Autumn Term 1 Newsletter 2017

Monkton CEP School – “ Everyone is Special” Term 1 Newsletter 12 October 2017

Dear Parents and Governors,

W

elcome back to the new school year. I hope everyone has now settled into their new classes and the school routine.

Ms Kennett I can confirm that Ms Kennett has had a successful operation and is currently recuperating at home. I’m sure she would like me to thank you all on her behalf for the gifts and good wishes she has received. She is constantly in our thoughts and prayers and I am sure that she will be visiting us in the not too distant future.

The staff and I would like to welcome the following children and their families to our school: Amber, Charlotte, Frankie, Jude, Tristan, Isabella, Gracey, Ellis, Oliver, Bailey, Freddie-Jay, Jake, Jake, Amelia, Aidan, Dawid and Anastasia I would also like to welcome Mrs Bax to Ladybird Class and Mrs Hewson to Dragonfly Class.

May I remind you that Mrs Jewell will be on maternity leave until the end of March. Mrs Miller will be working alongside Mrs Guilder in Bee Class until her return.

You will find attached to this newsletter a copy of this Academic Years Term Dates and on the reverse a copy of Term 1 and Term 2 Diary Dates. Please keep these on your notice board for future reference.

Further details regarding all items mentioned and extra class activities will follow as and when they occur.

www.monkton.kent.sch.uk Website

New Library Over the summer break the school had a new library installed in the foyer. I would like to thank Mrs Ollason, Mrs Osgood Mrs Webb and Mrs Williams and their families for their help in getting the books moved from the classes and the non-fiction library. I think you will agree that it is a fantastic resource for our school.

The PTA donated a Micro-Librarian system to the school in readiness for the installation of the new library. I would like to thank Mrs Hibbert for her work so far in logging books onto this system. Once the all the books have been logged on the system we will have a fully functioning lending library that will be keep records on all the books in the school; where they are and who has borrowed them. Your child will be able to access the system independently and based on their book choices, the system will be able to recommend suitable books for them to enjoy and to read to extend their reading skills.

Help Needed We have such a lot of books to log onto the system we are asking for help from any parents and carers. Anyone who feels they can help with book jacketing and or logging the books onto the Micro-Liberian system, should contact Mrs Webb in the office.

Up to date diary dates and class and club dates can be found on the Calendar (quick link located on the top right hand side of the page) on our website: www.monkton.kent.sch.uk.

Please check the website calendar for any information you need regarding, holidays, afterschool clubs and class activities. You will also find useful links to other sources of advice and to our school uniform provider School Trends.

Sign up for email updates On the bottom right hand side of the website you will also find a button to register you email address to that you can receive copies of our newsletters to you email.

Text Messaging Service We will continue to use the texting service this year, so please ensure you always keep Mrs Webb updated with your new mobile phone numbers.

Harvest Festival Thank you to everyone who filled the Harvest Bag and to everyone who attended our Harvest Festival on 28 September.

After the service, the children from Bee Class and Butterfly Class visited the Wednesday Club (elderly resident’s weekly club) to give the members their Harvest bags. They also performed some of their poems and songs for the members.

The rest of the Harvest bags containing mainly perishable goods were distributed to the elderly residents of the village by staff and pupils from the school. Our thanks to Mrs Gilly O’Neil (Harry & Louisa’s Mum) for her help with this. The remainder of the tinned and dried goods donated by you will be given to the Thanet Food Bank.

Monthly Wednesday Club Visits The members of the Wednesday Club enjoy seeing the children and chatting to them. With this in mind Bee Class are planning to visit the Wednesday Club on a monthly basis.

This will enable the children to make friends with the elderly residents of the village and to show them what they are learning in school. The resident will be able to share their skills and time with the children. We will keep you up to date with this exciting project.

staff and running after school sports clubs on three afternoons a week throughout the school year. They are also training our staff to ensure they learn new sports coaching skills.

In Terms 1 and 2 Team Theme will be running the following afterschool clubs: Term 1 Dragonfly Class Ladybird Class Butterfly Class

Multi-skills Club Football Club Netball Club

Term 2 Dragonfly Class Ladybird Class Butterfly Class

Dodgeball Club Gymnastics Club Football Club

Mrs Osgood will be managing our Football Team and accompanying the children to Football Festivals. The school is also taking part in the Thanet Schools Cross Country Meetings; these will also be organised and attended by Mrs Osgood. Mrs Guilder is in charge of our Netball team and accompanies children to matches together with Mrs Osgood. Details for these events are sent out separately as they occur.

School Photographs Don’t forget to send back your orders for your children’s individual and family group photographs by Friday 13 October 2017.

Football Team Our football team took part in the Thanet Primary School Festival on 22 September. Our children have the opportunity to take part in football training delivered by Coach Jack at lunch times on 3 days a week during Terms 1 and 2.

Congratulations go to Daisy Marsh who has been selected to play for Thanet District and the Kent Football League! Well done Daisy we are very proud of you.

Netball Team Our netball team took part a Thanet Primary School Netball Festival recently. Coach Jack will be running lunchtime Netball training Club later on this year for children interested in practising their netball skills.

Cross Country Team Once again our Cross Country Team took part in the first Thanet Primary Schools Cross Country Race held at Quex Park on Saturday 7 October. An amazingly 52% of our Key Stage 2 children are members of the school team. Well done nd everybody and especially Rory McGowan who gained 2 place in his Year 5 boys race.

Forest School The grounds are being prepared to accommodate a Forest School Areas which will facilitate outdoor activities, we are currently being trained to deliver Forest School and all staff have basic fire training. The school PTA are involved with fundraising and parents are keen to help setup and maintain the areas. We want to encourage and support our staff to deliver a well-rounded and full outdoor curriculum.

More pupils are presenting with emotional and challenging behaviours and we believe through contact with the natural world we can alleviate and prevent some of these conditions from developing further. In addition to this we are blessed with beautiful grounds and wildlife which we now need to fully use and appreciate.

The first stage of this will be implemented during the October half-term. Many thanks go to A U Roofing for their kind donation of funds, and labour. Also thank you to Mr P Lamb for donating his time and expertise.

We still fundraising in Tesco at Manston, St Lawrence and Ramsgate until the end of the month, please endeavour to pop in and ask for a token to put in our box!

Sports Provision and Clubs Team Theme will be providing our Sport Provision once again this academic year, they are delivering PE Lessons alongside

We have recently received another £500 donation from Councillor Gregory Community Fund. All of these amounts are adding up to a sizeable sum. Thanks to all who have donated or helped with this.

PTA

Head lice

As a parent of a child or children at Monkton CEP School you are automatically a member of the Parent Teacher Association. Please remember you do not need to be a committee member to come to meetings or to volunteer your help.

Fact: Lice can be caught at any time of the year, from close contact with anyone, on holiday, day care friends, sleepovers and cousins. Early detection and treatment is the best way to prevent their spread. Please would you check your child/children’s heads on a weekly basis. Follow the detection combing instructions on the leaflets previously provided by us. This advice can also be found on the NHS Choices Website: www.nhs.uk .

For new families, joining the PTA is a valuable way of getting to know everyone and feeling part of the school community.

Even if you cannot get to every meeting your help at parties, school performances and fairs is greatly appreciated.

The PTA are a fantastic group of people who make life special for your children at Monkton CEP School.

As well as fundraising to purchase extras for the children, they provided refreshments after our Class Productions and Carol Service.

They on occasions help provide us with extra ‘manpower’ throughout the year. The Staff and Governors truly appreciate their help, support and assistance in making Monkton CEP School welcoming and friendly. I would like to encourage everyone to support their work and volunteer to help at their events whenever you can.

PTA Annual General Meeting The PTA will be holding their Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 21 November between 4pm and 5pm in the school.

We have brought the time forward so that it is easier for you to attend. We are also offering crèche facilities for your children. Please register your children with the office if you would like them to attend the crèche. Please can you make every effort to attend and support the PTA.

School Meals School meals are available from Caterlink at £2.00 per day (£10.00 a week). At Monkton CEP School this still consists of a traditional hot meal and a drink followed by a dessert. Please make all cheques payable to Caterlink Limited.

All meals need to be paid for in advance on Monday morning. If your child would like to change to or from school meals, the office will need 1 weeks notice.

If you realise your child has forgotten his/her packed lunch and you need to order a meal, please contact the office by 10am and send payment by the following day.

Free School Meals Do let us know if your children are entitled to Free School Meals even if they do not wish to take them even if they are in Classes 1 and 2.

The school receives extra income for your children and this means they are then entitled to free or subsidised school trips and activities at this school.

If you are receipt of Income Support, ‘Income Based’ Job Seekers Allowance or Child Tax Credit, without Working Tax Credit and your income does not exceed £16,190 just apply on line: www.kent.gov.uk If you can’t apply online just pick a form up from the school office, fill in your child’s details, your National Insurance Number and return your form to school and Mrs Webb will apply on your behalf.

PTA Sports Day Refreshments Thankyou At the end of last term I omitted to thank one of our longstanding PTA Committee members and her family for their constant support both through the PTA and their plumbing services. Mr and Mrs Clements both donated a lot of their time and energy to our school whilst their children attended Monkton school and we thank them for all their support. We have sent them some flowers and chocolates to apologise for this oversight.

Road Safety Please can I ask everyone to make our Road Crossing Patrol’s life easier and keep your children safe by not blocking her sight lines of the road. Please park considerately and sensibly before and after school. Please could you let people not connected with the school know where to pickup and drop off your children.

Please avoid parking on the narrow section of road running towards the Foxhunter Caravan Park and obviously on the zigzag yellow lines outside the school. Could you also avoid parking on the private land directly opposite school.

The car park entrance doubles up a pedestrian access point to the school. Can I remind you to let everyone know that the car park to the side of school is for staff parking only. It should not be used by parents or carers to pick up or drop off children.

Local School Collaboration Group Our school is part of a collaboration group of four local schools who are working together on joint priorities for the benefit of all the children we serve. Curriculum subject leaders from each of the schools are working together to provide opportunities for the children to learn with and from each other. The other schools in our group are: Birchington CEP, Minster CEP and St Nicholas at Wade CEP School.

100 Club Once again we are running the 100 Club to boost school funds. Letters on how to join and reminders have been sent out. There is still time to join as the next draw will take place on Friday 20 October. Last terms’ winners of the 100 Club were: Mrs Hesmondhalgh - £5.00 Mrs Jewell - £5.00

Walking Bus 10 Anniversary Walk to School 2015

Walking Bus To avoid many of the problems mentioned earlier, why not consider joining the Walking Bus. As it is a ‘park and stride scheme’ you can drop your children off or park up at the top of the village and walk down with your children. This means you do not have the hassle of trying to find a place to park outside school in the morning.

The Walking Bus is currently run by Catherine Arnell and a team of parent volunteers. Sadly walking bus numbers have dwindled considerably over the last year or so, and this has led to more problems on the road outside school. If you would like to join or re-join the walking bus does contact Catherine on: 07957641471 or pop into the office to collect information and Walking Bus Promise forms.

Our walking bus relies on us having enough adult volunteers to walk down to school with it. If you are using the bus, please consider if you could lend a hand and become a volunteer, please contact Catherine for details.

Walking Bus Jackets if you have any walking bus jackets at home that you no longer use or your child has grown out of, please hand them into the school office. Thank you.

New Entrants Can I encourage as many new entrants to join the Walking Bus, this helps keep your children healthy and keeps cars off the road at the beginning of the school day.

Lions Club Donation of Hi Viz Jackets If your child walks from the other end of the village the Thanet Lions Clubs has very kindly donated a Hi-viz jacket for your child to wear to keep them safe on the road. If you would like one of these please send in a request to Mrs Webb.

Problems and Concerns If you have any traumatic events at home (bereavements, family break ups etc) I would be very grateful if you would let your child’s teacher or myself or Mrs Webb know. We care very much about the health and wellbeing of all the children. If we know they are experiencing problems we can give them the due care, consideration and support that they need.

If you have any school or class concerns regarding your child/children, please see your child’s Class Teacher in the first instance. If you still need to speak to me, please see Mrs. Webb and she will make the necessary arrangements.

Family Holidays in Term Time From September 2013 the Department for Education have amended the Education Regulations removing the Head Teacher’s ability to authorise leave of absence for a family holiday. Requests for holidays in term-time will not be authorised as the Regulations only allow me to authorise absence (leave) in “exceptional circumstances”.

The School’s Attendance Policy confirms that:  agreement to each request is at my discretion, acting on behalf of the Governing Body  each case will be judged on its merits  my decision is final  leave cannot be authorised retrospectively I am also not able to authorise days or half days off for long weekends.

If I do agree to a leave of absence in term time, it is very important that your child comes back to school promptly. If you take a holiday without our permission or your child fails to return on the agreed date, subsequent absence will be unauthorised, which is considered truancy.

Punctuality and timekeeping It is important that your child is on time each day for school.

School starts promptly at 8:50 and all children should be on the premises and ready to learn at this time. Arriving late in school interrupts the start of the day for both the child that is late and for their classmates.

Pickup Time We would appreciate all children being picked promptly at 3:10 from the playground. The Staff often have meetings and training to attend afterschool and therefore we are unable to take care of children in the Library/foyer after school on a regular basis. If you are unavoidably delayed due to traffic or other unforeseen circumstances there will always be staff here to look after your child until you arrive.

If you are detained in this way please contact the office as soon as possible, especially if you are arranging for someone else to collect your child.

School Improvement Plan Overview

School Uniform Only Book/Dispatch Bags and Hats are held in stock at the school.

All other items should be ordered online: www.stparent.co.uk or via the office. Please ensure that your order is online or sent into the office by the last day of the month. Your order should arrive approximately 14 days later.

Please find attached to the newsletter this year’s School Improvement Plan. This over view sheet shows the key areas we as a staff will be working on to improve our school even further. It covers the key areas as identified by Ofsted. If you would like more information about our School Plan, please contact the school office.

Mrs Webb keeps a selection of sizes in school so that you can check that you are ordering the right size for your child.

Please feel free to pop into the office to check sizes at any time.

Yours sincerely,

We have been using School Trends to supply our school uniform for the last 20 years. They are a British cooperative who make your uniform to order at their factory in the UK. Over the years we have found them to be the most consistent for price, quality and delivery.

K A Wilson (Mrs) Acting Headteacher

Monkton CE Primary School Outline of our School Plan 2017-2018 Our Christian Values are: Trust

Friendship

Compassion

Forgiveness

Justice

Our School Plan sets out a framework for the areas we have chosen to improve.

We work on this plan together – as a whole school team.

Focus Area 1 – Outcomes for Children To ensure that all pupils make their own expected progress, including Pupil Premium pupils, across all Key Stages

Focus Area 2 – Quality of Teaching and Learning and Assessment To ensure that all children maintain momentum in their learning from the end of Key Stage One to the end of Key Stage Two, taking onto account their starting point in the Early Years Foundation Stage

Focus Area 3 – Personal Development, Behaviour and Welfare To develop purposeful play and learning through the introduction of Forest School

Focus Area 4 – Effectiveness of Leadership and Management To improve the impact of School leaders at all levels, including Governors

Focus Area 5 – Spiritual, Moral, Social and cultural To further develop reflection and prayer spaces to give a sense of collaboration and ownership.

There are also subject specific curriculum plans which have their own more detailed priorities to achieve.

These will be available shortly on our website.

Dates for your Diary Terms 1 and 2 2017 Term 1 Starts: 5 September Kent Test – Year 6

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Thursday 7 September - am

Class 1 Parental Phonics 3 weekly Sessions

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Tuesday 12 September – 3.15pm -4.15pm

Class 4 Swimming 6 weekly sessions starting: -

Tuesday 12 September – Herne Bay Pool

Roald Dahl Day

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Wednesday 13 September

Choir Practice

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Monday 18 September – 3.15 – 4.15pm

Individual & Family Group Photographs

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Wednesday 20 September – am

Football Festival

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Friday 22 September – 4pm – 5pm

Harvest Festival St Mary Magdalene Church, Monkton

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Thursday 28 September @ 9.30am at

Cross Country – Quex

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Saturday 7 October - 10am – 12noon

October Holiday

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23 October to 27 October

Remembrance Service

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Friday 10 November 10.45am - Hall

Parent Meeting (Years R – 6)

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Monday 13 November -3.20pm – 6.00

Parent Meeting (Years R – 6)

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Thursday 16 November -3.20pm – 6.00

Term 2 Starts: 30 October 2017

Flu Vac (Nasal Spray) - Years R to Year 4 inc -

Wednesday 22 November – all day

PTA Annual General Meeting Crèche

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Thursday 23 November at 4.00 – 5.00

New Entrant – Open Afternoon

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Monday 20 November – 13:30pm

New Entrant – Open Morning

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Friday 24 November 9:15am

Whole School Christmas Lunch

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Thursday 14 December

Christmas Bazaar

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Friday 15 December – afternoon

Christmas Carol Service

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Monday 18 December

Christmas Party

Term 2 Ends

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Tuesday 19 December Tuesday 19 December @ 1.30pm

Staff Development Day

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20 December – School Closed to pupils

Christmas Holiday

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22 December to 3 January inclusive

Term 3 Starts: Thursday 4 January More details regarding any clubs or class activities will follow separately Term dates & holidays for the whole of this Academic year are on the back of this flyer,

Please do not throw it away Up to date information is on the Calendar: www.monkton.kent.sch.uk

Monkton CEP School Academic Year 2017/18 Term 1 2017 Staff Development Day Monday 4 September Start: Tuesday 5 September Finish: Friday 20 October October Holiday

Monday 23 October - Friday 27 October

Term 2 2017 Start: Monday 30 October

Finish: Tuesday 19 December

Staff Development Day Wednesday 20 December Christmas Holiday

Thursday 21 December - Wednesday 3 January

Term 3 2018 Start: Thursday 4 January

Finish: Friday 9 February

February Holiday - Monday 12 February—Friday 16 February

Term 4 2018 Start: Monday 19 February Finish: Thursday 29 March Easter Holiday Friday 30 March — Friday 13 April

Term 5 2018 Start: Monday 16 April

Finish: Friday 25 May

May Day Bank Holiday 7 May 2018 May Holiday Monday 28 May —- Friday 1 June

Term 6 2018 Start: Monday 4 June Finish: Friday 20 July Staff Development Day Monday 23 July & Tuesday 24 July There will be 1 further Staff Development Day which is yet to be arranged.