Attendance this week

Whole school attendance this week was a low  91.58% 
C1  86.57%      C2 91.43%      C3 92.22%     C4 93.33%
our Autumn term figure is 94.85%

there has been a lot of illness this week but also several unauthorised absences which do bring the figure down. 

 Should your child be too unwell to attend school, remember to email before 9am 
Please email both the class teachers and the office, and do state the reason.
(top tip: enter our email addresses into your address book… )

An S2 absence request form does need to be completed if you wish to take your child out of school for any reason.

The school is a buzz with Christmas and our dazzling stars this week are …….

Early years – Fraser Brown

Class 2 – Alfie Whelan

Class 3 – Nick Woodeson

Class 4 – Maisie Osborne

Diary Dates and communications  this week:

Tuesday 12th – Peter Pan !  The first performance is at 1.15 and the whole school will go up for that. There will still be some seats but it would be great to pack out the hall for the 6pm show.

Thursday 14th – Christmas Dinner Banquet !  Staff serve ALL  the children Christmas dinner in the hall together. (i.e. no packed lunches or other menu options this day).   But don’t worry, there will be something for everyone. Its a magical occasion. 🙂

Friday 15th – end of term. Please hop onto Scopay to clear any Autumn term balances so we can start afresh in the Spring term.

SPRING TERM 2024:

Tuesday 2nd January 2024 – INSET day for all staff. Welcome Mr Kevin Fry.

Wednesday 3rd Jan – first day back. Happy New Year !

Monday 8th Jan– Swimming starts for years 3 4 5.  A letter will come out before the end of term.

there are various sporting events both sides of the half term break – please do get use to looking at the school calendar which can be found at the bottom of the website home page (and linked below)

HALF TERM – Monday Feb 12th – Friday 16th

Monday 19th FEB – INSET DAY

February 27/28/29th !!  – Bikeability for year 5 (letter to come out soon)

Last day of term Thurs 28th March

Click here  for the school calendar which can be found at the bottom of the website home page.

The school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mr Jonathan Gower
Our Deputy Safeguarding Lead is  Emma Hill
Our SENCo is Mrs Lucy Rinvolucri.
Make contact with us via  dsl@georgeham-primary.devon.sch.uk

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/

Attendance… We report the attendance of individual year groups as it’s a really good way to see if school attendance is at a good percentage…  as high as possible of course! The DfE have a target of 96.5%
Attending school regularly is vital to help children achieve and to give them the best possible start in life. It’s also the legal requirement of parents once children are of school age and enrolled in mainstream education. Ofsted has a strong view about attendance of course. 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 Friday October 20th.
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.

We are a Nut free school.  Even on school trips !

We understand that its not at the forefront of everyone’s mind, but it is important,
even on school trips, and even if outdoors. Thank you. 

We are community 

Our school is a community, but we are also part of a wider local and global community.
We encourage a sense of belonging and responsibility towards each other, our environment and the world we live in.

‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’  (Matthew 22 v39)