PDO

School Newsletter

22nd August 2024

Dear Parents,

I hope that you all had a rewarding and restful break over the last month.

A reminder that school starts on Sunday the 25th August. Please feel free to come into school with your child on the first day.

While the school has been closed to the students, several staff and support staff have been in school ensuring that we are ready to open on Sunday. Many thanks to the whole team who have been working hard over the break.

We have several new members of staff in the school, all of the new teaching staff have arrived in Oman and 9 of the 11 LSAs will be starting next week.

We are looking forward to welcoming the students into school on Sunday!

Professional Development Week

We have had a busy week this week preparing for the start of the school year.

As a school staff we have had several training sessions across the week.

These have included sessions with the PDO Culture Change team. This is an initiative that is used in PDO and we have invited PDO staff to school to further develop our school culture. Given the history of the school, it is important that we develop a strong school culture that our whole community is committed to.

With our shared culture the school will grow and provide an enhanced, engaged learning environment for all students. Many thanks to Kevin Oelofse and his Team who have supported the school this week.

We have also been exploring the The Language of Learning. Our guest speaker this week has been Martin Skelton and we have been fortunate to secure the services of this visionary and world renowned educator. Martin established the IPC curriculum in Shell Schools. Since then he has played key roles Internationally and in the UK as a Headteacher, Trainer, and Curriculum writer. Martin's passion for learning was fully embraced by our teaching team and we will be building further on the learning focussed concepts that were discussed during the sessions.

Our final session was with Al Harub, where we discussed a range of cognitive strategies that can be used both by teaching team and our children to support learning.

Meet the Teacher - We are changing the format this year, we will ask that all parents meet in the school hall at 5.00pm on Tuesday the 27th of August. We will have a short presentation by the school leaders; you will then have the opportunity to talk to school leaders or to make your way to classrooms to see your child's learning environment and connect with teachers. All curriculum information will be sent out using Seesaw so we encourage you to check Seesaw for updates on timetables and resources that you will require as a parent. We are changing the format as we want to further develop engagement levels with parents and create a partnership with parents. Please take this opportunity to connect with the staff in the school.

Cycling to School - Please ensure that you have reminded your child about the journey to school, where to cross the road and of course the use of helmets for all children using scooters or bicycles. Can I also request that as parents you check the maintenance on all bicycles and scooters.

HSSE and Safeguarding A few reminders here.

If you are working in school and supporting an event please sign in at the front desk.

All parents should wear an ID at all times when they visit school.

If you take photographs at school events please only include your children if you place photographs on social media platforms.

A reminder to all parents on the use of seat belts and car seats for our younger children. It is important that we ensure children have the correct booster or car seat.

Please drive very slowly in the school carpark and reverse park where necessary.

We will continue to update with events across this term. Please ensure you are connected to Seesaw as this is the platform we use in school for messaging all parents.

Tim Robinson

Headteacher

Developing a love of reading

This year we will be adopting a whole school shared approach to developing reading with our students. Each day from 7.40am-8.10am the teachers and LSAs will be reading with children, this might be listening to children read, sharing a book with a child or allowing groups of children to read together. Our aim is to develop a culture in school where children are reading for pleasure on a daily basis. We want to foster an appreciation of books amongst our students, we want them to talk about favourite authors, share favourite titles with friends and listen with anticipation and excitement to adults reading aloud. From the time children arrive at school this will be their main learning focus and we encourage you to bring your child to school for the start of day to allow them to gain the most from these sessions.

We encourage children to arrive at 0740 to take advantage of every moment of reading! Arriving at 0740 each day for 20 weeks, compared to arriving at 0800, would equal 33 extra hours of reading - over a week of school!

We invite you to continue this passion for books at home, read with your child, visit the library and talk about books. Not only is this a great way to bond with your child, but it will also significantly improve their vocabulary.

Parents, remember it's never too late...students in Milepost 2 and 3 who read for pleasure will significantly improve their vocabulary, this can be reading alone as they become more independent and skilled.

Students who read just 20 minutes a day outside of school can encounter 1.8 million words per year!

Swimming

We are looking forward to another great year of swimming, supported by the Britswim team who have been in this week taking part in our induction programme and safeguarding training.

This year, swimming will start in our first week back: 26th August 2024

As in previous years, the pupils will be re-assessed at the start of the year and split based on current ability level. We will continue to work through the STA School Swim Levels for years 1-6 with Early Years developing water confidence and skills as part of the STA curriculum.

On swim days pupils will need to bring:

- Swimming costume (See handbook for guidance)

- Goggles

- Towel

- Flip flops/Crocs

- Swim hats are optional

If you have any queries about kit, further details can be found in the school handbook on the website. Can we also highlight that earrings and other jewelry must not be worn on these days.

For any other questions please do not hesitate to contact the P.E. Team

Walk/ Cycle from school - Year 4/5/6

Year 4 to Year 6 children who live on Camp can walk or cycle to and from school alone only after completing this form.

In line with our safeguarding procedures, please ensure that you complete the form for your child.

One form per child please.

If you have completed the form for your child previously, there is no need to complete another.

Children must wear cycle helmets to and from school. The health and safety of our children is a priority.

PDO