Marden Update

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the first newsletter of the Spring Term. As you know it has been a difficult start to the term in terms of children and staff being absent, despite this the children have engaged well with their learning and are all enjoying their new topics. We are hoping that after term the cases will continue to fall and we will be able to run some parent workshops, enabling you to see your child learning in class and look at their work.

We were very excited to have Cooper the dog in school on Tuesday. Cooper is a PAT dog and is especially trained to be around children. The children absolutely loved him being in school. The experience of being around animals is good for children's mental health and also teaches them responsibility.

Half term is just around the corner so enjoy the break when it arrives.

Denise Coady

Head of School

Star Value of the month

Each month, we will be focusing on one of the values and the value of the month for January was being Trustworthy. All our Star Value certificate winners in January demonstrated being Trustworthy. Winning names were published on Dojo in the school story. For February, we are focusing on being Responsible.

Marden's Marvellous Learner Behaviour of the month

Each month, we will be focusing on one of our learning behaviours and the learner behaviour for January was curiosity. All our Marden's Marvellous Learners for January were published on Dojo in the school story. For February, we are focusing on Resilience.

Miss Bullman has created a survey for parents. This survey is completely anonymous - so please respond to it as honestly as possible. The aim of this family survey is to identify the areas of online safety and gaming that our Marden Lodge families are seeking further support in, so that we can provide the support needed.

We are proud to be taking part in Safer Internet Day next week. Our Computing Leader, Miss Bullman, has arranged a variety of activities for children to take part in on the day or during the week.

For 2022 the Day celebrates young people’s role in creating a safer internet and the ways they are shaping the interactive entertainment spaces they are a part of. The platforms young people use are spaces for connection, community and collaboration, which is why the Day challenges them to foster supportive relationships and respectful communities, whilst equipping them with the skills they need to keep themselves and others safe in these spaces.

Speaking with young people is key to exploring their experiences on platforms where they can play games, interact with their peers and others, and take part in ‘live’ experiences such as video streaming. These platforms play such an important and positive role, providing young people with the means to interact with friends and as a great pastime, particularly during lockdowns.

However, there are some emerging safety issues in these spaces as well as issues young people have been navigating for some time; particularly the lack of respect individuals display towards each other, groups ‘ganging up’ against other groups, and the sense that it is easy to ‘get away’ with negative behaviour such as meanness, bullying and swearing. They speak about hate directed at particular groups, particularly LGBT+ users, and misogyny on gaming platforms. They tell us the apparent lack of consequences for negative behaviour has an impact on their safety and wellbeing.

We need to address these issues so that all young people understand what constitutes respectful behaviour online, and know what to do if they encounter hate or bullying directed at them or someone else.

Anti-Bullying Update

As part of our ongoing anti-bullying work, in every newsletter we will provide you with useful information about bullying, online safety and friendships.

We are proud to be taking part in The United Against Bullying programme led by the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s. This is our second time of taking part and we are aiming for a Gold Award this year. It supports schools to reduce bullying and improve the wellbeing of all children, focusing on those most at risk, including those with protected characteristics. The overall aim of the programme is to establish United Against Bullying Schools. These are schools that have evidenced their work to reduce bullying and improve the wellbeing of all pupils. Last year we were awarded Silver for our hard work.

This week, children in KS2 have taken part in an online survey which will help us know and understand our children's views and opinions about bullying and wellbeing. Our Early Years and KS1 children will be taking part in a whole class survey too. We are currently auditing our anti-bullying approach and we will share with you our focus areas on Dojo soon.

cco_talking_to_your_child_about_online_sexual_harassment_poster_for_parents_2021.pdf

The things I wish my parents had known…about online sexual harassment (Children's Commissioner)

The Children's Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza DBE, has recently published a guidance document for parents helping to support them to understand online sexual harassment. It is a sensitive topic, and not one all parents feel comfortable discussing with their children.

The commissioner's team brought together a group of 16 - 21 year olds and asked them talk about what they think parents should know, and what they should say to their children when talking about sexualised bullying and the pressures of growing up online.

See the poster here for further information.

roblox-new-2022.pdf

Roblox

We have recently heard of multiple reports about harmful content on gaming platform Roblox. To help you understand how to keep your children and young people safe, iNEQE have created this important Roblox Parents Guide.

Job Opportunity

We have been asked by Surrey County Council to share the following job opportunity with our families. The Cycle Training Team at Surrey County Council are recruiting for Bikeability Cycling Instructors. If you are interested, please see the link.

Surrey County Council - Job details (surreycc.gov.uk)

Newsletter update

We have decided to change the frequency of our newsletters. At the moment, we send one home on a monthly basis and this included useful information for parents. From after 1/2 term, we will be sending newsletters home 1/2 termly that will showcase the children's learning of our curriculum. Useful links and information will now only be shared via Dojo and ParentMail.

There are a few parents yet to sign up on Dojo. We would encourage all parents to connect with Dojo as this is our most useful and effective way to communicate with our families.

If you have any questions or comments about these changes, please let us know by contacting the school office.

Online version Marden Lodge Virtual Library.pdf

Marden's Virtual Library

Visit our new Marden Lodge Virtual Library and enjoy reading or listening to a story from the selection of children’s books. There’s something for everyone from Nursery through to Year 6. We've also included some favourite books recommended by members of staff and the books that Mrs Coady and Mrs Young share with the children in assemblies. The library will be updated each half term so there will always be something new to read or listen to. Enjoy!

A few reminders...

Parking

The safety of our children, staff and family is so important and we need everyone to play their part. Please be considerate when parking your vehicle during school drop off and collection times. Please DO NOT use the private car parks of local residences, block any residential driveways or park on yellow lines or school markings.

If you see an example of inconsiderate or dangerous parking, please follow this link to report the incident:

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/roadworks-and-maintenance/report-a-highway-problem

Morning Drop Off

Our gate opens and 8:40am and closes at 8:50am. Lots of children are being dropped off late to school which then prevents the gate from closing at the correct time. Please can you make sure that your child arrives by 8:50am so that they can be in class ready to start learning as quickly as possible.

Attendance Update

Marden Lodge Primary School and Nursery firmly believes that all children benefit from regular school attendance. A full and interrupted presence gives children the opportunity to fulfil their academic and social potential but also contributes significantly to establishing a positive leaning and work ethic.

Thank you for your support with making sure your child attends school. Here are our attendance winners from the last few weeks.

Week 1: Year R Gruffalo

Week 2: Year 6 Poppins

Week 3: Year 3 Tiggers

Week 4: Year R Gruffalo

Congratulations!

Being late to school can have a considerable impact over the whole school year. The table below shows you just how much time can be missed over a year just by being 5 minutes late to school every day.

We understand that the school mornings can be hectic, but when your child is late for school they are missing out on vital parts of their education.

Our gate to the playground closes at 8:50am so please make sure your child arrives before this time. If you don't, you will need to take your child to the school office to enter the school.

If you have any queries or would like to talk to anyone about attendance and punctuality, please do not hesitate to contact our Senior Office Administrator on 01883 343014

Letters that have been sent home over the last month...

05/01/22 – Ofsted Result

07/01/22 – Household Support Fund Information

13/01/22 – EBSNA Training and Support

19/01/22 – Covid Cases in School Update

21/01/22 – United Against Bullying Questionnaire (yrs 3-6)

26/01/22 – GLF Spring newsletter

31/01/22 – Letter from Jon Chaloner

Safeguarding

If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please use the contact below:

dsl@marden-lodge.surrey.sch.uk

The safeguarding leads at Marden Lodge Primary School & Nursery are Mr Williams, Mrs Coady, Mrs Young, Miss Cushman, Mrs Bell, Mrs Kirkpatrick and Mrs Jelly.