Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to school for the academic year of 2024-25. I hope that everyone has had a good summer with some time to recharge and enjoy with families and friends.
It has been wonderful to have the school family back together and to welcome the Reception Children as well as some new children in other year groups too. We can see that our new starters are beginning to feel part of Havannah First School and are making lots of new friends.
This is the first newsletter of the year and as such is packed full with information and reminders. Apologies that it reads as a list of 'dos and don'ts' but we have tried to answer some of our most frequently asked questions as a helpful reminder or as useful information for the new members of the school family. Please take time to read it and make sure that you are up to date. There is a dates list attached to your email and it will grow as the term goes on and we add new events.
As always, we are available to talk to you and answer any questions you have. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you need to.
Best wishes
Helen McKenna, Headteacher
Settling In
We have had a fantastic week at School. The children have settled in very quickly and have got straight back into learning as well as enjoying playing with old and new friends. Everyone has made a great transition into the new classes and we can't believe how grown up everyone looks. This is going to be an amazing year with so much learning and fun. Well done, everyone!
In Achievers' Assembly today, we celebrated our great start as well as our sporting champions who have got into the Spirit of the Games and tried something new or have shown our Havannah sporting values this week in school.
Curriculum Information and Supporting Learning at Home
Teachers will continue to use half termly newsletters to share information regarding the curriculum and routines for each class. There is also a bank of information on our website about each curriculum subject which you might find useful.
Parents and carers often ask us how they can give children support with learning at home. We always reply that the best thing you can do is talk and read. By this, we mean read to your children, read with them, encourage them to read, listen to them read and let them read whatever they want to read, as well as the books from school. All reading is good reading! It’s great to help with homework tasks too and to try and encourage children to talk about their learning. We also encourage lots of screen/device-free time for talking and listening at home. This accelerates language development which in turn accelerates progress in reading, writing and right across the curriculum.
Y1-Y4 Class Teachers will give you information at coffee mornings (see dates list) about homework and supporting learning at home. Reception Parents and Carers are invited to a meeting at 5pm on Tuesday 24th September in the school hall, where you can learn about the Early Years Curriculum and how you can help your children to settle into a good routine and achieve well.
Dogs on Site
There is a policy on our school website about dogs on site. We allow dogs in the car park area only and they must be tied to the fence or left with a responsible adult when you pass through the secure line of the school (through the gates near the hall which are unlocked at pick up and drop off). You are responsible for your own dog and must be confident that he or she will not be aggressive or distressed. Dogs can only be tied to the fence on the left, beyond the furthest crossing, adjacent to the water tank/bin area. If you are unsure, ask one of us. Dogs should not be tied to the fence in areas where children are walking past. If you bring your dog onto site, you remain responsible for its actions at all times.
If dogs are coming onto site inside the secure line or into the building (eg. Maggie the school dog, star of the week, visitors and assistance dogs) they need to be risk assessed individually prior to their visit. Maggie will be starting her visits again next week and I am sure everyone will be delighted to see her as usual!
Photographs and Performances
For many years, we have allowed parents and carers to take pictures and make recordings during our performances and class assemblies. We know that these give you precious memories to treasure. We always remind audiences that these pictures and recordings must stay on the devices or be saved safely at home and must never be shared on social media or sent via email or any other method to any other people, including wider family members. We would like to continue doing this as much as possible. If, for safeguarding reasons, you cannot allow this to happen, then please let us know in advance so that we can ask visitors to refrain from taking pictures or making recordings before the event.
Absence from School
Children should only be absent from school when they are unwell or need to attend medical appointments. If possible, we ask you to try and book appointments outside of school hours but we know that this is not always possible. If your child is unwell, you need to let school know before 8.55am on the first day of the absence. If the absence is going to continue, please contact us again on the second day to update us. You can report an absence on the ParentMail app, leave a message on the answerphone or you can speak to a member of staff in the office.
If you need to keep your child off school for any other reason, please ask for a form from the office. Holidays cannot be authorised and the new DfE guidance means that we will be issuing fixed penalties when children have 10 unauthorised sessions (5 days) in a 10 week period. There is more detail on Newcastle City Council Website and I will share our policy with you all once it has been ratified by the Governing Body.
Punctuality
Children should be in school before 8.55am each day because learning begins immediately and some of the most important learning takes place first thing. When children are late, they miss out on learning and their late arrival disrupts lessons for other children and staff. If you arrive to school late (after 8.55am), please come to the main office where we can sign in your child and record the reason for their late arrival. Thank you.
Lunches
All children in Reception and Key Stage 1 are entitled to a free school meal and almost everyone takes up this offer. In KS2, some children purchase a meal, some are entitled to a free school meal and some bring a packed lunch.
In all Key Stages, it is not possible for us to provide school meals without sufficient notice and it is not possible to pick and choose certain days of the week to have a school meal or a packed lunch. Options need to be for the whole week and we need one week’s notice to provide school meals.
The menu is online and teachers talk to the children about their options in class so that they know what to ask for in the hall. Occasionally, to reduce waste, meet dietary needs and make the service efficient, all options might not be available to all children. We try to provide as much choice as we can, within our limits, and we try to alternate the order of classes coming to the servery so that the same class is not always last.
If your child is bringing a packed lunch, please see our packed lunch policy and ideas on the website. Children bringing packed lunches also need to bring a drink (in addition to their water bottles).
School meals are priced at £2.20 per day, £11.00 per week. In order to help with administration and school costs we ask that you pay the correct amount each week. ParentMail charge school if we have to process a refund to you.
Grapes in Lunches and Fruit Snacks
All grapes sent into school should be cut in half ‘longways’ (see picture) so that they do not represent a choking hazard. Young children don’t chew as well as adults and they have much smaller airways which can be easily blocked by whole grapes.
Children in KS1 and R are given a piece of fruit in school each day. Children in KS2 are welcome to bring a playtime snack but it must be a piece of fruit or vegetable. We don't allow processed and packaged snacks other than in exceptional circumstances.
Nuts
We are a nut free school! Please do not send any whole nuts or foods containing nuts into school. Cereal bars and chocolate spreads sometimes contain nuts and these are often forgotten about – please check. We have several children with severe nut allergies. Thank you.
Water
We ask all children to bring a water bottle every day. Water bottles should be named so that they don’t get lost and should be taken home and washed each night so that they are clean and hygienic. We only allow children to have juice if they need it for specific reasons and these have been discussed in advance with class teachers.
Uniform
The most important thing about school uniform is that it is labelled! Every year we dispose of huge amounts of uniform, coats, hats, shoes, gloves etc which have been lost and which are not labelled. Please ensure that you have at least initialled labels in all clothes with a marker pen – expensive iron-on or sewn-in labels are great but a marker pen will do the same job!
We do have lots of spares left over from the uniform exchange in July. We will be having another exchange soon, but in the meantime, Let us know if we can help you with any items.
There is a list of uniform items on the school website.
Travelling to School and Parking
We encourage everyone to travel sustainably if at all possible. This makes the area around school cleaner, safer and more pleasant for everyone. However, we understand that this is not always possible. If you are travelling by car, please consider using the free Park and Ride facility which is a 5 minute walk away from school. We are informed that there will soon be a path directly from the facility to school which will make its use easier. Parking on site is limited. If you do need to come onto site, please park safely in the marked bays only. Please do not allow your engine to idle when parked on or near the site.
When you arrive on site, please take extra care to supervise your children in and around the car park. Please also make sure that you follow the paths and avoid the planted areas as these are still becoming established and they make our site attractive and interesting. The planted areas in the courtyard are not play areas for children and they should not be walking, running or playing in these areas. Thank you.
Information and Contact Details
It is absolutely essential that all of the information we have about children is accurate and up to date. Please ensure that you inform us of any changes to medical information, addresses and contact numbers. We’d also appreciate it if you could keep us up to date with any changes to family circumstances or other changes at home as this helps us to support children in school.
Birthdays
Children can wear non-uniform on the school day closest to their birthday. As we have lots of children with allergies and dietary requirements, we kindly ask that you do not bring or send sweets/cakes/chocolate into school.
Coats
Children need a coat in school every day, even if there is no rain in the forecast. We take the children outside for learning and play in almost all weathers and we have a limited stock of spare coats.
Behaviour Policy
We expect children and adults to treat others with respect and to adhere to our golden rules as well as following our No Outsiders ethos. We are very proud of the positive relationships in school. You can read our Behaviour and Relationships Policy on the school website.
Safeguarding in School
We place Safeguarding at the front of all of our work as a school. If you have any concerns about the well being and safety of any children, please let us know. You can do this via the school office or you can talk to one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads.
Our designated SG Lead is Helen McKenna and the Designated Deputy Leads are Gary Burnett and Sue Ward. Contact details and all safeguarding information are in the safeguarding policy.
The safeguarding policy for 2023 is on the website. The policy with the updates for 2024 will be there in the next few weeks, as soon as the Governors have ratified it.
Toys in School
Children shouldn’t bring toys to school. This is because they often get broken or lost, we have nowhere to store them and they often distract children form learning. Sometimes staff might ask children to bring in interesting objects and things linked to learning, but otherwise, toys are not allowed in school.
If you have been advised to provide your child with fidget ‘toys’, please talk to staff in school so that we can make arrangements to store and use these safely.
First Aid and Head Bump Texts
Children do sometimes fall, trip or collide with each other in school, particularly at playtime. Trained first aid staff will treat any minor injuries in school and if we think that the injury is serious, we will treat it and contact you immediately. If children experience a minor head bump, we send you a standard text. This is because head injuries and symptoms can develop later and we want you to be aware that they have had a head bump at school. Do not panic if you receive one of these texts – if it is at all serious or concerning, we will ring you rather than text you.
Medication in School
We can give children prescription medication in school if it is prescribed for four or more doses a day or if it needs to be given a specific time which is within the school day. We can also hold prescribed medication in school for allergies and chronic conditions. All medication requires paperwork and needs to handed to a member of staff. Contact us if you have any questions and we can advise you in more detail. Thank you.
A Gallery for the First Week Back at School!
Thank you to everyone for helping us to make the very best start to the year. I hope that you all have a lovely weekend, let's hope the sunshine lasts!