Ingoldsby Update February 2024

Class Meetings

Class meetings will focus on supporting reading at home including what we expect pupils to practice, building routines to support reading for life and for pleasure, and how reading is taught in school and preparation for key tests including Year 6 SATs.

World Book Day- 7th March

Pupils can dress up as their favourite character.

Gift a book- wrap a book as a present and label with a recommend age so that all pupils go home with a new book recommended by another pupil.

Attendance

We will let you know if your child's attendance drops below 93%. We have a duty to send regular letters for all pupils with attendance below 90% and to apply for fines for unauthorised absence.

Safeguarding Spotlight

Fortnite has a PEGI rating of 12. As with many games of this shooting type, many children younger than 12 are interested in and play Fortnite. It’s important that parents are aware of safety concerns that have been raised, and how to help their children play online games safely.

The aim of the game is to stay alive and eliminate other players. This has captivated large audiences who play as they battle to climb higher in the rankings. To sustain interest in the game, Fortnite periodically introduces changes to the map, fresh elements, and new seasons and chapters to the game, like the latest release of Season 8, Chapter 2, ‘Cubed’.

These updates are released regularly. Fortnite uses visually pleasing, cartoon-like graphics to generate engagement, especially among younger players. If you allow children in your care to play the game, it is important to be mindful of healthy screen time limits to ensure children don’t spend too much time playing.

With this in mind, make sure you can use Fortnite’s Parental Controls to:

• Filter inappropriate language
• Auto decline friend requests
• Disable voice and text chat
• Hide names from random players
• Generate weekly playtime reports

SEND Spotlight

REFERRAL FOR ORTHOPTIC VISUAL PROCESSING CLINIC

A child must initially be seen by an optician before a referral can be made. Minimum age for referral is 7 years. A number of pupils who we have given coloured overlays to may benefit from referral to the visual processing clinic. We can only do this if they have recently attended the optiticians.

CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR

If you've been struggling with behaviour at home, you are not alone. We are hearing more and more parents expressing worries about behaviours they are seeing in the home.

The way your child behaves is a communication about how they’re feeling.

When your child is acting out, it can be helpful to think about the image of an iceberg. We only see the top of an iceberg because most of it is underwater. Similarly, when your child is behaving in challenging ways, there will be feelings going on under the surface that you cannot see. Your child may not be aware of these feelings and may need your help to talk about them.

Underneath their behaviour, a child or young person may be feeling angry, tired, stressed, anxious, confused, hurt, jealous, bored or something else. Whatever's going on, try to remember that the behaviour you see on the surface is not the whole story.

Having some behaviour management strategies in mind can help you to feel more confident.

• It's important to set clear boundaries and stick to them as much as you can. You could do this by creating a family agreement together. This can cover things like screen-time, family meals and times for getting up and going to bed.
• Give a warning before giving the consequence. This allows your child an opportunity to change their behaviour. After the consequence has been given and your child has calmed down, chat together about what happened. Then ‘wipe the slate clean’ and find time for a positive interaction with them soon after.
• Notice and encourage them when they show the kinds of positive behaviour you have asked for. Be specific about why you are praising them. For example, you might say, ‘thank you for letting me know you were feeling angry without hitting your brother’. Or, ‘thank you for putting your phone away when I asked you to, now we can eat together’.

Depending on their age, some of these strategies might help your child to calm down:

• drawing or painting
• doing something active like running or their favourite sport
• listening to music
• having some time alone
• reading a book
• writing
• cooking or baking
• making something out of playdough or Lego
• The more we can express ourselves and feel understood, the less likely we are to act out. When you show interest in your child’s feelings, it helps them to understand their own emotions and find words to describe them. With a younger child, it can be helpful to wonder out loud about what’s going on. For example, you might say, ‘I wonder if you felt really disappointed when we could not go to the park this morning because you were looking forward to it’.
• Help them think about the signs that let them know they might be about to ‘blow their top’. These might be ‘seeing red’, their heart beating fast, feeling hot, clenching their fists, breathing heavily or feeling restless. They can use these signs to alert them to the fact that they need to choose a strategy that helps them, or ask you for help.
• It’s completely normal to feel frustrated, angry, overwhelmed or hurt when your child is behaving in challenging ways. But try not to react or argue back, as this will only escalate the situation.
• If you feel yourself running out of patience and it is safe to do so, it’s okay to walk away for a few minutes to calm down. This is actually a positive strategy your child can learn from you when they see you doing it. After a particular incident, make sure both of you have some space before you try to talk about what has happened.

Do get in touch with us if you are worried about your child's behaviours.

Dates for the diary

• 19th Feb- Back to school. Class meetings 3pm
• W/C 19th Feb- Launch of potato growing house competition
• 26th Feb- Y 1/2 Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue workshop
• 28th Feb Parents Evenings Years 1 - 6. Book through MCAS app
• 6th March Bomber Command Centre Trip Year 5 and 6
• 7th March- World Book Day, Rev. Anna visit
• 12th March- Winter Cup- Netball Team
• 15th March Y 3-5 Practice for Hansel and Gretel at Greenfield Academy
• 26th March- Y 3-5 Performance of Hansel at Corby Cube
• 28th March- Easter Egg Hunt PTFA, non-uniform day, Netball Sports Stars- Charles Read, end of term
• Easter School Dates for Y6 to be confirmed

Linda Sharpe- In Remembrance

Linda joined Ingoldsby Primary School in January 1998 as a lunchtime supervisor but had been an active volunteer prior to this, supporting Mrs Harman and the then headteacher, Mrs Balich. In 2002, Linda applied to become the school caretaker. In total, Linda gave 20 years' service to the school, finally retiring in May of 2018.

Linda was loved by staff and children. She was a cheerful, warm and friendly member of staff who made everyone feel welcome in a typical Lincolnshire way, calling us all ‘me duck’ or ‘ducky’.

Linda had time for everyone, nothing was too much trouble. Throughout the holidays, she would be letting us in and out of school. Coming up and down on her bike. She took the time to find out about our families and lives outside of work and always asked after them, showing a sincere interest in our children and social lives. She became more than a colleague but a friend.

Linda's early retirement left a hole in the school, and we missed seeing her every day, but many of us kept-in-touch and Linda's attention to detail in keeping abreast of our lives and the progress of the school did not end with her leaving in 2018.

By Mel Capes and all of us at Ingoldsby Academy