Yesterday we wished all of our Year 11 students the best of luck in their upcoming GCSE examinations. They opened the exam series with a Religious Studies on Thursday morning. Mr Gajjar and Mrs Kholia shared the below prayer with our pupils to wish them every success in the next few weeks:
‘My dear Lord Krishna (or a name of God relevant to you) I pray to You that as I enter the exam, that You will fill my heart with perfect peace that only comes from You. Please also give me clarity of thought, and prompt my mind to remember all the things that I have studied. Give me the wisdom and the ability to transfer my thoughts to paper. I express my gratitude to all my teachers and to my parents who have supported me on this journey. Now I will focus on completing my exams as a loving offering unto You.’

I want to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Skegro for her support of the PRE department since October. Today will be her last day on site, but she will continue working with the team remotely one day a week for the remainder of the academic year. I have had the pleasure of seeing the PRE team flourish under Mrs Skegro’s guidance and know that her impact will have a lasting impact on Avanti Fields pupils.

And it has been wonderful seeing the primary team continue to enrich the curriculum for our youngest learners. On Wednesday our Year 1 pupils attended a sea life trip and on Friday next week, the second Year 1 class will have an opportunity to visit the temple. It is through these experiences that we bring their learning to life!

Advance Notice

The final INSET day for Avanti Fields will be on Friday 24th May. Please be reminded that the school will be closed for staff training.

Secondary Calendar

• Tuesday 7th May – 26th June: GCSE Exams
• Tuesday 14th May: Y10 Career Speed Networking

Primary Calendar

• Monday 13th May: Y1 CLS workshop
• Tuesday 14th May : Parents Evening (3:00 -5:30Pm)
• Thursday 16th May: Parents Evening (3:00 – 5:30pm)
• Friday 17th May: Y1 Bluebell trip to the temple

Sea Life Centre

Year 1’s went on an amazing trip to the sea life centre as part of their topic. It was a great day, full of great facts!

RRSA Article of the Week: Article 6 and Article 24

Every child has the right to life. Governments must do all they can to ensure that children survive and develop to their full potential.

Article 24 (health and health services) – Every child has the right to the best possible health. Governments must provide good quality health care, clean water, nutritious food, and a clean environment and education on health and well-being so that children can stay healthy. Richer countries must help poorer countries achieve this.

We will be focusing on Earth Day. Focus on what we do as a school, and what we do at home, to help our environment and the planet. Focus on our core principle – we care for and respect all life. Please make links to Earth day, and the different activities children took part in on Earth Day.

Here is an activity you can do at home. Watch or read Marli’s Tangled Tale by children’s author Ellie Jackson about the impact of plastic waste on a family of puffins or read one of the other books in the series.

Consider the impact of balloons and other plastic waste on wildlife in the sea,

how could we prevent this?

Article of the Week – Rights Respecting Schools Award (unicef.org.uk)

Primary School Calendar

May

14^th / 16^th – Parents evening 3.00pm- 5.30pm

21st- Nursery Sports day 2.00pm- 3.00pm

22nd- Reception Sports day 1.45pm- 2.45pm

23^rd – Year 1 Sports day 1.45pm- 2.45pm

24^th – Staff Training day, school closed

27^th– 31^st – Half Term

June

27^th– Reception parent/ carer workshop 1.30pm- 2.45pm

-End of Year reports

July

4^th– Nursery Graduation 5.00pm- 6.00pm

17^th– End of Term

We have an abundance of exciting events taking place throughout the academic year. Please ensure you keep up to date with the Primary school calendar to ensure you do not miss out on anything: Calendar – Avanti Fields School

NHS – Healthy Together

Please see link below from NHS – Healthy Together news letter.

Healthy Together- Preparing for Primary School- Leicester City (1)

Supporting your child when they start school letter- Healthy Together- Leicester City

Mental Health Awareness Week

Particularly important for our Year 11 pupils, but also for any member of our school community, we want to promote Mental Health Awareness Week, taking place from 13 – 19 May 2024. The theme is Movement: Moving more for our mental health.

Research has shown that regular physical activity can make us happier and healthier. When we’re active, our bodies release feel-good hormones, which can reduce anxiety and stress and help us sleep better. By building movement into our working day, we can positively impact productivity and focus. Please see “Empower half hour “poster with suggested activities attached.

Wellbeing Support and Exam Stress Management Strategies

Tests and exams can be a challenging part of school/college life for young people and their parents or carers. We are aware that exams have the potential to exacerbate feelings of anxiety and stress amongst students. Supporting young people through exams is all about reducing stress, optimising wellbeing and putting good study processes in place.

Parents/carers play a vital role in helping their young people maintain a positive outlook in the run-up, during and after exams are over.

There is a range of advice and guidance for students and parents to help alleviate or lesson the anxiety they have about sitting exams, including:

• NHS Help your child beat exam stress:   https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/children-and-young-adults/advice-for-parents/help-your-child-beat-exam-stress/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
• Anna Freud: How to identify the signs of academic stress, and ways to help : https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/factors-that-impact-mental-health/school-based-risk-factors/academic-and-exam-stress/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
• Student Minds – resources, tips and blogs about exam stress: https://www.studentminds.org.uk/examstress.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
• Ofqual: Coping with exam pressure – a guide for students : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coping-with-exam-pressure-a-guide-for-students/coping-with-exam-pressure-a-guide-for-students?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
• Mental wellbeing school timetable: https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/media/2933/mental-health-and-wellbeing-school-timetable-summer-term-2023.pdf

If you feel that your child needs any support in managing exam stress, please contact the school via the contact form on the website so that we can work together to support them to achieve the best outcomes.

‘Community Activities @ Avanti Fields

We are continuing to increase and replace our Community Activities at the school and have some exciting classes starting soon. Many are free or £1 for your first class. To find out more, register for an existing class or register an interest in upcoming classes please email [email protected].’

PTFA Community Garden

As you know, the PTFA secured more than £27,000 of external funding from Severn Trent to create a dedicated community garden space at the school that can be enjoyed by all – pupils, families, staff and local communities too.  It’s a haven not just for wildlife, but a space where people of all walks of life and gather and enjoy our natural environment.

But the work doesn’t stop at the awarded cash.  We now need to make our community garden looking as beautiful and populated as possible.

And that’s where we need your help!

We’re inviting anyone and everyone to join us for a special session on Sunday 19th May at 10am till 1pm – and help us plant our produce, flowers and herbs.

We want to get it all spruced up and make it a fun and energetic morning for all ages and of all abilities.

Please do join us at this exciting event – we’ll even provide some delicious light refreshments for all volunteers on the day. And don’t forget to tell your family and friends too – all are welcome!

Let’s grow together!’

Summer Mela 

‘PTFA are organising a Summer Mela on the 23^rd June, it is a free event with lots of activities and will be held outside this year (weather permitting), Hot Potato Food Truck will also be there to provide tasty food for you to buy, please Save the date. If you are interested in a stall at the Mela or want to help the PTFA on the day please email [email protected].

Communications – Wherever possible please use the contact form on our website to get in touch. This is detailed on the website at https://avanti.org.uk/avantifields/contact-us/. The appropriate member of staff will pick up the message and get back to you as soon as possible.

Absence

To report an absence to the school, parents should contact us by 8:00am (primary) and 8.30am (secondary) 

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0116 326 6813 (Option 1 to leave a voicemail) 

Please remember to state your child’s full name, tutor group and reason for absence. If your child is unwell, please could you give a brief description of the symptoms. 

All education research highlights how crucial it is to a child’s academic progress and wellbeing they attend school , on time, all of the time. Therefore, a reminder that it is important that families organise events or holidays outside of school time to ensure that their child is at school as often as possible.   

The school works closely with the Education Welfare Officer at LCC, and we do seek to ensure that any requests for authorised absence are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, in a sensitive manner. However, the school can never authorise a family holiday or a trip abroad to visit family members during term time.   

This academic year, families will have two weeks at the October half-term, three weeks at Christmas and two weeks at Easter for extended family holidays. Please do ensure that if booking holidays, they fall within the holiday periods.