Park Walk Primary School Newsletter Exciting news...our new website launch will be Monday 8th September. Log on to to find out more information about your child’s School. Friday 5th September 2014 Issue 1 A note from the Head Teacher A Atr Attendance Dear parents and carers, What a great start to the new academic year. There is a calm and purposeful atmosphere around the school and children have returned full of energy and they all look fabulous in their new uniform. The children were really pleased to find that the outside toilets had been refurbished over the summer holidays. Their only request was a mirror! It has been lovely to have so many Reception and Year 1 parents accompanying their children into school at 8.45am. The pride that comes from sending your child off to school for the their first day is demonstrated by the many photographs that parents took of their children in their new class. What a special occasion! The children have been coming into school this week to a ‘soft start’. The teachers meet the children in class at 8.45am and there are different activities for the children to get on with. The staff on duty respectfully ask that you don’t go up to the 1st and 2nd floor with your children. If you do need to see the class teacher then please make an appointment to see them via the school office or speak to them at the end of the day. Just a reminder that the school day ends for all pupils at 3.30pm. Please let the school office know if your child is to go home with someone else otherwise the class teacher will not let them go. Children who are left in school after 3.40pm will be escorted to the Leadership office to wait. The Leadership office is now located on the ground floor just off of the downstairs hall. We would like to invite you to meet the new leadership team at 3.45pm on Monday 8 th in the lower hall. Refreshments will be provided so please come along and meet the team. Finally, if you would like to pay your child’s dinner money in advance you are now able to do this online. Please see Mrs Webb in the school office for more information. Have a fantastic weekend. Miss Jo Walkden Head Teacher attending school every day = 100% attendance attending 4 ½ days a week = 90% attendance attending 4 days a week = 80% attendance or more than half a term missed per year equating to 2 full years missed over the course of their school career. The facts... At Park Walk Primary School we work very hard to help your child/ren learn and achieve well. To do this, we need you to help us in many ways. The most important way to help and support your child is to ensure that he or she attends school and is punctual. There are many reasons for this: being punctual is a skill that your child will need for life it shows a respect for others and shows that school is important good attendance means that your child will be able to get the most out of school and make the most of the opportunities offered to them it will ensure that there are no gaps in their learning. This will mean that the important foundations for future learning will be strong. Children who have good attendance generally achieve better than those who do not. They are able to make and sustain strong relationships and have a better understanding that school is important. I hope that you will support us in trying to further improve our attendance in the immediate future. Although we do understand that from time to time children become ill we would also like to bring this attendance figure to your attention so that we can both monitor the situation. attending 3 ½ days each week = 70% attendance or more than a quarter of the school year missed if your child is 5 minutes late every day they will miss three days of learning each year Please support the School and make sure that your child is in school on time at 9am or earlier for ‘soft start’ at 8.45am.