Newsletters

 Friday 8th September, 2023

A warm welcome back to all our families and I hope your children have had a good first few days back in school. I always think these mid-week starts are a good introduction to the new school year and with the added extra of extremely warm weather, I'm sure the children are ready for the weekend. 

We are delighted as a staff to receive our 'Good' Ofsted report which has been emailed out to you today. It is pleasing the inspector recognised all the hard work of the governors, staff and children, and we look forward to continuing to move forward during the current academic year. Thank you to any parents who filled in the questionnaires or spoke to the inspector during the visit. It was very much appreciated. 

It is very much a new beginning this year with all the children in the main building. We are all looking forward to a fantastic year and everyone has made a really positive start in the last few days. 

Last year, we wrote a short weekly news, followed by a monthly newsletter. This year, we have decided to write a longer fortnightly newsletter instead. This will always be emailed out to you on a Friday. 

Year group newsletters have been sent home today and should include all the information about your child's learning over the autumn term. If you still have any queries, please speak to a member of staff or attend the parent drop-in next Wednesday and catch up with the class teacher. 

We will be adding lots of dates in the next few weeks, so please look out for any updates. 

Kind regards

Matt Walton, Headteacher 

September 

Wed 13th - Parent drop-in (3:15pm - 4pm)

Wed 20th - Yr 6 group visiting Norwich school (Science) 

Tue 26th -  'French Day' - all classes (am)

More dates to be added shortly...

Ofsted Report 

We were delighted with our Ofsted report which tells us that we continue to be a 'Good' school. 

It is lovely that the report recognises how much the children at Sprowston Junior enjoy the relationships they build with their friends and the adults in school, as well as enjoying the lessons. 

'Pupils say the best things about Sprowston Junior are their friends, the teachers and their lessons. Parents also speak very highly about the school and would recommend it to others. Pupils feel safe and are kept safe. Bullying happens rarely. Pupils are confident that teachers will act swiftly if anyone is unkind to them. Pupils demonstrate good behaviour in classrooms, on the playground and around the school.'

'They respond well to teachers’ high expectations for their learning. Pupils value opportunities to work with subject experts, who help to make their learning more memorable.'

Our classes this year:

All our classes are name after Norfolk Broads this year:

Mrs Wills - Martham Class (Yr 3)

Mrs Connell/Miss Howse -  Filby Class (Yr 3)

Mrs Pearce - Ranworth Class (Yr 4)

Mrs Harrison/Mr Arthur - Salhouse Class  (Yr 5)

Mr Ingham/Miss Clark - Wroxham Class  (Yr 5)

Mr Reeds - Hickling Class (Yr 6)

Miss Watts - Lily Class  (Yr 6)

Reminders:

• Please do not send sweets or chocolate bars into school for breaktime snacks. We do allow wafer bars. We encourage a healthy snack at break-time. 
• Please do not park in the school car park. The car park is even tighter at the moment due to the building works at the infant school. 
• Please do not park or drop off on the yellow lines at the front of the school. It makes crossing the road dangerous for families as they are unable to see both ways. 
• If your child bikes to school, we would strongly recommend they wear a cycle helmet. 
• We do allow children in Year 5 and 6 to walk home on their own, but we do ask that we have been made aware. Please complete this online form to indicate that your child has permission to do so.

Attendance in schools hasn't yet returned to the averages seen pre-covid. Our attendance last year was at the national average which was really pleasing, but it is important for attendance to keep rising and this is an important government priority for schools. 

• The new school year is here, are you ready? Start the year right with new routines and make school attendance a priority. For advice and support visit: www.justonenorfolk.nhs.uk/attendance
• Did you know: Children with good attendance are more than twice as likely to pass their English and Maths GCSEs compared to those who are persistently absent.
• School attendance can be a real challenge for a variety of reasons. You can find advice and support on www.justonenorfolk.nhs.uk/attendance, or speak to a member of staff for help.

% missed per year	missed per school career
95% = 9.5 days or 2 weeks	23 weeks or 0.4 years
90% = 19.5 days or 4 weeks	47 weeks or 0.9 years
85% = 28.5 days or 6 weeks	68 weeks or 1.8 years
80% = 38 days or 8 weeks	91 weeks or 2.4 years
75% = 45.6 days or 9 weeks	109 weeks or 2.9 years
70% = 57 days or 11 weeks	137 weeks or 3.6 years
65% = 66.5 days or 13 weeks	160 weeks or 4.2 years

As you can see from the table above - 4 weeks off a year (90% attendance) means that nearly a whole year of schooling will have been missed by the time a child reaches the end of key stage 4. 

School News App

If you haven't yet downloaded the school news app yet, the app is a handy place to read the latest newsletters or to look at school dates coming up. You can also login to the parent portal for signing up for parents' evening and seeing attendance percentages too. 

Search for the School News App on the app store and type in the school name to find it. 

 

We will be using Marvellous Me as one of our main ways of rewarding the children for fantastic effort and work. It is a place where children can gain rewards and a place where the teacher can let you what has been happening in the classroom. 

A letter should have come home to everyone with a password and username to set up the app (if you haven't set it up previously). Please do log in as teachers will be using Marvellous Me as a place to send messages about things happening in the class and events coming up. We are hoping for 100% sign-up so please do so as soon as you can. 

Here are links to a parent walk through guide and a 'parent app explained' video with some useful information about how to get started.

Due to a technical issue, if you already have a Marvellous Me account you may need to create a new one this year. Apologies for any inconvenience.

If you have any technical issues, please let us know and we'll see if we can help. 

Parents' Drop-in session

All parents & carers should have received a newsletter from their child's year group today. This has lots of information on it about the term ahead. We are also holding a drop-in session after school on Wednesday 13th September, between 3:15pm - 4pm. If you would like to see your child's classroom, speak to the teacher to see how they have settled, please pop in and see them at the end of school next Wednesday. 

Flourishing Families

Just One Norfolk's Flourishing Families has been designed for families who might want a little extra help meeting their child’s needs. We know that parenting can sometimes feel overwhelming, but we all share the common goal to give children the best start in life. 

The website has all sorts of things that you can get help with, whether it’s healthy eating, fun activities or financial support, and this tool was developed to help you work out what you’re already doing well and help you find support when and if you need it.