Kingston Community School Newsletter

28th February 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

We do hope you have had a restful and enjoyable half term. The children have come back to school

with renewed energy and readiness for learning and it has been so lovely to see them and catch up

with half term holiday news.

This week our 5Cs Values focus has been Curiosity.

We want to instil a love of learning and a sense of wonder within all members of Kingston

Community School. We believe that when learners are curious, they ask questions about the world

around them and learning becomes a part of their whole life, far beyond the walls of the classroom

and the school gates. Curiosity builds a love of learning and a drive to discover answers for them-

selves. Einstein said, “I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious.”

We are looking forward to another exciting half term ahead.

Best wishes to everyone for a happy, productive and curious Spring Term.

Ms Alison Cramp

Head teacher

What’s been happening in school this week?

Year 4

On Thursday afternoon, we began our first

practice for the Country Dancing Festival

that we will be taking part in during the

Summer

Term. We found

the traditional

sounding music

joyful and fun.

Year 1 have had an

eventful first week back

from half term. Amongst

other things, we used clay

to create penguins in

Design Technology, which

will be finished with paints

next week.

EYFS PANCAKE DAY!

Children in the EYFS have

been learning about why

we celebrate Pancake Day

or Shrove Tuesday and

what this looks like around

the world. We made ate

our own fresh pancakes.

They were delicious!

Year 2 had a fascinat-

ing trip to the Science

Museum on Thursday.

The children had so

many questions and

learned so much.

Year 3

This half term, Year 3 are very fortunate

to be enjoying rugby coaching from

Harlequins. The coaches, Anna and Ben,

took the children for the first of a series

of lessons this week.

Building Update Good news!

We are delighted to inform you that demoli-

tion work has begun at the site of our perma-

nent building. We are advised that demoli-

tion work will be complete by May 2020. So

do go and have a look! Thank you to Ms

Lavender for sending the photos in.

SAVE THE DATE

School will be closed to all KCS pupils

on Friday 26th June 2020 - INSET Day

Schools have five statutory days per year to

have INSET days, when school remains

closed to pupils and all staff are expected

to come in. Ideally, these days allow KCS

staff a reflective pause, where we can

reflect and develop teaching practices

through training.

This is our last INSET day that hasn’t yet

been published.

Green Fingers Wanted!

We are currently looking for creative volunteers

to help develop the central mini garden at Murray

House. This area has lots of potential and

includes a pond. If you or someone you know

has community spirit and would like to support

this project, please contact the school office.

World Book Day

Just a reminder that we have World Book Day on Thursday 5th March 2020. Children can come to school dressed up as their favourite book character. Please do not feel pressurised to buy costumes, just improvise and get creative with existing clothes! They will take part in a fun day of activities and we have an author coming to run assembly with the children. Watch this space! We look forward to seeing some inspiring book related costumes!

The website https://www.worldbookday.com gives you a huge number of resources to support your child’s love of reading. The ‘inspiration’ section may be particularly useful for you in the lead up to World Book Day,

with ideas for cos-tumes, 100 stories to share with your child and advice from experts. Please do visit the website to find a wealth of resources that you and your child will enjoy.

Parents & Carers’ Coffee

and Chat All parents and carers are invited,

especially new families, to meet

others in the KCS community.

Tuesday 17th March at the 204 site.

Governors Visit

Twice a year, our Governing Body is involved

in a whole school Learning Walk Visit. This

acts as a monitoring exercise and allows the

Governors to see a chosen area in action.

This year, the focus was on our school ethos.

The learning walk took place on 22nd Janu-

ary. It was an opportunity to visit and observe

classes in a formal way and for our Gover-

nors to experience what the KCS school day

is like. The group also had the chance to

speak to several pupils about their learning,

as well as having the opportunity to look at

assemblies and playtimes. The Governors

were in agreement that the children were ab-

sorbed in their learning and the whole school

family has a common goal and common

ethos, which you know the moment you walk

through KCS’s doors. It was also fantastic to

hear the children talking so positively about

their school experiences.

KCS Parents’

Evenings

Parents’ Evenings are a

very important part in the

relationship between the school, the child and the parent. It is

vitally important that parents and carers attend these meet-

ings. The dates for KCS Parents’ Evenings are 4th and 5th

March.

The aim is for you to get an update on the progress your child

has been making in: Reading, Writing and Maths. All children

are assessed in these subjects at the end of every term. It is a

good idea to jot down a list of questions and observations on

each subject in advance, so your appointments are focused

and make the most of the limited time.

Questions for Parents

At the Parents’ Evenings, you should ask the teacher at the

very least to tell you: what is the target for your child in each

subject at the end of this school year and what your child

achieved in these subjects at the end of last term.

Other useful questions you might want to ask could be:

•Is my child’s progress in line with the teacher’s expectations?

•Has he or she done anything particularly well?

•What can he or she do to improve?

•How can I help as a parent?

•How can you help as his or her teacher?

•How much time should my child’s homework for this subject

take?

•What do his or her results tell us about possible performance

in important future exams such as SATs in Year 6?

•Does he or she contribute in lessons?

•How does my child get along with the other pupils in the class

and the teachers?

If your child is not making the expected progress towards their

target, it is vitally important that you should discuss what the

obstacles are and agree on how to overcome them.

Constructive criticism

Good teaching means identifying areas

for improvement, so don’t be offended if

you hear criticism of your child. However,

this should always be constructive and

designed to help them to achieve their

potential in the subject. If your child is with you, try not to

sound disappointed or negative – or tell your child off! Take

the advice of the teacher as a positive step towards better

marks in the future. Remember that it’s rarely helpful to

compare your child’s performance to other members of the

class or year group – what’s important is that they are achiev-

ing in line with their own capabilities, not those of others.

Top Tips for Safeguarding at

Home

This week, with the support from Parentzone, we look at what ages your children are legally

allowed to do things. When can my child babysit?

When can they stay home alone? When can they

sign up to social media?

RBK School Improvement Partner

Our RBK School Improvement Partner (SIP)

works with KCS staff and children to make sure

we continue to perform at the highest possible

level, making sure our children have a great pri-

mary education. As a registered Ofsted inspec-

tor, our SIP leads 3 Review Days, where they

drop into classrooms during lessons, look closely

at the work the children complete, their learning

behaviour along with the school’s performance

data. Our most recent visit took place on 13th

February 2020 and our next visit will be sched-

uled for the second half of Summer Term.

Don’t be afraid to ask

Teachers at Kingston Community

School have a wealth of knowledge

and experience, so ask for their

guidance and suggestions on how you can help

your child to do their best in the subject. If a

teacher says something you don’t understand,

ask for clarification. Parents are not expected to

know all about a subject or a method of teaching.

Follow-up

After the parents’ evening, keep in mind any

action points or targets you have agreed with

teachers and check to see that the expected

progress is being made in the timeframe. If not,

then add the question to your list for the next

parents’ evening – unless you feel your child is

seriously slipping behind, in which case, don’t

wait, but ask to speak to the teacher again as

soon as you can. Working together for the best

outcomes for your child is our aim.

I look forward to seeing you all attending and

please do catch me if you need to on both

evenings.

Ms A Cramp

Thank you

The Valentine Sale made £100. This

goes straight back into resources for

your children.

January 2020

February 2020

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

1

New Year’s Day 2 3 4 5

6

INSET DAY—school Closed

7

INSET DAY—school Closed

8

SCHOOL OPENS

7:30am

9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16

17 18 19

20

20

21 Author Grant

Koper's visit to

EYFS & KS1

22

23 24

KS2 Certificate assembly

25 Burns Night

Chinese New Year

26

27 KS1 Insight

KS2 Rev Holmes

28

New parents’ coffee and

chat@204 9-10

29 30 31

KS1 certificate assembly

Monday Tuesday Wednes-day

Thurs-day

Friday Saturday Sunday

1

2

3 4 5 6 7 Charles Dickens’ birthday

KS2 certificates

8 9

10

11

New parents’ cof-fee and chat @MH

9-10 am

12

12

13

Kings church as-sembly

14

Random Acts of Kindness day

KS1 certificates

LAST DAY OF TERM SCHOOL

CLOSES 3:20pm

15 16

17

HALF TERM

18

HALF TERM

19

HALF TERM

20

HALF TERM

21

HALF TERM

22 23

24

SCHOOL OPENS

7:30am

25

26

6

27 28

28

29

Safer Internet

Week

March 2020

April 2020

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

1 Women’s History Month begins

2 3 4

Parent teacher consultations

5 WORLD BOOK

DAY

Parent teacher consultations

6

British Science Week begins

7 8 International Women’s Day

9 10

Yr 2 Multi Skills competition

11 12 13

13

14 15

16 17

Parent coffee social drop in

18 19 20 22 World Water Day Mothers’ Day Isra and Mi’raj

21

World Poetry Day

23 24 25 26 27

SEND coffee morning with the

EP

28 29 Daylight saving time starts

30 31

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

1 1

World Autism Awareness Day

3

LAST DAY OF TERM 1:45pm

Finish

4 Palm Sunday

5

6

EASTER HOLIDAY

7

EASTER HOLIDAY

8

EASTER HOLIDAY

9

EASTER HOLIDAY

10

EASTER HOLIDAY

11 Easter Sunday

12

13

EASTER HOLIDAY

14

EASTER HOLIDAY

15

EASTER HOLIDAY

16

EASTER HOLIDAY

National offer day for primary schools

17

EASTER HOLIDAY

18 19

20

INSET DAY—school Closed

21

SCHOOL OPENS

7:30am

22

Earth Day

23

25 26

24

27 28 29 30

KCS Science

week

Sports Relief

Y2 visit to St

Peter’s

Norbiton

KCS Book

Day

Shakespeare’s birthday

May 2020

June 2020

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

1

May Day

Key Stage 1 test period begins

2 3

4 5

6

Bike to School Day

7 8 Early May bank holiday

9 10

11 Key Stage 2 SATs week

12 13 14 15 16 257

17

18 19 20 220

22

LAST DAY OF TERM SCHOOL

CLOSES 3:20pm

23

24

26

HALF TERM

27

HALF TERM

28

HALF TERM

29

HALF TERM

30 31

25

HALF TERM

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

1

SCHOOL OPENS

7:30am

2 3 4 5 World Environment Day

6

7

8

9

Yr3/4 Diamond Cricket team event

10 11

12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 World Refugee Day

21 Fathers’ Day

22

23 24 25 26

INSET day SCHOOL CLOSED

27 28

29 30

Walk to school

week

Healthy Eating

Week

Phonics screening

check

11

KCS Race for

for Life

July 2020

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14

15 16 17 18 19

20 21

LAST DAY OF TERM 1:45pm

Finish

22

INSET DAY—school Closed

23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31