September 2024

I can’t believe that we have already completed 4 weeks of the Autumn Term.   I’m incredibly proud of how well the children have settled into their classes and how they are so focused on their learning.  We have really hit the ground running with a real focus on the doing the basics brilliantly and extending our enrichment offer even further.  I have challenged staff to live and breathe our vision by provisioning our children with an excellent education, in every classroom, every day. 

European Day of Languages

Thank you to Mrs Morsely who organised our celebration of ‘Languages Day’, which has been a huge success. Children came to school dressed in a sea of colours to represent the countries from around the world. We held a European cafe to raise money for school funds and each class learnt about a different country and the culture within it.  

Friends of Lea Forest 

We would like parents to be part of our ‘Friends of Lea Forest’ group.  If you are a parent/carer of a pupil in school and would like to be involved in supporting school events such as: discos, fundraising, family fun days and fayres, please complete the electronic application form. Mrs Gonzales and Mrs Wakelam are eager to get started with this year’s events.

Year 5 Trip to Stratford

On Tuesday, Year 5 went to Stratford-upon-Avon as part of their Geography unit - Water and Rivers. They had a super day looking at how the River Avon is used by animals and people and looking at its features. They also had the opportunity to look at some of the town’s historic buildings in readiness for their upcoming History unit about Elizabethan times and the great playwright himself, William Shakespeare. The children really enjoyed their visit.

Black History Month - October

We're excited to celebrate Black History Month and make it a truly inclusive event for our entire school community. If you're a parent who'd like to contribute your time and talents to help us create a memorable celebration, please contact Mrs. Cunningham on class dojo. Your involvement will make a significant difference.  

Attendance has slipped a little this week, but still met our 97% target. Please continue to ensure children are sent into school every day.

Have a great weekend!     

Mr. Clarke

This half term we will be running several initiatives to encourage great attendance from all of our pupils.  The winners of the Attendance Leagues will win a ‘Pizza’ party. Look out for more information about all attendance initiatives on Class Dojo. Also, look out for daily updates on your child’s teacher about their class attendance. One class each week will achieve the ‘golden ticket’ and a class reward for the best attendance.

It’s great to see everyone working so hard to EXCEED our 97% target.  

We can only do this if we all work together!

Our attendance for 

the week is

97%

Our attendance for 

the year to date

97.8%

Keep up the great work!

The Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) is a short, interactive and practical assessment of your children's early literacy,  communication, language and mathematics skills when they begin school,  using materials that most children of your child's age will be familiar with. The RBA will provide an opportunity for your child to have valuable one-to-one time with their teacher at an early stage, so that the teacher can get to know your child better. It will provide a helpful snapshot of your child so that they can be supported in the most appropriate way.

We are having an increasing number of requests for absence for medical appointments in school time. This disrupts learning and we ask that non urgent appointments such as the dentist, or routine vaccinations are made outside of school hours where possible. If your child has a hospital or specialist appointment please bring the letter to the school office where a copy can be placed on their file as proof of authorised absence. Where an appointment is for a parent, we cannot authorise absence. 

This academic year, Birmingham local authority have introduced new attendance guidance for schools. This is called ‘Support First’. ‘Support First’ is based on the expectation outlined in the statutory guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ that schools should support pupils

and parents by working together to address any in-school barriers to attendance: Where parents decide to register their child in school, they have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly. This means their

child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of allowable circumstances such as being too ill to attend or being given permission for an absence in advance from the school.

Good attendance is essential for children to get the most out of their education, including their attainment, wellbeing and wider development. Research shows that children with better attendance do considerably better in meeting key attainment milestones than pupils with poor attendance.

As part of the new guidance, frequent absence for illness will be challenged and parents may be requested to provide medical evidence for further absences to be authorised.

We have a whole school approach to good attendance which we believe will enable every child to achieve their full potential.

At Lea Forest Primary Academy, 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

• Change and Continuity.

Asda's ‘Cashpot for Schools’ is a fundraising initiative where shoppers donate a portion of their spending to a chosen school. Parents can sign up by downloading the free Asda Rewards app, linking their account, and selecting Lea Forest Primary Academy. Each donation contributes to the school's "Cashpot," which can be used for various school projects and resources.

Our recent "European Languages Day" celebration was a wonderful example of how we encourage our pupils at ‘Lea Forest’ to respect other cultures. We believe that education should be a joyful and inclusive experience. Beyond academics, we strive to create a supportive environment that fosters cultural understanding and personal growth.  

This week’s free online safety guide, provided by the National College, focuses on Apex Legends. The multiplayer battle royale video game, which is free to play, is a game consisting of twenty three-man squads (groups of players) who are dropped onto an island from a dropship and compete to be the last team standing. Each player on the squad gets to choose a ‘Legend’ to play with; one of eight unique characters with a specialised skill set in either ‘Offense’, ‘Defense’, Support’ or ‘Recon’. The game is currently available on PC, Playstation and Xbox and carries a 16 rating in the United Kingdom.

Safety Around Dogs

Last week we were visited by The Dogs Trust. They taught the children the ABC’s of being a dog’s best friend. 

Affection: Show dogs affection in ways they understand. Allow them to move freely away when they want to.

Busy: When dogs are busy, give them space. If a dog is eating, chewing, sleeping, drinking or resting, they might need to be alone and will appreciate their own space.

Choice: Freedom of choice is an important way to help dogs feel relaxed and safe. Let your dog choose when it wants to start or end an interaction. For more information visit the  Dogs Trust website.

At Lea Forest we pride ourselves on ensuring that there are no barriers to what our pupils can achieve. We believe that nothing should be out of their reach and everything is possible. There may be additional support needed for this to be possible and that is no problem at all! The Pastoral Team at Lea Forest are dedicated to ensuring that our pupils get the right support at the right time. The team consists of Mr Wills (Pastoral Lead) and Mrs Craven (Pastoral Assistant). We are also supported by Tim from Synergy Education Support Services on Fridays. Between us we are able to identify the most suitable and appropriate intervention to help our pupils thrive from Nursery to Year 6. Interventions can cover a range of areas, such as; self-esteem, managing emotions, friendship groups and play therapies. We are proactive in finding the right support for all of our pupils. 

If your child needs support then please speak to the main office in person or via 0121 675 3985 and a member of the Pastoral Team will get back to you as soon as possible. 

Kind regards, 

Mr Wills 

Shop Second Hand

Consider purchasing secondhand furniture or opting for recycled options like recycled outdoor plastic furniture. This not only reduces waste but also allows you to create a more distinctive and environmentally friendly interior design.

It has been another fantastic week here at Lea Forest.  Our Year 6 pupils have spent 3 days at Boreatton Park this week. They’ve had so much fun taking part in activities such as: abseiling, raft building, problem solving and archery.  I was extremely impressed with their attitudes particularly when faced with challenges.  They were supporting each other to ‘Push their limits’ by climbing higher and reaching goals they never imagined possible: it was wonderful to witness.  Well done Year 6, we are very proud of you and a huge ‘Thank you’ to all of the staff who gave up their own time to chaperone the children.   

Protective Characteristics

This week, at Lea Forest Primary, we've explored the vital concept of equality. In line with Article 2 of of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and our school value of being big-hearted, we've discussed how everyone should be treated fairly, regardless of their individual characteristics. Our assembly on the Equality Act 2010 highlighted the importance of protecting these characteristics, known as protected characteristics. By connecting this topic to our British Values of Respect, Tolerance, and the rule of law, we've emphasised the significance of creating a compassionate and inclusive environment for all.

Black History Month - October

We're excited to celebrate Black History Month and make it a truly inclusive event for our entire school community. If you're a parent who'd like to contribute your time and talents to help us create a memorable celebration, please contact Mrs. Cunningham on class dojo. Your involvement will make a significant difference.  

Attendance

This academic year, Birmingham local authority have introduced new attendance guidance for schools. This is called ‘Support First’. ‘Support First’ is based on the expectation outlined in the statutory guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ that schools should support pupils and parents by working together to address any in-school barriers to attendance: Where parents decide to register their child in school, they have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly. This means children must attend every day that the school is open.  Good attendance is essential for children to get the most out of their education. I am delighted with our positive start to the year with 98% of our children attending school every day. 

Thank you!

Have a great weekend!      

Mr Clarke

This half term we will be running several initiatives to encourage great attendance from all of our pupils.  The winners of the Attendance Leagues will win a ‘Pizza’ party. Look out for more information about all attendance initiatives on Class Dojo. Also, look out for daily updates on your child’s teacher about their class attendance. One class each week will achieve the ‘golden ticket’ and a class reward for the best attendance.

It’s great to see everyone working so hard to EXCEED our 97% target.  

We can only do this if we all work together!

Our attendance for 

the week is

98%

Our attendance for 

the year to date

98%

Keep up the great work!

This academic year, Birmingham local authority have introduced new attendance guidance for schools. This is called ‘Support First’. ‘Support First’ is based on the expectation outlined in the statutory guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ that schools should support pupils

and parents by working together to address any in-school barriers to attendance: Where parents decide to register their child in school, they have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly. This means their

child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of allowable circumstances such as being too ill to attend or being given permission for an absence in advance from the school.

Good attendance is essential for children to get the most out of their education, including their attainment, wellbeing and wider development. Research shows that children with better attendance do considerably better in meeting key attainment milestones than pupils with poor attendance.

As part of the new guidance, frequent absence for illness will be challenged and parents may be requested to provide medical evidence for further absences to be authorised.

We have a whole school approach to good attendance which we believe will enable every child to achieve their full potential.

The children have started the school looking really smart in their uniform.  If you are unsure of our school uniform policy, please refer to our website.

If you are having difficulties purchasing the correct uniform and need some help, please contact a member of our Pastoral Team and we will be happy to support you in any way that we can. 

Equally, if your child has particular needs, let us know and we will always make reasonable adjustments on an individual basis.   

Congratulations to all the children who participated in the summer reading challenge! Your dedication to reading is commendable. Keep turning those pages!

Mateo - 2BE

Neo- 4SH

Tamsin - 4EC

Ethan - 3JM

Umar- 4NN

Jayden - 5SJ

Madiah 3JM

Travel Tracker is back for 2024-2025 and we're really excited to see if Lea Forest can continue to top the league table. 5SJ, 5SC and 4SH are our most active class this week.

We need everyone to help by choosing to walk, scoot, cycle, park and stride or use public transport to get to school. This will help to keep the roads around Lea Forest safe for our children and improve air quality for our community.

Article Two

This week, we've been learning about Article 2 of the Convention, which states that everyone is equal, regardless of their race, religion, abilities, beliefs, or family background. To reinforce this important message, we had an assembly about the Equality Act 2010 and people's protected characteristics. We also connected this topic to our British Values of Respect, Tolerance, and the rule of law.

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. These competencies can be found at in the ‘Character Curriculum’ section of our website.

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 hunt for some minibeasts and make your own bug pooter…  

A fantastic (free) step-by-step guide along with a list of all of the required resources to make a ‘bug pooter’ can be found on BBC Bitesize (accessible using the hyperlink). So let the hunt commence… Remember to share pictures with your teachers via Class Dojo, Twitter and Facebook. 

The European Day of Languages aims to promote the rich linguistic diversity of Europe and raise awareness of the importance of lifelong language learning for everyone. To mark ‘The European Day of Languages’, the children at Lea Forest Primary Academy took part in a multitude of language themed events as we are always looking to enrich our wider curriculum and provide cultural capital to the children. Throughout the different year groups, the children learnt traditional songs from a range of different countries, cooked traditional recipes, explored ‘British Sign Language’ and much more (all of which can be viewed on our social media pages). 

Exposing pupils to a wide range of cultures provides an excellent platform on which to embrace diversity, both within school and in the wider community. Activities that explore and celebrate cultural differences provide crucial opportunities to promote respect, empathy and inclusivity from a young age. Exposing children to other cultures and ways of life that are different from their own increases their breadth of life, experience of and understanding of the world. 

This week’s free online safety guide, provided by the National College, focuses on  focuses on This week's free online safety guide focuses on add-on to Snapchat, SENDIT. Although not a standalone application it is important that trusted adults realise that any risks associated with Snapchat also affect children using ‘Sendit’. Within the app, people play question games like ‘Truth or Dare’ and ‘Never Have I Ever’: users select a question to share on their Snapchat story for their friends to reply to. All responses are anonymous, although - for paying subscribers - ‘Sendit’ reveals hints about who sent which message.

Early Help

This week our safeguarding focus is Early Help. Early help and early intervention are forms of support aimed at improving outcomes for children or preventing escalating need or risk. Early help can be given to families and children from a range of external agencies that can include school. Research suggests that early help and intervention can:protect children from harm;reduce the need for a referral to child protection services; improve children's long-term outcomes; improve children’s home and family life;support children to develop strengths and skills to prepare them for adult life. With the support of our local Early Help teams we can support families in a wide range of ways.

Invest In A Low-Flow Toilet

For those seeking to reduce water consumption, low-flow toilets offer a more efficient alternative to traditional models. Consuming only 1.28 gallons (or approximately 5.8 liters) per flush, they can significantly lower water usage compared to older toilets, which may use up to seven gallons (or 31.8 liters).

This half term we will be running several initiatives to encourage great attendance from all of our pupils.  The winners of the Attendance Leagues will win a ‘Popcorn and Movie’ party.  We will also shortly be holding an ‘Attendance Focus Fortnight.’  Look out for more information about both of these initiatives on Class Dojo.  Also, look out for weekly text messages if your child has attended school every single day.

It’s great to see everyone working so hard to achieve our 97% target.  

We can only do this if we all work together!

Our attendance for 

the week is

98.14%

Our attendance for 

the year to date

97.9%

Keep up the great work!

The children have started the school looking really smart in their uniform.  If you are unsure of our school uniform policy, please refer to our website.

If you are having difficulties purchasing the correct uniform and need some help, please contact a member of our Pastoral Team and we will be happy to support you in any way that we can. 

Equally, if your child has particular needs, let us know and we will always make reasonable adjustments on an individual basis.   

It is important that the P.E kit is seen as an extension of our school uniform, therefore our high standards should be kept. All children require the following items for P.E: House Colour Plain T Shirt or Lea Forest Branded T Shirt from the uniform shop (patterned designs and football shirts are not permitted). Red for Holly, Blue for Bramble, Green for Ash and Yellow for Oak.

• Black Shorts

• Black Slip on pumps or trainers for indoor use

• Jogging Bottoms or track suit trousers for outdoor use

• Trainers for outdoor use

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.  Family holidays in term time are not allowed in law and are very unlikely to be authorised.  Taking children on leave without applying for authorisation may mean the school has to report your child as ‘missing’ to the local authority and holidays cannot be authorised retrospectively in law.  The direct correlation between attendance and attainment is undeniable. Absence from school interrupts teaching and learning and compromises progress.

The government has made changes to the law relating to school attendance. Penalty notices have increased and there is now an escalation process for repeated offences which includes prosecution or other legal interventions.

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 Mr Wills or Ms Wale.

Every child has an inherent right to participate in decisions that impact their lives and to have their perspectives valued and considered. This fundamental principle recognizes that children are not merely passive recipients of care but active agents with valuable insights and contributions. Upholding children's rights is essential for fostering their personal development, building their sense of agency, and ensuring their well-being.

In next week’s votes for schools, our young voters will be having the opportunity to discuss these questions. Does Auto play make you watch too much TV? (KS1) Should Autoplay be switched off? (KS2)

The European Day of Languages aims to promote the rich linguistic diversity of Europe and raise awareness of the importance of lifelong language learning for everyone. To mark ‘The European Day of Languages’, the children at Lea Forest Primary Academy took part in a multitude of language themed events as we are always looking to enrich our wider curriculum and provide cultural capital to the children. Throughout the different year groups, the children learnt traditional songs from a range of different countries, cooked traditional recipes, explored ‘British Sign Language’ and much more (all of which can be viewed on our social media pages). 

Exposing pupils to a wide range of cultures provides an excellent platform on which to embrace diversity, both within school and in the wider community. Activities that explore and celebrate cultural differences provide crucial opportunities to promote respect, empathy and inclusivity from a young age. Exposing children to other cultures and ways of life that are different from their own increases their breadth of life, experience of and understanding of the world. 

Like everyone, children need sleep and it’s really important they get it (both for them and for you). Sometimes getting them to sleep is tricky, but a predictable routine can help.  It’s pretty obvious that a child who is getting enough sleep is more likely to be happy and alert than a child who isn’t.  Getting your child into a good sleeping pattern isn’t just about avoiding tantrums though, lack of sleep has been linked to future problems, such as anxiety, depression, obesity and high blood pressures.

Turn off screens an hour before bedtime. Audiobooks or good old-fashioned paper books are a good alternative to eBooks. Light from screens stops the production of the sleep hormone melatonin.                         

How much sleep is enough?

 As a rough guide, children need:

3-5 year olds = 11 - 14 hours of sleep

6-12 year olds = 10 - 13 hours of sleep

This week’s free online safety guide, provided by the National College, focuses on  World of Warcraft. Originally launched in 2004, the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), , encourages players to work together to complete quests, enter dungeons and engage in player versus player (PvP) combat in the realm of Azeroth.  Due to the online nature of the game, players are required to pay a monthly subscription fee of £9.99 to play. As well as this the game includes mild violence and offensive language resulting in a suggested age rating of PEGI 12, 

Contextual Safeguarding

Contextual safeguarding is an approach to understanding, and responding to, young people’s experiences of significant harm beyond their families. This approach recognises that the different relationships that young people form in their neighbourhoods or online can feature violence and abuse and the aim is to protect children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home. Gang violence, knife crime or exploitation are all potential risks. If you are concerned about a child or young person, then you can report this to children's services or the police. You can also call the NSPCC Helpline on  0808 800 5000 to discuss any concerns.

Ditch The Herbicides

The chemicals in herbicides can cause habitat alteration that affects the species living in these habitats. Look into natural alternatives to kill weeds, such as mulching your lawn, laying down glass panes for several weeks to burn them away before planting your garden, or hand-weeding once you have.

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.  Family holidays in term time are not allowed in law and are very unlikely to be authorised.  Taking children on leave without applying for authorisation may mean the school has to report your child as ‘missing’ to the local authority and holidays cannot be authorised retrospectively in law.  The direct correlation between attendance and attainment is undeniable. Absence from school interrupts teaching and learning and compromises progress.

The government has made changes to the law relating to school attendance. Penalty notices have increased and there is now an escalation process for repeated offences which includes prosecution or other legal interventions.

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 Mr Wills or Ms Wale.

The children have started the school looking really smart in their uniform.  If you are unsure of our school uniform policy, please refer to our website.

If you are having difficulties purchasing the correct uniform and need some help, please contact a member of our Pastoral Team and we will be happy to support you in any way that we can. 

Equally, if your child has particular needs, let us know and we will always make reasonable adjustments on an individual basis.   

It is important that the P.E kit is seen as an extension of our school uniform, therefore our high standards should be kept. All children require the following items for P.E: House Colour Plain T Shirt or Lea Forest Branded T Shirt from the uniform shop (patterned designs and football shirts are not permitted). Red for Holly, Blue for Bramble, Green for Ash and Yellow for Oak.

• Black Shorts

• Black Slip on pumps or trainers for indoor use

• Jogging Bottoms or track suit trousers for outdoor use

• Trainers for outdoor use

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. These competencies can be found at in the ‘Character Curriculum’ section of our website.

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 plan and cook a healthy meal for your family. 

Some fantastic (free) recipes / meal ideas can be found on the BBC Good Food website. The website offers nutritious, triple-tested recipes for vegetarian, vegan and meat diets, so will you plan and cook a home comfort or try something new? Remember to share pictures with your teachers via Class Dojo, Twitter and Facebook. 

All classes from Y1 -Y6 have discussed the importance of our British Values ‘Democracy’ and ‘Individual Liberty’ this week. Following this, manifestos were written, speeches were given and new class councillors were elected!  Congratulations to our elected school councillors for 24/25. Mrs Cunningham and Mrs Murphy will be meeting regularly with our council representatives to help improve school life and the wider community.  They will also have the opportunity to visit the Houses of Parliament in London. 

Next week voters are going to be cooking some ideas about…cooking! They will be exploring whether this life skill should get a bigger slice of curriculum time.  KS1 pupils will be discussing the question ‘Should you do more cooking at school?’ and our KS2 pupils will be discussing ‘Should cooking get more time in the curriculum?’ 

We have added to the ‘Lea Forest Family’ this year by welcoming new members of staff. I’m sure that you will join me in wishing them a warm welcome and helping them to settle into our school.

Returning To School

It is common for children to feel nervous about going back to school after the summer holiday or at the start of a new term and you may have noticed that it is taking a while for them to feel happy and comfortable.  To help calm their nerves and make sure they are prepared for the school day, you could try:

- Readjusting bedtimes to get into a healthy routine

- Making sure they aren’t bringing their mobiles, tablets, or any devices to bed that might stop them sleeping

- Helping them get the correct clothing or uniform and equipment ready the night before making sure they eat breakfast every morning

This week’s free online safety guide, provided by the National College, focuses on iPads. Apple debuted the first iPad in 2010, kickstarting the tablet market, and it remains the best-selling tablet to this day. Although Apple doesn't offer a child-specific version, iPads are hugely popular with youngsters due to their ease of use and endless choice of apps. There's a selection of models, with different-sized screens and distinct features - including the standard iPad; the iPad Air; the iPad Pro; and the iPad mini. Thankfully, they all offer parental controls so you can regulate how your child uses the device... and how long they spend on it.

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle

Of the 26 million tonnes of waste produced in the UK, 12 million tonnes are recycled, and 14 million tonnes are sent to landfill sites. 

This gives us an average recycling rate of 45%. We can all do our bit to reduce this amount by recycling everything that we can at home, at work and at school. 

Together, we can make a HUGE difference!