Newsletters

Friday 6th September

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Friday 6th September, 2024 

Dear Parents & Carers

We have enjoyed welcoming back the children to another school year and especially the new children and families to our school. We hope your child has enjoyed their first few days back and the weekend provides a breather before the full weeks begin again!

As ever, we very much want to work in partnership with all parents & carers so please do get in contact when you have a query or worry. 

Our first opportunity for parents & carers to join us in school will be on Tuesday 17th September when we are hosting a coffee morning for all. The Mental Health Support Team will also be present to explain about their role in supporting schools and families and the services that they offer. Please do come along for a coffee and a chat. 

The year group newsletters have been emailed out today and include plenty of information about your child's term ahead. The whole school newsletter will once again be published fortnightly.

We have sent home letters for 'Marvellous Me' to all parents and carers this week. Please do sign up if you haven't already, as this is another important tool for communication between school and home. 

The clubs letter will be with you on Monday. Please look out for it. Clubs will start in the week commencing 16th September. 

We have listed some dates of events below and will be adding further dates shortly. You can find also find the dates on the school website or the associated app (SchoolNews). 

We were treated to a performance from 'Doorstep Duets this afternoon (see below). This was a wonderful treat for a Friday afternoon and I hope the children really enjoyed it. Thank you to Miss Watts for organising the show. 

Have a lovely weekend. 

Kind regards

Matt Walton, Headteacher  

 

Image result for diary dates

September

Mon 16th - Clubs begin this week

Tue 17th - Coffee Morning - 9am (joined by the Mental Health Support Team)

Thur 26th - European Languages Day

Fri 27th - Macmillan Coffee Morning - 9am

Attendance

We ask for support this year to help the school improve its attendance figure which was below the national average last year. Our target for this year is to reach 95% overall school attendance. 

Daily attendance is very important to help a child build their understanding and knowledge progressively, and we ask that you ensure your child attends as much as they possibly can over the course of the academic year.  

If your child is struggling with attendance during the academic year, please get in touch as early as possible so we can work together to limit the time missed. A child with an attendance of under 90% is seen as a child who is persistently absent. 

The attendance letter was sent out to year 5 & 6 families before the summer holiday detailing the new rules around school fines. If you have not read it yet, please click on the following link:

Attendance Penalty Notices letter

We will be sending a copy of the letter to all Year 3/4 parents on Monday. 

Bicycles and Scooters

We continue to have a number of children biking to school which is great to see. We strongly encourage them to wear a cycle helmet when biking which can be stored inside the school during the day if needed. The children have been reminded today that they should not be biking in the school grounds and should be walking bikes in the playground. 

We are pleased to see some children also enjoying using their scooters when arriving at school in the mornings and are happy to let them use their scooters in the playground before and after school, as long as this is not causing any problems for others and that they are safe. We kindly ask that any scooter use is kept to the bottom end of the playground before school and away from the entrance gate. Many thanks for your support with this.  

3,100+ Kids Bikes And Scooters Stock Illustrations, Royalty-Free Vector Graphics & Clip Art - iStock

Door Step Duets

We enjoyed having Doorstep Duets with us this afternoon. The perfomance showcases original choreography by upcoming artists in outdoor spaces, bringing the joy and wonder of dance to all, in partnership with Norwich Theatre Royal.

The original choreography was based around kindness and the children sat fantastically enjoying the performance and showing a lot of interest in the performance and the professional dancers.

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Maths parent session (Thursday 3rd October)

Myself and the new Year 6 Maths Champions will be holding two Maths at Sprowston Junior for parents/carers on Thursday 3rd October.

We will be looking at maths at our school and how topics are covered across all 

There will be one at 9am-10am and one at 2pm-3pm. The sessions will cover the same topics, so you only need to come to one.

If you are interested in coming, please complete the online form so that we have an idea of numbers.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Mr Arthur and the new Year 6 Maths Champions

Cantrell Primary and Nursery School - Maths

Mobile phones and smartwatches 

With more and more use of mobile phones by primary children we are tightening up our rules. Only children walking to school on their own in Years 5 & 6 are permitted to bring a mobile phone to school. Please speak to your child's class teacher if there is another important reason why your child needs to bring a phone in. Phones must be handed in and will be given back at hometime. 

Children should not be using their phones on the school grounds. The only exception to this is communicating with a parent or carer if they are asked to by a member of staff. 

More and more children seem to have smartwatches with the capacity to take photographs and communicate with others. We have found a number of children have taken photos on them during the school day and have been distracted from their learning by them. We have decided to please ask that children do not wear smartwatches to school. A watch that doesn't have a camera or messaging/internet capabilities (e.g. some children's fitness trackers) will be permitted. 

If you have any queries about mobile phone or smartwatch use, please ask a member of staff. 

Please be aware that the school accepts no responsibility or liability for mobile phones that become damaged, lost or stolen whilst on school premises. 

How To Connect Smartwatch to Smartphone?

Packed lunches and snacks

A reminder that we encourage a healthy morning snack but please no chocolate bars or sweets. We do accept wafer/biscuit bars with chocolate. 

Children should only have water in their bottles in the classroom. Other drinks can be consumed at lunchtime but please no fizzy drinks. 

We are a nut free school so please do not put any nut products in your child's packed lunch. 

Back to School: Packing School Lunch and Snacks - Nicole's Tasting Spoon

Walking to/from school alone - Year 5 and 6 children only

Children in Years 5 and 6 are allowed to walk to/from school if they permission to do so.

If your child in Year 5 or Year 6 and you are happy for them to walk home by themselves, please complete the online form below to indicate that they have permission to do so. 

Please be aware that no child will be allowed to walk home without permission to do so.

Click here for more information, advice and top tips about children walking to school alone. 

If you have any questions about this, please contact Mr Walton or Mr Arthur.

Kids Walking To School Vector Art, Icons, and Graphics for Free Download