Issue 4 - Friday 20th September 2024
Headteacher's Welcome
Dear Parkfield Families,
I have just returned from an incredible three-day residential trip to Robinwood, where our Year 5 students had an unforgettable time! The Parkfield staff and I were so impressed with how the children embraced every challenge thrown their way. Many went beyond their comfort zones to tackle activities like the giant swing, zip line, rock climbing, caving, and even braved the infamous Piranha Pool! We’re so proud of their resilience and teamwork. Photos from the event—over 1,000 of them!—will soon be emailed to Year 5 parents, so keep an eye out for those.
Earlier this week, the entire school was treated to a thrilling Mad Science Assembly, where the children were wowed by a variety of exciting experiments. It was a fantastic introduction to science in action! Following the assembly, a Mad Science Club for students in Years 1-6 was announced, starting after half term on Fridays. Information on how to sign up has already been sent home, but if you’ve misplaced the letter and would like your child to join, please contact the school office. Be quick, as places are limited!
This week, Mrs. Gooding introduced our character focus for the half term: listening. This is a key quality we encourage in all our Parkfielders, and over the next term, teachers will be helping students develop this important life skill both inside and outside the classroom.
A special highlight of the week was when some of our KS1 children had the opportunity to meet Rugby League legend and author Kevin Sinfield. He captivated the children with a reading of his latest story, followed by a lively Q&A session. It was an inspiring experience that the children—and Mrs. Banks—will treasure for years to come!
Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable weekend. I’m sure our Year 5 students will be needing some extra rest! As always, thank you for your continued support.
Mr. Kemp
LATEST NEWS
KS1 READING
Thank you for all of the reading support you are providing with your children at home. Reading is fundamental to children accessing the whole curriculum and has a significant impact on their future success. Your child will be reading every day in school during their phonics lesson. This reading will no longer be recorded in their diary, but please be reassured that reading in school is happening daily. If your child reads with an adult in addition to the phonics lesson, this will be recorded in the reading diary.
Please encourage your child to read their Read Write Inc. book with you at home every night, this does not need to be the whole book and can be a few pages at a time. Once you have heard your child read please sign their diary to let us know they have read at home.
A reminder that your child needs to bring their reading diary and reading book into school everyday.
PARKFIELD MATHS DAY - WE ARE DRESSING UP!
Parkfield Math's Day will take place on Friday 25th October. Throughout the day children across school will take part in engaging and exciting Math's challenges and events. This is an opportunity for us to celebrate Math's as a whole school which will help to promote positive Math's mindsets for all of our children. As part of the Math's day, the children will have access to their Times Table Rockstars and Numbots accounts. Therefore, on Friday 25th October, children in across the school can come to school dressed as a number, a robot or a rockstar. Please use materials/ clothing that is inexpensive, or use items that you already own. Costumes can be crafted from old t-shirts, boxes, tin foil, fabric pens etc. There will be a certificate for the best dressed in each class, so get creative!
YEAR 6 FAMILY LEARNING
Our year 6 families are invited to join our next 'Family Learning' event of the year this Tuesday 24th September at 9am in the school hall. The event will include the opportunity to work alongside your child with some maths activities and we hope that this will give you the confidence to better support at home in the run up to the Y6 SATS. We hope to see you there.
EYFS MEET THE TEACHER
Our new Reception families are invited to join their first 'Family Learning and Meet the Teacher' event this Wednesday 25th September at 9am in the school hall. The event will include the opportunity to find out Mrs Taylor's expectations around phonics learning and how you can best support at home. Those attending will also get the opportunity to see their child in a phonics lesson.
WELCOME TO THE CLASS PRESENTATIONS
These were emailed out earlier this week and gave our families important information about your child's class this year. We hope you found them useful.
YEAR 1 FAMILY LEARNING
Thank you to those that were able to attend on Tuesday. We hope you found the session useful and enjoyed working alongside your child.
AFTER SCHOOL SPORTS CLUBS
Please can your child come to school in their PE kit if they have a place in the After School Sports Club.
Monday - 23/09/24 -Year 3/4 Football
Tuesday - 24/09/24 - Year 5/6 Football
Wednesday - 25/09/24 - Year 5/6 Multi Sports
Thursday - 26/09/24 - Year 4/5/6 Cross Country
REMINDERS
YEAR 1 FOREST SCHOOL
The year 1 class will be taking part in Forest School with Mrs Banks every Friday until October half term. Please can you make sure your child wears their PE kit, has a warm waterproof coat and some wellies or appropriate outdoor footwear. Thanks, Mrs Banks.
SPELLING
This academic year, we will be using the Emile spelling scheme to teach spelling to all children from Years 1-6. Emile has proven success for improving children's spelling abilities and over 15% of UK Primary Schools have used the scheme to make spelling lessons and practice fun and engaging.
Emile is very similar to Times Table Rockstars. The children will have a login to the web page (the same as their Times Table Rockstars login) and they can practice at home on the games and activities. They will also take part in regular 'Class Battles' tailored to their own spelling abilities.
Now that we are moving to this new approach, weekly spelling tests will no longer take place. Instead, children will have 2 spelling lessons per week and 1 'practice' session when they will use iPads to play the games and activities on their Emile account. Your child will still receive weekly spellings that have been taught that week, but there will be no written test in class for these. Spellings will be stuck in diaries as usual.
The 'Class Battle' will replace the spelling test and will take place every three weeks. Teachers will then be able to access reports that show which spellings each child needs more work on. The children's Emile account will then be automatically updated so they will be given spellings that they need further work on to practice in the games and activities. As parents and carers you will be able to see this information when you work on Emile with your child. When the children complete the Class Battles, Emile produces heatmaps showing the spellings the children are confident with and those that need some more work. These heatmaps will be shared with you at parent's evening and throughout the year if necessary.
Some children work on differentiated spellings (different to the rest of their class and matched to their ability). These children will still receive the weekly class spelling list based on the rule/pattern they have learnt in their class that week. This is to give all children the opportunity to access their year group spellings. However, when the children play the games on Emile, these games and activities will be tailored to their own ability and work with their strengths and weaknesses.
The day that your child will bring home their spellings will be shared with you on the 'Welcome to Our Class' presentations which will be emailed out to you next week. You will still find a spelling page each week in your child's reading diary which is there for you to use if you would like to practice with your child at home.
Along with this newsletter, you will find a letter detailing how to log in to Emile from any device.
Please contact your child's class teacher if you have any questions.
EARLY BIRDS AND BUSY BEES BOOKINGS
Please note that you must now book online using the School Gateway app for Early Birds and Busy Bees. This new way of working means that clubs are paid for in advance and there is more flexibility for parents. If you have any questions, please contact the office and they will be happy to help.
PUNCTUALITY
Poor punctuality can lead to your child feeling embarrassed in front of their friends, missing the beginning of vital lessons or missing important instructions for the rest of the school day. It is vital that children get into school on time.
A reminder that children from Y1-6 are to line up on the play ground before 8.45am so that when they are collected there is a prompt start to the morning. Doors will shut soon after the class lines have entered into school and any latecomers will have to come through the main entrance.
Please note that we will be asking parents and carers to sign their child into school at the front office if their child arrives after 9am. This is for safeguarding reasons and ensures school registers are correct. A reminder that for any child that arrives after 9.30am this is classed as an unauthorised absences for the morning session.
CASHLESS PAYMENTS
We are gradually making the transition to becoming a 'cashless' school and as a result we will soon be able to accept card/mobile payments in school.
YEAR 6 BREAKFAST BOOSTER CLUB
Our Free Year 6 Breakfast Booster Club is available every day from 8.15 am and it has been fabulous to see so many of our Y6 pupils attend this week. The club helps further support and prepare our Parkfielders for their Year 6 SATS. Please note, if they arrive before this time (8.15am), you must book them onto that morning's Early Birds session.
CLASS DOJO
Would you like to see how well your child is doing at school? We award Dojo points for pupils that go 'above and beyond' in the classroom and these can be seen by parents if you download the app. We have over 75% of our families signed up already! If you click this link to set up a parent account we will then approve it. This acess will provide you with the opportunity to see how many Dojo points your child has earnt and what for. Please note that we are only using the app for Dojo points, not messages or photos, therefore you do not need any of the subscription options you might be offered.
Latest Class Updates
SAFEGUARDING INFORMATION
Mr Kemp is our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) supported by Mrs Clawson and Mrs Smith (Deputy DSL). If you have any concerns about the needs or welfare of a pupil, please don't hesitate to contact the school. We all share a responsibility to our pupils safety and wellbeing.
As a school our promise is: We will listen, we will support and we will take action.
More information can be found on the school website here: https://www.parkfieldprimary.com/website/safeguarding-and-child-protection.html
ATTENDANCE and PUNCTUALITY
As you are all aware, school attendance and punctuality is one of Parkfields priorities and I have been thrilled with the support that parents have been giving with regards to improving their children’s attendance.
Our school target is 96% this year and we need your continued support to ensure that we meet this mark.
ATTENDANCE - HOLIDAYS IN TERM TIME
Please note that, in line with the school policy, fines will be issued to families that go on a term time holiday where children miss 5 consecutive full days. Currently the fine is £60 per child per parent which equates to a £240 fine for a two parent family with two children. If you are going on holiday due to exceptional circumstances, please speak to the headteacher as a fine may not have to be issued. More information an be found on our attendance policy found here.
Persistent Absence
Persistent absence is defined by the Government as attendance below 90%. This equates to 19 days or more of absence a year or 100+ lessons missed. If a child’s attendance drops below 90% this could lead to them becoming a safeguarding concern. This could also result in the authority taking legal action against parents, resulting in a fine or court appearance. Over the next few weeks I will be making contact by letter with the families of children whose attendance is below 90% to invite you into school for a discussion about how we can support you to improve your child’s attendance.
Thank you so much to all the families who have been working hard to ensure children’s attendance and punctuality is high. Establishing early good habits really will make a positive difference to their lives. The link between attendance and achievement cannot be over stated. Your child will achieve better if they are in school every day. Only in very exceptional circumstances should a child be absent from school. Please ring the school office no later than 8.30am to report an absence.
Punctuality
Please get your child to school on time. Poor punctuality can lead to your child…
Feeling embarrassed in front of their friends
Missing the beginning of vital lessons making them fall behind
Missing important instructions for the rest of the school day
At Parkfield children are to line up before school and doors open at 8.45am. They close at shortly after.
If you arrive after the doors are closed you will have to come through the school office.
Arrivals after 9.30am are classed as an unauthorised absence for the morning session.
HEALTH and SAFETY
STAY SAFE EARLY BIRDS - REMINDER
If your child is attending Early Birds, please walk down the path and through the KS1 yard - it may take a few more seconds but it's much safer than walking through the busy car park. If the hall door is ever closed, simply ring the bell for assistance.
Dogs are not permitted in the school playground.
If driving, park further away from the school and walk to reduce congestion and the possibility of any serious accidents.
Unfortunately, Parents and Carers are not allowed to drop off and pick up from the school car park at any time.
Children are not allowed on the play equipment before and after school. Please keep them off.
MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING
5 WAYS TO WELLBEING
At Parkfield we promote the 5 ways to Wellbeing which can help children and adults to achieve a more positive lifestyle.
#THRIVE offer a local service for children and young people aged up to 19 years who are experiencing health and wellbeing issues such as feeling stressed, worried or not enjoying things. #Thrive can also provide advice and support to parents, carers and anyone that works with a child or young person. You can find out more information about the service by clicking here: https://www.penninecare.nhs.uk/thrive