Dear parents and carers,
Welcome back
We hope you had an enjoyable break, and that you and the children are ready for the term ahead. We are delighted to welcome our two new members of staff, Mr. Stoodley and Mr. Schjelde and all the new children who have joined us this term. We have a busy year planned and all confirmed dates for the year are on this newsletter; new dates will be added as we go through for the year.
Thank you from the staff
All the staff would like to say a big thank you for the gifts we received at the end of the summer term; they were all much appreciated.
FODS Welcome Back BBQ, Saturday 14 September
The Friends of Dr South’s would like to invite all families to a start-of-year barbecue at the Village Hall on Saturday 14 September from 3.30-5.30pm. Freshly barbecued sausages/burgers (including veggie options) will be provided, and drinks and ice creams will be available to purchase on the day. Weather depending, we also hope to organise a game of rounders for the children. Please pre-order burgers and hotdogs (£2.50 each) via ParentPay by 5pm on Thursday 12 September so that we can ensure that we have enough food.
As ever, these events depend on parents volunteering to help. If you are able to help on the day by manning the BBQ, bar etc, please sign up using this link (https://forms.gle/r6WRU8tyGKDdy9Pv8
Change of timings
Don’t forget that school will now start at 8.45am for Reception upwards. This is to ensure the school is aligned to the Department for Education requirements.
Forest School
This does NOT start next week. Families of children in Years 6 and 4 will receive letters next week alerting them to the start date which will be the following week.
Class Meetings
All parents are invited to meet the staff next week and to find out about what their child will be learning this term. Please enter via the school office. These will be held as follows:
Monday 3.00pm– Oak
Tuesday 3.00pm – Beech
Wednesday 2.45pm – Willow
Thursday 3.00pm – Ash
Do not worry if you are not able to attend as all the information covered will be circulated after the meeting.
Clubs
After school clubs begin next week and there are some spaces available for selected clubs if you have not yet signed up. The clubs booking form can be found on the website. Please complete the form and email to the school office if you wish to book a club. We now have a range of lunch time clubs and there is still time to sign up for these. Lunch time clubs will begin on the 16th September.
Cookery
This starts next week for children in Beech Class. We ask for a contribution of £5 per child for the term for all children from Year 1 upwards; this is available for payment on ParentPay at your convenience.
Apples
In the autumn much of our cookery curriculum involves apples and other seasonal fruit. If you have any extra cooking apples, please pass onto Serinne who will use them in the sessions with the children.
Library
Over the summer we have refurbished our school library. The children have been to visit this week and will be able to borrow books to bring home from next week. A huge thank you to Mrs Barnhill who spent many days over the summer holidays building bookcases, filling bookcases and organising wall decorations and furniture.
We would also like to thank the FODS who donated funds raised from the Big Bike Ride which have enabled us to create this wonderful space. There will be an official opening of the new library later this month and you will be invited to come and see the changes that have been made.
This week we congratulated:
Willow Class: Izaia, for great listening during story time; Edith, for concentrating so well when drawing and colouring;
Ash Class: Matilda, for superb concentration and effort in everything we have done this week; Bella, for fantastic descriptive writing in Literacy;
Oak Class: Brodie, for settling in to Oak Class so beautifully; Rosie, for being so helpful and for expressing herself very well in all lessons;
Beech Class: Charlie V, for excellent writing and settling in to new expectations; Charlie G, for settling into Beech Class so well and for wonderful manners.
Our Christian value for the term is Courage. This week we have been thinking about how having courage will help us try new things in the coming year.
Dates for the year
09/09/2024 3.00pm Oak Class meeting
10/09/2024 3.00pm Beech Class meeting
11/09/2024 2.45pm Willow Class meeting
12/09/2024 3.00pm Ash Class meeting
14/09/2024 FODS BBQ
03/10/2024 Harvest Festival – 2pm
7/10/2024 Flu vaccinations
07/10/2024 Bikabililty Year 5
21/10/2024 Parents consultations
24/10/2024 Parents consultations
28/10/2024 Half term week
04/11/2024 INSET Day – school closed
05/12/2024 2pm Christingle Service
12/12/2024 Willow Nativity performance
19/12/2024 End of term
20/12/2024 INSET Day – school closed
06/01/2025 Start of term
14/02/2025 Soup Lunch and Talent Show
17/02/2025 Half term week
26/02/2025 Junior Citizen Trip Beech Class
03/03/2025 Parent Consultations
04/03/2025 Parent Consultations
06/03/2025 World Book Day
14/03/2025 Red Nose Day
04/04/2025 2pm Easter Service
04/04/2025 End of term
21/4/2025 Bank holiday – school closed
22/04/2025 Start of term
05/05/2025 Early May Bank Holiday – school closed
23/05/2025 May Day celebrations
26/05/2025 Half term week
19/06/2025 Sports Day
03/07/2025 Oak and Beech production, 1.30pm and 6.00pm
07/07/2025 Beech Residential
09/07/2025 Ash and Willow production, 2.00pm
18/07/2025 Leavers’ Service
18/07/2025 End of term
21/07/2025 INSET Day – school closed
22/07/2025 INSET Day – school closed
Don’t forget – you can always check term dates at: https://dr-souths.co.uk/term-dates/