Circus Raj
Thank you to everyone who braved the weather and joined us on Tuesday afternoon for Circus Raj. We hope you enjoyed it! Thank you to Miss Davies and Dosbarth Glas for working hard on their Young Promoters project to bring us a fun filled after school event. Whilst we did not make a profit on ticket sales, a small profit was made on refreshments and raffle ticket sales and this will be used to support the cost of school trips next year.
Reports
Year 6 were sent home with their end of year reports yesterday. The rest of the school will come home with their's today. If you do not receive your copy of the report please contact the school office and a copy will be provided.
Class Organisation
This afternoon children will be meeting their class teacher for next year. We hope they enjoy their transition session and will be looking forward to September.
Texts will be sent out at the end of this afternoon to let parents know which classes their children will be in next year.
We are confident that we have applied our policy correctly. Please see further information linked here.
Trips
Parents were consulted around plans for future school trips in February and the results of the questionnaire were discussed with parent forum. There were only 10 responses but these responses were very thoughtful and helpful and were greatly appreciated.
Following this consultation it was agreed that I would advertise the full amount of transport costs for swimming lessons as some parents were prepared to contribute that. A small number did. However, a significant number of parents have not contributed which means that the school has had to pick up the shortfall. Please note that the school pays the full cost of swimming lessons as they are a compulsory part of our curriculum. We do not receive funding to cover transport costs.
We have always budgeted a small amount, on top of subsidies, to account for families who are experiencing hardship. However, a greater number of families are now not contributing at a point where the school budget is squeezed tighter than before.
It is not just Pontllanfraith experiencing squeezed budgets. This is a national picture. Some schools are in a worse position than us and are concerned about maintaining safety and core provision - please see here.
It has come to my attention that there may be some parents with views that were not captured with regard to school trips and extra curricular experiences therefore I am opening the questionnaire again. Your input is very much appreciated. Please read the supporting information linked here before responding (survey linked within). Responses will be considered in September.
Please note we really do value school trips and want to ensure they are affordable and purposeful. We have no intention of reducing the number of trips offered, will fundraise if we need to and cancellation will be a worst case scenario. However, we really do need to receive parental contributions.
In the short term a decision needs to be made as to whether we book the pantomime at Blackwood Miners for Christmas. This questionnaire just requires a yes / no response and will close on Wednesday at 12pm. Reasons are optional. We would really appreciate as many responses as possible to this one. Link here.
Additional information to share:
Reminders:
Meeting for parents of Nursery / Reception 2024/25 after school on Monday
End of term: Thursday
Back to school: Wednesday 4th September