Welcome back to school after what I hope was a relaxing three week break. We  are now at the end of the first week back at school which has given the children a chance to start the new clubs, reacquaint themselves with friends and get set for the year ahead.  As with all new terms here at Krishna Avanti Primary School, there are new opportunities and always tweaks to try to improve in some way – we very much want to make Krishna Avanti Primary School the best school that it can possibly be for your children. We have worked to improve lunchtimes, started a Breakfast Club and restarted the Library Club. We are talking about and and working on ways to ensure learning is continually improving and all whilst managing the challenges of a pandemic. 

Thank you for your continued support with this.

Building Relationships, Improving Behaviour and Creating Stronger Communities

I do not know if you, as a parent, have taken up the idea of getting Mark’s book and reading it. If you have, you may make the links in a similar way that I do to Krishna Avanti Primary School. We are here to help your child be the best version of themselves. We are also here to develop ourselves so we too, are the best version of ourselves.

“All parties, including parents and students, need to be engaged in making decision…”.

That phrase from the book is something I believe that we do very well here. Be it the discussions with children around school; the meetings with our elected Young Leaders; the informal communications at the gate, or the surveys and forms used to gather thoughts and ideas – we take all of those opportunities to listen, reflect and act. Sometimes there will be changes but sometimes just a better explanation.

I am looking forward to next week as we have Mark visiting the school for the day. We want as many staff as possible to connect with him throughout the day, discussing the ideas and helping us to really embed the positive culture that we have, really caring about the people around us. I write ‘people’ because having reflected on what we do and how we are connected in various communities over the last year, it is not only the children that we are here for; it is colleagues and parents too.

Linked to all of this I have had several conversations with people in the last two weeks about schools, communities, people and conversations. These conversations have supported a belief that people and connections are very important and sadly by some, not valued. Thank you for your connections and working with us in positive and respectful ways. We care about you, your children and all life. Let’s keep connecting and making changes that make a positive difference, whilst respecting all that is different.

We currently have £223.35  owed for lunches, a drop from last term’s £324.04. Please ensure payments are made to avoid the need for children to be picked up for the duration of lunch next week.

Prior to Christmas, whilst in the sports hall at lunchtime, I felt it was not a wonderful environment to eat due to more ventilation than desired, even in these times of Covid. As such we worked on a plan to have all children dining in the worship hall. This does mean that we have slightly staggered lunches with two year groups going into lunch 15 minutes earlier than before, but those two year groups are back in class 15 minutes earlier – everybody has one hour for their lunch. This has resulted in all children being able to eat their lunch in the worship hall which is a better experience. As with anything that changes, there were some teething problems and in  the first few days this resulted in some children being rushed.

Thank you to those parents that alerted me in a positive and collaborative manner, that children were rushed. I have spoken to various staff concerned and reminded them that if children are late to be served then we accept they will be later getting into class – children can eat their lunch in a reasonable amount of time, neither being rushed nor taking too long. 

Again, thank you to those parents that are working with us positively. The experience has been much improved as the week has progressed.

Awards

Extra-Curricular Clubs

Whilst we return, there will always be some glitches with systems such as payment requests from Arbor as well as confirmations of those already paid. We are aware that many of you received confirmation of payments as well as requests for payments. I trust these glitches are now rectified.

The opportunities of new clubs inevitably leads to some being disappointed that there were not enough spaces for everybody who is interested. Whilst we are disappointed not every child can do every club they want to, it is heartwarming that there can be positive conversations where the demand is understood and appreciation of staff doing so much, voluntarily.

After a week of clubs, hopefully places are now known and the right children are going to the right places.

Coffee Mornings

It has been little while since we have had a Coffee Morning and the hope of restarting them in person can not go ahead with the current cases of Covid. I am keen for us to be able to connect and share how things are going and possible plans so we will continue on Zoom. I have added next Wednesday 19th January at 10:00 into the calendar for the next one – please join if you wish with any questions or queries you may have.

Going forward, I would like to add these 30 minute opportunities to connect each fortnight and would like to set a regular day and time that may suit you, via Zoom. Please click the link below to state the day and time that may best suit you. This form will close on Monday and the most popular day and time shared.

Covid

It is something that many of us have been aware of and continued to be cautious about, without stopping all we do. Please do continue to be as safe as possible. We have relaxed the one way system because we appreciate for some less agile people, it can be difficult; we will however reintroduce the measures if needed. This is a polite request for all that can, to continue to use the system as a one-way drop-off and pick-up. If there is nobody about, of course, use your intelligence and take the shorter route, but please make sensible choices.

We have had three staff members test positive in the last week, resulting in the need for staff to be flexible and cover. Pleasingly, the staff here are flexible and willing to change their plans to make things work. We also, as many of you will be aware, do not routinely use supply agencies for cover, so that your children get a consistent, positive approach. I hope that the required need to change has not been noticed adversely.

We have also had a number of children test positive across the school. This is something we very much expected to happen at some point and comparing numbers to other schools, I think we are doing quite well. Please do use the Lateral Flows Tests (LFT) where you are able to a couple of times a week, to help keep the spread down. This week in school we have had cases in the following classes.

Closely monitoring your child would be appreciated to limit the disruption to a minimum. LFTs no longer require a PCR to confirm them. If you have a positive LFT, let us know and we will share lessons and activities on Google Classroom and live, as much as possible.

Year 5 and Year 6 Residentials

Pre-Covid we took the Year 5 children to PGL from Monday to Friday. Residentials are a hugely beneficial experience and something that provides fond memories   for all. This year there will be both a Year 5 and Year 6 residential visit so that we can avoid Year 6 missing out on the experience. Over the weekend we aim to update the website for Year 5 and Year 6 to include the known information so far and dates for various meetings, payments and more.

We will be exploring opportunities for the children in Year 5 and Year 6 to raise money so that the cost of the visits can be reduced. These are also great learning opportunities where valuable enterprise activities can be developed.

It has been an especially busy start to the term with interviews taking place for admin staff, teaching assistants and teachers. Our interviews for the Administrator has been unsuccessful so we shall continue to advertise  until the right candidate is available. We have made two conditional offers for Teaching Assistants, but are still looking for more, so that adverts will continue. The teacher appointment is also promising, with an offer made. A conditional offer basically means that upon the necessary checks being made, the candidates will start. We hope that the turn-around is quick but it can sometimes take a few weeks. We will keep you updated.

If you know of a suitable person for either of the two roles we are still looking to fill, please do let them know.

Thank you very much for your continued support. Have a super weekend and please be safe. 

Yours sincerely   

Mr Kite

Principal