Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
Leave of Absence Requests During Term-time
A message from Mrs Kang, Headteacher
I am becoming increasingly concerned by the large number of parents who are still requesting term-time leave, particularly where the circumstances have not been exceptional.
Please remember that there is no right to term-time leave.
PLEASE NOTE
Requests for leave of absence will not be granted for the purposes of a holiday. The law does not give any entitlement to parents to take their child on holiday during term time. Requests for leave of absence will not be granted during term-time unless there are exceptional circumstances for which proof may be required if deemed appropriate.
A number of parents have taken their children out of school against our advice, where the circumstances have not been exceptional, and the absence has been unauthorised as a result.
After Easter Year 2 children will begin the preparation and groundwork towards their Key Stage 1 National Curriculum Tests in May. This is a very important time for them in the school year, and full attendance is important for them to reach their full potential.
Please think twice about the effect an extended absence from school will have on your child’s education before you decide to request any leave of absence.
You may ask for a copy of the Leave of Absence policy from the school office and it is on the school website.
If you take your child out of school and the leave of absence is unauthorised, you will be liable for a penalty fine of £60 per parent per child, this will be issued by the Education Welfare Service. Penalty Notice fines will need to be paid within 21 days or the fine will increase to £120 within 28 days.
Unpaid Penalty Notices result in prosecution for the absence in the magistrate’s court.
You must come and see me BEFORE you book any flights. If you don’t, and I do not authorise the absence, your child may lose their place at this school. We have waiting lists for school places and you risk having to take your children to several different schools on your return.
On 1 March 2018 we celebrated World Book Day. Our focus as a school was on the importance of bedtime stories. Children and staff came to school on a very snowy day all dressed in their pyjamas. Children brought their favourite stories in and during the day shared these with their friends in class when they took part in the class D.E.A.R (Drop Everything And Read). During the morning each year group took part in a World Book Day quiz with special panellists and ‘Ask the Class’ lifelines. It was very close and each class received a new book for their class library with the winning classes receiving two.
The highlight of the day was when some of our parents joined us in our class story swaps and each class went to a different class to hear a bedtime story and had a drink and biscuit. Thank you to all the parents who came, you helped to make our day very special.
Primary Writing Project
Starting in 2017-2019 our school is taking part in the Primary Writing Project. This is a project that enables our school to embed the Talk for Writing approach in our English learning. Each half term children will learn high quality, inspiring fiction, non- fiction and poetry texts by heart. They will explore the language, structures and grammar through these models and learn to use these to help them become better readers and writers.
Here are the reading spine books for the different year groups. As part of daily Storytime children will have heard these and many other stories. How many does your child know and which are their favourites?
WINTER WEATHER
As we are all aware, the weather can be very unpredictable so we thought we would alert you to what happens if it snows.
All up to date information on school closures can be found on :-
LUTON BOROUGH COUNCIL WEBSITE, www.luton.gov.uk/schoolclosures
The radio stations have advised the Local Authority that they are no longer able to update live lists on their websites, but they will still read school closure lists on air.
Three Counties Radio on 95.5 FM
Heart Radio on 97.6 FM
Entrance and collection of children during snowy and icy weather
We have been instructed by the council that because of Health and Safety concerns we must only grit one path to be used by people who access the school site.
I know that for many parents this may sound odd, and that many of you have children to take to both schools and Greenside. However, we couldn’t possibly grit all the playgrounds and all the paths on the school site, so in icy weather please take extra care.
The pavements and roads are the responsibility of Luton Borough Council.
If it is icy or we have snow
In the mornings:
At hometime please look out for notices to give information. If in doubt, come to the main entrance and someone will help you.
If your usual entrance is blocked:
The gates into the Yr1 and YrR playgrounds will be locked if there is ice or snow.
ParentMail system
We have a system called ParentMail so that we can send text and e-mail messages to parents and carers to let them know if school has to close and when it re-opens. If you have changed your mobile phone number or your e-mail address, or you have not yet signed up for ParentMail, please contact the school office. However we can’t guarantee that you will get the message as soon as it is sent – delivery depends on your provider.
Finally, whenever we send this reminder, we always have parents ring the next day to ask if school is open. Please don’t ring school!
Whatever decision is made, the only certainty is that it won’t please everyone. As even the weather forecasters don’t always get it right, we can only continue to do the best we can at the time.
Welcome to our brand new school website! We have created the website to keep parents up to date with school news and notices, and to showcase some of the great things our pupils are achieving. The website is extremely easy to edit by all staff at the school, so check back soon for new updates!