Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Advanced information for the School Sports

We propose to our School Sports afternoon on Wednesday 15th July at Pentre Astroturf, starting at 1.00 pm.
Please can you familiarise yourself with the following arrangements.

Pupils will come to school as normal but dressed in their sports kit that morning.

Lunch will be at 11.30 a.m. EXCEPT FOR DOSBARTH 1 and 2. 
We would like parents to pick Nursery and Reception pupils from school at 11.30 and bring them to the Sports field by 12.45. We do not have sufficient staffing to transport them safely to the Astroturf. Other pupils will be walked up by staff, support staff and lunchtime supervisors.

Pupils will be dismissed into the care of their parents at the end of the sports. Please will you make arrangements for this as if you are unable to attend and wish  family member or close friend to take your child home after the event you can inform us in writing to their class teacher giving your permission. Any pupil not collected will be brought back to school and dismissed from here as normal.

In the event of the sports being cancelled we will use our text to parents service and the usual social media sights to inform you.

We have booked the astroturf for Thursday should the weather prevent us from holding the sports on the previous day

I hope that these arrangements will be reasonable. 

There will be a £1 entry fee per adult which we will use towards the running costs of the event.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Information regarding activities this week

School uniform during warm weather
During the next couple of days the weather is due to be exceptional for this time of the year. Please can you ensure that you send suitable clothing, hats and sun screen f the pupils to put on at break and lunch time. May I remind you that if pupils intend to wear short during the hot weather our school uniform agreement states that only black, navy, blue or white shorts are encouraged. Bermuda style multi-coloured shorts that are more suitable for the beach are not permitted as are short T shirts and other such clothing. As usual, your co-operation will be appreciated.

Clothing and other lost property
We are receiving a great number of enquiries about lost or mislaid clothing. There are a large amount of jumpers, cardigans, T shirts and coats in the cloak rooms. On examination the most of these are unmarked and have no individual identifying marks on them. In addition there have been instances where coats with logos such as Superdry have gone missing. May I ask you to examine any coat that has been brought home recently to check that it does belong to you and if it has been taken by mistake you can return them and be relocated with the ones that we have in school.

Haircuts
May I remind you that our policy clearly states that we do not accept hair styles which are inappropriate. This includes stripes, tram lines, highlights, unsuitable colours and Mohican styles. It clearly states in our prospectus and other school documents that if a pupil presents himself in school with such a hair style the Governing Body will support the Head teacher in upholding standards by requesting that the hairstyle be altered so that it falls in line with our expectation. Our policy, which is in line with our cluster Primary and Comprehensive schools will be to suspend any pupil until his hair is returned to an appropriate fashion should you not agree with us. May I also remind you that our home school agreement which states that parents agree to uphold the school rules and do everything to resolve any issues with the school.

Dinner Money
Can I remind parents that the school and Local Authority policy states that meals are to be paid for on a Monday morning, in advance.  This policy is clearly set out in our school literature and regularly mentioned in school newsletters. Money brought in to school should be put in a sealed envelope (which are freely available from the school office) with the child’s name, class, purpose and amount clearly marked on the front. These envelopes are then collected by staff and transferred to our school secretary for processing. Money is registered on the school electronic recording system for accounting purposes. I have instructed Breakfast Club staff not to receive any money from pupils or parents when they are being dropped off but placed in the safe deposit box by the serving hatch. When this policy and procedure is followed it works well but there have been recent instances where parents claim that money has been paid but our accounting procedures cannot verify this. As usual, your co-operation will be appreciated.

Leaver’s Ball
Mrs Sims would appreciate that any remaining contributions to the Leaver’s Ball be paid to school as soon as possible.
May I remind parents that the Leaver’s Ball is primarily for our Year 6 pupils but it is also an end of Year Disco for the whole school and parents to attend. This year it will take place on Wednesday 1st July at the Ton Pentre Football Club from 6.00 p.m. until 9.00. p.m.  This disco is open to ALL PUPILS. Children from Nursery through to Year 4 MUST be accompanied by a responsible adult (18+).  During the evening, the presentations will be made to the Year 6 pupils who will leave to join their Comprehensive schools in September. Please will you ensure that your child remains in the main hall at all times. Come along and help us give them a good “Gelli Primary” send off!!  Entry is £1 per child. Hotdogs will be available on the night.

The Ned Show
“The Ned Show” recently visited us The NED Show is the most popular assembly programme in the United Kingdom. They also perform in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even for special events at the White House. Nearly 2.5 million children will see The NED Show this year! Their goal in partnering with schools is to help improve pupil behaviour, enrich instructional time, increase academic achievement and enhance the overall school climate.
Our agreement with the Ned Show organisers is that we receive the show free of charge, (it would normally cost £1000) and in return we have agreed to make some merchandise available that they will use in the show for purchase. May I say that we are not obligated to sell on the company’s behalf only to make it available and we should you feel that you do not want to support the school in this venture you are not obligated to do so. The company have produced a parent’s letter which will be sent to pupils and parents which we will send home later this week. You can also visit the website at www.thenedshow.com/ned_programme

Please contact the customer helpline for any queries in terms of the yoyos or any other merchandise.


Details of other end of term activities will be distributed by pupil post, text to parents or advertised on our social media pages.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Footgolf at the Rhondda Golf Club

Our friends at the Rhondda Golf Club are hosting an open day. Here's details of the arrangements if you are interested.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Highlights from today's NED Show

Catherine shows us how teachers and pupils work together to become awesome

Each time you rub out a mistake your pencil gets bigger

Charlie tells us how not to be worried about making mistakes

Lewis was given a firework hat 

Catherine tells us to NEVER GIVE UP ENCOURAGE OTHERS AND DO YOUR BEST

Advanced notice for arrangements at the beginning of the Autumn term 2015

The beginning of the Autumn term next year is unusual as September 1st falls on a Tuesday and we have a Bank holiday on the previous day. I have arranged TWO of our FIVE INSET DAYS to be taken during the first week. The staff will be trained on those two days in Literacy and Numeracy initiatives and school will be closed for all pupils on TUESDAY 1st and FRIDAY 4th SEPTEMBER.
School will be OPEN on WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.
We have engaged trainers from the leading companies in the country who are only available on those two days.
I appreciate that this may be not ideal for some but I wish to notify you in plenty of time to make arrangements for childcare on those two days. This training will enable the staff to deliver the literacy and numeracy programmes that come into effect in September to be delivered more effectively.

Inappropriate haircuts

Just a reminder that colours, tram lines, stars or any other close haircuts are NOT permitted in school. The Governing body have endorsed our policy to request parents to remove such designs from their child's hair. This is not acceptible in the Comprehensive school so why is it acceptible in the primary school?

This is part of our home school agreement which all parents sign on entry.

We would appreciate your co-operation in this matter and please wait until the holidays to do so and ensure that your child's hair returns to an acceptible style for the new school year.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

The NED Show is coming back to Gelli







The NED Show will visit Gelli Primary on FRIDAY 19th June 2015. If you want to find out more about this programme please follow the links to Visit the NED Show website area for parents and visit the Kidz zone



The NED Show is a character education program that centers around three important messages that have life long relevance: Never give up, Encourage others and Do your best. During the assembly, students will learn about the importance of these three life skills while also enjoying storytelling, magic, humor and yo-yo tricks.