13 December 2004

01935 475426

The children enjoyed a very exciting afternoon on Friday, when Father Christmas paid us his annual visit, together with his lovely Fairy helper. Very many thanks go to the Friends of Milford for their hard work in erecting the grotto and organising events, and to everyone who came along to play games, buy from the stalls, and generally help to make the afternoon such a big success.

Video Recording and Stills Photography

Due to copyright restrictions imposed by the license holders of the Year 1 production, "The Little Red Robin", and our duty to protect the privacy of all of our children, could we ask you, please, to restrict any video or stills photography that you may wish to take during this week's Christmas productions to your child only. Please do not record the whole production, or take group photographs. Thank you for your co-operation.

Sickness

As you know, this term has seen a number of viruses and tummy bugs in school, affecting both children and staff. If your child is unwell, please do not send him or her back to school until they are fully fit. Not only is it distressing for children to be here when they are clearly unwell, but the viruses and germs are then spread to other people.

Primary Curriculum

With this letter, your child is bringing home a copy of a DfES booklet, "Learning Journey - a Parent's Guide to the Primary School Curriculum". This is a useful little book which not only explains what we teach, and why, but gives some ideas for fun learning activities that you can share with your child at home. We hope you will find it interesting and useful.

Parking

Wessex Water have notified us that the water tower near Ashford Grove is to be demolished during January and February. They expect the work to take approximately six weeks, and although they assure us that movement of large machinery and materials will, where possible, take place outside of school starting and finishing times, it is entirely possible that parking in the immediate area may be affected. Needless to say, it will be important (as it always is) to be vigilant when walking in the area.

A reminder that the last day of term will be Monday 20 December, when the children will enjoy their Christmas parties in the afternoon. Please send your child's lunchbox as normal - games and dancing will ensure that they work up an appetite for the party food later on!

Finally, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. We look forward to seeing everyone refreshed when we return for the Spring Term on Wednesday 5 January.