Summer 2

Friday 19th July 2019 

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Friday  19th July

School closes for the summer holidays tomorrow at 2pm. We return to school on Thursday 5th September. We wish you all an enjoyable and happy break. As well as Mrs Carr, we are also saying goodbye to Linda Ferdman who is retiring tomorrow, Clarie McMillan who will be going to University to study for her PGCE teaching certificate, Jude Hurtado who is taking up a new post at St. Paul’s,  Gary Seivright who is returning to secondary school teaching at Hollyfield school, Mrs Saidi who is expecting a baby and Flo who is returning to Leeds University for her final year.  We will miss them all very much and wish them the very best of luck in their new ventures. Letter from Rachel Carr Dear parents and carers,  I can hardly believe that I am only going to be here at Alexandra for another day. It’s been a great half term, with fabulous school journeys, a brilliant sports day, creative assemblies, concerts and an art show This year has gone by incredibly quickly –it is going to be a wrench to leave. Luckily (!) I still have the roofing project to supervise over the Summer, before Rob Waiting takes over on 1st September. Hopefully everything will be completed by then. Before I go, I really want to take the opportunity to say thank you for your generosity and for the lovely gifts that were given to me last Friday. I’ve been wearing the watch ever since, I’ve set up my gorgeous new inscribed iPad, the flowers are still looking beautiful, and the Mrs Carr “wordle” will have pride of place at home.  Alexandra is a very special place, and I am sure the school will continue to grow stronger in every way over the years to come. I will be keeping up with all the news, and I can’t wait to hear what everyone gets up to next! Thanks again for making my time as head teacher such a pleasure, Rachel Water Aid day         WEAR IT BLUE DAY TOMORROW Some of our Year 5 children are organising a fundraising day for Water Aid this Friday 19th July. They presented to the whole school in assembly and explained the vital work that Water Aid carry out.  You can find out more information at https://www.wateraid.org/uk/ The children are invited to support the charity by wearing blue to school on Friday in exchange for a minimum £1 donation. Thank you for your support. A message from Mrs Lewis  James, my son will be cycling in the Prudential Ride at the beginning of August. He is aiming to raise £500 for Momentum  children’s charity (a charity very dear to us). James will be selling ice cream and ice lollies in the playground on the last day of term at 2pm.  Thank you! James Scott Visit Thank you to James for visiting Alexandra in his full Irish Guards Uniform last week.  He presented to the children in assembly, marched with the Ducklings and was a secret mystery reader in Ladybirds. A fantastic learning opportunity for our chldren and one they enjoyed immensely. Thank you James! PSA Update The PSA held their Annual General Meeting last night. They said a big thank you on behalf of the Alexandra community to the current team Juliet Raynor, Jen Braithwaite and Lucy Pallet. They have worked with so much energy and enthusiasm and have shown such commitment to the school. We are extremly grateful for all their time and hard work. Thank you. We are delighted to introduce our new team: Clare Mirza and Zoe Van Den Bosch join us as joint Chair Emily Gilkes joins us as Treasurer Stuart Forrest joins us as Secretary. Being a member of the PSA is not all about raising money! It’s also about having fun and creating a sense of school community, so most of our activities are planned with this in mind. This year the children have loved the sponsored bounce, movie nights, Sparkle night and disco, whilst the parents and teachers have had fun competing at our annual quiz night. Taking part in the events and getting involved in the PSA is also a great way to meet other Alexandra parents and carers. We would love as many people as possible to get involved and depend on parents and carers to make sure we can run great events and raise as much money as possible to help the school offer our children such a great experience. There are lots of different ways you can get involved and you can offer as much or as little time as you have. You could help by planning or running events,  drumming up support or sponsorship or as a PSA class representative for each class (this could be a shared role). Much of the role could be via email, so you don’t need to be there at drop off/pick up every day to get involved. Some fantastic events have been held this year raising valuable funds: Comedy Night, Sparkle Night, Christmas Fair & tree sale, Quiz Night with Gin Bar, the amazing Summer Fair and Alexstock disco. We have raised a fantastic £17,000 this year enabling us to fund: Scooters, table tennis equipment and outdoor musical instruments for the playground. Forest school training for a member of staff. Sketchbetter art for most year groups. Forest school afternoons Electric pencil sharpners for each class Celebration books for Yr 2 leavers Gym equipment which the children enjoy daily Playground upgrade Hamptons Estate Agents have continued to support us with sponsorship and advertisment boards for each fair. If you are thinking of moving, please consider using them as they will contribute £500 to the school for each sale with a 1% interest rate for the sale. If you are thinking of letting your property they will donate £200 for each referral. Amazon Smile raised £73 but with your support could raise a lot more. Click on the link and search for Alexandra school PSA Alexandra School Uniform                                                                                                Please make sure you name ALL your children’s clothes Now based in  393-395 Hook Rd, Chessington KT9 1EL

URGENT MESSAGE Dear parents and carers, Please be aware that your children are your responsibility until they have entered the classrooms in the morning. The playground is not supervised by staff before or after school, as they are received from parents/carers at the classroom doors and returned to them at the door at the end of the day. Please be aware that before school this morning a Year 1 child ran out of the school gates on to Princes Road to retrieve a ball. Please keep them with you to make sure they are safe, until you hand your child/ren in to the class teachers and until you leave the playground with them at the end of the day. Thanks for your help and cooperation, Rachel Carr

 

Five Star Rating
We had an unannounced visit to our school kitchen today at 7.45am. 
RBK Food Standards Agency inspected our Breakfast Club, After school club and Lunch kitchen facilities and we were awarded the top available rating of 5 stars. 

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Children going out to play without adult supervision
On these lovely warm summer evenings many children are enjoying the opportunity to meet friends and play in our local parks. It has come to our attention recently that there have been some unfortunate incidents at Elm Road park, including physical assault and substance abuse. You may wish to consider encouraging your children to play in other parks instead. 

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Governor Update

Governors met last night for a very productive governing body meeting.  One of the items discussed was the recent review, undertaken by the local authority, of Alexandra's ESTA provision (Enhanced Special Needs Teaching Arrangement).  The provision supports children with specific special educational needs, and the review judged it to be 'Outstanding'.  One of the findings of the review is that 'The school has a highly inclusive ethos which is consistent in its message and underpinned by well thought out principles and practices' and that the provision is 'led and managed by a strong team of highly committed and experienced individuals'.  Governors would like to congratulate and thank the team involved in the review and look forward to sharing this best practice with other schools.

Governors also considered a detailed Health and Safety review and a Safeguarding audit.  Both showed the high priority the school team gives to the health, safety and well-being of pupils and that appropriate procedures and systems are in place.  The strategies for additional interventions for pupils was also discussed, as well as staffing plans for the 2019/20 academic year.

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Mobile phones in school

In common with all local schools, we have a clear policy regarding mobile phones and our pupils in school:

• Mobile phones may not, under any circumstances, be used by pupils in school

• If your child needs to contact you for any reason, they should ask their class teacher. 

• Only pupils who travel to and from school on their own may, with their parents’ permission, bring a mobile phone to school* 

• Phones must be handed into the school office at the start of the day, and may be collected from them at the end of the school day.

*Some pupils in Year 5 have permission from their parents to walk to school or home from school on their own. If this is agreed between parent and child, school should be notified by filling out and returning a form available from the school office. (Please note Year 5 children cannot walk to/from home with younger siblings.)

Please contact the school office if you have any queries.

Thanks for your cooperation in this matter.

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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.

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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.

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Social Media
Last week we sent out a plea about exposure to social media. If you are in any doubt about the damaging effect it can have on our little people’s well-being please follow this link. It gives us an example of what our children can be exposed to. DO NOT WATCH THIS WITH YOUR CHILDREN, as it is upsetting. It is to help parents/carers be aware of the dangers of access to unsupervised social media. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuqlg_pyZks
It is crucial that all devices have parental controls. Please follow the links below to learn how to do it.
 

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