Newsletter No.3 17th September 2014

Congratulations to the following writers of the week: Aarna Setia, Naila Ahmed, Muhammad Saad Lon, Shayan Ali, Andrei Lupsa, Aqeel Zaman, Mohammed Faizaan Sarpanch, Alexia Pokam Demoussinga, Oliwia Wilgierz, Mahliqa Zubair, Fatima Naweed, Aman Paul, Fatima Islam, Jahin Ayeman Shah, Luiza Stricescu, Maya Michalak, Haider Ishfaq, Aliya Patel, Sofiya Khan-Ringshaw, Laiba Ali, Umar Patel, Naseera Parkhetiya, Stefan Benjamin, Zainab Achha and Abi Abinaya.

‘Mathlete’ awards were received by: Humza Aslam-Jamil, Risan Maninathan, Syed Samuel Karim, Lakshya Kumar, Tayib Suhail, Shayan Faisal, Ariyan Tipu, David Mazrreku, Jannat Gol, Taha Tariq, Azaan Khan, Emre Ozuaciksoz, Gavyam Garg, Uzair Shah, Sancia Ahmed, Hershil Shah, Jameela Macmillan, Rayan Durrani, Faatimah Anwar, Maxim Arbov, Irina Stefanyuk, Andile Vundla, Josiah Johnson and Sidra Nawaz.
A summer reading award was received by Hafsah Mahmud.      
  
A swimming award was received by Javy Needroo.    
     
A Headteacher’s award was awarded to Mohid Zaman (RB) for being very brave.  
Well done to all of you!

Open School As always, Open School will be taking place on Tuesday 23rd September from 3.30-4.15pm. Please do take this opportunity to come and have a look at your child’s classroom, books and to informally meet the class teacher.

Parental Concerns From time to time you may have an issue you wish to raise with the school. I would therefore, like to clarify the procedure to follow:
1. See the class teacher
2. See the Year Group Leader or the Phase Leader
3. See the Assistant Headteacher
4. See the Deputy Headteacher
5. See the Headteacher

If you are still not satisfied a written complaint can be sent to the Chair of Governors, Yolanda Guns via the school office. She will then nominate a governor to investigate the complaint.
 
Late Children/After School Club Once again, I am disappointed to note that some children are not being collected on time at the end of the school day. Please note, that if children are not collected on time, they will be taken to the After School Club in the small hall and parents will be charged £6 per hour for the childcare that we provide, as teachers and office
staff cannot be expected to provide free childcare.

Attendance Figures For Last Week 
Yr 1B       95.3%               Yr 4B 91.7%
Yr 1G       98.7%               Yr 4G 99.6%
Yr 1R       96%                  Yr 4R 98.3%
Yr 1Y       96.7%               Yr 4Y 97.7%
Yr 2B       98.3%               Yr 5B 94%
Yr 2G       97.6%               Yr 5G 96.7%
Yr 2R       91.6%               Yr 5R 96.3%
Yr 2Y       97.3%               Yr 5Y 97.9%
Yr 3B       92.7%               Yr 6B 96.7%
Yr 3G      89.3%                Yr 6G 100%
Yr 3R      90.3%                Yr 6R 76.3%
Yr 3Y      97.2%                Yr 6Y 98%
Yr 3Rainbow 97.4% 

Attendance Well done to class 6 Green for achieving 100%. The overall percentage for the whole school was 95.2%. Our target for this year is 96%, so let’s all work at it.

Unauthorised Absence I would like to remind parents that if your child has 12 sessions of unauthorised absence through late arrivals recorded throughout the academic year, the Local Authority will issue you with a penalty notice. Penalty notices will also be issued in the first instance for leave of absence taken without permission of the Head teacher. The notice incurs a fine of £120 per parent per child, which is reduced to £60 per parent per child, if it is paid within 21 days.

Secondary School Application Form Filling Workshop for Year 6 Parents We would like to invite year 6 parents to a secondary school online form filling workshop on Tuesday 7th October from 9am – 11.30am. To reserve a place please phone 0208 518 2562 by Friday 26th September or detach and return the tear off slip from the letter sent out last week. If you have any further enquiries please contact Beverley Boothe, the school’s Parent Support Advisor. Please remember that the deadline for submission of applications is Friday 31st October 2014. 

Online Homework We are working towards providing all homework online from after the October half-term break. More information will be provided in future newsletters.

Eligibility For Free School Meals If you are on a low income you may be eligible to claim free school meals for your child. In addition to this, the school will receive funding for providing additional opportunities for your child. Support is available for parents for completing the application forms.

School Lunches Please remember that lunch money must be paid in advance for Key Stage 2 children at the beginning of the week. Envelopes for this are available from the school office which should be clearly labelled with your child’s name and class. If your child’s account is in arrears your child will not be able to have a school lunch. It is your responsibility to ensure that you send your child to school with a packed lunch until full payment of the arrears has been made.

Year Group Workshops As usual, these sessions will take place at 9-9.30am in the main hall on the relevant dates below. I hope you will take the time to attend.                              

18th Sept - Year 4                                                                  
19th Sept - Year 5 
Sessions for Nursery and Reception parents will be organised for later in the term.

UNICEF Fundraising Some of our parents will be selling samosas and pizzas after school this Friday to raise money to support children in war torn areas around the world, such as Syria, Gaza and Israel. Please come along and buy or donate to the charity. See http://fundraise.unicef.org.uk/MyPage/VALENTINES-ON-THE-RUN. Two of our governors, Hannah and Syeda, along with a longstanding parent Diane, are also running the Royal Parks half-marathon on 12th October for UNICEF.

Road Safety Please remember to follow road safety rules by ensuring that if your child is riding a bike to school, that they get off their bike before attempting to cross the road. No scooters or bikes should be used in the school playground before or after school.         
Book Fair A Book Fair will be running from 19th to 24th September in the small hall. Please do come along and have a look at the selection of books available to purchase.

Vacancies We are looking to appoint 3 enthusiastic relief Midday Assistants and 1 permanent Midday Assistant to join our growing team. Further information and the application form is available on the school website at www.cranbrookprimary@redbridge.gov.uk.
The closing date to receive applications is noon on Friday 26th September 2014.             

Paperless Newsletter From after October half-term, we will not be sending out a paper copy of the newsletter, as it will be available on the school’s website each week. However, if you would still prefer this, a copy will be available from the school office.

Colour Assemblies Colour assemblies will begin on Thursday 25th September. However, instead of running assemblies every week, they will take place fortnightly as follows:

25th September                                       
9.10-9.35am Dance Studio-Blue & Rainbow classes
9.10-9.35am Main Hall - Green classes
2nd October
9.10-9.35am Dance Studio-Red classes
9.10-9.35am Main Hall-Yellow classes

Thereafter, we will repeat the above pattern. All parents are invited to attend. Reception classes will join after Christmas.

Dates For Your Diary

18th Sept           Parent workshop Year 4
19th Sept           Parent workshop Year 5
19th-24th Sept  Book Fair (after school)
23rd Sept          Open School (3.30-4.15pm)
19th Sept          UNICEF fundraiser (after school)
9th Oct              Science Dome visiting Y3
7th Oct              Year 6 Parents Workshop (9.30-11.30am)
9th Oct              Year 5 Eid Performance
27th - 31st Oct  Half-term (school closed)
3rd Nov             Inset (school closed to pupils)
6th Nov             Year 3 Diwali Performance
22nd Dec - 4th Jan Christmas Break
5th Jan             Pupils return to school
16th-20th Feb  Half-term (school closed)
23rd Feb          Inset (school closed to pupils)
3rd - 17th April Spring Break (school closed)
4th May            Bank Holiday (school closed)
25th-29th May  Half-term (school closed)
1st June           Inset (school closed)
23rd July          School closed