As we complete another week at school and look ahead, we plan with excitement the final three weeks of term. We will have Christmas parties, the Foundation Two Nativity and Christmas lunch in that latter week, whilst continuing to enjoy providing opportunities for the children to swim, cycle, play instruments and more. The weather is getting noticeably colder so please do ensure that your child has a warm coat and hat and gloves if desired.

It has come to our attention that one or two people have tripped on the gate stopper at the vehicle entrance – whilst these gates are open, please do be careful of the raised point which is not a problem for the intended use… cars. This point has resulted in we as staff discussing the current procedures and from Monday we are going to trial having the vehicle access closed and all to use the two pedestrian gates for dropping off and picking up; this will eradicate anybody tripping over items that pedestrians should not encounter. We will also be ending of the one-way system. If of course you want to continue using the route as currently is, please do. But where we have been discouraging people from coming in the pedestrian gate, we will now be accepting it. Hopefully it will work well and will feel a little more normal again.

To clarify however, it will remain a pedestrian only drop-off and pick up.

One area I did not miss whilst over at Avanti Fields School was the daily problems with cars, be it on Spencefield Lane or trying to get access to private school grounds. Nevertheless, it is great to be back.

It would be greatly appreciated by all though if we could reflect on how we drive, where we park and how we respond to those that rightly challenge us. I have been sent a couple of images this week of cars that get far too close to others (boxing them in when parking) and tailgating cars coming onto school grounds because, apparently, it is raining. Please do reflect and if you, change your mindset. Living where we do it does get cold and wet, so the weather is one of those areas I call an excuse. It is not a reason, but a fact of living in not so sunny England. Having lived in Wales I know that is worse and some people have said Scotland is even colder. Use a coat, put on a hat and maybe use an umbrella.

I do not want to be wasting my time talking to parents (or indeed writing) about traffic and parking. I am a qualified teacher – not a member of the Highways Agency. Your help would be appreciated. Below I am sharing the examples sent of cars that tailgate and box others in. My advice to all is call the police and report the drivers. Campaign with the councillors and force them into action. I believe there are cameras out there so let’s push for them to be live and fine those that have little or no consideration for others.

We are pleased to announce the return of Cinema Nights – please put Monday 6^th December in your calendars. The movies on offer will be:

• Home Alone  – PG
• The Santa Clause – U
• Nativity – PG

Tickets cost £5.00 each but there is a special 50% discount for those that have contributed the £50 for visits. Please note that the £2.50 discount will be refunded after the event to those eligible.

A refreshment package consisting of a drink, popcorn and biscuit/choc bar will be available for £2.00. The only snack that be permitted from home is a piece of fruit.

Children that purchase tickets will remain at school and will need picking up at 17:00. Click the button below to book your child a place; do this in ‘Trips’ .

Building Relationships, Improving Behaviour and Creating Stronger Communities

As well as reading Restorative Practice, I have also been listening to the High Performance Podcast. In one they interviewed the current PSG football coach who said, “We need to go further and find why people behave how they behave.” He was talking about his time at Tottenham and how the building of a team requires people to be interested and understand that young players, new team-mates etc… all come from different backgrounds and cultures, and to get them to perform well requires time, trust and encouragement. As I was listening I was linking it to life in a school for both the children and staff.

If we are genuinely interested and keen for people to succeed then we will of course have targets and aspire to be the best we can be, but I think it is important that we do trust people and nuture them, get to know them and help them on that journey. I hope you can relate to that and see that that is something we do here. at Krishna Avanti Primary School.

A parent commented recently that they are reading Mark Finnis’s book, which I think is brilliant. Let us keep talking to each other, trying new things and when challenging ideas (either way), we do so with respect and listen with the intent to understand, not win.

As we approach the end of the Autumn Term, staff behind the scenes are checking how things are going, one being contributions to visits. 

Those that have been with us in previous years should understand the aim of asking for one contribution for visits (£50) rather than made several requests during the course of the year, that would in fact total more than £50. I must also make it absolutely clear that contributions are indeed that – they are not compulsory. However, it must be clear that without enough contributions, the type of visit will lack the real inspiration or the visit may be unable to take place – we have tight budgets.

As a school, very much working in the interests of the children, we want to give your children wonderful opportunities and life experiences which will help them to learn and be the best they can be. I strongly believe that getting children out into the world around us, they learn so much that helps reading, writing, mathematics and much more. I really would like the children to go on about six trips throughout the year (roughly one each half-term). 

As we approach the Christmas break I am politely requesting that the 53% of parents that have not yet contributed, do so. If after Christmas we are still well away from the required amount we will organise visits differently. For those that can and have already contributed, we will ensure you do not lose out. One ‘thank you’ for contributing is being able to attend staff led clubs free of charge.

I appreciate that some may have missed a communication or misunderstood the idea.

I hope all understand the positive intentions and can support your child’s education. If you can and intend to contribute, please click the button to do so.

The visits that do require specific payments, not covered by the £50 contribution are those such as the residential visits. It is very pleasing that these visits can go ahead again and you will receive information about them soon, if not already. They are planned for:

• Year 5 – PGL Caythorpe Court: Monday 4th April to Friday 8th April, 2022
• Year 6 – AST Retreat Residential: Monday 14th March to Friday 18th March, 2022

We currently have £234.75  owed for lunches, a rise from last week’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. It is pleasing that the amount has reduced and would be great to see the outstanding balance as a whole school reduced further, to less that £50 next week.

Thank you to those that have completed the questionnaire so far. The initial responses to points made so far:

Please can the children be given butter with their bread at lunchtime? I have raised this 3 times, but nothing has been done and nor has anyone come back to me about it. Thank you

Apparently, spread should be restricted due to nutritional guidelines. However, I personally would want spread with my bread/roll and as long as in moderation (some people do put far too much on), I support the request. This has been raised numerous times and has resulted in spread being added to the jacket potatoes. We will continue to press the point on spread for bread. Thank you for your patience with this and let’s hope it changes very soon.

While Krishna Avanti has many positive points, it also has a few negative – just like any other school. I have personally recommended the school to a few friends and am aware they have moved to Leicester, specially to have their kids in the school. It is great that our children can worship and take darshan of the deities regularly and this instils devotional life in them from a young age. The prasad is fresh, hot and children are satisfied with options available. Thank you for allowing a safe environment for my child to flourish educationally and spiritually.

Thank you

With regards to the comment on bullying, there have been a few incidents with other children, one even involving a teacher, while the one with the teacher was dealt with by the school, the ones with the other children was not, and we as parents had to speak to the bully’s family and sort it out that way. I would have preferred for the school to get involved rather than having to take matters into my own hands, but that’s water under the bridge now – and hopefully, future incidents, should they ever arise, will be dealt with promptly by the school.

We would fully expect any unwanted behaviours are dealt with by school and always prefer parents not to go direct to other parents as it does not always finish well. Please always raise concerns, no matter how small, so we can ensure our issues are only ever minor.

the after-school clubs are so limited that we have not had any chance to get a space. my expectation was that these clubs would be available every day and that all children would have an equal opportunity to attend. such uncertainty also does not allow parents to plan in advance their work hours to pick up a child if they become enrolled to an after-school club. a possible solution is when the next round of clubs are announced, to prioritise those children who have had the least enrolment to any clubs.

Clubs are offered by staff free of charge and are run on good will. Whilst we aim to have a variety of choices, there is no way to ensure there is something every day. Throughout Covid we adapted what we did to enable us to still offer clubs safely. As we get back to mixing, albeit cautiously, opportunities and variety we hope will increase. There will not be a guarantee however as we are here to educate the children, not child mind them. That said, we are looking to appoint a member of staff with additional hours to run the Library Club again because we do want to help where we can and appreciate, whilst we are not a childcare service, parents do struggle with working commitments. I hope this can commence after Christmas.

My only concern or complaint is the lack of notice when there are events. The school should provide either a text or email 7 days prior to children dressing up or having the option not to wear uniform. I don’t feel the school takes into consideration that there are parents that work 40 hours a week and need notice for changes.

All events should be in the calendar and details made know to you are far as possible in advance. We have the online school calendar on the website and a message given internally last week was, “If it is not in the calendar then it is not an event that is happening.” We have added the live calendar to this weekly update (below) and we will endeavour to have all events in with details included. What we ask parents to do is, read the updates and check the calendar. We will not be sending out separate, specific reminders all of the time however, for that to work, we must ensure it is up-to-date.

Please note however that we do get invitations at very short notice and whilst sometimes such invitations result in a tight turn-a-round, we would rather accept them and give the children the opportunity. This should not be too often however so be assured, this will be an immediate aim to rectify.

There is so many cars have parking inside without any disability or any strong reason so why we not allowed like who have under 2 year kids and also I work in the evening and some shifts in the morning it’s very tight for me to pick up or drop off my kids and strat my duty if I have that facility as well so it can be very easy for me . There is no one coming outside to checkout who is parking there car in parking space many people taking disadvantage of this and like us who is really struggling they don’t have any facilities I just want to request on this please be fair with everyone thank you .

and

Parking is the biggest negative about this school. I do not know what reasons people have given but the people that are turning up in their cars, look fit as a fiddle – young and healthy?…as soon as the gates are open they are literally power walking to fetch their kids…some sort of check is required, and a random check now and then to ensure the people picking up with a car park space is the person named in the request for parking in the first place.

There are cars with passes and to get a pass, very good reasons must be given and evidenced. With the electronic barrier now, cars should not be able to enter without a fob. We are not going to share reasons for passes being given as that information is private and confidential. We will however look to check that cars are not getting in when they should not. The places for good exceptions are limited and I believe we are now at the limit so. 

I am very happy my child attends krishna Avanti as I have not seen a school like this before. The level at which my child is at I am very happy with his learning from when he started in foundation and the level he is at now in year 1. The school staff and teachers are very nice and helpful I would recommend krishna Avanti to anyone I know. I would like to thank you for the questionnaire.

Community Dental Services has randomly selected 16 children, aged 5, to complete a questionnaire and carry out dental checks. If you’re child brings home a letter, please do help. If your child has not, please do not feel excluded and understand this is organised externally.

It is always an extremely enjoyable time of the year for children and for Foundation Two, The Nativity is a highlight. Whilst we are very keen to welcome parents back into school it would be foolish of us to hold an in-person Nativity performance for large groups, considering the number of Covid cases being reported nationally. Whilst we appear not to be affected personally, we do not want to tempt fate nor put anybody unnecessarily in danger. As such, The Nativity will be recorded and added to our school YouTube channel for you to enjoy. If you do not want your child to be filmed, please let the office know by Wednesday 1st December. We are aiming to have the final cut ready and on the channel by Wednesday 15th December.

The Christmas parties will take place, in the main, during the last week of term. On party days all food will be provided for by our caterers, Govindas. The parties will take place during the afternoon and children may come to school in their party clothes. Please do check the online calendar for your child’s year group day. We will of course send a reminder several days before.

On both Friday 10th and Friday 17th December, children and staff may swap their school jumpers for something festive. Friday 10th is the official Christmas Jumper Day where a minimum £1 donation is needed to wear a Christmas jumper.

Friday 17th December is GOSH Festive Friday.  Whether you rock as reindeers, sparkle as snowflakes, shine as Santa or simply embrace the Christmas theme with festive jumpers and accessories, join in the fun with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Children’s Charity Festive Friday! Donations of £1 or more are again requested. This last day will also be the day that we all have a school Christmas lunch.

Menu for Christmas lunch

• Vegan Wellington
• Mash and Gravy
• Roast Veg
• Roast Potato
• Cheese and Chocolate Roll

Please do refer to the website calendar for all dates.

Thank you very much for your continued support. 

Yours sincerely   

Mr Kite

Principal

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