Brilliant Paragon Home Learning in Year 1

City Academy – Whitehawk

Newsletter

3rd November 2017

Dear Parents/Carers,

We have had a very successful first week back at school with the highlight being the opening of our new library to mark the start of our new reading initiative, Accelerated Reader. The library looks absolutely stunning and the children (and adults) were amazed at the transformation.

Accelerated Reader is a really exciting new reading initiative for us. Children are given a range of books to choose from (based on something called their ZPD). When they have finished the book, they take part in an online quiz. If they get most questions right, they earn points towards their own target and the class target. They also earn a number of words, e.g. if the book has 105 words they earn 105 words. The race is on for the first millionaire reader!

We are very excited by this approach because it really enthuses children to read and to understand the texts they read. Answering the questions correctly is a key part of the process. Already, we have seen many children walking into the school playground reading their book!

I attended the PTA AGM yesterday and was delighted to see that Katie Mercer will carry on as Chair for the next year. It is really important for the school, community and children that the PTA are well supported by the school and parents/carers – please do what you can to help and support them, they’re always looking for new members.

I would also like to say a huge thank you to all on the PTA for a very successful year. They have supported the school in many ways in the last 12 months. Generous donations were made to our re- decoration of the library; new water fountains have been purchased and children love the new sensory boxes that were bought using PTA money.

Mr Church

INSET Dates

Please see the website for these dates (School Calendar) Friday 10th November - school is shut all day for children. Wednesday 20th December - school shuts at 1pm for children. Gates will open for collection at 12.55pm. Tuesday 2nd January - school is shut all day for children. Friday 2nd February - school is shut all day for children. Friday 15th June - school is shut all day for children. Website

Hopefully you have been looking at the website which has been updated. Some things to note:  Some parents/carers have had problems accessing some of the information on the tabs where there are lots of sub-headings, particularly on mobile phones. The site has now been adapted to have less sub-headings and, as an example, you should now be able to see all of the class pages, under Year Groups.  The latest newsletter will always be displayed under ‘Parent/Carer Information’.  The ‘School Calendar’ has been updated with INSET and term dates. Paragon and end of term events are also displayed on there.  ‘Latest News’ is constantly updated – check it every day or two!  Each class will update their page twice each half term. Coming soon are topic webs so you can see what your child is learning this half term.  You can look at the other Aurora schools under ‘Aurora – Our Sponsor’.  Mr Chick’s sports & PE reports are always very popular – find them in ‘Curriculum’ the ‘PE & Sport’. If you are having any problems or have any feedback, please speak to Mr Church.

Paragon Dates

Paragon events for parents/carers have been set – please come in and support your children, they really appreciate it! In response to feedback from parents/carers, we are only holding one year group per day. Y1: Weds 29th Nov: 2pm - 3pm Y2: Thurs 23rd Nov: 2pm - 3pm Y3: Weds 22nd Nov: 2pm - 3pm Y4: Mon 27th Nov: 2pm - 3pm Y5: Thurs 30th Nov: 2pm - 3pm Y6: Tues 28th Nov: 2.15pm - 3pm

End of Term Performances

In keeping with school tradition, each year group will hold a performance at the end of the December term in the Assesmbly Hall. Please come and support your children! Reception: Tues 12th December 2.15pm & Weds 13th December 10am Y1: Thurs 14th December 9.30am Y2: Thurs 14th December 2.15pm Y3: Weds 20th December 9.30am Y4: Mon 18th December 2.15pm Y5: Tues 19th December 9.30am Y6: Tues 19th December 2.15pm

Charity Events

 We will hold our whole school two minute silence for Remembrance Day at 11am on Thursday 9th November. Poppies will be on sale in the school playgrounds each morning next week.  Children in Need: Friday 17th November. This day will be non-school uniform, please encourage your child to wear spots and bring in a small donation. We will also hold a cake sale after school, any cakes you can send in with your child will be much appreciated!  Save The Children: Wednesday 20th December. We started a new tradition last year on the last day of term – children are invited to wear Christmas/Winter jumpers for a small donation that we will donate to Save The Children.

Parking

We would politely remind all families not to block spaces or entrances to either car parks at the start and the end of the day. There have been incidents recently where staff have needed to attend courses and have not been able to get in or get out of school.