We welcome your comments on any postings. This is a space for parents and friends of the school to give us feedback on any aspect of school life.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the blog and to those of you who continue to read it.
We'll be back in 2006 with more ...


Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Christmas Fair Update

Wow! We raised over £2,000 on Saturday - that is fantastic. Thanks everyone for your support. It certainly seemed hectic from where I was standing in the hall. Santa left a note to say over 100 children had been to tell him how good they have been this year, so he's off to start wrapping up their presents ready for his travels on Christmas Eve!
Speaking of Christmas, check out these websites for children: -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/children/ Games and quizzes for children from CBBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lifestyle/christmas/food_children.shtml Christmas Cooking for Children.
If anyone has any other suitable links, feel free to add them.

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Parent/Governor views

Welcome to my blog. I am a parent of two children at the school and a Governor, technically a Local Education Authority governor.
Why be a governor? What does it mean? What do I do? Does it matter? What do I believe in? And mostly what do I bring to school?
It's a mixture of things. I have four children, two still at school. My experience of education, as others, comes from my own experiences at school. My school days were in the (swinging) sixties, corporal punishment was still part and parcel of school life. My memories are not of inspirational teachers or Mrs so and so the best teacher in the world (they were there, but lost to my memories) but of being slapped on the legs or have blackboard rubbers and chalk thrown at me and my fellow pupils. This casual violence became systematic at my senior school. It was pointless to talk about bullying amongst pupils when the teachers were the worst ones.
Fortunately, or otherwise, by the eighties when my older children were at school, violence was reserved between pupils alone not teachers. I then had the priviledge of watching my oldest child be inspired by a school and a particular teacher. It is a wonderful thing to see a child grow, develop and surge ahead. Not surprisingly she is now a teacher herself. That relationship -challenging, demanding yet fun is the model that I carry in my heart (if not my head) and is what I really want from a school for my children.
Now in the age of targets, league tables and SATs. what of school today? What I miss most and wanted as a governor is that relationship between school, teachers and parents. A big fence, appointments and a safe route into school ensure our children and teachers' physical safety, but if like me you only see the teacher twice a year, a relationship is harder to get. With no relationship there is no PTA (hopefully this is changing) and no input of all those skills parents can offer. The blog, and e-mail is good though - I can ask the questions that don't need a formal appointment but help me understand school.
So what do I bring to school as a parent governor? A mixture of feelings and emotions, sweet and sour. A sympathy for parents who had difficult times at school and like me are slightly weary of the response they may get from authority. Mixed with an envy and admiration for some teachers who inspire change and enthuse children. What I want from Chellaston Junior school for my children is an adventure in learning. To be encouraged, helped, challenged and changed. Most of all to enjoy school. Some of that they do get, my job as governor is to ensure that the opportunity and, where possible, the culture of the school allow and encourage this.
What do you want from school? Blogging is about people talking and saying what they believe. I have had my say, and will say more. What do you think? Be my guest.
Paul
P.S. We also look at polices, procedures, reports etc but I will leave the excitement of that for another day.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Christmas Fair

Don't forget it's our Christmas Fair on Saturday 10th December at 2.00pm. See you there!

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Share your school memories

Were school days the happiest days of your life? Maybe they were, maybe they weren't - but there's usually something that stands out in our memories about our school days. Why not share your stories here?
Anyone who submits an entry will be in with a chance to win a prize - all names will be entered into a draw and a winner chosen.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Looking forward to Christmas?


The CJS School Choir have been invited to sing at the following venues:



Chellaston Junior School Hall on Friday 9th December. We will provide a large part of the Christmas Service to pupils, parents and friends.

Chellaston Junior School Hall on Saturday 10th December.
We will entertain customers at our Christmas Fair.

Frankie and Benny's date to be confirmed.
We will entertain customers. All donations collected will go towards our school funds for music.

It may be possible that we may be invited to sing at other venues during the Christmas period, depending on our availability.


Our Christmas programme will include:

Let it Snow!

I saw Mummy kissing Santa Claus

Winter Wonderland

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (with special appearances from the boys!)

Santa Baby

Rocking around the Christmas Tree

Do you hear what I hear?

Jingle Bell Rock





Thursday, November 03, 2005

Sending text messages to parents' mobile phones

We are taking part in an initiative to improve the way the school communicates with parents, and we hope that with your support, we will make it work. As you can appreciate we need to send you lots of information about your child, their class and the school in general, throughout the year.

We will shortly be able to send text messages to parents’ mobile phones directly from the school’s management information system. This means that we can pass a message to groups of parents quickly and easily. Nothing can replace a telephone call when it is needed and so mobile text messaging will only be used in appropriate situations. Examples of this might be:

*Changes to school meetings or events
*Cancellation of after school activities
*Class trip reminders
*School closures of any kind
* Reminders for notes when pupils are absent

It will now be much easier for us to get information directly to parents and be confident that the information has arrived. Also, the facility allows us to check whether the message has been received by your mobile phone. If it was switched off and the message could not be delivered, we would attempt to contact you by other means.

All parents should have received a letter explaining this system - if you have any comments or questions, please post them here or contact me at school.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Learning Mentor Hotseat

The role of Learning Mentor is to help children to overcome barriers to learning through one-to-one contact, group work and regular contact with families.
I am not a teacher or teaching assistant. I hope to work with children for a set time until they have overcome their problem. Sometimes children will ask to see me to talk about something that is worrying them, other times their teacher might have concerns that they would like me to help a child to overcome.

A few problems that I can help with are as follows:

* Children who would like to tell me about a problem that is worrying them.
* Children who are finding it hard to get along with other children or staff.
* Children who are always getting into trouble.
* Children who find it difficult to settle in school.

I will see children during lessons for half an hour, sometimes once a week for others it may be more. We will chat about their concerns and work on some worksheets that will help them.

I also run some lunchtime clubs that I encourage children with barriers to learning to take part, at the moment these include: Homework Club, Drawing Club, Games Club, ICT Newsletter Club, Lego Club.

Breakfast Club starts on Monday 7th November for a limited number of Children, as well as Friendship Groups and Circle of Friends.

I would like to arrange a termly Coffee morning after Christmas for parents to come and have an informal chat with me regarding any concerns that they may have or just to see what is happening in school.

Children are having to deal with so many barriers to learning both at home and at school, for some this may prevent them from enjoying school, they have nobody that they can talk to and gradually feel more isolated. By having a Learning Mentor in school, children know they have somewhere to go, someone to talk to and someone to support them. A Learning Mentor is able to talk to them about areas that they can improve on, about anger management and help them to increase their self esteem.

With the pressures that are on children and schools today, Learning Mentors help them to overcome these problems, as well as supporting families. Children that do not have this support in school have no-one to turn to and more likely to misbehave, be low attenders and find it harder to make friends or achieve to the best of their ability. Sometimes just being able to talk to someone independently can be enough.

Please feel free to ask me any questions about my role.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Coming Soon...

Mrs Murton our Learning Mentor will be our first Blogspot Guest and will be available to discuss her role with parents and answer any questions.

Half Term

CJS Buzz Number 4 went out yesterday and each child should also have taken home a free sample 'money pocket'. These will be on sale from the school office after half term (50p for ten).

Poppies will go on sale after half term - we're suggesting a minimum donation of 25p.

School re-opens on Monday, 31st October.

Friday, October 14, 2005

What you should have received this week

CJS Buzz Number 3 - if you haven't received your copy, please click on this link.
http://www.cjs.derby.sch.uk/pdfs/newsoct12.pdf

Meet the Teacher Night

Many thanks to all the parents of year 5 pupils who attended Meet the Teacher Night last night. It was a really useful night to match parents with pupils and to discuss their progress. It would be great to speak to those parents who were unable to come at some time in the future. Please don't hesitate to contact the office to make an appointment at a mutually convenient time.

Thanks

Monday, October 10, 2005

Derby TravelWise Team

Hello everyone at CJS.
If anyone has any cycling, road safety, or travel plan questions please give me a call on 715146 or
andy.culshaw@derby.gov.uk

Cheers
Andy Culshaw
School Travel Plan Officer
Road Safety and TravelWise Team
Derby City Council

Numeracy 'Drop-In' Session

Thank you to everyone who attended the Numeracy drop-in session last Thursday. We hope you found it informative and that the session enabled you to ask any questions you may have had regarding the strategies we use in school. Some of the comments we received were very encouraging - “an excellent idea”, “the booklet is very clear and self explanatory. Thank you” and “a really good idea to allow parents to discuss new ideas” were a few we received. If you have any other comments to make, please feel free to post them here.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Guest Book

I have set up an experimental Guest Book and hope visitors to the site will leave a message or post a comment.

Friday, September 30, 2005

MacMillan Coffee Morning

Thanks to all parents and friends of the school who attended and supported this event. We are still counting the proceeds! Hope it started your day off well and you found it a relaxing occasion.

What you should have received this week!

Parent Governor Nomination letter - nominations should be received by 14/10/2005
Central Soccer Schools Friday lunchtime course starting next Friday for 10 weeks
Harvest Festival and sale of produce letter
CJS Buzz Number 2
World News Group - details of how to join.

Please check your child's bag!

Thursday, September 29, 2005

School Cycle License Scheme

Thanks for your question about the wearing of cycle helmets.
We work in partnership with The Road Safety & TravelWise Team at Derby City Council who arrange cycle training courses for Year 6 pupils. The Road Safety & TravelWise Team strongly encourages cyclists to wear helmets, however it is for individual parents to consent to their child taking part with or without a cycle helmet.

Children who are successful in passing the approved Cycling Proficiency test at the end of the training session are allowed to apply for a School Cycle License which enables them to cycle to and from school. This privilege is restricted to those children who have passed the test and may be withdrawn if a rider is seen to be behaving in an inappropriate fashion when riding. Chellaston Junior School strongly recommends that riders should wear a cycling helmet.

I hope this answers your question.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Leave a message!

If you've visited the site, please feel free to leave a message, say hello or simply let us know who you are.
All comments are welcome!

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Drama begins......


After long awaited anticipation, drama rehearsals for Guys and Dolls will start on Thursday 29th September at 7.45am in the school hall.
Please can parents refrain from driving into the school car park or using the gate area as a turning place, as this is a very busy time for staff arriving at school and congestion has almost caused accidents in the past! We are thinking of the safety of all our pupils and staff.
Pupils are to use the entrance to the hall near the covered way. On arrival, pupils should register with a member of staff (usually Mrs Savidge). If you hven't already returned your consent form please do so as soon as possible so you can be added to the register.
For the first two weeks or so, we shall get familiar with the story of Guys and Dolls by watching the film, which is similar. This will help puils decide if they would like to audition for a part or not.We are still waiting for the show kit to arrive, but when it does, it will be all systems go! I will let pupils know when choir rehearsals will start on a Friday lunchtime as soon as the kit arrives! Auditions will also take place soon, so watch this space.........

Friday, September 16, 2005

Miss Fogg Spouts........


Thanks to all the parents who came to the meeting in Castleton classroom last night. I hope you all found it useful. Don't forget that if you have any further questions you may contact me at any time and I'll do my best to answer them as soon as I can.By the way......drama consent forms should be returned to me a.s.a.p. I'll let the children know when the first rehearsal is as soon as I know! For those parents who don't know, we are doing Guys and Dolls this year!

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Nearly ready to be launched!


You will see that I've posted some messages already to this blog. I've spent quite a lot of time experimenting in order to make the site easy for everyone to use, as I want it to become a truly interactive site - not just another medium for conveying information to you.
At the end of last week, I went through all the letters and notices that we'd handed out (there were quite a lot for only 3 days!) and I wondered if a weekly summary of what we'd sent out would be helpful, hence the previous posting!
Please let me know what you think.
Maureen Slack

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

What you should have received this week!

The following information has been given to pupils this week about forthcoming events/activities:-

Central Soccer Schools football coaching - all years (letter and details of how to sign up)
Owen Black Belt After School Club - all years (letter and details of how to sign up)
'Give it a go' leaflet for all parents
Fitness training - Years 3, 4 & 5 (letter and details of how to sign up)
'Bike Safe' cycle training (run by Derby City TravelWise team) - Year 6 pupils only Helen O'Grady drama academy - leaflet to all pupils
Data Protection Act - letter to all parents

Year 3 Parents' Lunch
Year 5 & 6 Netball Coaching
Details about our Parents' Information evening next Thursday


If you have not received any of these, please check your child's bag!


Monday, September 05, 2005

Welcome!

First of all, thank you for visiting this site.
This weblog has been set up so that you can access school information from home, your workplace or anywhere that has an Internet connection. However, it's more than a website - your school weblog (more commonly known as a blog) is a place where you can communicate with US.
Blogs have grown in popularity in recent years and they can be an excellent method of communicating. We hope that for many of you this will be another way of improving home-school communication and that you will enjoy taking part in developing the weblog and joining in. How this weblog develops in the future is very much how you would like to see it develop. So please let us know.
Before we start our new blog, I'd like to reassure you that every care will be taken with the content of postings and that the site will be treated in the same way as the school website - there will be no references to individual pupils and no images or photos (unless prior permission has been sought).
While weblogs give a free voice for anyone to air their views, contributors are asked to ensure that their postings are not defamatory or libellous or inappropriate for a school weblog. The author will remove inappropriate comments and the site may be closed down without prior warning. (Information obtained from SuperhighwaySafety. For more information on weblogs and safety, please visit the DfES's SuperhighwaySafety (Safe use of the Internet) website at
http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk/schools/document.php3?D=d77.)
Before you leave, please bookmark this page. This is your weblog, be sure you can find it again!
Please follow the links on this page for more information.

Maureen Slack