July 2022

Today marks the day we close our doors for the end of another year. It’s been a truly remarkable year at Lea Forest as we end of such a high with so many successes and celebrations to look back on.

I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank the all of the children, parents, staff, PCAB and wider community forall of your belief and support. As always, I set the expectations high in September, but with all of your hard work, these have been well and truly exceeded. We never rest on our laurels at Lea Forest and despite so many successes, we have plans that are even bigger and better than ever for 2022/23. We are also hoping for another visit from Ofsted next year to secure our well-deserved OUTSTANDING rating.

The end of a school year is a time to say goodbye to our Year 6 children. We have thoroughly enjoyed watching the children grow and mature into the individuals they are today. They leave us with confidence, knowledge and skills to be able to continue their pathways and to continue being remarkable. They have had a wonderful last few weeks with a trip to Drayton Manor, their wonderful production of Shakespeare Rocks, their Graduation event, BBQ and water fight! I’m sure these memories will remain with them for many years to come. We also need to say goodbye to some members of staff who are leaving us today. I’m sure you will all join me in wishing the best of luck to: Mr Taylor, Mrs Wood, Miss Magee, Mr Carlton and Miss Miles in their new roles as they move on to further their careers. Here's a short goodbye video message for Taylor who has been the BEST Deputy Head I could have ever wished for:

I look forward to welcoming all of the children in Years 1-6 back on

Tuesday 6 September 2022. I’m also excited to meet our new children who will be joining Nursery and Reception.

Wishing you all a wonderful summer break!

WOW! What a week full of excitement and with just one week left, we are very close to the end of the school year. We’ve been really busy in school with even more trips, visitors, events and competitions all taking place. We’ve also been focusing on transition and preparing our children for September. The week has ended with the anticipation and excitement of the Year 6 Production of ‘Shakespeare Rocks’. Curtains open at 6:30pm! We will share photographs and video clips next week.

Reports

On Monday, we will be sending home your child’s annual school report. Within this report, there will be information about your child’s effort, progress and attainment in all subject areas. Your child’s attendance will also be recorded on these reports with a detailed print-out showing day-to-day attendance for the whole year. Please note: If your child’s attendance is below 96%, this must improve next year. If you have any questions about your child’s report and would like to discuss any comments with your child’s class teacher, there will be an opportunity on Tuesday 19 July during our ‘Open Parents’ Evening’ event (3:30pm-5:30pm). You can also use as an opportunity to meet your child’s new class teacher and see where their classroom will be in September. Look out for our Teaching Assistants who will be in the corridors asking for you to complete our Summer Term Parent Survey. The questions being asked will be similar to those asked by Ofsted. Your views are so important to us and will help us shape plans moving forwards.

Child of the Year - Awards Assembly

We will be holding our ‘Child of the Year’ assembly on Thursday 21 July at 9am. For those pupils selected as ‘Child of the Year’ from each class, parents/carers will be invited to join in with the celebrations, so look out for your invites and please try to keep this a secret from your child.

Clubs

Just a reminder that there are no clubs running next week. We will relaunch our after school clubs and Children’s University in September.

Good News

Congratulations to Niall Kelly (4SH) who has been selected to represent our school in District Football next season. He has attended trials over the last few weeks and battled his way into the team, demonstrating wonderful skills and talent. We are really proud of Niall and pleased that Lea Forest will be represented in the District next season.

Alan Carr Show

Some of our Year 2, 3 and 4 pupils appeared in last week’s Alan Carr’s Game Show - they were all highly entertaining and represented our school so well.

Attendance remains a high priority for us at Lea Forest.

We regularly review our pupils’ attendance and where there is a concern we will be in contact with you. In cases of regular absence due to illness you will receive a letter requesting that medical evidence is provided. We work closely with Birmingham City Council’s Education Legal Intervention Team and where necessary follow their FAST TRACK process of penalty notices in order to improve attendance.

Our 96.5% target is fading away as attendance over the last few weeks has been unacceptable. Denied holiday requests and extra days off for Eid have damaged our attendance massively!

Our attendance for

the week is

89.9%

Our attendance for

the year to date

96.0%

Please ensure your child attends school EVERY day!

Parents are required under the Education Act (1996) to ensure children attend school regularly. The headteacher of a school has a discretionary power to authorise absence only in exceptional circumstances. A family holiday is not an exceptional circumstance. If you complete a leave of absence request form and the request is declined, (as it will be in the majority of cases) and you still take your child out of school, each parent within your household will be issued with a £60 penalty notice for each child you have taken out of school.

If a penalty notice remains unpaid after 21 days it will increase to £120. If after 28 days it remains unpaid you may be summoned to appear before Magistrates to explain why your child has unauthorised school absences and you may be liable for a fine of up to £1000. Support and guidance on attendance is always available and if you have any questions about this, or if you need help to achieve an improvement, then please contact us to discuss this.

It’s been fabulous week with probably the best sports days in Lea Forest history. Unfortunately, I missed both days as I was attending the AET Principals’ Conference on Thursday and on Friday I joined Year 2 on their trip to Weston-Super-Mare.

Year 6 SATS Results

We are really proud of our Year 6 children who completed their SATS tests in May. This week, the results were published and we are pleased to report that our standards remain well above national figures. A HUGE well done to our children and staff…

Reading = 94% (National 74%) with 66% at Greater Depth Standard

Writing = 87% (National 69%) with 21% at Greater Depth Standard

Maths = 70% (National 71%) with 21% at Greater Depth Standard

SPAG = 92% (National 72%) with 64% at Greater Depth Standard

Combined = 70% (National 59%) with 18% at Greater Depth Standard

Class Arrangements for 2022/23

On Monday, we had a practice run for September where all of the children had the opportunity to spend the morning in their new classrooms with their new teachers and teaching assistants. There was a great buzz throughout the morning with everyone on their best behaviour and making their best first impressions! I did write to you all with details of class arrangements for September; these details can also be found here.

Staff Changes

It’s that time of year where we are welcoming new members of staff and I’m delighted to share that we have appointed some excellent additions to the team for September:

* Miss Clamp (joining as an ECT; taught 1HM this year)

* Miss Downing (joining as an ECT; taught in 1KR this year)

* Mrs Young (joining us as an experienced Teaching Assistant)

* Miss Fielding (joining as a newly qualified TA)

* Mr Monro-Jones (joining as an Apprentice TA)

* Miss Brown (joining as an Apprentice TA)

We will also be preparing to say goodbye to members of staff who are moving on to pastures new. I did write to you a couple of weeks ago to inform you that Mr Taylor has secured himself a Headship for September, taking up post at Warren Farm Primary. We will also be saying goodbye to Mrs Wood and Miss Magee when we finish for the summer. Mrs Wood has been at Lea Forest for 10 years and has always been a hardworking and dedicated member of staff, committed to improving the lives of the children in her care. She started her career here as a newly qualified teacher (Miss Oliver). She is a truly fabulous teacher who has taught across KS1 and KS2 and will be a real asset to her new school. Miss Magee also started her career as a newly qualified teacher here at Lea Forest 3 years ago, after training with us the year before. Miss Magee is also a fantastic teacher and has a lot to offer to another school that is on a journey of improvement. I’m sure you will join me in wishing them all the best of luck for the future and will ensure their last few weeks with us are enjoyable.

Parents and legal guardians are required under the Education Act (1996) to ensure children attend school regularly. The headteacher of a school has a discretionary power to authorise absence only in exceptional circumstances. A family holiday is not an exceptional circumstance. If you complete a leave of absence request form and the request is declined, (as it will be in the majority of cases) and you still take your child out of school, each parent within your household will be issued with a £60 penalty notice for each child you have taken out of school.

If a penalty notice remains unpaid after 21 days it will increase to £120. If after 28 days it remains unpaid you may be summoned to appear before Magistrates to explain why your child has unauthorised school absences and you may be liable for a fine of up to £1000. Support and guidance on attendance is always available and if you have any questions about this, or if you need help to achieve an improvement, then please contact us to discuss this.

Wed 13 July - Trip to Drayton Manor We are really looking forward to our reward trip to Drayton Manor. We will be leaving school at 9:15 am promptly and after a fun-filled day will

return to school at approximately 5:30pm. Watch Class Dojo for more information closer to the time.

Fri 15 July - Year 6 Production (6:30pm) As you are aware, Year 6 are busy rehearsing our production of Shakespeare Rocks and we cannot wait to share it with you! Doors will open at 6:00pm. It will be a ticket only event, limited to 2 per family. Further details to follow.

Wed 20 July - Year 6 Graduation (5:30pm)

Get your glad rags at the ready! Our final event of Year 6 will be our Graduation BBQ. Parents are invited to join us to celebrate the children’s successes over the year.

A presentation will take place and the children will each receive an award, there will be photo opportunities and BBQ food for everyone to enjoy!

Year 2 visited Weston-Super-Mare for their finish trip of the academic year. They had such an amazing day filled with fun and laughter. The day started with visit to the beach for a fish and chips picnic. After this, they headed towards the Pier for ice-creams, followed by some time in the arcades.

To end the day, they headed back to the beach and had a paddle (some a full dip) and spent a bit of time drying off. We couldn’t have chosen a better day for this trip as the weather was glorious. As always, the children were wonderful ambassadors for Lea Forest and most importantly of all, they enjoyed their special day.

I can’t believe how quickly another week has flown by! We’ve had trips galore and so much happening in school. We have closed today with our Summer Fair. Thank you to our wonderful parent and community group for the preparations and thank you to everyone for coming along to support our school.

Year 4 MTC Results

We are very proud of our Year 4 children who recently sat their multiplication tables check (MTC). The results showed that an amazing 75% of children scored 24+ with 63% of children scoring 25 out of 25.

Transition Day

Everyone is really excited for our transition day on Monday. This is an opportunity for the whole school to have a practice run for September - where children get to meet their new teachers and TAs and spend the morning in their new classrooms for September. I will be sending out class allocations on Monday following our transition morning. We will also share this information on Class Dojo too.

Sports Days

We are very excited about our sports days next week, we can’t wait to all be involved in some healthy competition! Families are welcome to come and watch the games, please come to the field gates at the times below. As always, we expect excellent standards of behaviour, so please make sure that everyone attending is respectful to school children, staff and volunteers who make this such a great event, and leave all cigarettes, vapes, alcohol and pets at home.

Thursday 7th July

Nursery & Reception: Gates open 9.15, ends 11.00am

Years 1 & 2: Gates open 1.15, ends 2.45pm

Friday 8th July

Years 3 & 4: Gates open 9.15, ends 11.00am

Years 5 & 6: Gates open 1.45, ends 3.15pm

Careers Day

On Tuesday 12th July, we will be holding a careers event between 2pm and 4pm in Year 6. Employees from various backgrounds will be invited into school allowing children to have a meaningful encounter as they will be exploring a number of possible future careers. This is an exciting opportunity for children as well as parents to help raise aspirations of young children. Children will talk to employees between 2pm-3pm; we are inviting Year 6 parents to attend the event between 3pm-4pm.

★★★VOLUNTEERS NEEDED ★★★

If you would like to participate on this day and are willing to speak to Year 6 children about your job role, then please complete this form: https://forms.gle/Hn7AtNGioYNxi94z6

Have a great weekend!

Mr Clarke-Castello

Reception visited the Think Tank on Wednesday 27th June. They had the chance to see the ‘We Made It’ exhibition which had lots of old and new types of transport. We then went into the ‘Science Garden which had lots of fantastic experiments to explore. The children went to see ‘Things about Me’ where they could investigate how our bodies work and even had the opportunity to control a robot. We took part in an engineering workshop where they had to work together to build a sturdy tower. The children were REMARKABLE in every way and demonstrated all of our school values.

Year One visited Twycross Zoo on Tuesday 28th June. They were able to see lots of different animals, including: giraffes, rhinos, penguins and zebras. After looking at the animals and reading about their enclosures, they had the opportunity to visit the study room at Twycross zoo where they found out about animal habitats and adaptations. They found out why some animals live in hotter and cooler climates as well as learning about how they adapt to live in that environment. Did you know a giraffes tongue is dark in colour to stop it from burning?

Year one were remarkable throughout the day and a member of the public said “this is the best behaved school I’ve seen all day”. They were a credit to each and every one of you.

Wed 13 July - Trip to Drayton Manor

We are really looking forward to our reward trip to Drayton Manor. We will be leaving School at 9:15 am promptly

and after a fun-filled day will return to school at approximately 5:30pm. Watch Class Dojo for more information closer to the time.

Fri 15 July - Year 6 Production (6:30pm)

As you are aware, Year 6 are busy rehearsing our production of Shakespeare Rocks and we cannot wait to share it with you! Doors will open at 6:00pm.

Wed 20 July - Year 6 Graduation (5:30pm)

Get your glad rags at the ready! Our final event of Year 6 will be our Graduation BBQ. Parents are invited to join us to celebrate the children’s successes over the year.

A presentation will take place and the children will each receive an award, there will be photo opportunities and BBQ food for everyone to enjoy!

Parents are required under the Education Act (1996) to ensure children attend school regularly. The headteacher of a school has a discretionary power to authorise absence only in exceptional circumstances. A family holiday is not an exceptional circumstance. If you complete a leave of absence request form and the request is declined, (as it will be in the majority of cases) and you still take your child out of school, each parent within your household will be issued with a £60 penalty notice for each child you have taken out of school.

If a penalty notice remains unpaid after 21 days it will increase to £120. If after 28 days it remains unpaid you may be summoned to appear before Magistrates to explain why your child has unauthorised school absences and you may be liable for a fine of up to £1000. Support and guidance on attendance is always available and if you have any questions about this, or if you need help to achieve an improvement, then please contact us to discuss this.

Attendance remains a high priority for us at Lea Forest.

We regularly review our pupils’ attendance and where there is a concern we will be in contact with you. In cases of regular absence due to illness you will receive a letter requesting that medical evidence is provided. We work closely with Birmingham City Council’s Education Legal Intervention Team and where necessary follow their FAST TRACK process of penalty notices in order to improve attendance.

It’s great to see everyone working so hard to achieve our 96.5% target.

We can only do this if we all work together!

Our attendance for

the week is

94.7%

Our attendance for

the year to date

96.1%

Keep up the great work!