INA Primary Newsletter
20 May 2016
Announcements
Dear Parents and Carers, How quickly the half term has flown and what a busy time we’ve had. The children have really enjoyed their topics on ‘Africa’ in Year 1 and ‘Splendid Superheroes’ in Reception and have learned so much. Next half term promises to be just as much fun as we will be focussing on ‘Amazing Animals’ in Reception and ‘Plants & Animals’ in Year 1. An information topic sheet will be put into your child’s book bag during the first week back after half term. We hope you all have a lovely break. Tam Broadway
Safeguarding Children As part of their curriculum, the children learn how to keep themselves safe. The following website has been set up by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) to offer parents and schools advice on how to raise safeguarding awareness with children. There is a notable section called ‘The Underwear Rule’ which is of particular support and guidance to parents. The website also offers advice regarding ‘online safety’ and how to obtain support or advice regarding the safeguarding of children. www.nspcc.org.uk
Message from the Reception Teachers
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Please continue to upload and share any great learning moments with your child at home. It is important that your child’s work includes learning steps from home and school to demonstrate their understanding and development. We are especially trying to capture quality independent writing pieces this half term; it would be great if you could upload any great examples on Tapestry and then send the writing piece into school so that we can celebrate the work in our class writing galleries. To gain a better understanding of the Early Learning Goals, they are available for you to view on the school website under the Community Tab and Parents Resources.
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>>> News Composer of the Fortnight
We are currently listening to and learning about John Williams as our Composer of the Fortnight. As a suggested activity to support at home, you could gather some facts about Williams in preparation for the coming weeks. Information can be found on the following links. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFNN_ADpYJ0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams
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Labelling of Clothes Now that the Reception children get changed in school for PE lessons, we have noticed that an increased number of clothing items are getting mixed up, lost and sometimes going home with the wrong children. We are lucky to have such lovely parents who quickly notice and return items that don’t belong to their child. To help us get the right items back to everyone, please make sure every item of clothing is labelled with your child’s name. Thank you!
Help Yourself There a number of planters with various herbs such as rosemary and mint growing in the planters outside of the Reception area. They grow quite rapidly at this time of year so if you do want to take some cuttings then please help yourself.
Guided Reading Books We have just spent a sizeable part of our budget for next year on some much needed guided reading books. The staff and children are all very happy to see lots of new titles arrive to extend the children’s depth and breadth of reading. As always we ask that you help us to look after the books that go home by making sure your child keeps their book in their reading bag when travelling to and from school and that they bring it to school on the correct day for their guided reading session with their teacher. If in the rare event a book is lost or damaged, we will ask parents/carers to pay for the cost of replacing it. Thank you for your support – I hope you will enjoy reading the new books too! INA Newsletter 3
Year 1 Visit to Colchester Zoo The Year 1 children enjoyed a great day using their ‘discovery’ skills at Colchester Zoo this week. There were opportunities to feed the giraffes and elephants and the children were given an interactive presentation on African animals. I was really impressed by the children’s knowledge and how much they had learnt this half term. Thank you to the parents and carers who were asked to support on the day, I hope enjoyed it and that we didn’t tire you out too much.
Important reminders The Primary uniform policy is on the website under the primary tab and ‘policies’. • We expect every child to be in full uniform every day with their top button done up • Please label every item of clothing with your child’ name, including PE kits, and also check from time to time as names can fade through washing items. • One pair of plain stud earrings can be worn • Nail polish is not allowed • Jewellery is not permitted • Long hair for both boys and girls must be tied back. Hair decorations must be small and plain. • Please provide your child with a water bottle every day and make sure it is labelled with their name (water only, no fruit juice). • Schools starts at 8.45am, it is important that your child arrives on time every day so that the teachers can start the lesson promptly. The school gate will be open from 8.25am and will close at 8.45am.
Breakfast and Afterschool Club - Price Changes from September
Breakfast is available each day from 7.45am and will cost £2.50 per day from September. The children enjoy a range of cereals, toast and different topping, juice or milk and fruit. Any child attending must be brought to the main reception area by 8.20am at the latest. After School Club runs from 3.45pm – 6.00pm (3.00pm – 6.00pm on Tuesdays) and will cost £5.50 per hour from September. The children enjoy a range of snacks each evening and a variety of games and activities. 4 INA Newsletter
Well done to the following children, who have been recognised this week!
Primary Praise and Recognition
very week each teacher chooses two children from their class to receive a certificate E in assembly, one in recognition of a child demonstrating our BRIDGES habit of the week, and the other in recognition of a pupil’s academic effort throughout the week.
Curie Class: Yusha Master – Headteacher’s Habits Award (for making a connection between doubling and halving using his discovery skills.) Ryan Abraham – Scholar of the Week (for writing the most wonderful information text about ‘People Who Help Us’.) Maxwell Class: Shakira Choudhury – Headteacher’s Habits Award (for always being honest and telling the truth.) Hanad Ali – Scholar of the Week (for writing a great ‘thank you’ letter to the Ilford Fire Station.) Newton Class: Adam Ismail – Headteacher’s Habits Award (for his curiosity in maths and exploring different numbers to halve.) Azmain Islam – Scholar of the Week (for trying hard with his writing in English.)
Britten Class: Haidar Sheikh – Headteacher’s Habits Award (for showing great discovery skills at Colchester Zoo.) Meerab Dar – Scholar of the Week (for such determination with adding together two 2 digit numbers.) Fitzgerald Class: Sabah Akram – Headteacher’s Habits Award (for discovering an amazing fact about flamingos when we went to Colchester Zoo.) Gurkirpa Hunjan – Scholar of the Week (for writing some excellent information about giraffes.)
Glennie Class: Tulsi Jogia – Headteacher’s Habits Award (for always asking lots of questions and using her spare time to find out the answers.) Zairah Ali – Scholar of the Week (for being able to identify and explain what a suffix is.)
The following pupils have received 25 merits since September for making good choices and moving up to gold on the class ‘good choice chart’ – this is fantastic achievement. A special ‘bronze’ certificate will be presented during the Celebration and Awards Assembly. Pradeep Kumar Maryam Umarji The following pupils have received 50 merits since September for making good choices and moving up to gold on the class ‘good choice chart’ – this is fantastic achievement. A special ‘bronze’ certificate will be presented during the Celebration and Awards Assembly. Ibrahim Nasiri Arsal Anjum Inaaya Ijaz
Headteacher’s Lunch
Well done to the following pupils who have been nominated for the Headteacher’s Lunch next week on Thursday 19th May. An invitation will be given to the children during our Celebration and Awards Assembly: Rohan Ram Sharma Cameron Palmer Zara Daykin Akshara Kurmachalam Aayan Hussain Iqtidar Lara Burvill Nirmalpreet Durhailay
Maxwell Curie Newton Fitzgerald Glennie Britten Glennie
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At Isaac Newton Academy every student is set the target of 100% attendance. The class with the highest attendance at the end of every week is awarded the attendance trophy during Friday’s Award & Recognition assembly. Curie
98.9%
Maxwell
99%
Newton
96.7%
Britten
99%
Fitzgerald
95.3%
Glennie
95.7%
Overall Attendance: 97.4 Congratulations to both Maxwell class and Britten class, who are joint winners for this week with 99%. Who will be the first class with 100% after half term? National average attendance for primary schools is 96.1%. It is important that the children attend school every day and do not miss any learning. Thank you for your support in ensuring your child is at school every day. We always strive for 100% 6 INA Newsletter
ATTENDANCE
Regular attendance is a crucial factor in students’ educational development and ability to achieve their full potential.
"We build too many walls and not enough bridges.” Isaac Newton BRIDGES are habits of mind or learning characteristics that develop a pupil's character and learning power and enable him/her to grow into a well-rounded individual and resilient learner. There are seven BRIDGES habits that we will be working on, which will rotate on a weekly cycle throughout the year. The BRIDGES habit of the week will always be introduced at the beginning of the week during the Monday assembly and reinforced throughout the week across the curriculum. Each class teacher will award a certificate to a pupil who they feel has demonstrated the BRIDGES focus for the week. Each week we will update you on the BRIDGES habit that will be introduced in the coming week and offer some top tips on how to reinforce the habit at home too. Please also refer to the Primary BRIDGES wheel below. Week commencing 6th June – Grit comprises seven dispositions: Perseverance, Managing Distractions, Resilience and Patience, Concentration, Determination
At School: • • • •
At part of our 6 pillars we continuously stress the importance to the children of managing distractions and concentrating during their learning time. It is essential that from Reception upwards the children become better at managing distractions and demonstrate that they can work on a task for a sustained period of time. We always encourage a ‘can do’ resilient attitude and talk to the children about the importance of not giving up on a task too easily, even when they present as a challenge, learning that ‘practice makes perfect’. We discuss that having patience and trying something again, even though we may find it difficult, will lead to success. We also explain that patience can also mean not having what we want instantly and that sometimes we have to wait our turn.
At Home: Encourage your child to try and complete things more independently – when he/she says he/she can’t do something, tell him/her to have a go and to try a little harder. If then they are still completely stuck with a task, offer a small amount of help to get them started. Offer encouragement and praise your child’s effort. Talk to your child about how you learned to do things and how hard some things were for you too but, through not giving up, being determined and practising, you got better.
Tam Broadway, Head of Primary
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Key Dates for the SummerTerm 2016: Primary Future Key Dates for Summer Term Back to School – Monday 6th June Newton Class Assembly (Newton Class Parents Invited) – Friday 17th June 3.00pm Staff Inset Days – School Closed Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th June Reception Visit to Old MacDonald’s Farm – Thursday 30th June Staff Inset Day – Friday 8th July Coffee Morning with the Head of Primary – Tuesday 12th July 9.00-10.00am Reports Sent Home – Friday 15th July Parent Progress Meetings – Tuesday 19th July Celebration and Awards Assembly – Wednesday20th July – Times TBC Last Day of Term – Wednesday 20th July – 12.15pm Finish Selling of School Uniform – Friday 22nd July
Cake Sale A big thank you to everyone who was able to support the Cake Sale on Friday in various different ways, either by donating delicious cakes for us to sell, or by coming along and buying the cakes to take away. We look forward to updating you on how much money we managed to raise shortly after half term. A huge thank you to Ms Ashton and Ms Palray for their organisation and setting up of the event – well done everyone! All funds raised will go towards enhancing the children’s outside learning environment.
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