Autumn Term

FRIDAY 6th December 2019

The new @Alex newsletter is advertised every Friday.

Thank you for reading @ALEX we hope you find it useful. @ALEX, our weekly email newsletter, will go out via Parentmail on Thursday/ Friday. Download the School News App for your smartphone featuring all the latest news and calendar events from school.

 The website is updated daily

School Twitter @AlexandraschKT School Facebook Page

 School web address;   http;//www.alexandra.kingston.sch.uk

@ALEX

Version suitable for using the Translate Button within our website.

Friday  6th December

---

Christmas Fair Saturday 7th December

Please remember to sign up to help your class stall via the sign up sheet on the class window or let your class rep know.

This is a great opportunity to meet new people, support the school & the PSA.

The PSA are also looking for helpers at the Christmas tree sale on Sunday 8th Dec (held in St Paul’s playground). The school benefits from 50% of the money raised from the sale of the trees.

Allocated stalls this year

Nursery AM Magic reindeer food Bats Candyfloss

Nursery PM Tinsel Pull game Dragonflies Sweetie jar tombola

Hoglets Santa grotto Kestrels Penguin Tumble

Owlets Santa grotto Sparrowhawks Hook a candy cane

Ladybirds Secret Buy & wrap Swallows Yr6 fundraising stall

Caterpillars Café & mince pies Skylarks Yr6 fundraising stall

Woodpeckers Books/dvd, adopt a teddy Foxes Bar

Swans Hot food Hedgehogs Luckydip & beauty stall

---

Our school policy states that: Hairstyles, hair accessories, jewellery and trainers

• Hairstyles must be sensible and appropriate for school, extreme haircuts are not acceptable. 

• Shaven heads (shorter than a number 2) or any haircut which involves the shaving of lines or symbols are not acceptable. 

• Hair should not be coloured.  

• Long hair must be tied back to reduce the possible transference of headlice and for health and safety reasons in PE.

• No jewellery should be worn to school; If your child has pierced ears a small plain stud should be worn.

• We do not allow hoodies, or non-school sweatshirts in class or long sleeved sports t-shirts under their school polo shirt.

• As we do so much physical activity during a normal day, children are allowed to wear black or blue trainers. However, brightly coloured designer trainers will not be allowed.

Thank you very much for your continued support in ensuring that our children look and feel smart in school.

---

PEGI ratings on Games

We have been alerted to the worrying fact that many of our children are playing the game FORTNITE. This is having an impact on the way some of our children are playing and in their behaviour and language at school. Please be advised that Fortnite has a PEGI rating of 12, PEGI have said this is due to the: ‘frequent scenes of mild violence. It is not suitable for persons under 12 years of age’.  This PEGI rating only takes into account the content in the game and not the contact element, where players may be exposed to swearing and offensive language from strangers in voice or on-screen text chat.

What are PEGI ratings?

Age ratings are systems used to ensure that entertainment content, such as films, videos, DVDs, and computer games, are clearly labelled by age according to the content they contain. Age ratings provide guidance to consumers (particularly parents) to help them decide whether or not to buy a particular product.

The rating on a game confirms that it is suitable for players over a certain age. Accordingly, a PEGI 7 game is only suitable for those aged seven and above and an PEGI 18 game is only suitable for adults aged eighteen and above. The PEGI rating considers the age suitability of a game, not the level of difficulty.

PEGI 3

The content of games given this rating is considered suitable for all age groups. Some violence in a comical context (typically Bugs Bunny or Tom & Jerry cartoon-like forms of violence) is acceptable. The child should not be able to associate the character on the screen with real life characters, they should be totally fantasy. The game should not contain any sounds or pictures that are likely to scare or frighten young children. No bad language should be heard.

PEGI 7

Any game that would normally be rated at 3 but contains some possibly frightening scenes or sounds may be considered suitable in this category. 

PEGI 12

Videogames that show violence of a slightly more graphic nature towards fantasy character and/or non graphic violence towards human-looking characters or recognisable animals, as well as videogames that show nudity of a slightly more graphic nature would fall in this age category. Any bad language in this category must be mild and fall short of sexual expletives.

PEGI 16

This rating is applied once the depiction of violence (or sexual activity) reaches a stage that looks the same as would be expected in real life. More extreme bad language, the concept of the use of tobacco and drugs and the depiction of criminal activities can be content of games that are rated 16.

PEGI 18

The adult classification is applied when the level of violence reaches a stage where it becomes a depiction of gross violence and/or includes elements of specific types of violence. Gross violence is the most difficult to define since it can be very subjective in many cases, but in general terms it can be classed as the depictions of violence that would make the viewer feel a sense of revulsion.

Descriptors shown on the back of the packaging indicate the main reasons why a game has received a particular age rating. There are eight such descriptors: violence, bad language, fear, drugs, sexual, discrimination, gambling and online gameplay with other people.   Bad Language: Game contains bad language.  Discrimination: Game contains depictions of, or material which may encourage, discrimination. Drugs: Game refers to or depicts the use of drugs.   Fear: Game may be frightening or scary for young children.  Gambling: Games that encourage or teach gambling.  Sex: Game depicts nudity and/or sexual behaviour or sexual references.  Violence: Game contains depictions of violence.  Online gameplay: Game can be played online.

Social media
It is our school policy not to allow pupils to have mobile phones in school. However, if you child is in possession of their own phone can we strongly recommend that the installation of group chat apps such as WhatsApp are not allowed for children. We have been made aware of some upsetting incidences within our school community involving  WhatsApp messaging. For further information and advice please see read the article below:
https://parentinfo.org/article/whatsapp-a-guide-for-parents-and-carers

Information Reminder *Please check the school website for events, dates, club information before telephoning the school office.* The website is updated weekly  - click here for @Alex , Dates, Activity Club Information, Frequently asked questions.   The class information pages and weekly information are updated every MONDAY. Nursery Reception    Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year5  Year 6