Autumn Term 2023
Dear Parents and Carers,
Two more weeks of school before the holidays and Christmas has well and truly arrived at Pheasey Park Farm! We had a lovely Christmas Fayre last week and we look forward to our Reception Nativities next week. We have had some fabulous entries to our Christmas mobile competition and these are currently displayed around school. Winners will be announced in Achievement assemblies during the last week of Term.
We do have some staff changes moving into January. Mrs Taylor in Year 1 will be leaving and her class will be taken over by Mrs Williams. We will also be saying good bye to Mrs Walker on our Main Reception who is moving to a school closer to her home. Mrs O Connor, lunchtime supervisor and support assistant will be leaving and taking up a post at a local Secondary School. Mrs Willis, our Senior Assistant Head Teacher is also leaving to take up a post in Higher Education. I know you will join us in thanking them for their commitment to the school and your children over the years and wish them all the very best for the future.
We are excited to welcome Mrs Hannan to our school in January who will take up the post of Deputy Head teacher. She is a very experienced Senior Leader and has already been introduced to many of your children.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Arnold
Parking - how you can help the environment
As you are aware, we have been asking parents and carers to try and park further away from school to try and keep both Raeburn Road and Wimperis Way less congested. Thank you to all parents who have been helping with this and for being courteous to our local residents.
If you do park on the roads around school, please could we ask you not to leave your engines running for the whole duration. We have seen some parents leaving cars running for an hour at a time and this is harmful to the local community, your children and the environment. We teach our children about the harmful effects of pollution and what this does to the environment.
Petrol and diesel cars are one of the main sources of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. They also kick out other nasty pollutants that damage plants and the atmosphere. Turning engines off is a big step forward in cutting your carbon footprint and really helps the surrounding air quality. Plus, you'll save money on petrol. It's a win win!
Year 1 Trip to Sudbury Hall
On Tuesday, 28th November 2023, our Year 1 children visited The Children’s Country House and Museum at Sudbury Hall. They had a wonderful time, finding out about what life has been like through the centuries for children and the different challenges they have faced. Their favourite part was experiencing the Victorian School Room!
Safe Travel - A*STARS Competition
Be Bright Be Seen As part of the A*STARS initiative, the school will be running a ‘Be Bright Be Seen’ campaign. This is an important initiative that teaches children about adverse weather conditions including darker evenings, making sure they are visible to drivers and keeping safe near the road. The A*STARS Sheriffs are launching a competition to further promote this. Children are being invited to design a poster (either by hand or by using technology) to promote the theme ‘Be Bright, Be Seen’. The poster needs to be colourful, creative, and contain information about road safety and should be brought into school by Monday, 11th December 2023. The Sheriffs will judge the competition entries and the results will be announced in assemblies. Winning children will receive a certificate; their posters will be displayed on the A*STARS board and also on our school website and Twitter page.
Assemblies from Reflexions
Reflexions is a Mental Health Support Team (MHST) service that helps increase access to mental health support for children and young people in schools across the Black Country. They offer 1:1 low/high intensity CBT, Whole School Approach (WSA) including staff training, workshops and school assemblies. They help children who may need support with: Low mood, exam stress, problems with sleep, low self esteem and anxiety.
This week Reflexions have been in school delivering assemblies to KS2 about the importance of sleep and how to make sure children get enough, quality sleep each night. Hopefully, this will help parents too!
Xmas fayre - thankyou for your support!
We held our Christmas Fayre last Friday and despite a very cold evening, the turn our from families and friends was fantastic - thankyou. We managed to raise over £1000 which will be spent directly on raising standards and increasing opportunities for your children.
Winner of the raffle box at the Christmas Fayre - Amber in Year 4
Winner of the Farmer Johns Voucher - Thea in Year 4 and Eliza in Reception.
Warmer homes
Warmer Homes West Midlands is a support programme delivered by Act on Energy. They provide a universal, top-level energy advice service for low-income and fuel-poor households across the seven urban local authorities of the West Midlands: Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull, Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
Advice and support are delivered by a team of qualified energy advice specialists who run a freephone service. You can call them free of charge on 0808 196 8298 or 0800 988 2881 or email at warmerhomeswm@actonenergy.org.uk
SchoolComms
Due to issues with failed payments the option to make an Instant Bank Transfer' will no longer be available within Schoolcomms. All payments will now need to be made via card payment.
Sports news
Dodgeball
A selection of KS2 children went to a dodgeball inspire event at Streetly Academy yesterday. They all enjoyed the event and played really well, winning all the games they played. Harrison proved to be a very useful dodgeball player and one to watch out for in the future! They all represented the school well and Mr Rosser reported that it was a pleasure to take them to the event.
Girls' Football
On Monday 27th November, the Year 5/6 girls' footba
ll team went to Alumwell School and drew their match 2 - 2. It was a close game with Ruby hitting the cross bar twice. Alex drew the game with a great strike from a long way out.
Boys' football
On 28th November, the Year 5/6 boys football team went to Delves and lost 2 -1. They came back from 2 - 0 and had more chances than Delves in the second half but couldn't quite get the equaliser. They played well as a team and showed good character coming back from 2 -0.
On the 4th December, the Year 5/6 boys team went to a tournament at Bescot Stadium.
In very cold, wet conditions we won 3 and lost 2. There were 2 groups and the winners of each group played each other for the winners to then play in a Walsall final. St. Johns were the winners of our group.
Local Scout Group - Christmas Tree Recycling
Help raise some important funds for the 20th Walsall Scout Group!
Trees will be collected by a team of scout volunteers from 8am on Tuesday 2 January 2024 until 9pm on Friday 13 January 2024.
Collection postcodes include: WS1, WS3, WS4, WS5, WS9 and B43.
When you book you have two date options for collection:
Between 2-7 January 2024
Between 8-14 January 2024.
They are unable to specify an exact collection date or time, so please ensure your tree is left in a clearly visible, accessible and unobstructed location, outside of your home. If you select tree collection between 2-7 January, your tree needs to be outside your home by 8am on 2 January. If you select tree collection between 8-14 January, your tree need to be outside your home by 8am on 8 January.
Please note that Scout volunteers are unable, under any circumstance, to enter your property (e.g. house, garden, shed). If your tree is not in a clearly visible and accessible location, our volunteers will unfortunately not be able to return to collect it. Unfortunately they will not be able to collect trees over 10ft.
Community Events and Family Support
