Miss Richardson has been busy searching for suitable venues for a residential visit for our Year 6s
after SATs. We like to try different options each year and this year she has chosen Ford Castle in
Northumberland. To give you more information, we would like to invite Year 6 parents and children to
an information session at 5.30pm on Tuesday February 5th. We hope that you are able to join us.

School are collecting clothing (without school logos) to support FOMS and the Fire Fighters Charity.

If you have any unwanted adults or children’s clothing such as coats, trousers, paired shoes, bags or belts etc please bring your clothing in any bag to school for collection on Thursday 28th February.

Thank you.

On Tuesday 15th January, Dr Greenwell shared the details of the upcoming Space Camp, including information about the sleepover for years 3 and 4.  The powerpoint that was used can be downloaded here.SpaceCamp_Parents_Presentation website

Friends of Montalbo School are meeting on Tuesday 22nd January at 5pm in school. One of the
things we will be discussing and arranging is the Valentine’s Disco. If you would like to join us we
would love a few more members!

Due to our school extension, we are looking to employ a cleaner for 10 hours per week (2 hours per day). Further information is attached.

Pre-Employment Health Declaration DCC Application form Cleaner Person specification Cleaner Job Description Cleaner Advert Application Form Guidance Notes (March 2015)

I know that the children enjoy looking at the new club lists and making their choices. Each half term we try to blend popular traditional clubs with some new ones and I am pleased that we have managed to arrange taekwondo, design and technology and engineering this half term. Some of the clubs require more careful supervision and are limited in number so make your choices as early as possible!

A reminder that the parents/carers of children in Year 3 and Year 4 are invited to a meeting in school on Tuesday 15th January at 5.30pm to find out more about the upcoming Space Camp.

A reminder that Spring term starts today, Tuesday 8th January. We look forward to seeing you all today.

I for one am looking forward to February when all of the classes will be in the right places! We have
moved so much furniture around this school over the past couple of years and it will be nice to have
settled and familiar spaces. Once this is done, we can turn our attentions to other improvements.
One change that I imagine will be popular with parents and that we have been planning for a while, is
the introduction of Parent Pay which is a way of paying for all school bills online such as school
lunches, clubs or educational visits. As we are moving the school office and the difficulties with IT and
phone lines, this will start in April 2019 to coincide with the new financial year. Information about how
this system works will be sent out nearer the time.
We have many new ideas to develop our curriculum that I will share in the new year. To give you a
flavour, we are going to have a Space Camp in the school hall and we are fortunate to have access to
some amazing space related resources like a large telescope and expertise to support us. We are
aiming to achieve a Space Mark science award and I look forward to informing you of the different
activities nearer the time. On another note, I have set most of the teachers a local history challenge
which will be a great project for our children and hopefully for the town.

As we approach the end of 2018, it is nice to look back on the year and reflect on the many things we
have achieved. It is hard to imagine the school without a mass of machinery, fencing and construction
workers but the end is in sight! The progress made since March when they started has been
remarkable and we are nearly there! We aim to be completed by February half term all being well.
Like us all, the builders have coped with The Beast from the East and enjoyed the long, glorious
summer. The children and staff deserve huge credit for being able to work as normally as possible
under changing and challenging circumstances and I thank everyone for their understanding. The
new additions were much needed and we are delighted with the spaces created.
This year we have employed several new teachers and other staff who have fitted into the team
seamlessly. Being able to teach in single year groups and being able to put split year groups back
together has had many benefits. Developments to our curriculum have been exciting and innovative,
giving our children broad and balanced experiences and equipping with the knowledge and skills they
will need for the future.
Academic achievement continues to be very strong at Montalbo. Our results at the end of each Key
Stage were tremendous and our children continue to achieve much better than the national average
in each area, including the children achieving above the expected standards. Having a committed and
talented teaching team right across the school allows us to focus on not just English and Maths but
develop talents right across the curriculum.
Our work with you as parents/carers continues to be very important to us. We hope that you have
enjoyed the many opportunities to visit school for assemblies, school performances, World Book Day,
workshops or FOMS events. You have been so supportive of our work and we really appreciate it. On
top of this, we have worked with several parents in their line of work making cakes, sharing
archaeological information and undertaking fantastic science experiments! Parents also helped to
arrange the excellent STEM events at GlaxoSmithKline.
Working with the wider community has been more prevalent this year and we have had some good
workshops and activities at The Hub, The Bowes Museum, The Witham and Scout Hut. We have
supported McMillan superbly and other charities too. We have linked with important organisations
such as the police, fire service, NSPCC and Dog’s Trust to give our children advice on keeping
themselves safe.
The support from Friends of Montalbo School has been remarkable. I think that the events they
arrange for our school are amazing and the children really enjoy them. The funds that they have
raised will provide some excellent resources which can be used by our children for years to come. We
have a really strong core group of people in our Friends group and it would be really great if anyone
else could join to give them a hand! We only meet once a half term to arrange the next event and the
meeting do not last long! If you are interested please see let me know and I will pass it on to the
Friends. Thank you. Friends of School will be collecting old clothing to support school and a firefighter
charity with a collection on Thursday 28th February. A reminder will be sent in the New Year but if you
were having a sort out over Christmas please bare this in mind.