Welcome to QRA Weekly!
It was lovely to see everyone return from the half-term break this week, and I hope everyone had a great week off.
For my own part, I was able to spend a bit of time reflecting on the year so far and am delighted with what our team has achieved so far. The children are settled and are just so polite and friendly. Behaviours for learning have been very good, and I know they've enjoyed the little extras that make school fun and enjoyable. The book fair was a great success, and I'm happy that we've been able to offer opportunities such as the Badminton competition last week, the Show the Red Card to Racism event, and the lovely Foundation Stage Halloween party which was arranged by the brilliant staff in our EYFS. Not to mention a notable conversation with the Duke of Edinburgh himself during the Tommy Taylor Memorial Bridge opening! In addition to all of this, we've celebrated World Mental Health day and Kindness Week, which children were really invested in. One of my key objectives is to enhance the opportunities for Personal Development in school and little occasions such as this make a big difference, so please look out for more of these kinds of things. Our brilliant staff team have done a wonderful job arranging these events, so thank you again to them.
There has been a lot of change 'behind the scenes' at school this year; we have adopted a new Reading approach, a new Maths curriculum, and have implemented a teaching approach known as the Accelerated Learning Cycle across all lessons. This is a lot of things to adapt to, but I can't speak highly enough of our team. They have really bought in to our priorities and truly want the best for the children.
Of course, the journey continues, and Mrs Cuthbert and I attended a full-day Early Reading conference on Wednesday attended by a number of primary schools in the Barnsley and Wakefield areas. We came away full of enthusiasm and ideas. We'll keep you updated on reading initiatives and so on as the weeks roll by.
This half term is always a fun one! We will communicate shortly regarding our Parents Meetings. We are currently in the middle of an assessment period at school so that we can update you during those meetings on how the children are progressing.
Of course, Autumn 2 is all about Christmas! So it's sure to be a festive and busy time. Please keep an eye out for communications on X and on the newsletter.
Have a great weekend
Mr Smith
Thank you to everybody for adjusting to our new opening and finish times. This has been a success and I hope it's made the mornings a little quicker and easier for parents of children in multiple year groups!
Next week is Anti-Bullying Week.
The theme of this year's Anti-Bullying Week is 'Choose Respect'. This is something that we have already spoken about with the children this year. We have explained it to the children as 'showing care for other people and things', which of course comes through in our 'Be Kind' vision.
To mark the occasion, we are inviting all to wear odd socks on the 12th November!
On Monday, we will mark Armistice Day by showing our respects during the two-minute silence at 11:00.
There are still items available in the school office and all proceeds will, of course, go to the Poppy Appeal.
A reminder that one pair of stud earrings and a watch may be worn for school. No other jewellery, including smart watches or other piercings are permitted. All jewellery must be removed by the child when participating in physical education, so we encourage no jewellery at all on PE or swimming days. For safety reasons, when ear-studs are worn, they should be removed prior to PE lessons as these items can be hazardous. If a child does wear ear-studs, they must remove them independently, as staff cannot assist. Taping jewellery gives a false sense of security and does not effectively prevent injuries, so is not permitted.
If a pupil cannot remove their earrings (e.g., due to new piercings or an infection), and the risk of injury is higher due to the activities involved, they may be assigned alternative roles in the PE lesson to minimise risk. Please note that PE is a statutory subject, so pupils will not be excused from lessons.
We ask parents to support the school by following our guidance on jewellery and recommend that any ear-piercing is done at the start of the summer holidays to allow for healing time.
Queens Road Academy prohibits all jewellery, earrings, and ear-studs during physical activities to ensure safety for all and we advise that pupils should leave these items at home on PE days.
Our current school attendance rate sits at 94.4% for the year.
This week we achieved 95.5%
A big well done to Year 4 AGAIN - they achieved 97% attendance this week. A great effort!
Remember to please schedule non-urgent appointments outside school hours when possible.
If you're facing any challenges that are affecting your child's attendance, please don't hesitate to reach out. We're here to support you and can offer guidance or connect you with helpful resources.
Our remaining INSET days for this year will take place on:
22nd July
23rd July
Credits:
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