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Madras School - Community Newsletter

Here at Madras School, we view ourselves as being an important part of the community of Penley and we thought you might like to hear about some of the things we do in school, even though you may not have children or grandchildren here.

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We are a Healthy School!

We currently hold two healthy school awards and are about to be assessed for our third. This means that:
  • we encourage our children to eat healthy meals and snacks
  • we promote physical activity through sport
  • we care for the well being of children and staff
  • we discourage people from smoking anywhere near the school building
  • we teach our children about the dangers of smoking, alcohol and drugs
  • we teach our children about healthy relationships
  • we take pride in our school grounds and use them as an outdoor learning environment
  • we do not tolerate bullying

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We are an Eco School!

Over the past three years we have worked to raise awareness of environmental issues and encourage our children to care for the world they live in. We have gained Bronze and silver Eco awards and are now working towards our Green Flag Award. Here are some of the activities we are involved in: 

LITTER 

We have plenty of bins around school and we encourage children not to drop litter. We regularly go on litter patrol around the village to tidy up the environment. 

WATER 

We try to be careful about the amount of water we use and have places filled plastic bottles into each toilet cistern to reduce the amount of water used.

We are about to invest in water butts to collect rainwater for the garden. 

ENERGY 

The children who are on our Eco Committee check to make sure that lights and computers are switched off when not in use. They are comparing bills to track the savings we make. We are trying to raise funds to install a wind turbine too! 

TRAVEL 

We hold regular ‘Walk to School’ weeks and encourage parents to park a little way from school and complete their journey on foot. We also ask car users to park considerately in the school car park. 

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP 

We have established links with schools in Malawi and Kenya. A member of staff visited Malawi last February and in October a second member of staff will visit Kenya. We plan to raise our children’s awareness of life in those countries through those experiences and also by the children communicating with pupils in those African schools. 

HEALTHY LIVING 

Here, our Healthy School work goes hand-in-hand with Eco Schools work. 

RECYCLING 

We recycle all our waste paper. There is a container in the staff car park which you are welcome to use for newspapers, magazines etc. We have a bin for cardboard and we also accept ink cartridges for recycling. 

SCHOOL GROUNDS 

Our school garden is developing well and this year we have grown lots of vegetables which have been used for school meals. We have a seating area which children can use if they prefer a quiet time at break and also a stage which enables us to hold drama lessons outside. We are next going to develop a minibeast habitat. 

We recently planted more trees and hope to eventually develop a forest school which will offer many more exciting learning opportunities. We are extending our outdoor classroom to provide an area for Years 1 and 2 to use. This is in addition to the early years’ area at the back of the school.

We are one of only a few schools locally to have installed a bouldering wall. This is great fun and also helps children to develop problem solving skills.

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We are a musical school!

Thanks to the expertise of Mrs. Jarvis, we have a wonderful school choir and all the children enjoy singing. We put on a terrific show at Christmas and lots of other events during the year. We will let you know when!

This year our Parti Cerdd Dant got through to the finals of the Urdd Eisteddfod in Cardiff. Very well done to them.

Children at Madras have the opportunity to learn to play a variety of musical instruments. These include recorder, piano, guitar, clarinet, flute, violin and cornet.

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We are a sporting school!

We are proud to have some very talented sportsmen and women At Madras. Many children represent the school in tennis, football, rugby, swimming, dance and athletics.

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We are also quite clever!

This year our children again achieved excellent results in the Standard Assessment Tests: 

SubjectSchool % Level 4 +National % Level 4+
English94.179.8
Maths10081.3
Science10085.6

Our Year 5 and 6 pupils took part in the Primary Maths Challenge and out of 120,000 entries nationally, 7 pupils were entered and gained a certificate and 2 pupils came in the top 2% in the country.

Congratulations to them all.

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School Meals.

In April 2008 we took responsibility for our own school meals, with the aim of providing nutritious and tasty meals using fresh ingredients. With the expertise of our cook, Mrs. Sharon Edgerton, we have done just that. Children are offered a choice of hot and cold main course and pudding, sandwiches, wraps and filled jacket potatoes. We have had lunch for parents in the past and would like to offer that to the wider community, so if you would like to join us for lunch on 21st October, please book your place by ringing the school office on 01978 710419. The cost of a two course meal is £2.50

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Volunteers

We are always grateful to anyone who has some time to spare and would like to support our work in school or after school activities. Volunteers do need to complete a CRB check first.

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Feedback

If you would like to volunteer, have any comments to make on this letter, or anything you would like to be included in future newsletters, please let us  know.
Telephone: 01978 710419
email: mailbox@madras-pri.wrexham.sch.uk.

Also, check out our website at www.madras-pri.wrexham.sch.uk


Mrs. Lynda Houston
Headteacher

Brought to you by Maelor South Community Council

Last Updated on 19/02/2010