Newsletter: September 2018 www.oakhillfirst.com

Oak Hill First School

Wirehill Drive, Lodge Park, Redditch

Dates for the diary

17th Sept Year 2 Outdoor Learning

19th—21st Sept

Year 4 Condover

24th Sept Year 2 Storyteller Visitor

25th Sept Year 3 Swimming starts

25th Sept Year 4 Outdoor Learning

2nd Oct Parents’ Evening

4th Oct Parents’ Evening

9th Oct Year 1 Outdoor Learning

9th Oct Year 2 Trip to SouthCrest Woods

11th Oct Year 3 Trip to Arrow Valley Lake

11th Oct Year 2 Parental Engagement

12th Oct Individual School Photos

15th Oct Year 3 Parental Engagement

23rd Oct Year 1 Local Trip

23rd Oct Nursery Parental Engagement

26th Oct School Closed—Training Day

29th Oct —2nd Nov

Half Term

5th Nov School Open

6th Nov Reception

Parental Engagement

We have attached a leaflet explaining the roles of our Senior Leadership Team and non-classed based teachers.

Welcome Back

Welcome to the first monthly newsletter of the new academic year. We wish to extend a warm welcome particularly to the new pupils, parents / carers and staff who have joined our school community this September. In our first Gold Book assembly of the year we have already celebrated quality pieces of work and pupils showing a great attitude to learning..

In addition Year Leaders were delighted to report to the whole school that all have settled in just as they would have hoped.

Oak Hill, being one of the largest first schools in Worcestershire, is a busy and thriving school and we pride ourselves on both the standard of education that we offer (both in and out of the classroom) and in the level of care that we provide. Every child is an individual whose strengths and interests will be nurtured and encouraged. Most crucially, it is important to us that children enjoy their education. We know many children carried on with topic related homework in the holidays which we were extremely pleased to hear. Thank you for your support with this.

We also believe that the environment that the children work in is important and with this in mind a range of improvements have taken place over the summer such as redecoration of all KS2 classrooms, new outdoor canopies for RM and fencing around the field completed.

In addition, staff areas have also been improved with a new kitchen, additional office space created and redecoration of the main offices.

There is a wealth of opportunities available to your child and we encourage pupils to get involved in as much as possible. We run many clubs for pupil in Year 1 and above that vary over the year run by either school staff or external providers. Following parental requests in the annual questionnaire we now intend to run a reception club later in the year.

Here’s to another successful year!

Dates continued on the next page

8th Nov Year 3 Outdoor Learning

9th Nov Open Morning for prospective parents for Reception Intake 2019

12th—16th Nov

Anti-Bullying Week

12th Nov Open Morning for prospective parents for Reception Intake 2019

12th Nov Year 3 Visitor Hrothgar

12th Nov Odd Sock day

14th Nov Tea Day

16th Nov Tea Day

22nd Nov Year 1 Parental Engagement

26th – Road Safety Week

29th Nov Year 4 Visitor from Royal Enfield Bikes

30th Nov Year 4 Parental Engagement

4th Dec Reception Performance pm

5th Dec Reception Performance pm

6th Dec Reception Performance pm

10th Dec Year 1 Performance

Year 3 Performance

13th Dec Year 1 Performance

Year 3 Performance

17th Dec Nursery Entertainer ‘Magic Bob’

19th Dec Nursery performances

20th Dec Party Day

21st Dec Reception—Year 4

Pantomime

21st Dec Last Day of Term

Christmas Holiday

Within our annual plan of school improvement we have targeted the following areas for the Autumn Term.

Curriculum

Development Introduce new maths scheme for Y1-4—Maths— No Problem

Review our long term plans

Greater Depth in Reading

Introduce the Babcock writing scheme

Early Years Review outdoor provision

To embed the new EY maths programme

Phonics standards

Behaviour To review aspects of our behaviour support offer:

Further training for Lunchtime Supervisors

Friday Challenge activities.

Quality of teaching and learning

Develop a programme of support for the teaching staff and pupils for speech and language concerns.

Continue to ensure that children are offered a broad and balanced curriculum

Leadership &

Management To collaborate to share and learn from good practice across

our cluster of school..

To develop Foundation subjects subject leaders' skills to support the development of these areas across school

Access & inclusion Team: All stakeholders have clear understanding of roles and responsibilities of all members of the A&IT

In today’s Gold Book assembly for Years 1 to 4, classes 1M, 2P, 3S, 3W and 4S celebrated winning the awards for best attend-ers and/or early birds. We will continue to give punctuality and attendance the high profile it deserves and challenge lateness and poor attendance being that it impacts on pupils’ readiness and ability to learn.

Classes with a green box attendance have achieved or exceeded the minimum expectation.

Classes in red are potentially a cause for concern and further analysis will take place.

Mrs Tominski (Office) is now the Attendance Officer for Oak Hill and liaises with parents, teachers and senior leaders when dealing with all attendance matters

Recent % attendance

Average attendance overtime

No. of lates Total of lates since Sept.

RM 91.3 2

RA 92.7 3

RE 97.6 4

1S 90.3 4

1B 97 3

1M 99.5 1

2T 95 6

2C 96.5 3

2P 97.1 0

3J 96.1 1

3S 91.1 0

3W 98.6 3

4E 97.8 3

4S 92.1 0

4P 96.7 2

We have a new school council!

Voting has taken place and the children have again had the opportunity to see democracy in action.

Our school councillors are really important. There

is a representative in each class from Year 1 to Year 4 and they meet at least every two weeks with Mrs Court.

It is a very responsible job. A councillor’s job is to :

Listen to their classmates and share ideas with the school council at the meetings. Discuss options, debate and decide what we’d like to work on, get better at or find

out about. It’s about making a difference. Develop confidence, leadership and communication skills. Be part of a team who’s job is to help make Oak Hill the best it can be. Make sure the children have a say and let the adults know their feelings and opinions

about what affects their lives.

These are our new help heroes.

You may remember that the children were involved in writing their own version of our Anti Bullying policy last year.

We liked this idea so much that we have designed these heroes to explain to all our children how to be awesome, kind, friendly and safe. In each newsletter we’ll be

explaining to you how we have been supporting our friends to be a great team at Oak Hill.

Composer of the Month

We have selected the composer Sergei Prokofiev

Russian composer and pianist Sergei Prokofiev was born in 1891 in Ukraine. Early on, it was clear that he had musical talent. His mother, who was a very good pianist, encouraged him, and taught him to play the piano. Sergei began composing at the age of five. When he got a bit older, he and his mother moved to St. Petersburg, so that he could study music there. Prokofiev was a master at using music to tell a story. One of his most famous musical stories is Peter and the Wolf, which was written for Russia's Central Children's Theatre.

Reminders: Our school operates a ‘tie hair back’ policy for pupils whose hair falls below shoulder length. We ask that you only wear small hair accessories. For safety reasons, children who have pierced ears should only wear small stud earrings County Health & Safety Guidelines state that earrings should be removed or covered during PE. and swimming sessions. As this procedure will be difficult for many young children, we recommend that earrings be left at home on identified days.

Water Bottles

Children learn better when they are hydrated so please make sure your child’s water bottle is in school every day and is clearly labelled. Plain water only in bottles please.

P.E. Kits

Please note, our PE uniform is a white t-shirt, purple shorts and a plain tracksuit (black/grey/navy blue / purple) for out door P.E.. Children require pumps too although in KS2 trainers may be worn instead of pumps. Please make sure all kit is labelled with your child’s name as this helps ensure any items that become lost are easily returned.

Communication books

Please use these to send any messages to your child’s teacher who will look at them each day.

Parents’ Evening

Tuesday 2nd October 3.40—5.40 pm

Thursday 4th October 4.00—7.00 pm

Parents’ Evening this term is an opportunity for our teachers to give you immediate feedback on how well your child has settled into their new class, review the targets that were set in their annual report and set new targets and offer suggestions on ways to support at home.

We allow for 1 meeting for each child that is for 10 minutes (bells ring every 10 minutes to indicate start/finish).

Parents will be able to sign up for an appointment from Tuesday 18th September. Sign-up sheets will be displayed outside classrooms except for Years 3 & 4 . Year 3 sheets will be on the hall windows and Year 4 sheets will be on the windows by the Year 4 entrance. If you are unable to come in to sign up, then please pop a note in your child’s communication book stating which day you would like and we will make you an appointment.

September Assembly Themes, Festivals and

Awareness Days

Throughout the school year at Oak Hill, we learn about a range of festivals and awareness days.

During September, the whole school will focus on:

Hijra—New Year

Yom Kippur

European Day of Languages

Three Times Readers

Make sure you read at least three times a week at home and record this in your reading diary. You could read your home reader book, school library book or your own book/magazine from home. This regular reading will help the children build on the skills they are learning in school and will also help to develop their vocabulary and understanding of language.

The diaries are checked every Friday in school and those children who have read three times are rewarded with certificates and stickers. Every half term, all the children who have consistently read three times a week will receive a special certificate and be entered into a draw to win a brand new book!

Behaviour

Well done to all our fabulous children who have started the year with an excellent attitude to their learning. We have high expectations of the pupils and we want our pupils to display a thirst for knowledge and develop their values of respect and responsibility. This creates a positive climate for learning so that the children can make the most progress possible.

Our School Rules are:

We follow instructions first time. We treat others kindly. We listen when someone is speaking. We take care of things inside and out. We always walk around school.

Zone Boards (Gold, Silver, Green, Yellow and Red)

GREEN IS GOOD! Being in Green means we have followed the school rules. When children go up the zone board, they receive lots of praise and a reward. When they go down the zone board, they receive an appropriate sanction for breaking rules.

We know that most children follow the rules all the time and their reward comes on a Friday afternoon - Friday Challenge! A range of curriculum subjects are taught in mixed groups within each year group, with a focus on team building, creativity and problem solving. Each class have had an input into the kind of activities they would like to take part in. Groups will be led by one of the teachers or teaching assistants. Friday Challenge is fun and exciting, but it also develop skills like communication, sharing and resilience when faced with a challenge. This half term, some of the activities on offer are dancing, cookery and cross country.

If you have any questions about our behaviour management system, please speak with your child’s class teach in the first instance. If you would like further information, Mrs Court is the staff member with overall responsibility of this area of school development.

Reception

Our Reception children have settled in well and are happy learning in school.

Polite Reminder: Health & safety

Trim Trail and Outdoor Gym Equipment

Please be aware that no children are allowed to play on the outdoor play equipment before and after school.

Children are only allowed on the equipment during school hours when supervised by a member of school

staff. Thank you with your support in this matter.

Attendance Awards

Best Attenders Early Birds

14th September 14th September

KS1 1M (99%)

KS2 3W (98%)

KS1 2P

KS2 3S / 4S

Parental Engagement

Children’s learning is a partnership between home and school. Each term, you are invited to spend time in school with your child engaging with their learning. It is hoped that you will gain skills from these sessions which will help you to further support your child at home. As this is a time for you to spend quality time with your child, unfortunately it is not suitable for younger children to attend.

Parental Engagement sessions this term are:

Year 2 – Thursday 11th October

Year 3— Monday 15th October

Nursery— Tuesday 23rd October

Reception— Tuesday 6th November

Year 1— Thursday 22nd November

Year 4— Friday 30th November

September Picture News Assembly Themes

Each week, we will be discussing issues that are in the news in an age appropriate way. Your child may come

home and want to discuss views on the question of the week. To support this, we will send a sheet via email with

questions that you can discuss with your child.

Questions discussed this week were:

Is our help always wanted?

Next week, we are discussing:

How can we help homeless people?

School Nurse

Our school nurse, Karen Green, visits school on a half termly basis. As part of her role she does offer appointments for parents who would like advice/support regarding their

child's health (Reception-Year 4)

If you would like an appointment with the school nurse to discuss concerns about your

child's health, please contact the main office who will be able to tell you the next date she

will be visiting.

As part of an initiative to increase pedestrian safety outside local schools, Safer Neighbourhood policing teams are to take a preventative course of action in the hope of raising awareness to drivers, parents or guardians to the well being of children, thereby promoting road safety to reduce road casualties. We would like to remind you of the following to prevent unnecessary obstruction of the road or entrance to your son/daughter’s school which benefits all parties:-

You must keep the ‘School keep Clear’ Zigzags free from vehicles. These markings mean that YOU MUST NOT STOP, even to drop off or pick up.

Park so that you do not cause any inconvenience to anyone else.

Do not park illegally – fines start at £30.

Do not drive or park on the pavement – children are taught the pavement is a safe place to be.

Do not park on single yellow lines if restrictions are in place which will be clearly visible on street furniture such as lamp posts.

Do not park on double yellow lines, these protect the junctions and allow motorists the visibility they need.

Do not park in designated Bus Stop Bays where it is marked on the road in yellow and signed.

Park away from road features such as traffic islands so that other road users including large vehicles, lorries, fire engines, coaches can get through

Dropped kerbs are there to assist pushchair and wheelchair users to cross the road, do not park so that you block them.

Never park so as to stop a resident or trader from getting on or off their property and if you are doing this you must move by law when asked to do so.

Do not park on verges, as you may damage them, or any utilities underneath. The local authority can charge you for the cost of the repair.

Drive slowly at school times, children may suddenly step out into the road, this allows you time to stop safely.

Vehicles identified causing any of the above offences may be subject to prosecution