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Regents Park Community Primary School
Believe in Yourself - Anything is Possible!
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
Dear Parents/ Carers,
You may be aware from coverage in the media that the NEU teaching union have declared strike action, which will take place on Wednesday 1st February, Wednesday 1st March, Wednesday 15th March and Thursday 16th March 2023. The strike is happening because of a national dispute between the unions and the government over teachers’ pay and school funding and not because of any issues at our school.
I’m getting in touch to give you as much notice as possible about our arrangements for a partial closure of school on Wednesday 1st February 2023 when a significant number of teaching staff across school will not be available due to strike action.
Because of the number of staff expected to be unavailable on this day, we will only be able to make provision in school for EYFS and KS1 classes as well as 3SA and 6M.
The following classes will be CLOSED on Wednesday 1st February 2023 and we will aim to provide these children with some alternative learning that they can complete at home, either online or on paper:
3H
4C
4N
5H
5K
5W
6A
6G
Children in the classes that are closed who are entitled to Free School Meals will be provided with a packed lunch for Wednesday when they leave school on Tuesday – it is advised that sandwiches and yoghurt are kept in the fridge.
All children in EYFS, KS1, 3SA and 6M are expected to attend school on Wednesday 1st February even if siblings are not attending - any absences in these classes will be marked as unauthorised unless there is an appropriate reason for their absence.
Breakfast club will be open as usual on Wednesday at 8.00am for children in EYFS, KS1, 3SA and 6M who normally attend.
I’m sorry that some parents will have to make alternative arrangements for their children at short notice. I understand that this situation may be frustrating and ask that all members of our school community continue to treat each other with respect. Regents Park Community Primary School remains committed to providing a safe and secure environment for our pupils and delivering high-quality teaching.
We are working closely with our staff union representatives to keep up to date with the situation, and I will inform you as soon as possible if arrangements change further.
If you have any questions, please contact Mr Beale via the school office.
Yours sincerely,
Mr A Beale
Headteacher
Dear Parents/ Carers,
I'm pleased to let you know that we are organising Parents' Evenings to take place before February half term so parents can meet their child's class teacher and get an update on the progress that they are making this year.
We are organising two after-school Parents' Evenings, one on Tuesday 7th February and the other on Wednesday 8th February. Parents' Evenings on both afternoons will begin at 3.15pm with the last appointment being at 5.35pm (3H, 3SA and 4N will begin at 3.05pm).
As before, parents will be asked to use an online booking system to book a 10 minute appointment with their children's class teachers on one of the two Parents' Evenings.
We will have to be quite strict about the timings of the appointments so please don't be late and please don't be offended if the teacher has to end the appointment after 10 minutes to meet the next parent.
Guidelines for Parents' Evenings:
Booking appointments with your child's class teacher:
We're looking forward to welcoming all parents into school on either the 7th or 8th February. If anything changes, we will let you know so please look out for any messages we send via text.
We look forward to seeing you all,
Mr Beale
Dear Parents/ Carers,
I am writing to inform you that Regents Park Community Primary School is a ‘nut free’ school. In the interests of protecting pupils with nut allergies, we request that you do not send your children to school with any of the following:
The above list is not exhaustive. If you are sending your child to school with food such as a snack or a packed lunch, please check the ingredient lists carefully.
Both children and adults with severe nut allergies can suffer from life-threatening reactions if they eat, smell, or touch any foods containing nuts.
Today we have had a situation where a child with a nut allergy was seated near to a child with a packed lunch. The child's packed lunch contained a chocolate bar with peanuts in it. The child with the nut allergy didn't touch the bar but just being near to it was enough to trigger a mild allergic reaction.
We would be grateful for your cooperation in helping to keep all our pupils and staff safe and remember not to send children to school with food which contains nuts or nut products.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Mr A Beale
Dear Parents/ Carers,
I'd like to give you some advance notice that school will be CLOSED to all pupils for Staff Training on Wednesday 15th February 2023.
We will reopen on the following day (Thursday 16th February 2023) as normal at 8.40am. We will then close for half term holiday at 3.00pm on Friday 17th February 2023.
Thank you
Mr Beale
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Happy New Year to all our children and families!
Dear Parents/ Carers,
Happy New Year – we hope you have all had a wonderful holiday and a fantastic start to 2023! At the start of this new year, I thought I would send out some information to you all and some reminders for this term. To save paper, most of the updates about school are shared on our school website and links are sent out to parents via text message. Please make sure you keep us updated with your current mobile phone numbers and email addresses so that you don’t miss out on important information.
Start of the day – Before the holiday, I messaged all parents to let you know that the Start of the Day was being shortened to 10 minutes from the beginning of this term. The start of the school day continues to be 8.40am - this is when learning begins in school and when we expect ALL children to arrive at school. Previously, the school gates closed at 8.55am; however, from this week the gates will close at 8.50am after which children will be marked as late on the register. Please make sure your child is not late and that you aim to get your child into school by 8.40am every day.
Traffic & parking near school – We continue to politely remind parents not to create traffic problems on the roads near to school when dropping off and collecting children. However, we do continue to see parents parking/ stopping on zigzag lines, double parking or stopping in the middle of roads to drop off children. We also have to speak to parents about pulling up on to pavements and about turning vehicles around where children are crossing. At the beginning of this new year, I’d like to encourage parents not to drive up to the school gates but to park away from school and walk the last 5 minutes to school instead.
Attendance & trips abroad – Before the pandemic, we were very proud of how good our attendance was at Regents Park – in many years we were above the national average of 96.5%. However, since the pandemic, we have seen a significant drop off and our attendance has fallen alarmingly, particularly towards the end of last term. On the last day of term, the attendance was 69.3%! We know that there were a lot of illnesses going around which had an impact; however, what is also a concern is the number of children being taken on trips abroad during school term time. I have to remind all parents that we do not authorise trips abroad during term time. Each parent of a child who is absent due to unauthorised absence (such as trips abroad) will receive a fine from the Local Authority. In the last term, 39 penalty notices of £60 were issued to parents. Every school day is important for your child’s learning – please make sure they are in school on time every day.
School uniform – It is important that all children come to school every day in their school uniform. Wearing the uniform promotes pride, self-confidence and a sense of belonging within the community of Regents Park. It is also cheaper for families than buying designer clothes and shoes which parents can feel pressured into doing if there was no uniform. It is important that all children and parents know what the uniform is and make sure children are wearing it every day (other than on PE days).
Every child should have a bottle green jumper/ sweatshirt/ cardigan (preferably with a school logo on it)
All children should be wearing black shoes (not boots or trainers)
Children should be wearing white shirts or polo shirts
Trousers/ skirts should be black or grey
Socks/ stockings should be black, grey or white
Headscarves should be grey, black or bottle green
Children should not be wearing jewellery other than ear studs
PE kit – We are allowing children to come dressed for PE on PE days only. They shouldn’t wear the same clothes they wear for the rest of the week.
Children should wear a plain white t-shirt or polo shirt
A school jumper/ sweatshirt/ cardigan – no tracksuit tops or other hooded sweatshirts
Grey or black tracksuit bottoms or jogging bottoms
Grey, white or black socks
Black trainers
All children should have plain black plimsolls for indoor games
Children may be asked to do some indoor PE activities, such as gymnastics, in bare feet
For outdoor Forest School activities, particularly over the winter, children may need to bring old clothes and shoes to wear, as well as warm clothing
Reception places for September 2023 – The closing date for making applications for Reception places for September 2023 is on January 15th 2023. If you or someone you know is looking for a Reception place for this year, it is important to get your application in to Birmingham City Council as soon as possible. Apply after this date and you may miss out on your preferred choice. If you need any help please contact the school office and someone will speak to you or call you back. If you know of anyone else looking for a place, then please let us know.
Parents Evenings this term – We will be holding Parents Evenings again this term on Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th February from 3.15 – 5.45pm. It is a good opportunity for you to catch up on how your children are doing so we hope to see you all attend on one of those dates. We will send out email invites for parents to book appointments during the week beginning 23rd January 2023 – please contact the office to make sure we have an up to date email for your child as soon as possible.
Dates for your diaries/ calendars:
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Friday 13th January |
Class Assembly – 3SA Martin Luther King |
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Monday 16th January |
Year 1 Writing workshop in class |
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Friday 20th January |
Year 2 Writing workshop in class |
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Friday 27th January |
Class Assembly – 5H Chinese New Year |
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Tuesday 7th & Wednesday 8th February |
Parents Evenings 3.15pm - 5.45pm |
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Wednesday 8th February |
Safer Internet Day |
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Friday 10th February |
Class Assembly - 3H Safer Internet Day |
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Friday 17th February |
Break for half term at 3.00pm |
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Monday 27th February |
School reopens at 8.40am |
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Thursday 2nd March |
World Book Day |
Don’t forget to keep in touch with latest news and everything that is happening at Regents Park by visiting our school website (www.rgntpark.bham.sch.uk) and by visiting our Twitter page (@rgntparkschool).
Mr A Beale
Head Teacher