October 2020

Our Academy Trust (AET) have worked together to be able to deliver live lessons to our Year 6 pupils over the October half term. These lessons will be delivered by Specialist Leaders in English and Maths. They will be structured in exactly the same way as the live lessons we delivered in the Spring and Summer terms. These are available as an option should you wish your child to take part.

The live lessons over the October half term for Year 6 pupils in English and Maths are on:

• English Live Lesson, Tuesday the 27th October between 10:00 and 11:00

• Maths Live Lesson, Tuesday the 27th October between 11:15 and 12:15

• English Live Lesson, Wednesday the 28th October between 10:00 and 11:00

• Maths Live Lesson, Wednesday the 28th October between 11:15 and 12:15

Here is a link to the Year 6 live lessons in English and Maths. The link includes the timetable, the content, the link to the lesson and the link to a chat option for the pupils to engage with the teacher. Just to reiterate again, these are there as an option for our Year 6 pupils; not compulsory in any way.

As we complete the first half of the autumn term, I wanted to say thank you to everyone and to acknowledge how hard this half term have been for us all. As I reflect at the end of a very challenging half term, I would like you to join me in celebrating the many positive achievements at Lea Forest over the last eight weeks. I was expecting it to take some time for the pupils to settle back into life at the Academy, however this was not the case. All pupils transitioned well to their new teachers and classes and continue to make remarkable progress. I have very much enjoyed seeing the pupils come into the Academy each day excited about their learning experiences. Despite the current circumstances and restrictions in place, we have not let this hold us back and we’ve been running at full speed ahead. This being said, we are all certainly ready for a well-earned half term break. We have ended today with fun celebrations, Harvest hamper deliveries and fancy dress. Thank you to you all for getting involved and helping. We will share how much money we’ve raised from today after the half term break.

Our second half of the Autumn term will commence for ALL children on TUESDAY 3 NOVEMBER. This is always an exciting half term in school as we approach the Christmas season. Covid has taught us a lot that we can take on board to help create an education that focuses more on the individual to launch ‘every’ child into ‘their’ remarkable life. And we are drawing on these insights to ensure our children are equipped to flourish in a changing world.

Key Stage 1 have made a remarkable start to the new academic year and they are making their teachers very proud. The children in Year One have been looking at traditional tales in English and creating their own story maps and innovating the characters. One of their favourite traditional tales was Little Red Riding Hood. They are learning about Enchanted Woodlands in their curriculum lessons and linking it in with their learning of Little Red Riding Hood. They are also working really hard in their phonics lessons and are now focussing on phase five phonemes.

Year Two are looking at fairy tales in English and they have been commenting on which are their favourite and why. They have also been focussing on their handwriting and this is improving daily due to their determination. Year Two are also learning about Dungeons and Dragons in their curriculum lessons and I am very excited to tell you that the children will be hosting their own banquet in December. They will be learning medieval dancing, learning how to cook a medieval dish and serving food to the Lord and Lady.

Starting school is a very big milestone and we have been really impressed with how well the children have settled into Nursery and Reception.

The children in Nursery have been learning all about the rhyme Incy Wincy spider. They have been acting out the rhyme, drawing pictures and have even made spiders out of conkers. The children have also really enjoyed exploring the outdoor space.

In Reception we have been learning the rhyme Jack and Jill. We have started to learn our phase 2 phonemes and are beginning to write the sounds when we hear them in words. We have heard lots of different stories and are beginning to have favourites and some children are bringing in books from home to share.

We really enjoy looking at the photographs of the character curriculum homework completed.

We are really looking forward to see the work you complete in the Halloween craft packs that have been sent home on request.

Gozen - Online Social and Emotional Learning Programs

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Place 2 Be: Mental Health Champions – Foundation programme

Free for qualified teachers and school based staff in the UK, Place 2 Be are offering an online children’s mental health training course designed to enhance understanding of children’s mental health and introduces approaches that foster positive wellbeing in schools and communities. For more information & to sign up, click here

Websites offering advice for young children:

Anna Freud: Coronavirus, mental health, wellbeing

The Children’s Society: Coronavirus Advice & Support

Winston’s Wish - a charity to help grieving children, have guidance available here.

Young Minds Helplines: details are on their website here:: https://youngminds.org.uk/

A HUGE Well done to the REMARKABLE 1HM this week who are our BEST attending class in school. They managed to achieve an AMAZING: 98.71%

Under the current climate, we may have children and families needing to isolate. It has always been important for children to come to school on time every day - but right now it is more important than ever. We are working hard to support the children to ensure they do their best and their attendance is vitally important.

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group are currently running monthly Music Maze workshops via Zoom for FREE. These workshops are suitable for 8-11 year olds – participants do not have to play an instrument to take part in the workshops. The next Music Maze takes place on Sunday 25 October 2020, 10.30am-12.30pm. Places must be booked in advance and can be made via their website:

https://www.bcmg.org.uk/Pages/Events/Category/workshops-and-events-for-young-people

Young people who attend Music Maze sessions can also use these sessions to complete their Arts Award Explore. For further information please click HERE. Also, check out the FREE music resources for use at home: http://resources.bcmg.org.uk/

Dog mess: If you walk your dog around the perimeter of the school site, please make sure that you use doggy bags to clear-up any accidents!

Smoking: Please DO NOT smoke in the queues when dropping off or picking up your child/ren at the start or end of day. Although the queuing system is not on the school grounds, it is only courtesy that you don’t smoke around other parents or family members.

It’s been a really busy week and we wouldn’t have it any other way here at Lea Forest. We find ourselves in very different times and are always expecting the unexpected, but in true Lea Forest style we are doing remarkably well. A huge thanks must go out to all of the staff, children and parents - without us all working together and supporting each other, we would not be able to achieve as much as we are able to. A huge amount of learning continues across school and it’s always a pleasure seeing all of the children making so much progress. I have spent two days involved in AETs Headteachers Conference (virtually). This involved Headteachers and Trust leaders from across the UK coming together to help form plans for the future. We looked at what schools will look like in 2025 - exciting times ahead!

We had scheduled for parents evenings to take place next week, however, due to the current circumstances, we are postponing these. There are lots of opportunities to communicate with your child’s class teacher. We also seek your opinions weekly in our pulse surveys. I will keep you updated on any changes and decisions regarding parents evenings.

Our Lea Forest Podcasts are back! This week our children from Key Stage 2 are performing poems and this was a wonderful opportunity to put our new Sound Shed to use. The

children loved their time in the shed and we can’t wait to see what other productions are created Take a listen at:

https://tinyurl.com/y3w7y9z2

We have received quite a few complaints about our current catering service. I wanted to let you all know that we are taking these complaints seriously and as a senior leadership team we are looking at ways to improve this service. At this point in time, I am able to share with you that our current providers will be changing in January and there will be a new and improved menu for all children to access. We are also exploring how we can identify children with dietary requirements in a more systematic way. Thank you to those of you that have raised your concerns - I am listening and we are acting on this. I will keep you posted on further developments.

We will be holding a ‘wear red’ day at school next week to mark ‘Show Racism the Red Card’. This will be held on Friday 16 October. Children will be able to come to school in their own clothes, rather than their normal school uniform, but we would like them to wear red to honour this special day. We will be asking for a £1 contribution for children to come to school for the day in their own clothes.

We have fully embraced Black History Month this week with all classes from Reception to Year 6 receiving a multimedia workshop titled "Protest, if not now then when?" from the theatre group 'Bigfoot'. With society is in the midst of one of the biggest global civil rights movements, ‘Protest; If Not Now, Then When?’ workshops explored the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement and its place in a tradition of Black people using the power of protest to effect change. The programme encouraged our children to understand that you are never too young to make a stand... as a wise man once said - “If not me, then who? If not now, then when?”

It’s been another really busy week at Lea Forest and yet again I have been so impressed by how resilient the children are and how brilliantly they have been doing with their learning. We had a visit on Wednesday from our Chair of Governors, Mr Bassett, who spent time on the gates chatting to parents, checking our safeguarding procedures, meeting with some of our middle leaders to discuss curriculum development and meeting with myself and Mr Taylor to look through our school development planning. Mr Bassett was delighted with everything he saw. He also wanted to thank all parents/carers for how well you have all been lining-up and following social distancing guidelines when dropping off and picking up children. Another exciting part of this week was the first use of our Sound Shed. Mr Croxon has worked with a number of children from across Key Stage 2 who have performed their poems written in class and these have now formed our latest podcast.

Amazing Attendance News

Attendance this week was 95.39% which is our best week so far this year!

A BIG well done and special mention to 6CF who had an amazing 100% attendance this week!

Year to date attendance is 93.74%. Thank you to everyone for making the effort to ensure your children are in school everyday during these difficult times. Our whole school target remains at 96%.

Year 2

We welcomed back our Y2 staff and pupils this week. It was great to have therm all back in school with everyone else. I have been extremely impressed by how well they slotted back in and continued with their learning. I also had the difficult task of judging their best homework. Well done to all children and adults that got involved - the standard this year was particularly high!

European Day of Languages

Thank you to Mrs Morsely who organised our ‘European Day of Languages’ on Tuesday which was a huge success. Children came to school dressed in a sea of colours to represent the countries of Europe, we had a European cafe that raised over £70 and each year group learnt about a different country - I particularly enjoyed brushing up on my Russian in Y5.

National Poetry Day

It was National Poetry Day on Thursday and each class had the opportunity to perform their poems. Mr Croxon recorded some of our best performers in our new Innovation Hub, using the green screen. These fantastic performances can be found on our YouTube channel.

Our PCAB (Parent Community Advisory Board)

The PCAB met for the first meeting of the academic year this week. All of our PCAB members were really enthusiastic and excited to plan for the year ahead. There were lots of innovative ideas about raising money for the school and building further community links. Watch this space...

Black History

Thursday 1 October marked the start of ‘Black History Month’. During this month, our pupils will be taking part in a wide range of enriching cultural activities. Next week, all classes from Reception to Y6 will receive a multimedia workshop titled "Protest, if not now then when?" from the theatre group 'Bigfoot'. At Lea Forest, October is not the only time that we talk about and share in the achievements of Black people in history - our curriculum is rich in opportunities to learn about their many wonderful achievements and contributions they have made. We will continue to celebrate successes of all cultures and backgrounds across the curriculum over the course of the coming year such as: authors, artists, scientists, musicians and inventors to name but a few. Over the next month, this will have a particular focus on ‘Black History’. Look out for updates from our curriculum leaders and teachers on twitter and Class Dojo so that you can share and discuss these important individuals with your children at home. Click on the link for more information about events happening in Birmingham: http://birminghamblackhistorymonth.co.uk.