St Thomas a Becket Federation of Catholic Infant & Junior Schools

St Thomas a Becket Federation of Catholic Infant & Junior Schools

Dear ParentNewsletter June 2015

How time flies! Here we are at the start of Term 6 and almost at the end of another school year!

Term Dates: Attached is our up-to-date list of term dates to July 2016. Please note that staff training days have yet to be arranged for the academic year 2015/2016.

Quality Mark: We are pleased to inform you that both the Infant and Junior schools have again been accredited with the Quality Mark Award. This shows that we have satisfied the Basic Skills Agency regarding The Primary Quality Mark 10 Elements:

A whole school strategy and planning to improve performance in basic skills.
An analysis of the assessment of pupil performance in basic skills.
Target setting for the improvement of the school’s performance in basic skills.
Basic skills improvement planning for pupils under attaining and/or underachieving.
Regular review of the progress made by pupils under attaining and/or underachieving in basic skills.
A commitment to improving the skills of staff to teach and extend basic skills.
The use of a range of teaching approaches and learning styles to improve basic skills.
The use of appropriate teaching and learning materials to improve basic skills.
The involvement of parents and carers in developing their child’s basic skills.
An effective procedure for monitoring planning and assessing improvement in performance in basic skills.

Results of the Parent Questionnaire:

Strongly Agree / Agree / Disagree / Strongly Disagree
My child is happy at this school / 60% / 38% / 2%
My child feels safe at this school / 69% / 31%
My child makes good progress at this school / 59% / 41%
This school meets my child’s particular needs / 53% / 45% / 2%
This school ensures my child is well looked after / 60% / 34% / 3% / 2%
My child is taught well at this school / 57% / 43%
This school helps my child to develop skills in communication reading writing and mathematics / 53% / 47%
There is a good standard of behaviour at this school / 38% / 57% / 3% / 2%
My child’s lessons are not disrupted by bad behaviour / 26% / 66% / 6%
This school helps me to support my child’s learning / 57% / 41% / 3%
My child receives appropriate homework for their age / 47% / 40% / 10% / 2%
This school responds well to any concern I raise / 57% / 40% / 2%
This school keeps me well informed / 53% / 38% / 6% / 2%
I would recommend this school to another parent / 67% / 29% / 3%

Courtesy to our neighbours: Please remember that, as a large school site, it is important that we do not cause a nuisance to our neighbours. We have (quite reasonably) been asked to remind you all that children should not be taking a short-cut through the grounds of Prideaux Court and parents should not be exercising their dogs within the grounds. Children have also been seen walking on the top of the boundary wall to the other flats. This is extremely dangerous (as well as inconsiderate to our neighbours). Please treat our neighbours as well as you would wish to be treated yourselves. Thank you.

Important Health and Safety Issues: It is timely to remind you all of our safe parking rules (all parents accepting a place for their child at our school agreed to follow these rules when starting at the school).

Follow these simple rules:

Allow extra time for your journey (especially in bad weather).
Park well away from Tutts Barn Lane and Gorringe Road.
Walk the short remaining distance to school and use the pedestrian crossing in King’s Drive.
Do not obstruct residents’ driveways (even momentarily)

PARENTS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO DRIVE ONTO THE PREMISES WITH OUT PRIOR CONSENT FROM THE HEAD TEACHER

After school hours, children collected from classes should be taken off the premises without loitering. Whilst on the premises, young children must be securely supervised by a responsible adult at all times. You should never allow your child to wander around the driveway/buildings, playing field or play on the playground apparatus (particularly the Infant School Play Tyres). Delivery and staff vehicles need to access the site before, during and after school. It is all too easy for a small child to run out in to the path of such a vehicle.

Sun Hats: For the summer term all pupils should be equipped with a school sun-hat as an obligatory part of their summer school uniform. We have a variety of sun hats, specially designed to protect your child’s forehead from sunburn. Hats are priced at £3.00. As these are part of our standard uniform, no other sunhats are allowed.

Sun Cream Policy: As we (hopefully!) anticipate the return of the sunny weather, now seems a good time to remind you about our sun cream policy. If you are concerned that your child is vulnerable to the sun they may now bring in cream to apply themselves. This must be in a clearly named container that can be easily stored. The staff will oversee them applying this to exposed areas of their body, prior to going out in the playground. If you think you will send cream in, please could you talk this through with your child and explain how to apply it – this is much easier for you to do with one child than the class teacher to do it with 30!

Sandals: Unsuitable, flimsy, footwear can be a particular hazard to small children. Exposed toes can be easily grazed and bare skin is at special risk from sun-burn. Please ensure that your child’s sandals are well fitted, sturdy and comfortable. Children must wear socks at all times.

Hair/Headlice: Please ensure that long hair is tied back and that hair is prevented (by clips, etc) from falling over children’s faces as they work. Please keep hair adornments simple (fancy/fun accessories may be worn on Mufti Days only). Also check your child’s hair regularly and comb each day – however long or short it is.

Drinking Water: Drinking water is very important for your child’s health and helps to improve concentration during lessons. This is especially important with the onset of warm summer weather. It is, therefore, essential that your child is supplied with a sports bottle of water that is clearly labelled with their name.

Healthy Eating: As I am sure you are aware, hot weather can cause problems with packed lunches. To help you, I attach a ‘Top Tips’ list of healthy eating guidelines that also includes advice on keeping food cool.

Junior School Council: The Junior School Council held two successful events to raise money for new playground toys. £170 was raised from the cake sale and ‘We’ve got Talent’ - thank you to all who contributed.

First Holy Communion Mass: Our warmest congratulations to all of our children that have made their First Holy Communion this year. It has been lovely to see so many staff joining parish families for these special occasions. Please join us for Mass at our school celebration on Thursday 11th June at 9.00am.

Summer Fair: Our summer event is planned for Saturday 20th June and will be a Wild West theme. There will be a host of exciting things to please everyone, including entertainment and a variety of delicious cuisine on offer. WE NEED YOUR HELP. If you can help in any way, be it setting up before the event or helping to run a stall. Please call in to the school office.

Secondary Schools Taster Days: Please make a note of these important transition days for the children in year six.

All Eastbourne SchoolsTuesday 7th July

St. Richard’s Catholic CollegeWed. 1st, Thurs. 2nd and Fri.3rd July

Infant Book Fair Week – Monday 22nd June to Thursday 25th June: The Infant School will be holding the latest Scholastic Book Fair between these dates. There will be hundreds of fantastic books for you and your child to browse through. There is such a great range of books on offer that there’s bound to be something that your child will enjoy.

This time the school will earn an astonishing 100% commission on every sale to spend on books that will benefit your child’s learning within school. This is our best opportunity yet to give a much needed boost to our reading resources – so please help us to make this sale our most successful yet and really help us to benefit the pupils’ educational experience.

Parent Forum: There will be a Parent Forum meeting in the Junior School Library on Tuesday 16th June at 2.00pm. All parents are welcome.

Whole School Photograph – Friday 19th June: There will be a whole school photograph on the playing field after registration. Please ensure your child is smartly turned out in their uniform.

Moving on Morning: Our children will be spending part of the morning with their new class teachers on Wednesday 8th July from 10.45a.m. – 12.00p.m. This is to help them prepare for next year and feel comfortable in new surroundings

Reports: The children will be bringing home their end of year reports on Friday 10th July. The report contains a receipt slip to acknowledge you have received the report and an area for additional comments. Please make every effort to return this. If you would like to make an appointment to speak to your child’s class teacher after the reports are given out, please indicate this on the reply slip.

Summer Production: The Year 6 children will be performing their summer production of ‘What a Knight’ on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th July. Both performances will be in the afternoon and more details will be given once rehearsals get under way!

Year 6 Retreat: Our Year 6 children will be attending a retreat day at the parish hall of Christ the King church. One class will go on Monday 13th July and the other class on Monday 20th July. This will give the children the opportunity to take part in different activities, including a guided meditation and reflection and will also help them with transition to secondary school. The chaplain from St. Richard’s Catholic college will lead part of the day. More details will be to our year 6 children nearer the time.

Leavers Mass: The Year 6 children will be leading the traditional end of year mass on Tuesday 21st July at 9.00a.m. Everyone is welcome to attend but please bring your own tissues! The children will be receiving a school autograph book each to collect signatures and messages from staff and other children. Children are not allowed to have items of clothing signed.

If there are any special cars booked for the last day of term, please make the drivers aware of our one way system that operates during busy times and that the school gates are locked and MUST NOT BE BLOCKED AT ANY TIME. Please ensure the children are collected in a safe place away from the school. This will avoid any upset with other drivers, lengthy traffic jams which take a while to clear and ensure that the last day can be enjoyed by us all.

Pupil Premium Funding/Free School Meals – are you entitled? At St Thomas a Becket Schools, we are committed to working with pupils and families to ensure that they receive support, both within and beyond the classroom. One way we can help is to ensure that families eligible for free school meals receive them. Even though all infant pupils receive free meals, if you are entitled to the Pupil Premium, the schools receive funding from the government that can be used to benefit your child’s education.

Who is entitled? Free School Meals/Pupil Premium can be provided to parents/carers if they are in receipt of any of the following benefits:

Income Support
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
Child Tax Credit (provided they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revinue and Customs).
Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
During the initial roll out of the benefit, Universal Credit

Anyone entitled to Working Tax Credit is NOT entitled to free meals, regardless of income.

How to apply? You can apply directly to East Sussex County Council for free school meals via the following link:

Alternatively, your child can pick up an application form from the Reception office for you to complete and return to County or to the School Office. The school can then use the Checking Service to confirm entitlement, but you may need to show up-to-date proof that you meet the qualifying criteria.

Once entitlement is established, free school meals are continuous unless the school is notified of a change in your circumstances. If this happens, you will need to provide up-to-date proof of entitlement. It is your responsibility to let us know of any changes that may affect your entitlement to free school meals.

Further benefits of claiming Free School Meals/Pupil Premium include:

Help with transport costs
Pupil Premium Funding
Free Resources
Help with costs for educational trips/visits
Extra support for pupil learning

Open Door Policy: Please remember that we operate an ‘Open Door’ approach at our schools. Please feel free to speak to a member of staff if you have any questions, etc.

Important Dates for Term 6:

Thursday 11th June 9.05amClass 1A assembly

Friday 12th June 9.00amClass 4L assembly

Thursday 18th June 9.05amClass RC assembly

Friday 19th June 9.05amWhole school photograph

Saturday 20th June12.00pmSummer Fair

Wednesday 24th June9.05amInfant Sports Day

1.00pmJunior Sports Day

Thursday 25th Juneas aboveReserve Sports Day

9.05amClass 2B assembly

Thursday 2nd July9.05amClass 2A assembly

Friday 3rd July9.00amClass 5R assembly

Wednesday 8th July10.45amMoving On Morning

Thursday 9th July9.05amClass RB assembly

Friday 10th July9.00amClass 3C assembly

Friday 14th July9.00amSchool Council assembly

Friday 16th July9.00amClass 3H assembly

Friday 17th July9.05amInfant Moving On Mass

2.00pmLeavers’ Party (Infant Year 2)

Tuesday 21st July9.00amLeavers’ Mass (Junior Year 6)

Tuesday 21st July3.00pmSchool breaks up for summer

Happy Summer Term!

Yours sincerely

Mrs R P Turner

Head Teacher

Healthy Eating Factsheet

It can be a challenge for parents to regularly come up with different ways to entice children to eat healthily at lunch. After all, how many cheese or Marmite sandwiches can a parent make? Yet the importance of eating healthily, particularly during school hours, can’t be underestimated. The importance of a healthy lunch: Some five million children’s lunchboxes are prepared in British homes every weekday, yet a Food Standards Agency survey revealed that three out of four of these were likely to contain foods that were too high in saturated fat, salt or sugar. The same survey indicated that almost half of these lunches failed to include any fruit. Most, however, did include crisps, chocolate biscuits, sugary drinks and other heavily processed snacks.

A diet that’s high in fat, high in salt, and high in refined carbohydrates diminishes mental alertness, so a child eating these kinds of foods is likely to end up tired towards the end of the day. Also, a diet high in saturated fat and salt can lay the foundations for heart disease and high blood pressure later in life. Such a diet may also lead to obesity.

Food for a ‘healthy’ lunchbox

Protein: Make sandwiches using protein fillings such as chicken, egg, ham, tuna or cheese or make salads such as Chicken Caesar salad or Tuna pasta salad.

Carbohydrates: Complex carbohydrates release calories slowly and help to keep up energy levels and concentration. In contrast, refined carbohydrates (such as those in white bread, biscuits or cakes) only provide instant, short-lived energy. Choose complex carbohydrates such as wholemeal bread, pasta, banana or rice. Pasta or rice salads make a nice change from sandwiches.

Calcium: Children under the age of five shouldn’t have a low-fat diet, so choose whole-milk products such as Greek-style yoghurt rather than low-fat yoghurt. In a recent survey by the Dairy Council, it was found that 2.5 million young people and women were eating too little calcium to build strong bones. Lack of calcium can lead to Osteoporosis later in life, so make sure that you regularly include dairy products in your child’s lunchbox such as cheese, yoghurt, and fromagefrais. Many so-called ‘juice drinks are really only juice-flavoured sugary water and contain more water and sugar than actual fruit juice. They may also include flavourings, sweeteners and colourings.

Fruitand vegetables: Health experts recommend that we include five portions of fruit and vegetables in our diet every day. Whole fruit may not be that appealing to youngsters, so try cutting fruit into chunks and threading it onto skewers or thin straws. Include dried fruit too - dried apricots in particular are rich in vitamins and minerals.

Ten best lunchbox tips: Here are ten tried and tested ways to make your child’s lunch healthier, more nutritious and more fun:

Make eating fruit fun. Most children will leave food that takes a lot of effort to eat. Peel Clementine’s and cover with plastic wrap, cut kiwi fruit in half or make colorful skewers with bite sized-pieces of fruit.
Cut down on salt. Children tend to consume too much salt in their diet. Many manufactured foods made especially for lunchboxes, such as cheese strings, processed ham and cheese lunch packs and crisps, are very high in salt. Eating foods that contain potassium (such as bananas and dried apricots) helps balance the effect of salt in the body.
Build on your child’s tastes. Communicate with your child and ask him what he enjoyed in his lunchbox. Look at what comes back untouched and ask (without being defensive) why it wasn’t eaten. Ask if there are any foods that other children bring to school that he would like to try.
Save time. Lunches can be prepared the night before to save time in the morning. Prepare pasta salads, sandwich fillings, fruit compotes or include something from last night’s dinner, such as soup in a flask, chicken skewers or a Spanish omelet.
Keep food cool. If you want to keep the contents of your child’s lunchbox cool, try freezing a carton or plastic bottle of juice overnight. The frozen drink will help keep food cool and will have defrosted by lunchtime. Choose pure fruit juice or fruit smoothies, not fruit juice ‘drinks’ which tend to be high in added sugar.
Freshen up. Cut-up vegetables sticks can dry out, so it’s a good idea to wrap them in some damp kitchen paper to retain moisture.
Cut down on junk. Avoid too many processed foods as they tend to contain few nutrients and too much salt, sugar, additives and saturated fat. If your child likes crisps but you don’t want him to fill up by eating a whole bag, put some in a small bag or wrap some crisps in foil.
Add a personal touch. Tuck a surprise like a note, stickers or joke in your child’s lunchbox. Pack fun napkins, decorate lunch bags with stickers, draw a face on a banana with a marker pen or cut sandwiches into novelty shapes using cookie cutters. At the weekend it’s a good idea to get your children involved in the kitchen making things like cookies and muffins which they can then take to school and share with their friends.

And don’t forget: to keep food as cool as possible (use a small ice pack or FREEZE a small box of fruit juice or a plastic bottle of squash, not fizzy). Make sandwiches the night before and store them in the refrigerator so that they are cold for the morning. If you can’t make the lunchbox cold, avoid using high risk foods such as cooked meats and eggs. Use cheese, Marmite, jam or peanut butter. (Advice provided by Eastbourne Borough Council Environmental Health Division).