Dear Parents/Carers,

Thank you all for a wonderful start to the new school year.

These newsletters will now published on the new school website: www.ctk.education

Historical newsletters can also be found on our newsletter blog (which is linked to on our website under ‘Important Information’).

Also our new website has a link to our School Blog which features pictures of Year 3 and 4 children at Barton Camp. The children had an amazing time.

Breakfast Club

There has been a great start to the new Breakfast Club this week, with many children attending. We hope to increase the numbers further over the coming weeks.

Breakfast Club will run everyday Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 8:40am. Children do 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 in the morning.  

The club will stop serving breakfast at 8:20am to allow staff to tidy up before the start of the school day.  Children are welcome to arrive in the club anytime from 8:00am to 8:40am however if they do arrive after 8:20am breakfast will not be offered.

Children will be offered toast and cereal for their breakfast.

Head teacher Award - Teamwork Focus

Each week we are having a special focus for our Headteacher awards. This week our focus is Teamwork.

Headteachers awards for Monday Assembly are:-

Cody C (Yr1), Millie E (Yr1), Roxanne (Yr2), Zachary C (Y3), Christiana A (Yr4), Tyler M (Yr 4), Malachy G (Yr5), Josh C (Yr6) and Emily C (Yr6).

Attendance - Good news

This week’s overall attendance is an impressive ‘almost’ 97%.  We would like to thank you as not many children have been arriving late. This means that children are not missing valuable learning first thing in the morning.

This term, as well as rewarding 99% and 100% attendance, we will also be rewarding classes that demonstrate a big improvement in attendance.

• Year 3 - 100%
• Year 6 - 100%

This means that Year 3 and Year 6 will have a non-uniform day on Friday 16th September.

Behaviour letters

Behaviour in our school is usually excellent. Occasionally, when a child is not behaving well, that child is asked to spend some time in another classroom. If this happens, we will now be writing to parents to inform you of the incident.

Parking

Please do not park on the zig-zag bays when dropping or picking your child up from school.

Please can parents / carers keep the entrance to the school clear when waiting to drop or pick up children.

Primary school admissions

Reception Admissions for September 2017 is now open on www.bristol.gov.uk/schooladmissions.  Children born between 1st September 2012 and 31st August 2013 must apply for a school by midnight on 15th January 2017.

Year 6 to apply for a Secondary school place

Parents / Carers need to apply for a Secondary school place for their child in Year 6.  The website is now open on www.bristol.gov.uk/schooladmissions.  Secondary school choices need to made by Midnight on 31st October 2016.

John Cabot Academy - Secondary School Open Evening

School term dates 2016-17

• 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.

Again, thank you for your continuing support.

Key dates for Diaries

• 14th September - School Mass in the school hall starting at 9.30am
• 18th November - Feast of Christ the King Mass
• w/c 8th May 2017 - Y6 SATs week
• 9th - 12th June - Year 6 camp to Manor Adventure

Yours sincerely,

Matt Condon

Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back. We hope you all had a really good summer break and it was great to see all the children today looking smart in their school uniform and ready for learning. We thank you all for your support.

As this is the first newsletter of the school year we would like to remind you all of some important matters:

Attendance and Punctuality

Punctuality

Although there were some noticeable improvements in punctuality last year, overall still too many children are arriving late and missing learning at the start of the school day. If a children is late on a regular basis, and so missing crucial learning (e.g reading lessons) then we will organise for additional catch-up time in break or lunch. We are doing this to ensure all children keep up with their peers, are given every opportunity to succeed and obviously to encourage children not to be late.

Poor Attendance in Term 1

Again, we had some success last year, but not enough. The number of children who are classified as ‘Persistent Absentees’ massively exceeds national levels. These are children with less than 90% attendance. At the end of last term we wrote to the parents of all children with attendance below 90%.

The vast majority of children have started today with 100% attendance which is fantastic! Today’s attendance was TBC.

However, to avoid any child’s attendance dropping below 90%, we will be monitoring attendance each day and contacting parents as soon as attendance drops below 95%. We will then request a meeting so that we can work together to ensure attendance does not deteriorate.

Holidays and Long Weekends - another reminder!

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 that 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.

School term dates 2016-17

• 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

Breakfast Club has now started and will run everyday Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 8:40am. 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.  

The club will need to stop serving breakfast at 8:20am to allow staff to tidy up before the start of the school day.  Children are welcome to arrive in the club anytime from 8:00am to 8:40am however if they do arrive after 8:20am breakfast will not be offered.

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.

Important Information Form

An important information form is coming home with your child tonight.  We are updating the details we hold for you and your child - please complete and return to school by Friday 9th September so that we can update our system.

Again, thank you for your continuing support.

Yours sincerely,

Matt Condon

Headteacher

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