May 2022

What a fabulous, fun-filled last week to the half term we’ve all had. There has been lots of celebrations and it’s so lovely to end the half term on such a high. On Wednesday we had a visit from AETs Education Director, Claire Heald, who was blown away by the high standards, consistency and rigour across the whole school. She had the opportunity to speak to some of our children about their learning and commented on how passionately and articulately they spoke about their learning. It’s been wonderful to hear of our successes on the sports field too. Congratulations to the children who have competed in the Tag Rugby and Football matches this week. More information about our successes can be found on page 6 of this newsletter.

Perry visited Lea Forest

We were lucky to receive a visit from Perry, the official Commonwealth Games mascot on Monday. Perry joined our children for a special assembly to help launch the excitement of the upcoming Commonwealth Games which will be held in the summer right here in Birmingham. Perry also left us our very own soft toy which will be used in classrooms and around school.

Cultural Diversity Day

On Monday, we celebrated World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. Lots of classes explored countries associated with the Commonwealth, in preparation for our Commonwealth games. KS1 classes enjoyed cooking different foods, while KS2 classes participated in dance workshops. EYFS enjoyed a carnival dance party wearing headdresses they made in class. We are so proud of the respect, tolerance and resilience our pupils show not just on World Culture Day, but everyday! Above all, it was wonderful to see everybody express their identity through our ‘Dress to Express’ non uniform day. Thank you for all the support from parents and carers and to Mrs Hicklin for organising such a successful day.

Platinum Jubilee Celebrations

The school has been a sea of red, white and blue today as we’ve celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Children and staff came dressed in the colours of the Union Jack and celebrated with a special lunch and afternoon parties. Following on from the pandemic, we relish in these fantastic opportunities to celebrate together and hope the children have had a fabulous day!

I hope you all have a happy and safe half term holiday and look forward to you returning promptly on Monday 6th June. Lessons begin at 9am, so please ensure your child is on time.

Thank you for your continued support - Happy Holidays!

Mr Clarke-Castello

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

93.4%

Our attendance for

the year to date

96.4%

Keep up the great work!

Another week has passed us by as we speed towards half term! I have been really impressed with Year 2 who have been completing their SATS tests - the children have really pushed their limits and done their best. We were very proud of the children who participated in the Young Voices Choir event at Resorts World. Thank you to the children and staff that took part and represented Lea Forest. Please see page 6 for a detailed report on this.

World Cultural Diversity Day

On Monday, next week, will be celebrating World Cultural Diversity Day! Classes will spend the day immersed in a variety of cultures from all over the world; some they may be familiar with, some that may be brand new to them. The aim of the day is to promote tolerance, respect and curiosity towards the world we currently live in. To help celebrate the day, we are inviting our children and staff to 'Dress to Express!' This could be traditional cultural garments, your favourite party dress, dress-up for your future career, a home-made t-shirt, a costume displaying things important to you - anything that you feel expresses your cultural identity. We are looking forward to seeing some amazing outfits!

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

On 6th February, this year, Her Majesty, The Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service. To celebrate

this unprecedented anniversary there will be a four day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th June.

As this takes place during the half term holiday, we wanted to give the children an opportunity to celebrate in school.

Therefore, on Friday 27th May, will be celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in school in a variety of way which came

from our School councillors:

1. The children can come to school dressed in their own clothes in the colour of red, white and blue reflecting the British flag.

2. Children will be able to order a special Jubilee lunch.

3. They will also have the opportunity to have a class Jubilee Party in the afternoon where they will have fun activities and party games.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Mr Clarke-Castello

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 or beating our 96.5% target.

We can only do this if we all work together!

Our attendance for

the week is

93.70

Our attendance for

the year to date

96.50%

Keep up the great work!

Our children, staff and some parents have been working hard to prepare and plant our allotments this year. Each class has their own crop, mostly that they will harvest in the Autumn Term in their new classes.

In Year 6, however, we are on a special mission to grow all our own salad to have with our Summer Barbeque! We are growing tomatoes, cucumber and two types of lettuce to add colour and extra flavour to our burgers and hot dogs!

If you are able to help with our allotments, or maybe even if you know someone with some gardening experience who could help out a couple of hours each week, please lettuce know.

What a fabulous week! As always I am so proud of our children and their achievements. It has been a real pleasure this week to see our Year 6 pupils take part in their SATs assessments. They have been overwhelmingly sensible and focussed throughout, and a real credit to you their parents/carers and their teachers. I would like to thank you for getting your children in to school early so they could enjoy their breakfast and be ready for their assessments, and to also thank the hardworking and committed staff who have given so much time and dedication to supporting them throughout. Well done to all concerned. Over to Year 2 next week who will be completing their SATs assessments.

Upcoming Assessments

This term ahead is very busy, full of assessments to capture how much progress the children have made and to benchmark them nationally against other schools. Year 2 will begin their SATS on Monday 16 May and these will be carried out over a two week period. For these tests, children sit in small groups with familiar adults. On our return to school, after half term, children in Year 1 will take part in the phonics screening assessments. Mrs Gonzales will be working with all of the children on a 1:1 basis for these assessments. The last set of statutory assessments are for Year 4 who will be completing their multiplications tables check (MTC). The staff and children are currently working extremely hard in all year groups to ensure the children are are well prepared as they can be.

Football Success

Congratulations to our football team who managed to gain a further 3 league points on the back of their win against Harper Bell on Thursday evening. The winning team are pictured in the banner of this week’s newsletter.

Commonwealth Games preparation

Sport Birmingham have teamed up with British Athletics to offer pupils and their families the opportunity to attend the Müller Birmingham Diamond League at the brand-new Alexander Stadium on Saturday 21st May. What better way to inspire your children than by heading to the iconic Alexander Stadium to watch the new crop of athletic stars as they continue their preparations for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. We have been offered tickets for this event at a special price of £10.60 for adults and £5.30 for juniors. Anyone can buy tickets so get your friends and family involved too. To purchase tickets visit: www.theticketfactory.com/british-athletics and select the Müller Birmingham Diamond League entering the code SCHMBDL22 into the promo code box. SELECT price category D and the block you wish to be seated in or choose the best available option.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Mr Clarke-Castello

It’s been a funny old week with days in and days out! For those of you that celebrated Eid last week, I hope you all had a great time. We enjoyed celebrating today during our ‘Fun Friday’ events.

We have lots of exciting things coming up this term. We have lots of trips and events being planned to take us to the end of the summer term.

Year 6 SATS week

Year 6 SATS tests will begin next week (Monday 9 May - Thursday 12 May). Children will need to be in school by 8:00am. We will provide them with a breakfast, time to be with their friends and also to discuss any worries or concerns that they have.

This is an extremely important week in the children’s academic life and they MUST attend school everyday, with no exceptions. The children and staff have all been working so hard in the run up to these tests and I’m sure you will join me in wishing all of our Year 6 the best of luck in their tests next week.

Upcoming Assessments

This term ahead is very busy, full of assessments to capture how much progress the children have made and to benchmark them nationally against other schools. Year 2 will begin their SATS on Monday 16 May and these will be carried out over a two week period. For these tests, children sit in small groups with familiar adults. On our return to school, after half term, children in Year 1 will take part in the phonics screening assessments. Mrs Gonzales will be working with all of the children on a 1:1 basis for these assessments. The last set of statutory assessments are for Year 4 who will be completing their multiplications tables check (MTC). The staff and children are currently working extremely hard in all year groups to ensure the children are are well prepared as they can be.