Newsletter
30th September 2022
Principal's Message:
It has been yet another busy week for the children within their learning. It feels unbelievable that we are approaching the end of September and finding ourselves in October. Inevitably, the weather is going to start feeling cooler and we will have more wetter days. Please do ensure that your child is dressed in appropriate clothing.
National Online Safety
We are really fortunate to be able to subscribe to a platform called National Online Safety. This has been the case for many LAT academies for some time now but for those who are new to our community I'd like to offer a little further information. It is a website that provides a wealth of different resources, guides and webinars for staff, children and parents to ensure that we are completely up to date and knowledgeable about how to keep children safe in the digital world. The beauty of this website is that it is available for parents to sign up and and engage with. The "cherry on the cake" is that with wider engagement we can become a certified school for Online Safety. We will be sending out a letter with all of the information you need about how to sign up and get involved.
Cultural Diversity
As a community, we are representing an increasing range of cultures and ethnicities which is something wonderful to celebrate. You will notice that we will be providing lots of opportunities for the whole community to celebrate our diversity and the incredible experiences it can bring. One thing that we would like our parental community to particularly get involved in is sharing information and experiences within our newsletter. This could be about specific celebration days or traditions that the wider community could also celebrate in. We can have a dedicated page for this or, quite rightly, it can also be part of our Langley Legends page. Due to the format of our newsletter we are able to include photos and videos, with consent, to really be able to share any experience with all. We hope that this is a welcomed opportunity and we really can't wait to celebrate in all the cultures that makes LPPA so special.
Have a lovely weekend.
Miss Brading
Office Reminders:
Absences
Please ensure that you contact the academy office if your child is absent for any reason. This should be done on each and every day that your child is not going to be in school.
Absences should not be reported to class teachers or staff that are outside on duty as these staff often return to their various roles within the school without having the opportunity to pass on messages to office staff. Absences should always be reported directly to the academy office so that those responsible for monitoring and recording pupils' attendance are given the correct information first hand.
If staff are not able to answer the phone at the time of your call, this will be because they are already on the phone to another parent/carer or are perhaps dealing with another important matter within the academy office or elsewhere in the school. There is a designated pupil absence line on which you can leave a message informing us of your child's name, class and a reason for their absence - please do use this service.
Punctuality
During this week alone there have been 60 incidences of lateness recorded for 45 pupils across the academy, with a small number of children arriving late to school every day. This equates to more than 10% of pupils arriving late to school at least once this week; this is very high and we are subsequently keen to reduce this.
Whilst arriving just a few minutes late does not affect your child's attendance, it does disrupt class routines and can cause pupils to feel embarrassed and/or uncomfortable when they arrive via a different entrance and at a later time to their peers. We will always look to work in partnership with parents and carers with issues that are affecting attendance and/or punctuality, so please do come and speak to us if you feel we can offer any support to your family with regards to this.
Contacting the class teachers:
If you have concerns that you would like to raise with the academy, please do so via the school office email address on contactus@langleyparkprimaryacademy.org.uk and it will be directed to the relevant members of staff.
Whole School Attendance:
94.55%
Weekly Class Attendance Award:
Braeburn
97.93%
Key Dates:
Monday 3rd October Year 2 Local Area Walk
Wednesday 5th October Year 1 Local Area Walk
Monday 10th October Deadline for carpark poster competition
Tuesday 11th October Restart a Heart Workshop, Year 6 pupils
Thursday 13th October Individual School Photographs, all year groups
Friday 21st October Last day of Term 1
Monday 7th November Return to school for Term 2
Please note that these are confirmed dates but should we need to change any due to unforeseen circumstances, we will communicate this with you with as much notice as possible.
Maidstone Homeless Care
We have received a lovely letter from staff at Maidstone Homeless Care following the huge amount of food donations that we collected for our Harvest Assembly, thanking everyone in the school community for their generosity and kindness.
We know that the centre, which is based in Knightrider Street in Maidstone, relies heavily on donations in order to keep their vital services operational and the right support being accessible to those who need it. Thank you once again to all those who donated to the cause.
