Friday 22 July 2016

Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome to the last newsletter of this school year. The last 7 months at Christ the kIng have been an amazing experience and can I thank you all for your friendship and support.

IMPORTANT - Mrs Triggs and Changes to Class Organisation for September

As you may know Mrs Triggs has been absent from school for the last 2 weeks with the Year 2 class being taught by Mrs Leaker.  You will all probably know Mrs Leaker as one of the class Teaching Assistants, however we are also very fortunate as she is a trained Teacher.

Mrs Triggs has been in hospital and has undergone an operation. She had hoped to return to school for September full time, but sadly she will need more time for treatment and recovery next year. Thankfully, she will be coming back to school in September, but then is expected to be absent from school until later in the academic year. We received this news earlier this week, so have had to make some last-minute changes to the class organisation for September. We know this will be unsettling for the children, but we have done everything possible to secure great teaching for September and will be shared these changes with children today.

The key changes are as follows:

  • Mrs Leaker will remain in post as class teacher and will move with the current Year 2 class into Year 3.
  • Mrs Rowland will move into Year 1.
  • Miss Letherby will move with her class into Year 2. She will be joined by Mrs Triggs in September and when she returns, later in the school year.

I know that you will all join us in wishing Mrs Triggs a speedy recovery and we will be very pleased to pass on your best wishes and prayers.

Here is the revised teaching staff structure for next year:
Reception                                 –       Mrs Jay
Year 1                                          -        Mrs Rowland
Year 2                                          -        Miss Letherby and Mrs Triggs
Year 3                                          -        Mrs Leaker
Year 4                                          -        Mr Searle
Year 5 -                                        -        Mr Purser
Year 6                                              -        Mr Prichard and Miss Yates
Additional teachers                     –       Mrs Peppin and Mrs Rotheram
Reading Teacher                          -        Mrs Higgins
Learning Hub teacher                 -        Mrs Meacham
Special Needs Coordinator        -        Mrs Jordan  

School term dates 2016-17
As you know we are planning to use the first two days of the new school year in September as staff training days. This means the new school year will start for children on Monday 5th September, 2016.
  • Term 1                         5/9/16 – 21/10/16
  • Term 2                         31/10/16 – 16/12/16
  • Term 3                         3/1/17 - 10/2/17
  • Term 4                        20/2/17 – 7/4/17
  • Term 5                         24/4/17 – 26/5/17
  • Term 6                         5/6/17 – 21/7/17
We will inform you of the dates for the other 3 staff training days as soon as they are known.
Breakfast Club
From the 5th September we will be opening a Breakfast Club from 8:00am to 8:40am - Monday to Friday.  Children will not need to book they can just drop into the club.  The cost will be £1.00 per session and they will need to pay this when they arrive at the club.  
Children will be offered toast and cereal for their breakfast.
This club is opening on a trial basis and will be reviewed at the end of the Autumn term.
100% Attendance
Well done to the following children who have had 100% attendance for the whole of the Academic year.
Gracie (R), Marley-James (R), Channelle (Y1), Ella (Y2), Hannah (Y2), Christiana (Y3), Abigail ((Y4), Mateusz (Y4), Ellie B (Y5) and Jasmine (Y6).
We are celebrating their success  by awarding them a gift in today’s Assembly.

Assessment Outcomes for 2016
Huge congratulations are needed for all the children in Reception, Year Two and Year Six.  They have excelled themselves as they come to the end of their key stage, having prepared and taken tests under a new curriculum and with harder tests than before.   The staff and governors are all very proud of them.  Below are the results, along with their national comparison (KS2):
Early Years Foundation Stage outcomes:

Well done to our Reception children who have made very good progress over the year.

KS1 Y1 Phonics outcomes 2016

83% of children have reached the expected level, sustaining improvements achieved last year.

KS1 (Year 2) expected outcomes for 2016


Working at national Level  
Reading
70%
Writing
63%
Maths
63%

2016 KS2 Assessments


Working at national Level  
Working at national Level  Nat. 2016
Reading
70%
66%
Writing
63%
75%
Maths
77%
70%
Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling
87%
72%
Reading
It is really important that your children keep practising their reading skills over the summer holidays, so they come back to school ready to move on. One way to do this is to join in The Big Friendly Read Summer Reading Challenge.
All our local libraries will be involved.  Your children will be able to collect cards to put in a special folder. Some of the cards are even smelly! If they read 6 books over the summer, they will get a medal and a certificate.There is no charge for joining in.
Just go along to Filwood Library (or any library) to get started.
Find out more and download the app at www.bigfriendlyread.org.uk
Have fun!
AN IMPORTANT REMINDER about Attendance – Holidays and Long Weekends
It is highly unlikely that the school is able to authorise an absence due to holiday. Absences can only be authorised in exceptional circumstances.
Due to government guidance, the school is expected to take action when children have 8 or more unauthorised sessions (4 days). This would normally be in the form of a fine of £60 per child per adult.
So where children have been on holiday in the current year or the previous year, or their attendance is low, it is very likely that we will issue a fine if there are 8 unauthorised sessions.
Can I remind you, as the weather begins to improve, children should not be taken out of school on Mondays or Fridays for long weekends (unless there are exceptional circumstances and it has been agreed in advance).
I promise that we do not want to issue fines, but will have no choice where authorised attendance falls below the expected level.

We wish you all a happy and safe holiday. See you all back in school on Monday 5th September.
Yours sincerely,

Matt Condon
Headteacher




Dear Parents and Carers, Absence Due to safeguarding, we do need to be informed by 9am if your child is not able to attend school. If we are...