Dear Parents and Carers,
This week we have seen some amazing learning across the school. The governors and I had an opportunity to walk around the school to see what the children were learning about – we saw children creating their own versions of the moon and plenty of investigating involving shape and fractions. Furthermore, in EYFS, the children shared their learning about festivals by making lanterns. It’s all go go go!
Following our first full week of learning, we were able to celebrate our next group of class stars – these children have been recognised for their hard work and risk taking with their learning. Congratulations to the following children:
Class 1 – Molly Conle
Class 2 – Ben Sanders
Class 3 – Rory Brown
Class 4 – Sadie Goodson
Today, the school council and I met to discuss our school ethos. We believe that the new school rules are consistent across the school and the school council have created actions to describe each rule so that non-verbal can be used as an alternative to praise great learning behaviour.
Since the start of term, the team have been focussing on making every minute of the school day count. This starts at 8:45am the moment the school doors open. Between 8:45am-9am, the children settle into their routines and start preparing for their learning. In order to make the most of this time please have your children arrive ready for when the door opens at 8:45am ready for this vital time to transition into class. School registers will start promptly at 9am.
Please check our school website calendar as term dates for 2024/25 have been uploaded including Inset days.
Thank you for a wonderful week and your continued feedback to help us improve the education for our children.
Have a fantastic weekend and we look forward to another week of learning!
Kind regards, FG

Attendance this week

Whole school attendance this week was 91.3% 
Reception 100%   Year 1  100%      Year 2 100%   Year 3 77.8%   Year 4 80.8%   Year 5  93.1%   Year 6 90.6%
the overall figure for this academic year is 94.1%

Swimming – went fairly smoothly ! Just one forgotten towel, and everyone brought in a packed lunch. Thank you for that, it really does help the day to transition smoothly. A WhatsApp parent reminder in years 3,4,5 on a Sunday to say PACKED LUNCH TOMORROW !  is much appreciated  (+swim suit/trunks, goggles, swim hat, towel 😉  thank you).

Year 5 Bikeability – please fill out and return the form asap.

RESIDENTIAL

Class 4 residentials: a reminder to years 5 and 6 that you can stretch your payments for this years residential. We are in the process of working it all out, including dates, and will let you know as soon as possible the plan for this year. This is just a reminder that you can start making payments on SCOPAY to spread the cost.  More very soon….

Class 3 – St Georges House residential – its late this year, 18th and 19th July.

MUSIC AND CLUBS:  if you are interested in any music or sports clubs please contact the providers directly…

piano or flute   Amy Redfern   amy04redfern@gmail.com

guitar or singing  Sarah Cox   sarahcoxtutoring@gmail.com

sports (tennis, gym, basketball)  Rob Cook  rob@devonshiretennisacademy.com

Football (C3 and C4) Science (C3 C4)  Netball (year 4 5 6) are run by the school – please ask at the office.

Diary Dates and communications this week:

Click here  for the school calendar which can be found at the bottom of the website home page.

A letter went out to years 4,5,6 re netball club which will be afterschool on Fridays starting next week 19th Jan. The posts, balls and bibs have arrived. Ms Boreham and Ms McCormick are very excited !

Friday 9th Feb –  break up for half term.

HALF TERM – Monday Feb 12th – Friday 16th  + Monday 19th February 2024- INSET DAY

February 27/28/29th !!  – Bikeability for year 5 – letters have been sent out, pls return asap.

Last day of term Thurs 28th March 2024

HERE ARE THE DATES FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2024-2025, also being sent by email. 

INSET DAY Tues 3rd September 2025
INSET DAY Wed 4th September
Start Autumn Term 2024 Thurs 5th September
INSET DAY Fri 25th October
Half term break Mon 28th Oct to Fri 1st Nov
End Autumn Term 2024 Friday 20th December
Start Spring term 2024 Monday 6th January 2025
INSET DAY Fri 14th February
Half term break Mon 17th Feb to 21st Feb
End Spring Term Friday 4th April
Easter Holidays Mon 7th April to Monday 21st April
Start Summer Term 2025 Tues 22nd April
Half term break Mon 26th May to Fri 30th May
INSET DAY Fri 27th June
End Summer Term 2025 Tues 22nd July
Click here  for the school calendar which can be found at the bottom of the website home page.

The school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mr Kevin Fry
Our Deputy Safeguarding Lead is  Emma Hill
Our SENCo is Mrs Lucy Rinvolucri.
Make contact with us via  dsl@georgeham-primary.devon.sch.uk

If you have any concerns that you’d like to discuss, please call through to Lottie and ask for an appointment.
You may also find some useful or helpful information on our Safeguarding webpage… https://georgehamceps.wpengine.com/staying-safe/

Attendance… We report the attendance of individual year groups as it’s a really good way to see if school attendance is at a good percentage…  as high as possible of course! The DfE have a target of 96.5%
Attending school regularly is vital to help children achieve and to give them the best possible start in life. It’s also the legal requirement of parents once children are of school age and enrolled in mainstream education. Ofsted has a strong view about attendance of course. Too many absences can lead into difficult discussions about how we can support children to achieve and do well – we could even be downgraded for our current Good status as a result.
Absences will only be authorised if they meet exceptional circumstances. With only 190 statutory school days in the year, there are 175 days (weekends and school holidays) left to plan for family visits, non-urgent medical/dental appointments, holidays etc. School holidays are published well in advance and parents are expected to plan and take family holidays at this time so as not to disrupt their child’s education. We also try to arrange our Inset (training) days to provide time for travel… such as this term’s Friday October 20th.
Holidays… are almost always not recognised as meeting ‘exceptional circumstances’ and therefore an absence would be unauthorised. This could result in a penalty notice being issued by DCC.
Punctuality is important too, and the earlier we get our children into the right habits, the better. You may not realise that being just 5 minutes late every day equals 3 days of school lost a year. Please bring your child for 8.45am when they door is open and the classroom has a learning activity ready for them.

We are a Nut free school.  Even on school trips !

We understand that its not at the forefront of everyone’s mind, but it is important,
even on school trips, and even if outdoors. Thank you. 

We are community 

Our school is a community, but we are also part of a wider local and global community.
We encourage a sense of belonging and responsibility towards each other, our environment and the world we live in.

‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’  (Matthew 22 v39)