Ravensdale Junior
School
Raven Street, Derby. DE22 3WA
Telephone number: 01332 346230
Email: admin@firsestate.derby.sch.uk
Newsletter 1 Autumn 2009
Newsletter 1 Autumn 2015
Welcome back!
We hope you had a lovely summer break and are now
ready to be back at school!
There have been a few changes made over the
summer break, some of which will be explained in
this newsletter so read on!
We look forward to a really successful year, with
children enjoying coming to school and making good
progress in all aspects of their learning. We would
like to welcome all our new children both in
Reception and Nursery classes, as well as across
school and hope they will have a happy time with us.
We would also like to welcome some new members
of teaching staff – Mr Etchells, Miss Bailey, Miss
Sheldon, Mrs Haselgrove, Mr Roach and Mrs Rowles.
We also welcome our new Teaching Assistants, Mrs
Allison, Mrs Plowright and Miss Burton-Evans. All
will make valuable contributions to our staff team
and are really looking forward to getting to know
both children and parents.
I am delighted to be joining Firs as the new
Headteacher and am looking forward to continuing
to work closely with the Deputy Head, Miss Holmes.
Mrs Martin
Look at our new Foundation
Stage Learning Environment!
We have had a busy time over the summer completely
changing and refurbishing our Foundation Stage – the
start of a programme of school improvement. The
Foundation Stage classrooms look fabulous with staff
carefully planning what they need to ensure learning
and experiences for the children continue to improve.
Miss Marley will be posting pictures on our website
soon so keep an eye out – you will be amazed by the
transformation!
Most teachers and support staff have moved
classrooms and year groups this year so there have
been lots of new starts across the school as we all
get used to change.
We are embracing our new curriculum designed to
make learning more exciting and are looking forward
to giving the children the best learning experiences
possible – year 2s are starting with their first visit
outside the classroom on Thursday when they are
exploring our local area for the start of their topic
and next week a group of children are heading off to
Kingswood for a residential visit. We have lots to look
forward to over the coming year.
Morning routine
From tomorrow we have asked the children to come straight into school when you drop them off in the morning.
Rather than lining up, children will go to their classrooms on arrival and get on with a learning task before the
register gets taken. This will help ensure a calm and settled start to the morning and will save you from having to
wait for the children to be collected by staff. If you wish to see a teacher, please catch them after school or
send a message via the office as they will be unavailable in the mornings – they will be in class ensuring the
children are supported in their learning.
Staff will be on the playground at the end of the day so please feel free to go and have a chat.
Uniform
Uniform helps to put children in the right
frame of mind for learning and helps children
to feel they belong to our ‘Firsy Family’. We
will therefore be expecting all children to
wear school uniform at all times.
You don’t need to spend a lot of money on
school uniform and can pick up most things in
supermarkets. If you prefer, you can
purchase school jumpers from the office.
However, we do expect that all children have
black or grey trousers, skirts or dresses, a
white shirt or polo shirt and a green jumper
or cardigan. Children should also be wearing
black footwear. If you have a problem
providing your child with uniform please come
in and see one of our Learning Mentors, Mrs
Talbot or Mrs Ottewell who will try and help.
Attendance
In order for children to have the best chance of success in
their learning while at school, it is vital they have very high
attendance. Every time they are absent, they fall behind
their friends in their learning and often it is difficult for
them to catch up on missed skills that have been taught in
their absence.
Children who attend school most, make the best progress
in their learning.
Last academic year, working closely with you, we managed to
improve our attendance figure to almost national average.
This was a great improvement from the previous year where
our attendance was among the lowest in Derby City. Thank
you for your support in this – it made a huge difference!
Please help us to build on this success and help your child
achieve the best they can by getting them to school every
day and on time.
Free School Meals
Although all infant aged children (excluding
nursery) are eligible for free meals, it is still
vital that you register if you are eligible. The
school receives extra funding for every child
who is entitled to a free school dinner and
that helps keep the school well-resourced
which benefits all children. In addition a hot
meal, as the days get colder, helps to keep
the cold at bay. Meals are well balanced and
tasty so you can be sure your child is getting
plenty of vitamins!
If you are claiming any benefits, you may be
entitled to free school meals. If you are
unsure, please ask at the office.
Behaviour
We will not accept your children’s learning being interrupted
by the behaviour of others. We have therefore developed a
space for children to go and reflect if the teacher feels
their behaviour in class is disrupting the learning of others.
We will also be using a system on lunchtime detention for
children who are behaving inappropriately on the playground
at lunchtime. This will be monitored by a senior member of
staff and children will reflect on their behaviour and make
suggestions as to how this could be improved in the future.
Teachers will keep parents informed about any child who
regularly has to visit either the ‘Seclusion Room’ or
‘Lunchtime Detention’.
Coming Soon…
To improve communication, we will soon be introducing a texting system for parents. This means we can contact
you by text with any messages or reminders. Please ensure we have up-to-date mobile phone numbers in the
office so you are able to receive these texts when the system is up and running.