Class Lists
Please don't forget to record the names of three children that your child would like to be with in class in next year. Names can be added by clicking here.
Staff changes
We have a number of staffing changes next year and we will be really sad to wave them goodbye at the end of the academic year.
Mrs McCartney will be leaving to join the local authority in the SEN service. Mrs McCartney has been at Monkton Park for an impressive 13 years and during that time she has been an excellent EYFS leader for us, ensuring a rich and exciting provison for our youngest learners. Caroline has recently led PHSE and the healthy schools award too. We wish her the very best in her new role.
Mrs Bevan will be leaving to join a new school on a full time basis. Mrs Bevan has been at Monkton Park for an equally impressive 10 years and has worked in our early years for the majority of that time. As such she has made a big impact in our early years whilst also delivering our Real PE workshops for parents brilliantly and leading music across the whole school. We wish her the very best in her new role.
Mrs Rees will be leaving to join a new school after also working at Monkton Park for 13 years. Huge thanks to Mrs Rees for the fantastic work she has done in our wildlife area and for our forest schools provision. As well as that Mrs Rees has taken the lead for our outdoor days whilst also leading history across the school.
We will also be waving farewell to Mrs O'Neill who will be retiring at the end of the academic year. Mrs O'Neill has covered classes across the whole school since 2016 and has been a huge support to all of our teachers over a number of years whilst also leading DT across the whole school. We wish her the very best for her retirement.
Congratulations to Mrs Davies who will be embarking on teacher training next year. Mrs Davies has also been with us since 2016 and supported multiple children across the school during that time. This year she has also covered a number of classes as a cover supervisor and we wish her the very best in her training.
Congratulations also to Mrs Pick who will be leaving us to join Hardenhuish as English teacher from September. Mrs Pick has made a huge difference to all the pupils in key stage 2 and we have appreciated her incredible knowledge of books! We wish her the very best of luck for next year.
This week's assembly
In Monday's assembly we talked about our child friendly anti-bullying policy (or handbook). The children gave some brilliant answers about how they should be able to feel at school. As part of this we also talked about what bullying looks like using the acronym STOP (several times on purpose) and some of the different forms it can take.
Thank you also to those that completed our recent anti-bullying survey. We had 15 responses which have all been really useful in helping us to review our existing processes and procedures. As soon as they are completed and approved by governors we look forward to sharing both our new anti-bullying policies with you and the pupils.
Wimbledon
We are delighted to announce that on Saturday 13th July we are able to take 6 children to Wimbledon this year. If your child is in Year 5 or Year 6 and would like to enter the draw to go please enter their details by clicking the link here. Winners will be announced in next week's newsletter. Please note parents of children attending will be asked to make a £10 contribution to the cost of the day.
Sports Week
Next week ( Monday 24th - Friday 28th June) is sports week. There is lots going on so children will need outdoor PE kit in everyday next week.
Healthy Eating Poster Competition
As part of our Sports and Healthy Me Week we are asking children to design a healthy eating poster that we can display around school to promote eating healthy foods. Please can all poster entries be submitted to the school office by Thursday 27th June. There will be prizes for the most informative and colourful posters for each Key Stage. Please encourage the children to be as creative as they want! Judging will be done by the school council members.
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.
Tuesday 25th June - Sports Day - KS2 at 0930 & KS1 at 1330
Sunday 30th June - Monkfest Revival - 13-1600
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: Alex, Florence, Max, Advik, Louie, Isabelle, Lydia, Annabel & Darcey
Hot Chocolate Friday
Congratulations to this weeks hot chocolate winners.
This weeks achievers are: Woody, Alex, Elissa, Molly, Rytas, Wilbur, Isla F, Alfie & Ellie
Star Writer
Our Star Writers this week are: Max, Sebastian, Dorothy, Oscar, Ethan, Hector, Taeya, Sammy & George
Requests
Mrs Marshall would like some picnic blankets for lunchtimes, so please bring to the office if you have any spare. Many thanks
Class Assemblies
Well done to Fieldmice class on their great assembly this week. That is all the class assemblies done for the year, we look forward to inviting you back in next year.
FOMPS
Monkton Park Primary School PTA Update (FOMPS)
🎉 Summer Disco Success! 🎉 A huge shout-out to Stu and the fantastic disco backstage crew for last night’s school disco. It was an absolute blast! The dance floor was buzzing, and the kids had a fantastic time. Thank you all for making it a memorable evening.
🌞 Monkfest Revival: Save the Date! 🌞 Get ready for the highlight of our summer calendar: Monkfest Revival! Join us on Sunday, June 30th, 1pm to 4pm, for an afternoon filled with fun, games, and community spirit. But wait, we need your help! We’re still looking for volunteers to join the event team, especially during the latter part of the afternoon. Sign up on our Volunteer Signup page and be part of the magic: https://volunteersignup.org/7DEKT
🌈 Rainbow Raffle Update 🌈 Thank you to everyone who participated in our mufti day today! Your colour-coded donations for the rainbow raffle are greatly appreciated. The raffle to win the coloured hampers will be drawn at Monkfest.
🍰 Calling All Bakers! 🍰 Monkfest cafe needs your delicious creations! If you’re a baking enthusiast, please bring in your cake donations to the school office on Friday, June 28th, or drop them off on Sunday morning (June 30th). Every slice counts!
🧸 Teddies Wanted! 🧸 Riverside Pre-School is collecting clean, pre-loved teddies for the teddy tombola stall at Monkfest Revival. If you have any cuddly companions to spare, please hand them over to the Pre-School.
🗓️ Mark Your Calendar 🗓️ After Monkfest, our next Friends of Monkton Park School (FOMPS) meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 15th, at 8:30 PM in the Bungalow. Everyone is welcome! Come share your ideas and be part of our vibrant PTA community.
Please reach out to us at fompspta@gmail.com. 😊
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.
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
Recording Link (please do NOT to share this link publicly online / social media etc)