Newsletter 10th January 2025

HAPPY NEW YEAR Welcome to 2025! I hope you all had a wonderfully relaxing and joy filled Christmas break and are ready to get back to normal and routine as we head into 2025. It has been lovely welcoming the children back and hearing their excitement and Christmas stories. We are talking to the children about New Year Resolutions and helping them to think about the things they want get better at this year. We have had some excellent plans including learning times tables, getting better at handwriting, turning up to football practice every week to getting better at Fortnite! During Collective Worship we will be thinking about Courage in the first half term and Forgiveness in the second half term. Our next Parents Evenings will be in March but please remember that, should you wish to talk to your child’s teacher about learning or behaviour, you can make an appointment to see the teacher at any time. Please contact the school office should you wish to do this.

SENCO INFORMATION

Mrs Billington will now take over from Mr Molloy as our Senco. If you have any queries relating to Special Educational Needs please message Mrs Billington on ClassDojo.

There will be a handover period between Mrs Billington and Mr Molloy and they will be working closely together over the next few weeks.

PARENT ATTITUDE QUESTIONNAIRE

Some of your feedback from the Parent Attitude Questionnaire:

Why did you choose Skerton St Luke’s CE School for your child(ren)?

· As soon as I walked into this school, I knew my child would thrive. I really loved ‘The Swannery’.

· The friendly atmosphere and nurturing staff. Reception staff start the child’s school journey in an outstanding environment.

· Close to home but also felt welcome when visiting.

· I went to this school and I have heard it is very good and when I looked around it felt very welcoming

What do you like most about our school?

· I feel at ease that the teachers will help my child learn at her own pace. Staff are always welcoming and friendly and it’s nice to see her so comfortable.

· The staff are always available to support my child. They have a brilliant understanding of her needs and the best way to support her. The staff celebrate all achievements and give loads of praise.

· The staff we have met so far are really friendly and welcoming. I feel we can discuss any issues or developments. I like that the school is quite small but all years integrate. The buddy system has really helped my child in Reception.

· The organisation in Reception is fantastic. Communication is brilliant and you can tell the teachers are passionate about their job and the children.

How can we make our school even better?

· The school is amazing!

· A buzzer system to get into Night Owls and Early Birds for security. We will sort this in the new year to ease access and to help with security.

· More events to raise money for school i.e. bingo, fayres etc. The Friends of Skerton St Luke’s (FOSSL) work really hard to hold events but they are a very small group of people. All parents of children at the school are automatically members of FOSSL and the current helpers would love for more parents to come and get involved. The more of you who are involved, the more events we can organise to support the work of the school.

· Wrap Around Care – sign up to Government Childcare Scheme. We are meeting with people from Lancashire County Council to make this happen. We will let you know when we have more information on this but hope to have it sorted by Easter

· Personally, I don’t think there is anything that can be made better. My child loves school and I think it’s a brilliant school. My child is happy, safe and learning exactly how I hoped.

· More school trips and opportunities for outside learning to benefit the whole class but especially those who struggle in the classroom setting. We plan for school trips and events linked to the curriculum. Each class endeavours to take part in outside learning and to use our amazing school environment as much as possible. It is true that some trips become more challenging because of the cost of transport or access to the venue, although we do look for help with funding as much as possible.

PARKING

Unfortunately, I am having to remind parents once more about parking with consideration. Do not park on the zig zag lines. Doing so is a legal offence and you may be fined. Please do not park on the curb as this can endanger children and people with disabilities. We have had a number of incidents where children have been walking on the pavement and cars have driven onto the curb and just missed a child! Please be aware of neighbours and parking restrictions in front of people’s houses and drive ways.

When picking up or dropping off children at schools, you should do the following:

· Allow yourself plenty of time as the area is likely to be busy.

· Do not park on yellow zig zag lines and avoid parking opposite them.

· If you decide to park further away, please be considerate of local residents and avoid blocking driveways or access ways.

NEW ADDITIONS

We now have a leaflet dispenser in the office entrance area.

It contains frequently requested forms such as ‘Leave of Absence’ and ‘Change of Details’ forms Please feel free to take one if required.

Next to this you will find our post box. You can post completed forms and any other information. On top of the post box you will find some small envelopes. You can use the envelopes to hand in any money for your child such as when tickets are on sale. Please remember to include your child's name, class and what the money is for. The box will be checked on a regular basis.

ATTENDANCE

We continue to work hard to improve attendance across the school. Thank you all for your support of the things we put in place to make attendance at school every day important. We know that children get ill and that some absences are necessary, however it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that children are in school every day, on time.