JBuzz Newsletter

Friday 8th

September 2017

“Achievement, ambition and progress for all….”

News from across the school this week....

Hello and welcome back to all. I have quickly settled back into John Ball having been off for medical reasons for almost a term and am delighted to see that the children have returned to school from the summer break with great

enthusiasm and verve for their learning.

I look forward to being involved and supporting their learning journeys this year and sharing their successes with

you.

We would like to welcome back all children and families. We hope that you have had a restful and enjoyable holiday. We would especially like to welcome all our new children and their families to John Ball. We have a full

nursery class, 90 new reception pupils and a number of new children starting across most year groups resulting in a

school roll of 610.

It has been great to see the children back in school over the week in their new classrooms with their new teachers and support staff. We have heard many tales of wonderful summer holiday experiences. The children have settled

back into school life very quickly which is a very positive sign!

This first newsletter of the year is a long one and contains an introduction, update and reminder about some of our

key school policies. We hope that all parents and carers will take the time to read it and familiarise themselves with our plans for the coming year. Please do keep this paper copy safe as this should act as your guide to the year!

Please remember that JBuzz is our key route of communication. We have continued to develop our website and will

be working on further ways to improve it this year. We have also developed our use of the whole school Twitter.

We hope you have found this useful over the summer as a way of keeping in touch with the building developments. One of the great things about Twitter is that it is totally free for us. We do feed our Twitter account on to the

homepage of the website but if you sign up to Twitter and follow us you will see all of our tweets as they happen! You’ll find us at @JBPrimary. We have 359 followers at the moment – many of them parents and carers!

We also try to ensure that copies of all letters sent home by e-mail are also put on the website, so if you think you’ve missed one then please look in there. In each week’s JBuzz we do include a list of the letters sent home that

week. We are, as much as possible a paperless school now, so please do make sure you keep the school up to date with any changes in e-mail addresses as this is used for all forms of communication.

If at any time there are any aspects of nursery and school life which concern you, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us right away; phone, email or pop in and we’ll try to help. Please also remember that we like to hear

from you when things are going well!

Whilst the school site has not been as busy as it was last year we have still had some works done. We have now had much of the electrical wiring and lighting brought up to code in parts of the old building which is great. The

remainder of the work will be completed during the October break so we should be gleaming and bright by then!

We are all looking forward to another successful, busy and rewarding year, working with you to ensure the best for

our children.

Best wishes

Julia McCrossen

Julia McCrossen

Head teacher

headteacher@johnball.lewisham.sch.uk

How do I ensure I get a copy of JBuzz every week?

JBuzz is possibly the most important document and route of communication from our school to you at home. It is crucial that you get a weekly copy of our newsletter. A great deal of information and news is communicated via JBuzz. As this is

the first edition of the year we are sending a paper copy out to all parents and carers to ensure you all have one.

How do I get my copy?

if you have not received JBuzz by e-mail on a Friday afternoon, then please inform the school office by writing

your details down and giving it to the main reception desk, phoning in or by emailing admissions@johnball.lewisham.sch.uk

if you wish to receive a paper copy of JBuzz you must inform the office. Only parents who ask for a paper copy

will get one as we are trying to be as paperless as possible so please do support us in this. JBuzz can also be found in the news section of the school website or on the information board in the KS1

playground Vikki, in the school office manages JBuzz. You can speak to her about any of the above or if you wish to have an

advert placed. We do ask for a donation of £10 and for that we would run the advert for one week only.

Contacting your child´s teacher

Can we remind parents and carers that when you have any concern about your child, their progress in class or anything

relating to how the class works that you should, in the first instance, speak to your child´s teacher. Our staff are all very happy to talk to parents and carers and this can be done in a variety of ways.

1. It is usually best to catch a teacher at the end of the school day and not at 9am when you are dropping children off. At 9am the class teacher’s focus and responsibility is to get the children into class, registered and ready for the learning

to begin quickly. 2. If you cannot do this then you can call the school office or email admin@johnball.lewisham.sch.uk and your email will

be forwarded onto the class teacher. 3. Teachers will also share their work email address with you at Meet the teacher night this half term if you wish.

Contacting staff via email

We are happy to share staff email addresses with you, however we would ask parents to remember that staff cannot answer 30 emails every day. Staff won’t be able to give daily feedback about pupils but they are happy to have email

contact about concerns or questions you may have.

Another way is through the Class Dojo. However, Dojo shouldn't be used for long and lengthy communication, please e-mail the teacher if you need to discuss things in more detail.

Please note that teachers can’t respond to Dojo or email during the school day 9-3.20pm and so sending messages re

appointments etc won't be picked up so please inform the office by lunchtime or before where possible.

Contacting the Senior Leadership team

If you feel that you cannot speak with the class teacher then please approach a member of the SLT as below:

Pupils in EYFS: Rebecca Suffield - EYFS Phase leader up until Christmas (rsuffield.209@lgflmail.org)

Cassey Kiely – EYFS Phase Leader after Christmas (ckiely2.209@lgflmail.org)

Pupils in KS1: Beth Budden – Phase Leader (bbudden.209@lgflmail.org) Pupils in Yrs 3,4 & 5: Stephen Mitchell – Phase Leader (smitchell61.209@lgflmail.org)

Pupils in Yrs 6: Sophi Cole – Phase Leader (scole52.209@lgflmail.org) Mrs Jacqui Noakes, Assistant Head (jnoakes7.209@lgflmail.org)

Mrs Noakes leads our Inclusion team and so if you have concerns about the additional support needs of your

child please get in touch with her. As always you can contact Mrs McCrossen on (Headteacher@johnball.lewisham.sch.uk ) about any child if you

are still concerned or not happy.

Equally we always welcome positive feedback about your experience of the school! We all like to read good news!

Parental Involvement Calendar 2017/18

You will find enclosed a paper copy of the school calendar with all the dates for the year and holiday dates. Our aim is to

stick to these dates and times as much as possible. We reserve the right to change them but acknowledge that we will need to give plenty notices of any changes. We have reviewed the calendar from last year and made some changes to

some dates and events. This is based on feedback from parents and staff.

How can I keep up with the school calendar?

There are two sections on the home page of the website which have dates for the terms. We publish a reminder of the coming week´s events at the beginning of JBuzz as well as upcoming dates for that

month. There is a calendar section on the school website and from there you can be liked via google app to your hand

held device.

Activity

Autumn Term Spring Term Summer term

Direct contact with class teachers

Sept: Meet the teacher event Nov: Learning afternoon

Jan: PTI and spring targets Mar: Learning afternoon linked to exit points

May: PTI – optional July: Open evening

Learning targets and reports to parents

This term our staff plan the provision to meet all children’s needs for the year. We aim for you to be able to see Learning Ladders / targets at the Nov Learning afternoon

Sharing and reviewing Learning Ladder targets at the Jan PTI Mar: review learning ladders at learning afternoon

July: formal report and update of Learning Ladders

Curriculum related events

Termly CIS sheets given out and posted on year page on website. Entry and exit points where appropriate – teachers will write out with dates Workshops for parents and carers on areas of the curriculum – we will write out with dates

Termly CIS sheets given out and posted on year page on website. Entry and exit points where appropriate – teachers will write out with dates Workshops for parents and carers on areas of the curriculum – we will write out with dates

Termly CIS sheets given out and posted on year page on website. Entry and exit points where appropriate – teachers will write out with dates Workshops for parents and carers on areas of the curriculum – we will write out with dates

Class assemblies

Each KS2 class to do a couple during the year. Parents will be invited to attend these. Dates will be in JBuzz.

Each KS2 class to do a couple during the year. Parents will be invited to attend these. Dates will be in JBuzz.

Each KS2 class to do a couple during the year. Parents will be invited to attend these. Dates will be in JBuzz.

Performances and sporting events

Christmas performances EYFS, KS1 and KS2

Year 3, 4 and 5 performance.

EYFS, KS1 and KS2 Sports events – June. Year 6 production - July.

Fundraising events

Christmas Fair & others which vary year to year – see calendar

Various – see calendar Summer Fair & others which vary year to year – see calendar

Year 6 SATs

Introductory information about SATs for Y6 parents

Mar: Mock SATs week and Y6 review day – revision pack for Easter holidays.

May: SATs week

Year 6 / Secondary transfer

Meetings with SLT re secondary transfer process

Support once results of offers are known

Annual info evening for Yr4 and 5.

Definitions: PTI: Parent Teacher Interview

Learning ladder: a list of child / parent friendly learning targets at each of the levels for reading, writing and maths. CAF: common entry form for secondary school

Learning afternoon: a chance for you to come into school review your child´s books and informally chat to staff. CIS: Curriculum Information Sheet; an overview of the learning in your child´s class for the term.

Meet the teacher KS1 and KS2 Meet the Teacher Night – Tuesday 26th September 2017, 6.30pm – 7.30pm Optional Parent Teacher Interview (PTI) – Wednesday 27th September 2017, 3.30pm – 7pm

As last year, the meet the teacher event on the 26th of September will allow parents, carers and teachers the opportunity to meet one another in an informal setting. Teachers will not make a short presentation to parents about the year ahead

as the feedback we had in the past suggested that parents would prefer a more informal drop in style session.

Information about the year ahead will be available at the meeting and also you will have a chance to look around the

classroom and chat informally with the teacher.

During the evening, parents will be given the opportunity to sign up for a PTI on the following evening. This PTI is not

to report on pupil progress. The purpose of this meeting is to allow any parent who wishes the chance to meet their child’s teacher on a 1 to 1 basis and check in with them about any concerns they may have about their child’s wellbeing

or learning needs. It is also a chance for parents to share any information about their child or family that may have changed over the summer period. There is no need or expectation that all parents will attend this PTI.

Attendance and late coming procedures As you will all be aware we are always keen to ensure that we start the year with good habits in terms of attending

school and being on time. I’m sure you will agree that both are crucial to ensuring a positive attitude towards school. I would like parents to consider the emotional impact on a child of having to regularly walk into a classroom late. Many

important pieces of information and introduction are given out first thing in the morning by staff.

Coming into school any time after 9am is disruptive for your child and negatively affects their learning.

We still have a number of pupils and parents who are arriving just after 9am every day. Whilst the children are not 10

mins late or more this is still not arriving on time. If this relates to you then we suggest leaving just 5 mins earlier to allow your child to join their line and enter the school like everyone else. Our revised attendance and late coming policy states that children will be marked late at any time after 9am. Ofsted are now looking at punctuality as a measure of attitude to learning. Poor punctuality could affect our judgement

relating to behaviour. As adults if we are employed to start a job at 9am then we arrive before this. If we don’t, our employer will want to talk to us! We have to set this out for children right from the start!

As part of our policy for safeguarding pupils we would like to ensure that our procedures for informing the school of a

child’s absence are quite clear to everyone. We would appreciate if all parents and carers could ensure they follow the

points below when alerting the school of their child being absent:

Please call the school on each day of your child’s absence. If a pupil has an appointment please either call, email the school or write to the class teacher prior to the

appointment taking place.

Pupils will be marked late for school after 9.00am. Late coming of pupils will be closely monitored and parents contacted where there are concerns.

If your child is not in school and we have not been notified as to why, then the school will call parents to find out where the pupil is.

If parents are not contactable then the office staff will pursue the child’s absence via emergency contacts.

If no contact can be made with the absent pupil’s parents/ carers or emergency contacts, the Attendance Officer will be requested to attend to investigate the absence. This should happen within the first school day of absence.

We review pupil attendance on a monthly basis, when your child’s attendance drops below 95% we will look into this but do take into account the odd day off for illness.

When your child’s attendance drops to nearer 90% we will write to you again and remind you that if it continues to drop below 90% we will need to start monitoring your child’s attendance on a regular basis as we are obliged

to refer children and families to the Attendance Officer when attendance gets to 85%.

If we are referring your child you will be informed about this and the Attendance Officer will make contact with you to discuss the way forward.

Parents should remember that in an extreme case the attendance service will take parents to court and enforce a Parenting Order.

A full copy of our Attendance Policy is available on the school website for your reference - see school info section called Attendance which is under the Parents tab.

Requesting leave during term time

This is something that as a school we actively discourage. I continue to be concerned about the number of parents who view the 10 days that we are allowed to authorise as an entitlement i.e. I’ve used 3 days so I’ve got 7 left! All requests

for time off in exceptional circumstances will be considered alongside a pupil’s current attendance figure as well as their

academic progress in school i.e. if the request will further lower their overall attendance figure or adversely affect their progress then the request will not be authorised.

We will not authorise any term time holiday or leave unless it is in exceptional circumstances and we are provided with

evidence of this. We must have 2 weeks’ notice of a request for absence. Please do not book a holiday / flights and

then request authorisation; in these circumstances we will not authorise the absence. Please continue to complete an application form for time off at the main school office. The form is also available on the school website.

Pupil information

We will be checking that we have current information about your address, phone numbers and e-mail addresses over the coming weeks so that we can update our emergency records. If your child has a medical condition that you have

not informed us about, please let the office know so that the school is fully informed. This information is really

important to the school so that we can notify you immediately if there is an emergency and/or share important information with you about John Ball. If at any time of the year any aspect of your family’s data changes please do

inform the school office ASAP.

After School Activities & KS2 Music Lessons

All music lessons and clubs will start back during Wk beginning September 18th. All parents from Year 1-6 will have received a letter regarding After School Clubs. All KS2 parents will shortly receive a letter about music lessons for the

year as well.

Volunteers / Parent Helpers We would be delighted to hear from any parent or carer who feels they would like to help, volunteer or contribute to

the life of the school/nursery in some way. Currently we have people volunteering in the following ways:

Supporting school trips

Supporting in class

Hearing, reading

Helping at Forest school

School productions

Volunteers can help with tasks outside of the classroom. We are keen to have some help in maintaining our learning zone and other resource areas such as PE and Art and our garden. If you are available to help at any point, please

request a volunteer application form from the school office. We only accept applications for volunteering in the school

during the first 3 weeks of each term. The deadline for applications for this term will be Friday 22nd of September.

Parking Every school in the land has issues with parking and John Ball is no different! As adults within the school community of

John Ball, everyone’s focus should be on the safety of our children.

Please adhere to the following rules:

Do not at any time stop or drop off your child on the zig zag yellow lines. If a parking attendant catches you doing this you could face a fixed penalty or points on your licence!

Please note that vans with CCTV cameras do police Lewisham streets and a number of parents have been caught out parking on the Zig Zags. You won’t know that the van has CCTV! They travel incognito!

Do not encourage / allow your children to slip through the break in the barrier at the KS2 gate. Encourage your

children to come out of the KS2 gate and walk along to the crossing in order to cross over to meet you. Observe the speed limit on Southvale and Baizdon Road at drop off and pick up times i.e. 20mph.

Do not park outside the school opposite the road leading to Hurren Close; this blocks access to cars leaving the car park.

New parents might like to know that you can apply for an annual pick up / drop off permit for the station car park.

This can be obtained by applying online at www.apcoa.co.uk and clicking on the link that says Rail Station Tickets and selecting Blackheath Station Car Park. You will need your vehicle registration number and a debit or credit card. The

cost of this permit is £25 a year.

September

Tuesday 12th Welcome back BBQ for children

Wednesday 13th Roald Dahl Day

Thursday 21st Friends AGM & Pub Night Monday 25th INSET DAY – STAFF ONLY

Tuesday 26th Meet the Teacher 6.30-7.30pm Tuesday 26th Friends Craft Club Kick-off

Wednesday 27th Optional PTI’s (details to follow)

Letters Home

Roald Dahl Day

KS1 Reading Secondary Transfer information

School Planners Nursery letter

After School Club Reception Walkers Wood

Nuts/Allergies

May we remind you there are some children in our school and nursery who

suffer severe allergic reactions when they come into contact with nuts.

It is imperative to keep our school “Nut

free”.

Please help keep these children safe and

healthy by checking the labels of the food products your child brings to school for

playtime and in packed lunch boxes, e.g.

chocolate spread, certain chocolate bars, and other mixed snacks.

De-Fibrillator

John Ball has now got a De-Fibrillator on site that is not only for staff use if ever needed but

also for anyone closest to this area that may require it. We are on the database for anyone that

may call the ambulance service so if you are ever in the unfortunate position to need this or can

assist someone else please call the office to ask for it. We have some staff members who have

been trained

Primary School Applications 2018

Online Applications - Lewisham no longer supplies paper application forms to schools. The eadmissions website has an

easy to follow tutorial and a facility for parents to create an email account for Primary and Secondary applications.

Follow the link for Primary Schools below: DEADLINE 15th January 2018

https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/education/schools/school-admission/applying-to-start-primary-

school/Pages/default.aspx

Secondary School Applications 2018

Follow the link for Secondary Schools below: DEADLINE 31st October 2017

https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/education/schools/school-admission/applying-to-start-secondary-

school/Pages/default.aspx

JOHN BALL SCHOOL TERM AND HOLIDAY DATES 2017-2018

AUTUMN TERM INSET Friday 1

st September 2017

First day for Main School Monday 4th

September 2017 INSET Monday 25

th September 2017

Half Term 23rd

October – 27th

October 2017 First day back Monday 30

th October 2017

Last day of term Friday 15th

December 2017 INSET Monday 18

th December 2017

SPRING TERM

INSET Tuesday 2

nd January 2018

First day of Spring Term Wednesday 3rd

January 2018 Half Term 12

th – 16

th February 2018

First day back Monday 19th

February 2018 Last day of term Thursday 29

th March 2018

SUMMER TERM

First day of Summer Term Monday 16

th April 2018

Bank Holiday Monday 7th

May 2018 Last day of term Friday 25

th May 2018

Half Term 28th

May –1st

June 2018 First day back Monday 4

th June 2018

Last day of term Friday 20th

July 2018 INSET Monday 23

rd July 2018

Children do not come to school on INSET days

Dates for Nursery and Reception will vary Year 6 SATS tests will be held Monday 14

th May – 17

th May 2018