September Newsletter

Help us to help safeguard your child

As part of staff safeguarding training this September, we focused on the topic of Child Criminal Expoitation, as this a growing area of concern for children's safety and has been highlighted as such in the Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024 document, which is the key document we work with in schools to support our safeguarding duties.

Whilst doing the training, we realised the importance of sharing some of these messages with parents too, as this is something that parents need to know about and watch out for the signs of at home as much as we do in school. The point of this is not to scare you but to help you be aware of the risks children of today can face as they grow up and how we as the adults in their lives can help them with this. Our job as teachers and yours as parents is to support them in making the right choices, knowing what feels safe and who to talk to when they are worried.

This is particularly important when your child is online, whether that be playing games, watching videos, accessing social media or searching the web for example but can also happen on the way home from school, in the park or round the shops, as your child starts to become more independent throughout their time at Junior School.

Leicestershire Police have produced some excellent videos to help people recognise the risks and signs of Child Criminal Exploitation and understand the impact it can have on children. These videos should not be shared with your child and can be quite difficult viewing.

We are working with local agencies to see if we can organise a session in school for parents around this really important issue and will share any details with you as soon as we can. In the meantime, please remember that we are always here to help in any way we can. One of our Children and Families Team are usually available for a chat during the day - you can call them through the school office or email them at pastoral2421@welearn365.com.

Sport and healthy body and mind activities at AFJS

Sport and physical activity is an integral part of every school day here at AFJS! That is why HEALTHY BODY AND MIND is one of our school values. We provide as many different opportunities as possible for children to get active throughout the school day and it is our aim this year to try and get the School Games GOLD award. Here are a few of the HEALTHY BODY AND MIND opportunities that have been happening since we came back:

• This week, we have the Rugby Borough Council Play Rangers in school delivering different play sessions for the children to help them try out different things and stay active at lunch time. We are hoping this is something that we can extend into our full lunchtime provisions in the near future.
• Some of our year 6 pupils have undertaken their play leader training so that they can then set up activities for younger pupils to join in with at lunch time.
• Year 6 have taken part in the tag rugby event at St Andrews Rugby Club this week and represented our school brilliantly.
• Year 5 children have had the opportunity to take the Bikeability course this week, and some next week too, to help them stay safe while riding their bikes.
• Children in all year groups have been learning orienteering skills after we had our very own AFJS orienteering course installed over the summer.
• Year 3 have started their Forest School sessions on Friday afternoons and a new group of children have been doing Forest School club after school too.

Rugby Parkrun

Mrs Jones, one of our TAs has done some volunteering for the Rugby Parkrun recently and she was thrilled to spot some of our Farmers and their families there. However, she thought that there are a lot of other AFJS children and maybe their families too that would love to join in this wonderful local event, so she asked me to pop it in the newsletter for you all.

It takes place every Saturday morning at 9am at Whinfield Recreation Ground, Clifton Road. If you decide to go along, we would love to see your photos. We have added this information to our Facebook page too, so perhaps you could comment with a photo of your child or even whole family taking part! :)

Diary Dates

UPCOMING EVENTS - more information will be shared closer to the time but keep these dates in your diary

• Wb 23rd September - Year 6 at Condover
• Monday 30th September - 3:45pm - PTA AGM
• Monday 7th October - Year 3 visit from Vets4Pets veterinary nurses
• Friday 11th October - Year 5 Loudmouth theatre sessions in school
• Monday 21st October - Dogs Trust assembly and workshops for y3 and 4
• Wb 21st October - Hunts book fair in school all week
• Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd October - parents evenings - appointments to be booked through the Arbor app
• Thursday 24th October - The Dog Mentor training day for Chase!
• Wb 28th October - HALF TERM
• Monday 4th November - AFJS Diwali celebration day for all pupils
• Thursday 14th November - Orienteering experience day for all pupils
• Wednesday 20th November - NHS team delivering nasal flu spray vaccinations in school
• Friday 22nd November - training day - SCHOOL CLOSED TO ALL PUPILS
• Wb 25th November - open afternoons (see further details below)
• Tuesday 26th November - AFJS online safety day
• Tuesday 10th December - Year 6 magistrates workshops
• Wednesday 11th December - year 3/4 Christmas Play performances (2pm and 6pm)
• Friday 13th December - PTA Christmas Fair after school
• Wednesday 18th December - AFJS Christmas jumper and lunch day
• Wednesday 18th December - year 5/6 Christmas Carol evening (6pm)
• Thursday 19th December - all pupils to visit Macready theatre - A Festive Twist on the 3 Little Pigs
• Friday 20th December - break up for Christmas
• Monday 6th January - training day - SCHOOL CLOSED TO ALL PUPILS
• Tuesday 7th January - all pupils back to school

Term dates for this academic year

Class assembly dates

All class assemblies start at 9:05am this term - just come to the hall door and we will let you in as soon as we are ready. All welcome!

• Tuesday 1st Oct - Mr Wolsey's class
• Tuesday 8th Oct - Mr Corbett/Mrs Watson-Tate's class
• Tuesday 15th Oct - Mrs Bostock's class
• Tuesday 22nd Oct - Miss Neel's class
• Tuesday 5th Nov - Mrs Berry/Mrs Solomon's class
• Tuesday 12th Nov - Mrs Hartwell's class
• Tuesday 19th Nov - Mr Evans' class
• Tuesday 3rd Dec - Mrs Beech's class

Open afternoons

Our open afternoons are a great opportunity for parents to come in and complete some activities with their children linked to their learning this term. You can also have a look through all of their books and chat to year group staff. If you would like to come along, they start at 2pm and you can come straight to the hall doors to sign in. We look forward to having many of you join us.

Our Children and Families Team

For those of you that are new to AFJS, you may not have heard about our fabulous Children and Families Team yet! They all work together but take different roles to be able to support the children and families of AFJS, which is why we put together this little introduction for you:

If you ever just need a chat and a cuppa about something that is worrying you or want to find out if there is something particular that we can support you or your child with pastorally, Mrs Smythe or Miss Ingle are usually available during the day. They can speak to you over the phone or you can come in to meet with them, whatever you prefer - although they do make a great cuppa and sometimes even have biscuits if you come in! :)

You can contact them by calling the school office and asking to speak to someone in the Children and Families Team or you can email them on pastoral2421@welearn365.com. If they are not available straight away, they will always get back to you as soon as they can.

Miss Ingle has been working hard with the Warwickshire Family and Relationship Support team to put together a package of courses for parents and the wider family network, held here at school. We hope that in a familiar surrounding and with Miss Ingle around to help you feel welcome, you will feel able to join these sessions to get support and advice from the experts on these different areas that can be tricky to navigate as a parent, but also to support other parents in our Farmers Family and come together as a community around our children.

You can book onto these workshops for free through the Eventbrite page and I have added the link to the button below for direct access. You will also see many other sessions taking place around the local area that you could book onto if these AFJS-specific dates are not suitable.

For more information on any of the workshops or programs on offer please email: ehparenttrainers@warwickshire.gov.uk

Here are some details of other services and sessions available locally for families...

Messages from the office

Thank you so much for bearing with us while we navigate our way through all the new features on Arbor and navigate new ways of doing things. It is often not until we have sent something or set something as active that we can really be sure we have done it right, so we have appreciated you getting in touch and working with us when things have not quite gone as planned. Ultimately, this will result in a much more effective way of working for everyone but we just need to get through these early stages first.

There are new after school clubs now available on Arbor for you to book your child onto - please make sure that if you book a place, your child turns up to the club. If they no longer want a place you have booked for them, please cancel it on the Arbor app so that the space can be offered out to another child on the waiting list.

Parents evening appointments are also now booking up nicely so the system is working. Hooray! :) Don't forget to log on to Arbor to book your appointment if you haven't already.

We know that most of you are now signed up and logged in, but have you enabled your push notifications for the app? This is the most important thing we need you to do, to ensure that you get a notification whenever you have a new in-app message from us and do not miss any urgent messages. If you aren't receiving push notifications, or they vanish quickly, please click the button below to access the guidance on how to sort this out.

Please note that all updates now need to be done on Arbor. For example, if you want to alter the permissions you have given for photos, if you want to add new people that are able to collect your child or if you have new contact details to update us with.

The following payments are due and should be on Arbor for you to pay now:

• Current Y5 Gullivers trip balance
• Current Y5 deposit for Y6 Condover trip
• Kidzone bills for October
• Cookery club fee

Messages from the PTFA

Although Christmas seems so far away, the children have already been busy designing their Christmas cards for parents/carers to buy to send out this Christmas. They always look so beautiful when they have been professionally printed and are a treasured keepsake for many family members. In addition, they also help us raise money for the school. This year, the company are processing orders directly on our behalf but for us to be able to pass your child's name and design on to them, we need you to give your consent for this on the Arbor app so please make sure you find this option (see below) and give your consent.

If you shop at Asda, please make sure you sign up to their 'Cashpot for Schools' initiative - they will donate much needed funds to us every time you shop with them. Literally money for nothing! :)

We are holding the PTFA Annual General Meeting in school on Monday 30th September 2024 at 3:45pm. Everyone is welcome to attend. Children accompanying parents welcome too - we will have some activities to occupy them.

Here are details of some local activities we have had shared with us recently that may be of interest to you.

Please remember that we cannot vouch for any of these providers, we are just sharing information that might be of use or interest to our families that has been sent to us.

Is there a passionate photographer in your family or a budding young photographer in the making? Why not have a go at entering the RUGBY CALENDAR PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION?! There are so many beautiful places to explore near our school, searching for the perfect photo spot could be a great excuse to get out walking this weekend. If you would like to find out more or enter a photo into the competition, click the button below to go to the website.