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
Monday 13th May - Friday 17th May
Year 2 SATs
Monday 13th May - Police School Scheme VisitTuesday 14th May - Police School Scheme VisitMonday 20th - Friday 24th May - Walk to School Week
Tuesday 21st May - Creative Writing With Your Child Workshop
(8:40am)
Monday 27th May - Friday 31st May
Half Term HolidaysMonday 3rd - Friday 7th June - Maths and Science Week Monday 10th - Friday 14th June - Year 1 Phonics Screening Check Monday 17th - Friday 21st June - Bring a Parent to School Week
(More information to follow)
Friday 28th June - Primary Sports Day
(Letter to follow with more information)
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. 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 Well done to Xavier, Jase and William and Anina who solved our challenge last week! You had to think hard to solve the 'Hink Pink' riddles! This weeks challenge is a logic problem to find Rebecca's favourite day!
Primary Attendance Winners
W.C 26/04/2019 - 02/05/2019Reception - Parks 99.3%Year 1 - Pankhurst 100% Primary Overall WinnersYear 2 - Edison 98.4%Year 3 - Shakespeare 99.2%Year 4 - Seacole 96.8%
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. 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.
Summer School FairIt will be our Fantastic Family Summer Fair on the 5th July. We would really love to have as many parents involved as possible. If you can offer any help even if it is for an hour or two please email Miss Dilger. We will need help throughout the day and the weeks leading up to the event. Some of the areas that we will need help with are:
Planning the eventSetting up for the eventSelling tickets during the run up to the eventPacking awayPreparing food and drinksGoing to businesses for raffle prizes Supporting on stalls Running games
Next week we will release a sign up sheet for volunteers but if you’d like to help in any way please email Miss Dilger at cdilger@school21.org.uk
Walk to School Week - Monday 20th MayWe are taking part in Walk to School Week on Monday 20th May. We are going to challenge the children and ourselves either to walk or take public transport for the week. More information to follow.
Baby Chicks Do Do Do Do Do DoThis week, we have received our annual batch of eggs and we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our baby chicks as we learn about the life cycle of a chicken! We hope that they will all hatch by the weekend so we welcome you to come and visit them in B4 next week!
Around the World Workshop Success!Thank you to all of the parents who attended the workshop last Thursday. The children really enjoyed spending time with you and it was lovely to see all of you sharing your cultures and knowledge. We are currently arranging the next workshop and will let you know the dates ASAP. We hope to see as many parents
there again as possible!
Around the World in Year 1This week Year 1 have been exploring the world from their classrooms. We have learnt about the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn. This has been a challenging concept to understand. We found out that people used to believe that the world was flat,
can you believe that!?
Please sir, can I have some more?This week in Year 2 we have been looking at how orphans/poor children used to live in the Victorian times. We looked deeply into Workhouses. Some of us were very sad when we heard how hard the children would work and the dangerous jobs they had to do. We also tried some gruel, this is what they used to eat, which
is watery porridge and we thought it tasted DISGUSTING (some of us actually liked the taste!)
Trouble at the Old Well!In year 3 this week, the children needed to put their knowledge of pulleys to the test. They were told that Sunny, a character from our class text 'A Series of Unfortunate Events', was trapped in a well. They needed to use everyday items to create a pulley system to rescue her. The children used spark to think of creative
solutions to the problem and expertise to critique each other's ideas. The children worked professionally in teams and came up with amazing and effective pulley systems.
Calling Parents in STEM!Are you a parent working in Maths and science (for example a doctor, engineer, accountant, software engineer or research scientist)? On the 7th June, as part of our Maths and science week, we are running a STEM jobs fair to inspire and educate children about careers in this area. In the fair, the volunteers will remain
at a stand whilst groups of children visit each person for around 5-10 minutes at a time, asking questions to find out more about their job. Additionally, if you have primary school-appropriate pictures or props relating to your work that you could bring and explain, that would greatly enrich the experience for the children. We are hoping to run two sessions during the day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Volunteers are welcome to sign up to one or both sessions. If you are interested and would like to sign up or find out more, please email Ms Cross at jcross@school21.org.uk Thank you!
Wonderlab!On Tuesday, Year 4 visited the Science Museum to learn all about digestion. At our workshop, we learnt about what happens to our food during each of the digestion process. We even got to see the real process by watching videos from a gastroscopy and colonoscopy! Ewwwww!After lunch we visited the Wonderlab where we were independently able to explore lots of different areas of science. We put our heads in the clouds, slid down 'friction slides' and created our own shadows with our friends. Thank you to all the parents that helped us to stay safe and learn on our trip.
Craft CertificatesWell done to all the students who were recognised for going above and beyond in our attribute of Craft last week! We celebrated Meys, Jamie, Hanifa, Shifah, Zara, Rayan, Lashay, Sarah, Blake, Marius, Reginea, Emily, Aya, Elijah and Nevaeh.
Overdue Library BooksPlease return your overdue library books! We currently have over 700 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
Bright Spot Check out this amazing writing by Surya - inspired by her class reading Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. This is only a fraction of her work, but shows an impressive use of vocabulary to create an image in the readers mind. Well done Surya!
The Lunch Menu has changed - please see the changes above.The Lunch Menu next week is Week 1!
Please see below Primary After School Club Timetable
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