Welcome to North Curry C of E Primary School Parents’ Meeting September 2013

Agenda School Priorities SAT Results Monitoring Curriculum developments Wrap around care After school clubs Important changes to attendance regulations Meeting your child’s teacher

Our School Improvement Plan Priorities Develop the quality of teaching so that it is judged to be consistently good and outstanding Ensure good progress is made in all core subjects so that the majority of pupils are making good progress Continue to develop a whole school creative curriculum Develop the use of the whole school site both indoor and outdoor to support learning Develop the role of the Governing Body in driving for improvement Continue to work collaboratively with local schools to develop teaching and learning creating opportunities for training that have a positive impact on pupil progress

How do we compare? Figures taken from KS2 SAT results July 2013 National %s Maths L4+ 80% Maths L5 34% English L4+ 80% English L5 32% North Curry %s Maths L4+ 100% Maths L5 68% Maths L6 5% Writing L4+ 100% Writing L5 58% Writing L6 5% Reading L4+ 100% Reading L5 84% SPAG L4+ 100% SPAG L5 100% SPAG L6 11%

Type of monitoring Pupil/Stakeholder Discussions Tea and Chat 6 Tea and Chat 5/4 Tea and Chat 4/3 Parent Evenings Tea and Chat 2 Tea and Chat 1 Tea and Chat F Pupil Progress Meetings All staff in PPA Time All Staff Tuesday 10th Informal Drop InsAll Classes All Classes All Classes Formal Lesson Observations All staff Learning Walks All Staff focus – Learning Environm ents Peer Observations Numeracy Strategies Numeracy Strategies Moderation of assessments All staff Work/Planning Scrutiny SLT Monday Action Plan Monitoring Committee APMC Thursday Governors FGB North Curry C of E Primary School Monitoring Calendar Autumn Term 2013

Developing our curriculum The whole school will be working from the theme, “Investigators” this term. Each year group have discussed this with their teacher and have decided which areas their work will cover. Shark, Octopus and Dolphin are going to investigate what life was like during world war two Starfish, Seahorse and Minnow are going to be carrying out archaeological digs, investigating fossils and dinosaurs!

Wrap Around Care Daily 8.00am to 8.45am 3.15pm to 5.30pm

After School Clubs Details to follow next week. All clubs will start week beginning 23rd September. Look out for …..Tennis, Football, Tag Rugby, IT and much more.

Important Changes in Attendance Regulations From 1st September 2013, any holidays taken during term time will NOT be authorised by the school. This is because the Government has recently changed the law with regard to granting term time leave of absence, replacing the 2006 regulation that allowed schools to grant up to 10 days leave of absence at their discretion. This means that from September 2013, schools may NOT grant ANY leave of absence during term time unless there are EXCEPTIONAL circumstances. Exceptional Circumstances does NOT include  Cheap holiday cost  Getting personal paperwork, visa’s updated (this should be planned into holiday periods)  Visiting relatives (this should be planned into holiday periods) Exceptional Circumstances MAY include Emergency service / forces personnel with proof of enforced holiday period Holiday industry employees with proof of this being the ONLY time period allowed by employer One transcontinental leave request per Key Stage for a very significant extended family event, including seeing and elderly/ seriously ill relative Regular time off for illness will be challenged, requiring not only medical evidence but also medical guidance on how schools can best support and ‘manage’ those children in school. Saying a child is “unwell” will no longer be enough, parents will need to be specific. Any time away from school can have a significant impact on educational attainment, success in later life and longer term health and well-being. In law, parents and carers are committing an offence if they fail to ensure the regular and punctual attendance of their child at school. Therefore, any unauthorised absence in term time can result in the issuing of a Fixed Term Penalty Notice by the Early Intervention Team. Parents will have 21 days to pay this £60 fine, after which it goes up to £120. Failure to pay a Fixed Term Penalty Notice within 28 days may result in a criminal conviction and a fine in the Magistrate’s Court of up to £1000.

A fixed Penalty Notice might also be issued if a child’s attendance falls below 90% and no satisfactory reason or explanation is given. Where an absence is considered to be completely unavoidable, a term time leave request form is available from the office which must be completed and returned to Mrs Loader as far in advance as possible. Somerset County Council will be supporting all schools in ensuring the law is upheld. If you have any concerns about the contents of this reply, please contact the school’s Education Attendance Officer at SCC County Hall, Taunton, Somerset. TA1 4DY

Meeting your child’s teacher Weekly timetable Overview of themes being taught Homework