Dear Parents/Carers,

The end of this long term is nigh and we are all looking forward to a well-earned break:
‘SOLED OUT’: Tonight we complete the four evening performances of our end of year show ‘Soled Out’ during which every child from Y1-Y6 has been on stage singing and dancing. Congratulations to MJ Paranzino (music), Rhian Robbins (dance) and Jo Lynch, Max Furnell and Matthew Friday (script, drama and production), also Ty Van Brown, Alison Bolton and Max for the set, Jo Lynch and Y6 for the lighting. Thanks to all staff and parents for help with costumes etc. Special thanks to Sara, Sarah, Gill, Sue et al (PTA) for giving their time to sell tickets before and after school. Your children were absolutely magnificent and they seem to get better every year! Many thanks to Richard Pavitt for filming both shows last week (14/7/10 and 15/7/10). DVDs will be available for sale early in the autumn term.

MUSIC: Bandworx, our school orchestra (also featuring children from Eveline Day school), performed at the amazing Wandsworth Schools’ Summer Music concert involving a number of local schools at Battersea Arts Centre on Thursday 8th July.

MUNGA (MODEL UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY): Every year Y6 participate in MUNGA. All of the children are involved and then six are selected to represent Ravenstone at the official event. This year we were representing Sri Lanka and Mary Hargreaves and Catherine Dowler accompanied Annabel Bainbridge, Ezio Chuku-Brachet-Contul, Arthur McFarlane, Nile Morrison, Kamal Oke and Tanya Woolley to the Professional Centre on 8/7/10 to discuss such issues as the Right of Every Child to an Education, the impact of the Tsunami (and also the 27 year Civil War) on Child Poverty. They were brilliant!

PTA SUMMER FAIR 3/7/10: Many thanks to everyone who attended and also those who helped whether by manning stalls, donating or preparing things, organising beforehand, clearing up, counting money etc. Our English Country Fayre was a magnificent success and a special thanks to organiser, Katherine Harvey, Sarah Hill, compere Freddie Morrison and also PTA Chair, Gill Upton. The sun shone, people stayed, enjoying the entertainment (especially the musicians and Morris Dancers) and stalls, and we raised altogether in excess of £6400!
Many, many people help at the fair, but I just wanted to mention Zara Dar, Emily Fleetwood, Frankie Rushton-Smith, Elsie Coyle, Celina Van de Aa (Y3) and Katie Fleetwood (Y1) who ran their own stall selling old toys and books. They raised £27.08, split equally between Ravenstone and Yameriga. Wonderful!
Cameron (Y5) and Joe Ruddick (Y3) raised £200 for Yameriga in an Aquathon earlier in the year. Brilliant!

NURSERY SPORTS AFTERNOON: At least the rain held off for an afternoon of sporting fun for our Nursery children on 14/7/10. The children were great and it was a privilege to be able to present them with their medals.
FOUNDATION STAGE GRADUATION: On Friday 16/7/10 we held the Foundation Stage Graduation where we celebrated our Reception children completing the first phase of their education. They all received congratulatory certificates.

BIG DANCE 2010: We managed to get over 480 children and staff dancing at 1:00pm on Friday 9/7/10 as part of the Guinness World Record event. I think your children are officially record breakers! Thanks to Rhian for organising the whole thing and all who danced!

STAFFING NEWS: a) LEAVERS: As ever at the end of an academic year some staff are moving on: Angela Dowling is retiring after 24 years service at Ravenstone. Jean Hardy is also leaving after working voluntarily for over 15 years in the school office. On the teaching side, Emily Domaingue starts maternity leave. Mandy MacJames is moving to New Zealand, Nancy Piper is moving to Germany and Daisy Harman is moving to Botswana. James Ashrafi-Tari (Learning Support Assistant) is off to York University. Kate Morgan moved to Cambridge at Whitsun.
On behalf of the children, parents and governors, I would like to thank all those staff members who are moving on for their contribution to the community of Ravenstone, and wish them all the best for their futures.
b) ARRIVALS: Dorothy Bentil joins us as SAO, (Angela’s replacement). Dorothy is an ex-parent who has been working in the same capacity at West Hill primary. Bindu Patel joins as admin support initially with responsibility for attendance and punctuality. Dan Westland joins as a KS2 teacher in Y4. Dan has previously taught at Southmead Primary and recently a school in Kennington. Simon Lewis starts his teaching career in Reception where he trained earlier this year. Mandy Pulling likewise begins in Y2 after training at Honeywell Infants.
In addition, we have employed a number of new Learning Support Assistants: Anna Tharia, Soraya Shabann, Clare McMillan, Kim Fagan and Abdullah Warsame, all working in different parts of the school.
I am delighted to welcome these new members of staff and look forward to them settling into the Ravenstone community.

CLASSES FOR SEPTEMBER 2010
Most of the children met their new teachers today:
Nursery: Jessie Chowdry, Elaine Flanagan, Cilla Chowdry, Carol, Tara, Sandra
Reception: Felicity Gray (Bea Patel/Diane Casey), Simon Lewis (Laura Hurley)
Year 1: Ruth Hine (Felicity’s Rec), Fiona Westwood (Jessie’s Rec)
Year 2: Ngaire Waugh/Richard Huie (Y1NP), Mandy Pulling (Y1RH)
Year 3: Matthew Friday (Y2 MM), Ty Van Brown (Y2 MF)
Year 4: Min Schulenburg (Y3 ED), Dan Westland (Y3 TVB)
Year 5: Isobel Hood (Y4NW/RH), Fiona Hamilton (Y4DS)
Year 6: Jo Lynch (Y5 FH), Alison Bolton/Max Furnell (Y5 IH)
Catherine Dowler, Laura Lane, Mary Hargreaves, MJ Paranzino and Rhian Robbins complete the line-up of teachers.
***FIONA HAMILTON: By now you may have heard that Fiona Hamilton (Y5 Class Teacher) was in a serious cycle accident on Sunday. She will not be in school this week but I have been informed that she is recovering well and will be back after the holiday. I’m sure you will all join me in wishing her a full and speedy recovery.***

SKIPATHON: Thank you for your generous sponsorship of this event, as part of National Sports Week. We raised over £750, mainly for the British Heart Foundation and also for the school.

SAINSBURY’S ACTIVE KIDS VOUCHERS: Many thanks for your donations. This year we collected just under 50 000 which will supply us with a mass of new sports and play equipment to be used by the children in both PE lessons and at lunchtimes and Golden Time.

GOLDEN BADGE WINNERS: The following children have each been awarded a Golden Badge for achieving 100% attendance this year: Abubaker A, Kofi O-A, Sophie G, Mara S (Y6) Kai O, Ella P, Morgan L (Y5) Enerel A, Dean B, Ravin R, Anna T (Y4) Hazel G, Zubia A, Naia B, Taryn V, Mia L-L (Y3) Eleanor S-B, Dora N (Y2) Imogen K (Y1) Hari P, Albert S-B (Rec)
In addition Y5FH were the winners of the best Attendance and Punctuality for this half term and were duly treated to a free lunch at Pizza Express today.
From September we are aiming for 96%+ attendance across the whole school!

SCHOOL MEALS: I am informed that Harrison’s the borough’s catering company are putting up the cost of school meals from September to £2.25 per day, £11.25 per week. For the half term it is £78.75 (35 days) and for the whole term is £157.50 (70days). I must remind parents that you have to pay in advance. Cheques made payable to Ravenstone Primary School Disbursements A/C and MUST HAVE A BANK CARD NUMBER on the reverse. We are looking into offering you the option of paying on-line and hopefully this will be available soon.
Finally, can I remind you that school finishes on Friday 23rd July at 3:15pm.
On behalf of the children, staff and governors I wish you all a very relaxing summer holiday and I thank you for your fantastic support over the year. This has been a wonderful year with so many successes and fabulous events.
I would like to wish all our Y6 leavers the very best in their new schools. We will hold our Y6 Leavers’ assembly Thursday afternoon and then a farewell party in the evening.

I look forward to seeing you on Monday 6th September at 8:45am. Staff return on Wednesday 1st September.

With Best Wishes

Alan Millington