Dear Parents / Carers,

World Mental Health Day

Thank you to everyone who wore some yellow on Tuesday.  We had an assembly about mental health and why it’s so important to look after the inside of your body as well as the outside.  We spoke about all the ways we deal with our emotions.  The children came up with some super ways to help with their emotions and wellbeing.

For anyone struggling with their wellbeing, here are some websites that may help.

Mind

NHS 

Young Minds

Internet support for parents

As many of you are aware, we regularly receive internet safety advice.  I always send out articles that are linked to parenting and to children.  Lots of children play the games below, so this article may be very useful.  As we have had several issues with children using WhatsApp, I thought the article below may be of support to you as well.

For Parents - Fortnite Guidance

Epic Games (which includes Fortnite, Fall Guys and Rocket League) provide some really useful features for parents to manage their child's gaming experience. This includes 'cabined accounts'  which are accounts where the child is under 13 and certain restrictions are applied by default, e.g. talking to other players. Given the popularity of these games it's possible some parents aren't aware of this feature so it may be worth sharing. You can find further details and instructions from Internet Matters HERE.

For Parents - WhatsApp Guide

Even though WhatsApp has an age restriction of 16+ I find it is the most popular messaging app from Y4/5 upwards. Over the last year or so WhatsApp have introduced new features so it may be worth sharing this updated guide with parents so that they can ensure the most appropriate settings are applied for their child. You can find the article/guide HERE.

Lunchtime Assistant Vacancy

We have a vacancy for a lunchtime assistant.  If you or someone you know would like to apply for this role, please get in touch with Mrs Dean.

Sports Stars

Yesterday, myself and some of our Year 6 children took part in sports activities at Co-op Academy Stoke.  We joined children from Co-op Academy Clarice Cliff and Co-op Academy Glebe.   The children had so much fun together and many of them won medals.  Well done to all of the children who took part. 

Small & Tall 

On Monday 6th November, the school is closed to all children including Small & Tall.  This is due to staff training.

Parents’ Evenings

Next week (Wed 18th and Thu 19th) we have our parents’ evenings.  If you haven’t had your appointment, please do get in touch with your teacher.  It’s a chance to find out how your child has settled into their new class.  

Please can we ask that you keep to your time of ten minutes for the benefit of everyone.  Thank you.

Parent Surveys

Last year, we had 3 main areas to develop to address your comments from the parent survey.

1.Support you in knowing who the Governors are. 

All of the Governors are on the website.  In the next few months, there will be a short extract about who they are and why they chose to be a Governor at Friarswood.

2.Develop your child’s understanding of different careers.

The whole school has taken part in Careers Related Learning (CRL).  We achieved the Quality mark for CRL in June 2023, which shows that we are going above and beyond in supporting your children about careers, aspirations and developing skills they will need for the future.

3.Opportunities for students to develop leadership skills

At Friarswood, we have an active school council.  We have a variety of leadership roles such as librarians, prefects, team captains and playground leaders.  As part of our CRL curriculum, we learn about leadership skills and how to develop these.  Throughout the year, we have chosen children to be leaders for the Eco-club, Fairtrade Fortnight and spellings as well as Year 6 children who led their own enterprises in the summer term.  Within each class, the children have their own leadership roles such as leading the line, helping to organise, having specific classroom jobs.

We will continue to try our best in improving these areas which you said needed to be developed.  We hope that with the activities which have already taken place, you can see that we have made great strides with these actions.

Thank you as always for your continued support.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Take care and stay safe.

Mrs Wilmer

• The PTA team are grateful for the support they have received during this first half term and look forward to hosting more events for the rest of the year to enable to children to have access to treats, trips and resources they otherwise wouldn’t. The PTA are always looking for new, creative, enthusiastic members. Please contact through Mrs Hartley or your class teacher if you’d like to come and join the fun.