AnchorNews Issue 257

Your Weekly Newsletter

Issue 257 Week Ending 19/7/13 Two sides this week Dates for your Diary – Just one!!

9th

Mon September School Re-opens 8.50am Please note that we do not open until 9th September. You are likely to see lots of cars in the school car park for the last two weeks of the holidays as teachers prepare for the holidays but the school does not open for children until 9th September.

There are no other dates for now but I am sure next year will be just as busy as this one.

School Uniform- Bispham Clothing will be offering a discount on school uniform showing the old school name/logo. This is a great opportunity to get a bargain as we appreciate that parents do pass uniform down to younger brothers and sisters and we realise that it is going to take some time for the new uniform to be fully incorporated into school. We are very happy for the children to continue to wear uniform bearing our previous logo for as long as it is necessary. We have been assured that those of you who want to start next year with the new logo that stock will be available to order, but why not take advantage of the bargains.

Happy Days Holiday Club – Just to remind you that they are running their holiday club throughout the summer holidays from 7.30am to 6.00pm. There are lots of exciting activities taking place including sports, crafts, trips and workshops with a theme of ‘Around the World in 35 Days’, which is the number of days that it is running for. If you are interested in your child taking part, please phone 829295 for more details.

ParentPay Payments – If you have been asked for after school club fees, breakfast club fees, music tuition and school trips, please pay promptly on or before the due date, to ensure that administration is kept to a minimum.

Please also ensure that dinner money is brought completely up to date and that at least £10 is paid for the first week back. If payment isn’t received in time, we will contact you to discuss alternative dinner arrangements.

Au Revoir!!!!! – The end of the summer term is always a sad time as we say goodbye to those moving on.

Firstly goodbye to our wonderful Year 6, a year group that have achieved so much in their time at our school, not least getting the best SATs results any year 6 group have ever got at our school. We will miss them all very much but wish them well as they move on to high school.

Secondly, goodbye to those staff who are moving on to new and exciting challenges. Miss Waterhouse, Miss Chapman, Miss Hindle, Mrs Boyd, Mrs Mills (Connie from the Kitchen), Miss Taylor and Mrs Ralph. We thank them for the contribution they have made to our school and wish them all the very best for their futures.

Thirdly, a temporary goodbye to Miss Wylie and Miss Summers, who are temporarily taking a break from their work as classroom assistants to embark on further training to become teachers.

Here comes the brides! – Best wishes to Miss Waterhouse and Miss Robinson who are both getting married this summer. Miss Robinson will be returning as Mrs Carolan.

Parental support – Thanks to the parents who have supported a range of events in the last few days. To all those who came along to the big sing. It was very hot!!! I won’t complain because it was so much better than last year’s torrential rain.

Thanks to all the Year 6 parents both for helping the children to look so fabulous for the Prom and also for supporting them at the celebration evening.

Thanks to all those parents who have supported the many trips in the last few days to the Tower and the Zoo. AND 333 a general thanks to all parents for their support of the school throughout the year.

Please, please, please can I urge you to read this Anchornews each week. Remember you can also read this and all other Anchornews on our school website www.anchorsholme.co.uk

A Year to Remember Although it had a faltered start, due to the extended closure for the ongoing building work, 2013 has been one of the most memorable years at Anchorsholme School. The building work was an ongoing challenge for everyone, staff , pupils and parents, but once complete there was no doubt that it had dramatically improved the learning environment that still gives new visitors a jaw dropping experience, particularly when they enter the heart of the school in the Library and Halls area.

There are still things for us to do and this summer we will be continuing with the redecoration of those classrooms that were not part of the building project. We will also be completing work to the outside which will include the removal of some of ageing climbing equipment.

This year has also staggering achievements by the children. In many areas Anchorsholme children are very successful both within and beyond school. There have been tremendous performances and celebration events throughout the year including Harvest, Christmas and Easter celebrations, the Music Extravaganzas, the wonderful class assemblies, the amazing Two Tribes Dance Festival Performance at the Opera House, the incredible Jesus Christ Superstar Schools Alive performance at the Grand Theatre and the stunning Au Revoir performance by the Year 6 children again at the Grand Theatre. Special thanks have to be given to Mrs Plummer and Miss Howarth who have worked so hard with the children for many of these events. Thanks also to all the parents who have also supported the children. But there are two performances that even surpass these amazing achievements. They are Brioni Crowe winning the Blackpool Primary Musician of the Year and the school choir winning Blackpool Primary School Choir of the Year. We are so proud of these achievements and they demonstrate what incredibly talented musicians and performers we have in our school.

We have been equally successful in the field of sport. We are currently Blackpool champions for:- Orienteering (3rd in Lancashire), Swimming and we won the Monty Olympics for the second year running. We were North Blackpool champions for Athletics and performed well in the regional finals. We also had a successful year in cross country, where some of our individual children finished very high in a number of races. Our footballers, cricketers, tennis players and netballers were equally successful and enjoyed all events they took part in. Despite a lack of tournament opportunities, our rugby players also had a fun time!

As I have already stated 2013 has also been a very successful year academically. We have introduced a very successful monitoring and tracking system called ZAPP, which was designed and developed by Mr Proctor, Mr Dann and Mrs McGrath. This enables staff to have very accurate progress data about all the children in their care which supports learning development significantly. Many other schools are very keen to use ZAPP to support learning in their schools. Access to ZAPP has certainly supported the development of children across the school and in particular in Year 6 where it has supported the children achieving the best end of KS 2 SAT results that we have ever had. There has been similar success in Foundation Stage.

Of course all of these things do not happen by magic. The children have worked extremely hard to achieve all of the amazing things listed above and we are all very proud of them. Clearly the support of parents ensures that children come to school every day determined to learn and succeed and the ongoing support of parents at events is the inspiration that enables the children to excel. But of course the staff at the school have a significant impact on the success of the children.

Dedicated staff whose first priority is to enable children to achieve their full potential is what drives the ongoing success at our school. Many of the achievements above are prepared for in staff’s voluntary time and on many occasions , after a long day at school, they will be cheering children at events that run well into the evening. The thrill of seeing the children succeed is a special element of the role of a teacher.

So at the end of this hectic but wonderful year I just want to say a huge thank you to our amazing children for their fantastic achievements across the school and in so many areas. Thanks also to all the parents and families who have volunteered for many activities and have supported so many events. Particular thanks to our AMIGOS PTFFA who have organised many fantastic events that have helped to raised significant funds for the school.

Reminders New Rainbow Group - If your child is interested in joining, and is aged 5 to 7 years, it is starting on Monday 9th September at 6.00pm at Anchorsholme School Pavilion. Please contact Miss Lloyd on 07833054502.

Summer Reading Scheme – Blackpool and Lancashire Libraries always run a summer reading programme to encourage your children to keep reading during the summer holidays. Its theme is Creepy House and it should engage children of all ages, boys and girls. A linked website is called: www.creepy-house.org.uk . The video is available on vimeo: https://vimeo.com/68833596 Phyllis Davies School of Dance summer show – Musicality – 24th to 27th July 7.15 pm Marine Hall – Tickets available from the Box Office 01254 591629 07870 122456 Many children in our school (and the Headteacher!!!) will be performing in this show, which this year focuses on the music and dance from such great musicals as Wicked, Matilda, Cats, Joseph, We will Rock You, and many, many more. It will be a hugely entertaining show.