Newsletter - 22nd September 2023
A huge well done to all of the children in school, especially our new starters. The new children have settled quickly and are doing incredibly well in school, partly thanks to the kindness and great role modelling from the children right across school. I couldn’t be more proud! The children certainly live our Bible passage from Luke 10:27.
Attendance
Parents have a legal duty to ensure their children are in school each day, on time. We know that children sometimes get ill and need time off school, therefore we have set a whole school target of 96% attendance throughout the year. It is expected that every child will be at expected for their attendance and punctuality throughout the school year.
Whilst any child may be off school because they are ill, sometimes they can be reluctant to attend school for other reasons like friendship difficulties or when struggling with learning. If your child is reluctant to attend school, please bring them to school and speak to a member of staff so we can resolve the issue(s), rather than trying to cover up their absence, or give in to pressure to let them stay at home. As a school, we will always work with parents, and external agencies as appropriate, to understand and address the reasons behind absence.
Poor punctuality is not acceptable. If your child misses the start of the day, they miss out on valuable learning and do not spend time with their class teacher getting important news and information for the day. Pupils arriving late also disrupt lessons, which can be embarrassing for the child and can in turn, encourage absence. Being 10 minutes late every day throughout the academic year is the same as missing two weeks of school.
If your child is often absent or late you may be asked to meet with staff to discuss ways to improve attendance. If you are having problems please speak to a member of staff before attendance becomes an issue.
Late Arrivals
Children arriving late should be accompanied by an adult to the School Office at the front of school. Parents and visitors must sign in and enter school through the secure entrance at the front of school. If your child arrives after 9:15am they will be marked in the register as unauthorised 'late after registers closed’.
You may be subject to a penalty notice if your child is consistently late for school.
Harvest Festival
Our Harvest Festival will be on Wednesday 27th September. Each year we ask for donations that can be shared with the local Food Banks. Children are asked to bring in a donation of one or some items for donation:
|Tinned food
|Boxed cereals
|General hygiene products
|Toothbrushes and toothpaste (adults and children)
|Individually wrapped biscuits
|Tinned tomatoes
|Instant custard sachets
Donations will be taken to St Luke’s Church to be part of the Harvest Festival on Sunday 1st October at 11.00am. All families are welcome to join in this service.
Parking
When dropping off or collecting your child, please park with consideration. Do not park across resident’s drives or park on the grass embankment across from school. We suggest you park at the community centre which in itself is safer as you do not have to cross the main road. Do not ‘stop’ or ‘park’ on the yellow zig zag lines outside school – this is dangerous and illegal. Penalty tickets have recently been issued.
Please also note that the vehicular drive near the school office is only to be used by staff to access the staff car park. Parents/carers should not drive onto school premises at any time. To access the school office please park off premises and enter through the small pedestrian gate on the drive. Thank you.
Celebration Worship
We continue to have our Celebration Worship each Friday morning from 9.10am – 9.30am. All parents are invited to attend as we celebrate the children’s hard work and achievements throughout the year. This term we won’t be having individual classes sharing each week rather, each class will share some of their sticky learning every Friday starting on Friday 22nd September. All parents and carers are invited to attend each week.
Uniform
Children MUST wear full uniform including black school shoes, except on PE days. On PE days we encourage children to come to school in PE clothes (school t-shirt, track pants or shorts and trainers)
No rucksacks or other bags. Book bags, lunch boxes and water bottles only please. Long hair MUST be tied back and all jewellery must be removed.
Please ensure all items are labelled with your child’s name.
Open Day
For Reception 2023 intake.
Tuesday 10th October 2023 at 10am or Thursday 12th October 2023 at 2.15pm.
