One World Week

Throughout next week we will be celebrating One World Week in school.  The aim of this event is to celebrate different cultures from around our World. Every class will study a particular country and they will share their work with other classes as a part of our Passport Morning on Wednesday 19^th October.

 

Whole School Dress-up Day

We will be holding our Dress-up Day, on Wednesday 19^th October, and would like to invite all pupils to come to school wearing clothes associated with the country their class is studying (see list below). This could include traditional costumes or simply clothes that are the same colour as the country’s national flag:

Class	Country Chosen to Study
Early Years (Nursery and Reception)	Nigeria
Year 1	Poland
Year 2	Albania
Year 3	Spain
Year 4	Japan
Year 5	Italy
Year 6	Philippines

 

Parents’ Wanted

We are lucky enough to have family members from lots of different parts of the World. If you originate from another country, and would like to talk to your child’s class about the customs or traditions from this locality, please let their teacher know (you may even like to read a traditional story from this place, or share items/artefacts from the region). Thank you in advance.

 

Secondary School Applications

If you have not already done so the closing date for applications is Monday 31 October 2016.

  To give your child the best possible chance of being offered their preferred school(s), please ensure your application is received on time. Hillingdon council cannot be held responsible for any delays in the post or problems with internet providers; they are therefore recommending you submit your application online to the Admissions at London Borough of Hillingdon by Friday 21 October 2016 to ensure it is received on time.

Parent communication Survey

Thank you to all parents who completed the survey regarding working together and communication.

We looked at the surveys and the school identified a couple of areas that many parents want more information on to be able to support their children.

Phonics – Many of the parents from Early Years wanted support on Phonics and how it is taught.

• The school will host a meeting for parent to enable the parents to see how we teach the phonics and to go through the different sounds

Mathematics – Many parents mentioned Mathematics and needing support with helping their children with the different methods they use in mathematics.

• In the Spring Term we will have ‘Meet the Teacher Meetings’ which will focus on the different methods the children use  in mathematics and expectations for their year group
• We have also planned a mathematical afternoon for parents to come in again and work with their children
• Information will also be put on the school website with information on Mathematics

Curriculum Information- Although we have each classes curriculum information on the website many parents wanted more information on what their child is being taught each term

• The school will be sending out information to parents on topics the children   will be covering and information on what their child is learning

          Handwriting  -  Many parents said they wanted support with handwriting

• We will be sending out information on handwriting

From the list of the different forms of communication parents indicated that all the forms of communication were important. Many parents commented on enjoying having the opportunity to come into the classrooms last term to work with the children and being able to see the children in the school learning environment. Also the text messaging service continues to be very popular form of communication.

There are other areas we will be looking at such as reading and developing writing. We will also as part of our Curriculum Afternoon be going through what we are working on as a school for the coming year. Please come along  to the Curriculum Afternoon and spend time in the classroom and then join us in the hall for a short talk.

 

Does your child speak more than one language at home?

If so, we would like to invite you to attend our talk on ‘Understanding and Supporting Bilingual Children’.

Next Tuesday 18^th of October, Dr Froso Argyri will visit school to discuss the language development of bilingual pupils and share useful suggestions for parents/carers to support their children’s bilingual upbringing. This talk will begin at 2.30pm, in the school Hall, and will finish just before 3.30pm.

 

We are really lucky that Dr Argyri has given up her time to attend and it would be fantastic to see as many family members as possible on the day. If you are able to attend this talk, please complete the reply slip sent home on Wednesday (spare letters are available from the school office).

 

Curriculum Afternoon

You should have received a letter this week inviting you to attend our Curriculum Afternoon on Thursday 20^th October at 2pm. Parents, and carers, will have the opportunity to have a tour of the school, led by our Year 6 children, whilst the children are working. Miss Shevlin will also give a talk at the end of the day about the priority areas we are working on this year. We will send home a letter next week, providing further details.

 

Help Us to Help Your Child!

As you may be aware, the government introduced the Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) scheme.

As the name suggests, the scheme is designed to provide, free of charge, all children in Year 1 and Year 2 with a delicious, nutritional meal which will help them maximise their learning potential at this critically important time in their school career.

The scheme is proving to be incredibly successful and across the country thousands of children are already experiencing the benefits every day.

However, some confusion has been caused for those parents who, under the previous system, would have had to register their children for free school meals.

Whether your child is in Year 1, Year 2 or older year groups, we still need you to register for free school meals!

Much of the government funding that our school receives from government is generated directly by the number of children registering for free school meals. Therefore, if you meet any of the criteria listed below and fail to register your child – even if they already qualify for a meal under UIFSM – the amount of funding that we receive will reduce. This will make it more difficult for us to provide the quality learning experience that your child/children deserve.

If any of the following applies to you, please apply online at https://www.myfreeschoolmeals.com and arrange for your child/children to be registered as soon as possible.

• Receive income support
• Receive income-based job seeker’s allowance 
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (providing you are not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit.

Indeed, if your child is in years 3,4, 5 or 6 and your financial circumstances have changed recently please also apply online.

 

Reminders

Crisps are not allowed in school from Monday through to Thursday. Pupils are allowed to bring them as one of their end of week treat items into school on a Friday.

Please can you ensure uniform items and coats are labelled with your child’s name. 

Thank you for your assistance. 

 

INSET Day

Reminder: School will be closed on Friday 21^st October due to our staff INSET Day.

 

Upcoming Diary Dates

 

Date	Time	Event
Monday 17th – Thursday 20th October		One World Week Celebration
Tuesday 18th October	2.30pm – 3.30pm	Parents’ Bilingualism Workshop
Wednesday 19th October		Whole school ‘Dress-up Day’ (all pupils to wear clothes associated with the country their class is studying).
Wednesday 19th October	2pm – 3.30pm	Curriculum Afternoon
Thursday 20th October		Last day of this Half Term
Friday 21st October		School Closed (Staff INSET Day)
Monday 31st October	8.40am	All pupils return to school
Thursday 10th November	11am – 11.30am 2.45pm – 3.15pm	Donuts with Dads and Mums