Newsletter Friday 25th October

25 Oct 24

Message from the Head

So the longest half-term I have known has come to an end. 8 weeks sounds long but I think it has flown by!

Our children have really outdone themselves this term. I could not be any prouder of the hard work, respectful attitudes and kindness shown by our children throughout the term. Our Golden Ticket chest was bursting with hard earned tickets by real role-model behaviour and attitudes. We are really proud of every single child who received a golden ticket - there were well over 300 tickets in the chest when it was opened on our Thursday afternoon draw in assembly. Read on to find our which 3 children had their tickets pulled out of the box and won first, second and third prize of our first ever draw!

We've had lots going on in school as always but some lovely highlights to pass on to you all are the successful visits we have had from our array of partners across the local authority. We have has early years experts in looking at our reception offer alongside our new year 1 offer and they were so impressed by our new approach - so impressed that they're inviting others to come and visit. Our School Partnership Adviser came in to discuss our new approach to writing with our children, conduct a whole school learning walk and immerse himself in our new curriculum design. He was so excited by the progress we have made that he left our school with a spring in his step. When sending his visit report, he shared, "It lifts my spirits when I visit Queen's Park."

I am also so proud of our staff and governors who have worked ridiculously hard to realise the improvements and changes we have asked for - they are vast, noticeable and incredibly positive.

Lastly, I want to share a thank you to all of our fantastic families who continue to cheer us on, support us and spread positive messages about our wonderful community school. We notice and appreciate every ounce of positivity from you and it really does help to fuel each stage of our improvement journey.

I wish you all a wonderful week with loved ones and look forward to seeing you all bright and early on Monday 4th November 2024.

Introducing Our New House System!

At Queen’s Park Primary School, we continue to embed our new house system to help encourage teamwork, responsibility and healthy competition among our students. Every child has been placed into one of four houses named after inspiring individuals, each representing a specific value and color.

Our Houses

Each house is led by a House Captain, Vice Captain and a House Secretary, and children will have the opportunity to earn house points throughout the school year.

· Axel Scheffler House (Green) Axel Scheffler is the illustrator behind many beloved children’s books. This house stands for creativity, imagination, and artistic expression.

· Angelica Dass House (Blue) Angelica Dass is a Brazilian photographer known for her work on human diversity. This house values inclusivity, diversity, and community.

· Stephen Wiltshire House (Red) Stephen Wiltshire is an acclaimed artist known for his detailed cityscapes. This house represents perseverance, observation, and dedication.

· Yayoi Kusama House (Yellow) Yayoi Kusama is a celebrated artist famous for her use of bold colors and patterns. This house encourages boldness, innovation, and courage.

How the House System Works

Students can earn house points through their hard work, excellent behavior, upholding the school’s values and involvement in school activities. Points contribute to their house’s total, which is tallied at the end of each week and term. The house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup during the Star of the Week Assembly!

House points can be earned for:

· Outstanding academic effort

· Kindness and helping others

· Participation in sports and extracurricular activities

· Creative and innovative work

· Positive behavior and teamwork

· Upholding the school’s values: Respect, Responsible, Safe

Golden Ticket Initiative

We’re also introducing an exciting new Golden Ticket initiative! Teachers and staff will award Golden Tickets to students who go above and beyond in demonstrating kindness, effort, or special achievements.

How it works:

· Students receive Golden Tickets for exceptional work, acts of kindness, or being role models in our school community

· Each Golden Ticket goes into the Golden Ticket Box

· At the end of each term, we will draw three Golden Tickets from the box

· The lucky winners will receive special prizes in recognition of their hard work and positive contributions!

The Golden Ticket system is a fun way to motivate and celebrate students for being their best selves.

We encourage families to support their children in embracing the house system. It’s a wonderful way for pupils to develop team spirit and enjoy school life to the fullest. Whether it’s through earning house points or collecting Golden Tickets, every student plays a role in contributing to their house community’s success. Wear that badge with pride!

Football League Matches

Both the boys and girls teams had football fixtures against St John the Baptist this week. Both teams did incredibly well, with the girls winning 11 - 1 and the boys also winning 12-0. There were lots of stand-out performances and many children getting on the score sheet. A special shout-out to Eliza with 5 goals and Sulayman and Ahmed each with a hat-trick of goals. It was very pleasing to see both teams play with an excellent spirit and sportsman (woman!) -ship. We could clearly see big improvements from the last match as the children have started putting their skills from training sessions into their match play. Well done Queen's Park footballers!

Schools Hockey Festival

This week, Queen's Park sent a team to the Brighton Schools Hockey Festival hosted at Blatchington Mill School. The children from year 5 and 6 learnt new skills and enjoyed playing in a number of hockey challenges as well as some small-sided matches. They were model pupils throughout, upholding our school's values and we are very proud that they represented our school in such a positive manner on the field of play.

Year 5 - Fitness Circuits Competition

In PE this term, year 5 have been doing fitness circuits, which combines a carousel of activities including: step-ups, speed bounces, skipping, sit-ups, star jumps and shuttle runs. The children learnt how to push themselves and how to strive for maximum effort. For the last lesson of term, Beetles and Hornets had a friendly competition to see which class could get the highest scores on the different activities. It was hotly-contested with children from both classes trying their best to beat their previous exercise scores. The jury is still out but we think that physical activity was the winner of the day!

SCHOOL STARTS MONDAY 4TH NOVEMBER

Attendance expectations at Queen’s Park Primary School

Punctuality

Children are expected to be at school every day, on time.

The register is taken 10 minutes after the doors open.

YEAR GROUP	DOORS OPEN	END OF SCHOOL DAY
Reception	08:40	15:15
Year 1 - Year 6	08:40	15:20

Registers are taken as follows throughout the school day:

Registers are marked by 08:55am. Children will receive a late mark (‘L’ code - late) if they are not in their classroom by this time
The register closes at 09:20am. Children will receive a mark of absence (‘U’ code – unauthorised absence) if they do not attend school before this time.
After lunch, registers are marked within 5 minutes of returning to class from lunch. Children will receive a late mark (‘L’) if they are not in their classroom by this time, or an absence mark if they are late (‘U’).

Any children arriving late must enter the school via the front office with their parent/carer and the check
process must be completed.

to view our New Autumn / Winter menu 2024

please click below

https://www.queenspark.brighton-hove.sch.uk/assets/Documents/Attachments/Lunch-Menu-Starting-Nov-24.pdf

REMINDER: the School Office is closed daily from 13:15 to 14:45

This will allow our office staff uninterrupted time to focus on important tasks. This is to support our increased focus on attendance and other key areas.

We kindly ask that you refrain from calling during these times unless it is an emergency, to help ensure staff can meet their deadlines efficiently.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.