Newsletter · 30 March 2008

Dear Parents

Welcome to our latest newsletter with all the news and events of the past half-term.

Young Writers Little Laureates Competition

Once again Goodrington School pupils have surpassed themselves with their achievements. A few weeks ago, pupils from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 entered the above poetry competition. Pupils were asked to write a poem on any theme and in any poetic style that inspired them. I am pleased to inform you that 18 pupils entries have been considered good enough for publication based on perception, imagination, expression, good use of language and interpretation of poetry. The ‘spirit’ of the poem was also taken into account along with the poet’s age.

The ‘Little Laureates 2008 East of England’ is scheduled to be published on 30 June 2008. Winning entrants have been given the opportunity to purchase the book and a complimentary copy will be sent to the school. All winners have each received a certificate to mark their achievement. A list of winners and the title of their poems are printed in the Pupil Achievements section of this newsletter. Having creative work published has delighted all the pupils and, of course, the staff are very proud.

F.O.G

The F.O.G meeting held at 3.20pm on 19 February was successful and F.O.G will continue in its current form, at least until the end of this academic year. The following parents hold the posts detailed below and the next F.O.G meeting will be held on Wednesday 23 April 2008:

Chairperson – Sarah Swinge
Treasurer – Linzi Coppick
Secretary – Kerry Terry
Publicity Officer – Alison Fordham

Work is underway in promoting the Summer Fete on Saturday 7 June and the Summer Party on Friday 4 July. Please keep both dates free and give as much support as you can. Both events last year were spectacular – so don’t miss out this year!

Nurse Drop-In Service

Angela Ellington came to the school on Wednesday 20 February to offer advice. I am pleased to say that a parent who had a concern about her child was given some very helpful advice from Angela and her colleagues back at the Health Centre.

Angela will be offering a further Drop-In session on Wednesday 23 April between 3pm and 4pm in the school library, so please do come along and see her if you have any health issues that you would like to discuss.

Reception Health Review

Angela Ellington also came into school on 26 February 2008 to check the height, weight and hearing of all our Reception children, and any relevant feedback was then forwarded on to their parents.

Medicine in School

Please may I remind you, that if you require your child to be given medicine during school hours, please ensure that you take the medicine to Mrs Williams or Mrs Ruyten in the office who will ask you to complete and sign a Medicine Form. Under no circumstances, may be medicine be placed into a child’s book bag or lunch bag.

Reading Tests

These were administered to pupils in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 during the week beginning 25 February 2008. This is a useful annual exercise to help staff assess pupils and to see how well they are progressing so that the information can be relayed to parents at Parent’s Evening.

Training Courses/Seminars

I attended a seminar on the afternoon of 29 February 2008, which included an extremely important Safeguarding Children update, for all professionals working with children. As a result, I was able to feedback the latest developments to Goodrington staff.

Mrs Segrave also attended a 2 day course, covering the subject of Safeguarding Children, at the CEME centre in Rainham on 10 and 11 March 2008.

Mrs Rogers also attended a Basic Food Hygiene Course at Havering College on 13 March 2008, and both Mrs Rogers and Mrs Segrave will be providing feedback to staff during our INSET meeting on 16 April 2008.

Parents Evening

This was held on Wednesday 5 March 2008. Thank you to all parents who attended the evening. As always, the evening proved to be very productive, with parents providing very positive feedback on their child’s progress.

Inevitably, appointments sometimes overrun during the evening, and I do apologise if you did experience a delay. Although your child’s progress can be discussed throughout the year with their teacher, Parents Evening is the one official meeting where educational matters are discussed. Therefore, please could you ensure that you do leave yourself enough time around your appointment, should your child’s teacher be experiencing an overrun.

Parents passed many positive comments about the initiative they used, and my grateful thanks has been passed on to them.

World Book Day

This took place on Thursday 6 March 2008, with pupils marking the day with many enjoyable activities centred around books. Book vouchers for £1 were handed out to all pupils and I hope that everyone has been able to obtain the book of their choice.

Easter Egg Competition

The Easter Egg Competition was held in the library on Wednesday 19 March. What a superb display of decorated eggs with pupils and parents working so hard to achieve such a grand result. The winners were as follows:

Upper School

First Prize – Daria (Year 4)
Second Prize – Daisy (Year 4)
Third Prize – Louis (Year 3)

Lower School

First Prize – Alex & Emily (Year 1 & Nursery)
Second Prize – Grace (Nursery)
Third Prize – Harry (Reception)

Well done to our winners who all received a special Easter treat, and to all those pupils and parents who took part!

Building Work

During the half-term break the slope in the rear garden was landscaped and now has wide-spacing steps. The pupils are enjoying their ‘new-look’ play area and are even making up games involving the steps – quite ingenious! Our thanks to Mr Edwards for all his hard work in carrying out this work.

Furthermore, Mr Edwards will also be erecting a much needed shed for the Nursery Department during the Easter break, in order to store the bulkier items so that more space can be released in the hall.

Easter Assembly

This was held on Thursday 19 March and Sister Phaedra Green addressed both the pupils and staff. Pupils from each year group gave their perspective on the religious aspect of Easter and a meaningful assembly was enjoyed by us all. Our grateful thanks goes to Phaedra for giving her time to the school.

Sport Relief

My thanks go to Mrs Cast for organising a fun-filled afternoon of sponsored activities for the children in Years 2,3,4,5 and 6 on 12 March 2008, in order to raise valuable funds for Sport Relief. Mrs Cast has prepared a breakdown of the results for these activities, which we have attached to this newsletter.

On Friday 14 March 2008, all the children then had the opportunity to come into school, dressed in a sports outfit, and donate £1. The children in Nursery, Reception and Year 1 also had fun sporting activities organised on that morning by Mrs Wilder, Mrs Rogers, Mrs Paul and Mrs Skelton. Thank you to those staff for all their hard work.

In total, an amazing £650 was raised for this very worthwhile charity! Thank you so much for all your generosity.

Cartridge World

Thank you to all of you who used our Cartridge World Recycle Box (in the corridor) to dispose of your empty print cartridges. We have just been informed that the school’s account has been credited with £32.80 in respect of the cartridges we have collected, boosting the school’s funds as well as helping the environment. So please carry on collecting!

Furthermore, Cartridge World will credit the school with 25p when you spend £5 or more on refilled inkjet or remanufactured laser cartridges. We have given your child a collection card for this purpose, which you will find in their book bag.

Lost Property

At present, an amazing number of unnamed pieces of uniform are accumulating in the Upper School, namely Years 3 to 6. It is vital that all pieces of uniform are clearly labelled /named so that they can be swiftly returned to their rightful owners.

School Clubs

All of our after school clubs have been incredibly successful and will continue into the next half-term. I am also delighted to confirm that Mrs Segrave has also kindly offered to run an Arts and Crafts Club for the Year 3 to 6 children on a Tuesday evening. Numbers for this club will be limited to 16 children, and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

All clubs will resume week commencing Monday 21 April 2008, and all club letters for the next half-term will be distributed to the children on Thursday 17th April. Therefore, please ensure that you check your child’s book bags on that day and return the consent forms and correct payment by Monday 21 April 2008. Please note that children will not be permitted to attend the clubs if either their consent form or payment is missing.

Cranham Junior Badminton Club

Mrs Harper has informed us that the above club is looking for new members. The club meets between 9.00am and 10.30am on Saturday mornings (term-time only) at Hall Mead School. Sessions are £4 and are payable on a half-termly basis. All abilities are welcome. Please contact Linda King, Secretary on 01708 749471 or Kim Harper on 01708 620141 if you would like further details.

Reception

Amber made her promise and was enrolled as a Rainbow at 3rd Hornchurch Rainbow pack.

Lauri entered 4 solo dancing competitions and was awarded 2 golds and 2 silvers and participated in 2 duets which both came first. Lauri won the overall main trophy in her age range.

Year 2/3

William received a certificate for swimming 25 metres.

Thomas received a certificate for attaining Water Skills Two.

Oliver received a medal for winning the Essex Cup Rugby Trophy for the under 8’s.

Megan has achieved Hostess, Artist, Writer, Swimmer (1), Swimmer Advanced badges at Brownies and is working towards four more badges.

Katherine has been awarded two British Theatre Dance Association medals for Acrotrio and Modern Trio.

Year 5/6

On 1 March 2008, Jack D, along with other members of the Upminster U11 rugby team, raised £700 for helping customers pack their bags at Sainsburys in Hornchurch. This money was raised to help fund a trip to South Africa in August 2008, when Jack and the rest of the Upminster U11 going onto U12 will be touring South Africa to play other teams and schools.

Little Laureates Competition

The winners and their published poems are as follows:

What is Blue? by Oliver D
What is Red? by Caroline E
What is Red? by Katherine
A Day of Fizzy Feet’s Life by Jack W
Bullying by Terry
Flowers by Amy M-N
No Way Out by Caitlin
Bullying by Jack H
The Bully by Sam
Bully by Funmi
The Bully Round … by Acacia
School by Harrison
Lizards by Daria
My Cold by Jasmine
Day at School by Katie
Out of Rugby by Xavier
My Dog by Amy S
The Teacher With … by Fadeke

Past Pupils

From time to time, it is good to reflect upon the achievements of past pupils who attended Goodrington School, and I would like to take this opportunity to update you all on the progress of Mark, Simon and Lucy Weatherup.

Mark (attended 1991 to 1999)

Mark is currently reading Sports Journalism at Staffordshire University and is a talented football and tennis player, representing both his university and club. Mark has just tested 2008 tennis rackets for Tennis Ace magazine and features in this month’s issue, and is looking forward to his forthcoming work experience at Sky Sports.

Simon (attended 1993 to 2001)

Simon is currently studying for his A Levels at Coopers, and is also a gifted football and tennis player, representing both his school and club teams. Furthermore, Simon is a qualified tennis, badminton and squash stringer and having bought a machine, has now set up his own business. Simon also strings for a local private health club and hopes to go to Wimbledon this year to help in the stringing room. Simon has also started training to run in his first half marathon later in the year, and has also passed his driving test recently on his first attempt.

Lucy (attended 1996 to 2004)

Lucy is at Coopers studying for her GCSE’s and is a strong gymnast, representing both her school and club at national level. Lucy is going with the school to represent them in this years National Finds in April. Lucy is also a member of a stage school and looking forward to going to Barcelona with them, in order to compete in the World Dance Championships for 5 days over Easter. Lucy is also a member of a senior cheerleading squad who perform at football, basketball and wrestling matches. In June, Lucy will be participating in the London leg of the Harlem Globetrotters tour at Wembley.

After School Care

One of our parents, Mrs Amanda Hastie, is offering after school care in her home from May 2008. Amanda has advised us that she is qualified in children’s care and development level 3 and has been working at KAOS for approximately 4 years. If you are interested please call Amanda on 077984 773773.

I hope you all have a relaxing break, and look forward to seeing you all when we return on 17 April 2008 at 8.45am with prompt registration at 9.00am.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs J.R. Ellenby
Head Teacher

Newsletter · 8 February 2008

Dear Parents

Welcome to our latest newsletter with all the news and events of the past half-term.

Independent Heads Meeting

This meeting was held on Tuesday 29 January 2008 at Gidea Park College. All the local Heads met to discuss relevant issues. Again, this was an informative meeting for the benefit of independent schools in Havering.

Information Evening – Nursery to Reception Transition

This meeting was held on Wednesday 23 January at 7pm, with the parents of Nursery children, in order to discuss the benefits of their child progressing into our Reception class.

Thank you to all parents and staff who attended, and to Mrs Wilson who spoke from a parent’s perspective.

Following this meeting, I am delighted to confirm that eleven children from our Nursery will be joining our Reception Class in September.

Nursery Places for September 2008

Nursery places for September 2008 are filling fast. If you have a child who has reached the age of 3 by 4th September 2008, and you would like to reserve a place, please ensure that you complete a registration form as soon as possible. Goodrington continues to participate in the Nursery funding scheme, which is available to all 3 and 4 year old children.

Please contact Mrs Williams, in the office, for further details regarding the availability of sessions for September 2008.

School Clubs

All of our after school clubs have been incredibly successful and will continue into the next half-term. In fact, letters have already been sent out for the next half-term sessions, so please do ensure that you return the consent forms and correct payment by Monday 18 February 2008. Please note that children will not be permitted to attend the clubs if either the consent form or payment is missing.

School Trips

I would like to confirm that the following school trips have now been booked, and letters outlining full details will be sent out nearer the time:

Years 2, 3 & 4 will be visiting Ingatestone Hall on 13 May 2008.

Years 5 & 6 will be visiting Duxford War Museum on 21 May 2008.

Nursery, Reception & Year 1 will be visiting the London Aquarium on 13 June 2008.

Nurse Drop-In Service

You will already have received a letter regarding this new service offered to our school, via the Primary Care Trust. I sincerely hope that you will take advantage of the expertise offered by our School Nurse, Angela Ellington, who will be available in the school library at the following times:

Wednesday 20 February 2008 – 3.00pm to 4.00pm
Wednesday 23 April 2008 – 3.00pm to 4.00pm

Reception Health Review

Our Reception children have all been offered the opportunity of participating in a health review, conducted by our School Nurse, on 26 February 2008 at 2.00pm. This review will check the children’s’ height, weight and hearing, so please do not forget to return the Parental Questionnaire if you would like your child to take part.

Growing-up Talk

Our School Nurse or one of her team members will be giving the ‘Growing-up Talk’ to Year 5 and 6 children on 20 May 2008. The girls’ session will be held from 1.30pm to 2.15pm and boys’ session will be held between 2.15pm and 2.45pm.

Medical Update

Can you please inform the office immediately, if your child has developed a medical condition or allergy in the last 12 months and we will provide you with the necessary form to complete.

It is vital that you inform the school if there are any changes to your child’s health.

Midday Assistant

I am pleased to confirm that Mrs Harper joined us as a Midday Assistant on 4 February 2008, and Mrs Patel will be taking up her post as a Midday Assistant on 18 February 2008.

We are delighted to welcome them both into our staff team, and wish them every success.

New Pupils

We extend a warm welcome to Megan who joined Year 3 on 14 January and to Felicity who will be joining Year 4 on 18 February.

We wish you both every success and happiness at Goodrington!

Websites

A reminder to parents, following the letter sent out to all pupils on 29 January 2008, to be vigilant when their child is on the computer at home. Please do put in as many safeguards as possible to protect your child from younger people’s sites, which may not always be as innocent as they first appear.

Contact Details

Thank you to all those parents who have already returned the Pupil Contact Forms that were sent out at the end of January. Please ensure that any outstanding Forms are returned by Monday 18 February.

Illness

Despite previous requests to parents, to keep ill pupils at home, a small number are still coming into school and spreading germs. We are a small community where illness can spread quickly and easily. At one point, during the week of 28 January, I had 4 staff absent because of viruses they had contracted, which obviously puts added pressure upon staff that were in school.

Whilst I appreciate that parents need to work, please do ensure that you have contingency plans in place, should your child become ill.

Focus on Literacy

The Focus on Literacy Scheme that is used throughout the school has been updated in line with the Government’s New Literacy Framework.

I am pleased to say I have been able to purchase the latest updated version for all pupils in Years 3 to 6, and the new books for Years 1 and 2 are due to arrive after Easter.

Ms Sue Steward – Inclusion Manager

Ms Steward’s role as Inclusion Manager, within Havering Council, is to ensure that all pupils attend school both regularly and on time. Ms Steward will be looking at our daily registers and I would, therefore, like to remind all parents to ensure that their child(ren) are in school every day (illness exempt) and that they arrive in time for prompt registration at 9am. Please be reminded that any pupils who are not in their class for their 9am registration will be given a late mark.

Asda – Go Green for Schools

The school has registered to participate in the above scheme which commenced on 12th January and ends on 10 March 2008.

Every time you visit ASDA and use an alternative to new carrier bags, you will be given a voucher. Please post your vouchers in the Asda Collection Box in the hallway and we can then redeem them for environmentally linked prizes such as bird view remote cameras, solar panels, weather stations and grow beds.

Please ask all your family and friends to help us in collecting these vouchers.

New Shed

A new shed has been purchased for the Nursery Department, in order to store their larger equipment and toys. It will be erected during the half-term holiday, in the grounds behind the hall.

Sport Relief – 14 March 2008

Information regarding Sport Relief has started to arrive in school. Fun events will be organised by Mrs Cast on Wednesday 12 March for Years 2 to 6 and by staff for the Nursery, Reception and Year 1 children, during the same week.

I hope that you, your friends and family will be able to sponsor your child for the event that they participate in. Further information will be sent to you in due course.

Notice Period

I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents that, in accordance with our terms and conditions, there is a term’s notice period if you decide to withdraw your child from Goodrington School. For example, if you are moving out of the area in the Summer Term and your child is due to start a new school in September 2008, you must inform the school by the end of the Spring Term (27 March 2008) that they will not be returning to Goodrington otherwise a term’s fees will still be payable.

Fees

The fees have been reviewed for the start of the Autumn term and remain exceptionally competitive. The revised fees, with effect from 1 September 2008, are as follows:

Main School

Fees and tuition including book will be £1300 per term.

Nursery

Full-time sessions will be £1300 per term.

Morning sessions will be £156.00 per morning session per term.
Afternoon session will be £104.00 per afternoon session per term.

Morning refreshments will be £40 per term.

Payment of Fees

Whilst the school is happy to accept cash payments in respect of fees, please always ensure that you (or the individual bringing in the cash payment on your behalf), hand the cash directly to Mrs Williams or Mrs Ruyten in the office. You or your representative must then remain in the office while the cash is counted. This protects both the interests of parents and staff, should there ever be any discrepancy regarding the amount of cash brought into the school.

It gives me great pleasure to inform you that Jack D and Sam in Year 6 have been awarded places at Brentwood School in September. They have both worked extremely hard, under the guidance of Mrs Segrave and we are very proud of them. Very many congratulations, Jack and Sam – you are a credit to our school and I know Brentwood School will benefit from your presence.

Tami, in Year 1, wrote the following:

“On Saturday 2 February, I went to United Reformed Church, Romford with my dance school, Carlton School of Dance. We were Number Two. First we got changed and we had make-up. Then it was ready for us to dance. It took a long time for us to come and dance on stage and Number Two came first and won the trophy. They took pictures of us with the trophy.”

Congratulations go to Tami and her dance school!

I hope you all have a relaxing break, and look forward to seeing you all when we return on Monday 18 February 2008 at 8.45am with prompt registration at 9.00am.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs J.R. Ellenby
Head Teacher

Newsletter · 18 December 2007

Dear Parents

Welcome to our latest newsletter with all the news and events of the past half-term.

Havering Young Citizens of the Year Awards

This is an annual event run by a committee of persons representative of the local authority, the Romford Recorder, education, local business, The Havering Youth Offending Team and Havering Borough Police.

The first awards took place in 1991 and this time, over 1000 young people under 21 years have received awards.

The awards are in recognition of young persons, living or educated in Havering, who it is considered have given freely and selflessly in serving the community in any of the following ways:

·Helping others
·Courage
·Outstanding personal achievement
·Overcoming personal disadvantage

If you feel you are able to nominate a young person, forms are held in the office. Nominations must be returned to Upminster Police Station by Friday 18 January at the very latest.

Haileybury

Haileybury School in Hertfordshire invited 22 prep and primary schools to enter their prestigious Art Competition earlier in the year and a number of entries from Goodrington School were sent off.

Judging had taken a long time, as a huge amount of work from the schools had been submitted. Awards were presented to pupils who were deemed to have produced the best pieces of work in response to the theme, Home and Abroad: countries, cultures and environments, from each of the schools that entered.

Top awards within the Goodrington School entries were made to Xavier, who achieved first place in age category Years 3 to 4, and to Daisy who achieved second place in the same category. Jack D achieved first place in age category Years 5 to 6 with Acacia, in second place.

Haileybury welcomed the winners and their families on Saturday 24 November to the Awards Ceremony.

It was a lovely occasion with the opportunity to view the pupils’ delightful artwork against a themed musical backdrop, courtesy of members of the award winning Haileybury choir.

We had delicious refreshments on arrival at 10.00am and the Awards Ceremony commenced promptly at 10.30am. The Haileybury Head Teacher and staff were most welcoming and congratulated the award winners at the presentation ceremony.

At 11.30am we were able to take a tour of the school, absorbing the fascinating buildings and history of the school, as told by one of the Haileybury pupils.

At 12.15pm, we left Haileybury very proud of our achievements.

Uniform Check

Despite having the recent uniform check, items of clothing are still being found without name labels. Too much time has to be spent by staff trying to locate the items rightful owners. Please endeavour to mark ALL items CLEARLY AND SECURELY with your child’s name.

Courses

The following staff have recently been on training courses, in order to keep up to date with the latest information.

Mrs J Segrave: Perspectives on Autism
Mrs J Skelton: Frinton First Aid
Mrs J Williams: Fire Awareness

Pupil Profile Week

The completion of these books by pupils in Reception up to Year 6, were sent home on Friday 16 November. I am sure you enjoyed reading all their hard work for the week and that you could see an improvement from the last time they were sent home. This exercise will be repeated again in approximately six months time.

Children in Need

Pupils enjoyed taking part in the non-uniform day on Friday 16 November 2007, which raised £80 for the BBC charity and will go towards many good causes. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

Midday Assistant

We have a vacancy for a Midday Assistant to supervise our Nursery children between 12 noon and 1.00pm, Monday to Friday with either Mrs Terry or Mrs Murphy. If you are interested or know somebody who is interested in this position, please contact Mrs Williams in the office on our return to school in January.

Please note that the successful applicant will need to undergo an enhanced CRB check.

Lateness

I would like to remind parents that registration is held promptly at 9am and pupils need to be in their classroom at that time to avoid getting a late mark. Please ensure your child arrives in plenty of time to sort themselves out in the cloakroom and to be in their classroom by 9am.

Carol Concert Cover Competition

Our annual Carol Concert cover competition was held on Monday 19 November. The book winners were Yasmin in Year 4 (front cover) and Lauri in Reception (inside front cover). Congratulations to them both and thank you to all pupils who entered.

Christmas Tree

Year 6 pupils decorated our Christmas tree this year by the side entrance, and I am sure you will agree that they did a very good job.

Christmas Cards

You will have recently received your printed Christmas cards that the pupils started to prepare way back in September. I am sure you were as thrilled as we were with the results. Once again Linzi Coppick took on the task of collating everything for the printers and our grateful thanks go to her.

Children and Young Peoples Plan 2008

As part of the Every Child in Havering Matters agenda, I attended the above conference on Friday 7 December. Attending these conferences always proves to be so worthwhile, as I am able to represent the Independent sector for our area.

Carol Concert

As always, our annual Carol Concert proves to be one of the highlights of the year. This year staff decided upon a traditional format of carols and readings with the Nursery and Reception pupils delighting us all with their Nativity. The new venue of St Andrew’s Church made our concert all the more special as it had such a festive feel.

Our grateful thanks go to Reverend Barry Hobson who took part in our concert, and to all those who decorated the church so beautifully.

The retiring collection of £150.52 was raised for St Andrew’s as a thank you for letting us host our Carol Concert in the church.

Queen’s Theatre Carol Singing

The pupils enjoyed singing at this informal annual event, prior to the 2pm afternoon matinee. Parents, family, friends and the general public joined in with traditional and non-traditional carols to put everyone in the festive spirit. Thank you to all the parents who helped to escort the pupils to the theatre.

The amount of £83.34 was raised for the Little Haven Children’s Hospice.

Kindas – Uniform

On Friday 14 December, the representative from Kinda’s visited me at the school to discuss the uniform. It appears that Banner have discontinued making the current pinafore and I have decided upon a very similar style.

The summer dress was also discussed and I have decided to update this style too, to one which will suit all sizes of pupils.

Goodrington school uniform is one that is very distinctive. I know pupils often receive compliments on how smart it is and you can be assured that I will always protect this very special uniform. Inevitably, manufacturers change materials etc from time to time but I will endeavour to keep as closely as I can to the original style and colours.

New Pupils

A warm welcome is extended to Grace in the Nursery and Teri in Year 1. We wish you every success and happiness at Goodrington!

Driving and Parking in Walden Road

Please may I again remind you to drive slowly and carefully down Walden Road when bringing your children to and from school.

Furthermore, please ensure that you do not park across residents’ driveways.

As you know, I am always working to stay on good terms with the residents in Walden Road, and I would be grateful if you could all do your utmost to support me in ensuring that this objective is achieved.

Contagious Illnesses

Please ensure that you do not send your child to school with a contagious illness, such as chicken pox or measles, as this is unfair both to other children and staff.

Road Signs

I am sure you are aware of the new ‘school’ road signs which have been located at the top of Walden Road (by the builder’s yard) and along Butts Green Road. During a community meeting in the Spring, I brought the lack of signs for our school, to the attention of Sergeant Warburton. Following his advice, I then contacted Highways and Byways at Havering Council and their combined efforts have resulted in the large signs being erected.

My grateful thanks go to both Sergeant Warburton and Havering Council for helping to further the safety of our pupils.

Fees

Invoices have now been despatched for the Spring Term fees, which I would like to remind you are due for payment by Wednesday 16 January 2008, otherwise interest at 2% per calendar month will be charged.

As you are aware, the prompt payment of school fees is essential for running a successful school, so please do ensure that they are paid on time.

A last minute plea to our school, from the Hornchurch and Upminster Rotary Club, resulted in 14 shoe boxes, filled with toys, being sent abroad to children less fortunate than our own. There was an excellent response and I would like to thank you on behalf of the local Rotarians.

I then donated the surplus toys to Time FM who are distributing them to children in care, across the boroughs of Havering and Barking and Dagenham.

Pupils Walking Home

Please note that only pupils from Year 6 are allowed to walk, or make their own way to school in the morning and then home from school, at the end of the day. This is on the understanding that a covering letter, requesting that your child is to travel alone, is sent into me to authorise. Please note that no other pupil from any other year group will be given permission to come to school or to go home alone.

Holiday Request Form

Please remember that you must complete a Holiday Request Form at least 14 days before a proposed period of absence, for any holiday of half a day or more that you wish your child to take during term-time. Unfortunately, we have had some instances this last week, where no request has been made and parents have simply informed us at the last minute that their children would not be at school for the last day and a half. This is unacceptable and I must advise you that such absence will be regarded as unauthorised.

As always, we hope that family holidays will be arranged in the school holiday periods.

Pupil Achievements

I am delighted to report the following pupil achievements:

Year 4

Xavier – Haileybury Art Competition (achieved first place in Age Categories Years 3 and 4)
Daisy – Haileybury Art Competition (achieved second place in Age Categories Years 3 and 4)

Years 5/6

Jack D – Haileybury Art Competition (achieved first place in Age Categories Years 5 and 6)
Acacia – Haileybury Art Competition (achieved second place in Age Categories Years 5 and 6) and runner-up in the Link FM Handwriting Competition.
Alex M-N –Runner-up in the Link FM Handwriting Competition.

School Parties

The Nursery and Reception class held their Christmas Party on Wednesday 12 December. Thank you to all the parents who supplied food and drink.

The children had a wonderful time and were very excited when Father Christmas arrived. As you can see from the photograph overleaf, he was assisted by Cydney who, dressed as a Christmas pudding, helped to give out presents and sweets.
The party for the older pupils (Year 1 to Year 6) was held immediately after the carol singing at the Queen’s Theatre. The Conservative Club across the road was the perfect venue, and all the children had a thoroughly good time. My thanks go to F.O.G for organising a super end of term event for the pupils.

Presents to staff

Your generosity to the staff at this time of the year is overwhelming. Where possible, staff have thanked you personally for the gifts they have received. Inevitably, at this busy time, some of you may have been missed. May I thank you all via this newsletter for being so kind.

The Autumn Term is always busy and challenging and yet I am sure its those very reasons that seem to make the time go so quickly. No sooner have we started the academic year in September, when Christmas soon appears around the corner!

It is a wonderful time of the year and magical for the younger and older pupils alike.

On a personal level, my family received an early Christmas present this year, when my son Matthew and his partner Jane became the proud parents of Lillirose, who was born at 1.03am on Wednesday 12 December, weighing 7lb 3oz.

Seasons Greetings to each and everyone of you, and thank you for all your continued support.

I look forward to seeing you all when we return on Thursday 10 January 2008 at 8.45am with prompt registration at 9.00am.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs J.R. Ellenby
Head Teacher

Ofsted Inspection · 25 May 2007

On Thursday 10 May, we received a telephone call that Ofsted were coming to visit the school on Monday 14 May until Wednesday 16 May.

Mrs Jill Bainton was the Lead Inspector and was accompanied by Mrs Norma Ball. No stone is left unturned during these inspections and I am thrilled to inform you that Goodrington received a glowing report. Many complimentary comments were passed and Mrs Ball who was only with us on the Tuesday said she would have liked to stay but she had to be at another school on the Wednesday. In her summing up, Mrs Bainton said that parents were receiving very good value for money.

The published report is available for download:
Goodrington School_Report.pdf
A copy will also be available in the school office.

RSS / Atom