Dear Parents and Carers,

I write to you today ahead of the bank holiday weekend with a great deal of celebration and also some notes of caution.

Please be aware that we have had several cases of a sickness bug which is circulating currently. This seems to be travelling quickly and impacting many schools, hence we have received Kent County Council guidance. The guidance ensures we are vigilant with case loads, ventilation, hygiene and sanitising surfaces frequently to mitigate the outbreak. Should your child be sick they will be unable to return to school until a clear 48 hours has elapsed without further sickness episodes. As a result it is extremely important that you inform us of symptoms as soon as possible. Let's all continue to do our utmost to educate our children regarding the importance of good hygiene and habits surrounding hand washing.

On a brighter note, I would like to thank all of the Parents and Carers who attended our Earth Day exhibition. I apologise I couldn't be there personally, but Mrs Mehigan and Mr Perkins (alongside all of the staff) were wowed at the levels of engagement and the children absolutely loved the opportunity to share their amazing work with you all. Whether your children were on the stations when you visited or if you took the opportunity to accompany your child into the hall following the school day, it did wonders for their confidence and showed a unified investment in their education that they well deserve and take great joy from.

This week also marked our Friends of Oaks Breakfast Launch session. Thank you to all individuals who attended, it was extremely beneficial to explain our visions, purpose and present the opportunity for people to put their names forward for election. The Google Form to apply has been sent out via email and remains open should you wish to put your name forward.

Ahead of the next academic year, there will be an expectation that all children will attend Oaks Primary Academy wearing black school shoes. Should your child currently be wearing trainers or shoes that don't meet this expectation, this will be allowed until we reach the new academic year in September. I don't wish for people to incur additional expense at the moment in the current climate, however upon preparing to return to school over the summer holidays, your child will be expected to wear black school shoes and trainers will only be appropriate for PE lessons.

Uniform - Ordering from Brigade

Dear Parents and Carers,

Please read the information below for how to order new uniform and the deadlines from the uniform company.

New Deadlines:

Parents delivery to School: Last order 15^th June for delivery before the end of term.

The account will then switch to home delivery where the last date is 22^nd July.

For trade orders into school our Summer Deadlines are as follows:

1st Wholesale Deadline: Friday 10th June Delivery before end of term

2nd Wholesale Deadline: Friday 8th July Delivery first week of September

PE

Our pupils have returned after a lovely restful Easter holiday and are as enthusiastic as ever for their PE lessons. I love hearing them in the morning asking about what they are going to be learning, proudly showing me they have their shorts on and sharing with me their new trainers. The sun is beginning to shine and it lovely for all of us to finally to be outside in the fresh air for our PE lessons.

Robins have been practising their jumping, balancing and running skills on the trim trail and astro and they have also had the opportunity to try the different pieces of equipment in the gym area, which they were just big enough to try. They loved it. They have also been taking part in the Daily Mile during Earth Week and understanding the importance of healthy living and today were very excited to be able to walk up to Mangravet Park and back again instead of walking 4 times around the perimeter of the school!

Sparrows have been combining Maths and PE and have been practising their adding up with big dice. They had to throw the dice, add up the numbers and choose an exercise to do that many times. They also had the opportunity to work together in pairs with yoga cards where they copied the pictures and conferenced to ensure they were doing it correctly. Some pupils were able to sound out the words and read the card too.

Woodpeckers have started learning about athletics and tried throwing the javelin this week, with great success.

Bluejays and Kingfishers are back in the pool and we had some amazing risk takers this week when Pool 4 had the opportunity to jump off the first and second board in the diving pool. They were braver than me!!

Chaffinch have been challenging their own personal fitness by doing the beep test and will continue to do it to see how their fitness is improving. They have today been learning the skills of the javelin and shot putt.

This term we have connected with Tiger Primary School and 10 pupils have the opportunity to walk to Tiger and train with their football team every Wednesday night and already have shown great sportsmanship and respect to their new friends and I am really looking forward to seeing how our football improves.