Latest News | Greenhill Primary School

MARCH NEWSLETTER

Fri 31 Mar 2023 L Jones

Dear parents and carers,

Welcome to our March newsletter. Spring has sprung and lighter days are upon us!

As always here at Greenhill, it has been a very busy term with lots happening!

End of term

Friday 31st of March is the final day of the term. We want to thank you all for your continuing support of the school as we strive to provide high quality education for all of our young learners, and we wish you all a happy and relaxed Easter.

Due to staff training on Monday April 17th school will only be open for children who attend Dosbarth Aur (Gold) and Dosbarth Arian (Silver). All other classes will return to school on Tuesday April 18th.

The staff from Dosbarth Arian and Dosbarth Aur will be attending training on May 28th, therefore school will not be open for children in these classes on that date.

Communication

Many of you will have noticed that we currently have a major problem with our phone lines. We have had an engineer who has recommended that the whole system should be replaced. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide a timeline for this work to take place. In the meantime, we thank you all for your patience and understanding and ask that, should you need to contact the school, you use our mobile number, 07572010246.

Please ensure we are kept up-to-date with any changes of phone number or address.

SeeSaw is our preferred method of communication. It is essential that all parents and carers download the SeeSaw apps (Class and Family) so you can keep up to date with letters and messages. We have a SeeSaw help page in the Parents section of our website, www.greenhillprm.co.uk

Special Event Days

We held several special days this term celebrating welsh culture and heritage and also raising awareness of charitable causes.

During Greenhill Book Day we participated in a wide range of tasks to celebrate literature. For example, in Dosbarth Fioled they examined and ranked covers and created stacks of books like Matilda.

School Dinners

From Monday 17 April 2023 there will be an increase in the charges for school meals.

For pupils in Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 the cost will increase to £2.30 per day.

Please note that pupils in the following year groups do not pay for schools meals due to the introduction of Universal Primary Free School Meal (UPFSM)

• Nursery - All registered nursery age pupils attending a maintained school for at least two funded sessions (on a given day) per week will be eligible for a free school meal when in attendance on those days.

• Reception

• Year 1

• Year 2

From September 2023 pupils in Years 3, 4, 5, and 6 will also be eligible for the UPFSM.

Attendance

It is vital that all absences are reported to the school as soon as possible. Please phone the office (01443 875521) or text the school mobile (07572 010246) to report absences and remember to give a specific reason for absence.

Polite Reminder- the school day finishes at 3.15pm. We have an increasing number of children being collected before the end of the school day, this should only happen for medical appointments (evidence will be required) or where authorisation from the Headteacher has been sought and granted. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Social Media

Unfortunately, we are still experiencing technical issues beyond our control with Facebook.

However, we are also on Twitter and can be found @Greenhill10 if you would like to follow us.

We remind parents and carers to be wary of the social media use of their children. Many social media sites are age restricted and are not suitable for use by children of primary school age. For example, both Instagram and TikTok have age restrictions of 13 years for users.

We frequently remind children of issues regarding online safety and appropriate use. However, it is the responsibility of parents and carers to monitor and regulate social media use away from school.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/social-media/

Parking

We politely ask parents and carers who drive and park in and around the school site to be mindful and courteous of pedestrians and other road users. Please stick to the 5mph speed limit and park in appropriate and safe places.

Dates for Your Diary

17.04.23 - INSET: School closed for all children apart from Arian and Aur.

15.05.23 - 17.05.23: Residential visit for Dosbarth Fioled

26.05.23 - Dosbarth Fioled to visit Techniquest

28.05.23 - INSET: School closed only for children in Arian and Aur.

05.06.23 - 23.06.23 - Year 5 daily swimming lessons

06.07.23 - Sports Day

A Sad Farewell

It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to Mrs Simmons this term. Mrs Simmons has been a highly-valued member of the school community for many, many years and has taught hundreds and hundreds of children over that time, probably including many of the parents reading this letter!

All of us at Greenhill Primary thank Mrs Simmons for everything that she has done for the children of Greenhill, Gelligaer and beyond and wish her a long and happy retirement!

As always, thank you all for your continued support, showing that together we can all strive for the best for our children.

Lisa Jones Head Teacher

Price Increase for School Dinners

Thu 30 Mar 2023 S Holloway

From Monday 17 April 2023 there will be an increase in the charges for school meals.

For pupils in Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 the cost will increase to £2.30 per day.

Please note that pupils in the following year groups do not pay for schools meals due to the introduction of Universal Primary Free School Meal (UPFSM)

•   Nursery - All registered nursery age pupils attending a maintained school for at least two funded sessions (on a given day) per week will be eligible for a free school meal when in attendance on those days.
•   Reception
•   Year 1
•   Year 2

Please note that from September 2023 pupils in Years 3, 4, 5, and 6 will also be eligible for the UPFSM

Greenhill Book Day fun

Tue 21 Mar 2023 Mrs Gould

What a fantastic day we've all had at Greenhill Book Day! We had so many fun book related activities to complete. Then our fantastic book swap, which was a brilliant opportunity to display our amazing home-school tasks to our families.

GREENHILL BOOK DAY - Tuesday 23rd of March

Fri 17 Mar 2023 S Holloway

On Tuesday 21st of March we will hold our rearranged GREENHILL BOOK DAY! We will spend the day celebrating stories, poems, literature, poets and authors! Children will be allowed to come to school dressed as a character from a book or comic but this not an expectation. If you would rather your child wear their normal school clothes on the day that is fine.

We will be holding a book exchange at the end of the day. If you have any suitable, good quality childrens books at home which are no longer needed please bring them in and we will see if we can find them a new home.

Red Nose Day - Friday 17th March

Thu 16 Mar 2023 S Holloway

Friday March 17th - Red Nose Day: Firstly, we would like to say a massive thank you to all of the parents, carers and children who supported our afternoon tea event. Thanks to you all and to Mrs Colwell's hard work to set it up we raised over £200 for Comic Relief (and had some lovely cakes too).

As you are aware tomorrow (Friday 17th of March) is Red Nose Day. We will be talking with the children about the importance of helping and supporting charities and doing some Red Nose Day activities throughout the day. Here's the exciting news for the children, they will be allowed to come to school in their pyjamas if they wish for a donation of £1 which will go to Comic Relief.

Rearranged Parents' Evening

Fri 10 Mar 2023 S Holloway

As you are aware we needed to postpone one of our parents' evenings this week due to the snow. The new date for these appointments will be THURSDAY MARCH 23rd. Teachers will keep all appointment times the same as previously. If you need to contact your child's class teacher beforehand to rearrange your appointment (or to book one if you haven't already) please send them a message via SeeSaw.

Parents who requested telephone appointments will be contacted by class teachers to arrange new dates as these cannot all take place on the same date.

Thank you for you cooperation in this regard.