Next week’s school target is to show respect to everyone.

Please can we remind you that our doors open at 8.50am, so children are able to undertake learning activities before school starts at 9.00am. Please can you ensure your child arrives with sufficient time to be ready for this 9am start and has all the items he/she needs throughout the day (packed lunches, water bottles, etc.) Many thanks. 

Thank you for submitting photos for the active selfie campaign. It is brilliant to see the range of activities that our children do outside school. There is still plenty of time to take and send a photo – they can be emailed to selfies@mf.starmat.uk.

 We want to inform you that North Yorkshire County Caterers have changed their policy statement regarding food allergens. This is because they cannot fully guarantee that the ingredients they use have been prepared in allergy-free environments. Their statement now reads: “We are unable to guarantee a completely ‘allergen free’ environment as foods containing allergens are used in our kitchens.” This does not affect the preparation of our meals which will still use fresh, locally sourced produce wherever possible.

Some parents have recently asked us when Ofsted will visit our school. As you will be aware, our last inspection was a considerably long time ago (2008). Currently, outstanding schools are exempt from inspection by law unless their performance drops considerably. We do expect this law to be changed within the next year. As you know, performance has stayed high (and improved in some areas) over the last few years and we therefore have not emerged as a priority in Ofsted’s risk assessment. The inspection framework has changed many times since our last inspection and it is now incredibly hard to attain an ‘outstanding’ judgement.  This year, Ofsted inspected 10% of exempt outstanding schools. Eighty-four per cent lost their outstanding grade, while 28% dropped to requires improvement or inadequate. Please be assured that we will continue to all we can to remain an outstanding school, but regardless of the inspection outcome when it happens we will continue to work tirelessly to provide the same level of high-quality education that we always have. 

 Reminder that you can give any member of staff a shout out at any time by clicking this link  https://forms.gle/zfEdm6dTWd5thHfx6 this is always available on our website, hover over the ‘Our School’ tab and then click ‘Staff List’  the link is at the top of the page.  Thank you.

PTA have organised a Family Movie Night on Friday 20th March. Toy Story 4.  Tickets £2 per person available on ParentPay.  There will be alcohol available for a donation, soft drinks, sweets & pizza on sale. Please bring a cushion or blanket to sit on. 6pm start. 

Thank you to everyone who purchased items from the stall on Friday.  They raised £90 for the Rob Burrows fund.

Upcoming Diary Dates (these are subject to change so please check regularly) further dates are also on the website calendar.  

14th Feb – Break up
24th Feb – School re-opens
27th Feb – Y6 SATS evening for Y6 parents only, pupils do not attend
2nd March – Book People Book Bus – info to follow nearer the time
3rd March – Y4 trip to York Chocolate Story
4th March – Learning Review Day, school closed other than for Learning Review Appointments
10th March – PTA meeting at 7.30pm, in The Crown, Monk Fryston
13th March – Year 3 class assembly at 2.45pm, parents welcome 
19th March – Year 5 & 6 Diocesan Day in York
20th March – Year 4 class assembly at 2.45pm, parents welcome
20th March – 6pm PTA Movie Night – tickets available on ParentPay 
19th March – Big School Brunch Day
27th March – Training day – School closed for pupils
1st April – Easter Lunch – parents will be invited – details to follow shortly
2nd April – 9.30am Easter Service in Church (choir singing) parents welcome
3rd April – Break up
20th April – School re-opens

Next week’s school target is spread the happiness.

Please can we remind you that the children are welcome to bring healthy snacks to eat at playtimes.

We are aware that they do get hungry, especially during the morning sessions, and often need to ‘re-
fuel’, so they can focus in lessons. Recently, we have had incidents of children eating food from their
packed lunches during morning break, which then leaves them short at lunchtime.

Now the weather has turned and is so changeable throughout the day, can we also remind you to
ensure your child brings a coat to school every day. Playtimes act as a necessary release from study
for the children and it is vital that they get the opportunity to go outside. Thank you for your
support.

Don’t forget that the PTA disco takes place next Thursday, 10th October. KS1 children can attend 5-6pm and KS2 children 6-7pm. Entry is £2. Parents are welcome to stay with KS1 children if they would like. All children should enter the disco through the Year 4/5/6 door, and they will exit through the main door. For safeguarding reasons, the main door will remain closed during the duration of the disco.

We would like to offer congratulations to Mrs Elcock who is expecting a baby. She will remain with us until Christmas, when she will commence maternity leave. Governors have commenced a recruitment process for a teacher to start in January.

Individual school photos will take place on the morning of Thursday 17th October.

Don’t forget that many of our policies are available on our website, or the Star MAT website. If you would like to see a policy that is not published on one of these sites, please contact the office who would be very happy to make a copy available to you.

Upcoming Diary Dates (these are subject to change so please check regularly)  further dates are also on the website calendar.

6th Oct – Choir singing at Harvest Service in St Wilfrid’s Church
10^th Oct – Disco 5-6pm for Rec, Y1 & Y2 6-7pm for Yrs 3 to 6  £2 entry
14^th Oct – Harvest service in church – donations of tinned or dried foods for Knottingley Food Bank
17^th Oct – Photographs
28^th Oct – Half Term begins
4^th Nov – Back to school
5^th Nov – Learning Review Evening
6^th Nov – Learning Review Evening
14^th Nov – Y6 trip to Beamish
26^th Nov – Flu immunisations for all year groups.