Atwood News for week ending Friday 23th June

Mr Veale’s welcome

‘It ain’t half hot, mum.’ week 2.  

What a week we have had!  There has been so much going on at Atwood and I like to say at this time of the year that we have begun ‘the silly season’.  With so many events, trips, visitors, swimming, sports, championships, Sports Days, the Play, Camp Atwood looming and the like, not forgetting the New to Nursery and reception Parents’ Evening, it has certainly been busy.

Summer Fair

Don’t forget that tomorrow is the FOAP Summer Fair.  This popular annual event is at Atwood, on the field and runs from 12noon to 3.00pm.. Please do come along and join in the fun.  My thanks to you all for generously donating a wide range of bottles for the tombola.  I know the children, after having to be turned out smartly and having to tuck their shirts in over the last week have really enjoyed the freedom of mufti today in return.

I’ll be in the stocks tomorrow for an hour and so please do throw a freezing cold sponge at me!  I keep saying that ‘it’s all in a good cause’.

Café Atwood To Launch

Café Atwood’s first official customer!

Mr Roberts did a ‘soft launch’ of Café Atwood to prove the concept after Sports Day this Thursday and 30 lollies were sold.  We are now looking to open the Café at the following times:

Tuesday mornings 8:15-9:15 and

Thursday after school 2:45-3:45

Therefore, we are looking for reliable parent volunteers to be trained up to open the café and serve the children and their families.

Remember that ALL profits made at the café will go directly back in to supporting the children at Atwood.

If you feel that you can give up your time to help run the café please do contact the office and we will return to you with more details.

Mobile Phones

There appears to be a lot of ‘gossip’ on some of the class WhatsApp groups stating that teachers are using their mobile phones in school.  I wish to put the record straight.  No teacher should be viewing their phone in the presence of children.  Some parents have seen teachers looking at their phones through the classroom windows.  This is acceptable if there are no other children present, as some staff need to consult their phones during the day for various reasons.

There is also a key exception for mobile phone use at Atwood as one of our pupils has diabetes and their blood sugar levels are monitored via an app on this phone.

Sun Safety 

As we approach the zenith of the year, with the summer solstice upon the horizon on the 21st June, the sun is at its highest and is at its strongest, and therefore, we all need to consider our own safety in the sun and of course, for the children.

Please ensure that you send your child to school with a hat and apply plenty of sun-screen in the morning.  I took at look at the NHS advice about sun safety.  There is a very brief overview:

Children and sun protection

Take extra care to protect babies and children. Their skin is much more sensitive than adult skin, and damage caused by repeated exposure to sunlight could lead to skin cancer developing in later life.

Children aged under 6 months should be kept out of direct strong sunlight.

From March to October in the UK, children should:

• cover up with suitable clothing
• spend time in the shade, particularly from 11am to 3pm
• wear at least SPF30 sunscreen

Apply sunscreen to areas not protected by clothing, such as the face, ears, feet and backs of hands.

Why not take a look at the Atwood news stories from this week?

Sports Day ’23: https://www.pegasusacademytrust.org/news/atwood-primary-school/atwood-sports-day-quick-news-story
Croydon Athletics ’23: https://www.pegasusacademytrust.org/news/atwood-primary-school/atw-girls-perform-well-at-croydon-athletics-heats

Thought of the Week 

‘It’s not the winning but the taking part.’ 

Points (Pupil Reward Points)

Remember that everyone at Atwood believe in the Terrific Trio:  Kind Words, Kind Thoughts, Kind Actions and for that, the children are rewarded.  The first key milestone for a pupil is to reach 50 Pupil Reward Points because they will be awarded a £5 Book Token in Celebration Assembly, as we also wish to promote the love of reading at Atwood.  I will be taking a look at the leaderboard after half term.

Each pupil has been assigned to a Team or House.  These are Air, Earth, Fire and Water.  All Pupil Reward Points also contribute to the Team Points each week.

Here are the all important totals for the term so far:

Congratulations to AIR who have won the Team Points Competition for this week.  

Why not head over to the Pupil Reward Points website?  https://www.pupilrewardpoints.co.uk

Attendance

The DfE continue to be concerned about attendance in the post covid world.  Indeed, governments across the world have noticed a worrying trend of children attending school less than before covid.  Atwood works on the 95% expectation and each year, we endeavour to hit our whole school community target of attending at least 95% of the time.  Most years, Atwood nearly reaches 97% which is higher than the national average.  Looking at the Year to Date percentage we have crept to the 95% mark and this is excellent news- let’s keep it up, Atwood.

Attendance is important.  After all, children only have one opportunity to go to school, don’t they?  As a rule of thumb, we expect children to attend school at least 95% of the time.  This allows for a child to be absent for a couple of days per year due to coughs, colds and medical appointments that cannot be made in holiday times.  Remember that we never authorise holidays in term time.  Often I am asked to authorise a family wedding abroad, or to visit a poorly relative abroad.  None of these are valid reasons for absence in term time.  Please bear this in mind.

Here are the attendance figures for this week:

From us all at Team Atwood, enjoy the continued warmer weather this weekend. 

SEE YOU AT THE SUMMER FAIR 12 NOON TO 3.00PM 

Stay safe and see you all on Monday 26th June. 

Mr. Veale