Cheshire Academies Trust

Newsletter 7
Autumn Term 2015

Good Things Grow Here

Good wishes to our whole school community

This is the last newsletter of 2015 and on behalf of all the children, staff and members of the local
governing body I would like to wish you all a healthy and happy festive break. We are very much looking
forward to a wonderful 2016.

Christmas Celebrations
This year the team at Mill View have been extremely
busy celebrating Christmas with the children. We would
like to thank the following people for making it so
special
PTA members for building an amazing
Candyland Grotto for a special visitor and
organising a very successful fair
PTA members and staff for helping set up
the Fair and tidy up on Saturday 28
November ready for our children to come to
school on Monday 30 November as Mr
Rushan was on annual leave
Our school choir led by Mrs Batchelor and
Miss Cottrell for singing so wonderfully at
Angel Voices St Marys Centre, Chester;
Marks & Spencer, Cheshire Oaks and our
Christmas Fair
Mrs Gray, Windmill Caf Manager, Mrs Hall
and Mrs Borman for planning our Christmas
whole school lunch
Most importantly our pupils who make our
school a great place to be
Christmas Fair
Our recent fundraising events have raised an amazing
2886.17. I would like to thank all the families who
supported our Christmas Fair it was hard work but a
huge success!
Thank you to Mr Timms (ex-Mill View teacher and local
resident) who has provided us with some lovely
photographs of his twins Isaac and Isabella enjoying
the festivities.
A special thank you to all the members of our PTA who
worked so hard in planning the Fair. We are so lucky to
have such a committed PTA.

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Cheshire Academies Trust Limited trading as Mill View Primary School. Registered in England and Wales 08108086. Registered office Kelsall Primary School, Flat Lane, Kelsall, Cheshire CW6 0PU.

Our Choir
Angel Voices
We received this message from Rachel who organised the event.
Thank you so much for taking part in the St Marys Angel Voices Christmas Festival. It was really lovely to
meet you all and your talented children who were absolutely fantastic.
Congratulations to
Mrs Noble for achieving a Masters Degree in Education, and to Mr Wilson for achieving a National Award
for Special Educational Needs Coordination. As a school we are very committed to supported our teachers
in undertaking further professional study.
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Cheshire Academies Trust Limited trading as Mill View Primary School. Registered in England and Wales 08108086. Registered office Kelsall Primary School, Flat Lane, Kelsall, Cheshire CW6 0PU.

Being ready to learn

Over the last couple of weeks I have been observing teaching and learning across the school.
Unfortunately there are a significant number of children who are not ready to learn at the start of the
school day. Some children are very tired and it is affected their ability to learn effectively. Please could you
encourage your child/ren to go to bed reasonably early? Thank you.
Give love in a box this Christmas
We received 91 filled shoe boxes thank you! The boxes have been collected by Mr Morris and taken to
the depot in Wrexham. Last Saturday trucks carrying 20 thousand boxes left Wrexham to travel to Cluji,
then to Oreda. Mr Morris is helping distribute the boxes to the children next week. He will be sending us
some photographs to share with you.

Spring term 2016 Contexts for Learning

The Contexts for Learning have been agreed as follows for spring term. Further information will be
available on the school website by the start of next term.
Year 1 and Year 2
Year 3 and Year 4
Year 5 and Year 6

What goes round and round?

How can we rediscover the wonders of Ancient Egypt*
How do mountain environments challenge the life that exists there?

*This CfL was originally planned to be in the summer term, however, it has been changed to the spring
term
Engaging families in learning
Our school curriculum involves the children actively engaging in blogs and forums at home on the school
website to enrich their learning. Please could we remind our families that there is a wealth of information
provided by teachers on the school website about your childs learning and how you can support at home
through engaging in blogs and forums? If you do not have access to the internet at home you are more
than welcome to use the ICT suite after school. Thank you to all our families who regularly comment on
the blogs and forums.

To say thank you to our families supporting The Windmill Caf we would like to
invite all our key stage 2 children to have a hot Christmas lunch free of charge on
Wednesday 16 December. Our reception, year 1 and 2 children are entitled to their
meal free as usual. Please complete the menu and return it to school as usual. If
you have already paid in advance for a meal you will be credited one meal.

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Cheshire Academies Trust Limited trading as Mill View Primary School. Registered in England and Wales 08108086. Registered office Kelsall Primary School, Flat Lane, Kelsall, Cheshire CW6 0PU.

Mathematics information evenings for parents

First4Maths will be holding two information evenings for our parents about how we teach calculations in
school. The two sessions are
Year 1 & 2 Thursday 21 January 2016 6.30pm
Years 3 to 6 Tuesday 26 January 2016 6.30pm
There will be further information next term however parents are welcome to come to both sessions.
Mill View calculations policy
We are often asked how we teach formal methods of calculations in school. In order to answer this we
have put an updated calculations policy which will be on the school website by the end of this week. This
explains the progression for teaching the 4 rules of number and the expectations by year group. A link can
be found here: www.millviewschool.co.uk curriculum information mathematics. This calculations policy
goes alongside the expectations for mental calculations which we will also add to the website in the near
future.
We have also arranged for a parents workshop in the spring term to demonstrate these methods and
provide an opportunity for parents to explore these methods further and see how we teach mathematics.
In the meantime, if you have any questions about how we teach mathematics, please do not hesitate to
contact Mr Ford.
Cheshire Academies Trust Admissions policy
The Cheshire Academies Trust Board of Trustees have agreed their proposed Admissions Policy for the
academic year 2017-2018 and are seeking the views of all our stakeholders. Our consultation period will
run from Monday 14 December 2015 Sunday 24 January 2016. If you would like to comment on the
policy please email lucijones@cheshireacademiestrust.co.uk
The Board will consider all submissions before confirming the final Admissions Policy for 2017-2018.
Handwriting competition
Please do not forget to encourage your child to complete their handwriting homework over the Christmas
break. Thank you.
A reminder. long hair needs to be tied up for school using a black/grey/red bobble no
large bows or hair decorations, thank you.
Diary Dates
Wednesday 16 December Whole school Christmas lunch in the Windmill Caf (no charge)
Friday 18 December School closes for Christmas break until Wednesday 06 January 2016 (school closed on Monday 04
& Tuesday 05 January 2016 for staff INSET)

Thursday 21 January - Mathematics information evening for parents (Years 1 & 2)

Wednesday 20 to Friday 22 January Year 6 residential
Tuesday 26 January - Mathematics information evening for parents (Years 3 to 6)
Wednesday 23 & 24 March Year 2 residential (one night)
Wednesday 30 March, Thursday 01 and Friday 02 April Year 5 residential (two nights)

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Cheshire Academies Trust Limited trading as Mill View Primary School. Registered in England and Wales 08108086. Registered office Kelsall Primary School, Flat Lane, Kelsall, Cheshire CW6 0PU.