| Key dates up until the end of March 2017 | |
| See information on School opening during severe weather conditions
Multi Skills £20 payment due (Year 1) 8.30 Club money £10 due for Term 3 Applications for Year R and Year 3 close Monday 16th |
|
| January | |
| Monday 16th | Applications for Year R and Year 3 places close |
| Monday 23rd | Book Look – parents/carers invited in after school to see what your child has been learning (NOT Owl class, theirs is 24th) |
| Tuesday 24th | Owl class only Book Look |
| Friday 27th | Birthday assembly – parents of children with birthdays in January invited to attend |
| February | |
| Thursday 2nd | Class photo to be taken by Stanley Baker Studios |
| Friday 3rd | Snow Leopards Assembly from 9.05am |
| Friday 10th | Seahorse Assembly from 9.05am
Last day of term |
| Monday 20th | Children return to school |
| Friday 24th | Birthday assembly – parents of children with birthdays in February invited to attend |
| From Monday 27th | Book Week |
| Tuesday 28th | Parents Evening 3.15pm – 6pm |
| March | |
| Thursday 2nd | Parents Evening 5.30pm – 8pm
World Book Day – dress up day for children and staff |
| Friday 3rd | Starfish Assembly from 9.05am |
| Friday 10th | Turtle Assembly from 9.05am |
| Friday 17th | Penguin Assembly from 9.05am |
| Friday 24th | Polar Bear Assembly from 9.05am
Comic Relief Day |
| From Monday 27th | Parent writing workshops drop in this week |
| Friday 31st | Birthday assembly – parents of children with birthdays in March invited to attend
Last day of term |
| April | |
| Tuesday 18th | Children return to school |
| Weekly school attendance | Days missed across the school
this week |
Best class attendance for the week | Overall attendance for the year | |
| 95.88% | 54.5% | 99.33% Caterpillar | 96.85% |
| Reading award | Active award | Sunshine award | Feet on Friday | Star table | |
| Penguin | Jessica | Hannah & Alicia | Tia | Ellis | |
| Polar Bear | Oliver | Eli & Katy Mae | Scarlett | Evie | |
| Snow Leopard | Isaac | Tia & Carys | Frank | Elizabeth | |
| Sea Horse | Max | Zoe & Takunda | Zoe | James | Brooke |
| Star Fish | Rayna | Gracie-May & Mayzee | Alex | Jesse-James | |
| Turtle | Daniel | Evie & Jacob | Sarah | Jazmin | |
| Fox | Leo | Bethany & Oliver B | Amelia | Ethan | |
| Caterpillar | Ronin | Sammy & Zoe | Jack | Zoe | |
| Owl | Mia | Tristan & Kieran | Charlie | Ryan | |
| Bonus card winners this week – Turtle class | |||||
Adverse weather arrangements
At this time of year we like to take the opportunity to remind you of the procedures we put in place should we have any adverse winter weather.
If it has been snowing heavily we will do everything we can to make sure the school is open however we have to take in to account the number of staff able to get to school and the safety of children and adults on the school site.
If we have heavy snow we would also request that all children bring in a packed lunch as we may not be able to provide a school dinner.
We may also have to delay the opening of Breakfast Club until 8.15am to enable us to make sure we have enough staff and the school site is safe.
If any of these measures are put in place we will keep parents informed by putting up to date information on:
Website: www.downs-view.kent.sch.uk
Kent Closure site: www.kentclosures.co.uk
BBC Radio Kent
We will also text or email parents
As long as we have enough staff and the site is safe the school will be open.
Thank you to everyone for coming in to school today, we appreciate the roads and paths were very slippery. We updated Facebook with our opening details and ask that you check our Facebook page and websites above should we have any more snow. Also please can children bring in spare clothes and boots (if not already in school) on snowy days which they can change into if they go outside to play.
Sainsbury’s Active Kids
Sainsbury will soon start giving out their Active Kids vouchers again. Please can you collect as many of these as possible and bring them in to school. Last year we were able to get lots of great free sports equipment for the school.
Clubs running this term
Some of these clubs were oversubscrited as there were limited spaces available therefore names were picked out of a hat.
| Monday | Choir from 16th January finishes 4pm
EYFS Music Club from 16th January, finishes 3.45pm – Full (4 weeks only, last session 6th Feb) |
| Tuesday | Starting term 4 Drumming and Movement Club (letters home Monday 16th)
3pm – 3.45pm £2 per week for 5 weeks. Maximum 24 children |
| Wednesday | Multi-Skills Year 1 finishes 4pm – Full. £20 for 10 weeks (11th January until 22nd March) |
| Thursday | Gymnastic Club finishes 4pm, from 12th January |
| Friday | Elite Football ends Feb 10th finishes 4.15pm. Fees payable to Elite
After Dark Club run by Mr Seb Corall finishes 5pm. Fees payable to Mr Seb Corall |
Cool Milk
Chilren under 5 receive free milk at school. If your child is over 5 they can still recive milk at school at a cost of 22p per day. Register your child online at www.coolmilk.com/register. By registering online, you’ll be able to make a payment straightaway. If your payment is received by 5pm on a Tuesday, your child will receive milk the following week.
If your child is Pupil Premium the school can pay for milk for your child as funding is received to cover this. Please contact Helen Rowson in the office who can arrange this.
What we’ve been up to……..
This week in EYFS we have started to think about our school community and have focused in on the role of our school caretaker. We have thoroughly enjoyed thinking of and then writing down our questions to Mr Beany our school caretaker and were surprised by some of the answers he gave us. We still can’t believe how many keys he has to lock up just one school! In Maths we have been learning to count out a range of Mr Beany’s tools and then represented this number in a variety of ways. We have also enjoyed learning some new digraphs and tricky words. Don’t forget to look out for these in your child’s Monkey book so that you can help consolidate these at home.
A little reminder… Please if you have not done so already bring your child’s P.E kit back into school.
Year 1 have looked at missing posters and designing our own in relation to the book ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. We have also been creating our own music using a variety of musical instruments. This music will be used in PE to create a dance. In Maths we have been investigating measure using a variety of different objects such as paper clips, blocks and cubes.
In year 2 we have been contacted by the Secret Author Agency who sent us tasks to do; one of these was to write Little Red Riding Hood for them. In Maths we have continued our learning on money; we have found equivalent amounts and calculated change. ICT has been great fun! we are going to be photographers this term. We have started to think about what makes a good photograph. In History we thought about different sources of information. We wrote speech for what people could have said on seeing the Great Fire of London.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Mrs Hodge and her family. Mrs Hodge had her baby daughter, Eadie, on Monday and all are doing well!
Snow Leopards class
Unfortunately Miss Stanley is still unwell. The class will be covered by Mrs Collins and Mrs Kennedy until Miss Stanley is well enough to return to work.
A few polite reminders
Collecting children at the end of the school day
Entering the school site – Parents and Carers of children in Reception classes should enter the school via the main playground gates and walk round the building to the waiting areas outside the classroom. Parents should only use the gate to the front of the school if they need to visit the office.
Reception area pickup – This area, at the end of the school day, has generally been tidied up or set up ready for the children to explore the next day. If you wait in this area can we ask that your younger children do not play with the resources set up or if they do please ensure that they are tidied up before you leave.
Collecting on time – It is unsettling for children if they are regularly collected late from school and it can also impact on the work of staff who have to look after your children until you arrive. There are always times when emergencies happen, but if you often have trouble getting here on time please consider alternative collection arrangements.
Exhaust fumes – It has been brought to our attention that many parents are sitting in their cars either before or after school whilst waiting to collect their children with their engines running. We understand that many of you come early to secure a place near to the school, but please could we ask you to consider turning off your engines which will help prevent pollution to the environment and also save you money on fuel! We are an Eco-School, teaching children the importance of looking after our environment and saving energy and therefore hope you will support us with this. Thank you.
Headlice
There have been several cases of head lice in school. It is important that you check your child’s hair regularly to help prevent them spreading to other children. If you find head lice, your local chemist or family doctor can advise on treatment and which lotion to use.
If your child has head lice you will also need to examine the heads of all other members of the household. If head lice are found they should also be treated at the same time.
Coffee Morning at Downs View
We welcome parents, carers and grandparents, including children aged 0-4 years to join us for a regular coffee morning on Tuesdays at 8.50am to 10am, held in Puppies. The children centre and other agencies will be visiting on a regular basis to talk about what’s available for families in the local area.
So why not come along at drop off time and stay for a drink and a catch up!
Volunteering in school
If you/family member can spare half an hour or half a day a week we would love to hear from you. There are constantly more and more things which teachers/children require support with. This could be hearing children read, supporting with admin tasks or sharing an expertise e.g. cooking, sewing, making models etc. The children benefit so much from as little as half an hour a week, so if you are interested please speak to Sarah Collins or Helen Rowson in the office. All volunteers require a DBS police check but once that is completed you would be free to start.