Letter from Mr. Gulley, March 2010

Dear Parents,

Please find below a reminder of some important dates:-

Thursday April 1^st, 3 o’clock,   End of Term

Tuesday April 20^th Start of the Summer Term

Monday May 3^rd May Day

Week Commencing May 10^th Key Stage Two SATs Tests

Week commencing May 31^st Half Term

Friday June 11^th Teacher Training Day

Friday June 26^th Circle of Friends Summer Fair

Monday July 5^th Key Stage One Sports Day

Tuesday July 6^th Year 4 Sports Day

Wednesday July 7^th Year 6 Sports Day

Thursday July 8^th Year 5 Sports Day

Friday July 9^th Year 3 Sports Day

Friday July 9^th Annual Reports Issued to Parents

Wednesday July 21^st End of the School Year

I have some very good news:-

• 15 children passed the 11+ this year, including children with some of the highest marks in Essex
• Several other children were very close indeed to a pass mark
• Our school was awarded the trophy for Best Primary School in South East Essex at the South East Essex Art & Design Competition, the third time we have won it in the last four years, several classes winning gold awards
• One Year 6 Class won the Special Award for work in textiles, something open to  Secondary Schools also
• Our Netball Team won the League comprehensively and finished runners up in the Cup, our Second Team finishing third,  out of sixteen participating teams
• You, the children and the staff contributed £1140 to the Haiti Appeal, a quite remarkable achievement

I would appeal for some support for our Circle of Friends. We unfortunately had to cancel our Quiz Night due to a lack of response and the Committee tells me that we have only had three volunteers so far to assist with the Summer Fair. This is an important aspect of our work as a school and I would be so pleased if this eager group should receive more offers of help. Thank you.

One other piece of serious news is that the school, along with many other institutions I suspect, has challenging budget problems to face in the financial year ahead. We shall be trying to maintain all that we do but we have to be inventive in the ways we raise money for the school. One of our largest expenditures each year is our swimming pool. It costs well over £20000 a year to run. This year I shall be asking you to help us by supporting a sponsored event we shall be holding early in the summer term. I shall write to you early next term with details. I shall not, therefore, be seeking donations as we normally do.

Do enjoy the Easter Holiday and let us hope that the weather improves. It has been such a long and miserable winter! Our children have kept us all enthusiastic throughout it and have achieved much.

Best wishes.

Mr. G