INA Primary Newsletter
18 March 2016
Announcements Parent Dear Parents and Carers, Progress am ver y much looking forward to seeing many of you at the end of term Awards Assemblies next Thursday. It has been a short but packed term, and Meetings – progress that all the children have made has been ver y clear to see. I am Tuesday 22nd surethe that they are ready for a good rest! March
I
Thank 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 22nd March 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
If you haven’t yet had a chance to complete the parent questionnaire issued this week, please could I ask that you do so and return it to your child ’s teacher on Monday morning?
RP
achel Macfarlane, rincipal
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 At INA we have a number of trained staff who are designated to respond to any child protection concerns and to liaise with social services: Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) Jo Spencer Vice Principal Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) Tam Broadway Primary Headteacher Designated Child Protection Officer for primary: Heather Rayner Primary Office Manager The INA Safeguarding policy, Child Protection policy and other related policies can be found on the Academy’s website. Handwriting We are currently having a big push with our handwriting across both Year 1 and Reception. To support your child at home, we ask that you encourage him/her to write as often as possible and for as many different reasons as possible. This could be helping with the shopping list, writing a letter to a friend or relative, writing out invites to a party, writing about their day or writing down instructions for playing a game. We want the children to take pride in their writing, taking care to try and keep their writing on the line, and neat, working hard on the size of their letters. Every day we remind the children to make sure they use a capital letter for the start of a sentence, and for names of people, places and days of the week and to remember to use a small full stop at the end. Some Year 1 pupils should be encouraged to use question marks and exclamation marks when appropriate and to focus on the accuracy of their spellings.
2 INA Newsletter
>
>>> News PE Kit
It is really important that your child has their PE kit available for lessons every week to enable them to take part. Reception pupils must wear their PE kit to school on Mondays. After the Easter break they will be expected to come in to school with their normal uniform on and be able to change into their kit in the afternoon in preparation for their lesson. This is all part of the expectations of the Early Learning Goals. We would suggest practising this with your child over the coming month. Further reminders will be sent nearer the time. Year 1 pupils need their kit on Wednesdays and according to your child’s class timetable. If you are unsure of the days, please ask your child’s class teacher. We expect all children to have a pair of plimsolls for indoor PE games.
Tapestry
.
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. I am sure you will have some great moments to journal during the Easter break. 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
Composer of the Fortnight
For the next week we will be listening to and learning about Igor Stravinsky as our Composer of the Fortnight. As a suggested activity to support at home, you could gather some facts about Stravinsky in preparation for the coming weeks. Information can also be found on the following youtube links The Rite of Spring Full Suite (Le Sacre du Printemps) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWotpIy0uTg As heard in Disney’s Fantasia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aoAKKZ1UN
Changes to Breakfast and After School Club Payments After the Easter break a new calendar-based payment system on WisePay will come into effect for both Breakfast club and After School club. From Monday 11th April you will be required to select the exact dates that you would like your child to attend either Breakfast Club or After School Club, and pay for those sessions. I will be running a drop in session for parents during Easter Break on Tuesday 29th March between 9am – 12pm for those who would like a demonstration on how to use the new system. If you have any questions about this new system please do not hesitate to get in contact with me on 0208 911 6666. Can I please also remind parents that it is essential that payments for either club be made in advance of your child attending. If you are late collecting your child and they are put into After School Club, or you contact the Academy on the day to state that you require your child to attend After School Club, payment will be expected when you collect your child. Ms Rayner
INA Newsletter 3
Easter Bonnet Parade – Wednesday 23rd March Thank you to those of you who have paid the entry fee of £2 for your child to enter the Easter Bonnet Parade on Wednesday 23rd March. Two family spectator tickets will be issued to you shortly. The event will take place straight after school at 4.00pm on Wednesday 23rd March; we anticipate finishing by 5pm at the latest. Children entering will be invited to parade their Easter Bonnet to our panel of judges and 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes for each year group will be given. As far as possible we would like the bonnets to be made by the children. If you are struggling with ideas, there are plenty of inspirational designs on google images. Celebration and Awards Assembly – Thursday 24th March 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) Message from the Year 1 Teachers Lots of the children are coming to school with lace up shoes at the moment; if your child is wearing lace up shoes please can you teach them how to tie them up independently! Uniform 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 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! 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
Learning this Week
4 INA Newsletter
Making mosaics in Ms McKernan’s Enrichment club!
Well done to the following children, who have been recognised this week!
Curie Class:
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.
Aairah Abid – Headteacher’s Habits Award (for taking care of others and making sure everyone else had their share of cubes in numeracy.) Abdullah Shahzad – Scholar of the Week (for working really hard to learn his set 2 sounds in phonics.) Maxwell Class:
Harneet Kang – Headteacher’s Habits Award (for always being kind a friend and doing the right thing.) Saim Rehman – Scholar of the Week (for writing sentences using finger spaces.) Newton Class:
Mohammed Ibrahim Rahman – Headteacher’ Habits Award (for being a determined and fair partner.) Maryam Nawaz – Scholar of the Week (for working hard and producing neat writing every day.) Britten Class:
Kisa Fatima – Headteacher’ Habits Award (for sharing the maths resources on her table as well as being fair and kind.) Tara Rani Kaur – Scholar of the Week (for using fantastic power words in her independent writing.) Fitzgerald Class:
Raina Islam– Headteacher’ Habits Award (for being a good new member of the class community.)
Fahmid Khan – Scholar of the Week (for amazingly articulate sentences about measuring in maths.) Glennie Class:
Anum Imran – Headteacher’ Habits Award (for being really welcoming to a new student.) Aisha Bashir – Scholar of the Week (for brilliant comparing while measuring.) 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 the Celebration and Awards Assembly Inaaya Muhammad Muhammad-Hadi Raja Riya Patel Akbar Hussain Emaan Hassan Fahmid Khan Janeefa Khezar
Curie Curie Curie Curie Fitzgerald Fitzgerald Fitzgerald
Headteacher’s Lunch
Well done to the following pupils who have been nominated for the Headteacher’s Lunch next week on Wednesday 23rd March. An invitation will be given to the children during our Celebration and Awards Assembly:
Yusha Master Curie Priyajanani Pradeep Kumar Maxwell Muhammad Ahmer Newton Zaina Hussain Fitzgerald Nirmalpreet Durhailay Glennie Muhammad Adam Natha Britten Deepshika Ravi Curie
INA Newsletter 5
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
93.3%
Maxwell
92%
Newton
89.3%
Britten
88%
Fitzgerald
82.3%
Glennie
92.9%
Overall Attendance: 89.7% Congratulations to Curie class who are once again the winners this week. Attendance has dropped significantly, not helped by the various viruses going around – hopefully everyone will be back on the mend next week and we can finish the term on a high!! 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 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 21st March–Discovery At School: • • • •
We make our lessons fun and interactive every day so that every child loves learning and has a sense of enthusiasm with everything they do. Our lessons are very hands on and we ask the children to share their learning with their ‘talk partner’. We talk to the children about looking out for the details on things around them, to look closely at the bugs and the leaves in the playground and what happens to everything as the seasons change. We encourage the children to check their work and try to spot any errors they may have made. Through our topic approach we engender a sense of curiosity and wonder in the children where they are keen to go home and find out more. We talk about human characteristics and traits and what makes us all the same but equally what makes us different and that it is good to have differences and to appreciate them with an open mind. Every area of the curriculum helps the children to become more creative –either through role- play, stories, music and PE – helping the children to use their imaginations.
At Home: Encourage your child to use their imagination by making up stories together, or suggesting ways in which they could change parts of a story they know well: change the gender of the characters, have them go on a different adventure etc. Pupils love to role play different characters and it is often even more fun when the adults join in too. Play along and have fun! Play games with your child like ‘I spy’ where you can see how many things they can notice beginning with a certain sound or letter they may already know or ask your child to think about an object and describe it using powerful adjectives. Ask questions like ‘I wonder what would happen if…?’ or ‘what do you think might happen if?’ or ‘why do you think…? These types of deeper questions will encourage the children to use their creativity and imagination more fully. Either independently or with help, encourage your child to read or research more information around the topics they are studying in class. Year 1 could be finding out facts about the world, finding out information about different countries – their flag, the capital city etc
Tam Broadway, Head of Primary
INA Newsletter 7
Key Dates for the Spring Term 2016: Primary Future Key Dates for Spring Term Parent Progress Meetings – Tuesday 22nd March Easter Bonnet Parade – Wednesday 23rd March 4.00-5.00pm Celebration and Awards Assembly – Thursday24th March 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 Last Day of Term – Thursday 24th March – 12.15pm Finish
Future Key Dates for Summer Term Back to School – Monday 11th April Maxwell Class Assembly (Maxwell Class Parents Invited) – Friday 13th May 3.00pm Bank Holiday – Monday 2nd May Coffee Morning with the Head of Primary – Friday 20th May 9.00-10.00am Half Term Break – Friday 27th May 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 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
8 INA Newsletter