OH, THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL

N O V E M B E R
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OH, THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL...
.
We were lucky enough to have some really beautiful weather over the half term holidays
where we were able to enjoy glorious sunshine and brilliance of the Autumn colours. I hope
you all had the opportunity to get outside and enjoy some of the marvellous things Poole
and Bournemouth had to offer during the school break.
Sadly, this week the weather seems to have taken a turn for the worse and some of the rain
that is coming down as I write this newsletter is particularly frightful. Whatever the weather
we do try and get out and about at Sylvan even if it has to be under some of our covered
areas or means that during periods of lighter rain playtime will still go ahead. With this in
mind please ensure that your children have the appropriate clothes with them from now
until further notice—as they say ‘there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes’.
The second half of the Autumn term is my favourite in school as school provides so many
opportunities for us to get together as a community, Whether it be the PTFA Quiz night,
Christmas performances, Christmas fayres or celebration assemblies please try to come
along to school this half term and get involved—we would love to see you all.
Mr D Walsh — Head of School
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS BAD WEATHER…
Sylvan Infant School
01202 743064
www.sylvaninfantschool.net
Although I am not 100% sure that I agree with the above statement
over the Autumn and Winter period we try not to turn into hermits and
still like to get out and about even if it’s raining (lightly) or if it’s cold.
With this in mind, as of Monday 9th November, school will be operating
its no coat, no play policy so please ensure that your child brings a coat
to school everyday so that they can get the fresh air they need during
the school day.
Outside PE will also continue during the more inclement months of the
year so, as stated in the parent handbook, please ensure that your child
is equipped with plain black tracksuit/jogging bottoms as part of their
PE kit.
Thank you for your help with this matter.
Junior School Transfer
Although it might appear to be very early to be considering a junior
school place for your Year 2 child time will soon fly by and as usual the
application deadline is 15th January 2016. Although OPEN DAY has
been and gone Branksome Heath Junior School will welcome visits to
the school at anytime. Please phone the school on 01202 747966 to
book a tour with a member of staff.
NEW Sylvan STARTERS SEPTEMBER 2016
Do you know anyone whose child is due to start school in September 2016?
Even though we have had our OPEN DAY we are still more than happy to show
parents around anytime. Please encourage anyone you know to call the school
on 01202 743064 to arrange for a member of staff to give them a tour of our
school. Thank you.
Continued Success in the Reading Room
You have been still been turning out in your droves to attend the reading
room before and after school. EYFS have only just started to visit but
look at the amount of children who have been visiting...
WK ENDING
WK ENDING
WK ENDING
CHERRY
83.3%
APPLE
88%
CHESTNUT
64%
HAWTHORN
72%
BEECH
92.3%
ELM
72%
OAK
71.4%
HAZEL
80%
HOLLY
44%
YEAR 2
72.7%
MAPLE
68%
ROWAN
50%
WILLOW
57.7%
EYFS
57.9%
YEAR 1
77.2%
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3
CHILDREN IN NEED 2015
We will be doing our activities for Children In Need
across the week leading up to the Big Day, as we are closed due to
the Inset Day (13/11).
This year our “Champions of Change” council decided on the 2 fundraising ideas for Sylvan Infant School. They have chosen to have a
Cake Sale on Wednesday 11th November after school in the main entrance.
They have also decided that on Thursday 12th November children
can come to school showing their spots ….. either clothing or face
paint or bring something spotty!!
“Wear Spots to Raise Lots!!!”
We hope we can raise lots to help those charities supported by the
BBC Children In Need campaign.
Social Media
We are trying to get information about activities and events at Sylvan Infant School out to our community in as many accessible ways as possible and so we are now on twitter!
You can now follow us on twitter @SylvanInfant for updates and please use #SylvanInfant if you
comment.
We are also looking at developing a
facebook page in the near future to also help keep everyone
informed. More news on this when we are up and posting!
Both of these sites will be monitored very carefully and we would ask that any comments made are
done so respectfully.
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There’s no business like show business
4
The second half of the Autumn term provides the children of Sylvan Infant
School with many opportunities to watch and get involved in music, dance
and drama.
We are also lucky enough to welcome the legendary MARTIN THE PUPPET
MAN through our doors on the 1st December. He will be entrancing the children with a performance of ‘The Emperors New Clothes’. This is an opportunity for all children in the school but will require us to ask for a voluntary contribution of £1.50 per child. Keep your eyes peeled for a
letter in the next few days.
On Wednesday 16th December some of Year 2 are off to the Lighthouse to
see the Pantomime ‘Peter Pan’ starring Christopher Ellison (The Bill, Celebrity
Big Brother 2015) as Captain Hook and Jamie Quinn (Bluestone 42) as Peter
Pan.
Then it will be the children’s turn to put on a performance for you in the annual Christmas performances.
The dates and times can be found in the dairy dates section of the newsletter.
EYFS & Year 1 families will be provided with 2 tickets (younger siblings sitting
on laps will not need a ticket). Please return any tickets that are not required
and additional tickets will be provided to families on a first come first served
basis. Year 2 families will not require tickets.
KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR MORE INFORMATION SOON
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5
EYFS Update
‘All Creatures Great and Small’ is the new topic for EYFS this half term. We were lucky
enough to have Crazy Creatures company come in on Tuesday with a range of creatures- both great and small- from a tiny mantis to a strawberry pacman frog to a
bearded dragon and even an owl! The children had great fun looking at and holding
some of these amazing animals, while learning lots of facts too! Look out on the website for photographs. Thank you to all who have sent in a donation to school for this
hook- if you haven’t there is still time  this will help ensure we can plan and provide
equally engaging hooks for future topics.
Throughout this topic we will be looking at what makes different creatures
WOW. This will include looking at habitats, features, life cycles of animals and moving
into humans and our journey of growing. Please remember to send in the baby picture with your child’s name ASAP as this will be used as part of their learning. We will
photocopy and return the photo to you.
Share time will be starting this half term, with the first on the 12 th November and the
second on the 3rd December. This is an opportunity to come and join in and see what
your children have been learning. This is from 8.40-8.55 on these specific dates. For
more details please see the poster sent out.
Christmas will be here in no time- which means only one thing… NATIVITY!!!! The children have already begun learning some songs to ensure we bring a tear to your
eye. Chestnut and Elm nativity will be on Thursday 10th November and Holly and Rowan will be on Friday 11th December. Costumes are provided by the EYFS team so no
need to go and buy anything 
Year One Update
Year 1 are very excited about this project ‘Nativity,’ as we are planning a masterpiece
production for all parents/carers to come and see! Not only are we learning scripts,
dances, songs and instruments off by heart but we are also designing and making our
very own costumes too!
Our hook to inspire and excite the children takes place this Friday where all the children
get to take part in painting the backdrop for the stage set! So, this truly will be a
‘proper’ all-encompassing Nativity production that I am sure you will be proud of.
Year Two Update
Firstly a massive thank you to Lush cosmetics and Talbot Heath Homebase for their support with
the sensory garden. The children really loved helping to make the sensory garden a special area
for everyone to enjoy. This term has got off to a wonderful start with treetop theatre coming into
school telling the children tales of India. This project looks at the different cultures that celebrate
with light and will culminate in a celebration of light in December. We hope that children will
enjoy the creative aspects of learning about another culture as well as understanding the geographical differences. Should you be able to offer any real life experiences of India that you could
share with the children then please contact Mrs Hicks in Oak class.
Film Club
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FILM
DATE
FINISH TIME
Monsters University
12/11/15
5.05pm
Minion Movie
19/11/15
5.00pm
The Nightmare Before
26/11/15
4.30pm
Home Alone 2:Lost in
3/12/15
5.15pm
The Polar Express
10/12/15
4.55pm
NO FILM CLUB
17/12/15
N/A
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Diary Dates
Day & Date
Thu 12 Nov
Event
Flu Immunisations for Year 1 and Year 2 children
Times
ALL DAY
Fri 13 Nov
INSET DAY – School Closed for staff training
ALL DAY
Fri 13 Nov
PTFA QUIZ NIGHT
6.30pm - 10.30pm
Tue 1 Dec
MARTIN THE PUPPET MAN IN HALL
ALL DAY
Sat 5 Dec
PTFA CHRISTMAS FAYRE
11 am -2pm
Thu 10 Dec
EYFS (CHESTNUT & ELM) CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCE PM
13.45—14.45
Fri 11 Dec
EYFS (HOLLY & ROWAN) CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCE PM
13.45—14.45
Fri 11 Dec
PTFA FAMILY BINGO NIGHT
TBC
Mon 14 Dec
Tue 15 Dec
YEAR ONE (BEECH, MAPLE & APPLE) CHRISTMAS PERFOMANCE AM & PM
YEAR ONE (WILLOW & HAZEL) CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCE
AM & PM
YEAR 2 CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCE
9.30—10.30
13.45—14.45
9.30—10.30
13.45—14.45
3.30pm
Wed 16 Dec
YEAR 2 TO LIGHTHOUSE TO SEE PETER PAN
AM
Thu 17 Dec
PARTY DAY
ALL DAY
Fri 18 Dec
FINISH FOR CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS
1.15PM
Tue 15 Dec
Smoking and Vaping on the school premises
As mentioned in previous newsletters can we kindly remind parents and other adults that
school is a smoke free zone and for us this includes VAPING on the school premises. Head
teachers union NAHT has expressed concern that pupils may want to copy parents and
teachers they see vaping on school premises, and they want to see vaping banned so that
children don’t assume it’s safe.
I would also strongly encourage people against smoking/vaping around the school perimeter as well, as children and adults alike do not like to walk through clouds of smoke as
they pick up and drop off their children.
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PUPIL PREMIUM FUNDING
The Pupil Premium Grant is given to schools to support children in narrowing the attainment gap between
pupil groups. Common barriers for pupil premium children could be less support at home, weak language
and communication skills, lack of confidence, more frequent behaviour difficulties and attendance and
punctuality issues. Through targeted interventions we are supporting our pupil premium children to eliminate barriers to learning and progress. The majority of our children start school with low attainment on
entry, however with targeted support we aim to make sure that our pupil premium children are given opportunities to make accelerated progress in order to reach age related expectations as they move through
Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 in line with their peers.
The key indicator to identify children who are entitled to the pupil premium funding are those who have
free schools meals. However as all children in infant schools are now having free school meals it is becoming more challenging to make sure that we access the funding for our pupil premium children that they
are entitled. You are likely to be eligible if you are in receipt of:

Child Tax Credit with a family income below £16,190

Income Support

Job Seeker’s Allowance (Income Based)

Employment Support Allowance (income Based)

Support under part IV of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

Guarantee element of the state pension credit
Year 1 and 2 parents (they have recently been re-sent out to EYFS parents) will shortly receive a letter reminding you about this. If you think that this may apply to you at all please complete the form ASAP and
return it to the school office.
DESIGN A SCARECROW COMPETITION
Recently we launched a DESIGN A SCARECROW competition. The entries were supposed
to be on paper but we have received some actual scarecrows too. We have only had 5
entries so far but it is not too late. The designs will be judged on Monday 9th November
(by Farmer Palmer) and made by the winners and a friend or two with the support of
the PTFA on Wednesday 11th November.
GOOD LUCK!
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Book At Bedtime
As you are all aware having a story at the end of the day with your child before
bedtime is a really special time. Research also shows that children in families
where this happens on a regular basis, are better and more fluent readers and develop a love of reading which they take into their adult life. At Sylvan we want to
encourage this and, to promote a book at bedtime, we are having a special book
at bedtime event.
We will be sending out an invitation in the next few weeks for
you and your child to come into school at 6pm. The children will
have a biscuit and some hot chocolate and listen to a story read
by Mr Walsh and Mrs Steele. Children should wear their
pyjamas and bring their teddy.
Attendance
Congratulations to all those children who received their certificate for 96%
or above attendance over the first half term and well done to Lilly in
Rowan class who won the first Build-A Bear £20 voucher . Apple class
won the attendance race for the last half term and as a reward they had
extra play on the pirate ship. We will be repeating this process every half
term.
Today Mrs Steele is meeting with our attendance officer to look at individual children’s attendance records. If your child’s attendance is below 95%
then you might be asked to come into school for a meeting. Parents or
carers who continually bring their children in late after 9am will be contacted also. It is your responsibility as a parent or carer to make sure that
your child is in school on time and ready to learn. By that we mean a good
breakfast has been eaten and school uniform is on. Thank you for this in
advance.
If you have any questions regarding school attendance
please arrange to see Mrs Steele via the school office.
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9
Livingstone Road Primary
Federation PTFA
(Parent Teacher Family Association)
On 19th October 2015 we officially became the Livingstone Rd Primary Federation PTFA. During
the AGM we voted in a new PTFA structure and new parents to lead the PTFA for the next year.
The new structure is as follows:
Chairperson Zoe Lambert
Vice Chairperson (Sylvan) Nikki Sanderson
Vice Chairperson (Branksome Heath) Sue Gillingham
Secretary Sharon Meakin
Treasurer Claire Stockdale
Remember we are always looking to welcome new members and younger children are welcome at the
meetings. Volunteers are always needed for cake stalls, discos and our two biggest fundraisers the
Summer and Christmas fayres. Even if you are not able to get regularly involved please let us know
if you can help in any way.
Please don't be shy, we really would like more volunteers and members. We need more support so
that we can put on more events and raise more money for the children. No offer of help is too
small.
PTFA key dates for your diaries:
Quiz Night: Friday 13th November 6.30—10.30 SIGN A TEAM UP AT THE SCHOOL OFFICE
Non-uniform Day: Friday 27th November SEE BELOW
PTFA Meeting: Monday 30th November 2 - 3pm
Christmas Fayre: Saturday 5th December 11am - 2pm
Family Bingo Night: Friday 11th December Times TBC
Family Film Night: Thursday 17th December Times TBC
For the non-uniform day on 27th November we are asking for donations for the Christmas Fayre
(please note that this year we are hosting the Christmas Fayre on a Saturday):
EYFS: Sweet Christmas food
Year 1: Fill a pint pot (to be provided)
Year 2: Bottles (full)
More information will follow for each of these events individually. Always check the school
newsletter, notice boards around the school and classroom doors for vital information.
Governors Home School Section
Can we thank all the parents and children who took the time to
complete our questionnaires and talk to Governors at the recent
parents’ evenings. Your responses are really important to us as a
‘health check’ on both Sylvan Infant School and Branksome Heath
Junior School. Our top priority is to ensure that the children feel safe
and happy in school. Summaries of the results can be seen below and
the full results are available on the school websites.
Parents’ Evening Survey
Here is a small sample of the comments made (please visit our website
for a more extensive list):














A great school, really pleased my children attend
My child loves his school and his class
Really happy with the school
We know we made the right choice choosing Sylvan
Really happy with Sylvan
It would be good if you could change the pens so they don’t stain
the clothes
My son enjoys coming to school
It’s all good
Our children are very happy here
Big thank you to Mr Walsh and Mrs Steele and everybody as Sylvan
is cool!
I feel there’s an issue at playtime – maybe not enough supervision to
ensure good behaviour
Cannot fault school at all
Doing a great job
We’re very happy with the school – our child comes home with a
smile on his face every day
Children’s Questionnaire
Total Number of Responses across
School = 81
Are you happy in your new class?
Do you feel safe at school?
Do you enjoy lunch time play?
94
5
1
89
11
0
96
3
1
Parents Questionnaire
Not
able
to say
Total Number of Responses =
162
Responses in %
How well has your child settled
into their new class?
Does the school make sure pupils are well behaved?
Does the school respond well to
any concerns you raise?
91
5
3
1
91
7
0
2
84
6
1
9