A few important reminders (13.9.23)

Dear Parents & Carers,

The school year has started very successfully - we are so proud of all of our children for settling to their new class and new routines so positively.

Please read below for a few reminders and updates for your information:

SCHOOL LEARNING BEHAVIOURS, SOUTHWARK RULES, & SOUTHWARK VALUES
In school we all work hard to use our 'Behaviours for Learning' (Determined, Curious, Focussed, Creative, and Reflective), to be the best learners we can be.

We also use our 'Southwark Values' (Equality, Liberty Co-operation, Empathy, Positivity, Patience, Respect, Honesty, Trust, Love, and Courage) to guide our behaviours both in school and also out of school as well. Each half term, we focus on a different value to learn what it means and why we believe it is so important to us.

Alongside our Learning Behaviours and our Southwark Values, we also have a set of shared school rules which every child agrees to try and keep to whilst they attend our school. Last year, the children and staff created these rules for us all to follow to make our school the best possible place to learn and be happy and safe in.

Here are our school rules:

1. We are helpful, honest, kind, and polite

2. We respect ourselves, each other, our school, and the environment

3. We work hard and try our best

4. We play safely, carefully, and sensibly

The children put a lot of careful thought into creating our shared school rules. They 'start from the positive' rather than being a list of what we should not do. Please talk through these at home regularly with your children to ensure that we are all aware of how we should be behaving both in and out of school.

For more information please click the links below:

https://www.southwarkprimary.net/our-school/schools-ethos-and-values/

https://www.southwarkprimary.net/safeguarding/behaviour/

UNIFORM & JEWELLERY
Please make sure that your child is wearing the correct school uniform. All children (Nursery – Year 6) should wear:

- Sweatshirt or cardigan in royal blue
- Polo shirt in royal or light blue or white
- Shirt/blouse in light blue or white
- Pinafore or skirt in navy blue, grey or black (navy blue, black or grey cycling shorts can be worn underneath)
- Gingham dress in blue and white (blue or white cycling shorts can be worn underneath)
- School trousers in black or grey
- Smart shorts or culottes in black or grey
- Flat, black (plain) school shoes.

PE Kit:
- White Polo shirt or T-shirt (no logos)
- Blue or black shorts (no logos)
- Blue or black leggings / tracksuit for outdoor PE (no logos if possible)
- Suitable, non-marking plimsoles or trainers

Please, please make sure all clothing has a name in it – we can end up with many identical items!

If you are struggling with uniform, please come and speak to the school office.

Jewellery:
No jewellery is allowed for safety reasons. This includes earrings. If you want your child to have their ears pierced, please have them done at the beginning of the summer holiday so that they are healed by September and the earrings can be removed.

If your child needs to have their earrings in as it is within the first 6 weeks of them being pierced, we ask that you provide plasters for them to use to protect their ears in school. School staff will remind children and parents to remove earrings where possible.

If you want your child to wear an item of jewellery for religious reasons you must write to the Governing Body so that they can consider the health and safety implications.

For more information please click this link:
https://www.southwarkprimary.net/our-school/useful-information/

HALF TERM DATES
The two-week half term break is between the following dates: 23rd October - 3rd November. The children are expected back in school on Tuesday, 7th November. Please note that there is an INSET day at school on Monday, 6th November. For the term dates for the year ahead, please click the link below:

https://www.southwarkprimary.net/our-school/term-dates/

EVERYTHING READING
Hopefully you will have read the recent Dojo posts about reading, phonics, the school library, and Boom Reader. Reading is so vitally important to the progress your child will make in school so we ask that you do read regularly with your child and use Boom Reader to record this. If you have any questions, please ask your child's class teacher.

ATTENDANCE & PUNCTUALITY
I will post on Dojo regularly about attendance and punctuality. It is vitally important that your child attends school regularly - we hope this is every single day! We do understand that children do get sick sometimes and so we ask that you follow our attendance procedures carefully to enable us to support you and your child as best as possible. We have already noticed that we have increased numbers of late arrivals at school. We need your children to be in school by 8:55am at the latest for them to be marked as on time on the register. For more information please visit:

https://www.southwarkprimary.net/safeguarding/attendance/

COMMUNICATION WITH SCHOOL
Thank you for your continued support. We work extremely hard to ensure that we are consistently providing the very best education for our fantastic children. Regular communication is vitally important so we can continue to support your child achieve their very best in school. Please use Class Dojo to communicate with your child's class teacher - this is an excellent way to share important information with school staff.

- If you have any concerns, please be reminded that you should speak to your child's class teacher if you have any concerns regarding your child.

- If you have more serious concerns please speak to your child's Hub Assistant Head (Mrs Evans in Nursery, Reception, & Year 1, Mrs Bennett in Year 2 and Year 3 and Mr Ince in Years 45 and 6).

- If you wish to discuss any special educational needs, please call the school office to speak with Miss Shaw our SENDCo.

- If you have any safeguarding concerns regarding your child, please call the school office and arrange to speak with Mrs Wattam who is our Designated Safeguarding Lead.

I will post out some dates for your diary this week to inform you of some upcoming events which we would not want you to miss out on!

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Skirton