Newsletter 11/10/24

Pedtech Visit

Today we welcomed Dr. Fiona Aubrey-Smith, renowned educational technology expert and Director of One Life Learning, and our CEO, Phil Hedger, for a special visit focused on evaluating the integration of pedagogical technology and the use of AI in our classrooms.

Dr. Aubrey-Smith, recognised as one of the 50 most influential people in education, has worked closely with LEO Academy Trust over the past 2 years. She explored the ways in which AI can be used to personalise learning experiences, provide tailored support, and create more engaging and interactive lessons.

The visit provided a fantastic opportunity for our teachers to engage in discussions about the latest advancements in EdTech and AI and explore practical strategies for implementing these tools effectively.

During the visit, Dr. Aubrey-Smith was particularly impressed by the independence and digital literacy displayed by our pupils. She commented on their confidence in using technology for learning and their ability to navigate various digital platforms and tools effectively. Our teachers' enthusiasm and willingness to explore new approaches was also truly impressive,

The visit has left our staff energised and excited to continue exploring the possibilities that technology and AI offer for enhancing teaching and learning at Shawley.

Year 5 visit to Hever Castle

Year 5 had a fantastic trip to Hever Castle last Thursday! We stepped back in time to explore the childhood home of Anne Boleyn (latterly resided in by Anne of Cleves), enjoying a fascinating tour of the castle. The children were captivated by the original Tudor portraits, and practised their recently acquired skill of 'speaking like a historian' by discussing their impressions of the paintings. We also learned about the castle's impressive defences and saw Anne Boleyn's original prayer books. A highlight was seeing the grand dining hall where Henry VIII would have enjoyed his feasts and the very bedroom where he may have stayed! Of course, no trip to Hever Castle would be complete without some fun in the adventure playground. We also managed to enjoy the extensive grounds by taking a leisurely walk through the beautiful gardens and around the lake. Throughout the day, the children's behaviour was impeccable; they were fantastic ambassadors for our school and a pleasure to take on the trip.

Sustainability Book Swap

A huge thank you to all the parents and children who supported our sustainability book swap last week! It was wonderful to see so many of you embracing the spirit of re-use and finding new homes for pre-loved books.

Thanks to your generosity, we collected a huge number of books which were swapped and enjoyed by our pupils. This initiative not only promotes sustainability and reduces waste, but also fosters a love of reading within our school community.

The book swap and came away with some exciting new reads!

Harvest

On Wednesday, our Pupil Leadership Team demonstrated their commitment to helping others by taking our harvest Festival donations to our local food bank. We collected a wide variety of items and the team worked hard to pack up, sort and deliver them. They had to weigh each box of items and record the results in a special book. At Shawley, we are proud to play an active part in our community and support those in need. We believe it is important for us to show compassion and help ensure everyone has access to food. Huge thanks to our parents for your generous donations.

Drop in and Read

A big thank you to all the parents who took time out of their busy schedules to join us for our "Drop In and Read" session this afternoon! It was wonderful to see so many of you sharing books and reading with your children.

Events like these are so important in fostering a love of reading and strengthening the bond between parents and children. We hope you all enjoyed spending quality time together exploring books and sharing stories.

We look forward to welcoming you to more parent-child events in the future!

ASDA Cashpot for Schools

Cashpot for Schools

Every time you shop with Asda rewards from 2nd September to 30th November, Asda will donate 0.5% of your total spend to a Primary school of your choice. Plus, Asda will pop £1 into your school's Cashpot every time someone opts in.

You won't give up any of your own earnings, and your own Cashpot will continue to grow!

It's really easy to select a school of your choice. Please do share with your family & friends too.

Thank you for choosing our school!

Change to school drop-off inthe mornings

We currently open our school playground gates at 8:30am and doors into school open at 8:40am.

After half term we will be opening both our school gates and doors into school/classrooms at 8:30am so that children can come straight into school rather than waiting in the playground between 8.30 and 8:45am. This will ensure that our registers can be taken promptly at 8:45am.

Polite Reminder - sweets and nuts in school lunchboxes

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

Please can we work together as a community to ensure that no member of Shawley is put at risk. This will further help our aim to be granted Healthy School status.

We also do not permit sweets and chocolate in lunchboxes.

Teacher Training Opportunities

Train to teach with LEO Academy Trust!

LEO Academy Trust is incredibly proud to work in partnership with the National Institute of Teaching as an Associate College to deliver Initial Teacher Training, (ITT) Early Career Framework (ECF) and National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) from September 2025. Associate Colleges are successful school trusts, selected because of their wealth of in-house expertise in professional development and their deep relationships in their local areas. This collaboration allows us to be at the forefront of educational excellence, providing local teachers with unparalleled opportunities for professional growth, learning and development. Together, we are shaping the future of teaching and learning, ensuring that every child receives the highest quality education.

Applications for our primary ITT courses are now open for September 2025! Our initial teacher training is a fully immersive school-centred programme - aspiring teachers will be in the classroom from the very start. But full immersion does not mean that you will be thrown in the deep end: our trainees are mentored and have central training once a week.

To apply for a place on our ITT programme please click here.

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...

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

Year 5 Please click here to find out what Year 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

Weekly Attendance

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...

w/c 30.09.24 - Sea Turtles 98.1% and Rhinos 97.9%

w/c 07.10.24 - Tigers 97.4% and Rhinos 96.7%

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...

Penalty Notices - New Regulations from September 2024

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), then the following will apply:

1. If you have not incurred a penalty notice relating to this child/children in a rolling 3 year period since 19 August 2024, then the penalty notice will be charged at the rate of £160.00, per parent/carer per child, if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80.00 if paid within 21 days of receipt of the notice. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice will result in Surrey County Council considering legal proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

2. If you have incurred a penalty notice relating to this child/children since 19 August 2024, the rolling 3 year period will be activated from the date of the first penalty notice and the second penalty notice will be charged at the flat rate of £160.00, per parent/carer per child, if paid within 28 days. There will be no reduction for payment within 21 days. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice will result in Surrey County Council considering legal proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

3. If you have incurred 2 penalty notices relating to this child/children in the rolling 3 year period since the first penalty notice was issued, then you will NOT receive a third penalty notice – Surrey County Council will have no option but to consider a prosecution, per parent/carer per child, in the Magistrates Court under section 444 Education Act 1996. Surrey County Council is not responsible for authorising pupil absence and therefore cannot withdraw any Penalty Notice requests without the written permission of the Headteacher.

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!

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 £2.80 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: Shawley School Meals - Autumn Term.

Children in Years 3-6 will need to pay for their meals via Arbor. Cost of a school meal is £2.80 per day, £14.00 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 aim to attain Healthy School status. Children should not bring fizzy drinks, sweets or chocolate bars to school.

We have a number of children and staff 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. We are a nut free school. No nuts or things such as peanut butter should be put into packed lunches. Please can we work together as a community to ensure that no member of Shawley is put at risk. This will further help our aim to be granted Healthy School status.

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 X and liking and reposting our posts. This really does help promote the school and share all the positive things that are happening.

Please... Help Us

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

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