will be no family assembly that day.
 Football League matches after school on Friday.

Tuesday 31st is Halloween or the Christian Festival of All Hallows Eve which many families celebrate. The police have asked me to remind you about keeping the children and the community safe. If you choose to allow your children to trick or treat please make sure they are accompanied by an adult and only go to people they know. Many older people get very anxious about people knocking on their door after dark, especially if they are dressed up and have their face covered. Please do not go to any house which has not signalled that they are open to visitors e.g. they have a pumpkin in the window.

I hope many of you had the chance to meet our school Governors whilst you were here for parent’s evening. If you didn’t meet them they asked me to pass on their greetings. They were also asking parents to fill in the parent view survey which can be found at https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk please do take the time to do this.

Have a lovely half term.

Alice Littlehailes

St Luke’s Newsletter

12.10.17

Dear All,

This week is Artsmark celebration week and St Luke’s is one of four schools to be featured in a collection of films. The film can be found at www.themightycreatives.com/schools/how-artsmark-helps-a-school The school comes across really well, the children are delightful and just ignore me! If any of you feel moved to celebrate the impact of the arts in school and want to tweet #celebrateArtsmark, feel free.

Well done to all the runners and supporters who took part in the Glossop Jog on Sunday. I know Mr Cooke is very proud of his running club, and has his eye on some of the younger runners hoping they will join when they are old enough. If you want your book signed with the number of laps on it just bring it into school. Please collect and send in your sponsor money as soon as possible.

The Friday football league has started and our team are all excited to be taking part. We hope they continue to play well, be good sportsmen and have fun.

Next week is walk to school week. This is a national initiative to encourage everyone to walk, cycle, scoot or car share. The aim is to reduce the traffic on the roads and particularly around schools and to give people time to chat with their children. Walking to and from school is a lovely time to connect with your child and enjoy their company. I hope everyone will be able to walk at least a bit more of their journey to school even if the whole journey is too far. The weather forecast for next week is looking good at the moment.

You may have noticed some lambs in the lower field. This is a new initiative to help the children gain some understanding of farming and food. We are very excited about it.

The Harriers are leading our Assembly tomorrow Friday 13th October do join us if you can.

The PTA disco is almost here. Tomorrow the children can put their glad rags on and come and dance the night away, well between 5-6.30 anyway.

It is individual and family photo day next Wednesday 18th October. If you would like a family photo with any preschool children please be at school for 8.30am.

There will be no school led afterschool clubs next week due to parents evenings. PAS and Gymnastics will still be on but the rest will not.

We finish for half term on Thursday 19th October. The children come back on Monday 30th October. If you are looking for something to do Manchester Science Festival is on all week. PAS are running a half term club. Inside Out Forest Schools are running Camps on 20th, 23rd and 24th. Go on their websites to find out more.

In November we are having a first aid week during which all the children will learn basic ways to help someone. The trainer has offered to run a 2 hour workshop for parents & grandparents as part of this work. The workshop will probably be on the afternoon of Friday 10th November and will cost £20 per person. I am waiting for final confirmation of the date. If you are interested in learning or refreshing your skills look out for more information.

Alice Littlehailes

St. Luke’s Governors Newsletter – October 2017

Manchester and the surrounding areas have seen some of the great scientific discoveries and personalities: Ernest Rutherford split the atom; Alan Turing invented the stored-programme computer; and more recently the wonder-material graphene was discovered and found to be 200-times stronger than steel. The Manchester physicist Professor Brian Cox is rarely off our TV screens!

Science is a core part of the primary school curriculum, but many schools have the resources to teach only the statutory requirement. Here at St. Luke’s, science is just as important as the other core subjects.

We have two members of staff, Miss. Nicholls and Mrs. McLaren, who lead on the teaching of the science curriculum across the school, and all our staff have undergone further training in this area. Miss. Nicholls and Mrs. McLaren recently attained an Enthuse Award for the school, in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) competition run by the University of Manchester.  This award helps us to develop links with the University to further improve our teaching of science.

From reception to year 6, our children are encouraged to be curious and ask questions about how science can explain what happens around them.

Our teachers run a weekly science after-school club, and we’ve seen two fantastic Science Week events over the past two years. I had the pleasure of observing and working with the children during the Science Week in June.

It was a delight to see the children immersed in a wide range of hands-on activities, many run by scientists from the University of Manchester. These included a planetarium, making DNA bracelets, a scientific ‘Wow Show’, investigating the properties of slime, experimenting with thermal cameras, and a hands-on animal show. The enthusiasm and interest across the whole school was wonderful to see.

Thirty St. Luke’s children also had the chance to participate in the Great Science Share at the Etihad Stadium in July. This event inspires young people to share with others the science they enjoy in the classroom, outdoors and in clubs.

A child’s passion for science develops from an early age. The teachers and governors of St. Luke’s are committed to doing all we can to nurture that passion.

Deb Griffiths-Jones

St. Luke’s mum, Science Link Governor and Vice-Chair of Governors

St Luke’s Newsletter

5.10.17

Dear All,

Another busy week at St Luke’s. The children are all busy learning and enjoying school.  I have particularly enjoyed Kestrel’s Rosie the Hens popping up all around school.  The Year 6s have had a fantastic time at Whitehall Outdoor Education Centre.  When I popped in to see them they were all very proud of themselves for taking up the challenges offered.

The choir today are being filmed singing the song for Derbyshire on Glossop Station. They will feature along with children from across Derbyshire in the finished film.

The PTA could not believe it when yet again the rain came down last Friday afternoon so the Scoot and Skate had to be cancelled. In other PTA news there will be a sub-committee meeting on Tuesday 10^th at 7pm at the Oakwood.  This is to plan in detail the fashion show and the Christmas fair.  If you are able to be involved with either of these events do go along.

Glossop Jog is on Sunday 8^th October. If you who are taking part you need to be there by 10.45 to sign in, the jog starts at 11. There is still time to sign up if you would like to.

Parents Evening letters have gone out for Tuesday 17^th and Wednesday 18^th October.  If one has not made it home to you do pop into the office to get one.  Please tick as many slots as possible as this makes it easier for us to fit you in, if everyone only ticks the first slot we cannot fit everyone in.

The PTA disco is fast approaching, it is next Friday 13^th October.  A flyer will be coming out with more details.

The PTA is raising money this year towards a bike shelter. If anyone has any ideas for fund raising activities they would love to hear them.

I know Bike Club is looking for more members. It meets on a Saturday 10-11 at Glossopdale School, Glossop site.  They charge £3 a child a session.  Children need a bike and a helmet.  The children love it and improve their cycling skills no end.

Mrs Hukin has asked me to remind you that dinner money needs to be paid up-front, a number of people are building up large debts.

Alice Littlehailes