Value of the Month – “Courage and Independence”

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.

Autumn term dates for your diary

3^rd September – school closed INSET day

4^th September - school closed INSET day

5^th September – First day of new school year, children return at the usual times, please note - no Nursery classes this week

10^th September – Nursery Admissions begin

12^th September @ 9am – 30 minute meeting for parents in the Infant hall to introduce our new school communication app “School Ping”

12^th September – Year Four visit to Valentine’s Park

14^th September - Year Three visit to Clayhall Park

19th September @ 9am – 30 minute meeting for parents in the Infant hall on the theme of “Children’s well-being”

19th September @ 3:15pm – 30 minute meeting for parents of children in Year Six in the Infant hall on the theme of “Keeping children safe on-line”

21^st September – 9:10am start - Values assemblies for parents: class 5A and class 1O will be performing in the Infant hall, class 6G and class 2N will be performing in the Junior hall

26^th September @ 9am – 30 minute meeting for parents in the Infant hall on the theme of “Healthy eating”

3^rd October @ 9am – 30 minute meeting for parents in the Infant hall on the theme of “The Transition from Reception to Year One”

3^rd October (after school) until Friday 5^th October (4pm) – the school’s annual residential trip to Stubbers Adventure Centre

4^th October – National Poetry day

9^th October – author visit by Jacob Sam-La Rose to the Year Six classes

10^th October @ 9am – 30 minute meeting for parents in the Infant hall on the theme of “How to hear children read at home”

12^th October – 8:30 to 9:00am – Year One Open Classrooms

16^th October – 2:45 to 3:15 – Year Four Open classrooms

17^th October – 8:45 to 9:15am – Year Two Open Classrooms

17^th October @ 9am - 30 minute meeting for parents in the Infant hall on the theme of “Managing children’s behaviour positively”

18^th October from 3:30 to 8:00pm – Parent Consultations (part one)

19^th October – last day before half term, school closes at the usual times

19^th October – 9:10am start - Values assemblies for parents

Half term holiday from 22^nd to 26^th October

29^th October – school closed for teacher training

30^th October – classes resume today at the usual times

31^st October @ 9am - 30 minute meeting for parents in the Infant hall on the theme of “Phonics”

31^st October @ 3:15pm - 30 minute meeting for Y6 parents in the Infant hall on the theme of “Expectations in Year Six”

31^st October from 3:30 to 5:00pm – Parent Consultations (part two)

1^st November – 3:00 to 3:30pm – Reception Open Classrooms

5^th November – Year Six “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

6^th November – Year Six “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

6^th November - 8:15 to 8:45am – Year Five Open Classrooms

7^th November @ 9am - 30 minute meeting for parents in the Infant hall on the theme of “Our New Site”

7^th November – Year Two “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

8^th November – Year Two “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

9^th November – Year Two “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

12^th November – Year Six “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

13^th November – Year Five “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

14^th November – Year Six “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

14^th November @ 9am - 30 minute meeting for parents in the Infant hall on the theme of “Handwriting”

15^th November – Year Two “Bring a Parent to school” sessions1

15th November - 8:15 to 8:45am – Year Three Open Classrooms

16^th November – Year Two “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

19^th November – Year Six “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

20^th November – Individual and family photo sessions

20^th November – Year Five “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

21st November – Year Six “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

21^st November @ 9am - 30 minute meeting for parents in the Infant hall on the theme of “Learning in the Early Years classrooms”

23^rd November – 9:10am start - Values assemblies for parents

26^th November – Year Four “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

27^th November - Year Five “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

28^th November @ 9am - 30 minute meeting for parents in the Infant hall on the theme of “Our Big Ideas”

28^th November - Year Four “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

28^th November – 8:15 to 8:45am Year Six Open Classrooms

29^th November - Year Four “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

3^rd December - Year Four “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

4^th December - Year Five “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

5^th December - Year Four “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

6^th December - Year Four “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

11^th December - Year Five “Bring a Parent to school” sessions

21^st December - 9:10am start - Values assemblies for parents

21^st December – last day of term, school closes at the usual times

School Christmas holiday - 24^th December to 4^th January

7^th January – start of spring term, children return at the usual times

Some of these details may change, please check the school blog for updates.

Class teacher list:

Nursery - Ms Suleiman

Reception class U - Miss Neville

Reception class T - Mrs Zubair

Reception class S - Mrs Waters

Reception class R - Miss O’Reilly

Year One class 1O - Miss Patel

Year One class 1P - Mrs Narwall

Year One class 1V - Miss Lee

Year One class 1W- Miss Fan

Year Two class 2L - Miss Kahlon

Year Two class 2M - Mrs O’Driscoll

Year Two class 2N – Mr Choudhury

Year Two class 2X – Miss Yates

Year Three class 3J - Miss Ross

Year Three class 3K - Miss Begum

Year Three class 3L - Mrs Ahmed

Year Four class 4I - Mr Ahmad

Year Four class 4D - Mrs Sharma

Year Four class 4C - Miss Kang

Year Five class 5B - Mr Nobeebaccus

Year Five class 5A - Miss Ahmed

Year Five class 5H – Mr Sadeeq

Year Six class 6G - Mr Hession

Year Six class 6F – Mr Alam

Year Six class 6E - Mrs Naeem

Staffing news:

We formally welcome Miss Yates to the teaching staff as a permanent teacher. Our teaching team will be joined by Mrs Narwall, who joins us from her current school in North London to take up a post in Year One. We also welcome two new teachers next year: Miss Ross and Miss Lee. We will be supporting two School Direct Teacher Trainees over the coming year: Miss Yerosimou and Miss Sacco. Please extend them every support with their training in the coming school year.

Mr Miggan will be joining the Reception team as an Early Years Practitioner. Mrs Gill will be joining the SEND Practitioner team, and Mrs Mann makes a successful move to the SEND Practitioner team in September.

News and events

Our Big Ideas - 2018

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.

Our Big Theme is: Towards Outstanding – raising standards of teaching and learning

We want to achieve the following:

1. We will get ready for our next Ofsted inspection

2. School expansion:

Because the school is getting bigger each year, we need to review the ways we organise the school, to think about any necessary changes for the future:

a. We will review what our school leaders do

b. We will review the range of leaders in the school

c. We will review the Special Needs team structure

d. We will review the EAL team structure (supporting children with additional languages)

2. Teaching, learning and assessment:

We will continue to develop best practice in the following subjects:

a. Music

b. Marking and feedback

c. English

d. Mathematics

3. We will continue to write an effective curriculum in Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)

4. We will work hard to ensure children of all abilities are successful learners

5. We will continue to review how we support children in the Early Years classes and ensure their transition to Year One is purposeful

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.

Head Teacher Vision statement

The school’s primary purpose is the meet the educational needs of the children who attend it. These are many and varied.

It is important to me that Gearies remains an inclusive school, welcoming all children through our doors, no matter the background.

Our teaching is informed by relevant research, for which we have an international reputation.

The major outcomes for the school remain:

1. To be an inclusive school

2. To be a safe and secure place for all children to thrive in

3. To remain a school where every child is challenged to do their best

4. To support vulnerable parents

5. To teach a broad and balanced curriculum for all children

6. To ensure that children’s attainment remains higher than both local and national averages, in all subjects

7. To maintain high staff morale

8. To support the careers of our staff

9. To stay true to our agreed strategic priorities

10. To contribute purposefully to local school improvement

Our challenge ahead as a learning community is to work together, to use our combined knowledge, skills and understanding to work with our professional partners, the local community, including parents and carers, to continue to raise standards.

The children at Gearies are a credit to the community and are dear to us all. We invest in their futures and relish the opportunity to serve a just society.

Mr R Drew, OBE

Head Teacher

September 2018

Achievements in 2017 – 2018

We have recorded a hugely successful year for the school in competitions and award ceremonies.

Gearies Primary School achievements:

· The school retained the Gold Mark award in the Sainsbury’s School Games scheme (September 2017)

· The school team won the Redbridge Boccia competition (January 2018) and went on to represent the borough at the 2018 Youth Team Games in Docklands

· The school won the Art and Design Prize of the Historical Royal Palaces “Time Explorers Challenge” in May 2018

· The school “Apps for Good” team won the People’s Choice Award in this annual competition

· 16 children were awarded Full Attendance and no lateness certificates in the entire school year, in July 2018

Individual Staff achievements:

· Mrs Hathurusinghe was awarded the NCTFE level 3 TA Diploma for “Specialist support for Teaching and Learning” in August 2017

· Mrs Dias, Mr Lea and Mrs Waters were all appointed as Specialist Leaders of Education for the Gants Hill Partnership in December 2017

· Mr Alam received a UEL Mentor award in April 2018

· Mrs Ciobanu achieved her level 3 “Speech and Language support” award in May 2018

· Mrs Sharma was nominated for the Pearson Teaching Awards category of “Teacher of the Year 2018”

Jewellery reminder

A reminder of our Jewellery Policy, that all parents have already signed when admitting your children to our school:
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. Make-up and nail varnish must not be worn to school.
It has been noted that there are increasing numbers of children coming in to school wearing earrings recently. This will not be tolerated and children will be asked to remove these when entering school. If they are unable to remove them themselves, then the parents will be called into school to remove their child’s earrings. Until they are removed, children will not participate in any form of PE or be able to use any climbing equipment during both break and lunch times.

School Meals

If your child chooses to be either school dinners or packed lunch on a Monday, then this choice must continue for the whole week and they will be unable to mix their choice throughout the week. This is to enable the kitchen to adequately order and provide meals for the children.
Children in KS1 (Reception, Years 1 and 2) are entitled to Universal Free School Meals, therefore your child will receive a hot meal for free everyday. This is an automatic government incentive and you do not have to do anything for your child to receive this.
Children in KS2 (Years 3, 4, 5 and 6) must pay for meals at the cost of £10.00 per week. This must be paid in advance on a Monday morning, envelopes are available from the school office for cash payments, although it is preferred that you pay for your child’s meals online at www.feedinghungryminds.co.uk. You must register first, therefore please ensure you send cash in until the account is set up. Once set up you can also order meals for the week with your child if you so wish, otherwise they will do this during morning registration.

Travelling to school

Bicycles and scooters – we encourage children to cycle to school as often as possible. If your child wants to do this, he/she is recommended to wear a safety helmet. If the bicycle or scooter is parked in our cycle sheds/scooter parks, 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.

If you need to bring your children to school by car please note the following guidance:

· Only drive to school if you absolutely must

· Please avoid driving down and parking in Waremead Road and Gants Hill Crescent

· Never park across or in a neighbouring house’s driveway

· Parking spaces are available in the RIAE car park. If you park here please note this is a pay and display park. Before leaving your car you will need to pay for a ticket and display this on your dashboard. The Institute will be installing a car registration monitor at the entrance and exit. Please follow the parking rules in the car park and always park inside the designated bays. You need to park and escort your children from your car once parked. It is very dangerous to stop and let your children get out of the car and find their own way to school.

Summer Fun Day 2018:

We are really proud to confirm the final profit made at our recent Summer Fun Day exceeded the impressive total of £2,718. A big thank you again to everyone who supported our signature social event. Watch out for news from the PTA for how to get involved this year in supporting our full range of events across the year.

Changes to dates of Parent Values assemblies:

We are now holding our end of month Parent Values assemblies on Fridays only. These will not be held on Thursdays, instead we will be holding two assemblies at the same time in both school halls. The school will be divided into two parts to attend one or other of these assemblies.

Changing for PE lessons:

In light of recent advice from the NSPCC regarding the arrangements for children getting changed for PE lessons, the school has adopted the following procedures:

All children will change for PE lessons in the same classroom.

From year two upwards, if a parent feels their daughter is developing physically in advance of the onset of puberty, and they wish to protect their modesty, they may keep a vest or crop-top on under their PE top.

In addition to this measure, taken to protect the girls’ modesty, children in year five classes will be instructed, when getting changed, to face opposing sides of the classroom and not to look at the opposite sex whilst getting changed.

In year six, when getting changed for PE, boys will leave the classroom for a period of 3 minutes to allow the girls to change in private. After that point, the boys will return and get changed. The process will be reversed after the lesson.

Curriculum Information for Parents

In response to recent requests from parents we will be providing curriculum newsletters for each year group every half term. These half termly topic letters will let you know what parts of the curriculum are being covered in the class. This will help you link your home support for your child’s learning with the learning taking place in class. These will be placed on our web-site and updated over the year. The first half term set are now available.

To complement this, we also have an overview map of the subject teaching for each year group, for the whole year. This can also be found on our web site.

Payments and money

Gearies Primary School is now operating a cashless office environment and, therefore, ask that parents/carers pay for items such as trips, events and music tuition via WisePay our online payment system. WisePay is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is a convenient and secure way of making payments to school.

Usernames and passwords have already been distributed. If you have not used WisePay before, you will be asked to change your password the first time you access the system. A reminder of your child’s username and password will be sent out in September.

Please keep these letters safe as, from September 2017, we will only be accepting cash and cheque payments for book and PE bags. Payments for trips, events, music etc should be paid via WisePay.

Wisepay can be accessed from our website at www.geariesprimaryschool.co.uk by clicking on the WisePay icon located at the top right hand side of the home page.

We are very keen to make this transition as smooth as possible and encourage you to contact the school office if you experience any difficulties using the system.

Playground notices

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

Football – children are not allowed to play football in either playground before or after school. There is a risk 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.

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.

We do not allow dogs on school premises.

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 as much daily exercise as possible

· 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

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.

Personal Property

Children should not bring their own playthings into school. This includes balls, pencil cases, spinnners, trading cards and toys. Please help us to maintain an orderly school by ensuring your child does not bring any of these items in.

Agreed Uniform policy

Details of our agreed policy are attached. All school uniform can be ordered via the Tesco website, Mapac website or the Unistat shop in Barkingside (details from our school office or on our website). Please note also that:

White shirts are NOT school uniform! Children should wear white polo shirts with the school logo.

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!

Gearies Primary School

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Our Big Ideas - 2018

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