The Erasmus+ Parental Engagement Project

We are lucky to have been invited to participate in a two year survey with primary schools in Spain and Poland, focusing on improving parental engagement. As you know, the support of families is vitally important in helping children gain the most out of their time at school, and can make a huge difference to their education. We actively encourage family members to come into school and help with anything from maths to reading  - the sky's the limit!

In April this year our Family Engagement Officer (Mrs Slattery), our Pupil Attendance Officer (Sharon Canter) and Mrs MunroMorris were able to travel to our partner school in Ferrol, Spain to talk to parents and teachers about how they engage parents in their settings. It was really interesting to see how other schools in other countries work and the similarities and differences between us! We gained lots of valuable ideas and insights that we can hopefully intergrate into our setting for the benefit of the pupils.

Have a look at the photographs below!

Lansdowne Coffi Crew!

OPENING SOON! Lansdowne Primary School will be opening a coffee shop, run by parents, for parents. Come along and have a coffee and a chat every day from 2:30pm - 3:30pm. Free WiFi is available as is the use of a computer. 

Price List:

Coffee - 50p

Tea - 50p

Squash - 30p

Biscuits - 20p

If you would like to volunteer to help in the coffee shop, please see Mrs Slattery; our Family Links Officer in the main office or email Alison.Vedmore-Slattery@cardiff.gov.uk

On 30th April Year 4 will be having a visit from Goldies Cymru Intergenerational Project. They will be coming into school to sing songs of their era and play board games with the children. The children are also encouraged to invite their Grandparents into school to join in the afternoons activities! More information will be sent out nearer the time. For more information on Goldies Cymru go here - www.goldiescymru.org.uk

On the 26th March the Reception classes will be taking part in some exciting workshops by the Cbeebies programme Nina & the Neurons! More information and consent letters will be sent out next week!

Cardiff Racing Visit!

Year 3 will be having a fantastic afternoon on the 25th March, when Cardiff Racing come to visit! They will be bringing their racing car and carrying out workshops with the children, one of which will be designing their logo on vinyl! The car and parts of its engine will be in the playground after school for any parents or siblings that would like to have a look!

More information on Cardiff Racing can be found here www.cardiffracing.co.uk

Language & Play Sessions for the Nursery

Come along to our Stories & Rhymes Language & Play session on Monday 26th January at 1:30pm.  There will be lots of fun activities for you and your child to try out together, all aimed at extending their vocabulary and incorporating number through stories and rhymes. If you would like to join us, please give your name to the Nursery Teacher, Miss Campbell.

Come and do your Family Learning Signature!

Since September we have been focusing on Year 4 families and inviting them to complete a Family Learning Signature. This is a great way to help families come together and celebrate their strengths and their learning. It gives families a chance to feel proud of what they do together. It is also a valuable tool for schools, as it enables us to find out ways we can further support our families and helps us to know if we are on track with what we are offering our children and their parents.

It is not an assessment, there are no right or wrong answers. The Signature simply gives a snap shot of how the family is learning at that moment in time. 

It is easy to complete, anyone who you feel has a part to play in your family life can attend with you. The session is relaxed and informal (there may even be tea and biscuits!), and everyone can join in, including the kids!

The Signature consists of 36 triangles that are coloured in depending on how the element affects your family. It is an opportunity to think about and discuss your strengths and to look for a way forward in any element you feel you may need support with. This could be in the form of a school based session we put on for all of our families or just a chat you have with your family about what you think you could do to achieve this goal.

It doesn't matter which year group your children are currently in, if you feel you would like to complete a Signature, pop in and see Mrs Slattery or telephone the main office. 

 Don't Forget!!!

Love Food Hate Waste will be holding a session in Lansdowne on DECEMBER 9th @ 1:30pm - helping your family to save up to £60 per month on your shopping budget!! SIGN UP NOW! Please see Mrs Slattery or the main office.

A huge thank you to Kwik Fit Cowbridge Road! Dan and his team showed us some brilliant new skills to ensure our cars are safe this winter and we all got a very useful goodie bag too! Thank you to all the parents and staff who came with their cars, I know you will have learnt lots, just as I did!

IMPORTANT!  - Reception Classes

Due to low attendance to the sign up session for Incredible Years: School Readiness program, it has become necessary to hold a final info/sign up session on Tuesday 4th November. This is to give interested parents/carers another chance to take part in this exciting program. Details can be found further down the page. All dates and times are the same. Don't miss out!!

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We are excited to be able to offer parents the chance to learn with Kwik Fit on November 12th! You will find out how to check your tyres, oil, water, change light bulbs and many other vital things to ensure your car is safe for winter. More information will be added closer to the time. Look out for posters around the school and check back here for updates!

Parents of Reception class pupils - 

Beginning in November we will be taking part in the Incredible Years School Readiness Programme for Parents, run by Cardiff Educational Psychology Service. This is a 4 session programme for parents of children who have just started school.  It aims to target skills which help prepare your children for school.  

The sessions last 2 hours each. The first two sessions will explore how parents can support their child's learning through play, the second two session explore effective ways of introducing children to books.

 The programme uses well established tools for effective work with parents which are: collaborative discussion, video modelling, role play and home activities.

A flyer will be sent home with your child in the next few days.

Session dates are:

4th November  @ 9:15 a.m. - Sign up session (30 minutes) 

7th November  - Session 1       9:15 - 11:00

14th November - Session 2     9:15 - 11:00

21st November - Session 3      9:15 - 11:00

28th November - Session 4      9:15 - 11:00

Spaces are limited to 12 so if you would like to take part please attend the sign up meeting on November 4th at Lansdowne, where you will be able to find out more and ask any questions you may have. 

Free Parent Classes

We are excited to see that many of you have signed up for Tai Chi and Mandarin, beginning this week. Just to clarify, the After School Club for parents and children is for families to learn Mandarin together, rather than at the Tuesday afternoon class which is for adults only. We look forward to seeing you there!

On November 6th we will be having a Love Food Hate Waste session at school. Parents are invited to attend and learn top tips to help you make the most of your food and save up to £60 per month!

UK households waste £12.5 billion worth of food and drink each year costing the average family with children £700 a year or around £60 a month!

At the end of the session you will:

* Understand the significance of food waste, its causes and consequences.

* Have an awareness of what steps food manufacturers, suppliers and retailers are taking to help us all    waste less food.

* Understand Love Food Hate Waste tips and advice, and know how you can benefit from this.

* Understand what to do with the food you can't eat - recycling, composting.

* Be able to engage with others on Love Food Hate Waste, and help share the benefits.

* Know how to access information and resources to support them in spreading the message.

The session is free and open to everyone! If you would like to sign up please see Alison Vedmore-Slattery (Family Links Officer). for more information visit Lovefoodhatewaste.com

Hello!

My name is Alison Slattery; some of you may know me from the nursery or working in various classes around the school as a HLTA. From September I will be starting a new role as Family Links Officer which I am really excited about!

This new role will help me to get to know families throughout the school and help both parents and children settle into our school community.  I will be running the Language and Play scheme, the Family Learning Signature and getting people from our local community to come into school and run fun and educational sessions for us to learn and enjoy together.

I am also available to meet with you on Monday mornings between 9 and 10 o’clock to discuss any issues or queries you may have. You will also see me on the gate most mornings.

Family involvement is very close to our hearts at Lansdowne and we are keen for you all to get involved. So if you have a particular skill, talent, knowledge or job that we could incorporate into our family sessions please let me know!

Many thanks to all of our families who came to find out more about using Espresso at home on Monday 9th June. Every child has been sent home with log in details - if you have not got the details then please ask your child's class teacher. Please see the link below if you want to log onto Espresso to find out more.This is a service that is paid for by the school and so is completly free for all our children to use.

http://www.espresso.co.uk/

A big THANK YOU to everyone who turned up on the 6/3/14 to our Parents Maths Workshop.

Parents were invited to come in and see the type of work their children are doing in Maths.It was a fantastic workshop and a great opportunity to demonstrate how Big Maths works with parents actually sitting their own Big Maths tests!