9th June 2017 News

At Downs View altogether we learn, love, respect and have fun!

June Monday 12th, Tuesday 13th & Wednesday 14th

Father’s Day gift sale - £2 (Please send in money in an envelope) Year R – Monday, Year 1 – Tuesday, Year 2 - Wednesday

Friday 16th Turtle assembly Thursday 22nd Teddy Bear’s picnic themed lunch, children may bring their teddies in to

school with them to enjoy the lunch – more information below Friday 23rd Caterpillar assembly

Year 2 - End of transition week parade –2.15pm parents invited Transition exhibition in the hall 3pm-4pm – parents invited

Saturday 24th Kennington Summer Fete 12pm-4pm Tuesday 27th Sports Day from 9.30am weather permitting or 2nd choice 13th July Friday 30th Birthday assembly July Wednesday 5th 4pm CATS Collective Choir Concert -Yr 2 St Mary the Virgin Church, Town

Centre (children – rehearsal from 1.30pm-3.30pm) Friday 7th Fox assembly Monday 10th 5pm – 5.30pm Parent meeting for all new year 2 pupils (current year

1) in Sept, to run through of routines, expectations etc. 6pm – 6.30pm Parent meeting for all new year 1 pupils (current year R) in Sept to run through of routines expectations etc.

Wednesday 12th School reports home to parents Thursday13th Year 2 Transition film premiere 6pm at Kennington Academy – parents of

year 2 children invited Thursday 20th Birthday assembly for children with Birthdays in July and August.

Last day of term Friday 21st Inset Day – no children in school Future dates 4th & 5th Sept Inset days – no children in school Wednesday 6th September

Year 1 and 2 children return to school

Monday 11th September New Reception begin – am or pm Thursday 20th October Last day of term 1 Friday 21st October Inset day – no children in school

Weekly school attendance

Days missed across the school

this week

Best class attendance for

the week

Overall attendance for

the year

96.05%

51 98.33%

Seahorse

96.48%

Road Closure I am sure that some of you are aware that there will be a major road closure in Ashford from Monday 19th June until September. The road affected is the A2070 Kennington Road, Willesborough (the road from Junction 10 to the Conningbrook Hotel, closure point just north of Blackwall Road North). The road will be closed to allow Kent County Council to increase the width of the road. Local diversions will be in place during this time. These road works will affect staff and parents alike. We

thought it would be useful to let you know so that you can allow a little extra time if you are driving to school as it is likely that other roads in the area will be busier than normal. For more information see bottom of newsletter. What we’ve been up to……

This week in EYFS we started our topic of Over the Rainbow. We started our journey with a very special delivery in a large box on Monday. We were very excited and tried hard to guess what was inside. It was big, light and said fragile! The children had some amazing ideas! However at 2.30pm just like the instructions said we got to open the box and inside we found lots of colourful balloons supporting our colourful adventure this term. We also had time to read the Rainbow Fish story which helped us to think about sharing during our Maths lessons! We were also very fortunate to take part in some amazing outdoor learning with Mrs Collins, Mrs Wright and Mr and Mrs Corall which involved orienteering, team games and an obstacle course avoiding the crocodiles and evil looking daisies! We had so much fun and learnt the importance of listening carefully, following instructions and working as a team!

Reading award

Active award Sunshine award Feet on Friday

Star table

Alfie Numa & Michal Ella Chloe

Alfie Aarav & Katie Katy-Mae Aarav

Honey Kat & Ethan Honey Tia

Carson Oliver F-H & Max Oliver Sophie

Vinnie Bryson & Rayna Scarlett Dominic

Skye Selena & Lacey Poppy Harvey

Andy Levi & Chanise Levi Morgan

Teddy Evie E-D & Inaaya Sophia G Harry K

Daisy H Sara & Frankie Kieran Lois

Bonus card winners this week – Owl

This week in Year 1 we have been thinking about family and the people around us. They started the week by making a list of people in their family, thinking carefully of the features of a list. They used this list to create a family tree and they wrote an extended sentence about how their family helps them. The children then thought about their school family and wrote interview questions to ask people in the school. In Maths the children have been using applying counting in 2’s 5’s and 10’s and started to use this to solve multiplication questions.

Year 2 have become experts at inventing gruesome, terrible tricks this week! We have launched our topic for English as Roald Dahl books and this week have been reading The Twits. Year 2 have loved focusing on the tricks that Mrs Twit plays on Mr Twit and have enjoyed helping Mr Twit invent tricks to get his own back on Mrs Twit. Some of them have been incredibly scary, involving spiders and slugs, water balloons and glass eyes! In Maths we have learnt how to round numbers to the nearest 10 and have used this skill to check different calculations are roughly correct. We have also practised reading off different scales going up in 2's, 5's and 10's for temperature. We have also been very excited to start looking at different vehicles in DT and identifying the important parts of a vehicle. We have labelled the wheels, axels and the chassis. We have also enjoyed learning new ball skills to pass and control the ball.

Headlice There have been several cases of head lice in school. It is important that you check your child’s hair regularly to help prevent them spreading to other children. If you find head lice, your local chemist or family doctor can advise on treatment and which lotion to use. If your child has head lice you will also need to examine the heads of all other members of the household. If head lice are found they should also be treated at the same time.

Menu for Teddy Bear’s picnic lunch & Wimbledon theme – School dinner children only Caterlink are offering two themed lunches: There will be a picnic style lunch on Thursday 22nd June, where the children will be having freshly filled finger rolls of either cheese &

cucumber, tuna with sweetcorn & mayonnaise or sliced ham & tomato. There will also be a selection of salad sticks and a vanilla and chocolate pinwheel biscuit or fruit pieces for dessert. The usual jacket potato with fillings, freshly baked bread, salad, fruit and yogurt will also be available. On this day the children can bring along their teddy bear for company in the dinner hall. On Wednesday 13th July there will be a Wimbledon style lunch where the children will have BBQ marinated chicken summer vegetable quiche with roasted parsley new potatoes, rainbow coleslaw and cucumber and mint salad. For dessert there will be fresh Kent strawberries with a shortbread biscuit. The usual jacket potato with fillings, freshly baked bread, salad, fruit and yogurt will also be available. These themed days are available to those of our children who normally have a school dinner on a Thursday.

Language used in the playground I have had a couple of parents complain that they have heard adults/older siblings swearing on the playground before and after school around children. Please can I remind you the importance of not using bad language in front of the children and how offensive this is to children and other adults. One of the key Downs View values is respect and as adults we should be key role-models for our children.

Within the Community……. Chill with Dad – Ashford Library Saturday 24th June Dads and male carers are invited to bring their children along to the library to enjoy stories and crafts celebrating the much loved Gruffalo. This activity is suitable for Dads with children aged 7 years and under. This event is run in collaboration with Homestart, Ashford and will take place on Saturday 24 June, 10am until12 midday. Places are free but limited and need to be booked in advance by contacting Ashford Library on 03000 41 31 31, emailing ashfordlibrary@kent.gov.uk or speaking to a member of staff in the library. Boughton Lees Pleasure Fayre – 10th June Boughton Lees will be holding a Pleasure Fayre on the village green on Saturday 10th of June from 1pm until 5pm. The fayre has many attractions for children with races and an egg throwing competition. There will also be a fancy dress competition with the theme ‘Come dressed as your favourite character in a book’. Parking working party update Yesterday our parking working party met to discuss some key issues and find some solutions to prevent the traffic and parking issues around both schools. This was a very positive meeting and the key outcomes were:

• Applications will be made from both schools to K.C.C for a patrol crossing officer for both schools to cross Upper Vicarage Lane and Ulley Road.

• Investigations in to new signage and ways to encourage safe parking and driving around the schools will be pursued

• Mrs Collins and the School Council have been busy discussing the school’s travel plan and what the school needs to encourage more children to walk/ scooter or cycle to school. There is funding available which will be applied for to fund more storage for bikes and scooters at both schools and welly racks for year 1 and 2 pupils to encourage children to walk on wet days.

• Other grants are going to be applied for in relation to community projects which could lead to more parking for staff of both schools, metal railings outside gates and incentives like the walking bus to encourage more families to walk to school.

We would like to thank the many parents who do park safely and take lots of care when dropping children off or picking them up. We know how busy it can get and that many of you are rushing off to work but by allowing a little extra time for your journey, you can park safely or walk a little way to school to ensure that your child’s safety is paramount. It’s great to see that the church’s car park in Ulley Road is being put to good use. The Hockey Club at the bottom of Ball Lane have also offered this opportunity and have many spaces available. This is a little walk up the hill but if you are interested please let the office know and the key holder will ensure it is open every day. With the weather improving this could be a great way to start/end the day! If you have any other suggestions or would like to come to a meeting please telephone the office or speak to the Chair Caroline Macey, parent of Poppy in Turtles class.

Highway Works in Your Area A2070 Kennington Road, Willesborough Carriageway Widening Works What we plan to do and why It is Kent County Councils intention to undertake widening works to increase carriageway widths at Kennington Road, Willesborough north of its junction with Blackwall Road North. The carriageway width at this location narrows significantly creating a localised pinch point. Therefore, works are necessary to improve localised traffic congestion and remove the current potential safety issue. How will we carry out these works and how will it affect you? In order to carry out these works safely, it will be necessary to close part of the A2070 Kennington Road, from Blackwall Road heading north. Local diversions will be in place and access to residents will be maintained at all times, up to the point of closure. A copy of the diversion route is on the reverse. Please note that pedestrian access will be maintained throughout these works. When we plan to carry out the work and how long it will take Works are due to start on Monday 19 June 2017 and is expected to take approximately 11 weeks. We anticipate completion of the works on Friday 1 September 2017. The works will generally be undertaken between the hours of 0700 to 1700 Monday to Friday and 0700 to 1500 on Saturdays. However, please note that if required it may be necessary to go beyond these times to complete an area of work. How to contact us Visit our website www.kent.gov.uk/highways to find out how we look after the roads in Kent. If you have any concerns about how these road works will affect you please call us on 03000 41 81 81 and quote “A2070 Kennington Road, Ashford – Carriageway Widening Works”. Please respect our workers space and safety by driving carefully and slowly through all roadworks in Kent. Feedback from our workers shows that too many drivers go too fast through roadworks. Everyone is entitled to a safe workplace. Our men and women work next to moving traffic and risk injury every day. Please keep this in a safe place so you can refer to it See following page for road map