Issue No : 13

Friday 12th March 2021

Diary Dates:

Monday 15th March @ 10am– MOTHER’S DAY COLLECTIVE WORSHIP ONLINE

Friday 19th March: Red Nose Day.

Friday 26th March: Last day of Spring Term.

Monday 12th April:

First day of Summer term

Church Lane, Sproughton, Ipswich IP8 3BB Tel:01473 742182 E-mail:admin@sproughton.suffolk.sch.uk

Headteacher: Mrs Jane Stalham BA (Hons) Education, QTS, ILMP, NPQH.

Primary News This week we have welcomed back all children as the school has reopened following a period of lockdown. I do hope that you at home are experiencing a return to some normality and a feeling of hope for the Spring and Summer that lies ahead of us.

It is an absolute joy and pleasure to have a school full of children again. There is a buzz of excitement filling the classrooms. I hope that we get to see many of you at 10am on Monday as mothers and carers are invited to join our Mother’s Day Assembly led by Revd. Annette using the following link: https://zoom.us/j/93163840405?pwd=cGdheVF3d2V6T3NWZXlUQXR6d1ZaZz09

Mrs Jane Stalham

Home testing The government has recently announced that rapid lateral flow tests will be available for free to all families and households with primary, secondary school and college-aged children and young people, including childcare and support bubbles.

These are available to order online or can be collected from the regional testing centre at Copdock or Portman Road. For further information please click on the following link www.suffolk.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19/getting-a-test/

No Holidays in Term Time From Monday 8th March the Department of Education have confirmed schools attendance policies will apply. As from the 1st September 2020 the school has adopted the Multi Academy Trust’s attendance policy. A copy of the policy can be found here http://cofesuffolkmat.org/policies Any holidays taken during term time will not be au-thorised and the school will issue fines in accordance with the MAT’s policy.

Due to recent disruptions to the children’s schooling it is more important than ever that children remain in school for their statutory entitlement to a full education.

2 Stars & a Wish Parent Feedback

Last term we sent 2 stars & a wish forms home for you to complete asking for your feedback on the strengths of our school and also something we could improve on.

Many thanks to everyone who took the time to complete the forms, your feedback is very important to us and we do take all your comments on board. We have collated all the forms and have attached a copy of a report which was presented to our Governors recently.

‘Thank you’ for the overwhelmingly positive feedback recognising the strengths of the school, hard work of the staff and robust systems in place. International studies show that ‘feeling valued’ and ‘making a difference to the lives of children’ are key career motivating factors for teachers and more so than salary.

Parents requested increased frequency of Parents Evenings as the school had hosted a re-mote Meet the Teacher evening in September and the Parents Evenings were held later in the year than what is usual. The Senior Leadership Team will review how and when com-municate children’s progress for 2021-2022.

The majority of parents feel that communication is a strength of the school, however some parents feel it is an area for improvement. This is not unusual feedback for schools. Regular, timely, transparent and honest communication is something the school continues to strive to achieve. We utilize the following methods for communicating with parents: Parentmail, weekly newsletters, video messaging via the SSA Facebook page, Tapestry (EYFS), Class Dojo, let-ters, phone calls, teacher appointments on request, SLT available on the door each morning, class teachers available at collection each day (although we appreciate that this has been compromised during Covid times).

60% of parents agree that the school deals effectively with bullying. We interpret the 36% of parents that ‘don’t know’ as a positive indicator that they have not had to work with the school regarding bullying. In response to the parent feedback, Mrs Stalham will share the school’s approach to dealing with bullying in the September Meet the Headteacher meeting.

16% of parents disagree that homework is appropriate for their child’s age. It has been agreed that the school will work with parents to review the Home Learning Policy when it is due for renewal.

The Two Stars and Wish Feedback forms for the Spring Term will be shared with par-ents next week. Please make it a priority to complete this based on your experiences of

the Spring Term.

Comic Relief

We will be supporting Comic Relief on Friday 18th March and ask children to come into school wearing something red for a £1 donation. The more red the better!

All classes will have a donation bucket in their classroom.

Ventilation in Classrooms

In order to prevent the transmission of Coronavirus in school, the school building and class-rooms have to be well ventilated. Windows are open at all times and doors open when the temperature allows (these are shut when it is particularly cold).

As in the Autumn term, please dress your child in thermal underwear and layers if they are finding the classroom chilly. Children are permitted to wear their coats in class if they wish.

Come on sunshine!

Parenting Hub

Suffolk County Council have a Parenting Hub website for parents/carers to find parenting ad-vice and support to help their child's develop-ment .

There is a wealth of information on the site including details of children health services, details of parenting programs and details of local support for parents. The link to the website is https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/children-families-and-learning/childcare-information-and-support-for-parents-and-providers/parent-hub/

Vitamin D

Due to the recent lockdown and children not being outside enough, there is a concern that this may result in some chil-dren having a Vitamin D deficiency. The main symptoms of deficiency are fatigue, bone pain, muscle pains/aches and mood changes. For more information on this and ways you can increase your child’s Vitamin D intake please see the fol-lowing link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/

British Science Week Next week, we are looking forward to taking part in British Science Week. The theme this year is, 'Innovating for the Future'. The children will be exploring how technology has completely transformed our lives and how it will continue to develop in exciting ways in the future! They will also research some unique inventions and how various inventions work. Finally, they will discuss the importance of innovation for conservation and how wildlife, oceans and forests can be protected in the future. Each child will then have the opportunity to design and create an invention of their choice! They will present their invention in a creative way and a winner will be selected from each class. Winners will be congratulated during the final Celebration Assembly before Easter!

Mrs Jo Howard– Science Leader for Learning

Explorers

This week, the Explorers have been learning with the story,

''The Worrysaurus'. The little dinosaur in the book has a worry

in his tummy and when he releases his worry, it comes out as

a butterfly!! The book has helped us to discuss lots of ways

that we can chase our own worry butterflies away.

We have created our own butterflies using

paint and we also have some live caterpillars

on the way to us! We are going to watch

them transform through their life cycle and

when they emerge as butterflies, we are going to release them on the school field, just like the worry

butterflies in the story. We will keep you updated on

their progress!.

Pathfinders

Ahoy there!! Pathfinders have had a wonderful pi-rate themed week! We have been reading non-chronological reports about pirates; making port-holes and pirate hats; and even playing pirate themed games in PE. On Thursday afternoon, we started to make the treasure for our chests. We rolled, cut and sculpted clay to make brooches and beads, and look forward to painting them next week when they are dry.

Adventurers

This week as part of science week the Adventurers have been thinking about innovation. They

have enjoyed thinking about possible new inventions or ways to improve existing inventions.

The ideas are wide ranging , money makers, food machines, teleporter gloves, underwater

planes to mention a few. Some children worked alone and others collaborated with a friend.

Next week we hope to make models of our inventions.

Navigators

This week, Navigators have been filling each other's buckets! We read the story 'Have you filled

a bucket today?' and made our own buckets. We have been busy filling them with positive

thoughts and actions.

We have also transformed ourselves into inventors for Science week based on the theme

'innovating the future'. Some of our inventions are: the Gas Air Super Cleaner, the Buddybot,

the Sub, the Gorilla Phone, the Tree Savers, the SensorS3000, the Arctic Car and the All-day

Backpack!

Let Your Light Shine!

The staff at Sproughton C oF E Primary School are having to wear special sunglasses as the

children are shining so brightly with their achievements this week! Not just in Explorers but in

every class in the school!

Well done children! Another week that you have dazzled us with your hard work, resilience,

motivation, kindness and positive attitude to learning!

#proudtobesproughton