Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
A fun week celebrating reading at Harrietsham C of E Primary School. We have a number of exciting events planned including: a theatre group; fun competitions; special reading times; and a book fair.
We are excited to announce that we will be using Times Tables Rock Stars and Numbots as a way to reinforce children’s basic maths knowledge in a fun way.
Times Tables Rock Stars will be used by children in Key Stage 2 and Year 2 to support quick recall of multiplication and division facts. Numbots will be used by Key Stage 1 and Reception to support number knowledge and recall of number bonds.
Year 2 will be learning multiplication and division during Term 3, therefore will transition from Numbots to Times Tables Rock Stars at a suitable point to support their new learning.
Although we have been trialling these apps with some classes in school, we will be having an official launch day in Term 3. On this day the children are invited to dress up as rock stars (KS2) or numbers (Reception & KS1). We will be spending the day taking part in fun maths activities and getting excited about using the new platforms. Throughout the week the children will have a chance to explore the platforms in school. The launch day will be taking place on Monday 15th January 2024.
On this day, your child will be bringing home their login details so you can access the activities on devices at home with your child. Your child’s class teacher will be setting challenges for your child to complete as part of their home learning starting in Term 3. We know that the children are excited to engage with these new platforms and we hope that this will make maths home learning more accessible, useful and fun for everyone.
End of Term 2 - Open Classrooms (trying to ease the traffic flow)
Tuesday 12th December
EYFS and Y1 between 2.45 - 3.15 and then those parents can go earlier or stay to pick up siblings
Year 2 and Year 3 3.20 – 4pm as usual
Wednesday 13th December
Year 5 & Year 6 3.20 – 4pm
Thursday 14th December
Year 4 3.20 – 4pm
https://www.harrietsham.kent.sch.uk/our-behaviour-policy/
Update to parents on 5th December 2023
Dear parents and carers,
We have made some updates to our behaviour policy which will be going on the school website this week. We wanted to give you a summary of the key elements.
Since September, Mr Gambell has been leading on securing ‘wonderful walking’ – basically everyone just being quiet and sensible as they move around the school, using low voices and not running so everyone is safe and we don’t disrupt anyone’s learning. This has helped make transitions between rooms around the school calmer, particularly now we have so many more children in school. With the staggered lunchtimes to provide enough space on the playground this has become even more important. Most children were doing this already and therefore it is only a small number who need reminders.
Please help us by reminding your child that they need to be safe and sensible in the corridors. If they haven’t had a reminder then they are probably already doing the right thing!
The school rules have been simplified in the new policy to ‘ready, respectful, safe ‘. This covers everything we expect of children and is easier to remember, but still supports children being responsible for doing the right thing and moderating their own behaviour like the previous set of rules. We will be doing work with the children this week on what this looks like ready for a full ‘launch’ after Christmas.
Central to the new policy is
There are also steps to follow for staff so that there is consistency across the school in terms of how behaviour is managed. Staff have worked on these together to get key systems on a single sheet and we will be asking pupils for their feedback and input in term 3, so we need to make any further tweaks to make this work for everyone. Following this we will be going out to parents for feedback.
The new policy also has additional provision for the very small number of children who sit outside of the usual behaviour systems and need more intensive support in order to reduce the impact of their behaviour on others’ learning. This is an important element based on what the children and parents have shared about their worries. We’ve been trialling a few systems for this since September with individuals and have adopted these. In short, for certain behaviours that are deemed disruptive or serious e.g. swearing, pupils will continue to be removed from class - with SLT involved in addressing this behaviour. Other behaviours will be dealt with by class teachers, who will continue to liaise directly with you.
If you would like more information, there is a video of Paul Dix explaining the approach in the link below. This highlights the rationale for adopting this sort of policy.
We hope these small changes and tightening up of systems will mean that as the school reaches its full capacity we continue to thrive as a ‘big school with a small school ethos’.
Kind regards
Mrs Deevoy Mr Gambell
Interim Executive Headteacher Acting Head of School
There will be an open classroom session on Thursday 19th October from 3.15 – 3.45pm.
This is an informal event so there is no compulsion to attend.
Classes will share their Harvest celebrations as part of the Open Classroom event.
A team of girls from Upper Key Stage 2 will be representing the school at the Maidstone Gallagher stadium. They will be competing against other schools from the local area.
Hedgehogs - Monday and Wednesday
Squirrels - Tuesday and Wednesday
Dormice - Tuesday and Thursday
Rabbits - Monday and Thursday
Dragonflies - Wednesday and Thursday
Robins - Wednesday and Thursday
Foxes - Wednesday and Friday
Badgers - Tuesday and Friday
Lizards - Tuesday and Friday
Adders Monday and Friday
Owls Monday and Wednesday