Congratulations Corsham Primary!
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www.corshamprimary.co.uk July 2013 2nd Edition Despite an initially chilly and grey term, the sun has been shining at Corsham Primary throughout this busy summer term; the children and staff have had a great time! We will shortly be saying goodbye to our wonderful year six children who have given us so much joy over the years. We wish them all well as they move on to their new secondary schools. At this time of year we will also be saying goodbye and hello to old and new staff members and are looking forward to welcoming our new Foundation Stage pupils in September. We hope to hear the “patter of tiny feet” in the Ryan household very shortly and wish Miss Townsend, Miss Book and Miss Pankhurst much happiness for their forthcoming marriages. We are also saying good-bye and good luck to Mrs Baines who secured a position as a radiographer at RUH in Bath. I would like to thank Andrea for all the special things she has done for the pupils who attend the Sunshine Room and Learning Den. We are all going to miss her especially Olive and Timmy the greyhounds who regularly read with the children. Congratulations Corsham Primary! We are proud and delighted to inform parents and carers that Corsham Primary has achieved an Outstanding judgement following our recent inspection. The report was published on the Ofsted website on 19 July. We are particularly pleased to have received this very special news as the new Ofsted framework, which came into force in September 2012, has deliberately set the bar for an outstanding judgement even higher than before. The inspection itself was very challenging with five inspectors formally observing every teacher in the school, a total of 35 lessons in all; this did not include learning walks and other classroom visits when inspectors observed our Teaching Assistants delivering intervention programmes with the children. This amounted to well over 40 sessions which is a huge amount if you think this happened over just two days. I think it is fair to say that we were all overcome by the rigorous judgement process but it was worthwhile when we received this very special “pat on the back” from Ofsted. So in summary Corsham Primary has achieved: Overall effectiveness = Outstanding Achievement of pupils = Outstanding Quality of teaching = Outstanding Behaviour and safety of pupils = Outstanding Leadership and Management = Outstanding Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 Transition Building Update at Pound Pill Over the last few weeks of term, FS and Key Stage We were really hoping to open up the 1 have been enjoying getting to know their new second parent entrance onto the playground classrooms and teachers. which is located where the new gates are adjacent to the library before the end of term. But alas we have been thwarted—this Each class has had the opportunity to have story time by the sun! time and golden time in their new room in addition to spending the whole morning with their During most of the construction of the new new teacher. They've also had lots of extension we were praying for sun as it opportunities to ask questions about their new seemed to rain for months! Now the sun Is year group in preparation for September. stopping the contractors from completing the landscaping as all shrubs and grass Hopefully the children are now looking forward to seed will die due to lack of rain and very hot all the exciting new challenges and learning ahead sunshine! of them as much as we are. We have decided to delay the completion of We have enjoyed working with your children this the groundworks until September when we year and wish them all the very best next year. hope it will rain and water the new plants Please do not hesitate to contact your class and grass. I will let you know in the new teacher if you have any queries about next year academic year when the second entrance and we hope you all have a lovely summer will open. I can only apologise for this holiday. delay; while we are hoping for some rain for the plants, let’s hope the sun shines a bit longer so you all have a lovely holiday on Miss Palmer and the KS1 team the beach! The Year 6 boys’ cricket team showed themselves as accomplished cricket players this week when they represented Wiltshire at the Asda Kwik Cricket National South Final at the Hampshire Cricket Club in Southampton. It was an exciting and very hot day where the boys had to compete and perform against a very high level of budding and promising future cricketers. Even though we lost our three games it will be a day none of us will ever forget. Corsham 207 – Surry 235 Corsham 249 – Hampshire 284 Corsham 244 – Devon 254 Corsham Primary School Absence Request Form Taking your child out of school during term time may harm your child’s academic progress. Absences may only be authorised at the discretion of the Headteacher in EXCEPTIONAL circumstances. Circumstances which are notified to the school after a decision has been made by the Headteacher will not be considered. Therefore please be certain to provide details of the EXCEPTIONAL circumstances relating to your application below and attach any supporting evidence. EXCEPTIONAL circumstances no longer cover:- Holidays of any description Husband/wife work patterns necessitating taking holidays in term times Family Birthday celebrations Visiting relatives abroad There are an increasing number of requests for family weddings in term time, often abroad. The day of the wedding can be authorised as it is deemed to be a “one-off” situation BUT only if the school receives confirmation in writing eg. an invitation outlining the wedding details. Parents/Carers requesting a week’s leave of absence to attend a wedding should note that only the day of the wedding can be authorised. Permission should be applied for giving as much notice as possible for medical appointments including, hospital ap- pointments, hospital stays, dentists etc. Leave will normally be granted when evidence of appointment(s) has been provided. If permission has not been granted then any leave taken will be recorded as unauthorised. If the absence is not authorised by the Headteacher you will be notified by letter. Any unauthorised absence will appear in both the school register and in your child’s report. Persistent unauthorised absence may result in the involvement of the Education Welfare Officer and possible legal proceedings. Please read Local Authority leaflet overleaf which explains Penalty Notices issued for unauthorized absences during term time. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————- I request that ___________________________________________ (Name of Child) Class____________________ be granted leave of absence from school from _________________________to ____________________________. The exceptional circumstances I wish to be considered for authorisation of this absence are: ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Signed ______________________________________________________ Date ___________________________ For office use only: Days already taken _______________________________________________Attendance % ________________ AUTHORISED absence of __________day(s) has been granted, the exceptional reason is: ____________________________________________________________________________________________ UNAUTHORISED absence of______________day(s) as exceptional circumstances / attendance criteria (delete as necessary) have not been met. Headteacher _________________________________________________________________________________ PENALTY NOTICES - FOR HOLIDAYS TAKEN DURING TERM TIME (s444A and s444B Education Act 1996) Information for Parents and Carers What are s444A and s444B of the Education Act 1996? Section 444A and section 444B of the Education Act 1996 give powers to the Local Authority (LA) and other designated bodies to issue Penalty Notices where the parent/carer is considered capable of but unwilling to secure an improvement in their child’s school attendance. Why are these powers available? Reducing absence from school is a key priority at both national and local level. Missing school reduces a pupil’s educational attainment chances, can leave them vulnerable to anti-social behaviour and other crime and make them less likely to enter into employment or training when they have left school. What is a Penalty Notice? A Penalty Notice is an alternative to prosecution and is used to try and secure an improvement in a pupil’s school attendance without the need to appear in Court. As long as the penalty is paid the Penalty Notice en- ables parents or carers to discharge their potential liability for prosecution for the period covered by the Pen- alty Notice. What are the costs? Payment of £120 is required within 28 days of receipt of the Penalty Notice, this sum is reduced to £60 if paid within 21 days. If the penalty is not paid in full within 28 days the LA is required to commence proceed- ings in the Magistrates’ Court for the original offence of your child’s poor school attendance. If you plead guilty or are found guilty the Courts have a wider range of options which could include a maximum fine of £1000. In addition a Parenting Order could be imposed. Who issues them? Wiltshire Local Authority through the Education Welfare Service. How are they issued? By post to your home. Can I be prosecuted if I pay the penalty but my child is still missing school? Not for the period included in the Penalty Notice – payment discharges your liability in this respect. However, legal proceedings might be considered for further periods of poor attendance not covered by the Penalty Notice, depending upon the circumstances. When are they issued? Penalty Notices are issued for absence taken during term time where the leave of absence has not been authorised by the school or an absence has not been requested in advance and pupil has had a minimum of 10 sessions (5 school days) lost to unauthorised leave of absence during the previous six months up to and including the day the Education Welfare Service is notified.