Newsletter 15/09/23

Back to School

Welcome back to a new school year!

Children across the school are already working incredibly hard in their new classes and clearly enjoying their learning. We are looking forward to another exciting year of achievements and new experiences. We want every child at Shawley Community Primary Academy to realise their potential and we look forward to working in partnership with you throughout the course of this academic year to achieve this for all of our pupils. We hope your children continue to enjoy coming to Shawley and that whilst they are here, they work hard and make great progress and, of course, maintain the excellent behaviour that has clearly been on display both this week and last . You will, by now, have received information about the expectations in each year group, including home learning and reading. We really do value the help and support parents give to the school and know that children make the most progress when parents and the school work closely together. 

Please click on these links for our year group welcome letters if you need to check information.

Reception         Year 1         Year 2         Year 3         Year 4         Year 5         Year 6

All staff in school would like to extend a special and warm welcome to all our new Reception children who are joining us this term. We also have a number of new pupils in other year groups and look forward to helping them settle into life at Shawley. 

This year, we welcome our new LSAs, Mrs Topkhane and Mrs Scripps. Mrs Talbot has joined our catering team and Mr Craske is our new LEO Sports Apprentice. Our new staff have already seamlessly integrated themselves into their respective teams and will be fantastic additions to the staff here at Shawley Community Primary.  

Whole Class Ensemble Tuition

This year, as part of LEO Academy Trust's strong focus on opportunities for all pupils,  we have been able to offer all our Year 4 and 5 pupils the opportunity to learn samba drums and percussion. This weekly instrumental tuition is provided by Sutton Music Service. The children have thoroughly enjoyed their first lesson and it looks like we have some budding musicians!

Festival of Fun

We are really looking forward to Shawley's Festival of Fun this Sunday. Huge thanks to our Fundraisers for organising this event. It was a great success last year and really well attended so we look forward to seeing as many of our families there again this year!

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.

New Uniform / School Ties

All our Shawley children have returned to school looking incredibly smart in their uniforms including those children in KS2 who are now wearing shirts and ties. 

Ties are now available via the School Office, payment can be made via the Arbor app and then collected from the office.  The cost per tie is £3.99.  They can also be purchased via the uniform suppliers Schoolwear Inc. and Koolskools.

School Wear Inc. - https://www.schoolwearinc.co.uk/

Koolskools - Koolskools Website - Shawley Page 

For more information on our uniform policy and purchase information (including the Shawley Fundraising pre loved uniform shop) please refer to our website: https://www.shawleyprimaryacademy.co.uk/81/school-uniform

Parking around school

Unfortunately we have already had several incidences of dangerous and inconsiderate parking outside our school this term, 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 parking without any thought for our local residents or other parents.

We have received 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 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 the children and be more considerate to our local residents.

Community News, Events & Information

Sports News

In School We Have Been Learning...

Reception 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 the last 2 weeks are...

Staff Spotlight

Each week get to know one of our Shawley Staff Members a little bit more...


Meet  Mrs Talbot


A little bit about me:   Hello, my name is Kath Talbot.  I have just started working as caterer in Shawley Primary's school kitchen.

I have worked in catering for over 35 years. I have fed so many different people over the years including some famous names such as Richard Branson, Gary Lineker and even royalty! I am looking forward to getting to know all the staff and children at Shawley this term.

My Favourites 

Hobbies - I thoroughly enjoy running and have even completed the London Marathon (in 4 and a half hours!)

Food -   almond butter - it's full of protein and gives long-lasting energy! And flapjack...

Drink -   a nice cup of tea!

Colour -  green

Animal - dog

Books -  I enjoy reading recipe books and running magazines

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!

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.

Information & Resources

Community Events Please click here to access our Community Events page.

School Tours

We are currently running prospective parent tours up until Christmas. If you know of anyone who might be interested in looking around Shawley for their child/children to join us please do let them know they can book a school tour via our school website: www.shawleyprimaryacademy.co.uk/ 

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 £2.50 per day, £12.50 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

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. 

Follow us on.......

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

Follow us on Twitter for updates @shawleyprimary

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