School contact details:

Boxford CEVC Primary School Stone Street Road

Boxford, Sudbury Suffolk, CO10 5NP

Tel: (01787) 210332 E-mail: office@boxford.suffolk.sch.uk Web: boxford.suffolk.dbprimary.com

School Newsletter

In this issue: Please take time to read all of the

information in this newsletter.

o Summer is coming!

o Important Dates

o School library development

o Celebration assembly for Mrs. Jarmin

o Lunchtime Supervisor needed!

o Values for Life

o End-of-year assessment arrangements

o After-School grounds timetable

o Foundation – Year 4 Swimming

o Staffing update

Page 1 Boxford CEVC Primary School Newsletter April 2016: Issue #4

Important Dates:

April: Monday 18th – 5TB & 5H trip to Arger Fen

Thursday 21st – Class Photographs Day

Friday 22nd – Year 6 Crucial Crew trip (AM only)

Friday 22nd – Celebration Assembly for Mrs Jarmin

Tuesday 26th – Year 3 & 4 trip to Cambridge Science

Museum

Thursday 28th – (F - Y2) Parent Maths Workshop

Friday 29th – Pre-swim pool building clean-up morning?

May: Monday 2nd – May Day Bank Holiday – School closed

Week beginning Tues 3rd – Swimming lessons start for

Foundation – Year 4 classes

Tuesday 3rd – Teaching & Learning Committee Meeting

Week beginning Mon 9th – Year 6 SATs assessments

Tuesday 10th – Year 1 & 2 trip to Colchester Zoo

Thursday 19th – School Nurse, parent drop-in time

Monday 23rd – Thursday 26th – Year 6 Residential Trip

Friday 27th – Last day of the half term

June: Monday 30th May – Friday 3rd June – Half term

Monday 6th – Teacher P.D. day – School closed

Wednesday 8th – Sports Day, Foundation - Year 6

Tuesday 14th – Year 1 & 2 trip to Felixstowe

Monday 20th – Resources Committee Meeting

Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th – Early Years’ Camp!

July: Monday 4th – End of Year reports sent out

Thursday 7th – Full Governing Body Meeting

Thursday 14th – Wednesday 20th – Year 6 Transition week

for Thomas Gainsborough School

Thursday 21st – Last day of school year

Friday 22nd July – Wednesday 31st August – Summer

Holidays – School closed

Thursday 1st & Friday 2nd September – Teacher P.D.

days – School closed.

Monday 5th September – Frist day of new school year

Summer is coming! After a busy (and short!) Spring Term, I’m

pleased to give some advance notice for the

upcoming Summer Term at Boxford.

Summer always promises to be an exciting

period, filled with special events and culminating

in transition for all year groups. The school’s end

of year assessments will be followed up by reports

to parents and celebrations of the great learning

that has been shared by all students.

Throughout the Summer Term, I aim to

continue communicating our ongoing school

development activities and evaluations. I have

appreciated the engagement and interest of the

parent body to this point and I thank you all for

this positive involvement.

~ Mr Toby

Celebration Assembly for

Mrs Jarmin: Friday 22nd April, 2pm @ Boxford Church

I am thrilled to invite all parents to join us for

a very special celebration assembly for our

Lunchtime Supervisor, Mrs Doreen Jarmin.

This April marks 50 years of work at Boxford

School. Many local families of all generations will

recognise the impact and extraordinary

achievement of Mrs Jarmin’s time in school. In her

role, Mrs Jarmin has known so many children

grow up in the village – in my own family she was

a ‘dinner lady’ for my wife Helen and her brother

Gareth. In some instances, she is now onto her

third generation, as former pupils have become

parents and now grandparents!

We hope that you will join us for this special

celebration of a wonderful achievement. Mrs

Jarmin, of course, “wants no fuss”…but, we insist!

Staffing update: In early preparation for the 2016-2017

academic year, the school governors and Senior

Leadership Team have been busy recruiting for key

teaching positions. We have been successful in

making two exciting appointments:

Mr Stuart Wainwright: Mr Wainwrights comes

to us with a wealth of experience from Fordham

All-Saints Primary School in Essex, where he

currently acts as the Headteacher. As a

recognised ‘outstanding’ leader of teaching and

learning, Mr Wainwright will offer additional depth

to our already strong teaching team. He will take a

lead role in developing a key area of the school’s

curriculum.

Miss Claire Abrehart: Miss Abrehart joins us

from Kent where she is currently acting as a class

teacher and leader of Modern Foreign Languages.

She will be entering her third year of teaching and

has already been recognized as an excellent

practitioner. In her current setting, she has

impacted the school by organising Foreign

Language exchanges, both for her school to travel

to Europe and to have others visit with them.

We are excited to welcome both teachers in

the Autumn and look forward to their impact on

Boxford’s provision!

At the end of the Spring Term we were sad to

say farewell to Mrs Spall, who had the opportunity

to expand her teaching experience with a position

at a school in Stowmarket. After 16 years at Boxford

Primary, we wish her all the very best in this new

position.

Later this summer, we also expect Mrs

Hammersley to begin her maternity leave. While

we do not currently have any confirmed dates, we

will keep parents informed as soon as timings and

plans are finalised.

Finally, please rest assured that the

Governing Body will continue to update parents on

the process of appointing a new Headteacher.

Page 2 Boxford CEVC Primary School Newsletter April 2016: Issue #4

School grounds timetable: I was pleased to see that the school grounds

were beginning to be used during our free-play

times during the Spring Term. As the weather

improves, I hope that more parents will feel

welcome to make use of these times.

In order to make the scheduled sessions

clearer, I have timetabled times for our neighbours

at Sunflower Nursery. We want to ensure that their

use of the school grounds is as secure as we would

expect for ourselves.

I would therefore appreciate it if all parents

would continue to respect these arrangements in

the interest of all users.

* In fair weather. Will otherwise take place in the hall. ** Until further notice.

3:30 – 4:30pm Field Playground

Monday Free-play Field Sunflowers

Tuesday Sunflowers Free-play Wheels!

Wednesday Sunflowers Tennis *

Thursday Golf Athletics *

Friday Cricket/Rounders General Free-play

Value for Life: Truthfulness

We are pleased to share our new whole-

school Values for Life theme for this half term:

Truthfulness.

All assemblies will consider different aspects

of truthfulness its implications. All classes will

explore the idea at an appropriate level during

PSHE sessions.

So far this year, class discussions on the

themes of Perseverance and Friendship have

been highly insightful. I hope that you

have been enjoying some of these

Conversations at home as your

children explore these concepts.

Midday supervisor needed: To work 1.25 hours per day at lunchtime as part of

a small, friendly team. Permanent, contracted

hours available and relief cover also needed.

We are looking to appoint 1-2 people to cover all

5 days. However, we would be happy to fill these

positions with people who are only able to work

on certain days.

If you are interested, please call into the office for

more information or contact us on (01787) 210332

and office@boxford.suffolk.sch.uk

Boxford Primary School is committed to

safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all

children and adults within our community. Our

staff and volunteers share this commitment.

As with all school positions, DBS checks will be

required for this post.

FG – Year 4 Swimming: Swimming in our Foundation – Year 4

classes is due to begin again in the week of Tuesday 3rd May. A timetable will be issued in the coming weeks.

In previous years, a small group of volunteer parents have assisted with the ‘dusting down’ of the swimming pool building. If you are available to assist us with this task on Friday 29th April, please leave your name with the school office. Thank you in advance!

Parent Forum feedback:

Our second Parent Forum evening was

held on 1st March and was again well attended by

parents of all age-groups.

The first half of the session repeated the

Parent’s Reading Workshop that had taken place

on the previous day. I was delighted to see so

many parents over the two Reading sessions,

which focused on the progression of reading

throughout the school:

Early Years - Year 2:

Our reading scheme is designed to assist

children with ongoing reading development in two

key areas: recognition of “high frequency words”

and developing decoding skills using phonics. Both

skills are developing throughout the Early Years

and Key Stage 1 and the message to all parents

was that steady progression through these

materials is best achieved by engaging in daily

reading at the appropriate level. Moving through

these materials too quickly can, ultimately, cause

gaps to form in either key area of reading. We

have been diversifying this provision in recent years

and will continue to do so in the future.

Years 3-6:

Years 3 – 6 are using a programme called

Accelerated Reader to support their reading. This

initiative was extended to Years 3 & 4 this

September and there remains a resources issue

that will be addressed with future book purchases.

Accelerated Reader allows children to

develop their comprehension and inference skills

within a range of texts that are at an appropriate

reading level. When children complete a text, they

take a ‘quiz’ that tests their understanding of the

themes and content. Pupils then score points

depending on the level of comprehension

challenge – some children quickly become

motivated to increase the challenge of their

reading material in order to score points.

At this stage, we seek opportunities to

develop independence and choice in a child’s

reading materials. Books from home can form part

of this scheme.

Guided Reading:

All classes are now doing

Guided Reading sessions in class.

Guided Reading is a taught

session where a teacher works

with 4-8 pupils on a shared book.

Exploring the themes and ideas

of the text together enables

children to develop skills of

reading effectively, whether they be the technical

skills of sight-reading and decoding or the ability to

infer meaning in written material.

Training has been given to all staff on using

Guided Reading sessions to support ongoing

reading development. Books purchased with the

support of FOBS and local charities have also been

distributed and are now in use throughout the

school.

As always, we hope to keep parents well

informed about our School Development

initiatives. Information about our Reading

development will be uploaded onto the school

website in the coming weeks.

Page 3 Boxford CEVC Primary School Newsletter April 2016: Issue #4

School Library : Could you be a

Volunteer Librarian? We plan to develop our Library

area so that children receive support

with selecting and borrowing reading

materials at all ages. We are particularly

keen to support our Year 1-3 pupils so

that they can make best use of the

reading scheme while supporting those

who are transitioning to the larger fiction

library.

In order to achieve this, we are

looking for a small but dedicated crew

of volunteer librarians who would be

available to support children in school

between 8:35 – 9:05am Monday –

Friday. If you feel you could help with

any or all of these days, please let us

know by informing the office or e-

mailing your interest to

office@boxford.suffolk.sch.uk. We truly

appreciate your interest and support!