Class Stars 🙂 Well done to…
Our Early Years… Aoife O’Brien
And well done to Jasper and Rowan for completing their “five nursery rhymes at home challenge” and gaining their first certificate!
Class 2… Woody King
Class 3… Millie Smith
Class 4… Arwen Brooks
Could you ensure our teddies come back the following week please? …thank you!
This ½ term’s school value is…
We are Confident.
We help our children lay foundations for the rest of their lives by helping them develop self-esteem and belief in themselves.
‘I know the plans I have for you… plans to bring about the future you hope for.’ (Jeremiah 29 v11)
Attendance so far…
School average for this week:
Class 1: 100% Class 2: 96% Class 3: 87% Class 4: 98.1%
School average for the term: 95.78%
Illnesses and holidays impact our attendance data and the children’s learning opportunities.
It can also be a trigger for Ofsted, as they expect attendance to be in the high 90’s.
The only way to bring this back up towards the DfE target of 97%… is improved attendance.
(However, we really do appreciate that when a child is ill, they’re ill.)
(Please have a look at our Attendance page on our website for more information.)
Welcome back! I hope you received the blog earlier in the week showing some examples of what we’ve been up to on our first couple of days back.
I’m glad to report that I’ve only just come back from Class 4 where I was invited to do a taste test of their breads and decide who was a winner.
Best looking… was Kitty’s, then Evie’s, Sadie’s and Charlie’s.
But then I did the taste test out of the four… with Sadie’s being first, then Charlie’s, Kitty’s and Evie’s.
It’s all been a lovely experience!… However, after holding the final out of the four, I was then force fed another three! Belle’s, Tilly’s and Eli’s… and now Indie’s and Nadia’s!!! Oh my goodness me, just briliant, what an afternoon!!!
It’s been an excellent first week back and such a joy to have the children return in such good spirits, ready to learn and be challenged on their next steps.
What’s happening next week?
Swimming on Monday, a volleyball festival on Thursday and Iswilencozi’s Non-uniform day (he’s a child we sponsor in Swaziland) on Friday.
Attendance for this week only, is 94%. This brings down our overall average and, apart from making an impact on the children missing school and the others in the class when we have to spend time provide time for catching up, it’s also an area that Ofsted look quite serisouly at. However, just as the guidance and recent news artoicles state, if a child is ill and has a temperature then they should stay off school.
Clubs Webpage for more info…
Attendance… We frequently report the attendance of individual year groups as it’s a really good way to see if school attendance is at a good percentage… with it as high as possible of course! The DfE have a target of 96.5% but sadly, we finished the year, last July, being slightly below this.
Attending school regularly is vital to help children achieve and to give them the best possible start in life. It’s also a legal requirement of parents once children are of school age and enrolled in mainstream education. Ofsted has a strong view about attendance of course and, therefore, too many absences can lead into difficult discussions about how we can support children to achieve and do well – we could even be downgraded for our current Good status as a result.
Absences will only be authorised if they meet exceptional circumstances. With only 190 statutory school days in the year, there are 175 days (weekends and school holidays) left to plan for family visits, non-urgent medical/dental appointments, holidays etc. School holidays are published well in advance and parents are expected to plan and take family holidays at this time so as not to disrupt their child’s education. We also try to arrange our Inset (training) days to provide time for travel… such as this term’s October 21st.
Holidays… are almost always not recognised as meeting ‘exceptional circumstances’ and therefore an absence would be unauthorised. This could result in a penalty notice being issued by DCC.
Punctuality is important too, and the earlier we get our children into the right habits, the better. You may not realise that being just 5 minutes late every day equals 3 days of school lost a year. Please bring your child for 8.45am when they door is open and the classroom has a learning activity ready for them.
Dates in the diary… bottom of the front page…
https://georgehamceps.wpengine.com/
Dinner Menu…
https://georgehamceps.wpengine.com/dinner-menu/
The school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead is Julian Thomas
Our Deputy Safeguarding Leads are Emma Hill and Laura Hapgood (our interim SENSCo)
You can contact us on dsl@georgeham-primary.devon.
If you have any concerns that you’d like to discuss, please call through to Lottie and ask for an appointment. You may also find some useful or helpful information on our Safeguarding webpage… https://georgehamceps.wpengine.com/staying-safe/
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