Welcome back to school and Happy New Year!

After all the excitement and festivities of the holidays, it's amazing what a calm and focussed start to the year we have had.  Yesterday, we showed around a number of prospective new parents around the school. At the end of the tour, they had nothing but praise for the calm learning environment and brilliant children they met at VPPS.  

In our whole school assembly this week, we looked at how the arrival of a new year is celebrated all around the world. We considered that whilst different cultures or religions might mark the changing of a year at different times depending on the calendar they use, in most traditions a new year is a time to look forward and make resolutions on what we want to make better for the future.  We reflected on how we could make resolutions in school as well and how our school values could help us achieve them.   

Values Certificate Winners

The winners of Values Certificates this week were Monty, Pippa, Leena, Ayla, Daithi, Isla, Eyra, Casper, Thora, Adam and Chloe. Well done all of you!

Attendance and Punctuality

Our whole school attendance has dropped slightly below our 96% target and we need everyone's help to get it back up this term.  

In assembly today we announced the winning classes for attendance and punctuality in term 2.  The two winning classes each receive a cheque to purchase a class reward of their choosing. 

The class with the least number of children arriving late to school in Term 2 was:

Across the school there were 432 late marks across the school in term 2 which averages at over 60 a week.  This is over 100 more late marks than term 1.  Those late marks mean that children are missing out on valuable learning time including the initial input of a lesson, time to read with an adult, interventions that have been planned to start at 8:45.  We are here to help so if you need support with getting your child to school on time, please speak to your child's class teacher.  

PSHE

Next term we will be focusing on safety and our changing body in our PSHE lessons.  Attached are details of the coverage for each year group.  If you have any questions about this please talk to your class teacher. There will be a Year 5/6 meeting where details of lessons will be shared in more detail on Thursday 5th February 3.30 - 4. (More details to come shortly) 

Helen Wright (PSHE lead)

Items needed

Reception classes are in need of spare clothes, as our stocks are running low. We particularly need leggings, jogging bottoms, pants and socks. If you are having a clear out or have any uniform in the smaller sizes that you no longer need, please drop off to either reception class or at the school office. Thank you!

Important Dates for Term 3

• Wednesday 28th January SEND Parents' Evening
• Monday 2nd February Inset Day
• Friday 13th February Last Day of Term