September 2013

Social media is amazing, since the 1st of September our Facebook page has been visited 598 times and our Twitter feed has had nearly 1000 visits. I wonder if we can beat this in October...? Spread the word and tell your friends and fellow parents about our twitter feed //twitter.com/lea_forest_aet and www.facebook.com/leaforestprimary Let's see if we can get more of our community on line.

Don't forget you can find all the latest news, letters and information on the academy website www.leaforestacademy.org

What a great way to connect with our community!

There will be a meeting in school regarding the forthcoming Yr6 residential visit to Stansfeld Outdoor Education Centre. It will take place on Thursday 3rd October at 2.30 p.m. (KS2 Hall)

The purpose of this meeting is to ensure that you are familiar with the details and requirements of this trip. There will be an opportunity for you to view the programme of activities that your child will be participating in and ask any questions that you may have.

Eid-ul-Adha, ‘The Celebration of the Sacrifice’ and marking the end of Hajj, is the second most important annual Islamic holiday. Eid-ul-Adha is expected to fall either on Tuesday 15 October or Wednesday 16 October depending on the moon sighting this year. Lea Forest Primary Academy understand, as it is with holidays in other faiths, this is a time of prayer, charity, celebration, family get-togethers and gift-giving to celebrate this joyous occasion. As a result we are able to authorise 1 day for religious observance. If your child however, is absent the following day, it will be marked as an ‘unauthorised’ absence.

The Academy will remain open to all those not celebrating Eid.

School Closure Possible - Tuesday 1 October 2013

I am writing to inform parents that a national day of action has been organised by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the (National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) for Tuesday 1 October 2013.

As a Headteacher I have a legal duty to review the implications of such a decision for the academy and if the strike goes ahead I have decided to implement a full closure which is necessary on the grounds of health and safety and the ability to deliver an effective level of education.

I appreciate the difficulties that this industrial action brings for many of our parents, but I would advise you that this strike is lawful. We will confirm closure on Monday 30 September 2013 via text to parents and the Academy website.

Mr Ian Lowe

Academy Head Teacher

Firstly we would like to thank the parents and carers whose pupils attend school every day and on time. Well done! This does not go unrecognised and you are giving your pupil every opportunity to achieve their full potential in school life. However, we have recognised that some pupils are arriving late regularly. These pupils are missing out on important aspects of school life, which may impact on your pupil’s confidence and self esteem.

The law requires pupils to attend the Academy regularly and this includes arriving on time each day. When a pupil arrives late to Lea Forest Primary Academy, there are many consequences:

• He or she misses out on essential instructions given at the beginning of lessons

• Pupils might feel awkward and embarrassed going into the classroom when everyone else is already settled

• When one person arrives late everyone loses out – the class is disrupted and the teacher may not always have time to explain the lesson for each late pupil.

There are also very serious legal consequences for parents and carers when pupils are

persistently late. Pupils arriving after 9.30am will receive a ‘U’ code (unauthorised late). If your pupil has a high level of lateness you will receive a warning letter.

After this, continued lateness could result in a Penalty Notice (a £60 fine or more) or a summons to the Magistrate’s Court.

Letters for the Peckwood trip can be found on the Letters sent home section of the website. Please speak to your child's class teacher if you have any questions or require any more information about the Peckwood Residential.

Football club started this week, football team for years 5/6 will be picked today, first match next Thursday, new multi-sports club starts for yrs 1/2 on Monday,

ALL clubs will be released from Yr3/4 playground from next week.

New clubs starting soon - yoga, dance and more - look out for letters

PE kit - some children still don't have kit, ideally school tshirt, if not, plain red tshirt, black shorts and trousers for outdoor PE.

Jewellery in PE: Children need to take out ALL jewellery for PE lessons, including the small studs they are permitted to wear normally at our Academy. If children are too young/ not yet able to take out their own earrings, please take them out before the Academy day starts. This is for the safety of all children, to reduce the severity of any injury. Please note that covering earrings with a plaster reduces chance of getting caught, but WILL NOT protect children's ears adequately.

Parents:

Through Community Sports, AET aims to support the achievement and development of young people through participation and excellence in sport and involvement in the community. As a partner of AET, Hi-Tec hopes to help Community Sports achieve their goals, some of which include supporting and developing gifted and talented students through sport; raising the aspirations of young people and encouraging them to follow their dreams; and empowering students to lead and coach others.

In order to accomplish this Hi-Tec are pleased to be able to offer staff, students and parents of the Academies Enterprise Trust a discount on all footwear purchased directly from Hi-Tec via its online store.

Go to www.hi-tech.com/uk to access their online store. Once you have selected your purchase go to checkout and enter the following code AET25 where prompted, to receive your 25% discount.

Children from Yr4 will be visiting The Great Tudor Hall in Birmingham on Thursday the 26th of September. Please see the letter sent out this week for further details. If you have any questions please contact your child's teacher.

Children from Yr5 will be visiting Cadbury World in Birmingham on Tuesday the 24th of September. Please see the letter sent out this week for further details. If you have any questions please contact your child's teacher.

Children from Yr2 will be visiting Warwick Castle on Wednesday the 25th of September. This trip will help to develop the children's understanding of living in a castle during medieval times. The academy is subsidising the cost of the trip and asking parents to contribute £8.00 towards the cost of the visit.

Parents:

Children in Year 6 will be visiting COVENTRY TRANSPORT MUSEUM AND COVENTRY CATHEDRAL. They will be attending 2 trips all with the intention of helping the children experience World War 2.

There will be 2 trips. The first trip is on 23rd September. The children will be going to Coventry Cathedral and exploring the bomb damage, then in the afternoon they will be visiting Coventry transport museum to look at the vehicles used during the war.

On the 14th October the children will again visit Coventry where they will have a hands on experience of life in a factory during the war. Then in the afternoon they will go to the Herbert Museum to experience life as a evacuee.

Stay and Play Event - Open to Shard End Children's Centre and Lea Forest Parents bring your toddlers to play and have a cup of tea and a chat with with our Home School Link Worker Miss Wakelam in our Conservatory tomorrow from 9-10:30am

Great news for our PE Dept... Mr Haw has been successful in getting funding for swimming for Yrs 5, 4 & 3, sports coaches in PE lessons across the school and £10,000 to spend on sport and equipment!! Look out for the letter coming out soon for more details! Watch this space....

Children will be returning to the academy on Wednesday September the 4th. Breakfast Club will be open from 8am and parents should use door number 3 (Eddish Road) to enter the building as usual, All other gates will be open from 8:45am.

Our main office will be open to parents from the 2nd of September 8:30am -15:30pm for any enquiries, questions or uniform purchases. Parents with general enquiries should contact the main office on 0121 675 3985.