Five Elms Primary School

Dear Parents/Carers, On Friday 7th February, there will be a Nearly New Book Sale during the school day at Five Elms Primary School. Books will be on sale for 10p and 20p. Please send your child in to school with some small change for them to buy a book. Also send a carrier bag with them to take home their purchases. Thank you so much! From the School Councillors

Dear Parents/Carers, At this time of year, people all over the country are celebrating Harvest Festival. A Harvest Festival is a celebration of food that is grown on land. At Five Elms Primary, we will be celebrating Harvest Festival and are asking for donations. All donations received will be taken to St Mary’s Church and distributed to local people who need help/support in providing food for themselves and their families. We would very much appreciate the following items: · Tinned Food (fish, fruit, meat, potatoes, pulses, soup, vegetables, etc) · Dried Pasta/Rice · Pasta Sauces · Long Life Milk · Long life Juices · Cereal · Biscuits · Coffee/Tea · Toiletries Please check that there is a long-life date on food items. Any donation, big or small, will make a huge difference to those in need. No fresh fruit or vegetables please. Donations can be brought in between the following dates: Tuesday 16th September – Thursday 25th September Thank you for all your help and support towards this worthy cause.

Dear Parents/Carers, Please be reminded that pets are not permitted on school premises, including the playground and entrance areas, during school drop off at 8.45am and pick-up at 3:15pm. This is to ensure the health & safety, and comfort of all our pupils and families. We kindly ask for your cooperation in adhering to this policy. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Dear parent/carer, Please see attached document for Great athletes.

Dear Parents/Carers, Please check with your child’s class teacher to confirm their designated PE days. On PE days, students are expected to attend school wearing their PE kits for the entire day. The required PE kit includes: Navy or black jogging bottoms White T-shirt Navy jumper or Cardigan Black Trainers Additionally, if your child has a sports club after school, they should also wear their PE kit in the morning. This helps to eliminate the need for changing during school day. Please refer to school website for uniform information: https://www.fiveelmsprimary.co.uk/bardag/primary/five-elms/site/pages/parentarea/schooluniform/uniformshop School uniform shop: https://khalsaschoolwear.co.uk/school/five-elms-primary-school/? For health and safety reasons, jewellery must be removed for PE lessons .Any religious jewellery must be covered with a 'sweat band'

Dear Parents/Carers, Please see the attached flyer.

I would like to congratulate all the parents and children who have received a Excellent Attendance certificate for this term. These children have been given the best chance of success and this gives your child a flying start. I would like to thank the parents of these children for ensuring that their children attend school regularly. Well done and please keep up the fantastic work! I would like to remind all parent that good school attendance is important for a child's achievement, wellbeing, and wider development. A child with 89% attendance at the end of an academic year will have missed 21 days of school (over four school weeks of learning missed). Whilst 89% is a positive achievement in an examination/test, 89% attendance would warrant a significant level of concern. Research suggests that pupils who have an average of 20 days absent per school year see negative effects throughout their educational journey – resulting in a whole GCSE grade deficit by the time they leave secondary education. Kind regards,

At this time of year, it’s highly possible that you have a new phone, games console or other digital device stashed somewhere at home, ready to be unwrapped. Many parents also prefer to place some protective measures on those gifts – to keep their child shielded from potential Online Safety risks – while others would like to, but aren’t sure where to begin. The National Online Safety Team have produced a guide which helps you through the process of establishing parental controls on new internet-enabled devices, from smartphones to laptops to consoles. Simply find the device in question and read on to find out what options you have and how to enable them – letting children enjoy their shiny new gadget, without so much of the worry over where it might lead them. Here are some helpful links: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6eDVPeny69SzNEbpIpX0Pp?go=1&sp_cid=9ea722f51eba25b5c09d5170a274ffe7&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=800d7c9577b44712 Kind regards,

Dear Parents/Carers, We would like to remind you of the importance of avoiding scheduling dental or doctor’s appointments during the school day wherever possible. We kindly request that non-urgent appointments are made outside of school hours unless they are emergencies. This helps to minimise disruptions to your child’s learning. key points to remember when scheduling medical appointments during term time: **Advance Notice:** If you need to schedule an appointment during school hours, please provide the school with advance notice. This will ensure your child's absence is recorded as authorised. **Medical Evidence:** Five Elms may ask for medical evidence such as an appointment card. text message or prescription to verify the absence. **Non-Urgent Appointments:** Where possible, non-urgent appointments, such as dentist visits and routine vaccinations, should be made outside of school hours to reduce any loss of learning time. **Hospital or Specialist Appointments:** For hospital or specialist appointments, please bring the appointment letter to the school office to verify the absence. **Emergency Appointments:** In the case of emergency appointments, we kindly ask that you DO NOT schedule them during lunchtime, between 12:20 PM and 1:30 PM. If you are unable to provide evidence when collecting your child. we will require evidence when your child returns to school. We appreciate your cooperation in ensuring that your child’s attendance remains consistent and that their educational progress is not impacted by unnecessary absences. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Dear Parents and Carers, I hope you all had a wonderful summer break and welcome back to the new academic year. We need to make you aware of some important changes that have come into force and the way schools manage absence in term time. Ensuring regular school attendance is important for your child's educational success and overall development. Consistent attendance not only fosters a structured learning environment but also supports academic achievement, social skills, and emotional well-being. Every school day counts towards building a strong foundation of knowledge and skills essential for future opportunities. Regular attendance helps your child stay engaged with their studies, maintain steady progress, and cultivate a sense of responsibility and discipline. By prioritising school attendance, you are investing in your child's future and helping them reach their full potential. In February 2024, the Department for Education published ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’. This document lays out the changes to the management of attendance by schools and in particular, the issue of penalty notices. This came into effect on 19th August 2024. The changes are summarised below:- Per Parent, Per Child Penalty Notice Fines will now be issued to each parent, for each child that was absent. For example: 3 siblings absent for term time leave, would result in each parent receiving 3 separate fines. Five consecutive days of term time leave Penalty Notice Fines will be issued for Term Time Leave of 5 or more consecutive days. Inset training days are school days and can be included in the 5 or more consecutive days where there was intent to be absent for term time leave. 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a 10-week period Penalty Notice Fines will be considered when there have been 10 sessions (5 days) of unauthorised absence in a 10-week period. Please make sure that you make contact with us on the first day of absence to explain any absences for your child. First Offence The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for Term Time Leave or Irregular Attendance the amount will be: • £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days. • Reduced to £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days. Second Offence (within 3 years) The second time a Penalty Notice is issued for Term Time Leave or Irregular Attendance the amount will be: • £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days. • There will be no offer of a reduction. Third Offence and Any Further Offences (within 3 years) The third time an offence is committed for Term Time Leave or Irregular Attendance a Penalty Notice will not be issued, and the case will be presented straight to the Magistrates’ Court. Magistrates’ fines can be up to £2500 per parent, per child. Cases found guilty in Magistrates’ Court can show on the parent’s future DBS certificate, citing ‘failure to safeguard a child’s education’. New two penalty notice limit in a three-year period The three-year rolling period starts for parents when the first penalty notice is issued to them after the 19th August 2024. More information can be found at: Resources for families | Children's Commissioner for England (childrenscommissioner.gov.uk) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f1b048133c22b8eecd38f7/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance__applies_from_19_August_2024_.pdf We understand that, financially, times are very tough for many families and so we wanted to make you aware of the changes being made by the Department for Education to prevent holidays being taken in term time and to improve attendance nationally. At Five Elms Primary School the attendance rates are still below the national average and the school would like to continue to work in partnership with parents and families to ensure that all children attend school regularly and absences are kept to a minimum and only for taken for exceptional circumstances. I would like to thank you in advance for your cooperation and support with this matter. Yours sincerely, Ms N Butt Assistant Headteacher