Yesterday we had an exciting Science themed Cross Curricular Day to celebrate British Science Week. The children all took part in three different activities, all based on the theme of “Journeys”. They created and presented their designs for a lunar rover, learnt about the journey to the afterlife by mummifying oranges and discovered how the width of the wing span affects the flight of a paper aeroplane.
How amazing to see so many Ralphie pupils and staff getting involved with the Christmas hamper donations. A total of 50 were delivered to some of the elderly residents within Puckeridge today. C5 won the best decorated box and G7 won the most number of boxes donated (14) while the 2 Burgess girls won the hamper with the best gifts! Well done everyone!!
Well…..he did it!! The challenge was on. If Mr Fuller dyed his mustache pink, the year 8 girls would raise an extra £5 towards the Movember Foundation charity. Well done girls what a great way to make it a Fun Day Friday!
Well done to Ralphie Raisers for raising £803 for the charity Guideposts.
Ralphie Raisers hosted a presentation to all of our pupils explaining how they raised the funds and to thank everyone for their support. Representatives from CVS and Guideposts came along and a cheque was presented. Guideposts were very appreciative of the funds raised and they explained to the children how the money would be spent. A big thank you to our KS2 pupils for all their hard work and commitment to raising funds, they are a credit to themselves and an absolute pleasure to work with.
Welcome back everybody, the start of a new academic year and for some the start of a new journey.
As I returned to school last Thursday it was a hive of activity as contractors were busily finishing off the projects that we had organised for the holidays. I was a little concerned that we’d be ready on Tuesday for the return of the children but Mr Verderame snr and his site team worked wonders and it was all ready. The Computing Suite has had a complete overhaul with 32 new machines and a set of portable Chrome books as we move over to become a Google school. Classrooms and corridors have had a fresh coat of paint – we thank Mr Giles for all his hard work. The final piece of the upgrade to be completed is the transformation of the Library into our new Learning Resource Centre – this will happen in the coming weeks.
It is an exciting time to be a part of Ralph Sadleir and we hope it will be the beginning of a bright future with our big plans. It is always brilliant to see the excited new faces of our Year 5s as their energy and enthusiasm fills the school – and this year there are 118 of them!! With our increase in numbers there have also had to be some changes to the school day and routines that everyone is getting used to, not least the finger print payment system for lunches – this will make it a lot easier for parents to pay and monitor what their children are eating. Our whole school assembly asked the children to challenge themselves and make their own ‘to-do’ list for the year of what they want to achieve.
As well as all of our new year 5s we had 6 new children throughout the other year groups and 5 new teaching staff. They join our special community, based on our values and mutual respect and will benefit from becoming Ralphies. Can you ensure, that, as parents and carers you put a great value on school and education. Explain to your child that treating everyone with respect, being on time and in school everyday, wearing the correct uniform and working hard in school is important to you. These are also important life skills. The value you place on these will be the value your child holds. I was reminded this week how lucky I am to be the Headteacher of this school when I was told of a story of how one of our Year 6s went out of her way to help a parent get her child, who was having a second morning wobble, into school.
With the increase in numbers I must stress the importance of safety at drop off and collection times, please be mindful of how you drive and considerate of our neighbours when parking – especially in Perowne Way.
Please remember that there is an opportunity to come in and meet your child’s Tutor next week. I know you will continue to work with us, so your child can grow in confidence, with a love of learning, and a determination to be the best person they can be.
Many of you will be becoming increasingly aware of issues surrounding school funding throughout the country.
It has always been at this time of year that we wait, more in hope than expectation, for news of the funding that our school will receive for the next twelve months. It has rarely been good news, with funding usually falling below a ‘real terms’ increase. The government maintains that they are protecting educational spending but conveniently not mentioning the extra costs that schools are facing – increased costs that must be met from decreasing levels of funding.
Be assured that the school continues to have excellent control of its finances and will always set its budget with the sole aim of providing the best possible education for our students. It should come as no surprise that budget setting is becoming increasingly difficult – and disheartening – as tough decisions need to be made.
Our children have one chance at their school education – it is our responsibility to maximise their opportunities.
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Many thanks for your continued support.
Dominic Spong
Headteacher
Ralphies are having an Italian themed lunch on Thursday 26th November.
Please click here for more details.
Thank you.
Please click below to read how you can raise money for Ralph Sadleir School by shopping online.
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Thank you.
