Good afternoon Parents/Carers,

This is a gentle reminder, the contribution payment of £5.00 for the above event is due on or before LUNCHTIME this Friday 20 December 2024 on ParentPay.

Please be aware, that should we need to cancel the event, anyone that has paid, will receive a full refund.

Many thanks

Kind Regards

Mrs T Chakmak

Finance Officer/Wraparound Admin Officer

Many thanks

Kind Regards

Mrs T Chakmak

Finance Officer/Wraparound Admin Officer

FOR THE ATTENTION OF CHILDREN IN SONG SQUAD CLUB

Dear Parents/Carers,

Please note that we will no Song Squad on Tuesday 17^th December 2024 even though they have one more visit to Mereside Care Home. 

The children in Song Squad have been amazing and sung beautifully at all the events they have attended.  I think they are all practiced out!

Song Squad will resume on Tuesday 7^th January 2025, 3-4pm.  Well done Song Squad.

Regards,

Miss Morgan and Miss Laishley

Song Squad Leaders

Olton Primary School

Dear Parents/Carers

Christmas Raffle to be held on Monday 16^th December 2024

We have been able to acquire some more fantastic prizes for our Christmas raffle. Tickets cost £1 each.

These include

• 2 x Aqua Sport Scuba Diving passes

• 2 x £100 Farm Foods voucher
• A family day pass for Flash Climbing
• £15 Entertainer Voucher
• 2 x Food Hampers
• £20 Morrison’s Voucher
• £25.00 Resorts World Voucher
• Notcutts Gift Hamper
• Family Pie - Eric Lyons
• Elemis Facial – Charlotte Elizabeth Beauty Luxury Facial
• Bottle of Prosecco
• 2 x £30 Wagamama Vouchers
• £25.00 Touchwood Voucher
• Acocks Green Bowling Voucher
• £10.00 Famfood Voucher
• Becketts Farm £20.00 Voucher
• Tap and Tandoor Solihull - £50.00 voucher
• Beech House Pizza for Two voucher
• Desco Lounge £50.00 Voucher
• Desco Lounge Meal for Two
• Twenty Pound Nail 4 u voucher

In addition received this week

£100.00 Restaurant Voucher

Children's Party Voucher (upto £250.00) Tudor Grange Everyone Active

1 Adult Free 1 month Fitness membership - Everyone Active

1 Adult 1 month Free swim membership - Everyone Active

7 day Free Guest Pass - Everyone Active

A further Hamper

       JVC – 40” Full HD TV

       1 Bottle/2 glasses of Laurent Perrier Champagne

       PS5 Call of Duty Game

       Stihl Shrub Shears set

       Dewalt 18v Cordless

       Milwauklee drill and impact driver

10 tickets with their duplicates were attached to the letter sent home with your child on 26 November 2024. If you wish to purchase all or any of these please return one of the raffle tickets to school, with your name and a contact number written on the back of each ticket and the correct money in a sealed envelope labelled ‘Raffle’ by Friday 13^th December. The envelope must be handed to class teachers.  Please note that admin staff will not be able to accept these. You will retain the other ticket for your own reference.

If you require extra tickets, please ask at reception and then repeat the above process to enter them into the draw.

If you win a prize you will be notified by Tuesday 17 December 2024.

Funds raised from this year’s Christmas events will help the school add to resources ruined in the flood and to design and install a mural on the junior playground wall.

Good luck everyone.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Neal

Olton PTA

Good afternoon Parents/Carers,

This is a gentle reminder, that if your child is having a Christmas Lunch this week, can you kindly ensure you have sufficient credit of £2.90 on your ParentPay account on the day before 8.30am.

Many thanks

Kind Regards

Mrs T Chakmak

Finance Officer/Wraparound Admin Officer

Dear Parents and Carers,

Hot Meals Update

It has been a week or so, since I last updated you all on how the remedial works are progressing in the damaged parts of our school building. The flood-damaged areas have been completely stripped of flooring and other water-affected items and the process of drying out the floor and sublayers is well underway. We anticipate that the drying process will take us up until Christmas, when hopefully the process of rebuilding the class spaces and pods will start promptly in the new year. I am sure many of you will have noticed the giant marquee which has been put up over the last few days and as you will know, this is an important part of the recovery plan to allow us to start reintroducing some hot food options at lunchtime. Once we are using the marquee space we will be able to consider whether we can use it for activities other than lunchtime.

I am very pleased to report that from Monday 2^nd December, we will be able to introduce jacket potatoes as a hot meal option alongside our existing cold options. The logistics of transporting food prepared in our kitchen safely to the marquee and keeping it warm has been quite a challenge - not to mention how we supply sufficient electricity and internet connectivity to power the catering till system. This is, I am pleased to report, all in hand and we hope that by starting with jacket potatoes, the catering team will be able to build upon this and start to offer a wider selection of hot food over time - not to forget Christmas lunch too! For the week beginning 2^nd December, the menu options will be either a cold lunch option; ham, tuna or cheese sandwich or a jacket potato with either cheese, cheese and beans, beans or tuna as a topping. A plain jacket potato will also be available. There will be a selection of desserts available daily too. This is a positive first step towards restoring a little bit of lunchtime normality for children in Years 1- 6 and the opportunity to eat their meal outside of their classroom. Pupils in Reception will continue to have their meal served in their learning spaces and will have the jacket potato option too, from next week. Nursery will continue to have a cold option available and eat in their classroom as they always do.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our colleagues at the Local Authority and also Solihull Catering for their support in enabling us to reach this stage in a relatively short amount of time. I hope that you too, feel this is a positive step forward and I will keep you updated with developments regarding the repairs and additions to the hot lunch menu as soon as more information is available.

Thank you again for the overwhelming support and kindness during this challenging time at Olton.

Kind regards,

Mr Chamberlain, Mrs Gray and the team at Olton

Olton Primary School

Dear Parents/Carers,

We are noticing an increasing number of pupils regularly arriving to school late. We would like to remind you that:

• Pupils in KS2 Year 3 to Year 6 should be in school between 8:30am – 8:40am. Pupils arriving after this will receive a late mark. (L code).
• Pupils arriving after 8:50am will receive a late mark  (U code) - (These marks could result in a fine being pursued).

When pupils arrive late, they miss out on essential instructions given at the beginning of the lesson.  This can significantly reduce achievement, regardless of academic ability.  Your child may also feel awkward arriving to the classroom when everyone else is settled. Furthermore, when one pupil arrives late, it disrupts the entire class and the teacher – everyone’s education is compromised.   

Unauthorised lateness/absence (where a U code is given) can result in legal action. 

Please contact school if you wish to discuss any difficulties you may be experiencing in ensuring your child arrives at school on time. 

Punctuality will continue to be monitored, and parents of pupils with continued regular late arrival marks will be contacted and could be invited to a meeting if it continues to be a concern. 

Yours sincerely,

Mrs E Gray

Deputy Head Teacher

Dear Parents/Carers,

Due to the recent flood in the infant block, we are sadly unable to have our annual Christmas fayre in the same way this year but we are looking at how we can still provide some festive fun for the children. We will then hope to hold a Spring fayre when the school buildings are fully open again.

We are still holding our non-uniform days on Wednesday 27^th November and Tuesday 3^rd December but we are asking for a £1 donation rather than the planned bottles, chocolates and cakes which would have been used as prizes at the fayre.

A letter with all of the details about our Christmas raffle, which we are also still going ahead with, is also coming home today so please look for that in your child’s bag. There are brilliant prizes to be won. The raffle will be drawn on Monday 15^th December.

We have explained the current situation in school to Santa and he is still going to visit our children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 on Friday 6^th December. If you would like your child in EYFS/KS1 to see Santa and receive a gift, please complete the link below and send the correct amount of £3.50 into school to your child’s class teacher in a named envelope. You can also purchase a large chocolate Santa coin for £1.50. Please indicate on the booking form if you wish to buy this in addition. If you would like your child to have both the visit to Santa and the chocolate coin, please send in a total amount of £5 in the named envelope. The deadline for the online form and all monies to be in is Tuesday 3^rd December.

https://forms.office.com/e/awkp7A2srv

A marquee is currently being installed on the playground and once this is in place and operational, we can plan for some activities for our KS2 children and will be in touch with you once we have been able to arrange this.

We would like to thank you for your support in helping us to continue fundraising as we try to make the best of a difficult situation and hope we can still give the children a little bit of Christmas magic.

Yours sincerely,

Olton PTA

Olton Primary School

Dear Parents/Carers,

Following changes to attendance legislation which came into force on 19th August 2024 and following our school attendance review, we would like to inform you that letters will be sent home to parents/carers this week and next week.  You will only receive a letter if/where we have concerns in relation to your child’s attendance.  Even if your child has been absent due to illness, we will still make contact with you if their attendance percentage has fallen below the expected attendance percentage rate for this point in the year.

If you receive a letter and have any concerns that you would like to raise or discuss, please contact Mrs Gadd our attendance officer or your child’s class teacher.

Kind regards,

Mrs S Gadd

Attendance Officer

Olton Primary School

Dear Parents, carers and pupils,

I know so many of you have been waiting for an update as to the impact of the flood in our infant building and timescales for repairs. I am now able to give you a better update. First of all, I would like to extend another heartfelt thanks you to you all, acknolwedging the disruption that the flood has caused, not only to the parts of the building that have been damaged but its impact across the whole site, particularly with learning spaces and hot school lunches being affected.

The impact of the water was considerable and surveys have shown that it also penetrated sub-layers to the floor. Across all of the learning spaces affected, all floor coverings have now been removed, furniture and equipment sanitised, where it is still safe to use and the rooms emptied. The process of completely drying out the spaces has already started and will continue up until Christmas. After Christmas, the renovation process will start and we are hopeful that this will be completed in January, but this is subject to many factors beyond our school control. With this being the case, the current classroom arrangement we have set up this week, will need to continue until then.

You, like me, may have seen snippets on the news, which indicate that the colder weather will be with us very soon.  I am working closely with the Local Authority and Solihull Catering to come up with a solution to enable the children to eat their lunch away from their classrooms and also how we may start to reinstate a hot meal option. The team supporting this are working as quickly as possible to try and make this happen in the shortest possible time.

Whilst we are waiting for the completion of remedial building works, we are exploring many different options to see how we might also be able to resume or adapt as many of the planned activities and events we had for this half term and I shall keep you up to date as soon as I can share further information.

Thank you again, both to our incredible children who have shown so much resilience and adaptation to change but also to yourselves for your continued understanding and many, many offers of help. It means such a lot to the team.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend,

Yours sincerely,

Mr Chamberlain and the Team at Olton

Head Teacher

Olton Primary School

Good afternoon everyone, thank you again for all of your support and kindness regarding the flood in our infant block. I shall send out an update tomorrow to you all. With the increase in traffic to different parts of the school, please can I ask that if your child has a scooter or a bike that they do not ride it on the pathways so everyone is safe. We have had some near misses and some children accidentally hurt by scooters in particular. Thank you for your support here.

Also a reminder tomorrow that if your child would like to wear non uniform to support Children in Need day, please bring £1 so we can donate this to the charity.

Many thanks,

Mr Chamberlain

Head Teacher