START OF TERM NEWS:   

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

I hope you’ve had a wonderful summer. Its been lovely to welcome everyone back this week -even though you have had to queue a bit for jumpers! 

 

So welcome back. And a special big welcome to all of the new pupils in Early Years and throughout the school and their parents.

 

As well as welcoming you all I want to take the opportunity to give you some reminders about things happening in school this term, and to update you on a few changes.

 

 

Results

Being successful at school is about far more than exam results- but I do want to share some of these with you. We have lots of tests in school that we have to do as they are statutory, but the ones in y6 are important in particular because they give both a standard for pupils in reading , writing and maths, but also a progress measure, which we believe  is the most important thing. We are still awaiting final verification but it looks as though last years’ year six results were in line with National average in every subject, not only that but they look like they will be in the top 20% of the country for progress. We are delighted with this and so proud of the pupils. This means they are ready for their next stage, ready to access all lessons in secondary school, and ready to succeed. It is particularly pleasing when I consider that most of these children have English as an additional language, or joined school at a late date. The pupils should be commended for their hard work and resillience, but so should all of their parents and all the staff who have taught them during their time at Kingsley. We place great store on keeping our pupils safe and happy , but I am also very pleased that our strong focus on academic achievement has also born fruit. Well done everyone!

 

 

Building Work

As well as our amazing new classrooms , which you saw finished at the end of term, we have also had classroom extensions put in in year2 to give the children a larger teaching space and allow for extended provision. We are also very excited by our new Design and Technology room which is the extension you can see to the right of the front of the school. Both of these projects were planned pre- Covid, so its been a long wait! Our site team and the builders deserve massive thanks and credit for getting two big jobs completed before the children returned. That  is potentially the last of the big building projects we will do for a while, I think that we will need to keep our eye on the budget as we move into the Winter and next year, along with everyone else in the country.

 

 

New staff

We have several new staff who have joined our team this year, both in the classrooms and in school administration. I want to take he opportunity to introduce you to our new office team in particular. They are a larger team than we have had previously and I hope that once they get to know the school, it means we are able to support you and the staff and pupils far more effectively. Please bear with us whilst everyone learns the ropes. I have to say that all of the new staff have already spoken to me to say how lovely our parents are and how amazingly well behaved our pupils are. I already know this, but its great to have it confirmed by those new to Kingsley.

In the office now you will find:

Mr Moore- School Business Manager with responsibility for large areas of school finance, systems  and personnel

Ms Williams- finance officer

Ms Fearnley- Pupil admin officer ( new admissions, pupil information etc.)

Ms Doherty – receptionist and your usual first port of call for any help or advice.

 

Our existing pastoral team are also still involved in some administration in the school, particularly attendance, family support and translation, so you will still be able to access them via the school office.

 

 

Breakfast club

Children who wish to attend should arrive at the main entrance at 8.15am. Breakfast club costs only 30p a day, which can be paid daily, or as a weekly amount of £1.50.  Pupils will be offered toast, cereal and a drink to set them up for the day.  You do not need to book your child’s place at the moment, we will only need to consider this if numbers increase dramatically. We do, however insist that pupils should arrive between 8.15 and 8.30am or they may not be allowed admittance.

 

 

Uniform.

• Tie years 3-6
• Dark grey trousers or skirt
• Black shoes
• Black or purple hijab
• Purple sweatshirt or cardigan
• White polo shirt in years R to 2
• NO JEWELERY please! (Apart from small flat stud ear rings)

 

As per my letter in July we have expected all pupils to return to school wearing correct school uniform. PLEASE write their name in their tie and in ALL school uniform. Staff do not have the time to sort through the large number of items which are lost or discarded by children every day, and who do not have their name in. We have over 500 pupils at Kingsley- can you imaging trying to allocate unnamed lost sweatshirts to even 10% of these pupils?? It can not be done, so we need to place the responsibility on you putting your child’s name in them.

 

The school uniform has always been very simple here at Kingsley and there should be no misunderstanding or ambiguity. Please note that we will be picking up on every single student who is not wearing the correct uniform on day one and asking them to fix this for day two. We will also speak to parents on the door if this remains a concern. The main issue for most schools at the start of a new year is often trainers being worn instead of shoes. Trainers are NOT part of school uniform, neither are tracksuit tops.

 

Please make sure that your child has the correct PE kit to bring to school with them this  year.

 

 

PE kits

• plain black shorts or jogging bottoms
  • • • • Plain white t shirt
        • Trainers or pumps.
        • Students will not be able to come to school wearing PE kit on days when they have PE

 

We will keep spare PE kits in school for children who fail to bring the correct kit into school, or whose parents do not discuss any reasons for this with us. We will also have spare pumps in school for those who come in wearing trainers rather than shoes.

 

 

Attendance

Whilst we will always be understanding of the complex circumstances some families face, we firmly believe that school is the best environment for children to thrive in and that only a very high level of attendance will ensure that they able to be happy, develop well and make good academic progress.

 

For this reason and because we are being asked to do so by the DfE, we are firm with regard to attendance levels and expectations. It something I always talk to new parents about and discuss at every new Reception intake meeting. We expect excellent attendance, and if your child comes to our school , we expect that you support us in this. Holidays in term time have caused us particular concern again this year. Please remember that term time holidays are never allowed, and you are very likely to be fined for them, or have contact from the Liverpool Education Welfare Team. Good school attendance is a local and national priority and we all have to take it seriously.  We will always help parents with this whenever we can, so always talk to us if you are struggling.

 

This will also be the case with punctuality. Please support us in ensuring that your child is regularly turning up to school on time. Those who miss the start of the school day, even by just a few minutes each day, are losing out on valuable education, key messages and the chance to start the day well.

 

Immunisation

 

 

You will shortly be getting some information about the flu immunisation programme for all school children. I am delighted that this year I have finally managed to make arrangements for both the traditional nasal immunisation alongside the non – porcine inoculation. Some of you will know I have been asking the NHS to support this at Kingsley for a number of years, as I know the traditional immunisation is something that many in our community feel that they can not take. I understand that now, families at Kingsley will be able to chose which type to give their child and this will come alongside consent forms that we will send out shortly. This is not a school programme, it is run by the NHS. We are asked to support them as a partner agency by offering a room and helping with communication. I have been asking for this for sometime, so now that its possible, I hope many more of you will take the opportunity to consider the immunisation as we go into the flu season!

 

Parking

Most of you will know that it’s a bad idea to park anywhere near the main entrances to the

school at start and finish times. It creates real problems in terms of gridlock and safety for

children and other school users. However, many parents did chose to drop children off at the gates in Eversley street in particular, sometimes in the middle of the road. We were informed that this has been designated a council ‘hot spot’ and we hope that officers will shortly be present and patrolling the area to ensure safety. I ask this regularly, but here is my annual plea: please don’t park too near to the school.

 

We entirely understand that many of your will want to be with your child as they make their way into school but we would be really grateful if you could park a reasonable distance from the school and walk the rest of the journey to the gates before bidding them farewell! Dropping them off mid road, and just watching them from your car is particularly concerning and not fair on the staff at the gate who then feel responsible for road safety. I would really appreciate your help in this matter as I get a lot of complaints from local residents and concerned parents about this- I have a lot of things to do as a Head Teacher, but being traffic controller shouldn’t be one of them!

 

Dates

There have been some recent changes because of the Bank Holiday announced for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth.

 

19^th September- Bank Holiday- School closed

19^th October- Staff training day- school closed.

(I apologise that this is a mid week date, but it was training that we had booked in for the 19^th September and has had to be changed. This was the ONLY available date for some very important staff training)

23rd September- Jeans for genes day- letter to follow

24^th- 28^th October- Half term- school closed

21^st December – end of term,  school closes for Christmas holidays from 12.30pm

3^rd January – staff training- school closed

4^th January start of Spring term

13^th- 17^th  February – Spring Half term- school closed.

Please look on the school website for all other dates.

 

 

Finally, good luck to you all for the year ahead. I can honestly say that the atmosphere in school this term is incredibly positive. The school is calm and purposeful and everyone is determined to continue with our ethos of kindness and high aspirations for all. Thank you for your continued support in this. I say it every year, but children flourish in school when there is a true partnership with parents, keeping children safe, supporting where we can , celebrating successes and being on the same page when improvements are needed. I look forward to this continuing this academic year.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Mrs A Whittaker, Head Teacher.