Dear Parents/Carers,Dear Parents/Carers,Dear Parents/Carers,Dear Parents/Carers, As we approach the end of the Autumn Term, school life is becoming even busier than normal for both pupils and staff. Firstly I would like to start off by saying farewell to Mrs Cook who, for the past 20 years, has worked in our Welfare Room undertaking many tasks, including looking after the welfare of children when they are at school. She has supported so many of the children and parents with her calm, gentle manner. Although she is retiring, I have no doubt Mrs Cook will remain very active as she has many hobbies. We all wish her every happiness for the future. Your child has recently been involved in assessments which staff have marked and analysed so that the Autumn Term Report can be made available to you before the end of term. There were a number of assessments for maths, reading, English, Spelling, Times Tables and Maths Basic Skills. This term we also introduced an ICT Basic Skills Test to understand how well your child can use the different skills needed for our digital literacy unit. We have found that with the new ICT Curriculum, now known as the Computing Curriculum, there is less emphasis on the actual daily use of programs. We want to ensure that our children can make full use of the range of programs on offer as this is an important life skill in this day and age. However, we will not be reporting on this in the reports as the results need to be carefully considered by our ICT Coordinator, Mr D. Brandon and the Class teachers before deciding on ways forward.

Stag Lane Junior School NEWSLETTER

“Where Children Come First”

2016 /17 Issue 7

Ar�cle 3 of the

UNCRC:

Everyone who works with children should always do what is best for each child.

LPPA- Leading Parent Partnership Award

We are currently working towards the Leading Parent Partnership Award which provides a framework to deliver effective parental engagement from early years to post-16.

Through this award, we will be working towards improved pupil progress, punctuality, attendance and behaviour and increased parental involvement in school life. We are very committed to working towards this award and working even more closely with our families.

We are currently recruiting parent volunteers from across year groups to create a unique (Parent Voice Volunteers) group. If you are interested in becoming a Parent Voice Volunteer please submit a personal statement (maximum of 10 sentences) saying why you think you would be suitable for the role and how you could support the school. All completed personal statements need to be given to the Junior School Office for the attention of Mrs. N Patel—EAL Consultant and LPPA Coordinator by Friday 6th January 2017. Interviews will take place on Wednesday 16th January 2017. For further information please contact the school office to leave your details which will be given to Mrs. Patel who will then get in touch with you.

BEST BEST BEST BEST

ATTENDANCEATTENDANCEATTENDANCEATTENDANCE

Week Beginning

28th November

4N—100%

Week Beginning

5th December

6L—99.7%

Well Done!

School APP

A few parents have indicated that they are experiencing difficulties using the App.

At this end of this newsletter are a few handy hints which we hope you will find useful.

Coffee Morning

Date: Thursday 15th December 2017

Time: 9—10 a.m. “SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS & DISABILITIES”

Come and learn fun and practical ways to teach children Maths. We

are extremely pleased to announce that due to popular demand

from parents , our highly experienced Maths Coordinator Mrs J

Kercher will be showing us a variety of strategies to teach Maths.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY DATES FOR YOUR DIARY DATES FOR YOUR DIARY DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Monday 12th December

The Sanctuary Group visit to Kenton

Residential home

Monday 19th December

Christmas Jumper Day

Tuesday 20th December

Christmas Disco

Year 3/4 - 2- 3 p.m.

Year 5/6 - 3.30 - 4.30 p.m.

Wednesday 21st December

End of Term—School closes at 12.30 p.m.

Thursday 5th January 2017

School re-opens for pupils

Wednesday 14th December Wednesday 14th December Wednesday 14th December Wednesday 14th December ---- 9.15am9.15am9.15am9.15am

Thursday 15th December Thursday 15th December Thursday 15th December Thursday 15th December ---- 6pm6pm6pm6pm

Friday 16th December Friday 16th December Friday 16th December Friday 16th December ---- 2pm2pm2pm2pm

Year 5 Trip to the Affinity Water Centre

On 1st and 2nd December the pupils from Year 5 went a trip to the

Affinity Water Centre in Bushey.

Here is an account written by one our talented writers who tweeted

about the trip:

On Friday 2nd December 2016 We went on a trip to the Affinity

Water Centre to learn how rivers work, how we should recycle, and

how the river water gets cleansed and purified before it reaches our

stomach.

Interesting Investigation - The guide lead us to a model river (it actually had real water flowing down it!)

The start of the river is called a source and the end of the river is called the mouth. Sometimes, rivers can

flood due to extra rainfall and storms (we have experience of this as the Infant School closed due to

flooding). As part of experimenting we blocked the stream with our hands acting like rubbish blocking

the river). Suddenly, we saw water gushing from the sides of the river. We learnt, that we should not

block the rivers in our environment with toxic waste and rubbish and recycle more often.

On the way - To reach our stomach, water has to go through a process. As we walked through a build-

ing site, the guide pointed out a large container containing liquid oxygen. He told us that they had to

keep it at minus 100 degrees Celsius (brrr, a chill ran down our spines). We stumbled into a building and

on the way, we saw a pipe netted underground. The guide told us that if a little hole pierced through the

pipe, the water could spring out higher than a sky scraper.

Purifying water - We walked through a building. It was filled with pipes and machinery (that puzzled

our mind)! The guide told us that they helped to purify the water. Next, we approached another portion

of the building. On the other side of the glassed area, there was a dark pool of water filled with

granulated and burnt coconut shells (we were joking on how even crocodiles couldn't live

there!) The guide told us that it was all part of the process.

In conclusion, I thank all the wonderful teachers and school who helped us achieve article

28: our right to an education. We have learnt a lot on this trip and it will definitely help

us in the future.

An excellent account by Mahati 5R

Explore Learning Maths Competition

For the 6th consecutive year, Stag Lane Junior were invited to send

a team of four keen mathematicians from Year 6 to represent the

school at the Explore Learning National Young Mathematicians’

Competition. The event is run in conjunction with the Nrich Project

at the University of Cambridge and always proves to be challenging

but very enjoyable for the groups we have taken.

This year Stag Lane was well represented by Saif 6PK, Shreya 6L,

Victor 6PK and Angel 6C. The children worked as a team and

persevered with a very difficult series of problems involving

consecutive numbers.

Unfortunately we did not score highly enough to make it through to

the next round but we had a lot of fun and enjoyed meeting and chatting with the team members

from Sinai and Glebe schools.

Sanctuary Group Visit to Kenton House Residential Home Sanctuary Group Visit to Kenton House Residential Home Sanctuary Group Visit to Kenton House Residential Home Sanctuary Group Visit to Kenton House Residential Home

On Monday, pupils from the Sanctuary Group visited the

Kenton House Residential Home in Kenton to spread some

good cheer amongst the residents. Accompanied by Mrs

Visavadia and Miss Vekaria the children sang a selection of

Christmas carols and sang beautifully.

Afterwards the children spent time interacting with the

residents by playing card games and telling jokes.

Everyone had a lovely time and the children were great ambassadors for the school.

Dental Care and Hygiene

In partnership with you we always promote good hygiene habits with the children and the importance of keeping clean and taking a pride in appearance.

However, we would be grateful if parents could also support us further by encouraging your child to take good care of their teeth by brushing them twice a day, morning and night. It is especially important to take your child for regular dental check ups especially at a time when most of our children are losing their milk teeth and their permanent adult teeth are coming through.

Dentist do advise parents to supervise children brushing their teeth as children have a tendency to rush this through and are not brushing their teeth well enough. Once adult teeth are damaged then children may suffer as they get older. We have been noticing that there are a growing number of children who come to welfare to report that they are suffering with toothache. There are a number of free APPs available that encourage good brushing. Thank you for your support.