I hope the first week back has gone well and I am also hoping that we can start to get back to pre-covid ways of working, whilst keeping the good ideas we learnt over the past couple of years.

Despite the removal of all restrictions, we are under no illusion that covid is still about and some of us will experience the harsher symptoms – let us remember that and respect those around us that are more vulnerable than most; we can not see it and should not assume it is all back to normal for everybody. If you are a parent who, for whatever reason, worries about returning to a life similar to pre-covid, talk to us privately as we reintroduce various procedures and we will support you as much as we are able.

On that subject, it is our aim to start to allow parents to enter the courtyard again; to chat to staff members at the beginning of the day (where possible) and invite groups back in for various events that, looking back, will never have been experienced by our Foundation Two, Year 1 and possibly Year 2 families! From Monday 7th March we will be aiming to remove those barriers but will still be allowing children to enter the building from 07:40. Covid aside, entering in small numbers between 07:40 and 08:00 saves so much time and reduces the congestion in cloakroom areas, it would be disadvantageous to not continue with it. We will aim for various staff to be out to reconnect in person with parents, giving that opportunity for a quick catchup where needed. Please note however that is not a guarantee every day as things happen and we need to be flexible. Please remember that staff need to be in class before 08:00 to lead learning.

At the end of the school day we will seek to allow children to leave independently (usually Key Stage Two), as long as they are responsible enough. Staff will come out to check all have been collected, as current practice. Please do let your child know where you will collect them from. For Foundation Two and Key Stage One it is our expectation (unless agreed otherwise) that this will be in the courtyard. For Key Stage Two, children will be dismissed and meet you where you have agreed and if not there, the child is expected to return to the teacher who will then, at 14:50 add them to the charged Library Club.

The opportunity for all to once again connect in person is welcomed, although, concerns to be respected. As such, should you have a concern or query before we implement the plan, get in touch and we can consider the ideas before we start.

Building Relationships, Improving Behaviour and Creating Stronger Communities

As some of you will have noticed, I have not been at school from Wednesday. We (Krishna Avanti Primary School) are part of Challenge Partners which is a great way for schools to share good practice and learn from each other. Back in November Krishna Avanti Primary School was reviewed by a team of leaders, always made up of an Ofsted trained inspector (current or past) and two or more serving school leaders. I have been in Great Clacton (Essex) as part of a review team and hugely value both the opportunity and learning. I get to see another school, ask questions, challenge practice and steal ideas. I also get to work alongside an Ofsted Inspector refine various skills, clarity and focus.

When related to the connections referenced so often in Mark’s book and the need for respect, I make the links to how I must be respectful to the school I am visiting and seek to understand the differing contexts. This pursuit of understanding is one that requires real respect and appreciation of where we are, what we have and what that translates into. For us at Krishna Avanti Primary School it is very much a positive as discussed with several staff recently, we have many ingredients that put us in a great position to thrive, succeed and reach our goals: the staff, parents, children and community as a whole are strongly connected.

This then means we can more comfortably ask questions of each other and help each other despite the professional and private boundaries that rightly exist. We are not negatively challenging but seeking to understand. Let us keep engaging in this positive way as parents. With the opportunities to re-engage as we did pre-covid, this will help. We have so much to be proud about but, should not stop striving to improve further.

We currently have £344.35  owed for lunches, a rise from last week’s £291.15. Those that have payments to make, please do so before Monday or make arrangements to pick up your child for the duration of the lunch period.

A reminder that lunch bookings need to be made by 07:00 on a Thursday morning prior to the week ahead. By making the bookings you are ensuring that the preferred meal is served for your child. You can book as many weeks in advance as you wish. We have received several emails about missed deadlines for bookings. Unfortunately we can not go back and add preferences on after the deadline. If we do this for one we must do it for all and the purpose of the deadline is to manage the many tasks that admin staff have and inform the caterers of required quantities. Late bookings will not be catered for.

Thank you all for your support with lunches.

Thank you to those that have completed the questionnaire so far. The following comments have been made since the last update, along with our initial responses:

This school is a great school two of my children attend this school in different year groups and they love it. The only thing is we all know there is parking issues but parents need to be mature and handle this from every parents view instead of being children and fighting over parking. Those that come in with parking permits they have valid reasons otherwise they wouldn’t be parking inside , when I come and park inside as I have a valid permit, once I step out of my car after parking I am being stared at in such a horrible manner by parents that are queued up like I have done something wrong. Also when some people without permit has parked in our bays it does make it difficult for us with permits as we are left with no parking.

As mentioned on previous occasions, please be considerate of where you park. We have had complaints from neighbours again which can be easily avoided. The camera on Spencefield Lane is active and we are in contact with the Local Authority for support. Please also remember that the allocated bays in school grounds are for permit holders only. Sadly, we will be a little more visible out there in the upcoming weeks, taking staff away from more important areas – the children.

We have recently had a number of requests for parking permits. It is important to note that requests need to be exceptional and are time limited.They are also subject to space and at time of genuine high demand, some may be refused, even if exceptional. Please click here if you think you have truly exceptional circumstances – we will be refreshing the allocation in April so all requests, including existing, need to be made.

School has  taken part in a Walk to School Programme and encourage all children to walk  from a distance of at least ten minutes. Children earn a collectible badge each month if they walk, scoot, cycle, use the bus or park and stride to school. It helps increase daily activity levels, encourages lifelong healthy habits and increases children’s wellbeing levels.

Let us see who can earn lots of badges.

Basketball: We made it through to the East Leicester final from a round robin tournament where we had played well, so confidence was high going into the final. As with all finals though, the opposition was stronger and the competitive instinct to win was greater, so we had to up our game. Although we played some very good basketball for periods, we were outplayed on this occasion. We win as a team and we take defeat as a team, so we were all understandably disappointed, but that is the beauty of competitive sport, there is only ever one team who returns happy. We remain positive however, and ready for the next match.

Girls’ Football

The girls football team played a couple of games on Wednesday and deservedly won both matches. It was tight in the first game but once we got our noses in front, it never looked likely that we would let that slip away. The second game was a much more comfortable win with some quality passing and finishing. We finished our time at Judgemeadow with a coaching session with Anita which was fantastic-we all left that with a huge smile on our faces. What impressed throughout was the communication between the girls, the level of encouragement and the commitment to the cause. And our goalie was amazing!

Athlete Visit Update

We are proud to announce the totals raised from the Sam Oldham event at school.

• 382 children took part.
• £621.00 raised online.
• £1531.55 raised offline.
• £2152.55 raised in total.

Once again, thank you for supporting these events.

Thank you very much for your continued support. 

Yours sincerely   

Mr Kite

Principal

Awards