Issue 9 - June 2014 Head teacher’s Letter Dear Parents/Carers, Welcome to our June newsletter. I can’t believe it is practically June already. This year is absolutely flying past. The summer term is always a favourite term for the children with lots going on. This year is no exception with sports days, trips out, the Withdean athletic events, residentials and the summer show. Our children continue to represent us very well whenever they are out of school and really let people see what a great school Bevendean is. I have been so proud recently (as always!) to get really positive feedback about what a helpful, friendly school we have. This has come from advisors and local authority staff, the school nurse, our councillor and parents who visit the Gateway Centre for the toddler group. They all say what a pleasure it is to spend time here. Fingers crossed for a half term full of sunshine. Yours sincerely, Wendy King Headteacher -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Inset days: The last Inset day of this school year is Friday 6th June. Inset days for the new academic year – 2014/2015 3rd, 4th & 5th September, 10th October 2014 & 5th January 2015. As you know every school has to take 5 inset days during the course of the year which are allocated for teachers’ professional development. This year we are trialling taking the first 3 inset days at the beginning of the autumn term. We hope this will cause you less inconvenience than having them dotted throughout the year and also maybe help with you being able to take cheaper holidays. SAT’s – Year 6 Our year 6 pupils can at last begin to relax after working so hard towards their SAT’s in May. Although they still have a program to follow they must be feeling much ‘lighter’. We are extremely proud of just how committed they were and how they rose to the occasion each day during their tests. They are now preparing themselves for the transition to year 7 and their new school. GROOVY GANG - OUR AFTER SCHOOL CLUB There are currently places in Groovy Gang. This is open to children from Reception classes through to Year 6. It starts straight from school and finishes at 5pm. Children do a wide variety of activities including art and craft, baking, ICT and outdoor games when weather permits. Children are given a snack and a drink. You do not have to work to enable your child to attend but if you do you may be able to receive a rebate of more than half (if in receipt of Working Tax Credit) on the price of £7.00. If you are on other benefits the price is only £4.00 per session. If you are interested please enquire at the school office. We would like to say a big thank you to Mears and a group of apprentices from BACA who have completed some fantastic work on our wildlife area, at no cost at all to the school. They were here for a week and built a path, a sheltered area and a raised bed helping to make the area accessible all year round. Attendance Attendance last year at this time was at 93.4% Attendance now is at 94.6% That is such good news and although we do want to get above 95% we would like to congratulate parents who have been supporting their children and getting them into school. As well as having a prize draw for pupils with 100% for the summer term, we will be holding a prize draw for yearly attendance. At present there are 29 pupils with 100% attendance for the year. One of the prizes they could win is a family trip in a private pod on the Brighton Wheel. How amazing! “In April, 5DC went to an amazing Pizza Party to Frankie & Benny’s, as a reward for the best class attendance in the school. We all enjoyed it very much and would love to do it again” – written by Kayleigh Last, 5DC. The children in year 5 and 6 will be performing their end of year show, ‘School Daze’, on Tuesday 15th July at 6pm and Wednesday 16th July at 2pm. You are all welcome to come and watch. Ticket information will be available soon. Football A group of Year 4 and Year 5 girls played a football match against Hertford Juniors. Unfortunately we lost the match but the girls were superb and played with great sporting attitudes. Free School meals for all Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children You will all probably be aware that the government are bringing in free hot school meals for all children who want them in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 from September 2014. All parents in currently in Nursery, Reception and year 1 will have received a letter about this. We are very lucky here that due to our large kitchen and canteen and the high number of mid-day supervisors, we are able to provide this fairly easily. Other schools are not so lucky and for them this has been a real challenge. We are supportive of this initiative but we now have a challenge ahead of us in terms of making sure you sign up for FREE SCHOOL MEALS if you are eligible. This may seem pointless to you as your child will be getting the meal without you having to sign up to anything. HOWEVER! A significant amount of our funding (for teachers, support staff, resources and improving the learning environment) comes from the number of children who have signed up for free school meals. This doesn’t go directly to the individual child but pays for things like our intensive reading, teachers, learning mentors, Mr Hodd’s afternoon work and Miss Moseley (see Pupil Premium report on website for more details). So if you are in receipt of any of the following, it is important that you continue to sign up: - Income Support – (IS) - Income based Job Seekers Allowance – (IBJSA) - Child Tax Credit (when there is no entitlement to working tax credit) AND the total household income does not exceed £16190 - The Guaranteed element of the State Pension Credit - Income-related employment and support allowance or - Financially supported by NASS (National Asylum Support Service) If your child is already signed up and receiving Free School Meals you do not need to sign up again, unless your situation changes. Likewise if your home situation does change, please come along to the office and fill out a form to enable your entitlement. Universal Infant Free School Meals September 2014 – Allergies & Intolerances If your child will be in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 in September, and is therefore eligible for a school meal without charge, and has any known allergy or food intolerance, please contact the school office staff who will issue you with a form to be filled out and returned to them by Friday 4th July. The deadline for the return of forms to Eden Food Service in Camberley is Friday 11th July and you may send your form back directly if you wish. Please ensure that this form is duly signed and stamped/completed by a registered medical professional. Religious and cultural preferences can be catered for locally by ringing the Eden Foodservice Office on 01273 818892. BACA ICT programming Working with BACA for 6 weeks, Year 6 were introduced to programming languages and taught basic coding skills. Using BACA’s notebooks and IPads, children were able to create their own games as well as recreate the classic game, ‘Flappy Bird’, using the ‘Scratch’ program. They all enjoyed it immensely. With the warmer, sunny days children often get dehydrated so we do recommend they bring a clear bottle of water to keep on their desk. They can fill it up at school if they wish. Likewise hats are needed and sun lotion may be applied before school and spare brought in so they can top up during the school day. Community Youth Champions – A group of 9 year 5 pupils have been involved in a series of training sessions, called, ‘Community Youth Champions’. The children are developing leadership skills and will be delivering/teaching younger children some sports games. They recently had a tour of the Amex Stadium and were a total credit to our school. Classes for next year… We will be letting you know about your child’s class teacher for next year in the week beginning 23rd June. You will have the opportunity to meet the new teacher and see the new classroom on Wednesday 9th July after school. Please do not assume that teachers will be in the same year group or that class groupings will remain the same! Are you aware of the fantastic opportunities at Music Summer School 2014? Brighton & Hove Music & Arts is pleased to offer a diverse programme of activities for all children with an interest in music from music technology to folk, rock, music theatre or classical! Courses are available for children with little or no previous experience, for those who have taken part in Soundmakers and for those who are already learning an instrument. Full details and application forms are available from their Summer School website: http://www.bhma.org.uk/#!summer-school1/cp4p or via the Music & Arts office (01273 293524). FRIDGE NEWS June Tuesday 3rd & Wednesday 4th Friday 6th Wednesday 11th Wednesday 11th Thursday 12th Friday 13th Friday 13th Monday 16th – Friday 20th Tuesday 17th Wednesday 18th Thursday 19th Thursday 19th Friday 20th Monday 23th & 24th Wednesday 25th Friday 27th July Tuesday 1st – Friday 4th Wednesday 9th Tuesday 15th Wednesday 16th Friday 18th Wednesday 23rd July September Wednesday 3rd Thursday 4th Friday 5th Y6 – Dig for Victory World War II garden celebration SCHOOL CLOSED - INSET DAY pm Sports Day for Y4/5/6 time TBC Y1 - visit to Wetlands Centre, Arundel Year 6 to Brighton University 9.05 – 4MW Class Assembly 9.05 - PTA Annual General Meeting – via school office Parkwood Residential Trip for Year 5 Y6 – Heritage Festival pm – EYFS – Sports day - time TBC 11.30 – New Nursery parents meeting 14.00 - New Reception parents meeting 9.05 – 1J Class Assembly Withdean TBC pm – Y1, 2, 3 Sports Day - time TBC 9.05 – 4A Class Assembly Blackland Residential Trip for Year 6 pm – Children meet new teachers in their new class 3.15pm Parents meet new teachers 6pm - Y5 & Y6 ‘School Daze’ end of year show 2pm - Y5 & Y6 ‘School Daze’ end of year show Children’s reports come home Last day of school School closed – Inset Day School closed -Inset Day School closed – Inset Day