Ysgol Gynradd Llanmartin Primary School

29th April 2016

It has been a very busy start to the Summer Term and our pupils have all settled in well and are working
hard.
We do not teach to the national tests but we have been practising test questions with the children and
trying to reassure them that as long as they do their best, that is all we can ask of them. It is always a
worrying time for them though! Please continue to support your child with this message at home over the
next few days and ensure that they are in school promptly on Wednesday (4 th), Thursday (5th) and Friday
(6th) next week so they can be settled with their class and prepared for the test. It would really be helpful
if all parents could ensure that their child has a good breakfast and a drink in the morning so that their
brains are fuelled ready to show us what they can do! Thank you, in advance, for your help with this.
The results of the tests get sent off to Welsh Government and hopefully we will receive the reports by the
end of this school year.
If you have any query about any aspect of our school or your child’s education, please do not hesitate to
contact me via email (llanmartin.primary@newport.gov.uk) or telephone 01633 412660
Victoria Curtis, Headteacher

Intensive Swimming
Year 4 and Year 5 have been taking part in the intensive swimming lessons since the start of this term. The
children have all arrived in school at 8.30am in order to be registered and get on the bus as early as
possible. We have been very impressed with the children and their punctuality over the past three weeks
so a huge ‘well done’ to them!
Year 3 will start swimming on Monday 23rd May and we hope that they will continue to impress us with
their time-keeping and enthusiasm.

Rugby Tag Tournament

As you recall, our school rugby tag team were successful in getting to the final of the Tata Steel Tag Rugby
Tournament on Friday 1st April. Although this was in the middle of the school Easter holiday the team,
consisting of Evan, Jake, Diesel, Jack, Rhys, Kayd,
Ashlee and Mya, arrived at Rodney Parade in good
spirits on the evening. Supported by their families,
they met two Gwent Dragon Rugby players,
watched the Ospreys and the Dragons warm up for
their match and were Guard of Honour as the
teams ran on to the pitch.
At half time, the team played the final against
Castle Park and fought valiantly to win 3-2! A real
triumph!
Mr Jones and myself were very proud of the way in
which the children behaved throughout the evening
and believe the victory was well deserved.
Llongyfarchiadau Pawb!

Queen’s Tea Party

This is a special year for the Queen as she has reached her 90 th Birthday and is the longest reigning
monarch. To celebrate this we are having a ‘street party’ on our school playground on Friday 10 th June.
The children will be sitting at tables to have their lunch and there will be a special buffet served for all
pupils who have school dinners on that day.
Miss Jennick is working with KS2 pupils to create a very special birthday cake. The children will be asked to
design and create a cake for the queen. The winning design will be cooked and decorated by that pupil
leading up to our ‘street party’, this is part of a nationwide competition with the first prize being a guided
tour of Buckingham Palace.

Foundation Phase Outside area

The staff in the Foundation Phase are working hard to improve the outside area provision for pupils. You
will have noticed the addition of alphabet letters, mirrors, music area and the mud kitchen outside Miss
Davies’ class. Some of these improvements can be paid for through grants that we receive as a school
however we do also need to ask for help from parents, at times. Thank you to all the parents that have
donated cakes for the cake sale this afternoon which is our first fund raising event for this area.
We will keep you updated on further developments as they happen but if any parents have any ‘skills’ that
they feel we could use in improving this environment, please see Miss Drake. Thank you!

Purple Mash
Purple Mash is an internet website that the children are using within school
to access different areas of the curriculum. They are also able to access this
area from home for free. Please take the time to have a look at this with
your child and encourage them to do a little further ‘learning’ at home.
In the next week, your child will come home with their own user name and
password for you to share this experience with them.

Changes to the School Dinner Menu

Following on from the successful ‘lunch box’ that the cook provided for Sports Day last year, we are going
to repeat this for Wednesday 18th May. The box will have: hot dog, chips, cookie and a drink. This will be
the only meal cooked for that day.
Because of this change to the menu, the usual roast dinner will then be on Thursday 19 th May.

School Dinner Money

We have recently been audited and our outstanding payments for dinner money has been raised as a
concern for the school. We have a number of parents who have outstanding amounts of dinner money
that have received letters from James Harris with a request for payment.
Many of these amounts have been brought forward from previous school years and although children are
not having school dinners any more, these amounts are still outstanding.
Please could I ask all parents who still owe dinner money to contact the school office and discuss payment
with Mrs Evans.

School Uniform
I reminded all parents about the school uniform on my last newsletter but unfortunately we are still seeing
a large number of pupils coming to school not in the correct clothes.
The rationale behind introducing a school uniform is so that pupils do not feel that they have to compete
to wear fashionable, and quite often, expensive clothes. This applies to shoes as well as we are seeing a
number of pupils wearing brightly coloured trainers.
Please work with us to ensure that your child arrives in school wearing the correct uniform every day.
Our school uniform is as follows:
Boys Grey trousers – long/short Girls Grey skirts or pinafore dress
White or red polo shirts Grey trousers (NOT leggings)
Red jumpers or sweatshirt White or red polo shirts
Red jumpers or cardigan or sweatshirt
Red checked cotton dresses in the summer
SUMMER TERM DATES (dates in bold are new dates)
Monday 2nd May MAY DAY BANK HOLIDAY
rd th
Tuesday 3 May – 10 May National Reading and Numeracy Test week
Monday 16th May Year 4 and Year 5 BBC Ten Piece Concert at Newport Centre
th
Wednesday 18 May Sports Day (PTFA Refreshments)
rd
Monday 23 May Year 3 swimming leaving school at 8.40am – six consecutive days
Wednesday 25th May Wildlife Wizards Final at Pentwyn Farm Nature Reserve
th
Thursday 26 May Parent’s Coffee Morning with Mrs Curtis
th
Friday 27 May Training Day – School closed for all pupils
Monday 30th May – Friday 3rd June – Half Term Holidays
Monday 6th June Training Day – school closed for all pupils
th
Wednesday 8 June LRB Pupils to Barry Island
Thursday 9th June Year 6 swimming leaving school at 8.40am – six consecutive days
th
Friday 10 June ‘Royal Street party’ with a red, white and blue theme
th
Thursday 16 June PTFA Father’s Day Sale
Wednesday 22nd June Dreamshed Theatre group performing Wind in the Willows to pupils
rd
Thursday 23 June Y6 Transition day to Caldicot School (Transport provided)
th
Monday 4 July Llanwern Cluster Choir (Year3) perform at St. David’s Hall, Cardiff
Tuesday 5th July Y6 Transition day to Llanwern High
th
Thursday 7 July Y5 Taster session at Caldicot School
Y6 Intake Evening at Caldicot School
Tuesday 12th July Rags to Riches Collection
1.30pm KS2 Summer Performance to parents
Y6 Intake Evening at Llanwern High (time to be confirmed)
Wednesday 13th July 6pm KS2 Summer Performance to parents
th
Tuesday 19 July PTFA Fun Morning of activities for the whole school
th
Wednesday 20 July End of term – school finishes at usual time.