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Home , Frithelstock, Monkleigh

Primary School News A PLACE TO SMILE, A PLACE TO SHARE, A PLACE TO SUCCEED

1st Oct 2018 Dear Parents, carers and children,

Reminders on attendance at school As a school we aim to:  Maintain an attendance rate of a minimum of 97%.  Maintain parents’ and pupils’ awareness of the importance of regular attendance  Maintain good time keeping

Good attendance is important because:  Statistics show a direct link between under-achievement and poor attendance  Regular attenders make better progress, both socially and academically  Regular attenders find school routines, school work and friendships easier to cope with  Regular attenders find learning more satisfying  Regular attenders settle into school more easily

If attendance falls below 96% we have to follow guidelines set by the Education welfare office –EWO, a letter will be sent home from the school, if there is no improvement a second letter is sent and following on from this we have to contact the EWO who would then become involved.

Punctuality If a child arrives to school late but before the registers close at 9.10 am, then the child will receive a Late Coding (‘L’ Code).

If the child arrives after the register close (9.10am) then Department of Education guidance means that the child will be coded as arriving after the registers have closed - ‘U’ Code. The ‘U’ Code is an Unauthorised Absence for the entire session.

Exceptional circumstances and family holiday Schools can no longer grant term time holidays. The 2013 amendments to the 2006 regulations remove references to family holidays and schools may now only grant leave in ‘Exceptional circumstances’.

Exceptional circumstances are when the circumstances leading to a request for absence are ‘of unique and significant emotional, educational or spiritual value to the child which outweighs the loss of teaching time’. The school considers Exceptional circumstances to be those that are highly unlikely to be repeated, or an event or situation that is unique to the children involved and which would not apply to other children in the school.

In certain circumstances a parent/carer’s employer might restrict annual leave to a certain time period. In these circumstances the school will ask for a written confirmation from the employer and will then consider the request.

If a request is Unauthorised and the leave is taken anyway, then Schools are expected to inform the Local Authority, who may then instigate Parental Responsibility Measures (which may include Penalty Notice or Magistrate Summons).

We are keen that parents should realise when their child’s attendance rate has slipped. We will regularly closely monitor attendance. An attendance rate of 90% which sounds quite good actually means that in the whole school year of 190 days, there would be 19 days of schooling missed. This is nearly 4 weeks in a year and understandably will have an impact on a child’s attainment. An attendance of 90% and below falls into the persistent absence category, as defined by the Department for Education.

Thank you for help with maintaining good school attendance for your child/children Parents Evening Please remember to sign up for a slot to see your child’s class teacher. Band T is available for your child to be looked after while you attend your meeting. This is £1 per child.

Stars of the week : Class R- Jake Class 1 – Caspian Class 2 - Florence Class 3 – Ella Well done to them all! Karen Reeves (Head Teacher)

The school can be contacted on 01805 623269 email: [email protected] Website: www.monkleigh-primary.devon.sch.uk Monkleigh Primary School, Monkleigh, , Devon. EX39 5JY Office hours 8:30-2:30 daily during term time.

School Census – School Dinners It may seem strange that we are putting the census and dinners under the same heading! Vital funding is calculated based on the number of children in Reception and Years 1&2 who have a school dinner on census day. So we would be very grateful if as many children in those year groups as possible opt to have a dinner this (8:30-2:30 Mon-Fri) Thursday (they are classed as Universal Infant Free School Meals, so are free). If your KS1 child would like to try a school lunch that would be great – even if they still decide to bring a packed lunch with them as a back-up. Secondary Place Applications We are being asked to remind parents that the deadline for applying for your year 6 children’s secondary place is approaching (31st Oct). Please make sure that you apply by that date. There are still a few SOE3a Consent forms outstanding. Without these completed forms, your child will not be able to join us on off site visits or trips. Please return them to the office. Thank you.

Class 3 are going to The Big Bang at GTS on Friday 12th Oct. More details to follow.

Tuesday 2nd October 11-12.15 Class 2 Multi Skills. Full PE kit in school please. Tuesday 16th October 11-12.15 Class 1 Multi Skills. Full PE kit in school please.

Any questions please come and find me or contact me at [email protected]

A reminder that there are no clubs this Wednesday due to Parents’ Evening.

Class 1 Weds PM (until Oct ½ term) We are having great fun making magic potions, leaf mobiles and over the next few weeks we will be making our journey sticks. If over the weekend you find a nice stick please bring it in and give it to Mrs Wilson to look after ready for Wednesday. Class 2 Fri AM We have also made magic potions and about to start our journey sticks. Class 3 Mon PM Looking forward to showing off our nature mobiles very soon! Please make sure that children have suitable clothing with them [Not PE kit]

All bookings are to be made by 1pm at the latest on the afternoon required.

Children left before 08:50Upcoming am will be events: recorded onFilm the club B&T register–15th Oct and andyou will 10 beth Deccharged for the session. Invoices have been produced today in ParentMail for all outstanding B&T fees (there are still some previous invoices outstanding). Please pay outstanding amounts by next Sunday evening. You will need to add the invoiced item to your basket and checkout – if the total amount in your basket is less than £5 you will need to add something else before you can check out – B&T Top Up could be an option. Alternatively you can pay by cash / cheque (made payable to ) if that is easier.

We are looking at doing some fundraising for pre-school. We would like to be able to buy an interactive whiteboard for our little learners. We would be grateful of any fundraising suggestions! Please pop in and see a staff member if you have any ideas or can lend a helpful hand with organising a fundraiser. We would like to welcome Karen Flack to our pre-school team. She will be coming in some afternoons to help out. We would also like to thank Lynette Mayo who is always there to lend a hand when we need it. What a superb team we have here at Monkleigh! CLOTHING- Unfortunately it appears we may be saying goodbye to the summer and the weather has become a little bit unpredictable- please can we ask that all children have appropriate clothing for the rain or shine! HOLIDAY FORMS- There is a new form available for booking holidays, please ask Jodie for one of these if you will be booking your child out of preschool. We require ONE month’s written notice in order for your child's sessions to not be charged. FOREST SCHOOL- Forest school will now take place on a Friday afternoon- please ensure your child has a waterproof puddle suit, wellies, plastic bag and a change of warm clothes if required. SNACK DONATIONS- Thank you so much to those parents who have already provided the children with yummy

snack donations. Please can we make parents aware that we now have a child suffering with a dairy allergy so could snacks be provided thoughtfully. Please do keep them coming. DRESSING UP DONATIONS- We would love any unwanted dressing up clothes. WANTED- OLD CLOTHES- We would love any donations of tops trousers, leggings, knickers, pants and socks! SLIPPERS- It is one of our preschool rules for the children to be having shoes on at all times in case we need to leave the room quickly, we appreciate this is not always the comfiest option for our little people especially the 2 year olds, so please feel free to provide the children with a pair of slippers or a comfy alternative. BUGS AND GERMS- Please keep your children home if they are unwell. We are such a small setting and do all in our power to prevent the spreading of germs and infection between children and staff.

A date for your diary... Friday 7th December – FOMS Christmas Fayre (more details to follow) With Christmas rapidly approaching, many of us are shopping online. If you go to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/friendsofmonkleigh/ and search for a shop, you can be raising valuable funds for FOMS. Next FOMS meeting – Monday 29th October 9:15am in the staff room. 50:50 Club This month’s winners: 1. Victoria Wood 2. Shirley Reeves 3. Michelle Fisher COMMUNITY NOTICES: Monkleigh Toddlers has been running for the last six years as a weekly baby and toddler group at the village hall. Until recently it has been put on hold due to the lack of volunteers to run it. Therefore, we are looking for person/persons to run the group weekly. There are already resources available to start the group back up again with very little effort. If you think you would like to kick start the group again, please contact Victoria Wood on 07855 128498 for further details.

Burton at Bideford - Peter Rabbit – Mischief and Mayhem family day – 6th Oct (poster in notice board) Autumn Quiz - Village Hall – 6th Oct (raising money for Children’s Hospice SW) Family Bingo – Frithelstock Village Hall – 20th Oct (raising money for Frithelstock Playing Field))

FOR YOUR DIARY ...... October Swimming – Class 2 Swimming – Class 2 M 1 8 Running Club Running Club Year 3/4 Sports Festival T 2 Parents’ Evening 3:30pm – 6:00pm 9 NO Clubs! NO Clubs! Parents’ Evening 3:30pm – 5:00pm W 3 TRYC rehearsal (East The Water Primary 4:30-5:30) 10 TRYC rehearsal (East The Water Primary 4:30-5:30) High Five Club / Relaxed Kids Club NO CLUBS TODAY! High Five Club / Relaxed Kids Club Autumn Term School Census T 4 11 Football Club / Choir Club Football Club / Choir Club Class 3 – The Big Bang at GTS F 5 12 NO Clubs! NO Clubs! Peter Rabbit Mischief & Mayhem 10:30-3:30 (Burton Art) S 6 13 Quiz – Frithelstock VIllage Hall 7pm for 7:30pm

S 7 14 Cross Country League -