This letter was emailed to Year 1 parents and a paper copy sent home on Monday 18th October.  It is also available to view in the link below.

Dear Parents / Carers

YEAR 1 DIWALI ASSEMBLY

AVAILABLE ONLINE ON WEDNESDAY 3^rd NOVEMBER

Year 1 are currently practising their Diwali Assembly.  Due to current restrictions in place at school, we will not be able to have parents in school to watch the assembly.  However, the assembly will be available to view on our website (with a password) on Wednesday 3^rd November. 

Please ensure your child arrives at school dressed in traditional Indian clothes or party clothes on the following dates:

• Thursday 21^st October 2021- for the filming of the production.
• Wednesday 3^rd November 2021- for the performance to the children in the school.

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely

Year 1 Team

This letter was emailed to Year 4 parents on Friday 15th October and is available to view in the link below.

Dear Year 4 Parents,

YEAR 4 MULTIPLICATION TABLES CHECK (MTC)

SUMMER 2022

Year 4 pupils will be required to undertake a multiplication assessment in the Summer Term of this academic year.

The National Curriculum states that all children should be confident with all times tables up to 12 x 12 by the end of Year 4.  Rapid recall of these times tables gives all children an excellent foundation on which they can build a wide variety of mathematical skills.

The purpose of the Multiplication Tables Check or MTC is to determine whether pupils can recall their times tables fluently, which is essential for future success in Mathematics.  It will help schools to identify pupils who have not yet mastered their times tables, so that additional support can be planned.  The MTC will be held during a 3 week window of Monday 6^th June 2022 to Friday 24^th June 2022.

I will be holding an online parent information session on Tuesday 9^th November at 5.00 pm to help parents gain a better understanding of this statutory assessment and support their child in developing their fluency in times tables.  The meeting will last no longer than 30 minutes.

Please use the Zoom link below to access your chosen virtual information session.

(see email sent for Zoom link)

Yours sincerely

Miss Hima Mistry
Deputy Headteacher and Assessment Lead

This letter was emailed to Nursery and Reception parents on Friday 8th October and is available to view in the link below.

Dear Parents / Carers

EVIDENCE ME – RECEPTION AND NURSERY

Thank you to all parents who have returned the 2Simple permission forms.

In both Nursery and Reception, we use a system called ‘Evidence Me’ from 2Simple which will allows us to share what your child is doing in school.

The ‘Parent Share’ feature in Evidence Me enables you to view your child’s observations (complete with photos and/or videos) via the app or web suite, showing you what your child has been learning and the new skills they are developing.

You can send us your comments and feedback by simply adding them to the observations via the app or web suite.  This will help our staff to support your child even more effectively in the classroom.

You can also take an active role in contributing to your child’s observation portfolio by uploading your own observations, simply add these to the app or web suite.

You will receive an email in the next few days from donotreply@evidence.me asking you to confirm that you would like to participate.  Make sure you check your spam/junk inbox as sometimes emails can get lost in there.

Participation is optional, but we really recommend getting involved.

We look forward to sharing our observation with you.

Yours sincerely

MRS KAREN JONES
Headteacher

This letter was emailed to Reception and Year 1 parents on Thursday 7th October and is available to view in the link below.

Dear Parents / Carers

NUMBOTS

NumBots is an online game available for your child.  By playing little and often, children should significantly improve their recall and understanding of number bonds, and addition and subtraction facts. These are critical foundations in Maths and we hope that the use of NumBots will have a positive impact.

Children have been shown how to login and their login details are on the back of this letter. They may need some help navigating to the website and entering the details, but once they’re in, they just need a quiet space to get on with the games for approximately 5 minutes.

If you have any difficulties logging in, please let your child’s class teacher know so that we can look into it.

There are two play modes in NumBots that serve different purposes.  The first play mode is called ‘Story Mode for Understanding’.  Story mode is set out as a series of stages and Level One is unlocked for your child.  To unlock the next level, children need to earn two stars.  The second play mode is called ‘Challenge Mode for Recall’ and has an emphasis on rapid responses to essential facts and simple calculations, against the clock.  Challenge mode is unlocked once children reach a certain level on Story Mode.  There are 20 challenge levels and only the first one is unlocked upon entering this mode.  To unlock the next challenge, players must correctly answer 12 questions in a minute.

Please encourage your child to regularly use and enjoy this programme so that they can develop mathematically and track their progress as they do.

Yours sincerely

MRS KAREN JONES
Headteacher

This letter was emailed out to all parents on Tuesday 5th October and is available to view in the link below.

Dear Parents / Carers

PARENT CONSULTATION MEETINGS

Monday 18^th October & Wednesday 20^th October 2021

Parent Consultation Evenings for Nursery to Year 6 will take place on Monday 18^th October and Wednesday 20^th October from 3.40 pm until 7.40 pm.  The meetings will take place virtually using MS Teams. 

Step One

All parents will need to book appointments online through Eduspot in the usual way.  Parents will be able to book appointments from Wednesday 6^th October at 12 noon when the system goes live.  Please see separate email and text for the link which will be sent to parents on Wednesday 6^th October at 12 noon when the system goes live.  The deadline for booking an appointment will be Friday 15^th October at 12.00 noon.  You will receive confirmation for your appointment via email from Eduspot once it has been booked.  When booking, please allow enough time for you to access your virtual appointment, particularly if you have more than one child in the school.

The link to join the MS Teams scheduled meeting for your consultation will be posted on your child’s MS Teams class team account ready for the day.  Please do not try to access this before.  There will be one link for those booked on Monday and a separate one for those booked on Wednesday.

Step Two

You will need to log into your child’s MS Teams account at the allocated day and time in order for your Parent Consultation meeting to take place.  The teacher will invite you into the session at the allocated time for your appointment.  The meeting will be a 10 minute slot and will focus on how your child has settled into the new academic year.  The teacher may want to discuss with you about any relevant intervention for your child if it is applicable at this point.

Due to parents being unable to come into the school building at this time, your child will be bringing home their Maths and English books on Friday 15^th October with the expectation that these books will be returned on Monday 18^th October for pupils to resume their learning.

Please note that school will finish at the usual time for your child
on Monday 18^th October and Wednesday 20^th October. 

Afternoon Nursery will finish at 3.00 pm on both days instead of 3.40 pm. 

When booking, please allow enough time for you to collect your child from school

and access your video call.

If you have difficulty booking online, please ask the school office who will be pleased to help. 

Yours sincerely

MRS KAREN JONES
Headteacher

This letter was emailed out and a paper copy sent home to Year 2 parents on Wednesday 29th September.  It is also available to view in the link below.

Dear Parents

YEAR 2 – RECYCLING AND UPCYCLING WORKSHOP BY GREEN UP YOUR ACT

Friday 5^th November

As part of our Geography and Science topics we will be having a visit from Green Up Your Act on the morning Friday 5^th November.  This will be a recycling and upcycling workshop involving all the children having the opportunity to create their own notebook by upcycling maps.

Under legal arrangements the school will not be able to make a charge for the cost of the workshop.  However, because of the limits of the school budget we shall not be able to run the workshop unless parents are willing to contribute towards the costs involved. 

Therefore, we are writing to ask for a voluntary contribution of £3.60 to cover the cost of the workshop.  This will ensure that this activity will be able to take place.  If this activity does take place no pupil will be omitted because his or her parents feel unable to make the contribution.  Perhaps you would be kind enough to let me know, in confidence, if you feel you will need some help meeting the costs (e.g., if you are in receipt of Universal Credit).

Payment for this activity should be made through www.schoolmoney.co.uk using a debit card only.  Credit cards will not be accepted.  You will need to use the password supplied in the text/email message you will receive.  If you have any difficulties, please contact the school office.

All children will be expected to participate in this activity.  Please complete and return the slip below and make payment by Monday 1^st November.

Yours sincerely

MRS KAREN JONES
Headteacher

Dear Parents

YEAR 3 TRIP TO HARROW MUSEUM AND HERITAGE CENTRE

As part of Key Stage 2 History curriculum work, Year 3 will be visiting Harrow Museum to study how people lived during the Stone Age.  The visits for each class will take place as follows:

Class 3C will visit on the morning of Wednesday 20^th October

Class 3B will visit on the morning of Thursday 21^st October

Class 3A will visit on the afternoon of Thursday 21^st October

The school is not allowed under Government legislation to make a charge for the cost of the school visit.  However, because of the limits on the school budget, we shall not be able to run the trip unless parents are willing to contribute voluntarily towards the costs involved.

Therefore, I am writing to ask you for a voluntary contribution of £5.00 to cover the cost of the workshops.  This will ensure that the trip is able to take place.  If the trip takes place, no pupil will be omitted from the activity because his or her parents feel unable to make the contribution.  Perhaps you would be kind enough to let me know in confidence, if you feel you will need some help meeting the costs (e.g. if you are in receipt of income support or family credit).

The children will be walking to and from Harrow Museum and they will need to wear school uniform and a waterproof jacket and sensible school shoes or trainers.  They will not be allowed to go without these.  All children will be eating their lunch at school as normal.

Payment for this trip should be made through www.schoolmoney.co.uk using a debit card only.  Credit cards will not be accepted.  You will need to use the password supplied in the text/email message you will receive.  If you have any difficulties, please contact the school office.

Please complete the slip overleaf and make payment by Friday 15^th October.  We will require some parent helpers per class to enable us to make this trip.  If you are able to help, please indicate this on the reply slip overleaf.

Yours sincerely

MRS KAREN JONES
Headteacher

This letter was emailed to Reception parents on Thursday 16th September and is available to view in the link below

Dear Parents / Carers

RECEPTION READING PLANET

Reading Planet have informed the school that they are experiencing difficulties uploading new pupils to their platform as not all our Reception children are on roll.

Therefore, Reception will not be completing home reading on the Reading Planet platform just yet.  We apologise for any confusion and inconvenience caused.

Home reading for Reception will involve a reading book coming home with your child to share together at home on a Friday, once a week.  Inside the front cover there will be a short guide and questions you can use to support your child.  This is just for enjoyment and getting into the routine of reading at home and is not matched to your child’s reading level at this point so please do not worry about recording any reading activities.

Once Reading Planet is available for Reception there will be a parent meeting for Reception led by myself to introduce the structure of Reading Planet and Phonics.

Books will be sent home on Friday 24^th September.  New books will only be sent out when the previous book has been returned.

Any enquiries linked to the home reading books can be directed to class email boxes:

• ra@vaughan.harrow.sch.uk
• rb@vaughan.harrow.sch.uk
• rc@vaughan.harrow.sch.uk

Thank you for your support.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Sullivan
Year Group Leader

Dear Parents/Carers

UPDATE ON PUPIL TESTING

We have been informed that the government website for booking a Covid PCR test has changed recently, so we would like to update parents regarding this.  If your child’s ‘symptoms’ being displayed do not fall under the classic symptoms advertised on Public Health websites and NHS 119 helplines, the school has been in contact with Harrow Public Health and continues to share with parents the following information:

• The school will continue to send pupils home with symptoms identified as potential indicators to infection which were experienced in both the Autumn and Spring Terms – e.g., headache, aches and pains, vomiting or diarrhoea, along with high temperature, cough or loss of taste or smell.
• Parents will need to book onto the COVID test site itself: https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test , rather than going through NHS 119.
• When booking online, parents will need to complete the sections below as shown:

When parents take their child to the test site they need to say that they have been told by their school to undertake a test as advised by the Public Health Consultant at Harrow Council.  This is particularly the case if classic COVID symptoms of: a cough, high temperature or loss of smell or taste, are not experienced by the child.

We hope that this information proves helpful and continues to support and protect the school community.  Thanking you in advance for your cooperation.

Yours sincerely

MRS KAREN JONES
Headteacher

This letter was emailed to parents of children in Reception to Year 6 on Friday 10th September and is available to view in a link below.

Dear Parents / Carers

SMARTWATCHES IN SCHOOL

It has come to our attention that a number of pupils are wearing smartwatches to school and accessing their phone devices through these.

It is against school policy to have access to phones or any devices linked to them during the school day.

This has now become an issue in the playground and during learning time in class and so we are advising that any child who is wearing a smartwatch and is found to be accessing any mobile devices will have their smartwatch confiscated and returned to their parent as per the school’s Behaviour Policy.

Please note that these devices are worn at owners risk and the school cannot be held responsible for any loss that occurs while your child is on the school grounds.

We hope you will understand and that parents can work with the school regarding this.

Yours sincerely

MRS KAREN JONES
Headteacher

This letter was emailed to Year 5 parents on Thursday 22nd July and is available to view in a link below.

Dear Parents and Carers

YEAR 6 SWIMMING LESSONS – SEPTEMBER 2021

Following the parents meeting yesterday, please find attached further relevant information regarding swimming lessons in the Autumn Term for your child.

Pupils in Year 6 will be swimming from Thursday 9^th September 2021 and the last session will be on 16^th December 2021.

Swimming requirements

The Harrow Schools’ policy for swimming (see Harrow Schools’ Guidelines for Swimming) is that children should not wear goggles.  The objectives of these lessons are to teach children to swim, enhance swimming skills and to survive in the water. The lessons will take place on a Thursday morning.

Those children who suffer from extreme eye irritation, caused by chemicals in the pool, can wear goggles only if permission is requested on the form attached.  I appreciate we have a number of club swimmers and that goggles are often necessary when in the water for long training periods, but the school swimming lesson lasts only 30 minutes and most children should not need them.

The other requirements for swimming are as follows:

• For reasons of personal hygiene and safety all children are required to wear a swimming hat during lessons.
• One-piece swimming costumes for girls and swimming trunks (above the knee, not boxer/Bermuda shorts) for boys.  They also need a large, named towel and a waterproof bag for their kit.  Girls may like a second towel for their hair.
• Children are allowed to bring roll-on deodorants, but not sprays.
• Please ensure ALL swimming items and uniform is labelled with your child’s name.
• Your son/daughter is encouraged to bring a healthy snack to eat after swimming (fruit/vegetables).  Please remember we are a nut free school.

As stated in the parents meeting, swimming lessons are part of the National Curriculum and the school is funded to provide these sessions.  However, the cost of transporting pupils to the swimming pool is not, and due to a reduced budget, and after approval from the Governing Body, the school has no option but to request a voluntary contribution of £20.00 in order for us to transport your child to and from the swimming pool during the Autumn term.  

The school will set up payments for pupils using the Schoolmoney payment system and this can be accessed in the usual way as you would to pay for a school trip.  It is with regret that this request is being made but it will go a long way in ensuring that your child is able to complete the swimming programme on offer.

Medical Information

To enable us to up-date our records could you all please complete the form attached, indicating whether or not your child has a medical condition (e.g. asthma, epilepsy).  If your child has any medication, please include this information on the form.  If there is an occasion when your child is unable to go swimming, we must have a letter from parents.  If your child needs to be absent from swimming for a long period of time, a medical certificate will be required to explain why.

Additional Information

The highest levels of behaviour and respect to all adults are expected at all times and we would be grateful if you would discuss appropriate behaviour with your child. The Behaviour Policy will be in operation during swimming visits and all pupils will be expected to adhere to it as they would do in the school setting.

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely

MRS KAREN JONES
Headteacher