Newsletter 01/03/24

Y4 Philharmonia Quintet Visit

On Tuesday 20th February our year 4 children visited St. Andrew's Church in Cheam to witness a performance by a quintet from the renowned Philharmonia Orchestra. The majestic setting of the church, with its stained glass windows and soaring arches, provided a unique backdrop to the music.

The quintet, consisting of a violinist, violist, cellist, oboist, and flautist, captivated our young audience with their virtuosity and passion. They performed a selection of classical pieces, really showcasing their instruments and engaging our children.

The visit to St. Andrew's Church proved to be a truly enriching experience for year 4. It broadened their cultural horizons, ignited their curiosity about the world of music, and provided a memorable opportunity to witness the magic of live orchestral performances!

Year 6 Young Careers Visit

On Monday 19th February a group of our Y6 children embarked on a fantastic journey to Young Careers London, an interactive space dedicated to exploring future career paths. It was a day filled with discovery, inspiration, and valuable insights into the diverse world of work.

The trip offered our children a unique opportunity to:

Dive into diverse careers: Through interactive exhibits and hands-on activities, they explored exciting professions ranging from the familiar, like doctors and lawyers, to the cutting-edge, like web developers and game designers.
Spark their aspirations: Learning about the specific skills and qualifications needed for different careers helped pupils ignite their own career interests and start envisioning their future paths.
Gain valuable knowledge: The visit provided a real-world glimpse into the professional landscape, emphasizing the importance of education and training, alongside the crucial skills and qualities sought by employers.

Here are some highlights from their exploration:

"World of Work" Exhibition: Students donned various uniforms, operated machinery, and tackled interactive challenges, experiencing different careers first hand.
Engaging Workshops: They participated in workshops focused on crafting effective CVs, mastering interview skills, and building their personal brand identity.
Meeting the Experts: Students connected with professionals representing diverse industries, gaining insights from their career journeys and asking inspiring questions.

Overall, the Young Careers London trip was a resounding success. By igniting curiosity, fostering career aspirations, and equipping our children with valuable knowledge about the world of work, we are confident they are better prepared to navigate their future paths and make informed decisions about their dream careers.

Year 2 Holly Lodge and Hindu Temple Visit

On Wednesday 28th February Year 2 had a fantastic trip to Holly Lodge in Richmond Park. They dressed as Victorian children and learnt about what life was like for children at school in the Victorian Era. The teacher was very strict!

After lunch Dolphins Class then visited the Hindu temple in Wimbledon and learnt about all the different gods and goddesses as well as the rituals that take place at the temple. This was a wonderful opportunity to consolidate and enhance all the learning that has taken place in school so far this term.

Shawley Fundraisers Crazy Hair Day

On Thursday 29th February we celebrated Crazy Hair Day across the school. There were some amazing hair creations on show!

Huge thanks to our Shawley Fundraisers for organising this event and to our parents for your generous donations.

Challenge Partners External School Review

We are thrilled to announce the fantastic results of our recent external review by Challenge Partners, a leading national organisation dedicated to school improvement. The review took place just before half term and we have now received our report which will be available for you to read on our school website.

Our school achieved the highest standard of "Leading" in both "Leadership at all Levels" and "Provision and Pupil Outcomes". This fantastic accomplishment is a testament to the dedication and outstanding work of our entire school community.

The 2 day review process involved a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation of our school's leadership, teaching, curriculum, and pupil progress. The reviewers commended several key areas:

Strong leadership: They highlighted the clear vision, effective communication, and collaborative approach practised by our school leaders at all levels, which empowers all staff and fosters a positive learning environment.
Excellent teaching and learning: They were impressed by the expertise and passion of our teachers, who consistently create engaging and challenging lessons tailored to individual pupil needs.
High-quality provision: They recognised the well-designed curriculum that provides a broad, balanced and ambitious education, equipping our pupils with the knowledge, skills, and character required to thrive in the future.
Impressive student outcomes: They were particularly pleased with the outstanding academic progress and personal development demonstrated by all our children, including those with additional needs.

We also put forward the use of Pedagogical Technology (technology to enhance learning) as an Area of Excellence and were awarded this as well.

This achievement is a source of immense pride for everyone associated with our school. It reflects the dedication of our teachers, the support of our parents and carers, and the hard work and enthusiasm of our children. We are committed to building on this success and continuing to provide an exceptional education that empowers our pupils to reach their full potential.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership in creating a truly exceptional learning environment for our children.

World Book Day Thursday 7th March

Get ready for a day filled with literary magic on Thursday, March 7th - World Book Day!

Exciting Events:

We welcome authors Karen Lord and Shanee Buxton to Shawley.
- They will be leading a captivating assembly for the whole school and hosting engaging workshops with select classes.
- After school, they will be selling and signing copies of their books in the library. Don't miss this chance to meet them in person!

Pre-order your books: Head over to their website https://www.creativechameleonbooks.co.uk/shop and don't forget to choose "deliver to school" at checkout.

Dress Up Time!

Cosy up with a good book in your pyjamas! OR
Channel your inner book character! We encourage creative costumes inspired by your favorite literary heroes.

Potato Power!

Calling all budding artists! Show off your creativity with our potato character competition.
Use a potato as your canvas and transform it into your favorite book character.
Bring your masterpieces to school on Thursday for everyone to admire.

Get ready for a fantastic day celebrating the joy of reading and storytelling!

Staff Goodbye

Sadly we are saying a fond goodbye to Mr Adeyilake who has been a wonderful member of our LSA team at Shawley. Both children and staff will miss his positivity, good humour and dedication to educating and bringing out the best in all the children he works with. He is leaving Shawley to take up a new role as a Football Coach with Dorking Wanderers. We wish him all the very best in his new role.

Topical Talk Competition

Each week a group of Year 6 children attend a weekly Topical Talk Club, led by Ms Spare and run alongside The Economist magazine, which helps to build essential skills to engage with the world. Currently, as part of the Topical Talk Festival, there is a weekly competition. This is the first competition we have entered during the festival so far and have been awarded stars for our successful entries. Congratulations to all the Topical Talkers who entered the competition this week. There were lots of great choices for the competition about Inspirational Women. Winners from Shawley were William, Ella, Julia, Minahill, Hannah, Evin, Charlotte and Sienna and overall winner Zozan. Huge congratulations.

Edurio Survey

Holiday Club at Shawley

Click here to book a place

Sports News

Sports News - Please click here to find out the most recent Sports News which has happened over the past couple of weeks

In School We Have Been Learning...

Year R Please click here to find out what Polar Bears have been learning over the past couple of weeks

Year 1 Please click here to find out what Year 1 have been learning over the past couple of weeks

Year 2 Please click here to find out what Year 2 have been learning over the past couple of weeks

Year 3 Please click here to find out what Year 3 have been learning over the past couple of weeks

Year 4/5 Please click here to find out what Year 4/5 have been learning over the past couple of weeks

Year 6 Please click here to find out what Year 6 have been learning over the past couple of weeks

Shawley's Superstars

On Friday every week we award 2 children per class a 'Star of The Week' certificate. This is given to children who have impressed their teachers throughout the course of the week with their work, behaviour and attitude in school. Winners for this week are...

Weekly Attendance Award

During our Monday assembly each week we award an Attendance Certificate and trophy to the class with the highest attendance. These are displayed in the classroom. Children are always incredibly proud when their class receives this award!

Winners for the last 2 weeks are...

wc 19.02.24 - Lions 100% Rhinos 100% Polar Bears 99.2%

wc 26.02.24 - Rhinos 98.9% Penguins 98.6%

Achievements Outside School

Swimming Achievement

Many congratulations to Caitlin (Y5) who has just passed her Gold swimming award. This is a fantastic achievement and well timed as year 5 will be swimming on Tuesdays from next week!

School Lottery

Shawley's school lottery has been set up specifically to raise money and make a difference for our children! It's a fantastic way to bring parents, carers, staff and the wider community together, in partnership with our school, and at the same time give something back. We hope to raise funds that can support and enrich the education of our children - we aim to provide extra resources for the children, improve the school environment as well as run extracurricular activities such as music, art and sport.

Join today! Click here to access the Your School Lottery website to learn more about how it works and how to join.

Your support is greatly appreciated and we wish you good luck!

LEO Catering

School Meals

Our school catering provision is offered to all children across the Trust by LEO Catering, our in house catering supplier. The menus are created and refreshed three times a year, catering for children with allergies and are available to view below. Our menus follow government food standard guidelines and offer excellent value at £2.70 a day for a main meal, dessert, choice of salad bar, fresh bread daily and vegetarian and Halal options. Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 receive a free meal funded by the government's Universal Infant Free School Meal grant and we encourage anyone in any year group who thinks they may be eligible to apply for free school meal funding to apply.

Menus are available here: www.leoacademytrust.co.uk/647/school-meals.

Children in Years 3-6 will need to pay for their meals via Arbor. Cost of a school meal is £2.70 per day, £13.50 per week. Please ensure there are sufficient funds in your child's account in advance, otherwise no school dinner can be ordered and you will need to provide your child with a packed lunch.

For those children who do still bring in a packed lunch, you may have noticed that your child brings home some of their lunch as we encourage the children to take home uneaten food. This enables you to see exactly what your child is eating at lunchtimes and adapt their lunch accordingly. We ask that packed lunches include healthy options in line with our Healthy School status. Children should not bring fizzy drinks or chocolate bars to school.

We have a number of children with nut allergies in school which means that all staff and parents must be vigilant about ingredients we use in school and items put into lunch boxes. No nuts should be put into packed lunches.

Pupil Premium

Pupil premium is additional funding allocated to all schools in England to support disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers. This budget includes pupils who are currently entitled to free school meals, have been free schools meals in the past six years (FSM ‘Ever 6’), children that are cared for or adopted from care and children whose parents are in the armed forces.

We would like to remind all parents who are eligible, to apply for the Pupil Premium Grant. This grant enables the school to provide additional support to our children where needed. Examples of this are, access to extra-curricular clubs and additional support with specific areas of the curriculum.

For more information and how to apply, please see below:

Applying for this grant is very simple, it can be done online

gov.uk - Find out more about Pupil Premium

Pupil Premium Eligibility Checker

Pupil Premium Strategy Statement

If you feel you would like support in applying for this grant please contact the school office who will be happy to go through this process with you. All applications are confidential within the school.

Community News, Events & Information

Community News, Events & Information - Please click here to find out about local community news, events and information

Dogs on the School Site

Whilst we understand that many of you adore your furry companions, please can we remind parents and carers that dogs are not permitted on school grounds at any time, except for certified service animals. This policy is in place to ensure the safety and well-being of all children, staff, and visitors.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in adhering to this policy.

Parking Around School

Unfortunately we continue to have incidences of dangerous and inconsiderate parking and careless driving outside our school, especially at school pick-up time. We know pick up and drop off times are difficult and very busy, however a small minority of parents from the school are still driving and parking without any thought for our local residents, children or other parents.

We have received several complaints from residents who are very unhappy about cars being parked across their drives. This parking can pose a safety risk to pupils and parents that do walk/cycle/scooter to school, as well as to other road users.

Please could you think of the safety of ALL our children and refrain from parking on the pavement or across residents' driveways as this is an offence.

Thank you in advance for you support with this important issue and let’s hope together we can ensure the safety of all the children and be more considerate to our local residents too.

Penalty Notices

Just to remind parents/carers that if they take their children out of school without authority for 5 or more days (which do not have to be consecutive), they will be liable to receive a penalty notice.

Currently the amount payable under a penalty notice is £60.00 per parent/carer per child if paid within 21 days. Thereafter the amount increases to £120.00 if paid between 21 and 28 days. If the penalty notice remains unpaid after 28 days, the Local Authority will consider a prosecution in the Magistrates Court.

Please note that penalty notices are issued per parent/carer per child so a family of two parents and two children will receive 4 penalty notices.

If your child is off school for 3 days or longer we may ask for medical evidence to support this absence.

School Fund

We pride ourselves on offering our children varied and exciting experiences and activities that help to support their learning across the curriculum.

The School Fund will allow us to provide additional activities across all year groups.

We have a voluntary school fund donation of £15 per child or a maximum of £30 for a family if there are siblings at the school.

Payments can be made online via Arbor. Many thanks for your support.

Follow us on.......

Please help to promote our school by following us on X and liking and resharing our posts. This really does help promote the school and share all the positive things that are happening at Shawley.

Please..........help your child:

Regularly listen to your child(ren) read
Encourage your child(ren) to complete their homework / Doodle Activities / Timetable Rockstars
Ask your child about their day and talk about the amazing things they have learned
Talk positively to your child(ren) about school and their progress / praise their achievements
Speak to your child(ren)'s class teacher or a member of the Senior Leadership Team if you have any concerns regarding your child(ren)
Avoid taking your child(ren) out of school during the school day / term time for appointments and holidays
Drop your child(ren) off to school on time and in the correct uniform / collect your child(ren) on time / if you drive to collect your child(ren), ensure that you park safely respecting our neighbours and local businesses

Please..........help us:

Carefully read all communications to ensure that they are fully understood and actioned (if required)
Promptly report your child(ren)'s absence via the online form
Ensure you pay for school meals / trips / events on time via Arbor
If using extended services provided by school - Breakfast & Afterschool club, keep your account in credit
Update your personal information via the Arbor App if there are any changes

Please..........help raise funds:

Contribute towards the School Fund
Consider taking part in the LEO lottery
Purchase online items via the Easy Fundraising App (if applicable)
Support the Shawley Fundraisers in attending events / or even better support the Shawley Fundraisers in helping to organise events

We're Hiring

West Ashtead is looking for a caring and enthusiastic individual to work as part of our wrap around care team at West Ashtead Primary School. The role involves working with our children in the breakfast club and/or after school club. Full details can be found on the school website.

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