Monkton Park Newsletter Friday 5th July 2024

Mrs Spencer

It is with a mixture of sadness and gratitude that we announce the retirement of Mrs Spencer who is stepping down due to health reasons. Mrs Spencer has been a dedicated and much valued member of our team at Monkton Park since 2020 and throughout her time here has brought a whole range of expertise to the school. As many of you know, Mrs Spencer has been battling stage 4 bowel cancer and despite the challenges she has faced, her strength and determination have inspired us all. Although Mrs Spencer will be hugely missed, she has promised frequent visits back to read with the children. I am sure you will join us in wishing her the very best.

Reports, Class lists and Move up morning

We will be sending school reports home next week along with their new class. On Thursday 11th July children will get to spend part of the morning with their new teacher in their new classroom. On this day all children should go to their existing class as normal. Next year's classes will be taught by the following staff:

Field mice: Miss Love

Rabbits: Mrs Lazenby

Hedgehogs: Mrs Contardi

Otters: Miss Mcfarlane

Owls: Miss Wills

Squirrels: Mrs Hamilton

Foxes: Mr Williams, Mrs Schonfeld

Badgers: Mr Prosser

Pine Martens: Miss Murphy

Reminder

Colorfoto have asked if we can do a reminder to parents that the deadline for ordering photos free to school is Sunday at midnight. After that they will have to pay postage to their home address.

Scooters

Please can we ask all children arriving on bikes or scooters to wear helmets.

School Dinners

Due to a change in menu, meals will need to be rebooked for Monday 8th and Monday 22nd July. You can order school lunches on School Grid.

Summer Term Dates

Term 6 is always busy in school, with lots of exciting things going on. Please see below for some of the key dates.

Thursday 18th July - Leavers Assembly - 1400 (Y6 families only)

Friday 19th July - Leavers BBQ - 1630 (Y6 families only)

Wiltshire Council Wraparound Care Survey

Wiltshire Council has been allocated money to develop wraparound childcare (before and after school places) and parents should expect to see more availability from September 2024. To enable Wiltshire Council to build a picture of where wraparound childcare needs to be developed, they are running a parent/carer survey on what unmet demand for wraparound childcare exists.

https://surveys.wiltshire.gov.uk/s/Wraparound

Weekly Achievement Awards

Achievement certificates

Achievement certificates are awarded to one child per class every week in our celebration assembly.

Congratulations this week to: Samawah, Melody, Isabella, Aubrie, Skyla - Rose, Jacob B, Josiah, Lorena & George T

Hot Chocolate Friday

Congratulations to this weeks hot chocolate winners.

This weeks achievers are: Ava, Tommy, Ashley, Martha S, Leo, Hector, Belle, Leo & Saskia

Star Writer

Our Star Writers this week are: Scarlett, Ezra, Maddie, Poppy, George, Tiarna, Aylah, Caelan & Jack

Requests

FOMPS

FOMPS Update: Keeping the Spirit Alive!

🌟 Monkfest Revival Summer Fair: We hope everyone had a fantastic time at the Monkfest Revival summer fair last weekend. The live music, vibrant stalls, delicious treats, and joyful community spirit made it a memorable event!

💰 Our last Disco Bounty! Our disco fever raised a whopping £607.75! 💃💸 That’s like, a gazillion glow sticks. Thank you everybody! 💪

🗓️ Upcoming Events:

1. Last Meeting of the Year: Join us on Monday, 15th July at 8:30 PM in the bungalow for our final meeting of this school year. Your input matters!

2. Annual General Meeting (AGM): Mark your calendars for Thursday, 26th September at 6:30 PM in the school hall. Let’s shape the future of FOMPS together.

🌱 Why We Need You: FOMPS has been busy organising discos, the Christmas Fair, mufti days, cake sales, book swaps, and the Scarecrow Trail. We’ve repaired, created, cleaned, and fundraised—all to enhance the school experience. But here’s the challenge: as children move on, we need fresh faces to keep FOMPS thriving.

🙌 Step Up and Get Involved: Can you spare a few hours? Whether you’re a seasoned volunteer or a newcomer, your contribution matters. Join us, be part of the magic, and help FOMPS continue its vital work. Together, we’ll create lasting memories and support our wonderful school community!

For more information, reach out to Dan or any committee member via email at fompspta@gmail.com. Let’s make a difference! 🌈

Affordable Schools

At Monkton Park School, we have recently engaged with Wiltshire’s ‘Affordable Schools’ strategy because we understand it can be difficult to talk about money worries. People finding it hard to make ends meet often hang on and try and sort things out themselves; not seeking help until the situation has become very difficult. Whatever the issues you are facing, we would encourage you to ask for support. With guidance from the ‘Affordable Schools’ strategy, we have created a page on our website under the ‘Parents’ tab that signposts support and guidance. Alternatively, please feel free to get in touch with us here at school. You can contact our Family Link Worker, Jen Marshall or contact the office in school on admin@monktonpark.wilts.sch.uk.

Wiltshire's Affordable Schools Strategy

Parent Resource - online safety

In a survey with pupils in Y3-Y6 we found that lots of children have very active online lives. Many use apps such as WhatsApp or Snapchat and we would recommend regular checks with your child to see which groups they are part of. Some groups can contain over 100 people and can lead to children being exposed to inappropriate language. This is always best done in a supportive way with your child and the recording below has lots of advice. Other children said that they use games which are not age appropriate e.g. Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto.

Please see links below to the parent resources and recording of the Online Safety talk

Parents resource pack

Recording Link (please do NOT to share this link publicly online / social media etc)

Chippenham Uniform Exchange
Riverside Preschool
Fuel Provision
Police community event
Up and Under summer course
Summer School
Children's club
Holiday club
Summer Cricket Camp
Parent courses
Spurgeons Timetable
Castle Coombe Football

.

TD Days

Tuesday 23rd July

Wednesday 24th July

Term Dates 2023/24

2023/2024
2024/2025