INAPrimaryNewsletter

15 January 2015

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AnnouncementsImportant Notice Regarding Breakfast Club and After School Club

Can I please remind you that payment must be made in advance when booking a place for your child to attend either breakfast club or after school club each day. If you are having any difficulties with your booking, please contact Ms Rayner in the reception office, thank you.

>>> News

T he temperature has certainly dropped this week. Please ensure your child has their black coat with them every day, along with a hat to keep their head and ears warm whilst playing outside. It is

important that the children still have time to run around each day and get some fresh air. New Year to you all – I hope you had a fantastic break with

family and friends. It was great to see everyone back and eager to learn.

Tam Broadway, Head of Primary

Dear Parents and Carers,

It was great to see some of you last night at the Growth Mindset Workshop

At the session we talked about what the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset is, and how at INA we believe that by supporting the children to have a growth mindset we can help them to become stronger learners and to develop their brain power. The parents who attended said that they had learnt a lot about how they can assist in this process at home, in the language they use and feedback they give their child and in supporting him or her to practice, work hard and not be afraid of making mistakes.

You might like to visit the website mindsetkits.org which has some really useful activities, hints and tips for parents. If you are interested in joining a parents’ group to develop this work further, please contact me

With best wishes,

Rachel Macfarlane,

Principal

Tapestry

Parents and carers from all three Reception classes should be able to access their child’s Tapestry online journal. If you have not been able to log in and access your child’s profile, or if you are having problems with your password, please see Ms Rayner in the reception office.

Message from Ms ChaggarCan you please check at home for any old uniform items that you no longer need/want that could be resold during the next coffee morning on Tuesday 26th January. Items need to be washed and handed in to Ms Chaggar.

Message from the Reception Teachers

Please could you send in one postage stamp for your child’s literacy lesson next week. The children will be writing a postcard and

posting it afterwards. It would be great if you could talk to your child about postage stamps and why we need them. We would like

these by Tuesday please. Thank you for your support in advance!

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>>> NewsExciting Learning this Week - Reception

Composer of the FortnightFor the next fortnight we will be listening to and learning about Clara Schumann as our Composer of the Fortnight. As a suggested activity to support at home, you could gather some facts about Schumann in preparation for the coming weeks. Information can also be found on the following youtube link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7g-VeD2kkU

This week the Reception children have been reading ‘Handa’s Surprise’; they enjoyed tasting the different fruits mentioned in the book and learning about Africa! Ms Mark looked very impressive this week wearing her African head scarf and some pupils in Newton class got try a head scarf too.

Guided Reading We will be starting ‘guided reading’ for Reception this

half term, now that most children are blending and reading words. Once the guided reading assessments

have been completed, reading books will be sent home each week, along with a book for you to record

your child’s reading progress at home. A letter will accompany the books with further information about ‘guided reading’ and how you can support your child’s

reading at home.

Exciting Learning this Week - Year 1Year 1 have been reading the book ‘Whatever Next’ by Jill Murphy and putting actions to the book to help them remember the text by heart. The book is about a bear who wants to go the moon; being resourceful, he uses items around the house to build an imaginary rocket in which to travel into space. Being resourceful, and feeling inspired by the book, Inaaya Ijaz went home and created an amazing INA rocket with pictures of the staff on it – if only!!

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Every week each teacher chooses two children from their class to receive a certificate in assembly, one in recognition of a child demonstrating our BRIDGES habit of the

week, and the other in recognition of a pupil’s academic effort throughout the week.

Well done to the following children, who have been recognised this week!Curie Class: Muhammad-Hadi Raja– Headteacher’s Habits Award (for using resourcefulness to ask interesting questions about different countries in our role-play travel agents.)Nabeeha Ozzul – Scholar of the Week (for writing in full sentences to describe the taste and textures of fruit during Literacy.)Maxwell Class:Srisakthi Velmurugan– Headteacher’s Habits Award (for using real magazines and newspapers to explore travel agencies.)Yusuf Mahmud – Scholar of the Week (for working hard with his counting and finding one more and one less.)Newton Class:Aayan Ashfaq – Headteacher’ Habits Award (for great focus and determination during numeracy and finishing the set tasks.)Eesa Vali – Scholar of the Week (for independently using a ‘red word’ in his writing about how fruit tasted.)Britten Class:Nadia Khan – Headteacher’ Habits Award (for finding creative solutions to problems in class.)Imani Salim – Scholar of the Week (for being able to explain her answers in detail in Maths and Science.)Fitzgerald Class:Inaaya Ijaz – Headteacher’ Habits Award (for creating an amazing INA rocket for home learning.)Osman Dean – Scholar of the Week (for trying really hard to include finger spaces in his writing.)Glennie Class:Aftab Rebecca Hussain – Headteacher’ Habits Award (for thinking of good questions to extend her learning during carpet time.)Yanis Benjamin – Scholar of the Week (for trying really hard in phonics and having a really good attitude to learning.)

The following pupils have received 25 or more merits since September for making good choices and moving up to gold on the class ‘good choice chart’ – this is a fantastic achievement. A special ‘bronze’ certificate will be presented during the Celebration and Awards Assembly.

Sanam Shah – Curie Saim Rehman – MaxwellAariz Chaudhry - Maxwell

Headteacher’s LunchWell done to the following pupils that have

been nominated for the Headteacher’s Lunch next week on Thursday 21st January, an

invitation will be given to the children during our Celebration and Awards Assembly:

Muhammad-Hadi Raja CurieAli Haroon MaxwellAbdul Wahab NewtonAqsa Saeed NewtonMalaika Hussain BrittenAariz Khan FitzgeraldTulsi Jogia Glennie

Prim

ary Praise and R

ecognition

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Prim

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Regular attendance is a crucial factor in students’ educational development and ability to achieve their full potential.

At Isaac Newton Academy every student is set the target of 100% attendance.

The class with the highest attendance at the end of every week is awarded the attendance trophy during Friday’s Award & Recognition assembly.

Curie 95%

Maxwell 99.3%

Newton 97.3%

Overall Attendance: 97.5%

Congratulations to Maxwell class, who are the winners for this week. The attendance figures are looking healthier this week – so well done and let’s keep it up this term!!

National average attendance for primary schools is 96.1%

It is important that the children attend school every day and do not miss any learning. Thank you for your support in ensuring your child is at school every day. We always strive for 100%.

Britten 98.3%

Fitzgerald 97%

Glennie 98%

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DebtorsAt Isaac Newton we aim to enrich the lives and experiences of our students, and to inspire them, by providing a wide range of learning opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom. Such enrichment activities might include extra-curricular clubs, sports events and fixtures, cultural visits, music and theatre performances, adventure activities, educational conferences, and subject-related educational visits and competitions. A number of these are free of charge, some are fully chargeable and some require voluntary contributions from families. Some activities may not go ahead if insufficient contributions are received.

We also believe that we have a role to play in educating students in healthy eating to support learning and ensuring a balanced diet. We therefore operate a family dining service whereby school meals are compulsory and parents are charged for meals automatically unless their child is not in school or we have been notified that they are fasting.

As you are aware, all schools are facing significant budget cuts. In order to successfully continue the fantastic enrichment opportunities and family dining service, it is really important that families pay for their child’s school meals, chargeable activities and contributions to enrichment activities on time in order to avoid debts building up and unnecessary staff time taken in chasing those debts.

We have, unfortunately, experienced a small number of parents/carers who continuously fail to make payments despite being chased on a number of occasions. We are, therefore, about to take our first family to the small claims court in order to recover the monies owed. This is not something that the Academy wants to do but we are unable to continue to allow such debts to accumulate. It is also unfair to families who pay in a timely manner for school meals and activities who are effectively subsidising those who don’t.

We would ask, therefore, that parents/carers ensure that their child’s wisepay account is regularly topped up to pay for their school meal charged at £2.10 daily (unless entitled to free school meals) and any breakfast or breaktime snacks. We would also ask that parents/carers pay for other activities in a timely manner in order to avoid the activity not going ahead at all and unnecessary staff time chasing payments which could otherwise be used on teaching and learning activities.

Thank you for your continued support.

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"We build too many walls and not enough bridges.” Isaac Newton BRIDGES are habits of mind or learning characteristics that develop a pupil's character and learning power and enable him/her to grow into a well-rounded individual and resilient learner.

There are seven BRIDGES habits that we will be working on, which will rotate on a weekly cycle throughout the year. The BRIDGES habit of the week will always be introduced at the beginning of the week during the Monday assembly and reinforced throughout the week across the curriculum. Each class teacher will award a certificate to a pupil that they feel has demonstrated the BRIDGES focus for the week.

Each week we will update you on the BRIDGES habit that will be introduced in the coming week and offer some top tips on how to reinforce the habit at home too. Please also refer to the Primary BRIDGES wheel above

Week commencing 18th January– IntegrityAt School:

• Atschoolweencouragethepupilstomakesuretheyplayinakindandthoughtfulwayand ensure that they include others in their games. Games where ‘turn-taking’ is needed are great at helping the children to understand that everyone should have a fair turn. • Itisalsoimportantthatthechildrenlearnhowtowinandloseagamegraciously,show humility when they win or congratulate the winner and say well done if they lose. • Thechildrenneedtolearntheimportanceoftellingthetruthevenifitfeelsuncomfortable whenwehavetoadmitthatwehavedonesomethingwrong.Theyalsoneedtolearntotake responsibility for their actions and not get into a habit of blaming others. It is important that the children have a moral sense of right and wrong.• Eachhalftermeveryclasschoosestwoambassadorstohelpthepupilsdeveloptheir citizenship skills and assist with jobs in their class or at lunchtimes.• Weencourageeverychildtokeeptheschoolenvironmentcleanbyclearingawayplatesor cups after lunch and tidying up their own table place after activities in class.

At Home:

Talk to your child about how they can be a good citizen within their community, not dropping litter etc. Talk about what is fair and encourage your child to help out at home with tidying their room or books away so that they develop a sense of responsibility and respect towards their property. Reinforce the message about always telling the truth and why this is important. When you are reading stories together with your child, discuss characters, their behaviour and moral decision and whether they are good or bad characters and why.

Tam Broadway, Head of Primary

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Key Dates for the Spring Term 2016: Primary

Future Key Dates for Spring TermCoffee Morning with the Head of Primary – Tuesday 26th January 9.00-10.00am

Maths Mastery Parent Workshop – Wednesday 3rd February 6.00-7.00pm

Fitzgerald Class Assembly (Fitzgerald Class Parents Invited) – Friday 5th February 3.00pm

BreakupforHalfTerm–Thursday11thFebruary

Staff Inset Day (School Closed for Pupils) – Friday 12th February

Back to School – Monday 22nd February

Higher Attainers Parent Workshop – Wednesday 24th February

WorldBookDay–Thursday3rdMarch

Primary Reports Sent Home – Friday 18th March

Parent Progress Meetings – Tuesday 22nd March

LastDayofTerm–Thursday24thMarch–12.15pmFinish