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Headteacher's News 11.03.21

All the most recent news from Edith

Friday 11th March 2022

Dear parents and carers of Stepney Park Primary School.

I hope you are all well and are enjoying what looks to be the beginnings of Spring! I hope you will enjoy reading this newsletter, as well as today’s class newsletter.

Book Fair

We are looking forward to our first Stepney Park Primary School Book Fair, which will start around Mar 24th. As we are such a large school, we are in the process of planning the best and safest way to enable all families to buy a book with the £1 World Book Day vouchers that all children have received. All classes will be given a slot to visit the book fair in advance, so this should make the process of selection and deciding on books a bit easier. However, we anticipate that there may be times when families will have to wait for their turn. The book fair will be held over several days, so parents may decide to visit it on one of the later days if it is too busy initially. There should be plenty of books for everyone, so there is no hurry.

Birthday treats

We know that some children like to give their classmates a birthday treat when it is their birthday. We want to be able to facilitate this in a safe way, as we are concerned about the safety of children who have certain food allergies. We are also concerned about peer pressure, and have recently noticed that some children are beginning to bring in ever larger treats, such as large birthday cakes, which we are sadly having to turn down. There is no pressure or obligation to take part in this, however if you and your child would like to celebrate a birthday at school, here is a reminder of our ‘birthday treat’ rules :

  • Please only bring in small treats which could be held in one hand. For example  a  chocolate, a sweet or a piece of fruit. 

  • We cannot store treats in a fridge, cut them up or serve anything which needs cutlery, so please bear this in mind.

  • Please avoid sending treats that contain nuts. 

  • Treats will be given out by the children at the end of day, so parents who pick up the children can take responsibility for food allergies and supervise their children whilst eating the treats.

  • There should be enough treats for all children in the class.

  • The treats should only be given only to the child’s own class

Breakfast Club

Parents may already know that we have a free breakfast club, which runs from 8:00am until 8:50am every day. Children will be provided with breakfast food, including cereals, fruit and bagels.  They will do a range of activities inside and sports with coaches outside. Children from parents who work or study and those from vulnerable families will be given priority, we have around 50 places available in total.

Parents need to book a place in advance, so we can ensure that we have enough staff on duty.  In order to access the breakfast club, children need to be in school before 8.15 am. 

Please note that we are unable to accept children before 8.00 am.

Double Parking 

I have been made aware by parents and neighbours that double parking is still an issue in Smithy Street.  Some parents double park their car and by doing so block someone else from leaving (whether this is a neighbour or another parent). This has caused conflict between members of our community, sometimes even in front of children….

I would like to remind parents that double parking is illegal and dangerous, and would urge parents who have no other option than to drive to park in designated parking spaces only.

Medical Conditions

Further to my last letter dated 25.02.2022, here is a full overview of children’s and parents’ responsibilities with regards to medication in school:

Parents and carers are responsible for:  

  • Ensuring they disclose any allergies when completing the school admissions form, and keeping the school updated if anything changes 

  • Ensuring that Asthma. Eczema and Allergy care plans are  completed by the GP and given back to school  

  • Completing a parental consent form to administer medicine or treatment before bringing medication into school

  • Providing the school with the medication their child requires and keeping the medication up to date

  • Participating in the development, implementation and regular reviews of their child’s school Individual Health Care Plan. (IHCP) 

Children are responsible for (where appropriate):  

  • Telling us how their medical condition affects them.  

  • Contributing to, and complying with, their IHCP.    

  • Remembering  to wear an allergy lanyard at the start of each lunchtime, if applicable  

  • Being aware of their allergies and being proactive in recognising food they may not eat  

  • Taking their own medication, under supervision from a school adult, who will record this in a medical log at school

Of course our staff will support and remind children and help them become more independent over time.

Ramadan

We know that our Muslim families will be preparing for the month of Ramadan, which will start around Apr 1st. Please refer to my letter dated 25.02.22 for more information around fasting in Year 5 and 6. 

Website updates:

https://www.stepneypark.towerhamlets.sch.uk/ 

I will share a little segment of our updated and lovely website in this part of my letter each time. This week's focus is Personal Development - Physical Health

In PSHE lessons and through assemblies, special days and discussion times, we teach children about a wide range of things they can do to stay healthy. For example, we teach them about the importance of daily exercise, personal hygiene, good nutrition, allergies, the importance of good sleep, dental health, harmful substances, the dangers of sun exposure, and road safety. We also teach children about basic first aid, fire safety and about the ways a virus can spread and how vaccinations can stop people becoming ill.

Our children have access to fruit at break times, and they are served free healthy meals at lunchtimes. We insist that packed lunches, where they are needed, are nutritious and healthy. 

All of our children take part in twice weekly PE lessons, one of which may be a swimming lesson for children in Year 4 and 5. At least once a week, children's PE lessons are taught by specialist sports coaches. In addition, sports coaches provide opportunities for sport and physical activity to children who attend our free breakfast club and a number of our after school clubs are also focussed on sports. We have also sought to ensure that break times and lunchtimes provide further opportunities for physical activity. We have a coach who works over lunch to structure children's sporting activities and we have an outdoor gym, two sports cages and three large fixed climbing frames.Special events also raise the profile of sports and physical activity at Stepney Park. These include sporting competitions, both inside and outside of school, and annual sports days.

 

Thank you for reading this newsletter.

Kind regards,
 

Edith Philipsen

Headteacher- Stepney Park Primary School