Message from Mr Gray

Welcome back and a Happy New Year to you all.  The two week break was a very welcome holiday and allowed everyone to recharge their batteries.  The Christmas celebrations were fantastic and the staff pantomime on the final day was memorable.  I managed to snap one or two photographs, see if you can  spot who is under the disguise?

A big thank you to all the parents who attended the ‘Star pupil’ assembly.  These awards recognise hard work, effort and excellence over the whole term and to gain an award is an achievement.  This term is regarded as the time when children make good, academic progress and begin to achieve their targets and goals.  Please make every effort to support your child’s learning at home, through reading with them, making spellings and learning tables fun and giving your child time and space to complete their learning log.

I mentioned in my last newsletter about the importance of applying for free school meals if you are eligible.  The new government plan to give schools extra money through a ‘pupil premium’ for children on free meals applies from this month.  Please call 478940 to apply.

Finally can I take this opportunity to wish everyone connected with Waterloo a happy and prosperous 2011.

M Gray 

School Laptop Scheme

The new laptop scheme in Y4 is now well underway.  They have made a positive    impact on the learning within Y4 both at school and for use with homework.

“The laptops add an extra dimension to all lessons and encourage independent learning at home.”  Mr Truelove—Y4 Co-ordinator    

Below are some quotes from the children in Y4JT.

“I think the laptops are great because you get to use them in all subjects.”

“They make me feel great when I use the laptop because I learn more.”

 “I feel happy about using my laptop because there are different things on them.”

“I feel happy because I am doing my homework on it.”

 Learning Logs

Every child in infants and juniors now has a Learning Log to complete homework in.  Learning Logs are a new way for children to do their homework, allowing them to choose how to do the work themselves.  This gives them more control over their own work, and enables them to learn in an exciting way which suits their own     learning style.  On the centre pages of the book, your child will have details of what they have to do, but how they do it is up to them.

Please encourage your child to be as creative as possible in these books.  Some of the excellent examples of work we see have photographs of children working at home, envelopes with work inside, flaps, images cut from magazines, computer work etc.  Really, the only rule is to complete the work in a fun and interesting way.  For example of ideas, have a look at www.learninglogs.co.uk

The Learning Logs also create more opportunity to work alongside your child, try to make some time to help  them if possible.  So far, children and grown-ups really like these books and are very proud of their work.

Mid Year Reports

All children will receive a mid year report highlighting their progress so far this year.  We are focussing very much on the effort your child gives to the key areas of learning. Targets to achieve before the end of the year will also be included.  You should receive the report on Friday 18th February.  A parent consultation afternoon will take place on Tuesday 1st March.  School will close at 1pm to facilitate the     consultation afternoon.  An opportunity to book an appointment will be sent in a separate letter.  It is an opportunity to discuss progress and targets for your child  so please make every effort to attend.

We realise that an added school closure does pose problems for some parents but we believe the afternoon to be really worthwhile.

Sports Coaches

Miss Manning and Mr Errington are the Sports Coaches here at Waterloo.  Their role is to assist the class teachers in the planning and delivery of the PE Curriculum.

They also run a varied afterschool sports programme throughout the year where, with the help of other teachers, they can run up to 30 different sports clubs, from Dodgeball to La Crosse and even climbing.

Waterloo recently won an award as the best school in Lancashire for participation and success in extra curricular sport.  Waterloo is proud of its achievements so far, and hope to build on this success for the future.

Y1/Y2 Attendance

Congratulations to all the children in Y1/Y2 for achieveing 95% or more attendance during the 6 week initiative.  These children will now enjoy a pizza party on Thursday afternoon. Well done, keep up the good work!