School updates
February 2024
Dear Parents and Carers,
World Book Day takes place on Thursday 7th March 2024, and we would like to invite your child to come to school dressed as, or with an object relating to, a character from their favourite book. We would like to ask for a small donation of 50p to put towards the purchase of new books for our school libraries.
We will be delighted to be joined by children dressed as Willy Wonka, The Gruffalo, Matilda and a range of characters from traditional tales such as Goldilocks or Puss in Boots however we are keen to make this a celebration of books and the enjoyment we can get from reading rather than focussing on the dressing up element. There are many ideas online for costumes with many created at home at little or no cost so please don’t feel the need to spend any money. We love the idea of children bringing objects from their favourite stories for other children to guess, for example a cuddly dragon from ‘Zog’ or a colouring crayon from ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’. Check the following website for ideas:
https://www.madeformums.com/toddler-and-preschool/last-minute-easy-world-book-day-costumes/
During the day your child will be involved in a special World Book Day assembly and a grand Thornbury poetry recital – more information about this will be shared with the children via their class teacher very soon.
World Book Day celebrates the joy and value of books and reading, especially for children. To help get them started on their reading journey, every child receives a £1 World Book Day Book Token that can either be exchanged for one of the special £1 World Book Day books or used to get £1 off any full price book. You can find out more about the books at https://www.worldbookday.com/books/ Your child’s token will be sent home with them on World Book Day itself and can be redeemed at most UK bookshops.
You can join us in building your child’s enthusiasm for books well beyond World Book Day by reading together regularly and joining your local library if you are not yet members. For more information about World Book Day and ideas on sharing books at home, visit worldbookday.com. Our children are never too young to start their journey with books, and the benefits of reading are enormous—so we hope, like us, you will use World Book Day to celebrate it with your child.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Walsh and Mrs Mantell.
We are in the process of developing a brand new website. If you are looking for any information and unable to find it on the page, please do not hesitate to drop us an email at admin@thornbury.plymouth.sch.uk.
School day times change
3:15 end of school from 3rd January 2024
Dear Parents and Carers
You may be aware that the Government has asked all schools to look at their school day times, and work towards being open for a minimum of hours.
We need to therefore increase our school day, and have spent a lot of time as staff and Governors exploring the best way to do this. Our intention is to make a change for January, so I am writing now, to give parents and families plenty of notice.
We debated starting a little earlier, and finishing a little later, but this would be two things to change, and therefore decided the simplest solution would be to add on time at the end of the day. This will also have a beneficial impact on the curriculum time, allowing us to get into more depth in the afternoon.
This means from January 2024, the school day will end at 3.15 pm.
I understand this will impact initially on some families making different pick-up arrangements, but I hope this gives enough time to make plans.
After school club fees will not be changing, however, we will not be putting up prices this year, to account for this change.
Thank you
Kind Regards
Mrs Hardisty
Good Morning
With the weather today, and the forecast over the next few days, we have unfortunately decided that we need to postpone sports day until Weds 5th June, with reserve day on Thurs 6th June. The children will get the opportunity to do an extra sport activity of some kind over the next two days, in their year groups, but due to the organisation required for this, spectators will not be able to come.
We have therefore decided to make this term's Open day, on Weds 22nd November, sport themed, with the opportunity for up to two parents/ family members per child to come and join in an indoor sports activity for an hour's slot including a sports activity rotation and an in-class reading session. This means we have had to structure this day differently to usual as follows:
Weds 22nd Open Day Indoor Sports activities, (outdoor activities weather dependant)
9.00- 10.00 - Y6
9.00-10.00 - Foundation in classrooms/ outdoor activities
9.45-10.45 - Y5
NB - All lunches to be packed lunches this day (either home provided or school provided), due to use of the halls
10.30-11.30- Y4
11.15-12.15 - Y3
1.15-2.15 - Y2
2.00-3.00 - Y1
Many of you will not be aware that in previous years, we had to cancel so many summer events due to rain, that we moved Sports Day to September, and for several years never cancelled one, as the weather was beautiful. It is frustrating that the weather is so bad this week, but we hope that parents will understand that we need to keep everyone safe, and the event being an enjoyable occasion, and that the Open Day in November will be a nice offer for this term instead, as well as having the sports day for all year groups in the summer.
Thank you for your understanding
Kind Regards
Mrs Hardisty and Mrs Summerfield
Dear Parents/Carers,
Please see below for key dates for the Autumn term 2023. For some of these events there will be more information coming out closer to the time. Please note that Class Assemblies will take place later in the year.
Dates for Parents/Carers Autumn 2023
WB 18/9 – Extra-Curricular Clubs begin for 5 weeks
Wed 20/9 - Individual photos
Thurs 21/9 - Sports day
Fri 22/9 - Reserve sports day
Tues 26/9 – Languages day in school
Tues 26/9 – Y5/6 Grenville House Residential meeting 5:00pm
Thurs 28/9 - Y3/4 Party 5:15-6:30pm
Y3/4 Parent/Carer Welcome meeting 5:30-6:30pm
Mon 2/10 - Flu Vaccinations
Wed 4/10 - Foundation/Y1/Y2 Parent/Carer Welcome meeting 5:30-6:30pm
(Please note: The party for the Foundation & Y1/Y2 children will be on different dates later in the term)
Tues 10/10 – Service Families Welcome meeting 3:00-4:00pm
Thurs 12/10 – Y5/6 Party 5:15-6:30pm
Y5/6 Parent/Carer Welcome meeting 5:30-6:30pm
Fri 13/10 - Y5 Harvest Assembly 9:15am
WB 16/10 – Last week of Extra-Curricular Clubs
Mon 16/10- Fri 20/10 - Y5/6 Grenville House Residential
WB 23/10 - HALF TERM WEEK
Mon 30/10 – Non-Pupil Day
Tues 31/10 – Children return to school
Wed 8/11 – Parents Evening
Thurs 9/11 – Parents Evening
Fri 10/11 – Y6 Remembrance Service 9:15am
Wed 15/11 – Y1/2 Party 3:00-4:30pm
Wed 22/11 - Open Morning
Wed 6/12 – Christmas Fayre (after school)
Mon 11/12 - Foundation Nativity performances 9:30am and 2pm
Tues 12/12 - Y1/2 Christmas performances 9:30am and 2pm
Wed 13/12 - Y3/4 Christmas performances 9:30am and 5pm
Thurs 14/12 - Y5/6 Christmas performances 9:30am and 5pm
Mon 18/12 – KS1 Christmas lunch
Tues 19/12 – Carol Service 9:15am
Tues 19/12 – Last day of term
KS2 Christmas lunch
pm - Foundation party
Wed 20/12 – Christmas Holidays start
Is your child due to start secondary school next year?
Now is the time to start thinking about your child moving from primary onto secondary school.
If your child was born between 1 September 2012 and 31 August 2013 and are in Year 6, they are now eligible to apply for a secondary school place.
All the information you will need about secondary school admissions in 2024 is on our website www.plymouth.gov.uk/secondaryadmissions. From here, you can apply online for school places and read the ‘Plymouth Parent’s Guide’ which contains all admission policies and application forms.
Applying online is quick and easy - all you need is an email address. Once you apply online we will let you know which school your child has been allocated on Friday 1 March 2024.
Remember:
The deadline to apply is 31 October 2023 so visit www.plymouth.gov.uk/secondaryadmissions now.
Dear Prospective Parents and Carers,
We know choosing a school for your child is a big decision to make, and there is so much to consider. Thornbury is a happy, vibrant school, with a family feel. We place great emphasis on getting to know every child as a unique small person, and over their time in Primary School, developing their academic learning as well as their social and emotional skills. Our children are happy and independent. We also have our Animal Aces which bring our values to life. Are you a Resilient Lion? A Friendly Otter? We are so proud of our children and look forward to sharing this with you, as your child begins their school journey.
Please see below, the dates for our planned events so far. Do please get in touch with school to book a place – either phone on 01752 302600, or contact admin@thornbury.plymouth.sch.uk, using the phrase ‘New Foundation Visits’ in the email heading. If you can’t make any of these events, do give us a call, and we will see what we can do to find another time to visit.
Mrs Hardisty, Headteacher
Stay and Play
These sessions are for potential new children to come and experience Foundation for an hour, while parents have a tour around the school with Mrs Mantell. Each session is limited to 6 children.
Monday 25th September 1:30pm
Monday 9th October 1:30pm
Wednesday 1st November 9:30am
Monday 6th November 1:30pm
Tuesday 14th November 9:30am
Tuesday 28th November 1:30pm
After School Visits – Parent and Carer Tours
These sessions are for prospective parents/carers to come and have a tour of the whole school with Headteacher, Mrs Hardisty.
Wednesday 1st November at 5pm
Wednesday 22nd November 5pm
Dear Parent/ Carer
We are waiting for deliveries of the uniform with new school logo embroidered on, we'll let you know when this arrives.
If you wish to purchase uniform with the old logo, we have limited stock available, here is a link to the sizes information (we don't have any lightweight fleeces 10-12 L, or sweatshirts 5-6 or 9-10).
https://www.thornburyprimaryschool.co.uk/uniform-information/
Please email admin@thornbury.plymouth.sch.uk with you requirements, and we will check stock and get back to you - until the new stock arrives, all payments will need to be in cash.
Thank you
IMPORTANT- ARBOR
From 1st September, we are no longer taking payments and sending communications via schoolmoney/ Teachers2parents, all of these functions will be via Arbor. Please check your emails for a welcome email from Arbor, and download the app (can end up in your junk folder if you haven't yet logged in).
If you have any problems with this, please contact admin@thornbury.plymouth.sch.uk