Autumn Term 1 Newsletter

Monkton CEP School – “Everyone is Special” Term 1 Newsletter 3 September 2019

Dear Parents and Governors,

W

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

The staff and I would like to welcome the following children and their families to our school: Jude A, Ysabel, Naida, Hunter, Brandon, Owen, William, Sophia, Felicity, Seren, Poppy, Jude R, Ava, Melodie, Blake, Lawson, Hope, Oliver and Carmen I would also like to welcome Mrs Weston to Class 4 and Mrs Hibbert to Class 2.

Full dates for the academic year can be found on the website and school calendar. Whole School diary dates will be uploaded onto the website in due course. Class Newsletters will be sent out to you by next week.

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

www.monkton.kent.sch.uk 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.

Office Opening Times 8:40 – 16:30pm Office Open 12:00 – 13:00pm Office Closed Sick Children – Absence Reporting If you wish to report your child absent, please leave a message on our answering machine. Messages are picked first thing in the morning when the office opens and messages relayed to Class teachers.

Harvest Festival Our Harvest Festival takes place this Monday 23 October at St Mary Magdalene Church at 9:30am. The children from the school will visit the Wednesday Club (elderly resident’s weekly club) to give the members their Harvest bags. The rest of the Harvest bags containing mainly perishable goods will be distributed to the elderly residents of the village by staff and pupils from the school. The remainder of the tinned and dried goods donated by you will be given to the Thanet Food Bank School Meals School meals are available from Caterlink at £2.15 per day (£10.75 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 To be eligible for a Free School Meal, families need to receive one of the following benefits:

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Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

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Income Support

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Income Based Jobseekers Allowance

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Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

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Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

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The guaranteed element of Pension Credit

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Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)

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Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

If your child is eligible for free school meals with an active application on the 31 March 2018, they will remain eligible until 31 March 2022 You can apply online: 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.

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 safely.

Do 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.

Family Holidays in Term Time From September 2013 the Department for Education 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.

Penalty Notices will be issued by the school this academic year. Penalty Notices are issued to each parent of each child, the amount of the penalty will be £120 to be paid within 28 days, reduced to £60 if paid within 21 days. Failure to pay the penalty in full at the end of the 28-day period may result in prosecution by the Attendance Service 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.

Year 6 Procedure for Entry to Secondary School There will be a meeting for parents of Year 6 pupils in the school hall on 5 September at 2:30pm. This will be to clarify the procedure of applying for secondary school place for September 2020. During the meeting Mrs Stone will cover the best way to apply for your choice of school, as it can be quite a complex procedure. There will be photocopies of the Power point presentation for any parent who cannot attend on the day.

Kent Test for Year 6 pupils who have opted in to take the selection test will be held on Thursday 12 September in the morning.

Roald Dahl Day – Friday 13 September Children are invited to dress as their favourite character from a Roald Dahl book or wear in something yellow, which was his favourite colour.

Teachers will be planning some exciting and stimulating activities to celebrate this special day.

School Photographer The photographer will be in school to take individual and family groups on 25 September in the morning.

Inspired through Sport We are pleased to tell you that we are expecting a Great British Athlete via the Inspired through Sport Scheme. Our athletes visit will take place on Friday 4 October 2019, as soon as we know who our athlete is we will let you know.

Bach to the Future Kent Music School will be sending an ensemble to present Bach to the Future to the children on 23 September 2019.

The opportunity for children to see and hear musicians performing live is something we have been trying to secure for some time. We are all very excited.

Class 4 Maternity Cover I am pleased to inform you that we have been successful in recruiting a very experienced Key Stage 2 teacher to cover Miss Handley’s maternity leave.

Mrs N Lovelock has previously been working in Key Stage 2 at St Saviours Junior School. She has already taken part in some school training here at Monkton and been working alongside Miss Handley to become familiar with the school and its systems.

We anticipate that they will work alongside each other until Miss Handley is ready to take her maternity leave.

Everyone is Special Week This week we are celebrating our school community, children will be taking part in lessons that celebrate and promote everyone in our school. It will be a time to examine why we have school rules, promote kindness and consideration and encourage each of us to be supportive and respectful of one another. The week will conclude on Friday with a Whole School shared Worship to celebrate our wonderful school community.

Reminders School policy is that water bottles contain water only and not squash or flavoured water. As a healthy school we believe it is important to protect your children’s teeth by exposing them to sips of water only.

Access to the school site at 8:40am is restricted to the courtyard only. We cannot permit parents to walk their children around to the classrooms on the playground, as this is a Safeguarding risk. Should you wish to speak to your child’s teacher, please telephone the office for an appointment or a telephone call back. Or, have a quick word with the teacher at the end of the day.

Any messages or requests can be given to the members of staff on gate duty, who will duly pass these onto the teacher.

We thank you for your co-operation in these matters.

Parents Consultations Parent Consultations will take place on 9 October 2019.

Appointments will be made online and you will receive a text message from our Parents Evening App inviting your to book a time online.

Breakfast Club – urgent action required Please see the attached letter and enrollment form, which you need to complete today, if you would like your child to start the club next week.

Kind Regards

Planetarium Visit This will take place for all children in school on 17 September further details to follow.

K. A. Wilson (Mrs) Head of School