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Regents Park Community Primary School
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Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
Dear Parents/ Carers,
It is likely that members of the NEU teachers' union will take further strike action as expected this week on Thursday 27th April and next week on Tuesday 2nd May. Unfortunately, this means there will be further disruption on these days when school will be partially CLOSED.
On both days, school will be OPEN for all Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes as well as all classes in Year 6.
On both days, school will be CLOSED for children in Nursery, Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5.
Please note that school is CLOSED for all children next week on Monday 1st May due to the May Bank Holiday.
Children in classes that are closed who are eligible for Free School Meals will be sent home with packed lunches on Wednesday 26th to cover Thursday 27th April. On Friday 28th April, these children will take home food to cover their Free School Meals on Tuesday 2nd May; this will consist of a portion of cheese, beans and a jacket potato to be cooked at home, as well as fruitloaf (food should be stored in a fridge until Tuesday).
Links to websites and suggestions and ideas for learning activities that children in Nursery, Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5 can complete at home will be shared on the Year Group pages on the school website.
I apologise for the disruption caused by the partial closure of school this week and next week. School will be OPEN as normal on Friday 28th April for ALL children and then again from Wednesday 3rd May.
Thank you for your understanding,
Mr Beale
Dear Parents/ Carers,
On behalf of everyone at Regents Park Community Primary School, I’d like to wish all of our children, parents and families a very happy Eid this weekend – Eid Mubarak to you all.
I know that Eid is a very special celebration for many of our children, families and staff. As I write this, we are still not exactly sure which day Eid will fall on for our families and staff and this makes it difficult to plan school attendance on Friday.
If Eid is tomorrow on Friday 21st April, we will not expect children (or staff) who are celebrating to attend school. Children who are celebrating Eid on Friday will be given an authorised absence. All other children who are not celebrating Eid will be expected to be in school.
If Eid doesn’t fall on Friday 21st April, we will expect all children to be in school as normal. Parents shouldn’t take children out of school to buy Eid clothes or presents or to prepare for the celebrations on Saturday. These absences will be unauthorised.
If Eid takes place on Saturday 22nd April, we will expect all children to be back in school as normal on Monday 24th April at 8.40am.
In order to celebrate Eid in school, we will allow all children to come to school wearing their Eid clothes or in non-uniform on Monday 24th April and to bring a small quantity of party food to share in the afternoon when classes will organise Eid celebrations in class. We would ask that party food is packaged (e.g. crisps, cakes, biscuits, etc – all nut-free please) rather than cooked at home so that staff can check on potential allergies for other children in the class. Also we would like to ask parents and children to make a £1 non-uniform donation to the children’s school fund- this can be sent in as cash or donated on sQuid. School fund helps to cover the cost of special events in school so that we can provide drinks and sandwiches for the party.
Also please be aware, that school may be partially closed due to NEU strike action coming up on Thursday 27th April and Tuesday 2nd May. I will confirm which classes will be affected next week when I have more information.
We hope that all our children, families and staff that are celebrating Eid have a wonderful weekend!
Mr Beale
Dear Parents/ Carers,
This week sees the start of the holy month of Ramadan, a time in the Islamic year which we know is important to many of our families. We appreciate the observance of fasting for many during the month of Ramadan and recognise that some of our older children may wish to fast whilst at school. However, it is important that parents understand the school’s responsibilities to those children who may wish to consider fasting during this time.
The school is happy to provide support for Year 5/6 pupils who wish to fast but needs to make clear its responsibilities, together with those of the parents/carers. Primary age children become very tired when they do not have regular meals and are sometimes unable to safely perform the activities expected of them during the course of a school day.
As such, we want to explain the procedures that will be followed to ensure the well-being of your child or children:
I hope that the above is clear, but please do not hesitate to contact a member of the school leadership or the school office if you have any questions.
Thank you
We have worked hard in recent years to reduce the number of cars and traffic around our school. The car-free afternoons on Dixon Road and Camelot Way we have organsied have been particularly successful and it has been good to see many parents park away from school and for families to be less reliant on using cars to travel to school.
I have to say, however, that more recently we have begun to see an increase again in cars and traffic, with cars parked on zigzag lines, pavements or double-parked causing a hazard to children and parents walking to school.
We would like to encourage more parents to leave their cars at home or at least park away from school and walk the last 5-10 minutes to the gates. This encourages children to be healthier, makes it safer around school and reduces the effects of air pollution.
As such, from next week we will be taking part again in the Big Walk & Wheel. We'd like to encourage children to either walk, cycle or scoot to school between Monday 20th March and Friday 31st March. Trips that children make on foot or by bike or scooter will be counted and we will be finding out which class has made the most - the class with the most trips will win The Golden Pedal.
When children arrive at school, they will be given a ticket by a member of staff at the gate to show they have either walked, cycled or scooted to school. Children who come by car and then park and walk/ scoot/ cycle must have travelled at least 5 minutes by foot/ bike/ scooter, i.e. they must not have parked on Arthur Street/ Camelot Way/ Dixon Road.
Bikes and scooters can be left in the scooter/ bike stands by the Nursery, in the playground or outside the school office.
The Big Walk & Wheel is a national competition being run by Sustrans to encourage children to use alternative, healthier methods of transport to get to school. The total number of trips will be recorded nationally and the school may win local and national prizes.
We hope everyone will try and take part every day; if not, even one or two non-car days will help per week. Please support your children, keep everyone safe, help encourage children to be healthy and leave your cars at home if possible.
Thank you.
Dear Parents/ Carers,
It is likely that members of the NEU teachers' union will take strike action as expected this week on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March. Unfortunately, this means there will be further disruption on these days when school will be partially CLOSED.
School will be OPEN for all Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes as well as 3SA in KS2.
School will be CLOSED for children in all other KS2 classes. Children in these classes who are eligible for Free School Meals will be sent home with packed lunches on Tuesday to cover Wednesday and Thursday - it's important that these are immediately stored in a fridge on Tuesday afternoon.
Links to websites and suggestions and ideas for learning activities that children can complete at home will be shared on the Year Group pages on the school website.
Again, I apologise for the disruption caused by the partial closure of school this week. School will be OPEN as normal on Friday 17th March for ALL children.
Thank you for your understanding,
Mr Beale
Dear Parents/ Carers,
Earlier today, a message was sent out to parents to let them know that, although it has been tradition previously, we wouldn't be asking children to come to school this Thursday 2nd March on World Book Day dressed up in costume. The reason for this is because of the concern we have that for many parents buying fancy dress costumes is extremely difficult at a time when the Cost of Living crisis is impacting on them. I appreciate however that this message was sent out late.
Having sent the mesage out, we have had contact from parents who were disappointed and have already prepared costumes for their child over the holiday.
As a compromise then, I am going to suggest that on Thursday we will have a Non-Uniform Day for World Book Day. Children will have the option, either to come dressed as their favourite book or story character or to come in non-uniform on that day. However, if your child is dressing up, please do not feel that you need to go out and buy a costume.
Many thanks,
Mr Beale
Dear Parents/ Carers
I wrote to you before the holiday to let you know about the potential NEU Strike Action taking place tomorrow on Wednesday 1st March and about possible disruption.
I can confirm that there will again be a partial closure of some KS2 classes in school tomorrow.
School will be OPEN for all Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes as well as 3SA and 6M in KS2.
School will be CLOSED for children in all other classes. Children in these classes who are eligible for Free School Meals will be sent home with a packed lunch today as before.
Again, I apologise for the disruption caused. Please be aware that more strike action is planned for Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March when there may again be a partial closure of school.
Thank you for your understanding,
Mr Beale
Dear Parents/ Carers
As you know, we finish today for half term holiday. School will be closed next week and will reopen for ALL children on Monday 27th February at 8.40am. We hope you all have an enjoyable week's holiday.
ADVANCE NOTICE - Potential NEU Strike Action - Wednesday 1st March
The next day for potential strike action is Wednesday 1st March and it is likely that this will mean a partial closure of school again. It is likely that classes in EYFS and KS1 will be OPEN as they were last time; however, some classes in KS2 will be affected and be CLOSED.
To help you plan alternative arrangements on Wednesday 1st March, it is likely school will only be OPEN on this date for the following:
I will confirm this at the start of the week that we come back to school after the half term holiday.
It is also important for parents to be aware that the NEU are planning two further days of strike action on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March which may mean a partial closure of school on these days also.
Staff Training Day - Wednesday 8th March - School CLOSED to pupils
It is important to remind parents that school will also be CLOSED on Wednesday 8th March for staff training. This is the 3rd of the 5 days that schools are permitted to take each academic year for staff training. It is unfortunate that this training day now falls between two potential strike days and I apologise for the disruption caused.
The remaining two staff training days will be on the last two days of the Summer term (Mon 24th and Tues 25th July) meaning that school will close for children on Friday 21st July.
Turkey & Syria Earthquake Appeal - Thank you for your donations
Thank you to everyone who made a donation for the Turkey & Syria Earthquake appeals during our recent parents evenings. In total we raised a wonderful £840 which has been donated to Islamic Relief so they can make a difference in supporting all those affected by the devastating impact of the earthquake.
We hope you all have a wonderful half-term holiday,
Mr Beale
Dear Parents/ Carers,
The Staff Training day originally organised for Wednesday 15th February has had to be rearranged and will now take place on Wednesday 8th March instead. This is because the organisation providing the training were unable to do the 15th February and so we have had to change the day to the 8th March instead.
I apologise profusely if you have already made arrangements for Wednesday 15th February. We will be open as normal on Wednesday 15th February and will be CLOSED to all pupils on Wednesday 8th March instead.
Schools are entitled to arrange 5 staff training days per academic year. We had two days at the start of term in September. The 8th March will be our 3rd training day. The final two training days will be on Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th July with children finsihing the summer term on Friday 21st July.
Thank you for your understanding.
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