AUTUMN 2 2019

Head of Academy Update

Dear Parents and Carers, Welcome to this half term’s newsletter. October and November has been packed full of events and opportunities for your children that will be celebrated in this edition and as December approaches lots of dates for your diary as we celebrate the most wonderful time of the year!

Over the half term we had the building work that started in the summer completed to have new fire doors fitted across the building and we are so pleased how they have transformed the school. We are delighted that we have been able to keep and adapt the building’s original doors so that we still retain our unique Church school appearance. Our school was a church until the 1870s and the history that this building has is something we are very proud of.

We are also very proud of how all our children have settled back into school after half term. We have had many visitors from across the Trust and other schools and I wanted to share the feedback we have received:

“You must be very proud, The way the children look after each other is just gorgeous.”

“The school has a lovely feel to it and the children are so engaged in their learning.”

“The building is very well looked after, it feels like a new school’.

“The displays are really engaging, they showcase the children’s learning beautifully.”

We know that ASM is a very special place but it always good to get that feedback from people that visit the school and have it validated.

I was so pleased that I was able to attend the unveiling of the Remembrance bench in . It is amazing that we are able to be part of the Newton Abbot community and once again we are proud that we were approached by South College to be involved.

We were successful with funding of £121,500. This funding enabled us to carry out some major fire safety improvement works, which included the replacement of fire doors throughout the school, not only stopping the spread of fire in an emergency, but also improving the look and feel of the school. The works also included the full replacement of the fire alarm and detection system to be fully compliant with the current building regulations. This also enabled us to install a new emergency lighting system throughout the school, further improving the safety of staff, pupils and visitors in the event of a real life evacuation

As we approach the Christmas period there will be opportunities to join us at St Paul’s church in the last week of term to watch the traditional Nativity performance by our younger Forde and Courtenay classes (supported in singing by Courtenay and Templar) and on the last day of term when we hope you can join us for our Carol Service. All the dates are included in this letter and we know it can be a busy time of the year so don’t hesitate to check with your child’s class teacher if you need to clarify your child’s involvement.

Julie Edwards Head of Academy

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PE and Sport

November sees us welcoming back Mrs Stanley from Maternity leave. She brings with her her fabulous teaching, experience and skills. We are very happy to have her back! Mrs Stanley will be here every Thursday, all day, teaching all of the children and continuing the Rugby after school club. If you would like to join the Rugby club please ask Mrs Webber for a permission slip.

All of Key Stage 2 have attended Netball Festivals run by the young people at in October. Both days were fantastically run and all of the children enjoyed learning new skills.

Two of our year 5 children attended the aspiring leaders' day at Newton Abbot College, last week and learnt lots of strategies and ideas for keeping our children constructively occupied at break and lunch time. They both had a great day.

Coombeshead Academy and Newton Abbot College both offer gifted and talented activities, after school for local primary children. We are constantly looking for new children to access these opportunities.

Throughout the year, there will be many events that we can attend. Please look out for emails and letters so that your child doesn't miss out and has the correct kit etc for attending.

It was wonderful to meet our friends from All Saints Marsh at the Tag Rugby MegaFest! Well done also to one of our Y3/4 teams, who came first in the afternoon's competition. Page 3 AUTUMN 2 2019

Templar Class

R.E has been full of discussion around the world today and the things that we can do to make it a better place for everybody. By exploring Christian beliefs about Jesus and the kind of world that he wanted, we thought about how we felt about the current state of our word. Although we understood that there are bad things happening, we all concluded that there is still good in the world and we need to all work together to preserve it. Adding on to this, we created posters to show us what the world would be like if it were to be like heaven- this meant that we only had to include positive things in our posters.

Courtenay Class What a busy October Courtenay class have had! Our electricity topic ended by exploring which objects were conductors and insulators. We were able to use different objects around the classroom to help our learning. We discovered that spoons, sharpeners and the pegs were conductors whereas lego, rubbers and pens were insulators. We concluded that metal objects were conductors but plastic objects were insulators. Courtenay class have also been busy carrying out different maths investigations using the resources to help! We used the multilink cubes to help us work out how to move the frogs to the other side of the pond! Everyone in Courtenay class solved the problem and could then work it out with more frogs! Fantastic work Courtenay class! Page 4 AUTUMN 2 2019

Forde Class

We loved learning all about Harvest and learning our song for the Harvest festival! I was amazed by all of the entries to the vegetable competition!

We have been scientists in Forde! We went on a material hunt around our classroom and we were amazed at how many materials there were! We used our scientific vocabulary to describe the objects and materials.

We have been exploring materials and testing the materials! We even created an experiment to test how waterproof the materials were. This was to make a suitable coat for our teddy.

All of the Reception children received their Bible and Ball from the PTFA which was exciting!

Bradley Class In Bradley we have been exploring the use of colour within our art lessons. We have been studying the artist, Laura Wall, who is based in Teignmouth, and have an incredible lesson combining science and art. We used the primary colours in a cup and placed tissue in between them and another cup with water in. We were amazed at how the colours travelled along and mixed to show us the secondary colours. We challenged ourselves the next day because we were curious about the next level of colour mixing. We added another step and found that the colours mixed again to give a different hue. Now we know about colours, we cannot wait to get painting ourselves.

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Breakfast and After School Club We are really excited to be able to offer our fun breakfast and after school clubs! Breakfast club starts at 8.00am and is a perfect way to start the day. The children can choose their own breakfast with toast, cereal, brioche and fresh fruit on offer. Children can relax or select from the many activities before they start their day. After school club runs from 3—6pm. We offer a variety of snacks ranging from wraps, sandwiches with a choice of fillings, salad, fresh fruit and yoghurts. Children can partake in lots of fun activities including arts and crafts, good old fashioned board games, computer games and seasonal activities. They also have access to the outside area to play.

If you would like to book either breakfast or after school club, please log onto Edu Spot and register. Please note you need to register 24 hours in advance of any session you wish to book. Some of our sessions are fully booked already! If you have problems logging on, please speak to the office. Worship This month, we looked at The Lord's Prayer in our Family groups. We recite this prayer every morning in Collective Worship and we wanted to make sure that we all know and understand the meaning of this lovely prayer. We discussed the lines that tie in with values that we have explored in the past, such as the value of forgiveness. We are thankful for having forgiving friends and we are working on creating a great community that is full of love, thankfulness and forgiveness.

New School Prayer We have introduced a new school prayer that captures who we are as a school and celebrates our school family.

Lord Jesus Christ This is our school, let your light shine here. Let the rooms be full of joy. Let love be all around. Love for one another; love for all people; and love for you. Let us remember that, as many hands build a house, so many hearts build a school. Amen Page 6 AUTUMN 2 2019

Aspiring Sports Leader course at Newton Abbot College Bobby and I went to an Aspiring Sports Leader Course, led by Mr Patchett last week. We sat in a group and did activities like bouncing balls off the wall, long jump, bean bag throwing and speed bounce. It was really fun. Then we planned out some activities with the younger children. Bobby did a roll the ball competition. Logan’s team ran out of activities, so we made up an obstacle course with lots of fun activities for the children. We had a break and our lunch at NAC. There were lots of Year 1 and 2’s there from other local primary schools. We organ- ised a mini festival for them using the skills that we had learnt. We had to keep it sim- ple, but not too simple and tried to keep them engaged. We spoke about what makes a good personal challenge and what makes a good leader. It was a hard course but lots of fun. We learnt lots of new skills and are looking forward to putting them into practice in the school playground. Thank you boys for your wonderful write up of your Aspiring Sports Leader course at Newton Abbot College. We look forward to seeing you putting your new skills into action on the playground. THANK YOU….. Mrs Edwards

HITS A huge thank you for all those who donated harvest goods for the local HITS project. The food will make a real difference to local families and the community.

KS1 PHONICS DROP IN It was lovely to see so much support from at our KS1 parents and carers at the Phonics Drop In Session

A warm welcome to Mia-Grace who has joined us in Templar Class. Page 7 AUTUMN 2 2019

REMEMBERANCE BENCH

We were so pleased to be asked to work with the students at South

Devon College again to create a permanent remembrance bench in the town centre. The designs were fabulous and it was really tricky to decide the winners who were….Eve, Maisie, Daisy, Nevaeh, Rhys, Vanessa and Lewis. The designs were all inspired by local landmarks and depicting the images of the land, sea and air forces who fought for us in the War. The bench was unveiled by the children together with the Town Cryer, the Town Mayor, the Town Centre Manager and members of the Town Council. Thank you to the parents who also came to support the children, Interline Building who donated the wood and of course the construction students who hand made the bespoke bench which will be in place in many years to come.

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SCHOOL COMMUNICATIONS We will be sending more of our letters and permission slips via My Ed (using texts or emails). This enables:  us to be more efficient by saving paper  get communications to you quicker  parents and carers giving permission for events electronically, at your convenience If you have not yet done so, please download the My Ed app from https://www.myedschoolapp.com/ . By downloading the app, it saves the school money when sending text messages! If you have not yet received a text or email from us, please check with the office that we have your correct de- tails or if the emails have been sent to your SPAM folder. We currently have 75% of our Parents and Carers with access to My Ed, please help us to get to 100% as many of our other schools have managed to become completely paperless! If you are having prob- lems downloading the app, please speak to Mrs Webber.

PGL RESIDENTIAL YEAR 4—6

Thank you for all those who attended the PGL Parent Meeting.

The payment instalments are as follows:

£30.00 (Non refundable deposit) 18th November 2019

£74.70 8th January 2020

£74.70 25th March 2020

(The final cost will be confirmed as soon as possible and the instalments will be adjusted accordingly).

As per your feedback, we have amended the payments to allow part payments between each due date to help make it more manageable.

For more information please visit PGL‘s website www.pgl.co.uk to find out more about the company and the location we will be visiting. There is also a fantastic video giving you a taste of what is in store!

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Excellent attendance at school is important to allow a child to fulfil their potential. Below are just some of the key reasons why it is so important or children to attend school….

 To learn  To have fun  To make new friends  To experience new things in life  To achieve  To have the best possible start in life

CHILDREN IN NEED

A huge THANK YOU to all those who kindly donated to Children In Need. The children really enjoyed decorating Pudsey in pennies. Mrs Webber is still making trips to the bank with bags of heavy coins to bank! The total will be revealed shortly! Page 10 AUTUMN 2 2019

The Academy Day The Academy day begins at 8.40am prompt (gate opens at 8.30am). If you arrive between 8.45 and 9.15 am your child will receive a Late mark. If your child arrives after 9.15am they will receive a U mark as they have arrived after the register closes and will have that session as unauthorised. Please support your child’s learning by ensuring they arrive on time. 5 minutes late a day equates to 3 days of learning lost.

Permission for Trips Permission slips for all trips are sent electronically via My Ed. If you have not yet downloaded the app, please do so at www.myedschoolapp.com. If you download the app, we can send you text messages for free, you are also able to monitor your child’s attendance.

EYFS Admissions—September 2020. Please note that if your child was born between the 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016, you will be able to apply for your child’s school place from 15 November 2019. You will be able to log in and make your application at any point after this date by visiting https://www.devon.gov.uk/educationandfamilies/school-information/apply-for-a- school-place/apply-for-a-primary-school-place .

If you know of anyone who would like to visit our school, please get in contact, Mrs Edwards will be only too pleased to give a tour.

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Christmas Dates for Your Diary 2019

NOVEMBER 29th November—PTFA Christmas Fete Door open at 2.45pm to allow par- ents to have a quiet browse before children can be collected from their classrooms at 3pm. Cake donations from all would be much appreciated. All families welcome DECEMBER 2019 4th December—Templar Class—to see Aladdin at Coombeshead 1— 3pm. Please complete the permission slip advising if you are collecting your child from Coombeshead at 3pm, from school at 3.30pm or your child is in Year 6 and allowed to walk home alone. 5th December - Year 5 Lantern Parade workshop. 9am – 12am at Seale Hayne. ALL CHILDREN NEED A PACKED LUNCH. Please complete and return the permission slip advising if your child is in receipt of FSM and re- quires a packed lunch to be provided. Transport provided. 5th December – Whole School to watch ‘A Christmas Messenger performance’ at The Avenue Church 2- 3pm. We will be back at school at 3.10pm. Please collect your child from school. 6th December—BSO Concert at the Exeter University Years 3, 4 and 5. Please complete and return the permission slip. ALL CHILDREN NEED PACKED LUNCH. Please complete and return the permission slip advising if your child is in receipt of FSM and requires a packed lunch. Transport provided. 11th December – Lantern Parade (Year 5’s) 6pm Bearnes Primary School – more details to follow. 12th December - Whole School to watch the Coombeshead Performing Arts performance of ‘Caught By Christmas’ at ASM. 13th December - Christmas Jumper Day to raise money for Save the Chil- dren (we suggest a donation of £1 per family, but more or less is fine!) Please don’t feel you have to buy a new Christmas jumper for your children at this already very expensive time of year – we are very happy for children to wear an old jumper decorated with a Christmas picture they’ve drawn. School uniform should be worn with the Christmas jumper – this is NOT a non-uniform day. 16th December - Nativity Performance 10.30am – 11.30am St Pauls’ Church. All families welcome. 18th December - School Christmas Dinner. More details to follow. Price £2.45 per child for KS2. 18th December - PTFA School Disco KS1 3.15pm - 4pm, KS2 4.00pm - 5.00pm.

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Term Dates 2019

Autumn Term 2019 Start: 2 September Half Term: 21—25th October Last Day of Term : 20 December

Spring Term 2020 Start: 6 Jan Half Term: 17—21 Feb Last Day of Term: 27 March

Summer Term 2020 Start: 14th April Half Term: 25—29th May Non Pupil Days: 1—5 June Last Day of Term: 21 July

The Head of Academy may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. All requests for a child to be absent from school during term time must be made in writing at least a half term in advance of the proposed absence by completing the absence request form obtainable from the Academy office. Please call into the Academy Office if you would like to discuss your child’s attendance or any aspect of absences.