Dear Parents and Carers,
Another brilliant week of learning at Georgeham CofE Primary School. We have been continuing to learn through our value of ‘We are Curious’. For this we have been thinking about going for our goals without being distracted by things around us. We also introduced a new routine across the school – ‘Wonderful Walking’ for when we’re travelling around indoor spaces. This was suggested by the school council as another measure on how to stay safe.
Next week is World Book Day (Thursday 7th March) which is one of my favourite days of the year. For this, the children will be able to come into school dressed as their favourite book characters. However, if you do not have a costume available, the children can still come into school wearing non-school uniform. The children will be immersing themselves in activities linked to our favourite stories and texts. I have heard a rumour that some staff have been busily preparing their costumes as well……
Well done to the following children for being class stars of the week….
Class 1  William Miles
Class 2  Hubie Hill
Class 3  Molly Wright
Class 4  Evie Buck
During the past month, the teachers have been writing the spring term reports for children in classes 2, 3 and 4. These will be coming out to parents and carers during the week beginning 11th March. Following the reports, there will be parent/carer evening sessions to discuss your child’s progress. If you have haven’t signed up to a session, please click on the link below:  https://forms.gle/obD3c4AB72c7yTef9
Furthermore, we really value your feedback. Thank you to those who have completed the parent/carer survey so far. If you would like to add your voice, please complete the survey below:  https://forms.gle/quESvMMa2iTRKFUS9
Thank you so much for your continued love and support as we sneak towards the halfway point of this half term.

Take care,  KF

Devon County Council has launched a questionnaire and published a press release encouraging and inviting families, professionals and community groups to help shape what the new Family Hubs support network will look like in Devon.  There are questions for Parents and Questions for Professionals and community services.
The questionnaire is open until the 23rd March.

Families invited to help shape future support services – News (devon.gov.uk)

The consultation is available by visiting our Have Your Say webpage.

Kind regards,  Tania Skinner CMgr MCMI.
Childrens Centre Comissioning Advisor Email: tania.skinner@devon.gov.uk
(Tel: 01392 383000 and when prompted please ask for me by name.
Childrens Comissioning , Devon County Council, County Hall, Exeter, EX2 4QD

Parent Teachers meetings

Thank you to those who have signed up – so far so good !

Bikeability

Congratulations to our year 5’s who had a great time this week learning how to ensure they, and their bicycles, are road worthy. There was some theory, and some exciting riding around the village. It was very cold, and at times very wet, so unfortunately group 1 didn’t finish their road tests. Thankfully Jo is coming back on Mon 25th March – those concerned have been made aware. Badges and certificates will then be ready for all and presented by Mr Fry at the end of term assembly.

Diary Dates :

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

Tuesday 5th March – Class 3 day trip to Exeter Museum to support the Egyptian topic.  EARLIER START. We appreciate your helping each other out with lifts to and back from the station to ease the morning flow.

Thursday 7th MARCH = WORLD BOOK DAY – see Mr Fry’s message above.

Friday 15th March = Red nose day – school uniform as usual, bring your own red nose (no cash please) as you will be donating when you buy your own red noses.

w/c 18th March – Parent teachers meetings – bookings should be made via the google form sent out by email.  (Choose the teacher,  see and select from the days/times on the list.  Options will be removed as they are selected. You should receive an email confirmation. Please contact the office if you make a mistake, or the teacher directly if you cannot attend any of the times but would still like to meet with them.

Thursday 21st March –  local schools football and netball tournament. All day at Kingsacre school.  Team selection notifications still to come…

Friday 22nd March =  non school uniform day – just because its SCHOOL DISCO that night…

Last day of term Thurs 28th March 2024.

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 Kevin Fry
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.