Sandiway Primary School Newsletter
Newsletter 9 Wednesday 7th November 2018
www.sandiway.cheshire.sch.uk admin@sandiway.cheshire.sch.uk
Outdoor Learning Week
We are delighted to welcome back
Mark Harnden from ‘Get Outside the
Classroom’ to our school next week; he
will be working with all the classes to
support their outdoor learning. The
focus of the activities will be around
the PE curriculum with an emphasis on
the ‘adventurous activities’ aspect of
the curriculum. However, there will
also be links with geography, science,
and team building.
Mark will be working with the school
staff to deliver the activities so that we
can carry on the adventures at a future
date. Depending upon ages, the
experience of the children and the
weather conditions, we may also be
exploring parts of our local area for a
longer walk. We have already obtained
permission to take children out of
school using our ‘general permissions’
letter, so we won’t need to issue more
slips to gain this permission, but you
can see below the times when your
children will be involved in the
activities to keep you updated as to
your children’s location.
There is no charge for these activities
as we are funding them through the
‘Sports Premium’, however, there is
some preparation we would like your
support with:
If you are able to help with the half
day, please email your child’s class
teacher (email addresses are on the
school website under ‘School
Information’ à ‘School Staff – Who’s
who’). It is a preference that you
already have a DBS check undertaken.
Please dress the children suitably for
the half day – the best way to do this is
to watch out for the weather forecast
as near as possible to the day. If the
weather is wet/cold, the outdoor
activities will still go ahead. Mark
advises that waterproof coat/trousers
if you have any, could be very helpful
for full enjoyment. Layers are always
good as they can be put on/taken off. A
spare set of shoes and socks would also
be helpful to change into afterwards. If
the weather is looking very wet, you
may even consider a full change of
clothes being sent in. Can I please leave
Autumn Term 2018
it with you to consider your child and
their outdoor experience?
The older children (Y3-Y6) will have
opportunities to use maps as part of
the task. As an optional extra, and with
your permission, they will be allowed
to bring their phones into school using
a particular app. For iPhones/Android
phones, there is a free app called OS
Locate (by Ordnance Survey). If you are
happy for their phones to be in school,
please download this app in advance of
the day. You will recognise the app as a
directional compass similar to the
plastic ones available. It also uses the
phone’s GPS to give an Ordnance
Survey 6-figure grid reference
(something that Year 6 need to
understand as part of their geography
curriculum). Incidentally, this is a good
app to have in the event of having to
call an emergency service if you happen
to be lost/injured in the middle of the
countryside – not something we will
need next week – I quickly add!
Please make sure that phones are
charged and ready to go. It will be the
children who will be responsible for
their phones on the day and they
should not be used for any other
purpose during the day – we will tell
them that and I ask that you also speak
to them about this please. We have a
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Policy
on our school website, should you wish
to read this.
We will take plenty of images and put
these on Twitter to help you join in the
experience. I really hope that the week
will be a wonderful experience for the
children and staff – supporting their
physical, emotional and mental well-
being – and most importantly: be fun!
Please note the days for each year
group:
Monday: Y3 (pm)
Tuesday: Y2 (am) Y5 (pm)
Wednesday: Y1 (am) Y4 (pm)
Thursday: Reception (am) Y6 (pm)
Y6 Bikeability
Each year, we give Year 6 children the
opportunity to take part in cycle
training. This will also be taking place
next week. Initially, the children are
trained (by cycling instructors) on the
school playground. They are then taken
off onto local roads in smaller groups to
be trained in the safe use of a bicycle
on our roads. This is always an
excellent experience for our children
and it has really helped to develop their
skills and road sense.
Poppies
Thank you for your support so far – we
have had to order more poppies in for
the children! These will be continued to
be sold until the end of this week.
Holiday Dates
The dates for next academic year
(2019-2020) have now been agreed by
the School Governors. These are
displayed on the school website under
‘School Office’ à ‘School term/holiday
dates’. Please use these to help plan
your family holidays as a means to
avoid any unauthorised leave that is
taken during the term times.
Mr Chris Priddey (Headteacher)
Diary Dates
w/b 12 Nov Outdoor Learning week
Y6 Bikeability
13 Nov Y5 Conway Residential meeting
for parents (from 6.00pm)
19 Nov Flu vaccinations (R-Y5)
23 Nov Non-uniform day for tombola
prizes
28 Nov Rec/KS1 Reading information
Evening (6.00pm)
30 Nov Non-uniform day for tombola
prizes
7 Dec Christmas Fair (5.00-7.00pm)
14 Dec Christmas Jumper Day
Christmas lunch
Christmas Play for the children
to watch
18 Dec Rec/KS1 Christmas Performances
(9.30am and 6.00pm)
19 Dec Rec and Y6 to The Grange
Theatre
19 Dec Y3/4 Carol Service in St John’s
Church (6.30pm)
21 Dec Break up for Christmas holiday
7 Jan Children and staff return to
school