Newsletter summary:

Please ensure your child completes and records their homework regularly.

There are a number of things on Parentpay for the Christmas Fayre:

A Giving Tree for Kafunjo

Tokens to spend on the day -it is cashless

Pre-book Santa's Grotto if you would like your child to see Santa 

The Christmas Fayre will be non-uniform, optional Christmas theme!

Please consider allowing parents from Y2-Y4 to take up the small amount of seating at the Carol Service.

The States of Jersey Police have issued all children with a reflective wrist band as part of their 'Be Safe Be Seen' campaign.

Homework

Why do we do it?

The homework we set is based on research evidencing what makes the greatest difference. Reading, spelling and times table homework focusses on foundational skills that require practice to become automatic.  The more children read, the better they read, and daily reading is one of the strongest indicators of academic success.  Practising spelling supports memory of spelling patterns, frees up working memory and improves writing.  Times table practice also frees up working memory (known as reducing the cognitive load) by developing fluency and recall. Homework in these areas is most effective when it is short, consistent and linked to classroom learning. 

What do we expect?

There are some children consistently not doing their homework.  By this, we don't mean the odd days when it's particularly busy, (we all have those days!); we mean a frequent pattern over time of not completing it. We raised this with parents during consultation appointments, too. All children should bring their spelling book and their reading diary to school every day so that these can be monitored by the teacher. Occasionally, you might not complete the reading record but this is important because we need to see what children are reading so that we can monitor what we call their 'reading diet'.

When we select children to represent the school at football, netball, choir etc, we consider whether they uphold our school values in their behaviour.  Completing homework is our core value of achievement and therefore we expect children to demonstrate this in their homework, with your support. Thank you.

Choir event

There are still tickets available to support our children at the Opera House next Sunday 30th November.  Our choir will be part of a choir of 80 children performing with Hannah Jacques' Acapella Jersey Choir.  It looks set to be a great performance, our children have been rehearsing for months - and it will be very Christmassy!

Acapella Jersey Presents: A Christmas Chorus | Jersey Opera House

Kafunjo Giving Tree

We have set-up a giving tree on ParentPay where you can donate to Kafunjo Community Project, the orphanage and school in Uganda which we are linked with. The items you can purchase include a bar of soap, ... and your child can then add a gift tag to the giving tree. The money will be donated directly to the project. Next week the children are recording a song to share with the children there and they are going to learn it and send a film back to us. 

Christmas Fayre 28th November

We would like donations of raffle prizes, please.  We would also like donations for the bottle stall.  These could be:

Bottles of drink (wine, soft drinks, beers etc.), 

Toiletries (shampoo, bubble bath, hand cream etc.),

Food (olive oil, salad dressing, ketchup, honey etc.)

Bottles and Prize donations can be brought into school from Monday.

On the day, we would like to request homemade cakes and biscuits.

Thank you for supporting your class rep by volunteering for a 15 minute slot on a stall. 

The event will be cashless. Tokens must be purchased via ParentPay in advance  (10 Tokens (raffle tickets) for £5 which can be used for all stalls, so each token is the equivalent of 50p.) We will also have a sum up near the front entrance for additional tokens.

We will open the playground from 2.30 for parking.  Please park responsibly.

Children can wear non-uniform on this day (Christmas theme optional)

Carol Service (Y2-6)

This will be in St George's Church on Monday 15th December at 1.30pm. There is no expectation for parents to join us but there a small amount of seating for parents. Parents from Reception and Y1 will have watched the Nativity, and parents from Y5 and 6 will have watched the production, so please consider allowing the space for Y2-Y4 parents, who will be performing a song.