INA Primary Newsletter
11 December 2015
Announcements Important Dear Parents and Carers, Notice t was great to see so many of you at the Winter Concert on Monday this week. What star Regarding performances! Breakfast Club and week our new Premises Officer, Jordan Deady, started in post. He sends the following After School Last introductory message: Club
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Can I please remind you that payment must be made in advance when booking a place for your child to attend either breakfast club or after school club each day. If you are having any difficulties with your booking, please contact Ms Rayner in the reception office. Thank you
Tapestry Parents and carers from all three Reception classes should be able to access their child’s Tapestry online journal. If you have not been able to log in and access your child’s profile, or if you are having problems with your password, please see Ms Rayner in the reception office.
“I am very excited to be joining Isaac Newton Academy’s premises team. I have been doing this job since 2014 and have grown up within the education system as my father is a premises manager of a primary school and my mother is a Headteacher’s PA of a secondary school. When I first visited Isaac Newton Academy I had good vibes about the school and from the staff and can honestly say, after my first week, my instincts were correct. I look forward to furthering my skills and traits here at Isaac Newton Academy.
A bit about myself: I grew up and went to school in the East End of London, and went to college in Essex to study Sports Science for three years, which was brilliant. I am a fanatic Tottenham fan. I feel very honoured to be accepted as the newest member of the premises team here at Isaac Newton and look forward to exciting times ahead.” And Shaima Khanum has recently joined our team of Lunch Supervisors. She sends the following message: “I feel privileged to be offered a position at INA as a midday supervisor. It’s an exciting prospect starting my new role and being part of a friendly and welcoming team. I have been living in Redbridge for the last ten years. I was born and bought up in the East End of London in an area called Plaistow; there I attended school and college where I studied IT. After achieving my IT diploma I went into working in HR in leading supermarkets and as an administrator in various legal firms. It’s only after having my own children that I was inspired to work with children and undertook voluntary work in a private school. I was given the opportunity there to acquire first-hand experience and knowledge of working within children and get a true understanding of the significance of school. I grew up in a loving family and have many happy childhood memories. As children spend a vast amount of time at school, I believe it is vital that every child has a good and healthy learning environment where they will grow up cherishing their time at school and be proud to hold these memories close to heart. It’s these memories that help shape children and transition into adulthood with a positive outlook in life. As for the future, I look forward to working with such an approachable and friendly team, an inspiring generation of students, and the opportunity to evolve with the school as it grows from strength to strength by making a significant contribution as a member of INA to our next generation.” We are really looking forward to seeing many of you at our Awards Assemblies on Friday. As reminder that next Friday is a half day, with the pupils being dismissed at 12.15pm. With best wishes,
achel Macfarlane, RP rincipal
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Primary Parents’ Progress Meetings – Tuesday 15th December
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hank you for promptly signing up for your appointments for next week’s Parents’ Progress Meetings. We look forward to sharing your child’s work and progress with you. The Primary will finish early on Tuesday 15th December at 12.15pm to enable the staff time to set up the children’s work. Your child’s end of term report has been placed in your child’s book bag. Please ensure you arrive on time for your child’s appointment. You will need to sign in via the High Road entrance, where you will then be directed to meet the class teacher and assistant in your child’s classroom.
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am Broadway, Head of Primary
Celebration and Awards Assemblies – Friday 18th December At the end of every term the children enjoy the opportunity to share and celebrate some of their learning and achievements with you. Each teacher chooses two children from their class to receive a certificate in the Celebration and Awards Assembly, one in recognition of a child who has demonstrated the habits of all the seven BRIDGES throughout the term, and the other in recognition of a pupil’s outstanding academic effort and achievement. The assemblies start at the following times in the Primary dining hall: 9.00-9.30am - Reception (All Reception parents are invited to attend) 9.45-10.15am - Year 1 (All Year 1 parents are invited to attend)
Composer of the Fortnight The week after we return to school we will be listening to and learning about Claude Debussy as our Composer of the Fortnight. As a suggested activity to support at home, you could gather some facts about Debussy in preparation for the coming weeks. You can hear some of his music on the following youtube links. Clare de la Lune https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=CvFH_6DNRCY
Uniform Information 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 • All coats must be plain black including raincoats • Shoes must be plain black – no trainers! If you are not sure about the types of shoes that are part of our uniform policy, please ask! • Please label every item of clothing including PE kits with your child’s name and also check from time to time as names can fade through washing items. Khalsa Schoolwear has a name labelling service available whereby you can purchase 40 iron on labels for £5. • One pair of plain stud earrings can be worn • Other Jewellery is not permitted • Nail polish is not allowed • 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). INA Newsletter 3
Primary Winter Concert Thank you to all those parents who were able to attend the Winter Concert; it does mean a great deal to the children having you there to perform to and share their work with. The children were absolute superstars and it was lovely to see every child participating. A huge thank you once again to Mr Morgan and Ms Hope for their hard work this term with the concert and the children’s music lessons each week and a big thank you to the Year 9 pupils that helped.
Other Exciting Learning This Week
The Reception children have had fun exploring the activities in the outdoor space!
Year 1
Year 1 pupils were set a science challenge: to work in groups to see who could make the tallest, strongest tower using only spaghetti and marshmallows. Exact numbers of each material were given to each group, explaining that this number is the correct number to be successful. Once made, the whole class had to decide upon the best way to test the structures. 4  INA Newsletter
Can you support INA?
We need more Work Experience placements!
Do you work in a career that would interest our students? If so please contact us: info@ isaacnewtonacademy.org Year 10 students will complete a work experience placement from Monday 20th June 2016 – Friday 24th June 2016 and we need your help! If you feel you can offer a placement please read the placement guide below and contact Mr Crowther-Green by email: info@ isaacnewtonacademy.org with the title Work Experience. Please provide a work address, brief details of the type of work, potential duties and include a contact name, telephone number and email.
Placement guide
• Employers must have a Health and Safety policy and Public Liability Insurance • Placements should be easily reachable from INA by public transport • Students should not be working in a confined space with a single employer (safeguarding reasons) • Employers offering placements will need to complete an agreement and send details of dress, days, times, tasks and any specific information • Students will complete a project which they will work through during their placement We welcome friends and family of INA students to offer placements to INA students. We want students to broaden their horizons and we want students to be completing a work experience that they could not easily organise themselves. Therefore students cannot complete work experience with family and friends. If you have an questions please contact Mr CrowtherGreen by email: info@isaacnewtonacademy.org.
Mr Crowther-Green
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Well done to the following children, who have been recognised this week! Curie Class: Aliyah Khan – Headteacher’s Habits Award (for being kind and caring towards others.) Marqelo Rama – Scholar of the Week (for making amazing progress with his writing with his name this week.) Maxwell Class: Harneet Kang – Headteacher’s Habits Award (for always treating others fairly and caring about their feelings.) Ali Haroon – Scholar of the Week (for trying hard to write a sentence independently.) Newton Class: Maya Ahmed – Headteacher’ Habits Award (for listening to all the instructions given promptly during phonics.) Lazzaton Lazza – Scholar of the Week (for ordering the Christmas tree pictures from smallest to biggest independently.) Britten Class: Hari Virdee – Headteacher’ Habits Award (for helping a new child settle into Britten class.) Avneet Chaggar – Scholar of the Week (for developing a good work attitude in literacy.) Fitzgerald Class: Ali Ullah – Headteacher’ Habits Award (for always being a brilliant role model for his class.) Faheem Ahmedabadi – Scholar of the Week (for excellent questions during the science investigations.) Glennie Class: Aayan Hussain Riaz– Headteacher’ Habits Award (for working well with other children and demonstrating how to be the perfect partner.) Rohan Taheem – Scholar of the Week (for explaining migration in detail a home learning discussion.) Headteacher’s Lunch Well done to the following pupils who have been nominated for the Headteacher’s Lunch for next Thursday 17th December. An invitation will be given to the children during our Celebration and Awards Assembly: Lara Burvill -Britten Aftab-Rebecca Hussain-Glennie Imran Hussain-Newton Rohan Taheem-Glennie Ryan Abraham-Curie Srisakthi Velmurugan-Maxwell Ria Jethwa-Fitzgerald
The following pupils have received 25 or more 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 Friday's assembly. 6 INA Newsletter
Ibrahim Ijaz Khyra Maynard
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.
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
95.9%
Maxwell
98.3%
Newton
88.6%
Britten
91.6%
Fitzgerald
92.3%
Glennie
99%
Overall Attendance: 94.3% Congratulations to Glennie class, who are the winners for this week 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%.
ATTENDANCE
Regular attendance is a crucial factor in students’ educational development and ability to achieve their full potential.
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"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 that 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 above Week commencing 14th December– Self-Discipline At School: • • • •
We would all like to see the children develop the habits listed above, as they are all essential lifelong skills which are needed for us to successfully manage our way through school, college, and university and certainly throughout our work careers. It is really important that whilst the children are young we help them develop these habits as quickly as possible – especially organisation, independence and hard work. At school we ensure the pupils understand that every action has a consequence and that when we work hard it can often reap satisfaction and reward. Our pupils work hard day to day to earn their merits for making good choices and demonstrate their efforts. To help the children understand the structure of each day and become better organised, we always start with a visual timetable in Reception. Each part of the day is represented by a picture; this helps the children to understand the daily routine. It is important that we teach the young people to become more organised and check that they have all of their belongings with them each day.
At Home: At home the children need to practise getting dressed and undressed, managing buttons on shirts and coats etc. and generally become more independent. Helping your child to get organised the night before will help to ensure they have everything they need for their day. It may help to create a visual/pictorial timetable at home so that your child thinks about when they need their PE kit, home learning, guided reading book etc. This could be displayed in your child’s room or in a central place like the kitchen where you can both check what is needed the night before, ready for the following day. This will allow your child to become more involved in preparing for their learning and gaining independence.
Tam Broadway, Head of Primary 8 INA Newsletter
Primary Reminders IMPORTANT REMINDERS • 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. • School finishes at 3.45pm every day other than Tuesday when we finish at 3.00pm • If any of your details have changed e.g. your address or phone number, please ensure you contact the office to inform us, so that we can update our records and contact you in case of an emergency. • Please ensure your child attends school every day and on time. If your child is sick then you must call the office to let us know by 8.15am. If your child has a medical appointment you must let us know in advance.
Wisepay Details
Wisepay details have been given to everyone now, which will allow you to book a place for ‘Breakfast Club’ or ‘After School Club’. Payments must be made in advance. If you experience any problems, please contact Ms Rayner or Ms Chaggar who will be happy to help. Breakfast is available each day from 7.45am and costs just £2 per day. 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 costs just £5 per hour. The children enjoy a range of snacks each evening and a variety of games and activities.
Birthdays Unfortunately due to the number of children with quite severe food allergies we are unable to accept sweets, cakes or any other food items of a similar nature to be given out for birthday celebrations. Some parents in the past have bought a story book as a shared gift that can be given to the class teacher to read with the children and then kept in the book corner for the children to read throughout the year. INA Newsletter 9
Key Dates for the Autumn Term 2015: Primary Parent Progress Meetings – Tuesday 15th December (12.15pm finish) Last Day of Term – Friday 18th December – 12.15pm Finish
Future Key Dates for Spring Term Staff Inset Day (School Closed for Pupils) – Monday 4th January Children Return to School – Tuesday 5th January Growth Mindset Parent Workshop (Primary & Secondary) – Thursday 14th January Coffee Morning with the Head of Primary – Tuesday 26th January 9.00-10.00am Maths Mastery Parent Workshop – Wednesday 3rd February 6.00-7.00pm Fitzgerald Class Assembly (Fitzgerald Class Parents Invited) – Friday 5th February 3.00pm Break up for Half Term – Thursday 11th February Staff Inset Day (School Closed for Pupils) – Friday 12th February Back to School – Monday 22nd February Higher Attainers Parent Workshop – Wednesday 24th February World Book Day – Thursday 3rd March Primary Reports Sent Home – Friday 18th March Parent Progress Meetings – Tuesday 22nd March Last Day of Term – Thursday 24th March – 12.15pm Finish
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