September Newsletter

Value of the Month – “Friendship: I am a good friend”

Welcome back to the new school year.  We hope you all had great summer holidays and are feeling excited about the challenges ahead for the coming school year. 

Dates for your diary

18^th September – 9.00am – Infant hall – 30 minute meeting for parents to introduce “Our Big Ideas”

25^th September - 9.00am – Infant hall – 30 minute meeting for parents to introduce learning in Year Three

27^th September – Infant hall – Parents’ Values assemblies held at 9.05am and 2.45pm

2^nd October - 9.00am – Infant hall – 30 minute meeting for parents to introduce learning in Year Five

4^th October – individual photos and whole school panoramic photo

16^th October - 9.00am – Infant hall – 30 minute meeting for parents to explain teaching and learning in Phonics

24^th October – Parents’ Consultations (part 1) from 3.30 to 8.00pm

Week beginning 28^th October – school closed for half term holiday

4^th November – school closed for staff training

5^th November – children return to school at the usual times

8^th November - Infant hall – Parents’ Values assemblies held at 9.05am and 2.45pm

11^th November – Parents’ Consultations (part 2) from 3.30 to 5.00pm

13^th November - 9.00am – Infant hall – 30 minute meeting for parents to explain how we personalise the Early Years

27^th November - 9.00am – Infant hall – 30 minute meeting for parents to introduce learning in Year One

20^th December – last day of term + non-uniform day

News and events

1.  Staffing News

We would like to officially welcome to the school our four new class teachers, Mr Truong, Mr Stringer, Mr Keegan and Miss Begum.  We look forward to working together in the future and hope you will be able to offer them a warm welcome to our community.

We would also like to congratulate Mr Felix, who was married in the summer holiday. 

Miss Janjua also joins our SEN Practitioner team,  we welcome her to the school.

Our Class teachers are as follows:

Nursery -                                     Mr Lea                                                                                         

Reception class U -                   Ms Razzak and Ms Suleiman (job share)

Reception class T -                   Mrs Truong

Reception class S -                   Miss Hussain

Year One class 1O -                   Miss Patel

Year One class 1P -                   Mrs Sharma

Year One class 1V -                   Miss Matwychuk

Year Two class 2L -                   Mr Matthews

Year Two class 2M -                   Mr Stringer

Year Two class 2N –                   Mrs O’Driscoll

Year Three class 3J -                   Miss Frost

Year Three class 3K -                   Miss Garland

Year Three class 3L -                   Mr Richardson

Year Four class 4I -                   Miss Fan

Year Four class 4D -                   Mr Keegan

Year Four class 4C -                   Mr Ahmad

Year Five class 5B -                   Mrs Dickson

Year Five class 5A -                   Mr Alam

Year Five class 5H –                   Mr Felix

Year Six class 6G -                   Miss Anand

Year Six class 6F –                   Miss Kang

Year Six class 6E -                   Miss Begum

2. Our Big Ideas 2013

How are we going to make the school even better?  Our Big Ideas have been chosen to do just this. They are the most important things we will be doing in school over the next year.  We want to achieve the following:

1.            Gearies Primary school will open in September and it will focus on helping all children learn really well.

2.            Every child will be a successful learner in everything they do, in each lesson.

3.            Teachers will assess each child’s learning and share this with each child and their parents to help everyone make good progress.

4.            Teachers will plan lessons using the new National Curriculum.

5.            The marking of children’s work will help them to make good progress.

6.            Teachers will organise each classroom to help children make good progress in their learning.

7.            Teachers will make new opportunities for children to learn in Computing

8.            Everyone in the school will follow our new Behaviour policy.

9.            We will design better Junior playgrounds.

10.         We will help each child to travel to school safely

We are all a part of our school and all agree to take responsibility for making these Big Ideas happen.  We look forward to learning new things together, taking risks and enjoying our learning together.

3.  Head Teacher Vision

·       I believe that the main purpose of our school is to provide challenging learning experiences for each child who attends.  These need to be personally relevant for every one of them.  In order to achieve this goal I will lead the school with the following focus:

·       In order to be effective, the school will develop its existing relationships with parents, local school networks, support services and the wider local community.  We need the support of this learning community to meet children’s needs.  I embrace the school’s role in this partnership and accept responsibility for developing it.

·       The cohesion of the school community is important as an enabler to successful learning.  We will play an important part in developing this.  I accept the school’s part as a member of a wider learning community that we are active in.

·       Each child will be treated as an individual who has the right to learn, to access a broad curriculum and to be successful in their learning

·       We will have high expectations for all children

·       In order to meet the needs of each child, we will:

§  Identify and remove barriers to learning

§  Develop enabling strategies through creative and innovative teaching

§  See the child in the context of his/her family and related community

4. Governing Body Vision statement

We will provide a happy, secure and stimulating learning environment where everyone will be inspired to do their best, to achieve their potential.

We are committed to achieving the highest standards of teaching required for outstanding attainment and progress. We will support our staff in delivering this through continuous professional development, outstanding leadership, appropriate initiatives and the effective deployment of resources.

We will provide a broad and balanced yet challenging curriculum that is relevant to children’s interests and responsive to their learning needs.  Our core priorities are to our “Key Skills”, literacy, numeracy and Computing.

We will have high expectations for all.  Children will be encouraged to have a positive attitude to learning.

We will encourage each child to be confident, independent and well-rounded citizens who will be able to make a positive contribution to the world around them.

We are committed to ensuring that every child achieves their full potential in an inclusive, caring environment which respects our diverse, multi-ethnic community and the individual needs of all learners.

5.  Celebrating success 2011/2012

(see attached results of our performance against our targets)

·       End of KS1 assessment

Subject	Percentage of children achieving level 2B and higher		School’s relative performance
	School	2012 National average
Speaking and Listening	95%	88%	7% higher
Reading	92%	76%	16% higher
Writing	92%	64%	28% higher
Mathematics	91%	77%	14% higher
Science	95%	89%	6% higher

·       End of KS2 assessment

Subject	Percentage of children achieving level 4 and higher		School’s relative performance
	School	2012 National average
English (TA)	88%	85%	3% higher
Speaking and Listening (TA)	85%	85%	same
Reading (TA)	89%	86%	3% higher
Reading (Test)	90%	87%	3% higher
Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling (Test)	85%	n/a	n/a
Writing (TA)	87%	81%	6% higher
Mathematics (TA)	91%	85%	6% higher
Mathematics (Test)	88%	84%	4% higher
Science (TA)	87%	87%	same

Achievements in 2012 – 2013

Gearies Infant School

·       2^nd place in the Best “London 2012” inspired school garden in “Redbridge in Bloom” competition

·       Winners of Nora Dunmore Trophy – best school response in Redbridge for the Summer reading Challenge

·       Merit awarded to the Infant Choir at the Stratford and East London Music Festival 2013

Gearies Junior School

·       Merit awarded to the Junior Choir at the Stratford and East London Music Festival 2013

·       Junior choir was awarded 3^rd place in the Redbridge Choir competition 2013

·       Multiple winning entries in the “Young Writers Anthology” publication

·       2 pupil winning entries in the UEFA Flag design competition

Staff achievements

·       Miss Yerosimou graduated from her Degree course

·       Mr Drew, Mr Lea and Miss O’Reilly have all graduated from their Masters in Education courses

·       Miss Fan was appointed as a Lead Maths Teacher for Redbridge

·       Miss Anand, Ms Razzak and Mrs Hinkley were all appointed as Local Authority moderators

·       Mrs Joseph was awarded her Diploma in School Business Management

6.  Playground notices

Reminder – children are not allowed to play on the climbing frame in the playground before or after school.  Please respect this rule and keep your children from playing on this.

Football – children are not allowed to play football in either playground before or after school.  There is a high danger of other people being struck by the ball.  Also, playing this game before school does not help the children focus for their learning in the first lesson.

Bicycles – we would encourage children to cycle to school. If your child wants to do this, he/she is recommended to wear a safety helmet.  If the bicycle is parked in our cycle shed, it needs to be secured with a chain.  Helmets can also be added to the chain or kept on the coat peg inside school.  Please do not allow your child to ride their bike around the playground before or after school.  This may be dangerous and contribute to an accident in the playground.

Before school starts children should line up in the playground in their class lines.  Parents are reminded to supervise their children and make sure when they arrive that they are lined up ready for collection.   Children should not be left unattended in the playground before school starts.

7.  Healthy Lifestyles   

We are committed to supporting children achieve a healthy lifestyle.  We wish to encourage the following and invite you to support this important message:

·       Children should, whenever possible, walk or cycle to school

·       Children should try to eat 5 portions of fruit or vegetable each day

·       Children should take part in daily exercise

·       Children should brush their teeth twice a day

·       Children should eat a well-balanced diet, avoiding regular treats

·       Children should drink plenty of water each day

To support this, we will remind you of some current school policies:

·       Children are encouraged to bring a personal water bottle to school

·       We are a no-nut school – this includes peanut butter and chocolate spread

·       Children are not allowed to bring sweets, crisps, cakes and carton drinks in their packed lunches

·       Children will take part in all PE lessons even if they have forgotten their PE kit

8.  General reminders

Please make sure your child is always brought to school on time.  This means he/she should be lined up in the playground five minutes before the start of the school day (by 8.45am in the Juniors and 8.55am in the Infants).  Please help your child to get the best start to the school day by always being punctual. 

Sickness – if your child is not well and unable to come to school please contact the school office on the day to let us know what is happening.  If your child is off for more than 2 days we would expect your child to visit the doctor to receive appropriate advice.  On return to school following an absence of more than 2 days you will need to bring with you evidence that you have been to the doctor’s (an appointment card or copy of a prescription).  Failure to do this may result in a fine for unauthorised absence. 

9.  Agreed Uniform policy

It is the policy of the school that all children will wear our agreed uniform each day.  This fosters a feeling of belonging to our community, and helps children feel equal to each other.

Boys:

White polo shirt with school logo, grey trousers, navy sweatshirt/cardigan with school logo.  Summer option – short trousers

Girls:

White polo shirt with school logo, navy skirt or pinafore, or navy trousers, navy sweatshirt/cardigan with school logo.  Summer option – blue and white check dress

Headscarves/hijab:

These may be worn for religious reasons but must be in school colours – navy blue only.  These must also be removed during PE lessons, unless permission has been given by the Head Teacher following confirmation in writing from parents that the child is post-puberty, and only then if it is close fitting.

Footwear:

Flat, black shoes (not trainers)

PE kit:

Plain amber T-shirt, navy shorts, black plimsolls, and navy tracksuit bottoms as an additional option

Nursery: 

White polo shirt with school logo, navy sweatshirt/cardigan with school logo, and loose clothing

Jewellery:

Jewellery is considered to be any form of adornment to the body, which is not clothing.  This includes all kinds of earrings (studs and “sticks”) and bangles.

Children will not wear any form of jewellery to school, in order to maintain their health and safety. 

If a child does wear jewellery, he/she will not be allowed to take part in any form of PE or use any climbing equipment outside. 

Make-up and nail varnish may not be worn to school.

Please note white shirts are NOT school uniform!

Each child is expected to come to school wearing the correct uniform.  Please help us to maintain our high standards and comply with this policy!