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

Thursday 9th May - Child of The Term Trip

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 Schools

There 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 those who participated in the Easter break challenge! Please see the different efforts below! 

This week's challenge is... HINK PINK!! 

Primary Attendance Winners W.C 22/04/2019

Reception Newton - 97.5%

Year 1 Mandela 98.7%

Year 2 Coleman 98.6%

Year 3 Da Vinci 99.3

Year 4 Nightingale 100% - Overall Primary Winner

First Aid Update

All 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. 

A Big Thank You

I would like to say a massive thank you to all the parents for their donations of cakes and treats!  There wasn't a single soggy bottom in sight and I hope everyone enjoyed our variety of cakes and treats.

A special thank you to the parents of Primary and Middle school for  helping out with the bake sale, even in the rain we had a smile on our faces.

We made £174.45p, and this is all down to us as a community working together to support one another.

Thank you so much once again and enjoy your long weekend break.

Welcome to the Caterpillars!

This week in Reception, we said hello to our new visitors - the caterpillars! As part of our new project, exploring the beauty in nature, we will be watching closely as our caterpillars grow and change before eventually transforming into beautiful butterflies.
We can't wait to watch this incredible metamorphosis!

Year 1’s Induction to Google Earth

This week the children have had a wonderful time exploring planet earth without even stepping foot out of the classroom! 

Countries were visited, School 21 was found and children who knew their addresses viewed their homes using an aerial approach.

Our next step is to name and locate the seven continents.  Do you know all of them?

Super Shapes!

This week Year 2 have been learning about 2D and 3D shapes. We have been using mathematical vocabulary to describe these shapes. We can say whether a shape has any lines of symmetry, whether it has any right angles, count the vertices and identify quadrilaterals! With 3D shapes we have been counting the edges, faces and vertices. On Wednesday we explored the 3D shapes we could find in our classroom. We found a lot of cuboids and cylinders, but no cubes or square-based pyramids. After, we thought carefully about properties of each 3D shape to create a stable tower. The tallest tower won!

Use The Force!

In Year 3 we are considering how science can help us solve problems. To do this, we have been deepening our understanding of what forces are, how they affect everyday objects and how we can measure them. The students of year 3 have worked scientifically and measured accurately using Newton meters. We are looking  forward to putting our new knowledge into action!

Calculating Perimeters

Since returning from our Easter break, Year 4 have been working extremely hard and really demonstrating their maturity as the oldest students in primary. Well done! In Maths we have been calculating perimeters of rectangles and composite shapes. We have even started using algebraic formulas to organise our calculations! Next week we will progress to calculating area. We cannot wait.

Craft Certificates

Well 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. 

Why walk, when you can cartwheel?  

A few weeks ago A’Sheerah competed in a gymnastics competition against girls from all across London. The competition was to find the top four gymnasts (based on scores) who would then go on to represent the London team at a national competition. A’Sheerah came in the top four and is now on London regional team! On the 11th May she will compete at a national competition against teams from all regions in England & Wales.  This competition will showcase the best 9-11 year old gymnasts who will compete as a team and individuals - and we wish A'Sheerah all the best of luck!! We are immensely proud of her!  

https://www.youtube.com/watchv=vqZfGUdr7Go&feature=youtu.be 

Bright Spot 

Here is an amazing piece of home learning from Hector - a poem about spring! 

Bright Spot

Maryum did this fantastic book review over the Easter break! 

The Lunch Menu has changed - please see the changes above.

The Lunch Menu next week is Week 3!