Dear Parents and Carers,
We hope you and your families had a lovely Christmas break. Children across the school are already working hard and enjoying their learning!
This term promises to be just as action-packed as the last, full of activities and opportunities designed to spark curiosity, nurture talents, and foster a love of learning in every Shawley child. We will also be placing a special emphasis on our 5 LEO Pupil Outcomes and Pupil Characteristics this term, including resilience, aspiration, empathy and determination, empowering our children to be well-rounded, responsible individuals.
As always, open communication is key. Please don't hesitate to speak to your child's teacher or myself if you have any questions or concerns. We are here to work in partnership with you to ensure your child continues to thrive at Shawley.
On Wednesday 10th January we were delighted to welcome to Shawley a film crew from the Open University. Our school, along with Cheam Park Farm, was chosen by the university for filming of a new module for their Master of Arts course on Leadership in Schools. The filming was a great success. We received a wonderful message of thanks from Malcolm Griffiths, Lecturer in Education:
It’s difficult to put into a few words of thanks just how grateful and privileged I feel after the two magical days of filming at Shawley and Cheam Park Farm this week. My Open University colleagues have been aware of a great spirit of openness, energy, professionalism and hospitality at LEO right from our very first online meetings, but it was quite another thing to experience this at first hand.
Apart from the tremendously high level of professional quality and dedication to providing the best experience for students which seems to pervade every corner at the schools, I was struck by how committed everyone has been in ensuring that the filming went off as well as possible. Everyone was thoroughly prepared, but also incredibly flexible, patient and friendly towards us for the whole time.
Huge thanks to all our staff and children who took part.
This event really was a feather in the cap for Shawley!
We are delighted to have received an expression of interest in our parent Academy Committee Member vacancy. Our closing date for any other interest is Friday 19th January.
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
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...
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 this week are...
wc 08.01.24 - Rhinos - 100%
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!
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 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 - Please click here to find out about local community news, events and information
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.
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.
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.
Follow us on X for updates @shawleyprimary
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
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
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