Danescourt Primary School Newsletter 17th March 2014
Dear Parent/Guardian,
Dance Festival- Sherman Theatre
Congratulations to our 20 magnificent Year 6 dancers who performed magnificently on Thursday evening. They
danced with such confidence and skill and those of us who were privileged to be there were so proud! Well done to
all the boys and girls and of course their Choreographer, Mrs. Rees.
Family Film Night
Thank you to everyone who attended our first ever Family Film Night on Friday. A good time was had by all and it
was great to see our school transformed into a multi-plex cinema! A special thanks to Mrs. Beacon and her team of
film club helpers who were superb ushers and usherettes and of course our wonderful PTA committee.
Year 6 Residential Trip to Abernant
Many of our Year 6 pupils are away this week on a residential trip in Abernant. We wish them a wonderful week
away!
Tuesday 25th March – Launch of new Film Club.
We are hosting the launch of the new Film Club for Wales on Tuesday 25 March. We will be welcoming Mr Huw
Lewis, the Minister for Education and many other guests to school at 9:00am.
Please note due to the visit, alternative arrangements will be as follows:

Breakfast Club will be in the small hall and pupils will enter through the Reception class entrance.

Due to the media interest for the visit, there will be reduced cooking time available on 25th March.
Therefore please note for pupils who normally have school dinners, there will be no hot meals but grab bags
will be available for lunch. Thank you for your understanding.
National Union of Teachers Industrial Action- Wednesday 26th March
Members of the National Union of Teachers are staging a day of industrial action on Wednesday 26 th March. School
will be closed to pupils that day as I will have insufficient teachers available to ensure the school remains open.
Dinner Money
Please note, due to above events on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th March, the dinner money will be as follows:
Week commencing 24 March:
3 days = £5.40 - due to Ministerial visit (grab bag option) and Strike Action
4 days = £7.20 - due to Strike Action
Reminder: from Monday 31 March, the dinner money will increase to £2.00 per child per day. Weekly amount
£10.00
Parent’s Evening Confirmation Slips
Your son and daughter should bring home confirmation of your appointment with their class teacher for our parent’s
evenings next Monday and Thursday. If you are yet to book an appointment time, please return your form as soon as
possible.
Danescourt Primary School Newsletter 17th March 2014
School Clubs – Cancelled on Monday 24th and Wednesday 26th March (with exception of Shine Drama and Karate
Club)
Due to Parent’s Evening on Monday 24th March and the industrial strike action on Wednesday 26th March there will
be no after school clubs on the two evenings, but with the exception of the Shine Drama and the Karate club which
will continue as normal on Tuesday 25th March as they are outside providers.
Family Assemblies – Larch Class – 28 March
Our next family assembly is on Friday 28th March at 9.10am. All family members of Larch Class are very welcome to
attend.
PTA Quiz and Curry Night- Friday 4th April 2014
The PTA is holding a quiz night on Friday 4th April at 7.30 for an 8pm start. Tickets are £5 each to include chicken or
vegetable curry. The evening will also feature a guest Quiz Master and of course a bar! Pupils will be bringing home
today a form. If you would like to purchase tickets, please return the form to the school office asap.
National Literacy and Numeracy Tests
The National Literacy and Numeracy Tests for pupils in Y2 to Y6 will take place between Wednesday 7th May and
Tuesday 13th May 2014.
Progress on the Multi-Use Games Arena
I am sure you can see how well the progress to date is on our MUGA project! The contractors informed me on
Friday that they expect work to be completed by the end of the month and then the surface needs to settle for a
couple of weeks before the markings can be added.
We hope to start using the area after the Easter holidays. The school will have exclusive use of it in the daytime for
PE lessons, breaks and ‘After School Clubs’. From 5pm it will be available for use by the community (free of charge).
Attendance
Attendance is a key criterion of how the Welsh Government recognises the performance of Schools. The
Government target is to achieve at least 95% attendance. Each week in School we award the Attendance Cup to the
classes in the Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2 with the best attendance. The percentages for last week were:
Foundation Phase
Key Stage 2
Beech
97.3%
Horsechestnut
91.5%
Birch
94.7%
Hawthorn
97.7%
Cedar
98.9%
Hazel
97.3%
Cherry
93.2%
Lime
96.8%
Cypress
96.4%
Laurel
95.2%
Larch
95.4%
Congratulations to Cedar and Hawthorn Classes!
With kind regards, Mrs Judith Davies, Headteacher