Dear Parents/ Carers,

So the new school year has begun successfully. It's been great seeing children getting to know their new teachers and classrooms. I'm so proud of them all for the way they have come back to school.

Here are some reminders of important upcoming dates and events:

NEXT WEEK:

1. Thursday 15th September at 8.50am (for a 9am start) YEAR 6 parents are invited to an information workshop about applying for secondary schools. Your choices have to be made by the end of October and it's really important to get this process right. If you've never done it before, come and find out more.

2. PE lessons start next week. You will have received an email informing you of which days your child will be doing PE. Please send them in their PE uniform only on their PE days. The PE uniform is our school hoodie, plain leggings or joggers (navy or black), a light blue t-shirt, and BLACK trainers.

Reminder: Parents' Evening will be on Thursday 20th October.

Other news:

We have informed the City Council about the rats in the park. Over the Summer, the number of rats seems to have increased, and they have been seen running under the hedge bordering the school. So far, they have not got into our building. We hope that the council will be supporting the community with this issue which is made worse by littering and feeding the pigeons. The council have asked me to remind parents not to feed the birds in the park as any food attracts rats.

We had masked men in our staff car park last week. It was on a training day, just after 4pm. They threatened our caretaker with a metal bar and a drill, defaced cars and stole parts of others. The police are involved and the whole event was captured on CCTV. However, it has meant that our gates will be locked more often. Please do not park in this car park in case you find yourself locked in!

Please take care of yourselves in and around the park, as anti-social behaviour has become more prevalent over the Summer. I am in constant communication with the City Council over our play areas, as I would like a playground that is attached to the school building and belongs to us exclusively. I have been asking for this for several years, and have finally succeeded in getting a City Council officer to agree to come out and visit. I will let you know how this meeting goes, because if they will not support us, I might be asking for your support in stepping up action to alert the council to this request.

Best wishes,

Mrs Seymour