November 2022

MESSAGES FROM MR CLARKE-CASTELLO

End of Day Collections

Please try to make every effort to pick-up your child/ren at the correct time every day. There has been a significant rise in the number of children that are being picked-up late. This is having an impact on our staff whose working day doesn't finish at the same time of the children and still have work tasks to complete instead of supervising children who should have been collected. We understand that on the odd occasion collecting your child on time may not be possible and in these unlikely circumstances (which shouldn't be regular), a phone call to the office should be made with an explanation. We will be monitoring late collections very closely.

Attendance

Please ensure that your child/ren are in school every day! LOST DAYS = LOST LEARNING!

Winter Holiday Clubs

Bring it on Brum is running FREE activity clubs in Birmingham for those aged 4-16 who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals during the school Christmas holiday. The majority of clubs will run for 4 days during the week Monday 19 to Friday 23 December and a smaller number of clubs will run from Wednesday 28 to Friday 30 December 2022. Each child is eligible to attend a maximum of 4 sessions during the winter school holidays. Activities include sports and games, arts and crafts, cookery, dance and music. Programmes will vary depending on the type and location of each local club, but every day there will be a nutritious meal served up for free! Visit: www.bringitonbrum.co.uk from Monday 28 November to book children’s free places, so they can take part in a local club and enjoy the mix of fun action-packed days and tasty food provided through the programme. You will need to ask for a specific code that can be collected from the main office. Ask to speak to Mrs McCarthy.

Winter Food Boxes

This winter Bring it on Brum are working with Morrisons to offer FREE recipe food boxes. One food box is available for each eligible household (not one per child). Eligible households must have at least one child or young person eligible for benefits-related free school meals living there. Families can register for a free winter food box from Wednesday 23 November; registrations will close on Wednesday 30 November 2022 or as soon as all food boxes have been allocated. More information on the food boxes, their contents and how to register can be found at: www.bringitonbrum.co.uk/activity-packs-and-food-boxes.

Christmas Fayre

This year’s Christmas Fayre will be held on Friday 9 December. To make the fayre as successful as previous years, we will be holding non-uniform days and asking for an exchange of a small gift for the stalls, as listed below:

• Friday 2 December - Sweets and chocolates

• Friday 9 December - Cakes

Mr Clarke-Castello

In June, every child in Year 4. will be participating in the multiplication table check (MTC).

The MTC is to determine whether your child can fluently recall their times tables up to 12, which is essential for future success in mathematics. Instant recall of times tables facts is needed when completing more complex calculations. Without that knowledge, children might struggle to master more complex maths concepts.

Time Tables Rock Stars (TTRS) provides fun games for the children to partake in which all support time table fluency recall. Incorrect answers are always immediately corrected in front of the pupil so that they start to associate the correct answer to every question. More than that, the clever code behind the scenes works out which times tables facts each child is consistently taking longer to answer and then it gradually starts to present these facts more frequently until children have mastered them.

Please encourage your children to log on at home to practise their recall of times table facts.

At Lea Forest Academy, we aim to deliver a high-quality Computing education that utilises new technology in a socially responsible and safe way. Our curriculum is designed to equip pupils with computational thinking and creativity to understand the wider global world and to enable them to become confident digital citizens. Computing at Lea Forest is used to enrich our curriculum across the key stages and there are lots of opportunities for children to solve problems, create online games and create videos.

The curriculum centres around the three key areas of Computing: Computer Science, Information and Technology and Digital Literacy. Much of the content is woven into the children’s everyday learning but the hardware and coding elements are explicitly taught on a weekly basis. The structure of our Computing curriculum allows for children to consolidate and build upon their prior knowledge and allows them to show a clear progression of skills and knowledge. Throughout their time at Lea Forest, children have opportunities to debug programs, create computer games, learn how to use technology respectfully and safely and know what to do if they are concerned by anything online.

By the end of Year 6, we aim for our pupils to be independent users of technology and have the skills to produce digital content in the three main areas. We hope that children will be confident, safe and responsible users of technology.

Another week has passed us by in the blink of an eye. It’s been anti-bullying week in school and this has given us the opportunity to revisit our ‘definition of bullying’ and share some important messages. We have ended the week today by celebrating Children in Need, raising money for a very valuable cause.

Academy Council

We held our first Academy Council meeting this week. The Academy Council has representatives from the local community, parents, staff and AET. It was a great opportunity for members to walk around school and visit classes. The meeting also focused on sharing successes and discussing the development of local links. The Academy Council will ensure that the voice of parents, staff and the community is strongly represented within AET. To find out more about the Academy Council and who our representatives are, click on the link here.

Coffee Morning

Thank you to our parents/carers that joined our coffee morning on Monday. Mrs Gonzales and Mrs Wakelam enjoyed talking about how the Friends of Lea Forest can support and raise money during the Christmas Fayre and productions. We also discussed how we can support school with school trips and upcoming events such as discos.

Reception Parents WellComm Workshop

Miss Ward arranged a WellComm parent workshop. Thank you to our parents/carers that attended on Friday. The workshop consisted of an introduction to Wellcomm and how it supports speech and language. Ideas were shared how you can support your child at home with their speech and language. Please access the DLP website to find out more: www.ecdlp.co.uk.

Christmas Fayre

This year’s Christmas Fayre will be held on Friday 9 December. To make the fayre as successful as previous years, we will be holding non-uniform days and asking for an exchange of a small gift for the stalls, as listed below:

• Thursday 24 November - Tins, cans and packets

• Friday 2 December - Sweets and chocolates

• Friday 9 December - Cakes

World Cup 2022

As the World Cup approaches, we would like to take this time to celebrate British Values in school. England’s first match kicks off on Monday 21 November at 1pm. I had previously communicated that children could wear football kits, but we have visitors now on this day, so I’d like to ask that all children come to school in their uniforms as normal. They will still have the opportunity to come together and watch the match live, supporting the England team if they wish to do so. During the World Cup season, children will partake in a number of related activities, learning about teams/countries, including an exciting attendance competition.

With this week being anti-bullying week, this week’s e-safety tip is based around cyberbullying.

What should I be aware of?

Cyberbullying is when someone uses the internet to harm or frighten someone, especially by sending them unpleasant messages.

This can include excluding others from online games, sending unkind messages, name-calling and spreading rumours.

What should I do?

Have open conversations with your child. Listen and offer support and encouragement.

Remind your child not to reply to any of the messages and encourage them to talk to you or a trusted adult. You can then resolve the situation together.

Report bullying on social media or online gaming.

Talk to the school if you have any concerns.

Safety in the home - Staying home alone

A child who isn’t old enough or who doesn’t feel comfortable should never be left at home alone.

There’s no legal age a child can be left home alone, but it’s against the law to leave a child alone if it puts them at risk.

The NSPCC have some excellent advice on this: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/in-the-home/home-alone

At Lea Forest we aim to develop our pupils’ character through the growth of relationships that define us as human. Through our curriculum, we develop a set of competencies (behaviours) which enable each and every one of our pupils to lead a remarkable life. In addition to the tasks provided by individual class teachers, a ‘Character Curriculum Challenge’ will be set fortnightly on the newsletter. On this occasion, we would like you to play a board game or design your own. Some fantastic (free) board games templates can be found on the Museum of Gaming website. The website offers a variety of boards and rule suggestions that can be adapted to suit new or existing games. So will you create this years must-buy game in time for Christmas? As always, remember to share pictures with Mr Croxon or your teachers via Class Dojo, Twitter and Facebook.

We have a really friendly, welcoming and helpful office team who are always happy to assist with any queries. Mrs Ruff is responsible for payments, parent pay and dinners. Mrs Wakelam is our admissions officer and deals with queries relating to school places and admissions. Mrs McCarthy is our Integrated Support Manager and a member of the Senior Leadership Team. One of her areas of responsibility is the Main Office/Reception.

As part of our commitment to providing an outstanding education, we plan for trips/visits through the school year which are linked to our curriculum. As a school we do heavily subsidise all trips and visits but to ensure we are able to continue offering these we do ask for a contribution which we always keep to a minimum. We ask that these contributions are paid through ParentPay wherever possible as this a much more secure way of paying, this will also ensure we have you consent for your child to take part. If you need support with Parent pay please contact the office.

It might seem like everything has gone digital, but books still play a very important part in school life. As well as giving your child a head start, developing a love of reading can be really enjoyable.

Make books and stories part of everyday life:

• Build a reading story into a routine, e.g. a story at bedtime.

• Stick your feet up and let your child see your reading a book.

• Go to the library so your child can choose some books to borrow for free.

• Read in fun places, e.g. a den made from blankets.

• Give books as birthday presents - this will show you value them.

• Keep books in your bag or the car.

“Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures.

In fact, reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background.” (Pearson 2021)

At Lea Forest, we place high importance on daily reading. Each child is provided with a reading record and books to take home. We ask that the reading records are signed daily and brought into school where they will be collected in, checked and signed by an adult. This is a non-negotiable expectation.

Each child will also receive 1:1 reading sessions, with an adult at school. Comments on your child’s progress will be recorded in red pen.

For this year’s Anti-Bullying Week, Key Stage 2 voters have been exploring the world of “fandoms”. From football to Sonic the Hedgehog to Taylor Swift, they’ve been finding out about real-life examples of the power of devoted fans, as well as investigating when and where these can go too far. They’ve been deciding on:

“Do fandoms encourage bullying?”

Meanwhile, Key Stage 1 voters have considered a range of examples of bullying and the potential problems that can come with intervening. They’ve been voting on the question:

“Is it difficult to stand up against bullying?”

We have had several requests from parents for holidays in term time this academic year. Please be aware that family holidays in term time are not allowed in law and are highly unlikely to be authorised. Research has shown a clear link between attendance and attainment. Absence from school interrupts teaching and learning and therefore has a negative impact on progress.

Any leave in term time applications must be made through the office and a meeting with the headteacher will be arranged to discuss the request. Birmingham City Council strongly discourages pupil leave of absence during term time and you may be issued with a Penalty Notice if there are a sufficient number of days of absence.

Family Emergencies

It is not always appropriate or in the best interests for a child to miss school for emergencies which are being dealt with by adult family members. Notifying the school of leave due to a family emergency does not mean it will be authorised. School relationships can provide pupils with stability and care during difficult times.*

At Lea Forest, we monitor punctuality as well as attendance. The law treats some persistent lateness in the same way as irregular attendance and parents may be prosecuted by the Local Authority if late arrival is not resolved.

The school gates open daily at 8:45. Please make sure your child is at school on time so that they do not miss out on learning time.

Poor punctuality can lead to your child…

• Feeling embarrassed in front of their friends

• Missing the beginning of vital lessons

• Missing important instructions for the rest of the school day

Remembrance

We spent time on Friday thinking about our brave soldiers and veterans and the sacrifices they made. The whole school observed a 2 minutes silence after some thoughtful words from some of our Year 6 pupils and staff. As always, we were privileged to be joined by Mr Haw who played ‘The Last Post.’ We were really proud of the children and how respectful they were throughout our remembrance service.

Darren Harris

On Monday this week we met Paralympian, Darren Harris. He had a very successful career playing blind football for England. Every child in school had the chance to meet him and compete in a fitness circuit challenge, seeing how they compared to a professional athlete. His press-ups in particular were very impressive and it was a very inspiring workshop. Darren also spoke in assembly about his life and career, explaining how he worked hard, and never gave up to beat any challenges he came up against. Please bring any remaining sponsor money to school on Monday, which will support sport in school.

Coffee Morning

Mrs Gonzales and Mrs Wakelam will be holding a coffee morning on Monday 14 November from 9-10am and all parents/carers are welcome. This is an opportunity to have an informal chat with each other. People attending will be discussing what is working well and what we could do even better. We would also like to take this opportunity to promote of ‘Friends of Lea Forest’ group who will be working hard to raise funds for school and to support the wider community.

World Cup 2022

As the World Cup approaches, we would like to take this time to celebrate British Values in school. England’s first match kicks off on Monday 21 November at 1pm. We invite children on this day only, to wear either a football kit or red and white and have the opportunity to come together and watch the match live, supporting the England team if they wish to do so. Subsequent matches (25th and 29th November) take place at evening times, so we ask that children wear school uniform on those days. During the World Cup season, children will partake in a number of related activities, leaning about competition teams/countries.

Fire Drill

We almost broke our school record this week when the whole school took part in a fire drill. All staff and pupils exited the building and were accounted for in 3 minutes and 52 seconds.

Anti-Bullying Week

This years theme is ‘Reach Out’. whether It is in school, at home, in the community or online, let’s reach out and show each other the support we need. Our school councillors would like all our children to start the week in a positive way by wearing odd socks on Monday 14 November 2022.

Have a great Weekend!

Mr Clarke-Castello

At Lea Forest, we monitor punctuality as well as attendance. The law treats some persistent lateness in the same way as irregular attendance and parents may be prosecuted by the Local Authority if late arrival is not resolved.

The school gates open daily at 8:45 and lessons start promptly at 9 o'clock. Please make sure your child is at school on time so that they do not miss out on learning time.

Poor punctuality can lead to your child…

• Feeling embarrassed in front of their friends

• Missing the beginning of vital lessons

• Missing important instructions for the rest of the school day

We have had several requests from parents for holidays in term time this academic year. Please be aware that family holidays in term time are not allowed in law and are highly unlikely to be authorised. Research has shown a clear link between attendance and attainment. Absence from school interrupts teaching and learning and therefore has a negative impact on progress.

Any leave in term time applications must be made through the office and a meeting with the headteacher will be arranged to discuss the request. Birmingham City Council strongly discourages pupil leave of absence during term time and you may be issued with a Penalty Notice if there are a sufficient number of days of absence.

Family Emergencies

It is not always appropriate or in the best interests for a child to miss school for emergencies which are being dealt with by adult family members. Notifying the school of leave due to a family emergency does not mean it will be authorised. School relationships can provide pupils with stability and care during difficult times.*

History

At Lea Forest, we have designed a History curriculum that fires pupils’ curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world. Through our History lessons, pupils consider how the past influences the present, what past societies were like, how these societies organised their politics and what beliefs and cultures influenced people’s actions. As they do this, pupils develop a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people and see the diversity of human experience and understand more about themselves as individuals and members of society. The knowledge of the curriculum is broken down into 4 key strands: Historical terms, Knowledge, Cornerstone Concepts, Chronology and Narrative; Using Evidence; Cause and Consequence; and Change and Continuity.

Geography

At Lea Forest, we have designed a Geography curriculum that is exciting and enables our pupils to be curious about the world they live in. Through our knowledge-rich curriculum, pupils find out about people and places from around the world; discuss environmental issues and the impact that human behaviour has on the Earth; and explore key geographical concepts, drawing on examples at a local, national and international level throughout. The knowledge of the curriculum is broken down into seven key strands:

Knowledge of Physical Geography; Knowledge of Human Geography; Locational and

Place Knowledge at Three Scales: Local, National and Global; Understanding

Places and Connections; Map and Atlas Skills; Geographical skills;

and Fieldwork.

On Thursday we travelled to Selly Oak and the University of Birmingham Sports Complex for our Primary Panathlon Sports Competition with children from Year 3 - 6 taking part. Our children did remarkably well and we were very proud to bring back medals and certificates to Lea Forest after a fantastic competition!

We are pleased to announce that this year’s Christmas Fayre will be held on Friday 9 December. To make the fayre as successful as previous years, we will be holding non-uniform days and asking for an exchange of a small gift for the stalls, as listed below:

From September, all AET schools now have an Academy Council. Academy Councils make sure the voice of parents, staff and community members is strongly represented within AET.

Academy Councils:

• Provide independent checks on the school’s performance based on their ‘lived experience’;

• Provide feedback on the school’s vision, ethos and strategic direction;

• Champion the school’s achievements; and

• Develop local links to the community for learning, development and employment.

Most importantly though, they will provide us with direct feedback on what it’s like to be a child in any AET school. Academy Councils in effect merge the Local Governing Body with our Parent and Community Advisory Boards. We now have one single local body that is squarely focused on making sure there is a strong community voice in the school.

Alongside this, AET’s regional teams focus on making sure we have excellent teaching in every class, every day. Our regional teams formally take on the monitoring role on the quality of education that was previously done by the Local Governing Body.

Our Academy Council members can be found here

What does it mean to be a parent council member?

Being a parent council member is a privileged and responsible role, bringing a unique parental perspective to the Academy Council. They have the opportunity to make a difference, not only for their own children but for children in years to come. They also make a difference for other parents and influence the way in which the school works with them.

Welcome back! I hope that you all had a wonderful half term break. We’ve hit the ground running this week with so many events taking place. Year 5 and 6 have taken part in Language Alive drama workshops whilst Year 3 have visited a Sikh Temple. It was great to see our Junior PCSOs commence their training - they really look the part in their smart uniforms. We’ve had a few visits from leaders’ from other local schools who have visited classes and toured the school to observe our outstanding practice. We have also hosted a moderation session for our Early Years colleagues across the region and Year 6 have been completing SATS baseline assessments. To end the week, our debating team have attended an introduction session at Birmingham University. It will be Christmas before we know it as our feet don’t touch the ground and we work at such a fast pace to ensure the children get an excellent education in every classroom every day.

Reception Places for September 2023

If your child was born between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019, they will be able to start school in September 2023. Parents must apply online for a reception place at Lea Forest via the BIrmingham City Council website. Parents can make an appointment with Mr Croxon via the school office if they require any help completing the online form. We will be holding an open morning on Monday 7 November from 9-10am for prospective parents/carers to visit and look around our Early Years environment.

Coffee Morning

Mrs Gonzales and Mrs Wakelam will be holding a coffee morning on Monday 14 November from 9-10am and all parents/carers are welcome. This is an opportunity to have an informal chat with each other. People attending will be discussing what is working well and what we could do even better. We would also like to take this opportunity to promote of ‘Friends of Lea Forest’ group who will be working hard to raise funds for school and to support the wider community.

Children’s University

We are excited to start our first round of Children’s University clubs next week. We have a wide range of clubs on offer including: TTRS, gardening, music, The Portal, yoga, drama, cookery, Irish dancing and lego city. There has been a huge demand for our clubs and if your child hasn’t been successful in gaining a place this time, there will be many more opportunities throughout the school year. There are waiting lists for some clubs, so if children miss more than 2 sessions, they will lose their place and we will offer from our waiting list.

Pumpkin Prize Winners

Congratulations to our competition winners:

1st - The Abbas Family (3KR, 4NN and 5SC)

2nd - Leo (1SB)

3rd - Tamzin (2MC)

Have a Great Weekend!

Mr Clarke-Castello

Children have been discussing ‘playground trends’ this week. Key Stage 1 voters have reflected on the trends they have encountered during their time at school, and the benefits and drawbacks of these. They have voted on:

“Are playground trends a good thing?”

Meanwhile, Key Stage 2 voters have considered the health implications of vaping based on what is known about it so far. They have also had the opportunity to give advice on this issue to other children. Their VoteTopic question was:

“Do we know enough about how vaping affects us?”

It is our intention, to secure the necessary reading, writing and linguistic skills to become enthusiastic and independent learners. We strive to ensure all our children receive a sequential learning experience, which will equip them with the essential tools to achieve within Lea Forest and beyond. As influential gatekeepers of literature, it is our intention to immerse children in the wonders of quality texts, to foster a love for reading, a passion for discovery and the confidence to explore the world. English underpins the work undertaken in all other areas of the curriculum and is a prerequisite for educational and social progress. Through reading a wide range of quality texts and having meaningful discussions, we aim to create valuable, contributing members of society. The acquisition of language skills is of the utmost importance and therefore the teaching of all aspects is given a high priority within school. Consequently, we strive to cultivate a community of students who have a strong command for the spoken and written word, which in turn enables them to communicate creatively and imaginatively within their compositional outcomes. Our vision is to ensure that every child achieves their full potential in all aspects of English to become confident readers, writers and communicators. Our teachers read to children and model reading aloud during shared reading, changing the tone and intonation in their voice and pausing for punctuation. Our teachers are enthusiastic and engaging readers who encourage a love of reading for pleasure. Through focused book talk, the skills taught in English lessons are applied to all reading across the curriculum. Storytimes are encouraged to be engaging and interesting for all children. Each child's voice is valued during storytime, as they have the opportunity to make recommendations or choose books they want to hear read.

Year 3 visited the Shree Laxmi Narayan Mandir as part of their learning about the religion of Hinduism. The temple was founded in 1979 when the presence of Birmingham's Hindu community had started to take root.

Our friendly guide, Suresh Rajpura, greeted all the children by saying, ‘Namaste’. This is a traditional greeting of respect. Everyone was then given red dot on their forehead which is also another tradition amongst Hindus. During the visit, year 3 were able to explore the temple. The temple was very colourful and there were lots of statues of gods and goddesses dressed in richly embroidered fabrics. Children able to recognise the statues of Rama and Sita as they had learnt about them during their RE lessons. Suresh explained about the history of Hinduism and their beliefs about ‘Dharma’. We had a fun session with magic maths, where Suresh solved calculations quicker than a calculator! The visit ended ‘Aarti’, which is a Hindu ritual to express gratitude to a god with a lit candle.

This was a fantastic cultural and learning experience for all of our year 3 children.

We are pleased to announce that this year’s Christmas Fayre will be held on Friday 9 December. To make the fayre as successful as previous years, we will be holding non-uniform days and asking for an exchange of a small gift for the stalls, as listed below:

Friday 18 November

Bottles

Thursday 24 November

Tins, Cans & Packets

Friday 2 December

Sweets

Friday 9 December

Cakes & Bric-a-Brac