Head teacher’s Letter Issue 9 - June 2014

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