Dear Parents, Summer Term Begins Welcome to what I am sure will be a fantastic summer term at Lower Park. The summer term is always the busiest with a wide variety of activities - the summer fair, two more residential trips, sports days, playtimes on the field, reports, D&T challenge week, Open Evening, end of year concerts - and .... SATs. We also have a couple of extra events this term; the launch of our Healthy Schools initiative, an ice skating evening for the children and, in response to parents' requests for more curriculum information evenings, THREE evenings for parents this term. The first is described in the next item and a detailed letter was sent home yesterday. During the Easter break, a new playground door was fitted on the main corridor and it is a big improvement. Curriculum Evening Next Week - English We are keen to keep our parents up to date with developments at school and those taking place nationally. Next week we will be focussing on children's writing, spelling and the changes about to take place. In the Autumn term this year, a revised/new primary curriculum is being phased in to primary schools. Judy Scorer is the Local Authority's English adviser and she has willingly agreed to come give an illustrated talk about the teaching of English, particularly writing, the changes taking place and how best you can support your children at home. This session is open to all parents and will take place on Thursday (next week), 26th April at 7.30pm in our school hall. There is no charge or tickets required for this event and I am sure that once again, this session will be appreciated by parents. Another Award for Lower Park I am delighted to be able to inform you that the school has been successful in gaining the Inclusion Quality Mark. Following a thorough assessment made in the last week of last term, the Assessor has concluded that we are, ".....a very inclusive school." There are ten elements that are assessed, including teaching and learning, pupil voice, governors, behaviour, leadership and management etc. It did feel like OFSTED had arrived early as the assessor roamed around school quizzing the children, support staff, governors and teachers, but the final report is a delight to read. It is a very full report and I have asked Mr Gallagher to place it on our website so you can access the report in full. I recommend that you take a look and read what the school is like through some else's eyes. It can be found by following the link on the Lower Park Times page. Book Fair - Next Week Next week we will be holding our next book fair after school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in the school hall. You are invited to visit with your child and can purchase the latest books. You can also see the books at our English Curriculum evening next Thursday. The school does receive commission from the sales and we take it in the form of books to replenish our class and school libraries. Morning Break Snacks - Thanks for the Support This week saw the beginning of our drive to ensure all break time snacks are healthy ones. On Monday, I was amazed that of those bringing snacks in the class I was teaching, 26 out of 27 children had brought a 'healthy' snack (or none at all). As Mr Parry's letter explains, we are rewarding children for their efforts in this and giving an exchange to those children who may have brought an 'unhealthy' snack. We wanted to say thank you to parents too. The response has been great. Early Arrival at School Early morning arrival at school is becoming problematic for a number of reasons. Firstly, children should NOT arrive at school before 8.40am. I supervise the playground from 8.40 to 8.50am. It is parents' responsibility to ensure the safe supervision of their children before 8.40am and the arrival at school by 8.50am. Therefore, early arrivals at school mean that children would be unsupervised. A number of children are arriving, unsupervised before 8.40am and are therefore at risk. There is a similar concern about the safety of children leaving the playground at 3.15pm. Unless attending an after school club, the children should go straight home and not remain unattended in the playground. I would ask you support these health and safety issues. Secondly, car parking on Hazelbadge Road continues to worry us and, although we will be introducing our walking bus later this year, I would ask you not to reverse into the school entrance - a highly dangerous manoeuvre when children are there (-use the turning circle at the end of the road instead). It is against the law to park on the zig-zag lines at any time and please be vigilant when parking (especially reversing) and take extreme care. Thirdly, riding scooters in the playground is a danger to the many children and adults present before and after school. There is also a concern about scooters being left in school during the day. Please ensure your child does not do this. Thank you for your support. Back to top of page >>

Clubs Next Week The programme for the next school week is: Mon: PFC at 3.30-4.30pm Tues: Band at 8.15, Netball at 3.15pm, Dance for Year 1&2 at 3.15pm, NO Japanese Club, Art club at 3.15pm, No Football. Weds: Choir at 8.15, Football (Les Clitheroe) at 3.30pm. Cross country at Moorfield - letter to follow. Thurs: NO Girls Soccer (Macc Town) lunchtime, No Band at 3.15pm. Fri: Cheerleading - 3.15-4.15pm Eggs and Flowers Service I am sure that everyone who came to the KS1 led service will have been moved by what they saw and heard. It was so colourful and brought out the real message of the Easter Story in a vivid, colourful and memorable way. Well done to the children for performing so confidently and to the staff for their hard work. Thank you for your donations of eggs and flowers. I have received a thank you card from Parklands Old People's home for the flowers and all the Easter eggs were greatly appreciated by the girls and boys who found themselves being supported by the Mustard Tree Foundation over Easter. This Week (and last week) at Lower Park On Monday of the last week, Mrs Davies began her assessment of the school and interviewed many children and adults - see item above. On the last Tuesday, our Eggs and Flowers service was very special. Our Year 5 children enjoyed a wonderful week at Ilam just before the holiday. As well as all the activities AND being a credit to the school whilst being there, they also returned with a kite and a gecko! Thanks to the teachers for making it such a rewarding trip for the children. On the Thursday before the holiday, our Year 6 children attended a sports festival at Poynton High - and had a great time. This week saw the introduction of Healthy snacks - thanks for your support. Yesterday, Mr Parry took a team of budding cricketers to Poynton High School where they enjoyed playing and they finished 3rd. They won 2 games, lost 2 games and a number of children hit sixes. Next School Week at Lower Park Miss Hayley Gill begins teaching with Mrs Martin's class on Monday. Lost Property will be put outside the main entrance after school on Monday (after which it will be disposed). PTA meeting - 7.30pm on Monday 23rd. Class Photographs on Tuesday morning - 24th. Book Fair opens after school on Weds, Thurs and Friday. English Curriculum evening for Parents on Thursday 26th at 7.30pm in our hall. Ice Skating - in the Hall! Yes really, we are having an ice skating evening on Thursday 3rd May - in our school hall. Our School Council informed us that this is what they would really like. There will be 5 x 45 minute sessions from 3.30 to 7.30pm at £4.00 per person. Tickets will go on sale from the school office from Monday 23rd April. Lost Property Our lost property boxes are overflowing! We will display all the lost property outside the school entrance hall on Monday evening (or in the hall if it is raining). After then, we will need to dispose of any unclaimed items. We will still site a lost property box in each corridor for any property that 'lost' this term and you are asked to look there first if searching for an item this term. Tesco Vouchers Thank you for your overwhelming support in sending in the vouchers. The collecting box was overflowing on Monday. We will continue to collect them for some time to come. Bedding Plant Sale Reminder! The collection box for the orders is situated in the entrance hall. And Finally I must commend to you our website. It has been updated with many new items and I would urge you to visit it and look, in particular, at the stunning photograph galleries of some of our latest events. The photo gallery of the Easter Story is particularly stunning. If you receive the Beacon by email, follow the link from our website homepage. My thanks to Mike Gallagher (and Mrs Gallagher) for their hard work on making our new look website so vibrant. Menu You can download a copy of the menu for the week starting Monday 23rd April here. Click on the back button of your browser to return to the Lower Park Beacon.

If you would like to join our email distribution list and receive the Lower Park Beacon by email, you need to inform me of your email address. Your email address will not appear when the Beacon is delivered and it is protected by the data protection policy here in school. So why not join our growing number of parents receiving email Beacons? Just write to me via email. My email address is: head@lowerpark.cheshire.sch.uk

The Lower Park Beacon is also available to read on our School Website at: www.lowerpark.school.cheshire.org.uk

Kind regards,

Ian G Coulson and the staff at Lower Park