News from the School
We are excited to announce that we will be moving our MIS to Arbor.
Adopting Arbor will allow us to communicate with you more efficiently and bring all core school data and workflows into one system.
Over the past two weeks we have sent out invites to you all. Going forward, once everything is is place, we will be using this to do things such as communicating with you, using it for payments, parent consents for their children, update of details, booking into trips and clubs, and using it for booking slots for parents evening.
The parents evening bookings we will trial in the upcoming February parents evening, so it’s important that you all sign up for Arbor, and download the app from either the Google Play Store for Android or the Apple App Store for iPhones and iPads. There are some clear instructions on how to do this in the email you received yesterday. Here is the link if you need it again: Getting started – Log into the Parent Portal and the Parent App.
Downloading the app on your phone is useful as you will receive notifications when we send you a message and you can easily message us directly from it. You can also access arbor from any web browser.
We will still make provisions for those who don’t have a smartphone or don’t want to sign up for the app, however this app will be our primary method for everything.
If you didn’t receive anything yesterday, then please first check your SPAM folder in your emails, and if there is nothing there, there is a chance we either don’t have your email address on the system or we have an incorrect version of it. Please contact the office if you feel this is the case, or if you have any queries.
We have noted that many of you have already signed into the app. Thank you for that.
Regards
We had a wonderful time this morning as we welcomed the Mayor and her husband to officially open our wonderful new Early Years’ outdoor area.
We were delighted the Mayor, Councillor Dorothy Trueman, could join us to celebrate alongside school governors and the Sunderland Echo, who wrote about us in the weekend’s press.
Although the weather was chilly, it did stay dry as Dorothy cut the red ribbon to officially declare the outdoor area open after saying a few words to the children and staff who had gathered outside. Dorothy said she was thrilled to have been invited to our school and spoke about the importance of high quality early education saying that at Richard Avenue, it was clearly one of the highest priorities. She was so impressed with our fabulous new outdoor area and commented on the huge financial investment we have made in our youngest children to ensure they enjoy the very best experiences and are able to make a flying start in their education at Richard Avenue.
You can imagine it was a wonderful morning and an opportunity to celebrate the many strengths of our school. Our children were brilliant, and those who joined us commented on their superb behaviour as they listened well and enjoyed the event from beginning to end. Once the ribbon had been cut, Dorothy enjoyed a tour of our school led by our wonderful Head Pupils, before joining governors for a little tea party with extra special ‘outdoor area opening cupcakes’ made by our wonderful Catering Manager, Cathy.
Yet another wonderful event thoroughly enjoyed by all who joined us.
The school performed various Christmas Productions and Choir Services over our 2023 Christmas term.
The children both delighted staff and parents who attended with their brilliant singing and festive spirit.
Please lookout for links to the photos albums via Seesaw.
Mrs Walsh and I were incredibly proud of our choir who sang with confidence at the local Sainsbury’s last week.
We walked there and back, and, in spite of the rain, the children were in good spirits and lovely company as we chatted together. We sang a number of carols and were supported by some of our families which was a welcome sight, as well as by a large number of shoppers who commented with delight that we had made their day.
It was a wonderful morning, with a huge thank you to Mrs Walsh for preparing the children so well, and for all she does across our school to support and encourage singing confidence.
Thank you Mrs Walsh, you are wonderful!
We would like to say a huge thank you for your generous food donations on our Santa dash day.
The children had lots of fun running around the track with Santa and his sleigh on the day. Your food donations have been taken to the Sunderland Foodbank, who would also like to share their gratitude. This is such a worthwhile cause in our community and your support is very much appreciated.
Huge thanks also to our wonderful Mr Spoors who merrily donned the all important red suit for the day, and did a fabulous job Santa dashing with every class. Mr Spoors wore the biggest smile as he supported and encouraged the children at every point.
Here is a link to the Sunderland echo including a video with Mr Spoors and Miss Mckinney.
Thank you Mr Spoors!
Children who completed their PE values chart this term enjoyed a visit to Silksworth Ski Slope last week where they took part in a morning’s snow tubing, followed by a yummy hot chocolate with Santa Claus.
Our PE values are: passion, self-belief, determination, respect, honesty, and teamwork.
Everyone loved flying down the slopes in their tubes showing great resilience and determination to keep going as many times as possible. A wonderful experience for our children with huge thanks to Mr Spoors for all he did to organise the morning and to Miss Walker for joining the team on the visit.
A fabulous time was enjoyed by all with lots of glowing cheeks to be seen on their return!
In this week’s Friday Flyer, we’ve got news about some upcoming Christmas activities, including our ever popular Santa Dash and Laps to Lapland. Last week our school was represented in an Anti-bullying Conference, you can read Luca’s account of the day. We’ve also got plenty of photos of our new early years outdoor area, which is very exciting. All this and much more. Happy reading!
In this week’s Friday Flyer, we welcome to school Lucy Johnson, who is joining our marvellous office staff. We’ve got information about our upcoming poppy and Children in Need appeals and how you can help us and the children raise money for these two charities. There’s also a reminder about this years parents evening. All this and much more. Happy reading!
