Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Stuck for what to do this half term?

  Mon 28 Oct 2024

  Your child should have received a Raring2go! magazine to bring home last week, but just in case families haven't got it to hand, click on the following link for the same information:

   

  https://raring2go.co.uk/

   

  You can access lots of ideas of what do to as a family during this half term.

   

  Enjoy.

• Punctuality reminder (and improvement!)

  Fri 25 Oct 2024

  At the end of week 7, we communicated our concerns regarding rising cases of lateness in the mornings.  Below is the table of challenges, implications and guidance that was shared with parents to highlight and hopefully improve the issue. 

   

  We're very pleased to say that the average number of lates was below 20 during the final week of term (excluding Wednesday when there were genuine traffic issues on the Warwick Road) at an average of 17 lates per day.  Obviously, this is a number we want to reduce further but thank you to our parent community for working in partnership with school and we do hope this positive trend, with regards to lateness, continues next half term. 

  Factors affecting the punctuality of Greswold families
  Challenge	Impact	Advice
  On average, nearly 5% of the pupil population are currently arriving after the bell has sounded and gates have closed each morning.  This number increases on rainy days.   Late pupils then have to wait while being signed in,  have their lunch choice taken and escorted to classrooms, some of which are the other end of school.	Children’s lunch choice is rushed as they have to complete it at the office.	If it is raining, there will be more cars on the road meaning journeys will take longer.  Therefore, leave 15 minutes earlier on rainy days.
  	Pupils won’t physically reach their classroom for up to ten minutes after they arrive at the office.
  		Check your route to school, using an app, in case there are roadworks or congestion.
  	Pupils can get very anxious when arriving in class late.	Use the previous evening to prepare lunches and put out uniforms and bags to save time in the morning.
  	Pupils arriving late will miss their learning during registration time.	If children are waking up too late in the mornings, leading to lateness, consider changing the time of bedtime to earlier in the evening.
  	One to one or small group learning, can’t take place if a child is late.  This impacts on the time the class teacher or teaching assistant has taken to plan for it.	School may take the decision to send a reminder letter to parents of pupils who have accumulated several lates.  This is to reiterate the importance of being on time to school.
  At the end of the school day, families have more than one child finishing school at the same time, e.g. Reception and KS1.	Families might be worried that their children are waiting too long.	Pick up the oldest child first and then walk round to Reception or Nursery. It’s completely understandable that parents might be a couple of minutes late.
  		Teachers can arrange to dismiss oldest child first to save time.
  At the end of the school day, pupils haven’t been collected outside classrooms on time or after 3-4 minutes.	Class teachers may have meetings or school sporting event they need to attend to straight away, or a medical appointment out of contact hours.	Please leave plenty of time to travel to school especially when it’s raining.
  		Y1-6 families should enter school through the KS2 gates so congestion is avoided around KS1 classrooms.
  	Pupil feedback from School Council in 2023 suggested they prefer to see a familiar face straight away to talk to.  This prompted our Hometime Harmony campaign.
  		It’s understandable that being late can happen on occasion. If so, consider phoning ahead to notify the school office or even have a little jog!
  Pupils from Greswold Greyhounds haven’t been collected by closing time (6pm).	This doesn’t happen very often but it delays staff travelling home, especially if they have to use public transport.	Please don’t park in the staff car park to save time, especially if you are running late.  This helps to avoid potential accidents.  Most schools across Solihull don’t allow parents to use staff car parks either.
  	The school will be adopting a new charging policy soon for lateness.	There are no parking restrictions directly outside the KS1 gates after 4pm.
  Some families are using the staff car park to park while dropping off children at Greyhounds in the morning.	It isn’t fair on other families who park outside of school correctly on the road.	Please park on the road outside of school.  The parking restrictions still allows vehicles to park on the road directly outside the KS1 gates until 9:30am.
  	As the school gates aren’t locked until 8:30am, we want to avoid any vehicle or pedestrian incidents or accidents.	Adopt our values of belonging and respect by thinking of others who are following the correct parking procedures.
  Pupils attending after-school clubs are sometimes being picked up late after the session has finished, e.g. Football, Dance, Basketball, etc.	The club organisers (All external providers) may well have another club to run at a different venue and can’t be late themselves.	Please adopt Greswold’s value of respect by being aware the club providers have other commitments once the session has finished.
  	Parents tend to park in the staff car park if they’re running late to collect from a club, something which isn’t allowed.	Please don’t use the staff car park to pick up pupils from clubs, which take place directly after school. Additional congestion may cause a pedestrian or vehicle accident.  The vast majority of schools across Solihull don’t allow parents to use staff car parks.
  	To provide these club opportunities, we need to work together with the providers to ensure we retain their services.

• Parent teacher consultations

  Fri 25 Oct 2024

  This week were the first parent teacher consultations of this academic year. Greswold had a very high turn out of parents (with children in Years 4-6) to have individual appointments with the teachers or SENDCo, look through their children's books, award stickers for their family's favourite pieces of learning, order pre-loved uniform and complete the parent survey. The book fair was busy as usual; we will let you know the total money raised next half term.

  

• Happy KS1 lunchtimes

  Thu 24 Oct 2024

  The KS1 lunchtime supervision team have shared some lovely photographs of lunchtime games and activities this week.  As parents can see below, the activities provided are always enjoyed by the pupils. Thank you to the lunchtime supervisors and Play Leaders who are making lunchtimes such a positive experience. 

  

• Happy Diwali

  Thu 24 Oct 2024

  Mrs Scott wished all children a happy and safe half term holiday during assembly this morning while mentioning the importance of staying safe around fireworks, sparklers, bonfires and candles especially at this time of year. She also shared some special messages for our families who will be celebrating Diwali including:

  Wishing you a Diwali filled with love, light and laughter. May the festival bring joy and prosperity to your lives. May the light bring you peace, happiness and success.

  Happy Diwali to our school community.

  

• Pride and progress in Year 5 writing

  Wed 23 Oct 2024

  As the end of this half term approaches, children in Year 5 are reflecting on the wonderful work they have completed over the course of the year so far. This morning, the children have reflected on all of the writing they have produced to enhance and publish the piece of work they are most proud of.

   

  Children have been publishing setting descriptions, character descriptions, narratives and diary entries amongst other pieces. It is great to see our values of success and independence in action so early in the academic year.

  

• Y5 Dodgeball success!

  Wed 23 Oct 2024

  On Monday, a team of Year 5 children represented Greswold in a Dodgeball tournament at Lode Heath. Unlike usual sporting competitions, the idea behind the  tournament was to award the children for points based on the School Games values of honesty, respect and team work. 

   

  The students of Greswold did what they do best and impressed all of the other schools and volunteers so much so that they came first!

   

  Well done Year 5, you should be very proud of yourselves and the way you worked together to succeed!

   

  

• End of term singing treat for KS2 pupils, courtesy of our school choir!

  Wed 23 Oct 2024

  During this morning's KS2 music assembly, the children were treated to a performance from our school choir.  This year, the choir has grown to 25 pupils from KS2 who gave the audience a treat with a number of entertaining songs.

   

  They will be performing soon, once again, at Solihull Hospital where they can entertain the local community as well as the patients.  Well done children, you are a credit to Greswold and your families.   

  

• House lunch

  Tue 22 Oct 2024

  Thank you to our Y6 House Captains who organised Greswold's first ever House Lunch. From meeting with Mrs Card to decide on the menu to decorating the hall, from serving drinks to showing children to their tables. Mrs Scott was very proud of them and the children from across the school really enjoyed it.

  

• Y6 house captains help to launch special Greswold House day!

  Mon 21 Oct 2024

  Our value of Belonging was at the heart of this morning's first House Point assembly of the year, hosted in part by our wonderful new year 6 House Captains. 

   

  Each captain introduced themselves to all the pupils in both KS2 and KS1 assemblies, sharing with the audiences a bit of information about themselves and why they're proud to be a house captain.

   

  The audience was hooked! So much so, as to prompt Mr Hornsey to declare the captains should take the whole assembly next time! 

   

  The house captains have also worked closely with Mrs Scott and Mrs Card, our head cook, to hold a special lunchtime event where the children can sit in their houses and enjoy a special menu. 

   

  Congratulations to Y4 Nightingales (97.9%) and Y2 Badgers (97%) who received certificates for the best attendance in their phases so far this year.

   

  Finally, the House Challenge leaderboard for 2024-25 is already very close with St George's and St Patrick's currently sharing the lead with only seven points separating all the teams.