The children have made a fabulous start to 2023, settling back into school routines and their learning superbly.
Parents’ Evening
We are very much looking forward to seeing you at the Parents’ Evening sessions next Tuesday and Thursday. These are very important meetings as this is an opportunity for us to share your child’s achievements so far and how we can work together to ensure that they get the very best out of all of the opportunities that lie ahead this year. If you haven’t already made an appointment, I would urge you to do so by logging on to: www.parents-booking.co.uk/warrenpark
You can access the letter previously sent with all of the details about how to make an appointment on the school website or call the school office and they will be more than happy to help you book an appointment.
Join our Governing Body
Our Governing Body will be sending out an advertisement for a new parent governor. It is a fantastic way to get involved in the life of the school and to make a difference for our wonderful children and amazing staff team. If you are interested, please look out for the advert and come and have a chat with some of our existing governors at the Parents’ Evening. They will be happy to talk about the role and answer any questions that you may have. Please don’t let child care be a barrier as we will provide a free Kids Club place for attendance at governing body meetings.
Speech and Language
The way that we will be working with our Speech and Language Therapist, Sarah James, will be changing. In future she will be coming to work with us on a half termly basis to assess children and recommend programmes that our team will implement. We will continue to provide high quality support and intervention for any children with speech and language needs.
Industrial Action by the National Education Union (NEU)
The National Education Union have voted to take strike action on the following days:
Wednesday 1st February
Thursday 2nd March
Wednesday 15th March and Thursday 16th March.
It is likely that some or all classes will be closed on these days. We would advise that you make plans for these days and we will confirm school arrangements as soon as we are able to do so in an additional letter.
Art Competition
Very well done to everyone who entered the Art competition. The quality of the entries was incredibly high and the judges had the almost impossible task of choosing the winners. We hope that their prizes will inspire them to follow their artistic talent and enjoy becoming artists!
Attendance
The government introduced new attendance guidance for schools for this academic year to ensure that children are in school as much as possible following the pandemic disruption. We were delighted to be able to give out our gold, silver and bronze certificates to all of those children who have had fantastic attendance during the autumn term, many with 100%, which is brilliant! We have many rewards in school which are given out weekly for individual and whole class attendance as well as for the least lateness. Thank you so much for supporting us with attendance and punctuality because there is a very strong link between both academic success and happiness when at school for those who demonstrate high attendance and good punctuality.
We analyse individual attendance regularly and the government require us to put in place supportive measures for any child who has poor attendance. Our Home School Link Worker, Mrs Taylor, or your child’s teachers will get in contact if your child’s attendance falls below an acceptable level to find out how we can help. We want to help in any way that we can in order that any formal legal action can be avoided. By working together, we want to make sure that your child has the very best education possible during their time at Warren Park.
Ventilation in classrooms
I would like to reassure parents that we follow DfE advice regarding good ventilation in schools. This is managed very carefully during cold weather to ensure that classrooms remain warm and comfortable for the children to work in. During the pandemic the DfE issued all schools with CO2 monitors. This simply measures the CO2 that we all breathe into the air. It helps to signal if some fresh air through open windows may be needed and schools are expected to take a common sense approach to this. During cold spells this may mean that teachers open the windows to allow fresh air into the classrooms during break and lunch times. The guidance was originally issued to prevent Covid from spreading within the atmosphere. There is no issue or additional risk at school with ventilation and our approach is no different than it has been for a number of years.
Clubs
Please remember to look at our clubs list on the school website and sign your child up via the magic booking system. If you have any problems with this, please call the school office and they will be happy to help.
On the parents’ evenings, as well as being able to talk to governors, Mrs Lofting and I will be available in the main reception area if you have any queries or just fancy coming to say hello and have a cup of tea. We look forward to seeing you next week.
With very best wishes,