Newsletter 7 Feb 2005

Bradford Christian School

N E W S L E T T E R

FEBRUARY 7TH 2005

Prayer Group

The school's parents prayer group meet in the school every Wednesday and Monday mornings between 9:00am – 10:00am. Please feel free to join them if you can give an hour to corporate prayer.

Half term approaches .. At the end of this week, school closes for half term and reopens on Monday 21st February. We will be half way through the school year. There is much to give thanks for, as staff, we rejoice in God being with us through this first part of the year.

CST Conference: It's cooler in the fire!

Mr Richardson, Mrs Mitchell, Mrs Mackenzie and husband Simon, and myself (Mr Moon) will be attending the Christian Schools Trust International Conference over part of the half term break. The theme is taken from Daniel's example to stand and seek God in the ungodly culture of Babylon with an exhortation for Christian teachers to do the same in the times we are called to work and nurture students in partnership with their families.

I would appreciate your prayers for my part in the conference. I shall be leading morning devotions with the delegates, leading a session with teachers under 30 with the aim of calling up the vision within them to take positions of leadership within Christian schools. I shall also be leading a seminar with two other colleagues concerning raising standards of achievement amongst boys.

Education Days

We have been very pleased to see that Mr Barton's Coffee Stop on Wednesday afternoons has been well received and well used by parents of Primary children. We would like to follow up this initiative of meeting parents more and developing a more meaningful partnership by launching our previously announced 'Education Days'. We aim to invite parents into school for a Saturday morning to share a time of discussion, encouragement, and envisioning, these mornings will be followed by an invitation to spend time in school observing the experiences your children encounter in the school.

The first of these Education days will be on Saturday 5th March between 9am and 12 noon and will be for infant parents (Years R, Y1, Y2). More details will follow but we are expecting most parents will attend the session while their child is in the infant years. The programmes for these days are posted on the school's website.

The Dutch are coming !

We are pleased to announce a new initiative in the school. In early May, Bradford Christian School will host a visit by a class of year 9 students from the Jacobus Fruytier School, Appledorn, Holland. The Dutch have a strong Christian school movement and our joint theme will be: 'The Great Commandment' (that you love God with all your strength, soul and mind and love your neighbour as yourself). The students are in a bilingual programme, both schools hope that our students will benefit spiritually, socially and educationally. This visit arose from the trip I made to Holland before Christmas along with the school's chairman Mr Kevin McHugh.

Permission concerning our promotional DVD.

Can we remind parents that we are currently making a promotional DVD. Mr Dave Hewer will start to edit material over the half term break. If you do not wish your child to feature in this project, please let the school office know in writing.

PTA Auction for Romania

The PTA's auction fund raising event for Romania has been rescheduled for Saturday 26th February. If you have any unwanted items (in good working order) or have a service or skill to make available to people, please begin to send in your items or contact Mrs Liz Mole with your ideas to auction.

Viewing will be from 5pm and the auction will start at 6pm. Refreshments available.

Help!

We have a number of pieces of equipment in the Science lab that need repairing, for example voltmeters, ammeters, and an oscilloscope. If you are able to repair these or you know someone who can please let the office know.

Primary Requests

There has been an ever increasing amount of children eating snacks at break times in the Primary classes. As a staff we are concerned that most children are removing items from their lunch boxes just to eat at break. We do provide all children with a biscuit and drink at break time and feel that this is sufficient. If your child is hungry then perhaps more breakfast would be appropriate. Also can we remind parents that we try to discourage sweets in school and it has been reported that lots of sweets are brought in and are in some cases given for lunches. Please could you review what you provide for your child with this in mind.

A reminder that the Primary 'Coffee Stop' is open from 2.55-3.30pm on Wednesdays. The PTA are also going to be selling nearly new items of school uniform. Do pop in for a drink, chat and perhaps a bargain or two.

Head lice

We have had reports of head lice in the Primary department. Please check your child's hair carefully and treat accordingly.

Police Child Road Safety Day

The police have informed us that they will be in the area on Wednesday of next week to raise drivers awareness of child safety when parking or driving near schools. They will be giving tickets to anyone who is illegally parked. Please ensure you consider not only children coming in or out of school but also our neighbours when you come to collect or drop off your children, at all times.

The Local Neighbourhood Housing Association met in school last week. Local residents voiced their concern and annoyance at the discourtesy of some of the school's parents when picking up their children. Please do not park in front of garages which say 'no parking'. Please do not park at the curb outside people's houses. If we use our one way system for Secondary parents and our request for parents of Primary children to park on the roads on the hill above the school, we should able to avoid offending local residents. We have asked local residents to share registration numbers with us of people who are blocking garage doors etc.

Category: Newsletters

Author: Mr Moon