Longlevens Junior School

LONGLEVENS JUNIOR SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
Issue 1 www.longlevensjuniorschool.co.uk 9 th September 2011
HEADTEACHERS MESSAGE
Dear Parents
WELCOME BACK!
Can I wish everyone a big warm
welcome back to LJS for the start of the
new academic year. As always there
were a few butterflies in the tummy last
weekend, but this first week has shot
past and been a great start to the new
year. We have a lot of new faces
around school including seven new
members of the teaching team, and
approximately 130 new children!! So... a
lot of new names for us all to learn.
Anyhow, one of the real pleasures of my
job is being able to stand on the gate in
the morning and see a steady stream of
smiling faces passing through, all keen,
eager and apple-cheeked, and ready to
rumble! It has also been lovely to spend
a little time at the end of each day
mingling in the playground and chatting
to new parents, checking on how their
little treasures have settled in. So,
please, if you see me approach, it isn’t
necessarily bad news! I just like to get a
feel for how parents are feeling about
the start of the new year, and your
views are always welcome.
Our first newsletter contains some
important items and dates, so please
take the time to read through, digest,
and hopefully support us in what we are
trying to achieve. This year promises to
be another exciting one, with lots of
great experiences for our children and
the wider school community; I look
forward to your support and
involvement.
Dave Smith
Headteacher
2011 – 2012 TERM DATES
Term 1 : Thurs 1 Sept – Fri 21 Oct
September
Thurs 15 Westonbirt Trip 3GD / 3R
Fri 16 Westonbirt Trip 3A / 3M
Mon 19 Friends Meeting 6.15pm
October
Fri 7 Y6 Trip to Swindon
Tues 18 Aesops Theatre Y5/Y6
Thurs 20 Last Day of Term
Fri 21 INSET DAY
Term 2 : Mon 31 Oct – Fri 16 Dec
December
Fri 2 Panto Trip
Term 3 : Tues 3 Jan – Fri 10 Feb
Term 4 : Mon 20 Feb – Fri 30 March
Term 5 : Mon 16 April – Fri 1 June
Term 6 : Mon 11 June – Thurs 19 July
CELEBRATIONS
Congratulations to the following children
who were awarded a Celebrations
certificate this week :
3M Erin Kemmett
3A Catherine Gardner
3GD Jessica Staples
3R Charlie Barlow
4J Chanel Grant
4G Navjot Kaur Padda
40 Charlie Fox & Casey Watkins
4C Lewis O’Neill
5S Steven Worrall
5DC Evie Harrison & James Loader
5L Niamh Clift
5C whole class
6E Laura Hamlin & Rachel Jarvis
6H Jamie Tsang
6R Matthew Nash
6SS Phoebe Williams

It’s Young Voices time again!
This year’s event will be at the LG
Arena, Birmingham on WEDNESDAY
30TH NOVEMBER 2011.
Young Voices is an event where
hundreds of choirs from across the
country get together to form a 5000
strong group. All choirs learn the same
songs over the Autumn term and
perform them at the LG with a live
band, celebrity guest visitors and of
course, an audience full of adoring
parents! For more information, visit
www.youngvoicesconcerts.com.
The event is open to all year groups
and there will be a specific Young
Voices choir, rehearsing with Mrs S
Farrell and Mr S Roberts in the hall after
school on Tuesdays from 3.30pm until
4.15pm. The approximate cost for the
day will be between £30-40. This
includes £18, which is the cost of one
audience ticket, coach travel for your
child which will cost around £12.00 and
YV T-Shirts which are optional and cost
£8.00. Children in the choir do not need
a ticket to take part but each child has
to have at least one paying adult in the
audience. Choirs arrive at the LG Arena
in the afternoon for a rehearsal;
therefore parents will need to make
their own way to the arena for the
evening concert.
The children have already been
informed and over 80 children have
taken a letter home. However, if you
have missed this please ask the school
office for a letter. If your child would
like to join the choir but not come to the
event, they are still most welcome. On
the same note, if they join but then
decide that it is not for them, they
simply need to inform me before we
finalise the numbers at the end
of September. Once the tickets have
been ordered we will not be able to
refund any money. For the full letter
please see the school
website.http://www.longlevensjuniorsch
ool.co.uk/downloads/letters/
Mrs M Nelson
LONGLEVENS JUNIOR SC 2
YEAR 4 SWIMMING LESSONS
Just a reminder to Year 4 that
swimming lessons start on Monday.
We cannot take your child swimming
unless we have received a signed
permission slip. Further copies of the
letter are available from the office or
can be downloaded from the school
website.
FRIENDS OF LJS
Please come along and join us at our
first meeting of the year where we will
be discussing fundraising ideas for this
year. If you have some ideas or are
prepared to lend a hand we would love
to see you on Monday 19th
September at 6.15 in the staff room.
We look forward to seeing you there.
PARENTPAY
School trips can now be paid for on line
through the Parentpay system. Some
parents are already aware of this
method for paying for school dinners.
Activation codes will be issued to every
child to enable you to log on and create
an account.
Apologies to anyone who has tried to
log into Parentpay this week, the
website was experiencing problems,
which hopefully should be sorted out by
next week. So keep persevering!
If you have any queries please contact
the office.

MUSIC LESSONS
Music lessons will start again next week
as follows :
Monday Brass lessons
Wednesday Flute and clarinet
Friday Violin
The guitar teacher retired in July and
the new day for guitar lessons has not
yet been organised. A message will be
sent home as soon as this is arranged.
Please contact the school office if your
child is interested in taking up music
lessons for details of fees.
POLITE REQUEST!
Please could we ask younger siblings at
the end of the day not to play on the
adventure playground or in the forest
school area, due to Health and safety
reasons . Also, for safety reasons,
bikes and scooters should not be ridden
in the playground before and after
school due to the number of children in
this area.
Children should not be riding to school
unaccompanied until they have passed
their cycling proficiency test in Year 5.
When they do cycle to school they must
wear a suitable cycle helmet.
We ask for your support in this.
LONGLEVENS JUNIOR SC 3
YEAR 3
Please could we remind anyone who
hasn’t returned the Data Sheets for our
new starters in Year 3 to please
complete them as soon as possible and
send into the school office so that our
records can be updated.
Thank you.
FREE SCHOOL MEALS
Please note we will be providing packed
lunches for any child entitled to free
school meals when they are on a school
trip.
DROP-IN DAYS
The day for Mrs Smith’s morning dropin
sessions has been changed from a
Monday to a Friday.
Spelling City
The online site that helps your child to
practice their individual spelling list in a
variety of games.
www.spellingcity.com