Dear Parents/Carers,

The recently published Department for Education White Paper sets out the governmental expectation that all state funded schools will be offering a minimum of a 32.5 hour week for all children. The expectation is that this will be met as soon as possible.

As you know we put forward a proposal that we are confident would be the least disruptive to parents and of course, the most favoured as far as children’s learning is concerned.

We understand that we are stuck between a rock and a hard place as we cannot put into action something that will please everyone. If we bring forward the start time, some parents will find that tricky and if we extended the end of the day some parents will find that tricky. We have looked carefully at the small number of responses we had and shared those with our Governors. We all know that children learn best when they are fresh in the mornings and less so when perhaps they are tired in the afternoons. As we already open the doors at 840 am and the majority of children are in at this time, we felt this would be the most favoured option for our school.

We are bringing this into action from Monday 6^th June straight after half term. We will follow this pattern:

• 8.30 a.m. Open gates
• 8.35 a.m. Open classroom doors
• 8.40 a.m. Take the registers

Teachers already use this 8.40 am until 9.00 am slot to deliver intervention and ‘catch up’ activities. They are planning on developing this use of time from the beginning of the half term, in accordance with having a full class ready to learn at this time.

Like with any change, we are expecting a few teething issues that we will adapt to over time. We are lucky that we have a Breakfast club and After School club in our school that already accommodates a very significant number of children.

Many thanks for your support.

Miss Cook

Headteacher

Newdale Primary School and Nursery

Please click on the link below regarding a gift from Telford & Wrekin Council to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Telford and Wrekin Council letter Jubilee Medal to Parents

As a treat for winning the half term house points, Severn are having a dress down day on Wednesday 25th May 2022.

May 2022

Dear Parents/Carers,

Attendance reminder

As you know, being in school on time and every day is extremely important for all children in order that they receive the best possible start to their learning.  Your child’s attendance is vital to a successful education, as this is the foundation for lifelong learning. We have struggled overall with school attendance linked to Covid and more recently Chicken Pox. We are really hopeful that our attendance will now rise significantly, as we know how important it is for children to be in school on time and every day.

Did you know that a child having 90% attendance is the same as having one day off every two weeks? If their attendance drops to 80%, that is the same as having a day off every week. Lessons are planned in sequences and if a child misses a part of this sequence, they are at a disadvantage when it comes to committing that learning to long term memory.

Mrs Powell, Mrs Millington and I, monitor the attendance figures every three weeks along with our Education Welfare Officer.  We discuss all attendance below 95% and put actions in place to support children and families where we notice patterns in absence.

Not only do we monitor individual children’s attendance, but we also look at the attendance of each class in our school. Last week the class who received 100% attendance received a treat at breaktime.  We are going to bring back more recognition of good attendance during assemblies now that we are able to be together in the hall again. The classes with the highest attendance will be announced in assembly and we will report the figures on our webpage. If a child is in school for 100% of the school year, they will be rewarded with a treat. We very much appreciate that sometimes children must miss school for a medical appointment that cannot be made out of school time. We also appreciate that sickness cannot be helped.

Please ensure that you make all reasonable efforts to send your child into school. Sometimes you might suspect that your child is slightly under the weather, but well enough to come to school. That is fine, as staff will monitor very carefully and if necessary can administer medication and call later on in the day. Clearly, there are some illnesses that mean there is no choice other than keeping them off for the day. The office staff are more than happy to discuss any queries you have.

It is important to remind you the law states that: “The parent of every child of statutory school age is compelled by law to ensure such a child attends school unless there is a reasonable excuse for non-attendance.  Failure to do so may result in legal action being taken against you”.

Thank you in advance for your continued support in helping us do the best we can for your children.

Miss Cook

Headteacher