Headteacher: Mr Oli de Botton
Head of Primary: Mrs Meg Drummond
Dates For Your Diary
Return Date for Academic Year 2019/2020 - Monday 9th September Friday 5th April - Last day of Term
School finishes at 1:00pmSummer Term 1 Starts - Tuesday 23rd April
Thursday 25th April - Child of the Term Assembly
(Invited Parents Only)
Thursday 25th April - Year 2 Walk Around the Local Area
Monday 6th May - Bank Holiday
Tuesday 7th May - Year 4 Trip to the Science Museum
Monday 13th May - Friday 17th May
Year 2 SATs
Monday 13th May - Police School Scheme Visit
Tuesday 14th May - Police School Scheme Visit
Tuesday 21st May - Creative Writing With Your Child Workshop
(8:40am)
Monday 27th May - Friday 31st May
Half Term Holidays
NOTICES:
Important Notices: From Monday 12th November, the Primary gates will not be opened until 2:55pm ready for a 3:00pm collection. This is due to the fact that many lessons are still taking place at this time and children may be working in the playground. Thank you for your co-operation and understanding.
Due to the confidential nature of information shared in the front office we ask that parents wait outside if you are collecting from clubs. Parents should not be waiting in the Front Office reception area after 4:30pm without a staff member. Morning break snacks are to be fruit (fresh, dried etc) not biscuits or cereal bars. Please leave these items for lunch or after school clubs snacks. Reminder: Football shoes are not to be worn to school, they are dangerous as they do not allow the students to have a good grip when running on hard surfaces and could lead to an accident. Any student who wears them to school will not be allowed to participate in PE lessons or use the playground at break and lunch times.
Break Time Snacks: All children can bring a snack from home to have at break time. This snack MUST be fruit. If any child brings a snack that is not fruit, they will be asked to put it back in their bags to eat after school. Birthdays - If you wish to celebrate your child's birthday by sharing a cake with the class, can we
please ask that it is brought to the classroom the morning of the celebration and that it is already cut up and packaged. Our teachers do not have the time or equipment to be able to cut up sheet cakes and distribute to the children. We ask that you do not drop birthday cakes or party bags to the front office during the day as they are not always guaranteed to have the time to take them to the classroom, and this can lead to disappointment for your child. Lost Property - We currently have an abundance of lost property in the front office, including winter coats. Can all parents please come
and check if any of the items belong to your children. We will be donating all remaining goods to a local charity before half term due to space restrictions.
Parking and Crossing the Road - Can all adults please be careful when crossing the road with their children as vehicles are often reversing!
It is important that parents model good behaviour for children. Please do not swear or use insulting language in the playground. If a member of staff hears this you will be asked to leave the premises and may be banned.Please also remember that our staff are always working for the best interests of the children. If you would like to discuss
anything regarding your child please speak to the class teacher, Mrs Drummond or Miss Dilger. Please do not shout or be rude to a member of staff as this makes the situation very difficult.
Slow Down Around SchoolsThere have been a number of incidents around the school of parents parking unsafely during pick up and drop off times. There have also been a number of occasions when parents have been speeding and driving without care. Please can we remind you that Pitchford Street
gets very congested during these times so please watch your speed. We are speaking to both the Police and Newham Council to support us in making sure that all our pupils are safe when entering and leaving the school.
School Attendance - EVERY DAY MATTERS!The school target for attendance is 97% or better. As a guide the Education Welfare Service advises that if a parent would go to work with the same condition then the student should be in school. We ask that students returning to school following sickness observe good hygiene rules as an adult
would in the workplace.We are keen to support all our students to achieve their best and this must include ensuring that they attend school as often as possible. We will do the following to support students’ attendance:• Write to you if attendance falls below 95% or is we are concerned about a pattern of
absences.• Invite you into school to discuss any concerns/worries with the Attendance Officer, your child’s Coach/ Class Teacher, Key Stage Leader/Head of Year, or Head or Deputy Head of School if attendance continues to fall.• Where sickness absence occurs on 3 consecutive days or 3 different occasions
within a half term, the school will seek medical evidence, such as a letter from GP, an NHS appointment letter, a prescription from GP, prescribed medication labels etc, so that we are able to support your child in school. Additional days of absences may no longer be authorised.• Refer the student to our Education Welfare Officer if attendance falls to 90%.• Please contact the Attendance Officer or Head of School if you feel your child is well enough to be in school, but not well enough to go to all their lessons. We may be able to make special arrangements• If you believe your child is well enough to be in school, but is refusing, it is essential that you talk to the Attendance Officer, or the Safeguarding Leads. We can offer a variety of options to support you in getting your child back to school.• If required, prescribed medicines can be brought to school – including those needing refrigeration, and stored in the Medical Room. A form should accompany any medication, stating that the school has permission to administer it, along with the times that this should happen. This should also be signed off at the front office.What you can do to support your
child:• Never grant days off for birthdays, shopping trips or any other reason other than illness.• Lessons begin at 8.30am prompt. We ask that all students arrive at 8.25am to avoid them starting their first lesson late. Students who are ‘dropped off’ at 8.30am on a daily basis will be
late to their lessons and therefore late for the start of the day.• Please leave a message on each day of absence by 8.30am at the latest - please email attendance@school21.org.uk leaving the name of your child, their Coach or Class Teacher and the reason for absence. It is for school to decide if an absence is authorised or unauthorised. Stating ‘Unwell’ or
‘Poorly’ gives insufficient information for us to make that decision, and the absence could be unauthorised.• Please phone or email daily unless you have made alternative arrangements with school. We do not know if you have sent your child to school and need to know this in order to keep them safe. If we do not hear from you we will endeavour to contact you, but we must have at least two up-to-date emergency contact numbers on record to be able to do this.• Last/First Day of Term, Non-Uniform Days or ‘Off-Timetable’ days are full curriculum days with content that is required by the national curriculum. It is unacceptable, and against the law, to keep students off on such days for any reason other than illness that renders a student too ill to attend. Any absence on days such as these could be unauthorised unless medical evidence is received, or prior agreement has been reached with school.• We have adopted a pragmatic approach towards the authorisation of Leave of Absence for Exceptional Circumstances where other schools have imposed blanket bans. Each Head of School considers every case personally and may ask for additional information. Taking leave of Absence in Term Time without authorisation is against the law, and phoning-in daily stating a student is unwell causes a breakdown in trust between home and school.• We approve up to two days of religious observance over the course of the academic year that fall during term
time.We understand that the majority of parents and carers support us fully in terms of ensuring their children attend school regularly and that you may have received this message on more than one occasion. However, we share this letter with all as it is important that we all understand the responsibilities school has to uphold to avoid any misunderstanding.Attendance Team
Mrs Drummond's Challenge Thank you to everyone who took part in last week's challenge.
After the Easter break if your child comes home wearing a white wrist band this means they have had first aid related to a head bump. You would have been emailed with the information, but this will be a visual reminder for you to check your email. If the incident needed your immediate attention you would have had a call. The wrist band and email process will only be used for non-emergent incidents.
Spring Term WinnersReception Decoubertin 96.2%Year
1 Mandela 96.6%Year 2 Monet 97.8%Year 3 Einstein 96.6%Year 4 Seacole 98.1% Overall Spring Term Primary Winners Primary Attendance Winners W.C 25/03/2019 Reception Parks
97.2%Year 1 Pankhurst 100% Joint Primary WinnersYear 2 Coleman 97.8%Year 3 Einstein 100% Joint Primary WinnersYear 4 Nightingale 98.4%
First Aid UpdateAll First Aid Incidents will now be reported online using Medical Tracker. Parents will be notified by email automatically when a First Aid Incident occurs. Phone calls will only be made for more serious incidents. Please ensure that the School is notified immediately of any change of Personal
Details.Medicines If you have any medicines that have finished or you have been asked to collect by Ms Pancho please make sure you do so before half term. We cannot dispose of these at school so need all parents to collect. Thank you for your support and understanding. Phonic Screening Workshop for Year 1 Parents and CarersWe will be holding a Phonic Workshop for Year 1 Parents and Carers, on Wednesday 24th April 2019, which will provide you with important information relating to the forthcoming phonic screening check. This check will take place week beginning Monday 10th June. We feel that this is an
essential meeting for you to attend, offering practical details for how to best support your child for the test.
Primary NewspaperAfter Easter we will be launching our Primary Newspaper, this will be written by the children. We will be looking for pupils who would like to be part of the News Team. Miss Dilger will be talking in more detail about how the newspaper will work after the holidays.
Stop, Motion, Go!This week in Reception we have been completing our project on transport. Children have been working hard creating our final stop-motion videos all about their favourite vehicle. They have been working hard to create models using the construction materials and then carefully using the iPads to film a short video explaining why
their vehicle is amazing. All the children have really enjoyed the chance to become filmmakers and have shown great attention to detail and creativity - there may even be some future Oscar winners!We hope all the children and parents have a restful and refreshing Easter break and we look forward to seeing you again ready for the Summer term.
Sharing Super StarsThis week in Mathematics Year 1 are learning about fractions. We have been halving and quartering objects and groups of objects using part-whole models as well as some fun hands on materials. Students are learning about the importance of ensuring all parts are equal and we practiced this by cutting slices of bread into halves
and quarters. As a challenge, students were asked to see how many different ways they could equally share their slice into quarters. Working both in groups and individually, students solved problems using shapes, objects and quantities. They identified and discussed whether groups of objects had been split into equal or unequal parts. Well done year 1!
Investigation StationThis week in Year 2 for Science we have been looking at objects that float or sink. We had a range of objects that we looked at as a class. First, we discussed and predicted with our talk partners, if we thought that the different objects would float or sink.Then, we placed the objects in a bowl of water and checked to
see if our our predictions were correct. At the end we understood that the more dense an object was it would sink and the less dense it was the object would float. We love to investigate!
Spark Speeches!Last week Year 4 travelled to the Salesforce Tower to perform their Spark speeches. This was a fantastic occasion and we are so proud of all of the children, who have been working extremely hard to write, practise and perform their speeches over the past two weeks
Primary Maths ChallengeOn Monday April 1st Helena (Year 4), Arjun and Samiha (Year 5) represented School 21 in the Mayor of London's Primary Maths Challenge tournament at City Hall. At the tournament they competed against other schools in shape, arithmetic and code breaking challenges. Unfortunately they didn't make it
through to the final stages but they showed tremendous amounts of grit, spark and professionalism in a really tough competition. They were a real credit to themselves and the school. Thanks also to Ms Hartzell for accompanying on the trip and helping with Maths club throughout the year. Maths club will continue on Monday lunchtimes for Y4 and Y5 children - keep your eyes peeled for an announcement about an upcoming tournament for children and parents!
Proffessionalism Certificate WinnersWell done to those students who went above and beyond in showing professionalism by working well and collaborating with others! This week we celebrated Kai, Nicolas, Stephanie, Esme, Nadezhda, Aashariya, Ezekiel, Radoslav, Alessia, Salahdin, Alicia, Xavier, Martina and
Savannah.
Overdue Library BooksPlease return your overdue library books! We currently have over 500 books overdue. This means that students are unable to borrow popular books. Students are allowed to borrow up to three books for a loan period of one month and can be renewed after this period should the need arise. Any books that are lost or damaged must be replaced. Mrs Fisher
Librarian
The Lunch Menu the Week after the Holidays is Week 1!
Dear Parent/Carer,The Family Fun Day returns to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on the 17th April 2019 at the Timber Lodge Café between
11:00am-3:00pm.The event will take place in the beautiful north of the Park and will feature a selection of indoor and outdoor activities, including:Outdoor Vintage
Games‘Come & have a go’ African drumming workshop – free African drumming experienceNursery rhymes yoga classes – Song and rhyme yoga class for the little
onesFriendly animals farm - including Donkey, Sheep, Lambs, Goats, Chickens, Rabbits and DucksArts & Crafts – Easter bunny mask-making, basket making, colouring and messy
playFace-Painting – Free face paint for all children‘Perfectly Norman’ interactive story-telling sessions – Performed by the Discover
CentreEggy Willy Wonka Egg Hunt – Free Easter egg hunt for all local families.
For full info, please click here. Kind Regards,The Go! Schools Team
Cricket Giveaway for Newham Residents
Newham residents have another fantastic opportunity to watch first class cricket thanks to their prestigious partnership with Essex Cricket. As part of the partnership agreement the council has up to 100 tickets to give away for each day of the Specsavers County Championship and Royal London One-Day Cup games taking place at The Cloudfm County Ground, Chelmsford. For more details and to book your ticket, visit www.newham.gov.uk/cricket
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