Headteacher: Mr Oli de Botton
Head of Primary: Mrs Meg Drummond
Welcome Back! Welcome back to another busy term at School 21. We have had a wonderful first week back, celebrating our Spring Child of the Term winners - what a way to start the term! We are enormously proud of all the students and their amazing work from last term, including our beautiful art display of rainbow portraits for Equality Month.
Curriculum letters for this term will be sent home next week, these will explain what we will be learning this term so you can support the learning through discussion at home or visits to museums! Please see the dates for your diary below for our upcoming events, and also check our calendar on the website which is updated regularly.
Dates For Your Diary
Return Date for Academic Year 2019/2020 - Monday 9th September
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. 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
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. 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. 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.
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.
Reception Parents:Next week, we would like to invite you in to take part in a workshop with your child. The theme of the workshop was brilliantly planned by some of our parents in the previous session but we welcome everyone to attend! During the session, we will be doing activities related to our world, such as making flags, singing songs,
exploring maps, and maybe even trying out some traditional dances! The workshops are completely run by the parents, so if there is something you would like to do or share - please come along! Refreshments will be provided and younger siblings are welcome. We look forward to seeing you there!
Year 11 Bake SaleThere is a Year 11 Bake Sale taking place next week Thursday 2nd May from 3:00pm to 4:30pm. All the donations made will go towards the Year 11 Prom. Head of Year 11 - Mr Bernard will be making his famous chocolate brownies and rice crispy snacks. If any parents would like to bake or donate please bring your treats into
school and a money box will be left in the Front Office.
Autism Awareness WeekAutism Awareness Week has been celebrated this week in Primary School with students fully participating in a series of themed events to raise awareness of autism, and to celebrate members of our school community with autism. In the Primary School, students attended an assembly, where they heard first-hand stories from four
incredibly brave students in Primary and Secondary. Well done to Nikola (Y9), Ethan (Y9), Tahjib (Y11), and Brandon (Y4) for talking so eloquently to their peers about their experience living with autism. On Wednesday Shelvon (Y9) and Keith (Y9) kindly sacrificed their lunch period to run a fundraising bake sale, along with several more students after school on Tuesday. Students took part in a hugely popular puzzle-piece treasure hunt on Thursday in which they could win chocolate in exchange for correctly identifying “true” or “false” statements about autism. Finally, on Friday, a “spectrum” own-clothes day was an occasion for students to come to school dressed in colours representing the “spectrum” of autism. Thank you to the inclusion team for arranging such a great week!
The Lunch Menu has changed - please see the changes above.The Lunch Menu next week is Week 2!
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
Probable Moderate pollution has been forecast for
Saturday 27 April.
This is an air quality alert provided by the Mayor of London. You are receiving it because the air pollution in London is forecast to go above "Low" on the Defra Daily Air Quality Index. Please see further information below.
This is the advice for a Moderate air pollution alert, based on Defra's national Daily Air Quality Index.Advice for the general populationAdvice for at risk individualsEnjoy your usual outdoor activities.Adults and children with lung problems, and adults with heart problems, who experience symptoms, should consider reducing strenuous physical activity, particularly outdoors.In addition to Defra's advice above, the following are some practical ideas your school or educational institution may want to consider in partnership with parents and guardians:If at all possible, advise parents not to drive their children to and from school (or students themselves not to drive), as this exacerbates pollution in the school vicinity. Note that pollution levels are often higher inside cars even when the windows are shut.For
those who continue to drive, ask parents/guardians/students not to idle their engines in the school vicinity.For those walking and cycling, try to plan a route to and from school that sticks to side roads or goes through parks or other green areas.
Further information on air pollution in London and what the Mayor is doing to improve it is available here.In the next few months additional guidance and helpful tools will be published by City Hall to help you identify further actions which you, with the support of your local borough, can take to tackle pollution in and around your school or educational institution.If you have questions concerning this pollution alert please contact airqualitylondon@london.gov.uk
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