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Posted on: September 6th 2019

A Message from Mr Nation

Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful summer holiday. It’s lovely to see the children return to school looking so smart and full of energy. A warm welcome to new parents and children. As always, we have an ‘open door policy’ and our aim is to be a welcoming and friendly school. If you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in contact with me or your class teacher via the school office.  

Communication

This year, I will be writing a newsletter to parents / carers every fortnight and you’ll also receive a newsletter from classes  every month. We will send home a list of key dates for the year next week, please refer to this so that you’re aware of what is happening and when. Every newsletter will have upcoming dates and in addition, Mr Penn will continue to do a fab job updating Facebook. Our aim is to give you as much notice as possible should any changes to events arise and we thank you in advance for your patience with this. Letters will be sent home in keeping with previous years with further details of school events when necessary. All correspondence can be found on our school website which is updated weekly. 

Following the survey last year, I’m looking to improve the communication between home and

school. The above will address this area but we’ll also be having ‘parent drop-in’ sessions when you can come into school and look at your child’s work on the final Friday 2:45 pm - 3:15pm of each half term. Dates can be found on the School Calendar.  In addition, we will be providing you with a Mid-Year Report Card in the Spring Term providing you with information about your child’s attainment. 

 

Playground Equipment 

As you may have seen, we have new playground equipment. Mrs Liddell work relentlessly last year to get the equipment installed over the holiday. Our outdoor classroom will be used at playtimes, lunchtimes and also for Forest School / outdoor learning. This will be a huge asset to the school and the children are already enjoying using this as a quiet area at break and lunchtime. The Clamber Stack is designed specifically for the older children. We have Risk Assessed the new equipment and, similar to the Trim Trail, children are not allowed on these pieces of equipment before and after school. This is for the safety of your child/children. Anyone seen using this equipment at the beginning / end of the school day will be asked to stop. There will be consequences for persistent offenders. I appreciate younger children are naturally curious but please support us in keeping your children safe by not allowing them to climb or play on the equipment.

Extended Care 

Camelot Club is increasingly popular thanks to the wonderful work of Mrs Abbott and Miss Gosney. Please get in touch through the office if you wish to make use of this provision. 

Clubs

Clubs are not intended to be a form of child care. Teachers volunteer their time to run extra-curricular activities for the children of Castle Primary School. Please only send your child/children to these clubs if they show an interest in taking part. Clubs will always be communicated after the first few days/week of each school year. As I’m sure you’ll appreciate, there is a lot of organisation and preparation by the team and this gives us time to put everything in place. At the end of each half term, you will receive a letter with the clubs for the subsequent half term. 

Absences

Should your child be absent from school for any reason, please ensure you communicate this with the school office. Term time leave must be requested using the forms that can be found on the school website. Please refer to the Attendance Policy for guidance. Term Time Leave not only negatively impacts your child’s education but has a knock on effect to the teacher and the other children. Our expectation is that children attend school 100% of the time. Of course children are occasionally ill and there are valid reasons for them to be absent. Otherwise please ensure your child attends school regularly and is punctual. These are valuable life lessons for them to learn. 

Our overall school attendance last year was 95%. This was below our target of 96%. Please support your child with their education by ensuring they attend school every day. 

School Applications for 2020 

If your child is due to start school in September 2020, the closing date for applications is the 15th January. The Admissions and Entitlements team will not be contacting parents individually as they have done in previous years. Please visit www.somerset.gov.uk/admissions for more information. 


I’m looking forward to the year ahead and working with you all to build on the many strengths of Castle Primary School. 

 

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A message from Mr Morton Posted on: 25/03/2024

A message from Mr Morton

My goodness, this term has flown by! So many exciting experiences have been had and wonderful adventures the children have been part of, inside and outside of the classroom. Despite the weather seeming determined to rain on every single Forest School session, our spirits have remained high and where others would see grey skies, we saw an opportunity to splash in the puddles.     It is always a privilege to speak with our children about the activities and experiences that they are offered throughout each term. I have thoroughly enjoyed spending my lunchtime dining experiences with Sophie, Olivia and their guests, as part of our Charlie Castle ‘Wonka Bar’ golden ticket prizes. The dinner table conversations have been delightful.     We have been able offer trips to the top of Ham Hill to experience iron age living, visits to the tank museum followed by VE Day experiences. Live writing webcasts with Micheal Rosen to enhance our creative writing and opportunities to join a national celebration of new books for children as part of the judging panel. Also, not forgetting that our team representing the school in the ‘Big Bake’ won their heat (pardon the pun). The team were so highly motivated by their experience that they have agreed to create our own ‘in -school’ version of the competition next term. Watch this space for how to take part and hopefully eat some delicious cakes!    We are also proud of how our teachers drive to find new ways to enhance our school offer and experiences to the children. Mrs Abbott is now part of a programme set up by Westminster to bring a better understanding of government, democracy and how our voices and actions can make a powerful difference for change. We are already working together to build a new parliament in our school setting. There is a strong possibility that we may have a future PM in our school!    Finally, a huge thank you to FoCS and all of you for the amazing support and energy that you bring to our school every day. Greeting you all at the gate each morning is a real treat and a wonderful start to my day. Thank you for your support and kindness for all that we do. Have a restful Easter and we look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday 16th of April.    Categories: 1 CategorySchool News
Castle teacher privileged to join Parliamentary ambassador programme Posted on: 9/02/2024

Castle teacher privileged to join Parliamentary ambassador programme

Congratulations to Mrs Abbott, a teacher from Castle Primary School in Somerset, on her successful application on to this year's UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador course. Mrs Abbott was one of only 70 teachers from across the UK who were successful in their application and has recently taken part in the three-day programme in London. Mrs Abbott watched debates in the House of Commons and House of Lords, learnt more about the role of MPs, Lords, doorkeepers and select committees. She toured the palace, met fellow teachers, and had the unique opportunity to quiz Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, and his counterpart in the Lords, Lord McFall of Alcluith.  Sir Lindsay said the three-day programme ‘offers a great opportunity for politicians and teachers to share their experiences’. He said: “In my view, you are never too young to get involved in democracy and to make things happen – so giving teachers an insight into our world is a great way to pass that message back to the classroom.” Frances Abbott, teacher and Senior Mental Health Lead at Castle School said: 'It was an absolute privilege to attend the Parliament Teacher Ambassador course. I am brimming with ideas and knowledge and look forward to sharing with students and staff in our school and community.” Fran Jeens, UK Parliament’s Head of Education and Engagement, said: “I congratulate this year’s successful applicants and thank them for their support in inspiring and engaging young people with the work of the House of Commons and House of Lords.”Categories: 1 CategorySchool News
A message from Mr Morton Posted on: 11/12/2023

A message from Mr Morton

How else could I start my newsletter other than to wish you all a Merry Christmas and to thank you all for the support, kindness and goodwill that you have shown to us here at Castle Primary School. A huge thank you to Castle Farm for, once again, donating our beautiful Christmas tree and also for kindly donating the cider to make the mulled cider that I hope you had an opportunity to sample? A massive thank you must also be given to FoCS for everything that they do to enhance and enrich our school experience for all of the children and staff. You are amazing!!! Despite the floods and relentless rain we have managed to keep up our high Christmas spirits and to share most of our celebrations with you in person (Seesaw carols coming to a small screen near you soon!). I challenge anyone to have not felt overwhelmingly Christmassy after meeting Humph and the rest of the cast of the Drogo/Corfe nativity. Who knew that the story of Christmas could be told from the perspective of a grumpy camel! I can’t wait to experience the Dunster/Tintagel debut performance of ‘One more sleep’. A play that has been written and directed by our very own Mr Penn. Sadly, we couldn’t persuade him to also star in it too. Stoke today Holywood tomorrow!!! Speaking of Holywood, we are so proud of our school council and head girls and boys as they represented our school on BBC1 Spotlight news. They spoke eloquently about how we, as a school, can make a big difference to our local and global communities. If you missed it or want to share it with friends and family then please click on or share this link: Castle children on BBC1 Spotlight News As we ready ourselves for a new chapter in our school’s history, we say a fond farewell to The Redstart Learning Partnership and welcome our alliance with The Cabot Learning Federation. We would like to say thank you to Mrs Suzanne Flack and all of the team that have worked tirelessly over the past 9 years to ensure that our children have been able to access the highest educational standards with love and equity for all.  All that is left for me to say is stay safe, have a merry Christmas and we look forward to welcoming you all back on January the 3rd 2024.  Categories: 1 CategorySchool News
A message from Mr  Morton Posted on: 4/09/2023

A message from Mr Morton

Welcome back everyone!   We hope that you have all had a restful summer break and enjoyed lots of new adventures and relaxing days. We are grateful to have such nice weather for our return to school, allowing the children the chance to get outside and catch up with their friends and have a run around. It is a shame that we didn’t have this weather during the holidays but we will embrace it while we have it. Winter is coming!   The children have all settled back into school life seamlessly. Everyone is enjoying their new classes and they all look so smart in their new school uniforms. I have had the pleasure of complimenting many of them on their new…everything! It is a good time to remind everyone to please ensure that all items of clothing and objects that come into school have a clear name label on them. It helps us to return misplaced items swiftly to their rightful place.   Staffing updates:   We have had confirmation from Mrs Sandiford (from her rooftop garden!) that she is safely in Egypt and loving her new job and accommodations. We are not jealous at all!!!!   We welcomed Miss Raybold’s little baby girl, Marlee, into the world. We look forward to many cuddles over the coming weeks.   Mrs Staniland underwent major surgery over the summer break. She is well and recovering at home. She wanted you all to know that she is on the mend and looks forward to seeing everyone around the village again soon. Until she is back up and working I have continued my split headship role over the 2 schools. I’m sure you will join us in wishing her a speedy recovery.   We officially welcome Miss Hill to our teaching team as the Totnes class teacher. She is off to a flying start and we can’t wait to see the exciting experiences she will enrich our school with over the year.   We also welcome David Seccombe and Emma Logan to our school site maintenance and cleaning team.    Lots to take in within only 2 days of school so far… We will soon be sharing many more school events and letters from the class teachers and FoCS about all of the amazing events and learning experiences we have planned over the coming term. Please do come and say hi on the playground anytime for a catch up or chat. I look forward to our exciting year’s adventure together.     Mr Steve Morton     Head of School  Categories: 1 CategorySchool News
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