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It's been another busy fortnight since my last newsletter and the wind and rain has certainly left a trail of excited children in its wake!

Next Friday is our Parents/ Carers house event. We are very excited to have another QUINGO night and hope that you are busy selling your raffle tickets!

To book a team please go on to Parentpay. 

Today we say goodbye to Mr Ayres. He has been our minibus driver for a little while now, but he is off to pastures new! It's not us, it's him! But we will miss him nonetheless. Thank you and good luck Mr Ayres. 

Our Parents' Evening booking system is  live and you will be able to book appointments to see your child's class teacher. 

At least one Parent/ Carer from every family is expected to attend parents' evening, and we have a range of appointment times to suit everyone. 

This is an excellent opportunity for Parents/ Carers to raise any concerns they may have with your child's class teacher. 

When booking, you can also make an appointment to see Mrs Louis White- SENCO if you'd like to discuss the SEN provision in place for your child. 

STATUTORY ASSESSMENTS

At Parents' evening, more information will be provided regarding this year's statutory assessments. These take place in years 1,2,4 and 6. 

The dates are as follows:

Year one - Phonics screening check - week beginning Monday 9th June.

Year two -SATS assessments- Flexible dates throughout May. 

Year four- Multiplication check - week beginning Monday 2nd June 

Year six- SATS assessments- -week beginning Monday 12th May. 

Why are statutory assessments so important?

Assessments like the SATS provide the school with valuable data that allows us to compare progress at Abbeys to that of other local schools as well as nationally. Over the last few years we have shown an improving trend with the ultimate aim of ensuring pupils are at the expected standard before they leave Abbeys and go on to Secondary school. Enabling Pupils to be in the best possible position academically and socially is very important to us.

BABY CHICKS

The long awaited chick hatching has begun in Tintern and Turvey classes. The children were lucky enough to watch the first hatching when they arrived on Wednesday morning. 

It was a great maths moment when the children worked out how many eggs had hatched and how many had not.

"2 have hatched!!"

"That means 8 haven't yet."

The children have really developed into their carer roles, checking on the chicks at every opportunity and drawing them pictures to keep them happy. They have also loved looking in non-fiction books to learn more about what will happen during the chick's life cycle and learnt a song about a hatching chick.

In Whitby, we have been learning about money in PSHE and the difference between things that we want and things that we need. The children made a list of things that they need to buy with their money and things that they did not need but might want.

Well done children! Excellent life skills!

In Melrose class, the children have been learning about light and reflection. They have been investigating which materials reflect light. The children really enjoyed experimenting. Well done children! Great team work!

Amalia has produced an amazing light house as part of her home learning! The children have been learning about the importance of light sources and reflection. 

Well done Amalia- it is amazing!

A HUGE SHOUT OUT TO MAISIE IN YEAR 1

Can Maisie-Rose please have a shout out for her arctic fox animal homework!

We are so proud and amazed at Maisie's  homework, she did it all by herself and worked so hard. 

Well done Maisie!

Well done  to Imaana, she scored her 1st goal in a match on Saturday, quickly followed by a 2nd and earned herself the player of the match trophy for her hard work on the wing. Imaana worked so hard and is the only girl on her team but she still manages to tackle the ball off the boys.

Well done Imaana keep up the hard work!

Quingo Night
5:30pm – 8:00pm
07
February
Parents/Carers Consultation Evening
3:15pm – 5:00pm
11
February
Belmont Class Assembly
2:45pm – 3:15pm
12
February
Parents/Carers Late Consultation Evening
3:15pm – 7:00pm
12
February
Break Up for Half Term at 3.15pm
All Day
13
February
Inset Day
All Day
14
February
Marham Class Assembly
2:45pm – 3:15pm
26
February
National Offer Day for Secondary Schools
All Day
03
March
World Book Day
All Day
06
March
World Book Day Themed Lunch
All Day
06
March

Mrs Louis White and I have been thinking a lot about behaviour in school over the last few weeks. Generally, behaviour is very good. However, pockets of pupils are not following the golden rules and behaving as respectfully as they can. Our Golden rules are simple and embedded across the school. 

1. We care about and look after each other. 

2. We are honest and trustworthy. 

3. We respect and care for our environment. 

4. We try our best and are proud of everything we do and learn.

We also have our school values which are very strong and we frequently reward the children for displaying the school values. 

Our current Postive Ethos and Behaviour Policy is on our school website and we are going to be making some changes to this policy. We are currently seeking the views of pupils- via the school council- and would like to seek the views of Parents/ Carers as well. 

We currently have a system of rewards and sanctions. Golden time is the reward at the end of every week and the children earn this time for displaying positive behaviour. 

Many schools have moved away from this model and I would like to do the same. In my view, many children are not motivated by Golden Time and every week numerous children sit in lost golden time for 5,10, 15, 20+ minutes to reflect on their behaviour throughout the week. For the children who behave well, they have 30 minutes of free fun time - that really should be focused on learning. As a school we have lots of fun activities entwined in our curriculum- do we need Goldent time as well? Is Golden time intrinsically motivating for pupils?  I feel this is an outdated system and would like to seek more views and opinions before we rewrite the policy. If you have any thoughts, please send them to jfellowes@abbeysprimary.org

Sadly, my time in school is still being taken up dealing with pupils' behaviour online that is escalating in school. Teasing one another because they have lost a game the night before is not acceptable. Kicking one another off of games, swearing and not being inclusive online could all be classed as cyberbullying and Parents/ Carers need to strictly monitor their children's online activity. 

In school, we use this chart to ascertain which steps to take to deal with such situations. 

It is important to limit the amount of time your child spends online. We are experiencing more and more social difficulties because pupils cannot communicate well with one another. I firmly believe that this is because they play more online than they do in person. This means the social interaction skills that should be embedded in Primary school are not. 

Let's keep an eye on what they are up to! Consciously, at least once a week, get them to show you their games, their friends and their conversations- it will make a difference. 

BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS SCHOOL STAFF

Over the last couple of weeks there have been a few instances where parents/ carers haven't spoken respectfully towards school staff. Whether this be teachers, leaders or the office team, it is unacceptable to behave in a threatening way towards anyone. We are all human beings, and sometimes we may get things wrong or your child may feel they have been treated unfairly. It is important that you tell us this in the most appropriate way so that it can be dealt with. 

We have a Code of Conduct for visitors on the school site - this includes parents/ carers. This is on our school website for you to read. This policy outlines actions the school is able to take should staff feel threatened by the behaviour of visitors. It is important that you read and understand this policy. 

It's happened again! Mrs Louis White has mugged Miss Dewberry! 

'I am mugging Miss Dewberry because she has been a wonderful new addition to the Abbeys team. She has gone out of her way to get to know the children and always works hard. I think she has fitted in well at the madhouse (sorry school)'. 

Well done Miss Dewberry!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!