Forest Park Primary SchoolForest Park Primary School

February 2020February 2020

Coming Soon…

SPARKLE

At Forest Park we...

Support and encourage Promote resilience Aspire to achieve Respect each other

Keep positive Listen and learn Enjoy, explore and excite

World Book Day

Friday 6th March 2020 As part of our commitment to encourage children to develop a love of reading and books, we will be celebrating World Book Day with the theme 'Bedtime Big Read'. Please support us by sending the children to school in pyjamas with their favourite book to share. We are looking forward to an exciting day!

Assessment Days Thank you for supporting your children by coming to their assessment days.

Please make sure you help your child to learn facts from their knowledge organisers.

Recorder Club

Recorder Club has started for children in Years 5 and 6 in preparation for our Recorder Festival on Thursday 27th March at the Victoria Hall, Hanley. The concert begins at 12.30pm and tickets can be purchased on the day from the box office.

Key Stage 2 Choir

Our Key Stage 2 choir are busy rehearsing for our Spring concert at the Victoria Hall on Thursday 27th March at 6.45pm. Tickets can be purchased on the day from the box office.

Easter Raffle Next term we will be having a raffle to win a chocolate hamper, money raised will go towards school funds. More details to follow soon.

Careers Talks

In January Mr Chris Tarr, a member of the Orchard Community Trust

Board gave an interesting talk on the varied applications of health and

safety. He had worked in a salt mine, airports and many other

interesting and hazardous industries. The children learned about

protective equipment and there was an experiment with a hammer,

a tomato and a safety shoe.

In December, Jay

from Davis

Accountants at

Festival Park talked

to a group of

children interested in business about his job, training and

qualifications. We agreed it was far more interesting than we’d

thought!

Keeping your children safe on the Internet

Find out how to keep children safe on different sites and apps https://www.net-aware.org.uk/

Check out the Pantosaurus app https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/playtime-with-pantosaurus/id1258635349

This is a FREE app from the NSPCC that helps to educate children about keeping safe.

Fairtrade Ambassadors Assembly

With two Fairtrade Ambassadors from the Co-op Academy we organised an assembly on Monday 27th January where they advertised a competition for all pupils to participate in relating to Fairtrade week. They gave our KS2 children information as to what

Fairtrade involved and benefits to the communities in the countries where Fairtrade takes place. Ten children in each KS2 class chose to join in this competition which will be judged by Co-op Academy in the next two weeks.

Family Learning

Thank you all parents who have attended a Family Learning session this term. Particular thanks to the year 5 parents who came last week to Family First Aid. We will be arranging a part 2 session very soon! Mrs J M Ratcliffe

Class % Poppies 92.09 %

Foxgloves 89.85 % Buttercups 95.44 %

Clovers 93.23 % Butterflies 97.26 % Ladybirds 93.27 %

Robins 94.20 % Bumblebees 98.39 %

Owls 98.27 % Foxes 95.00 %

Kestrels 97.36 % Swans 97.62 %

Dragonflies 97.98 % Swallows 96.31 %

Hedgehogs 97.54 % Kingfishers 97.16 %

Notes from the Governors

One of our key priorities at Forest Park is to raise the aspirations of all our children so that they achieve their full potential in life. Therefore, governors were keen to learn more about the Primary Engagement Project that the school is taking part in. Beth Davenport came to our recent Curriculum and Standards Committee to explain how pupils are learning about the skills and qualities that employers are looking for. Guest speakers are coming into school to talk about their job roles and pupils are also going out into the workplace. Perhaps you'd like to come and talk about your job role or you know someone who would - if so, do get in touch with the school.

Governors have also received reports on recent external reviews that have taken place at Forest Park including pupil premium, teaching and learning and safeguarding. These have all

been very positive and any recommendations received have been added to the School Improvement Plan which governors monitor regularly. We've had an update on pupil progress data, together with an overview of the interventions and support that staff are putting into place across the school. To make sure that we're "Ofsted ready", both staff and governors have had an opportunity to look at the grade descriptors for the new Ofsted framework and suggest actions that we could take to on our journey to becoming an "outstanding" school.

Jan Peterson (our Deputy Chair of Governors) reports that, on one of her regular visits to school, she was asked to accompany Nursery children to the Regent Theatre to see "Room on the Broom." As she didn't know the story, the pupils were able to tell her what it was about as they walked from the school to the theatre. The behaviour of the children was excellent, despite their obvious excitement, and they were a credit to the school. We do get regular reports from staff about the wide variety of opportunities and experiences provided for pupils and it was great to see first-hand how much the pupils gained from visits such as this.

On behalf of the Governing Board, best wishes to you all.

Gill Howell Chair of Governors

School Uniform/P.E Kit

Thank you to all parents who have

worked so hard with children’s

uniform. The children look

fabulous and very well presented. You

can buy uniform from the National

School wear shop in Stafford Street,

Hanley, ST1 1LS.

Please make sure that every item of

uniform and P.E. kit is labelled,

including shoes and P.E. bags with

your child’s name and class.

Hair Accessories—Please no JoJo

bows or fancy hair accessories in

school, just plain hair bands. Also headscarves must adhere to

school uniform policy of black or white only. Thank you for your

cooperation.

Whole school attendance from Monday 6th January 2020 – Wednesday 12th February 2020 is

95.78%, lets do better!

P.E. kit is black jogging

bottoms and white T-shirt

Our school operates a NO DEBT policy and we ask that you PAY IN ADVANCE for all school dinners, breakfast club and trips. Please ensure that you have paid your child’s dinner money and all other

debts BEFORE the end of term. As from Monday 24th February, all school debts £20.00 or greater will be automatically referred to the court for debt recovery.

Please pay on time to avoid additional court costs.

We currently have a

Parent Governor

Vacancy. Further info on

the recruitment and

application process will

follow on Monday 24th

February.

Stars of the week—Spring 1

Kingfishers— Zain, Alia, Ellie-Mae, Brookyln

Hedgehogs — Amalia, Madia, Mubarak, Shoriful, Diman

Dragonflies — Safah, Chloe, Catherine, Ahmed

Swallows— Zoubair, Jean-Claude, Emanuela, George, Naima

Swans — Aribah, Ibraheem, Retag, Maram

Kestrels — Mehreen, Jaleel, Leah, Amaan, Amina

Owls — Arman, Elya, Mehreen, Aleeza, Ubah

Foxes — Anis, Dawud, Ahmad-Daniel, Danyal, Bohus

Robins — Scarlett, Furqan, Mustafa, Rachel

Bumblebees — Bryanna, Kareem, Khaleel, Faizaan

Butterflies — Yusuf, Umair, Yakup, Zoya

Ladybirds — Shelina, Vlad

Clovers — Hanaa, Sarmad, Shakibul, Aaron, Moiz

Buttercups— Jaskaran, Alyaan, Hussain

Foxgloves—Mihran, Adam, Adesola, Izaac, Taohid

Poppies—Ioana, Mihran, Raheem, Wajeezah

Visits and Visitors Nursery went to a production of Room on the Broom at the Regent Theatre and really enjoyed themselves. Thank you to all parents who have attended Family Learning, your children have really enjoyed working with you. Year 1 visited Ford Green Hall. Year 4 visited The Potteries Museum to learn more about the Anglo-Saxons. They took part in two workshops where they learnt about the Staffordshire Hoard and were given the opportunity to see artefacts from the hoard. Additionally, they had experience as archaeologists piecing together broken pottery as well as digging for and sketching artefacts. The children were beautifully behaved - we are very proud of how they conducted themselves throughout the day. This half term Year 5 have enjoyed exploring all about space throughout different subjects. They all loved the experience of entering the inflatable 3D Space Dome which made them feel like they were travelling through Space. They have learnt many fascinating facts about planets, moons and the galaxy and had a discussion about if there is life on other planets. Year 5 thoroughly enjoyed participating in the Game On workshops with the Reveal Theatre Company. These workshops were packed with games and exciting activities that allowed children to express their opinions and thoughts about various topics. Year 6 Kingfishers learnt about extremism and terrorism through drama, games and discussion during a Reveal Theatre workshop. They looked at many issues and shared how they can respect and value each others differences. Kingfishers enjoyed the variety of activities and working together!

You can find our calendar of upcoming visits and events at www.forestpark.org.uk,

click on the ‘calendar’ link in the top menu.

School Photographers

The school photographers will be in on Tuesday 25th February to take individual pupil

photographs.

Head lice

We have recently had cases of

head lice in KS1. Please regularly check

your child's hair for head lice. Ensure

that long hair is tied back.

Time off school

If your child is absent for any reason, please

make sure you call the school as early as

possible to report your child's absence.

Any holidays booked in school time will be

unauthorised.

Attendance & Punctuality

School Times

School OPENS at 8.50AM

Come for a free bagel

School gates CLOSE at 9AM PROMPT

Don’t be late!

School FINISHES at 3.15PM

Collect your children promptly!

Changes to penalty notices for absence from school

The City Council has reviewed the code of conduct and made changes to the previous guidance.

From Jan 1st 2019 any period of unauthorised leave may result in a penalty notice fine. A

penalty notice may be payable of £60 or £120 fine. If convicted you may be fined up to £1000.

A request for absence has to be submitted to school at least 4 weeks in advance of the

proposed leave.

A meeting will then be arranged to discuss the reason for the request.

The Head Teacher will then either authorise or not authorise this request. You will be

informed of this by letter.

School Holidays

School closes for the term on Friday 14th February 2020

School re-opens on Monday 24th February 2020

Please update the school with office any changes of address/phone numbers as we send texts frequently.

Late Collection of Children

The governors have agreed a Late Collection Policy

which started from 4th November 2019. Parents will

be charged for persistent late collection of

children. Please make sure you read the policy on

the school website or get a copy from the school

office.