St Paul’s C of E Primary School Parent Portal - Newsletter Issue 03/23-24, 6 October 2023

ISSUE No. 03/23-24

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Zones of Regulation

We use the Zones for Regulation throughout the school to help pupils name, understand and regulate (control) their emotions. Feelings are sorted into 1 of 4 zones according to how they make us feel. There are no bad zones and the focus is on ensuring we can make good choices and function in whichever zone we are in. We will talk a lot about calming strategies (tools) such as counting to 10, doing some exercise/moving, to help us manage those strong feelings. You may choose to use this language at home, especially if your child finds it tricky to name and regulate their feelings.

House and Sports Captains

I have been so impressed by those children in Year 6 who have taken the time to write and present their speeches for the House and Sports Captains roles. They should all be very proud of themselves. Congratulations to our new House and Sports Captains.

School lunches

Please make sure you are selecting your child’s lunch before they come into school each day. This helps the kitchen to have the correct amount of food available.

Free School Meals

Although the new Universal Free School Meals initiative has been rolled out in London you should still sign up for Free School Meals if your family is struggling as this will allow you to access further support for your child.

Jewellery

No jewellery other than stud earrings and a watch may be worn to school.

I have noticed a number of children wearing hooped earrings. For health and safety reasons please can you make sure these are not worn to school.

Please also remember that it is a health and safety requirement for children with pierced ears to either remove their earrings or cover them with tape during PE lessons. Please provide tape if you do not wish your child to remove their earrings.

Safeguarding

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs Cresswell, with the deputies being Miss Mann, Mrs Hawting, Miss Patsalis, Miss Perrin, Mrs Drew and our governor, Claire Golding. You can find our Child Protection Policy and updated Behaviour Policy on the school website.

Change of date

The date of our Christingle services has changed to Monday 18 December. The KS1 Christingle service will start at 2.30pm and KS2 at 6.00pm.

Social media update

Our channels will be made public from today.

Many thanks for completing the Google consent forms in relation to this. To follow us on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, search @stpaulsn21 and to like our Facebook page, simply search for St Pauls CE Primary School.

School Volunteer Program

Please consider joining our parent volunteer program as the children can greatly benefit from your involvement.

We seek volunteers to help us with the following activities:

Supporting in class school trips.
Reading with children who need extra help
School-wide events

To be a part of this program please contact Mrs Hawting through the school office to book an appointment for a DBS check.

Attendance

Learning time is gained by attending school. At St Paul’s, we want all our children to have attended school 96% or more throughout the year. Being around teachers and friends at St Paul’s is the best way for pupils to learn and reach their potential. Time in school keeps your children safe and provides extra-curricular opportunities and individual pastoral care. Please ensure your child’s attendance is good. Any term time absence needs to be authorised by Mrs Cresswell, using the Leave of Absence Request Form (which can be found in the Parents section of the website).

We are aware of the incorrect attendance reporting problem in Parent Portal and will update you once this been resolved. Please bear with us.

Care home visit

As a school we are always keen to contribute to the wider community and in turn develop the children’s communication/social skills. With this in mind, we are pairing up with local care homes to encourage intergenerational linking. The children will be visiting care homes as well and participating with the residents in a range of activities which will be decided by the School Council and agreed with the Care Home. Last week was our very first visit! It involved sandwiches, cakes and lots of bingo!

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Reception's Family Trees

Reception have been discussing their families. They shared with the class who is in their families including their pets! The children then began to make their own family tree, by painting a tree trunk and using sponges of varying colours to create the leaves. They will be adding on the faces of their family members too.

Year 1's Art & Design

The children have been busy exploring mark making through observational drawing, developing an understanding of mark making techniques and learning to look carefully when drawing.

They enjoyed gathering fallen leaves and conkers to take back to the classroom to draw.

Year 1's Art and Design mark making picture 1

Year 1's Art and Design mark making picture 2

Year 1's Art and Design mark making picture 3

Year 1's Art and Design mark making picture 4

Year 1's Art and Design mark making picture 5

Year 2 exploring our local habitat!

As part of our science lessons Year 2 have been identifying the different plants/ trees that we have in our local area, the edible garden! Children have also been looking at what animals live in this area and went on an insect hunt. They were able to find woodlouse, spiders, snails and caterpillars.