New Chair of Governors

After a long stint as chair of governors Mandy Frith has decided to step down. Mandy saw us through some difficult times as a school such as the pandemic. She brought the governors together to support the school in managing decisions around closures and home learning and was a always there to challenge and support the school and its leadership. In more recent times Mandy has overseen clear improvements in the school's curriculum and eventually the last successful Ofsted. She had tried to step aside in previous years but there had been no clear succession and with Ofsted looming Mandy kindly agreed to stay on to lend her experience. We would like to thank Mandy for all of her time and commitment to Manor and the parents, staff and of course children here.

Now we have other governors with several years of experience under their belts and Jemma Harris was elected to be our new chair at the last meeting. Many of you will know Jemma as a key member of the PTA and you will know that she is a true supporter of the school who wants the best for all of the community and is willing to show this through actions as well as words. Jemma has already shown herself ready to challenge the leadership and ask relevant questions, whilst being ready to listen to reasonable answers.

Of course the role of chair of governors is a key one but the fact that Jemma is so readily available should not change the fact that the first port of call for any concerns is the class teacher then the headteacher. The vast majority if not all concerns can be quickly and satisfactorily answered in that way. If concerns are not allayed by this route then we can support you in following our procedures from there.

Jemma will be supported by our newly elected vice-chair of governors, Phillip Millard.

Summer Safety

As the hot weather continues Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service is asking parents to ensure their children are safe around water. Whilst it might be tempting to take a dip in canals, rivers and lakes this can be dangerous due to unknown hazards. 

Ensure your child knows how to “float like a starfish” should they get into difficulty. There is a short animated video they can watch The RNLI's Seaside Safety Song - YouTube 

If you have a mobile phone download the free What3Words app which can be used to report a precise location in an emergency: Download the free what3words app | what3words 

For more safety advice, visit their website here: Water safety

Office Request ...again!

Please make sure to login to your Arbor account and clear any debts before the end of next week (18th July) and save Mrs Everett the job of chasing any debts over the summer! She needs to reconcile the school accounts before the end of the school year. Thank you!

End of Term, Final Day Arrangements

On Friday 18th we say a fond farewell to our Year 6 leavers. On this day Year 6 can bring an item of uniform such as a white t-shirt for friends and staff to sign for them. They will also receive a book of small photos to swap and collect from each other in the morning.

1:15pm - Straight after lunch we will head across to the church for a leavers' assembly with speeches from the leavers and some presentations etc. This usually takes around an hour.

2:15 - 2:40pm - We will then return to school where the leavers' plaque will be unveiled and there will be photo opportunities for parents on the field.

2:50pm - Y6 leave through a guard of honour made up of the rest of the school across the playground to parents at the top by the gazebo. Other children then return to classes to gather belongings.

3pm - Children released to parents if they are there. We will obviously look after any children that are left if parents can't get out of work early!

*Timings are approximate and could be earlier or later*

Can You Help Refresh Robins Class for September?

Mrs. Armstrong is looking to refresh and enhance the Robins (EYFS) classroom ready for the new school year, and she needs your help!

We are desperately seeking donations of the following items to support our learning and play spaces:

• Pots, pans, jugs, ladles, spoons....
• Pipes, planks and two decking boards
• Topsoil (for our mud kitchen)
• Wicker baskets (all sizes)
• Life-like dolls and doll clothes

Calling All Volunteers!

Mrs. Armstrong will be spending the first week of the summer holidays in the Robins (EYFS) classroom; cleaning, sterilising toys, tidying, sorting, and getting everything ready to make it fabulous for our new intake in September.

If you have a few hours to spare and would like to lend a hand, your help would be greatly appreciated. Whether it’s for an hour or an afternoon, every bit of support makes a big difference.

In addition to helping organise the classroom, we’re on the lookout for a volunteer to help us build a new mud kitchen. We already have pallets ready and waiting just bring your tools and enthusiasm!  

If you have any of these items to spare or would like to lend a hand, please get in touch with Mrs. Armstrong or the school office. Your support makes a big difference! Thank you 🙂 

End of Year Reports Out on Arbor

We have today uploaded your child's end of year report to Arbor and it should be available to you through your portal. This is a new system of writing reports that we and all Fierte schools agreed to try this year. It means you have access to the report on your devices and they will build up through your child's time at Manor each year. You can always download and print them if you wish but this has saved our office staff days of printing, copying, filing and posting as well as saving reams of paper. Please do let us know what you think so we can ask Arbor to make any adjustments for next year.

We have not been able to proofread the reports as easily this year so please do let us know if there are any errors and we can correct these and regenerate the report where necessary.

To access your report log in then go to Quick Actions - Report Cards:

You can then select the report and download.

Arbor's help article is linked below:

Downloading a report card from the parental portal or parent app

Do let us know if there are any issues.

Summer Reading Challenge

Years 1-6 have all been sent a registration card for parents to enrol them for the summer reading challenge. This is run by the library service and is a fun way to encourage reading over the summer. Children have all chosen their first three books to read and they need to return to the library in the summer to read 3 more books to complete the challenge and win a medal. If they registered on the library bus they will need to complete the challenge on the bus when it returns. This will be every 2 weeks on a Tuesday at 10:25-11:25am outside the church in the village. This will be on the following dates: