Headteacher's News

All the most recent news from Edith

Thursday 29th February 2024

Dear parents and carers of Stepney Park Primary School.

Ramadan

We know that our Muslim families will be preparing for the month of Ramadan, which will start around Mar 11th. 

We wish to support our older pupils who are planning to fast during this time, and we have taken advice from various community partners so that we can provide appropriate health and wellbeing support and guidance for our pupils.  As you may know, most schools of Shari’ah (Islamic law, based on the Qur’an and the practice of the Prophet) state that fasting during Ramadan is only obligatory from the start of puberty. Therefore, we are happy to support our Muslim pupils in Years 5 and 6 should they decide to fast. We understand that Muslim children will wish to emulate their elders from an early age, and that some younger Muslim children will often fast for one, two or more days. However, due to health and safety reasons we are asking parents with younger pupils to not allow them to fast on school days as it is not obligatory and potentially not safe.

We also understand that a competitive spirit may develop between children in that they will compare the number of days on which they have fasted. Please talk to your child about the need to be sensitive about discussing this in school, so that no child feels any undue pressure if they or their families do not yet feel ready.

If your child is in Year 5 or 6 and has reached puberty and if you and your child feel that it is appropriate for them to fast on school days during Ramadan please write to or email us before the start of Ramadan, as we need to be aware of which children may be fasting. Children in Yr 5 and 6 who fast will be monitored during their time at school and parents will be called if their child shows signs of being unwell due to fasting. If parents/carers cannot be contacted, we will sensitively support your child to break their fast. Please get in touch if you have any questions or concerns.

Parent Teacher meetings- rescheduled 

Following feedback, we have decided to postpone the Parent/Teacher meetings which were originally scheduled to take place from 1 pm on Mar 14th. We understand that it could have been very difficult to achieve high parental attendance at the parent teacher meetings on this day, as it will be Ramadan and therefore many families will be preparing to break their fast in the time leading up to 6pm, when fasting will end for that day.

This could ultimately lead to many meetings needing to be rearranged. We have therefore decided that the Parent/ Teacher meetings will be on Thursday April 18th instead. School will close at 1 pm that day, and meetings will start at 1.30pm  and finish at around 6.45pm. 

Mid year reports will still be sent home on March 11th, and the booking system for meeting times will open on that day too. 

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this change of date may cause. 

World Book Day - Mar 7th 

We are looking forward to World Book Day, as we just LOVE books in our school! We have the following exciting events planned for this day:

• A whole school ‘Book Recommendations’ assembly 

• A competition in the Reading Room at lunchtime

• Time with our ‘Super Squads’ when we will be  reading and sharing our favourite picture books

• All children ( and staff!) are invited to wear clothes that day which reflect a favourite book character.

Did I already mention how much we love books in our school? So much so in fact,  that one girl in Year 4 did not take sweets to share with her class when it was her birthday, but instead decided to donate two of her  favourite books (‘The Last Bear’ and ‘The Lost Whale’, both by Hannah Gold)  to her class, so that everyone could enjoy them. What an amazing and wonderful idea! 

Parents’ Questionnaire 

Please remember to return your parents’ questionnaire, for a chance to win a £100 voucher. We would love to hear your feedback by March 15th.

Great Uniform Give Away

We will have a ‘great uniform give away’ event in the south playground after school on Thursday March 7th. All uniform items have been freshly washed, sorted by size, folded and placed in plastic bags, and can be taken away for free.

Theatre visit

Sadly our bid for theatre tickets was not successful. Many parents had expressed their interest, so when and opportunity comes up in the future, we will definitely try again.

Thank you for reading this newsletter and have a nice weekend.

Kind regards.

Edith Philipsen

Headteacher- Stepney Park Primary School