Newsletter

Well done to all this week as our overall attendance at both schools has been great! I am pleased to say that at Stoke, Julia Donaldson class were the winners this week. For Allhallows, the winning classes were Sir David Attenborough and Will Adams. Well done to those classes for ensuring that you are in school and ready to learn!

Wonderful Inquiry Work

Medway Council Young People Survey

Medway council are encouraging children and young people to have their say in shaping the future of Medway.

To support their ambition to become a truly Child Friendly Medway where they put children and young people at the heart of everything they do, they have launched a survey to find out more about what it feels like to be a young person living here, and to understand their wants and needs.

Questions include what young people like most about their local area, what things are most important to them, and how they would like to be involved in decisions about the future.

TONIC, will conduct the survey and analyse the findings, with discussions planned for future board meetings.

The survey is open until midnight on Sunday, 23 May. If you would like to complete the survey with your child, then please see the link below.

The link to the survey is: smartsurvey.co.uk/s/MedwayYourWay

E-scooters

We have been sent some information from Medway Council and Kent Police regarding the use of E-Scooters that you may find useful:

Year-round we work closely with our community safety partners to raise awareness of key road safety messages throughout Kent and Medway. In recent weeks it has been brought to our attention that there is an increasing number of individuals riding e-scooters on the public highway, pavements and in public open spaces.

E-scooters are a relatively new mode of transport and as such the Government is trialling various schemes and developing the guidance around their safe use. However, (at the time of writing this letter) many are still unaware e-scooters are classed as ‘Personal Light Electric Vehicles’ (PLEVs), which means they are treated as motor vehicles and subject to the same legal requirements such as:

• Driving licence

• Insurance

• Number plates

• Lighting

• Brakes

• Type approval

• Road tax

• Crash helmets etc.

Without these, e-scooters cannot be used legally on the road. In no circumstances is it legal to use them on the pavement.

The Government is currently trialling the use of approved rental e-scooters as environmentally friendly modes of transport in some specific locations in the UK (find out more here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/e-scooter-trials-guidance-for-users).

Only approved rental e-scooters may be used in the Government-led trial areas, in line with specific terms of use. For the rest of the country, under current law, e-scooters can only be used on private land.

The police are obliged to take action against anyone who is caught repeatedly using an e-scooter illegally or in a way that causes a nuisance to others. In these circumstances, the police have the power to seize the e-scooter under Section 59 of the Police Reform Act/165 of the Road Traffic Act.

For further detailed information regarding e-scooters please visit GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/powered-transporters/information-sheet-guidance-on-powered-transporters

Academic Honesty

As part of an assembly this past week, we have been exploring and sharing what academic honesty means with the children and they each have a poster in their class to promote this.

For the younger children, we explored that they should always try their best and not copy other children's work or answers and if they do like an idea from a class mate then it is fine to use it as long as the rest of their work is their own and they acknowledge to others that they found their ideas useful in their work. With our older children, we talked about not cheating on any tests or exams that they might need to take and how to use ideas from any research that they do online so that they are not claiming this for their own. It is rather complex but equally important that our children start to grasp what this might mean for them as it will be something they need to consider at secondary school, college/university and in future careers. It is also a partnership between the children, our staff and you as parents to ensure that we too are academically honest. I did share with the children that parts of my presentation had been taken from another Principal's ideas before I made it and it was important that I didn't claim the piece of work to be completely my own.

Here are some key points to consider:

Pupil Responsibilities and Expectations

• If you take credit for work which belongs to you then you are being knowledgeable. People will know they can come to you to find out more information about your topic.

• If you share credit for the work which is from a group then you are being principled. People will see you are an honest and respectful person.

• If you give credit for work which is not yours then you are a person who has integrity. You know the difference between what is fair and what is not fair. You are an honorable person.

• If you contribute equally while working in a group then you are showing respect for others’ opinions and cooperation. People know you are a good listener and you work well with others.

• If you work individually on your own learning, which is to be done alone, then you are showing independence and confidence. You know you can do the work and you will do your best.

The Role of Parents

• To encourage and ensure that pupils are completing independent home learning

• To support pupils in independent home learning - but work must not be completed for them.

• To support and promote pupils in accessing a range of sources including websites, library books and academic publications.

• To support teachers regarding consequences for cheating or plagiarism.

The Role of Teachers

• Adhere to the academic honesty policy both in their own planning and teaching and also in the pupils’ work

• Inform pupils of the consequences for academic dishonesty

• Display posters related to academic honesty in classrooms

• Provide guidance and information to pupils on how to deal with issues such as copying and pasting from online texts

• Refer to the IB Learner Profile and the PYP attitudes

• Equip pupils with essential skills such as research, communication, thinking, self – management, in addition to social skills