Latest News | Regents Park Community Primary School

Parents' Evenings - Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th November 2021

Wed 20 Oct 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers,

I'm pleased to let you know that we will be organising Parents' Evenings after half term. These will be the first face-to-face Parents' Evenings we have organised in school since before the start of the Coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

We are organising two after-school Parents' Evenings, one on Tuesday 9th November and the other on Wednesday 10th November. Both Parents' Evenings will begin at 3.15pm and finish at 5.45pm.

Parents will be asked to use an online booking system to book a 10 minute slot 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 to 10 minutes to meet the next parent.

Coronavirus guidelines for Parents' Evenings:

With Coronavirus rates rising again, we would ask all parents to follow the following guidelines:

It's useful for children and parents to attend but please try to keep to a mimumum the number of other family members attending
Parents should arrive at school no earlier than 10 minutes before their first appointment
Entrance to the school site will be via Arthur Street or Dixon Road and entrance to the building will be via the outside door to the main hall under the canopy
Adults will sign in and be encouraged to wear a face covering when moving around school
Teachers will make sure that there is a reasonable social distance between themselves and parents in the classroom. Windows and doors will be open to ensure there is adequate ventilation
Please try to follow good practice for limiting potential spread of Coronavirus, e.g. maintain social distance at all times, use handgel, wear face coverings to protect others when moving around school
Please do not attend if you feel unwell or if another member of your family is unwell - we can rearrange your appointment with the class teacher for another time

Booking appointments with your child's class teacher:

We are going to use an online system through the school website for booking appointments with class teachers
In order to book an appointment we will send an email to the email address of the parent who is listed as the First Contact on our school information system
The email will have a link to click on and you will then be able to choose which day and at which time you would like to book the appointment - please make a note of the date and time that you choose
You will receive an email for each of your children so you will need to open each one and book for each child
We would advise that you allow 10 minutes between the end of one meeting and the start of the next, e.g. if you book an appointment to start at 3.15pm which ends at 3.25pm, you should book the next appointment for 3.35pm to give you time to get to the next classroom
If you don't receive an email, this is because either we don't have an email address for you or the email you have given us is wrong. If you don't receive an email by Monday 1st November, then please contact the office with your updated email address and a link to book your appointment will be sent out to you
If you don't have an email address at all and don't wish to use one, then you can contact the office and they can assign you a date and time for your appointment

We're looking forward to welcoming all parents into school on either the 9th or 10th November. 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

Dangerous traffic outside school - Near miss on Tuesday 19th October 2021

Wed 20 Oct 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers,

I'm sure many of you are aware of the car accident that happened outside school at the top of Dixon Road on Tuesday 19th October after school at 3.10pm. The car was attempting to turn around at the top of the road outside the school gates when it mounted the pavement, drove at speed into a garden and collided with the front wall of two of the houses. Had children or parents been crossing or walking on the pavement they would have been seriously injured if not killed. Thankfully, nobody in the houses was injured (although there has been damage to their properties) and the driver only sustained minor injuries.

Although the driver of the car was not a parent from our school, I think this incident highlights the dangers of cars outside school before and at the end of the school day.

I have sent messages to all parents before where I have raised my concerns about cars that drive up to the school gates on Camelot Way, Dixon Road and Arthur Street. The problem is that all three roads are dead ends so any cars that travel down them to the school gates have to turn round and it's then when I think children are most at risk.

I have had parents say to me "I'm a very good driver and I think I know how to turn around without running children over" - my reply is that you may be a good driver but children are not always good pedestrians and are liable to do unpredictable things like walk into driver's blindspots behind cars that are reversing. Presumably the driver of the car yesterday would have said they are a good driver but it didn't stop an accident happening which could have killed a child or a parent.

The best way of keeping all the children safe when they are coming into or leaving school is to keep cars as far away from the 3 main entrances into school as possible, either by:

Leaving your car at home completely and walking to school
Parking on a street away from school and walking the last 3-5 minutes to the entrance

Often parents tell me that they can't leave the car at home or park away from school as they have to drop children off at different schools or they have to rush to work. I then watch them sitting in traffic as cars get stuck trying to drive up or down Camelot Way or Dixon Road and I think that if they'd parked and walked they would have been on their way quicker.

As many of you know, I spend a lot of time reminding parents not to park on zigzag lines, double-park, mount pavements, drive at speed and turn around outside the school gates. I know that most parents know that I only do this in order to keep their children safe and appreciate this. However, some parents continue to have to be reminded and a very small minority have been argumentative even to the point where I have been verbally abused and threatened.

I think the incident on Tuesday after school should be a reminder of why it is important to take the issue of dangerous traffic outside school seriously. This time no one was injured, next time we may not be so lucky.

I am in contact with Birmingham City Council and with Small Heath Police and I am working towards making Camelot Way and Dixon Road car free between 8.30am and 9.10am and between 2.30pm and 3.15pm.

In the meantime, please do everything you can to keep your cars away from the school entrances on Camelot Way, Dixon Road and Arthur Street - park 3-5 minutes away and walk with your child.

If you do have to drive your car to school then please remember to:

Drive slowly
Wait for children to cross
Do not turn around outside the school gates
Do not park or stop on zigzag lines
Do not double park or mount pavements

Thank you

Reminder - school CLOSED Weds 20th October 2021 for Staff Training

Fri 15 Oct 2021

Parents/ Carers - Please remember that school is CLOSED for staff training next Wednesday 20th October 2021. We are OPEN as normal on Thursday 21st & Friday 22nd October.

The following week we are CLOSED for half term (25th-29th Oct).

Thank you

KS1 Reading Practice Books

Fri 01 Oct 2021 Miss N Khan

Dear Parents,

Your child will be bringing their Reading Practice book home every Wednesday, which is a decodable book that supports the acquisition of early reading. This week your child is bringing home their book on Friday. Your child will have read this book at school and will need to practise reading it again to build their fluency. Please do take time out to listen to your child read.

Please ensure you fill in your child’s green Reading Record to show they have read the book at home. Class teachers regularly check this to see who has been reading at home.

The reading practice book will need to be sent back to school each Monday. Any book which is lost or damaged will incur a charge as we will have to replace it. Therefore, it is important that books are looked after.

In addition to this book, your child will bring a book from the school library to share with you.

Thank you for your support.

School closed for Staff Training on Wednesday 20th October 2021

Thu 30 Sep 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers,

Please note that school will be closed for all children on Wednesday 20th October. This is one of our five annual staff training days.

School will be open on Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd October as normal.

The following week (Monday 25th October to Friday 29th October) school will be closed for the half term holiday. School will then reopen after the holiday on Monday November 1st.

Thank you

Updated information for parents on PE kit uniform from Monday 27th September

Fri 24 Sep 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers,

Thank you to all the parents who responded to the survey on children either changing for PE in school or coming to school in PE kit.

I have to say, we didn’t have a huge response (only 86 parents out of 326 families across school, i.e. 26% of the families). It’s possible to suggest that for the other 74% of families this wasn’t a particularly significant issue.

That being said, the majority of the parents that did respond said they would prefer that their children come into school on PE days already in their PE kit rather than change in school.

Response	Number of responses
I would prefer my child to bring their PE kit to school and get changed for PE	8
I would prefer my child to come to school already in their PE kit on PE days	69
I have no preference either way	9

Having also spoken to staff, their view is that less time will be wasted if children come to school on PE days already in their PE kit as this means more time teaching PE lessons.

As a result, we have made the decision that from next week (starting Monday 27^th September 2021), we will expect children to come to school already in their PE kit ready for their PE lessons. We will review the impact of this decision on school uniform, so please make sure the children wear the correct uniform on PE days and non-PE days.

Children will wear PE kit to school on the following days:

DAY	YEAR GROUPS
Monday	Year 3
Tuesday	Year 5 and Year 6
Wednesday	Reception and Year 4
Thursday	Year 1 and Year 2

Wearing correct uniform on PE days and non-PE days is important – it helps to give our children a shared identity, makes them feel they belong to our school community and prepares them to be ready for learning.

We expect children to wear correct full school uniform on every day except PE days when we expect them to wear correct PE kit uniform.

Please use the following checklist to make sure your child wears the correct uniform on each day:

Normal school uniform

PE Kit Uniform

Bottle green jumper/ sweatshirt/ cardigan WITH a school badge
White shirt or polo shirt
Grey or black trousers, skirts or pinafore dress
Green gingham summer dress
Plain bottle green/ grey/ black headscarf
Grey/ black socks, tights or leggings worn under skirt or pinafore dress
Black school shoes (NOT trainers and NO shoes with heels or open toe sandals)
NO jewellery (plain ear studs if absolutely necessary)

Bottle green jumper/ sweatshirt/ cardigan WITH a school badge (Please do not send children in other tracksuit tops or sweatshirts)
White T shirt or polo shirt (preferably not the shirt they wear normally for school
Black or grey PE Shorts
Black tracksuit trousers/ jogging bottoms
White sports socks
Plain black trainers for PE outdoors
Black plimsolls for PE indoors
Old trainers/ shoes/ wellies for use outdoors in the Forest School
NO jewellery (ear studs must be removed by the child for PE)

Please make sure that all your child’s clothes have their name and class written inside them.

Please note the following additional information:

ALL children are expected to have a school jumper/ sweatshirt/ cardigan WITH a school badge sewn onto it
As parents know, we sell school sweatshirts and cardigans with the school badge already sewn on. These are sold through the school office at cost price only and can be ordered using the sQuid app online
Some parents have started buying jumpers, cardigans and sweatshirts from elsewhere and this is acceptable as long as the jumpers match the school colours AND parents buy a school badge and sew it on (school badges are also available to buy from the school office using the sQuid app online)
Children will not be able to wear sports sweatshirts/ hoodies/ tracksuit tops on PE days. They should wear their school jumper or sweatshirt which they can then take off whilst doing the PE lesson
All other uniform should be plain (no logos or branding) and match the school colours – bottle green/ white/ grey/ black
On non-PE days, children should wear plain black shoes, NOT trainers
On PE days, children can wear plain black trainers to school which they can wear through the day and also when doing PE outdoors
On PE days, children may be working in the hall and outdoors in the Forest School. As such, children will also need black plimsolls for indoor PE (otherwise they will have to do these lessons in bare feet) AND an old pair of trainers/ shoes/ wellies that they can wear during their Forest School session and they don’t mind getting muddy. These plimsolls and old trainers/ shoes/ wellies can be left in a bag and kept in school, hung on the child’s peg
Children may only wear PE kit on PE days. If they are taking part in sports activities after school on other days they must bring their kit with them and change into it
Children changing for sports activities will change and be supervised appropriately for their age, e.g. Y5 and Y6 boys and girls will change separately for clubs and activities and be supervised by either male or female staff
Children in Year 3 will continue to be expected to come to school on swimming days in their school uniform. As they do already, children will change separately at the swimming baths with boys supervised by male staff and girls by female staff.
Swimming is part of the PE curriculum and all areas of PE are NOT optional.

Changes to Nursery classes from Monday 27th September 2021

Wed 22 Sep 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers,

I am writing to let you know that from next Monday 27^th September, we will have to make some changes to the organisation of our Nursery classes.

We currently have very low numbers of children in both the morning session (NAM) and the afternoon session (NPM). We have 16 children in NAM and 13 in NPM which are both very small groups, however, sometimes, with absences, the numbers are a lot less. As a result, unfortunately we have had to make the decision to amalgamate the two groups together into one group.

From Monday 27^th September, children from NPM will be offered a place in the morning and join NAM instead. This will mean we will have one group of 29 children to start with.

With only having one Nursery class in the mornings, we will also make some changes to the timings so that the start is similar to the rest of school. The Nursery will open at 8.40am as does the rest of school and children will be able to come in between 8.40am and 8.55am for start of the day activities.

By 8.55am, all children should have arrived and all parents should have left the Nursery so that the Nursery teachers can begin their Nursery lessons at 9.00am.

The morning session will now end at 12.00pm so parents should begin arriving ready to collect children promptly by 11.55am. This means that children will get a full 3-hour Nursery session everyday.

I understand that rearranging the Nursery sessions like this may cause some inconvenience for some parents and I apologise for that. However, I do feel this will be the best way to manage the sessions for the children and give them a full Nursery experience.

As always, please feel free to speak to a member of staff or ring the office to arrange an appointment to speak to me if you have any concerns.

Mr Beale

Survey of parents views - Changing for PE in school or wearing PE kit to school on PE days

Thu 16 Sep 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers,

As you know, this term COVID restrictions have been lifted and we have returned to most of the routines and procedures that were in place before the first lockdown in March 2020.

One of these routines has been to return to asking children to bring their PE kit into school and change in class for PE. This has been the procedure at Regents Park and at most primary schools for many years. Children from Nursery to Year 4 have changed together in their own class supervised appropriately by their class teacher or by the teacher who is leading their PE lesson. Children in Year 5 and Year 6 have been organised within the year group into boys and girls groups and changed separately, again supervised appropriately by class teachers or teachers leading PE lessons; this has been because some children in these year groups are beginning to go through puberty and we have been sensitive to how they feel as they become more body conscious.

One of the reasons that children have been asked to change into PE kit at school for PE has been for reasons of hygiene, i.e. the children learn that when they exercise, they sweat and it is not healthy to wear sweaty clothes or PE kit all day. Children can develop fungal and bacterial infections wearing sweaty clothes; there can also be problems with body odour, especially for older children, and staying in sweaty clothes can cause chills and make children susceptible to cold and body aches.

It has also been the case that changing for PE in school allows younger children to develop their independence from parents and learn how to dress themselves, e.g. putting jumpers on, buttoning up shirts, putting shoes on and tying up laces, etc.

When children began to return to school after the lockdown in June 2020, we followed advice from the local authority on how to miminise the risk of transmitting the COVID-19 virus between home and school. To help with this, children were discouraged from bringing bags, lunchboxes, books and PE bags to and from home. A decision was made that at Regents Park, as well as at other schools, whilst COVID restrictions were in place, we would allow children to come into school on PE days in their PE kits and this is what children did throughout the 2020-21 school year.

Whilst we had some concerns about children’s hygiene, there were some benefits, the most important of which was the increased time available for teaching PE. Children can be quite slow at getting changed for PE at the start and end of lessons; being already changed for PE meant there was more time available for children to be learning in their PE lesson. It also meant that there was less opportunity for some children to misbehave when changing.

Whilst these are positive benefits of coming into school already dressed for PE, there were some drawbacks. During the last year we have seen a slow and steady drop off in standards of children wearing school uniform. As the year went on, some children began coming to school in tracksuits, t-shirts, leggings and trainers every day. Even on PE days, some children weren’t wearing our PE kit uniform. The lines between what is correct school uniform and what is correct PE kit uniform were being blurred.

Another issue was that if a PE lesson needed to be postponed at the last minute, it made it difficult to move PE to another day if children didn’t have their PE kit in school, e.g. if PE is postponed outside because of bad weather.

With COVID restrictions lifted, we weighed up the pros and cons of asking children to either continue wearing PE kit on PE days or return to what was in place before March 2020 with children coming into school with their PE bag and getting changed in class. We decided that due to the concerns about children’s hygiene and also due to the impact that children coming in to school in PE kit was having on the standards of school uniform, we would return to asking children to bring PE kit in and change for PE in school.

Last week I spoke to a parent who explained to me that she feels uncomfortable about her child changing for PE with other children and being supervised by teachers whilst doing so. She asked why it was not possible that children continue to come to school in PE kit on PE days as they did last year. I explained the reasons including hygiene and the impact on school uniform and why we had gone back to what we had always done before. However, the parent’s view was that children changing together at any age and being supervised by a teacher in school was a safeguarding concern.

I am aware that this is a view that the parent has shared at the school gate with other parents and I have to make it clear that I completely disagree that there is any safeguarding concern regarding children changing together in school and being supervised by teachers. As you know, we take our safeguarding duty in school extremely seriously and are committed to ensuring all of our children are safe and protected from harm of any kind. All of our staff and any adults that work in school are carefully vetted and we continue to ensure that no one is ever put in a vulnerable position in terms of safeguarding. At our last inspection, Ofsted were very complimentary about the safeguarding procedures we have in place and the checks we undertake to keep all our children safe.

In terms of children changing for PE in school, these arrangements have been in place during the whole of the 7 years that I have been at Regents Park. There has never previously been an issue brought to my attention by parents about these arrangements or a safeguarding concern raised around children changing together or staff supervising them whilst changing. These arrangements were in place when Ofsted carried out their last inspection and inspectors would have observed these procedures in place.

That being said, I have had time to consider the parent’s view, as well as take advice from the local authority, speak to other Head teachers in the local area and across Birmingham and speak to staff within school. I think it may be possible to go back to what we did last year and allow children to come to school in PE kit but I would like to get the views of ALL parents on this issue before making a decision so I will be sending out a link to a short survey which I would ask you to complete so you can give me your opinion.

The question I’m asking you is whether, as a parent, you would prefer your child to change into PE kit on PE days in school or come to school already in PE kit on PE days.

To summarise the arguments for changing into PE kit in school or wearing PE kit to school on PE days, see below:

Bringing and changing into PE kit in school

Wearing PE kit to school on PE days

More hygienic – children don’t have to spend all day in sweaty PE clothes
Helps younger children to be more independent and learn how to dress/ undress themselves, do buttons up, tie laces, etc
Clear expectations about school uniform – children look smarter coming into school in uniform and when not doing PE
If there is bad weather or a last-minute timetable change, teachers can be flexible about when PE takes place during the week

Removes time taken up changing in school and means more teaching time for PE
Less opportunity for misbehaviour when changing
Supports children who may feel anxious changing in front of others
Supports parents who may have concerns about children changing in front of others.

Should we decide to allow children to wear PE kit to school on PE days, please note the following:

There will be clear expectations about what children are expected to wear on PE days and on non-PE days and all children will be expected to wear correct school uniform and PE kit uniform
Children in Year 3 (or in any other year group) who go swimming will have to change together (although in separate male/ female changing areas) and be appropriately supervised by school staff
Children taking part in clubs and sports teams may have to change together after school – some children take part in lots of after-school activities but it will not be possible to wear sports kit to school every day, only on PE days
We will review any change to our routines and procedures and may alter them again with notice to parents.

Thank you for your continued support - Please take the time to complete the short survey by clicking the following link: https://bit.ly/3ChtgZB

Plans for restarting Breakfast Club from 13th September

Fri 03 Sep 2021 Mr Beale

Plans for restarting Breakfast Club from 13th September

Due to COVID restrictions, unfortunately we had to suspend our Breakfast Club provision. However, from Monday 13^th September, we are hoping to start this back up again. We have had some time to review how Breakfast Club was organised previously and have decided to make some changes in order to make sure it can take place in a way which is more manageable, supports those pupils who need wraparound provision and those that are Pupil Premium eligible and ensures the safety and wellbeing of all those children attending.

Breakfast Club will be available for children in Reception to Year 6
There will now be a cap put on the number of places available for Breakfast Club. The cap will be for 60 places and these will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. We will keep a waiting list if there are more than 60 children wanting places.
There will be a fee of £1 per day introduced for children who attend Breakfast Club to contribute to the cost of staffing and the cost of providing breakfast.
There will be no charge for those children who are eligible for Free School Meals – this will be subsidised from Pupil Premium funding.
Parents who wish to send their children to Breakfast Club will need to sign an agreement and will be asked to pay for each half term in advance, e.g. a 6 week half term will be £30 paid on sQuid
We will keep a register of children that attend. If children do not attend regularly, their place may be allocated to a child on the waiting list instead.
Parents that no longer wish their child to attend Breakfast Club will be refunded the remaining balance for the half term and their place offered to a child on the waiting list.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to give refunds for children who are absent or only wish to use the Breakfast Club on certain days of the week.
Breakfast Club will begin at 8.00am.
Children should be dropped off by parents at the Dixon Road entrance where they will be met by a member of staff.
Please note that the Dixon Road gate will be locked at 8.15am and no children will be allowed to enter after this time until the gates reopen at 8.40am.
Parents must make sure that children have arrived on time and that they have been met at the gate – please do not leave children outside the locked gates.

If you wish to reserve a place at Breakfast Club for your child, please contact the school office from Monday 6^th September (preferably by phone or email) to put your child’s name down on the list. We will confirm places to start on Monday 13^th September by Friday 10^th September.

Information about swimming for Y3, Y4 and Y5 parents

Fri 03 Sep 2021 Mr Beale

Swimming in Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5 this half term

Yet again this summer we have read stories of young children and even adults getting into difficulties in the sea, lakes, rivers and canals around the UK. Many of these stories have ended in tragedy with the loss of life.

It is vital then that all our children are given the opportunity to develop their confidence in water and to learn some of the basics of swimming at a young age.

This is why we encourage all children in Year 3 to learn to swim and why we take them every week to Sparkhill Baths for lessons with qualified instructors. We will be beginning weekly swimming lessons for all our Year 3 children again this term from the week beginning 13^th September – please make sure they come to school with their swimming kit and a towel on their allocated day.

We are aware that, because of COVID, children who are now in Years 4 and 5 have missed out on their swimming teaching when they were in Year 3. As such, we have organised some intensive daily swimming sessions for each of these year groups over a two-week period to help them catch up starting with Year 4 from next Monday 6^th September.

We have had a training swimming pool delivered to school which you will see in the playground next week (please see pictures below). The pool is heated and covered under a marquee and will be on-site for 4 weeks. Trained instructors will be working with small groups of 10-12 children in 30 minute sessions. The children in Year 4 and Year 5 will have one of these sessions every day for two weeks (10 sessions in total). We have organised separate areas for boys and girls to change in school and, as children will need their swimming kits and towels every day, areas to hang and dry their kit.

All children in Year 4 will have swimming every day for two weeks starting from next Monday 6^th September.

All children in Year 5 will have swimming every day for two weeks starting from Monday 20^th September.

Please support your child’s learning and promote their water safety by ensuring that they have a swimming kit in school every day.