What’s on w/e 9th June 2023. issue 577

Attendance so far…

The average for this week is down again on last week to 93.4% 
Class 1: 87.5% Class 2: 89.2% Class 3: 97.7% Class 4: 95%
Bringing the whole school average year to date down to 95.26%
Our target, and DfE’s expectation for the end of the year, is 96% so it’s not hard to get there now

(Please have a look at our Attendance page on our website for more information.)

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Welcome back everyone!  I’m sure you’ve all thought about suncream (applied in the morning) and hats (named) as the children have all returned to school following a lovely sunny break, to even more incredibly warm and sunny weather!  Could you also make sure that your child has a refillable water bottle in school too please?  We have drinking water in each classroom and the children are encouraged to drink through the day and also reminded to bring them outside with them in PE lessons.  As our children are drinking little, and often, we also ask that this is just water and not with any squash or juice inside as this frequent sipping wouldn’t be good for their teeth if wasn’t just water.

We’re always Kind, Curious, Confident, a Communty and Adventurous, and we talk about and apply these throughout the year, but this term we focus in on being ambitious.

The children have said that they’ll Strive for Excellence, that they have a Positive Attitude, they’ll Identify how to Improve and that they are Life Long Learners.   We’ve spoken about this in our Collective Worship sessions and agreed that we can put aside our worries and issues, but instead look ahead with a positive attitude.  It’s been delightful to hear so many children talking about their targets and see them working so hard on their learning.  Everyone, despite the heat, is working so incredibly hard – it cheers me up no end!

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We have just started a Consultation… regarding the transfer from the Governor Run Preschool Provision to a Foundation Stage Unit which would mean bringing the two groups of children together into the Class 1 room, and extending our age range for the school to 2-11, rather than the current 4-11.

The governing board of Georgeham Church of England (VS) Primary School is proposing to transfer the existing Governor Run Preschool provision into a Foundation Stage Unit and increase the age range of the school from 4-11 years to 2-11 years of age with effect September 2023.

Background:

The school has early years places that are currently run as a Governor Run Preschool. The preschool is situated within the existing school grounds.  It is open to 2 – 4-year-olds during term times from Monday to Friday.

This proposal is that the preschool should become part of the school, forming a Foundation Unit with our reception children, rather than operating as an extended service. This will allow for greater flexibility with staffing and resourcing as all  the  finances for the school and  preschool will be managed together rather than separately as we are required to do now. This will ensure stability of the early years provision in the long term.

The school’s published admission number into the reception class will still be 15.  There will also be no change in relation to the number of early years places offered. Parents and children should experience very little change to the service they receive as the team in the Governor Run preschool have worked closely with the school’s EYFS Lead/Reception teacher for many years.

Sessions for 2-year-olds will continue to be offered as part of the new FSU unit however in the first instance we will offer sessions for 2-2.5-year-olds on specific days of the week, with additional staffing to support our very youngest pupils.  If the proposal is approved by the Governing Board, following this consultation, the preschool will become a Foundation Unit, joining with the reception children, and children in the preschool will be registered on the school’s roll. Parents will still need to make a separate application to Devon County Council for a place in reception. As a Foundation Unit there must be a qualified teacher and a level 3 qualified early years worker leading the learning. Each day, the unit will be staffed by a Qualified Teacher and up to 2 other members of staff.

We have a wonderful EYFS space with a Reception classroom that can be adapted to welcome 2-year olds, an extensive covered outdoor area and an adapted garden and forest school space that can provide opportunities for an enriched curriculum experience for all children from 2 to 5 years.  Our EYFS curriculum focuses on ‘stage not age’ which means that we can support children with tailored opportunities to progress and develop at the pace they require.  Our current preschool building can be utilised as a space for stay and play sessions or toddler groups as well as providing additional intervention and thrive spaces for pupils across the school.

To read about the benefits, the timescales and how to respond, please click this link to further information on our website.

 

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The Governors are also reviewing the Wrap Around provision at the school.  We’ve opened the survey up again to ensure we maximise the responses and obtain thoughts about what our parents think of it, or the reasons why they choose not to use it.  Either way – your thoughts are really important to us.

WRAP AROUND CARE SURVEY: link

Further information about our Wra Around Care can be found on our website.

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Times Tables Rock Stars – several children moved up a level this week!  Well done to Phoebe Hames who became an Unsigned Act, Violet Rampe moved through this to become a Gigger, and Niamh Kennedy and Isabelle Carlino who both became Rock stars!  Well done you lot – excellent work!

 

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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.