Newsletters

Newsletter 15 – 23rd June 2017

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Newsletter 14 – 13th June 2017

As the Year 6 enter their last term at Kessingland Primary Academy, the school continues to introduce a number of new opportunities, at the same time as improving academic outcomes as quickly as we can. The school has now been an academy for nine terms and Ofsted re-inspect new schools within nine terms, so we are expecting a visit before the summer break.

As I have shared in a recent newsletter and on the website, the results of the parent questionnaires were excellent and it would be brilliant for the school if these results were replicated on the Parent View website. The views shared on this website will be used by Ofsted when they make any judgement on the school and it would be much appreciated if as many parents as possible can share their views as soon as possible. This is the link for Parent View: https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/register

As a school, we continually judge ourselves and refine our school improvement plan every six weeks. We have been told by a number of external auditors, that our judgements have been mostly accurate and when they are not, the judgements on our school have always been improved. All of our monitoring visits by the DFE have been extremely positive and this was also echoed through the SIAMs report.

I thought you might be interested to know some of the details of the progress that the school has made in the last few years, as we are very proud of our dedicated staff and hard-working children:

EYFS

Since 2013, there have been sustained improved outcomes at the end of EYFS – 15% achieved a GLD in 2013, 32% in 2014, 62% in 2015 and 58% in 2016. We are predicting at least 61% this year.

Year 1 Phonics

In 2015, the school Year 1 Phonics pass rate was 24% below the national average at 53%.

In 2016, the school Year 1 Phonics pass rate was only 4% below the national average at 77%.

In 2017, we are predicting that 79% of the Year 1 will pass.

Some of our children in EYFS are currently working on their phonics with Year 1 as they are ready for the challenge.

Year 2 SATs

This table shows how much better our Year 2 will compare to the national average in 2017.

	2016	Predicted 2017	National
Reading	46%	79%	74%
Writing	44%	65%	66%
Maths	54%	75%	73%
Combined	44%	61%	60%

Year 6 SATs

In 2015, results at this school were significantly below the national average and the school was placed in the bottom 1% of the country for progress made across Key Stage 2.

In contrast, in 2016, the school achieved the national target for progress across KS2 for the first time ever, as the children had made expected progress in reading, writing and maths. This was despite, at the start of the year, only 5% of the children being on-track to achieve national expectations.

Our Year 6 teacher assessments are even more positive this year.

Other areas

Tapestry has been introduced to improve communication with EYFS parents and Year 1 and Year 5 are currently trialling the Class Dojo parent app. The parental feedback on both has been excellent and we are planning to use the latter across the school next year.

The support for Young Carers has been incredible. We were the first school to receive the Suffolk Young Carer Gold Award and we are now officially supporting 31 Young Carers in school.

The children are showing such pride in their learning. Our Discovery Cafes and Class Assemblies are another excellent example of this and I have had so many parents and extended family share how incredibly impressed they are by the amount of learning taking place and how the children are so confident in addressing a very large audience. The latest Antelope learning showcase saw over 50 visitors to the school.

Not everything we have introduced has gone to plan. The Termly Learning Conferences introduced in March are an example of this. Whilst it was unanimously agreed that they were an excellent way of giving the children more responsibility and ownership of their learning, we will definitely refine these next year, by allocating more time for each family. We have had to change so many things in a very short period of time and these are just a few examples.  We really do value your feedback; please continue to share it.

Community Success

William Butcher, Samuel Binks, Jayden Mower & Jack Bloomfield were awarded the title of ‘Most Respectful Team’ whilst playing for Sole Bay FC. Samuel Binks also won ‘Player of the Season’.

Lewis Burgess – Caught a 4lb Common Carp whilst fishing for Kingfisher Junior Angling Club.

Libby Lay – Celebrates her 9^th year sponsoring ‘Digby’ the dog.

Chantelle Goddard & Lula Petrini – Made their own jewellery at Hawaiian night.

Molly Knowles, Jack Knowles & Harrison Butcher – ran 675m at Athletics Club.

Jenson Smith – ‘Trainer of the Week’ at football training.

Aliyah Raine – did some jumping on the tallest horse at horse riding lessons.

William Davis – most improved footballer at football training.

Paige Kilduff – has started sponsoring animals with WWF.

Izabella Anderson – won a medal for being the best behaved at Drama Club.

Cian Wilmshurst – won the ‘best skills’ football trophy.

Peyton Delf – learned to perform a hand-spring in gymnastics.

Jayden Dye – drew a wonderful picture of a Minecraft bee and had it displayed in the window of his art club.

Ben & Jack Knowles – were the best team players at football practice.

John-Paul Lucas – is now being trained by Jonathan Thaxton and has his first fight lined up in Oulton Broad.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 12^th June – Year 5 CoSpace Competition

Wednesday 14^th June – Year 5 Mathletics Competition in KPA but organised by Beccles Free School

Tuesday 20^th June – EYFS visiting the church. (Departing school at 9:00am) Parents are very welcome to join us.

Wednesday 21^st June – Year 5 Mathletics with Beccles Free School

Thursday 22^nd June – Schools Swimming Gala

Friday 23^rd June – Year 6 Big Sing

Tuesday 27^th June – September 2017 Reception Class Parent Evening

Thursday 29^th June – School Fete (3:15pm – 5:00pm)   * Please note there will be no after-school club on that evening.

Tuesday 4^th July – Sports Day

Wednesday 5^th July – Year 5 and 6 Global Life Workshop

Thursday 6^th July – Year 5 Lowestoft Sports on the Beach Competition

Monday 10^th July – Science Dome Experience

Monday 10^th July – Year 1 and Year 2 visit to Norwich Castle

Tuesday 11^th July – RESERVE Sports Day

Thursday 13^th July  – Year 6 Leavers’ Party

Friday 14^th July  – Leavers’ Assembly  (9:00am -10:00am)

Friday 14^th July –Marina Theatre to watch The Scarecrows’ Wedding – Reception Classes (10:00am)

Tuesday 18^th July – Saxmundham Free School Sports Coaching – Reception Classes (pm)

Monday 24^th July – No school as the summer holiday has started.

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Newsletter 13 – 23^rd May 2017

The children have worked extremely hard in their recent assessments, showing everyone how much they have learnt over the last academic year. The children are to be commended for the resilience they have shown; we are very proud of them.

Hands on Heritage

Fire-lighting, pewter casting, weaving, whittling and archery were just some of the activities Year 6 took part in during their overnight camp in Tunstall Forest last week. Despite a wet and wild night under canvas, our children threw themselves into everything on offer with high spirits. The volunteers on the site were complimentary about their politeness, willingness to have a go at everything (including Roman burgers!) and their sense of community as they constructed dens and collected firewood. As ever, we were extremely proud of their attitude and achievements.

Rounders

On Thursday 11th May, ten children in Year 5 visited Pakefield High School to take part in a rounders tournament. The pupils played brilliantly and worked incredibly well as a team. Overall, the team finished in fourth place. Well done!

Golden Mile

We will be assessing the impact of participating in the Golden Mile on Thursday morning. Please could you make sure that your child has their PE kit in school on that day.

EYFS Collective Worship

EYFS will be visiting St Edmund’s Church on Tuesday 20^th June for their Collective Worship. We would be delighted to have as many parents as possible joining us for the service and to accompany their own child to and from the church. We will be leaving straight after morning registration. Please can you tell your child’s class teacher if you are able to join us. Please can you also make sure your child has a coat in case it rains.

Dates for the Diary

Wednesday 24^th May – Antelope Class Assembly (Parents welcome) 10:15am-10:30am

Thursday 25^th May – Golden Mile Progress Day

Thursday 1^st June – Fun and Food in the School Holidays (12pm – 2pm)  All welcome!

Monday 12^th June – Year 5 CoSpace Competition

Wednesday 14^th June – Year 5 Mathletics Competition at Beccles Free School

Tuesday 20^th June – EYFS visiting the church.  (Departing school at 9:00am) Parents are very welcome to join us.

Friday 23^rd June – Year 6 Big Sing

Thursday 29^th June – School Fete (3:15pm – 5:00pm)   * Please note there will be no after-school club on that evening.

Tuesday 4^th July – Sports Day

Wednesday 5^th July – Year 5 and 6 Global Life Workshop

Monday 10^th July – Science Dome Experience

Tuesday 11^th July – RESERVE Sports Day

Thursday 13^th July  – Year 6 Leavers’ Party

Friday 14^th July  – Leavers’ Assembly  (9:00am -10:00am)

Tuesday 18^th July – Saxmundham Free School Sports Coaching – Reception Classes (pm)

Friday 14^th July –Marina Theatre to watch The Scarecrows’ Wedding – Reception Classes (10am)

Monday 24^th July – No school as the summer holiday has started.

Community Success

Ella-ann Knowles – Finished 2^nd in all but one of her swimming time-trials.

Edward Youngman – Won a “Tennis is Ace” award.

Andreas Cross – Appeared on BBC Look East, talking about his scholarship to Elmhurst Ballet School.

Nevis Dores – Won a WeDo Robot for his excellent work in Minecraft Club

Noah Millet – Gained his level 3 Gymnastics badge

Jessica Drane – Gained her level 2 Gymnastics badge

Makia Bessey – Won a trophy at football training

Tobias Cole – Won a Taekwondo competition

Matilda Smith – Gained her 15m badge and Stage 2 Swimming award

Aaliyah Gonsalves – Awarded her level 6 Gymnastics certificate

Aliyah Raine/Molly Knowles – 3rd in ‘Have you got Talent?’ competition at Kessingland Amateur Dramatics

Makia Bessey – Played as goalkeeper at football training

Ruby Sims – Became a member of British Gymnastics

Joshua Barney – Gained his level 2 Gymnastics certificate

Mickayla Wright – Gained her 5m Swimming certificate and Level 3 Gymnastics award.

Ava Shipley – Gained 3^rd place in Show Jumping at The Sotterley Show.
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Newsletter 12 – 5^th May 2017

The summer term is well under way and the Year 6 are entering their final term. We wish them all the best of luck with the SATs next week. Thank you to everyone who completed the questionnaires during the Termly Learning Conferences. The results can be viewed on our school website. We have shared a number of events that will be happening in this newsletter but we have many more that are currently being planned.

Eaton Vale Visit

At Kessingland Church of England Primary Academy, the Summer Term began with an exciting opportunity for our Year 4 pupils. On Thursday 20^th April, 19 children visited Eaton Vale Scout and Guide Activity Centre, on the outskirts of Norwich. The group enjoyed an action-packed two-day residential, full of adventurous activities, including Abseiling, Climbing, Canoeing, Pedal Go-Karting, Archery, and Crate Stacking.

The visit enhanced curricular and recreational opportunities for our pupils and offered a wider range of experiences. It was an enormous privilege to watch our children develop the appropriate independence which will enable them to grow and develop as young people.

“I enjoyed helping my friends to build trust and reach their goals.” Harvey aged 8 (nearly 9!).

“I enjoyed watching my friend Angel reach the top of the climbing wall, after her twin brother Finley, encouraged her to persevere!” Jessica

Maths Challenge

The 56 club and 56* continues to run but we are introducing two new clubs.

The first is ‘My First 56* Club’. Children in EYFS need to know their numbers from 0-20 and be able to add one more and work out one less. Once pupils have shown that they can do this to their teacher, the children will be invited to answer 10 or more questions in two minutes without making a mistake.

The second is the 56* Club Minis. KS1 pupils need to show they can recall the 2, 5 and 10 times tables. The children have two minutes to answer 10 questions without making a mistake.

The School Learning Council

The School Learning Council have met to decide what to spend some of the recent fund raising on. The pupils are going to purchase some bean bags that can be used in the atrium and outside at lunchtimes for pupils to read on. They are also purchasing additional play equipment.

Tchoukball

Many of our Year 5 children experienced Tchoukball for the very first time last week. We are very grateful to Beccles Free School and their Sports Leaders for running a coaching session that our children enjoyed so much.

Scholarships

A big congratulations to Andreas Cross for being successful in receiving one of the prestigious DfE Scholarships for the Elmhurst School for Dance in Birmingham. This is an amazing achievement and reward for all of his hard work and determination to be the best performer he can be. Andreas is one of only 10 children nationally to be successful.

A big congratulations to Ben Brow for being successful in receiving a scholarship for Saint Felix School. Ben was awarded the scholarship after he successfully completed a number of exams earlier in the year. Again, Ben has showed great determination in his studies, to achieve the highest standards.

Fidget Spinners

Please could we ask you not to send your children into school with ‘fidget spinners’. They have proven to be a very useful aid to learning for some pupils; however, these are pupils that have been identified with specific needs. As you may well have seen in the media, fidget spinners can become a major distraction in class and they are having a negative impact on learning and concentration in the classroom. Thank you for your support.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 8^th May – Year 6 SATs Reading Paper

Tuesday 9^th May – Year 6 SATs Spelling Punctuation and Grammar Paper

Wednesday 10^th May – Year 6 SATs Maths Paper

Thursday 11^th May – Year 6 SATs Maths Reasoning Paper

Thursday 11^th May – Year 5 Rounders Tournament (pm)

Wednesday 17^th May – Meerkat Class Assembly (Parents welcome) 10:15am-10:30am

Thursday 18^th May – Year 6 Hands on Heritage Residential Visit

Friday 19^th May – Year 6 Hands on Heritage Residential Visit

Wednesday 24^th May – Antelope Class Assembly (Parents welcome) 10:15am-10:30am

Thursday 25^th May – Golden Mile Progress Day

Monday 12^th June – Year 5 CoSpace Competition

Wednesday 14^th June – Year 5 Mathletics Competition at Beccles Free School

Friday 23^rd June – Year 6 Big Sing

Thursday 29^th June – School Fete (3:15pm – 5:00pm) * Please note there will be no after-school club on that evening.

Tuesday 4^th July – Sports Day

Monday 10^th July – Science Dome Experience

Tuesday 11^th July – RESERVE Sports Day

Thursday 13^th July – Year 6 Leavers Party

Friday 14^th July – Leavers Assembly (9:00am -10:00am)

Tuesday 18^th July – Saxmundham Free School Sports Coaching – Reception Classes (pm)

Monday 24^th July – No school as the summer holiday has started.

Community Successes

Lily Barbor – Gained her first swimming certificate

Aliyah Raine – Mastered jumping on a horse

Ruby Sims – Gained her gymnastics level 6 certificate

Ben Youngman and Ella-ann Knowles – Performed with the “Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment”

Ashton & Travis Neller – Both won their bouts of boxing.

William Davis – Won a belt after victory in his latest kickboxing bout

Molly Knowles – Gained her Stage 4 swimming certificate

Ben Knowles & Jack Knowles – Were both awarded “Football Trainer of the Week” trophies

Jessica Newstead – Started sponsoring animals for the RSPCA

Layla Jessop – Earned her Sixer Badge at Cubs

Chantelle Goddard – Earned her Cooking Badge at Brownies, she also started sponsoring animals for the RSPCA

Libby Lay – Earned her Cooking Badge at Brownies and started drum lessons.

Shayna Richardson, Izabella Anderson & Lula Petrini – All earned the Cooking Badge at Brownies.

Jayden Dye – Has started boxing lessons.

Max Roberts – Won the man of the match award at football.

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Newsletter 11 – 31^st March 2017

Thank you to everyone that attended the Termly Learning Conferences this week. The response was unanimously positive and we will continue to use the format in the future. Your patience during the evenings is also much appreciated. In response to the children having so much to say about their own learning, the conferences will be timetabled over three evenings next time!

House Competition

Well done to the Red House for winning this term’s competition.

Staff Changes

We will be sadly saying goodbye to Mrs Belden, Mrs Fairweather and Mr Benton at the end of term. I would like to thank them for all their hard work and commitment to the school and wish them all the very best for the future.

The school has also recruited staff for a number of new posts this week.  Miss Smith was appointed as an additional Deputy Headteacher, Mrs Middleton and Miss Vettese  were appointed as Learning Support Assistants  and we have employed three new Lunchtime Supervisors: Mrs Brookman, Mrs Flint and Mr Armitage.

Reading Tea Party

A big well done to the 87 children that have read at least 5 times a week for this half term. The regular readers all enjoyed a tasty treat during breaktime on Thursday.

Comic Relief

Thank you for supporting this charity. The children raised over £400 through purchasing red noses, wearing non-uniform and by attempting to get in the ‘56 Club’. Please continue to practise times tables at home, as it is so beneficial for the children to know them.

Easter Raffle

The eagerly awaited ‘Easter Egg Raffle’ was drawn on Thursday. Mrs Baldwin managed to acquire 40 eggs from staff, local businesses and some parents. We had a lot of happy winners, from staff and children!

Special Lady Shop

A big thank to the Friends of the School for organising a ‘Special Lady Shop’ last week in the run up to Mothers’ Day. A number of parents have also asked me to pass on their appreciation. We hope you enjoyed your presents.

Movie Nights

Our Movie Nights were once again, very well supported. Pupils enjoyed watching a film whilst enjoying hot dogs and popcorn. I am very grateful to staff for giving up another two evenings in what was a very busy week.

Dates for the Diary

Friday 31st March – Year 5 Maths Puzzle Day at Beccles Free School

Friday 31st March – Last day of the spring term

Tuesday 18th April – Professional Development Day for Teachers (no children)

Wednesday 19th April – Children return to school

Thursday 20th April / Friday 21^st April – Year 4 Eaton Vale Trip – Overnight stay

Thursday 27th April – St. Edmunds Church, Easter Service (Whole school)

Monday 8th May – Year 6 SATs Week

Community Successes

Ethan Ward – Has adopted a lion with the Zoological Society of East Anglia.

Billy Willis – Gained his Blue Belt at Karate.

Alfie Bessey – Trainer of the Week at football training.

Riley Willis – Was Cub of the Week & gained his Blue Belt at Karate.

Chantelle Goddard, Shayna Richardson, Daisy Allard & Izabella Anderson – invented their own board game, called Snakes & Vines, at Brownies.

Newsletter 10 – March 20th 2017

We have two more weeks to go before the Easter break and we have a great deal to fit in. We hope to see all of you at our new Termly Learning Conferences. Please remember to bring your children with you! Please also remember that there will no after-school clubs during the last week of term, except the film night.

We Love Books!

World Book Day is always a favourite amongst the children and staff at our school. As a community we celebrate reading and stories every day so it was great fun when we dressed up as different characters and spent the day talking about and doing activities based on books and authors. This year we wrote a whole school story based on a golden egg – even our Governing Body wrote a paragraph!

In our special assembly, the Gangsta Grannies (Yellow House) won the World Book Day Quiz – well done!

We voted for our favourite costumes and these are our winners:

Ollie Page and Lily Gower Zebras	Lily Barbor and Edward Youngman Otters	Joshua Barney and Nevaeh Eastaugh Owls
Miles Chenery and Skye-Marie Codling Aardvarks	Layla Young and Reggie Francis Giraffes	Rose Kirkwood and Alfie Bessey Meerkats
Emerson Beavers and Jessica Davis Lemurs	Tori Bellis and Danny Wallace Antelopes	Lula Cox and Jack Bloomfield Lions

Library Book Returns

Please could everyone have a hunt at home for any school library books – we love that our shelves are less full but would like to see which books have been so well read we need to order new copies. Our School Librarians are doing an amazing job and love to be busy! Children can scan books back in during their weekly library lesson or at lunchtimes. Thank-you!

U10 Football

On March 2^nd, 14 boys and girls from our Year 4 and Year 5 took part in a football tournament at Pakefield High School. Well done to all of them for representing the school excellently and competing well against some strong opposition. The school finished 4^th overall.

Cross Country

On March 1st we took 32 children from Key Stage 2 to Saint Felix School to take part in a Cross Country competition. The children had a brilliant time and represented our school well. Our Year 6 team did particularly well and finished 3^rd.

Congratulations – Tobias Cole won our Teddy Bear called Maybel; I am sure she will be very happy in her new home!

School Dinners

Please could you send dinner money in on a Monday, in a clearly marked envelope with your child’s name and class on, as well as the days they are having a hot dinner and the amount of money enclosed.

Dates for the Diary

Tuesday 21st March – Year 5 CoSpace Robotics Mentoring Day with Beccles Free School

Wednesday 22nd March – Friends of the School Cake Sale

Thursday 23rd March – Mother’s/Special Lady shop

Friday 24th March – Comic Relief (Non-uniform day)

Monday 27th March – Movie Night Key Stage 2

Tuesday 28th March – Termly Learning Conferences

Wednesday 29th March – Termly Learning Conferences

Thursday 30th March – Movie Night Key Stage 1

Thursday 30th March – Lemurs Termly Learning Conferences

Thursday 30th March – Easter Egg Raffle

Friday 31st March – Year 5 Maths Puzzle Day at Beccles Free School

Friday 31st March – Last day of the Spring Term

Tuesday 18th April – Professional Development Day for Teachers (no children)

Wednesday 19th April – Children return to school

Thursday 20th April – Year 4 Eaton Vale Trip – Overnight stay

Thursday 27th April – St. Edmunds Church, Easter Service (Whole school)

Monday 8th May – Year 6 SATs Week

Community Successes

Noah Millet – Achieved his Hobbycraft & Space Badges at Beavers.

John-Paul Lucas – Took part in 2 skills bout boxing matches at the K9 gym.

William Davis – Took part in 2 skills bout boxing matches at the K9 gym.

Travis Neller – Won 2 boxing medals and fighter of the day at the K9 gym.

Ashton Neller – Won a boxing medal at the K9 gym.

Roxann Whenman – Gained her ‘4 strokes’ swimming certificate.

Kacie Young – Invested at Pakefield Scouts.

Ella-ann Knowles – Invested at Pakefield Scouts. She also took part in swimming time trials at Water Lane in Lowestoft.

Atalia Davis – Won 2 medals at the K9 gym for Boxing & Kickboxing.

Eliza Supple – Gone up to level 3 in swimming and can now swim a length of the pool unaided.

Samuel Supple – Gone up to level 3 in swimming and can now swim a length of the pool unaided.

Jack Knowles – Won trophy of the week for football training.

Andreas Cross – Came first in his solos and won the junior boys award and finished 3^rd at a Modern Dance Competition in Manchester. Andreas also performed an amazing modern ballet dance routine during our Celebration Assembly.

William Butcher – Took part in the regional final race for Suffolk.

Tiana-Marie Lee – Became a member of a horse riding club and can now name all body parts of a horse!

Paige Kilduff – Performed a solo at drama.

Jack Bloomfield – Finished 1^st at the Sudbury Festival Dance Competition.

Maddison Jackson – Named player of the month and made captain of Kirkley & Pakefield F.C. She was also invested at Pakefield Scouts.

Layla Roberts – Gained her Party Badge at Girl Guides.

Leo Dawson – Gained his level 1 & 2 swimming certificates.

Lacey Brookman – Trainer of the week at football training and it was her first ever session!

Faith Noller – Passed her hair braiding exam at Brownies with a commendation.

Roxann Whenman – Gained her black T-shirt for attending drama club regularly.

Grace Snell – Won an acting award at drama club.

Sky-Marie Codling – Won a badge for finding all the animals at the Sea Life Centre in Great Yarmouth.

Newsletter 9 – February 21st 2017

I hope everyone had a wonderful half-term break. We have a number of exciting things planned before Easter and we are looking forward to new opportunities to share with the children.

Kessingland CofE Primary Academy receives highest award from Suffolk Young Carers.

Just before half-term, the school celebrated the work of our young carers in the community. This tremendous work was recognised in the form of Suffolk Young Carers “Caring for Carers” Schools Gold Award. Kessingland Church of England Primary Academy is the first of only two schools in Suffolk to have received this award. The school has also been recognised for its work with young carers, by being included as a part of the School to School Support Partnership, sharing and celebrating good practice across schools.

U11 Football Team

Kessingland Primary Academy took two Under 11 football teams to the recent tournament at St Felix School in February. Both teams played some wonderful football in appalling weather. The ‘B’ team finished 4^th in their group but finished the competition strongly, winning their last game against Carlton Colville 4-0. The ‘A’ team won their group and reached the semi-finals before narrowly losing to St Felix in a very exciting match. Well done to everyone involved.

U11 Athletics

On Wednesday 25^th January, the Year 5/6 athletics team visited Water Lane Leisure Centre for a competitive tournament against 25 local schools. The children participated in individual field events as well as team relays. Kessingland finished 13^th overall and our Year 6 boys’ team finished in first place in the relay, beating all other 24 schools! It was a fun-filled day and the children had a brilliant time.

U11 Basketball

On Thursday 9^th February, twelve children in Years 5 and 6 took part in a basketball tournament at Pakefield High School. They played in four games against other schools in Lowestoft. It was a brilliant evening and the children represented the school incredibly well. Our team finished 4th.

Books! Books! Books!

This week our school will host a book fair. We will open to the children each lunchtime and after school for parents and carers. It will be open from Tuesday 21^st February until Friday 24^th February. Parents and carers are welcome to pop in between 3.15pm and 4:00pm – please use the front entrance. Children have brought home a catalogue to help them choose a book. If your child brings money into school please could it be in a named envelope.

Following our book fair, we will celebrate World Book Day on Thursday, 2^nd March. There will be reading and book based activities throughout the day. Every year, the children enjoy dressing up as book characters so we are looking forward to seeing plenty of Horrid Henrys, Harry Potters and Gangsta Grannies!

FISH – Food In The School Holiday

Our third event took place on Thursday 16^th February at the Church Hall in Kessingland, during the half-term holiday. Families participated in a number of activities, including pin the heart on Elvis the skeleton, making heart shaped clay tea light holders, decorated with lots of sparkle as well as producing a heart shaped banner, which can be seen decorating the church hall. Lunch consisted of homemade vegetable soup and rolls with a variety of fillings, with desert and fruit to follow.

We asked our families for their feedback:

“Come to the Fishes Fun Group, it is a very friendly, warm and relaxed environment.”

“Lots of fun for all ages.”

“We do arts and crafts, lunch is provided and it’s unlimited fun.”

Grateful thanks to everyone for their support!

If you would like details on the FISH Easter Holiday event, please look out for details in your child’s school bag!

Disco

A huge thank you to all the Friends of the school for organising the disco before half-term. It was lovely to see the children having such a wonderful time! The DJ was most complimentary about our children’s behaviour. We look forward to more events planned by the Friends and hope you can support them in their efforts to offer more social events for your children.

Dates for the Diary

Tuesday 21^st February – Friday 24th February Book Fair

Friday 24^th February – Friends of the School Meeting (1:30pm)

Wednesday 1^st March – Year 3, 4, and 6 Cross Country competition at St Felix (1:00pm)

Thursday 2^nd March – World Book Day (costumes to be worn)

Thursday 2^nd March – Year 5 Five a side Football competition at Pakefield High School (1:00pm- 3:00pm)

Tuesday 7^th March – Year 3 Wolsey Theatre Production at Carlton Colville

Wednesday 15^th March – Young Carers Lunch

Wednesday 22^nd March – Friends of the school cake sale

Friday 24^th March – Comic Relief

Community Successes

Ella-ann Knowles – Gold Medal in the Breast Stroke and gained her 4 year badge at Cubs.

Kieran Hewitt – Two silvers & one Bronze at his latest swimming competition.

Chantelle Goddard – Achieved her Den Building & Toy-making badges at Brownies. Chantelle also won a special book for taking part in a run in Portugal.

Libby Lay (and her dog!) – Won best dog & best breed in show.

Thomas Price – Trainer of the week at football practice.

Tia & Peyton Delf – Have been selected to dance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Matilda Smith – Achieved her Stage One Swimming Certificate.

Jack Bloomfield – Appeared in the panto Snow White.

Aliyah Raine – Came 1^st in a horse riding competition.

Travis Neller – Finished 1^st in his age group at the British Kickboxing Championship.

Ashton Neller – Finished 2^nd to his older brother Hadley at the British Championship.

Jessica Drane – Appeared in the panto Aladdin and gained her Cubs Promise Necker.

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Newsletter 7 – January 23rd 2017

We have had two additional members of staff join us this term. Mrs Martin will be working across the school but primarily in our Nursery and with the Year 3/4 classes. Mrs Lurkins will be working in the school office. I am also delighted that we have had a large number of new children join us recently. We have welcomed 19 new children since the summer term.

We shared our recent SIAMs report just before Christmas and we are all delighted with the findings. Our number one priority on our ‘School Improvement Plan’ is to continue to improve academic outcomes as quickly as possible. To enable us to do this we have organised 92 ‘booster’ sessions for English and Maths across the school. Some of these are timetabled during the school day and others after school. The sessions cover a full range of abilities and are a large financial investment for the school. Please can you encourage your child to attend if they are invited – we hope they will be fun and that the children will enjoy them.

Early Years Reading

Thank you to everyone who has supported the Early Years Reading project in the mornings and thank you for your feedback on the initiative. In response to this, we are also going to invite parents into school from 3:00pm on a Thursday and Friday. This will enable parents with older siblings to join us too, without worrying about dropping off other children.

Friends of the school

The Friends of the school are organising a disco on the 9^th February. Please note that there will be no after-school club on that evening.

The Golden Mile

On Tuesday 10th January, six leaders visited Kessingland to speak to our children about The Golden Mile. The Golden Mile is an initiative that encourages children to take part in physical activity. The Year 5 pupils are now trained up as leaders and will oversee The Golden Mile across the school and each class has been assigned a lunchtime slot. This will involve the pupils running around the field, so please can you make sure your child has their trainers in school on that day, if they would like to take part. It is a great way of getting active and we are looking forward to seeing which class has completed the most miles.

Mondays	Tuesdays	Wednesdays	Thursdays	Fridays
Reception 12:30 – 12:45	Year 3-4 (Lemurs) 12:00 – 12:15	Year 6 12:00 – 12:15 Year 5 1:00 – 1:10	Year 1 12:30 – 12:45 Year 2 – 12:00 – 12:15	Year 3-4 (Meerkats) 12:00 – 12:15

KS2 CoSpacing

Ten Year 5 children had an opportunity to take part in a coding day at BT’s HQ in Martlesham Heath. Working alongside Key Stage 2 children from other local primary schools, our children spent the day learning how to program virtual robots using real world ICT skills. They were aided by BT volunteers, who generously gave their time on the day to demonstrate how such skills can become useful to employers. It was a brilliantly organised event and one that inspired our children to consider their coding journey in school alongside their peers. A special thank you to Mr. Milton for his hard work in organising this wonderful opportunity and creating a valuable learning partnership with BT.

MUGA – Multi-Use Games Area

We have been working very closely with the Kessingland Parish Council and they have invited us to use this games facility during the school day. This is a brilliant opportunity, as the school field is very wet at this time of year. Initially we will be taking Year 5 and 6 children across to the facility during PE lessons and then during some lunchtimes so that they can play football and basketball. Only children on the Green, Silver or Gold behaviour track will be allowed to attend that day.

100 Dojo Points

Aimee Baskott, Ella-ann Knowles, Tori Bellis, William Davis and Forrest Dores are the first pupils to receive 100 Dojo points. Congratulations to you all.

Kessingland Ringing Group

We will be making flat-pack nestbox kits during Den Building over the next few weeks and these will then be used within the Marsh Lane area. We are very grateful to the Kessingland Ringing Group for contributing £50 and for supervising the fixing. Our lucky pupils will be able to see the ringing of chicks in the successful boxes in the summer.

Sign2Sing 2017

On Tuesday 7th February 2017, Kessingland CofE Primary Academy will be taking part in its first Sign2Sing challenge to raise money for SignHealth, a 20 year old UK charity which provides a range of professional health services to Deaf people in the UK and Uganda.

The whole school will be taking part in a special assembly, which the School Council has been working hard to prepare. It will provide information about what it is like to be deaf, as well as include tips on how we could all be better communicators. The assembly will culminate in a grand finale, during which the whole school will come together to sing and sign three songs. These are: “We are better off Together”, “Friends Forever” and “Joining Hands together”.

If you would like to support your child by undertaking further practice at home, resources for Sign2Sing 2017 can be found here. The latest song is at the top of the page and you will need to scroll down and click on “sign2sing back album” to access the other two.

EYFS Tapestry Prize

Congratulations to the three parents who won the chocolates in January: Zebra – K Pettifer(Lexi), Owl – S Harvey (Courtney), Otter – L Noller (Destiny). We have had a 200% increase in the number of posts from parents and carers. Please keep contributing.

Community Success

William Butcher – Picked to run for Suffolk.

William Davis – ‘Most improved fighter’ in 2016 at kickboxing.

Olivia Bice – Achieved her swimming stage 1 & 2 certificates.

Travis Neller – ‘Best prospect of the year’ at kickboxing.

Ella Cole – Achieved her Promise & First Aid badges at Southwold Brownies.

Charlotte Goddard – Achieved numerous badges at Kessingland Brownies.

Andreas Cross – Made it to the final audition for a place at Elmhurst Ballet School.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 23^rd January – Year 1 and 2 Maths Café (9:00am)

Wednesday 25^th January – KS2 Indoor Athletics Competition at Water Lane Leisure Centre (1:00pm-3:30pm)

Thursday 26^th January – EYFS Family Thursday (8:45am)

Thursday 26^th January – Year 5 and 6 Maths Café (2:00pm)

Wednesday 1^st February – Year 3 and 4 Maths Café (9:00am)

Wednesday 1^st February – U11 Football Tournament at St Felix School (2:00pm)

Tuesday 7^th February – Sign2Sing 2017

Thursday 9^th February – U11 Basketball tournament at Pakefield HS (3:15pm -5:00pm)

Thursday 9^th February – Nursery end of half-term party (11:00am – 12:00pm)

Thursday 9^th February – School Disco – KS1 – 3:15pm – 4:30pm

Thursday 9^th February – School Disco – KS2 – 4:45pm – 6:15pm

Monday 13^th – Friday 17^th February – Half-term Holiday

Friday 24^th February – Friends of the School Meeting (1:30pm)

Tuesday 7^th March – Year 3 Wolsey Theatre Production

 

Click here to download a copy.

Newsletter 6 (15^th December 2016)

It has been a very busy end to a very busy term. Thank you to everyone who supported our Christmas performances this week. We were absolutely delighted to see so many of you during the 8 performances and were equally delighted with the fantastic feedback for our very talented youngsters. It would be lovely to see lots of you at the ‘Carols around the Tree’ tomorrow evening. There will be at least one special guest supporting the event.   May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy Christmas.

The whole school community has continued to work extremely hard throughout the term and I am very proud to share the report we received following our SIAMS inspection last week. The report reflects the hard work of our children, staff, parents and wider community

Community Success

Tori Bellis – Raised over £400 for the Little Princess Trust with a sponsored haircut.

Riley Willis – Football trainer of the week.

Tia Delf – Performed a dance routine at the O2 Arena.

Andreas Cross – Achieved a distinction in his modern dance exam.

William & Tahlia Davis – Achieved Green Belt in Kickboxing.

Atalia & Akira Davis – Achieved White Belt in Kickboxing

The Friends of Kessingland

The Friends of Kessingland have continued to be very busy and many of you have asked me to pass on your thanks for running the Christmas market this year. I am sure you will all be delighted with your Christmas surprise.

Reverse Food Advent Calendar

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Reverse Food Advent Calendar this year. Because of your generosity, there will be lot of families in the community who will have a much better Christmas.

Movie Night

The movie night was a fantastic success with over 150 children enjoying this opportunity over the two evenings. More are planned for later in the year.

Dates for the Diary

Friday 16^th December – Last day of term

Thursday 29^th December – FISH

Thursday 5^th January – Term Starts

Tuesday 10^th January – Launch of the Golden Mile

Thursday 12^th January – KS2 CoSpacing Competition at British Telecom

Thursday 19^th January – The Friends of Kessingland Meeting (9:00am)

Wednesday 25^th January – KS2 Indoor Athletics Competition at Water Lane Leisure Centre (1:00pm-3:30pm)

Wednesday 1^st February – U11 Football Tournament at St Felix School (2:00pm)

Thursday 9^th February – School Disco

Monday 13^th – Friday 17^th February – Half-term Holiday

Newsletter 5 – November 25th 2016

Thank you to everyone who attended the recent Parents’ Evening; it was lovely to see so many of you over the two evenings. The next opportunity for most of you to join us will be on the 13^th and 14^th December. This will be for our Christmas Performances. EYFS parents will be able to join us a little earlier for Family Thursday on the 8^th December. We will also be singing Carols around the Tree on Friday 16^th December. Last year we had lots of children and parents and we hope to see even more of you this year.

Please note that there will be no after school clubs during the last week of term. This is due to the wide selection of other activities and performances taking place during that week.

Attendance

The table below shows the number of times each class had a weekly attendance of 97%+ over the last three weeks. A special well done to Aardvarks and Antelopes who achieved this every week!

Otters	None		Meerkats	Once
Owls	Once		Lemurs	Once
Aardvarks	Three		Antelopes	Three
Giraffes	Once		Lions	Once

Children in Need

Thank you to everyone for your support for the Children in Need Appeal. The children raised £301.25 from a cake sale and a further £112 by wearing non-uniform. A fantastic effort by everyone! The winners of the Cake Bake Poster Competition were Hendrix Dores, Molly Knowles, Lula Petrini, Kacie Young and Aaliyah Gonsalves. The runners-up were Libby Lay, Ella-Ann, Jack Knowles, Rosie Smith and Anna Woods.

Time and Tide Museum – Pirates

The children boarded the coach and arrived just in time to meet a pirate. He taught us lots of pirate words and how to run a pirate ship. We then met a pirate hunter and a captain, who taught us how to behave like sailors in the Royal Navy. After that, we had to go on a treasure hunt around the museum and discovered that pirate treasure wasn’t just gold, but other things like tea and whales’ teeth. Finally, we had the chance to explore the rest of the museum; we particularly loved the World War 2 section and the submarine.
Click here for pictures of the day.

Crucial Crew

Year 6 attended Crucial Crew last week to learn all about keeping safe and making sensible decisions. Eight stations were set up for the children to explore different life skills. They evacuated a fire simulation; worked out the blind spots when riding near HGVs; discovered what to do in a road accident and how to stay safe on the beach. The children engaged fully in all the tasks and were an asset to our school.
Click here for pictures of the day.

The Friends of Kessingland

The Friends of Kessingland have been very busy making Christmas Wreaths which will be sold on the school playground on Friday 2^nd December. All the wreaths are handmade and will cost £8 each, or two for £15. You can pre-order your wreaths at the school office.

Reverse Food Advent Calendar

The reverse food advent calendar will be running from Thursday 1st December to Friday 16th December and all donations will be given to the Kessingland Foodbank. Boxes will be positioned under our Christmas tree for the children to place items inside.

Movie Night

Movie Night is happening on Monday 5th December for Key Stage 1 and Reception children and Tuesday 6th for Key Stage 2 children. It will begin straight after school and will finish at 6.15pm. The plan is to watch an hour of the movie, then stop for hot dogs before watching the ending of the movie. Children will only be able to attend if they have returned the reply slip.

Community Successes

We love hearing about what your child has achieved in the community. We are getting more and more children sharing their community successes on a Friday and the children share their success with such pride. It is very fitting that our current Core Value is ‘Aspiration’. I have no doubt that we will see many of our youngsters performing at the very highest level in the future.

James Billington – Sub two minute ‘Gym Drop’ on the rings in gymnastics.

William Butcher – Came 2^nd in the Suffolk Sports Hall Competition Run and 3^rd in the Inter Club Sports Hall Tournament.

Tobias Cole – Gained his Red Belt at Taekwondo.

Andreas Cross – Won another Ballet award, passed his modern dance exam and auditioned for Woolf Works in front of world famous choreographer Wayne McGregor.

Chantelle Goddard – Gave a reading at Kessingland Church’s Remembrance Day Service.

Harvey Gooch – Selected to join the Lowestoft Town Football Club’s Youth Team.

Daisy Jackson – Gained her ‘Round the World’ badge at Beavers.

Maddison Jackson – Performed in “The 100 Year Gang Show” at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft.

Layla Jessop – Performed in “The 100 Year Gang Show” at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft.

Marnie Jessop – Gained her Bronze Award at Beavers.

Ella-Ann Knowles – Performed in “The 100 Year Gang Show” at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft and took part in the 4th squad swimming Gala event.

Jack Knowles – Took part in the 4th squad swimming Gala event.

Molly Knowles – Took part in the 4th squad swimming Gala event and achieved her Green Belt in karate.

Hattie Petrini – Awarded a medal for amateur dramatics.

Millie Poppy – Gave a reading at Kessingland Church’s Remembrance Day Service.

Ava-Rose Shipley – Won 1^st place in her latest Gymkhana & was also leader in class.

Danny Wallace – Mascot for the Ipswich Town V Nottingham Forrest game. Danny accompanied Ipswich Town FC midfielder Grant Ward as the players walked out on to the pitch.

Shayla Young – Joined Kessingland Beavers.

Kacie Young – Performed in “The 100 Year Gang Show” at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 5^th December – Recycling Day – (Reception Classes)

Monday 5^th December – Reception and KS1 Movie Night

Tuesday 6^th December – KS2 Movie Night

Wednesday 7^th December – Christmas Shop

Thursday 8^th December – Christmas Shop

Thursday 8^th December – Family Thursday for Owl and Otters

Tuesday 13^th December – 9:00am Nursery Christmas Performance

Tuesday 13^th December – 10:30am Reception Christmas Performance

Tuesday 13^th December – 2:15pm KS1 Christmas Performance

Tuesday 13^th December – 4:00pm KS2 Christmas Performance

Wednesday 14^th December – 9:00am Reception Christmas Performance

Wednesday 14^th December – 11:00am Nursery Christmas Performance

Wednesday 14^th December – 2:15pm KS2 Christmas Performance

Wednesday 14^th December – 4:00pm KS1 Christmas Performance

Thursday 15^th December – Christmas Service at the Church

Thursday 15^th December – Christmas Dinner

Friday 16^th December – Carols around the Tree – 3:30pm

Click Here to download a copy.

Newsletter 4 – November 7th 2016

We are already looking forward to Christmas and the performances that come at this time of year. Each phase will perform twice over the 13^th and 14^th December and your child will be doing one performance at either the beginning or end of one of these days. We have done this so that it will hopefully be easier for parents and guardians to get time off work. All performances will be performed on a stage so you will get a much better view this year!

Parents’ Evenings are on Wednesday and Thursday this week. We look forward to welcoming you all.

Community Successes

Jack Bloomfield – Modern & Tap dancing certificate, 2^nd place in the Petanque

Ella-ann Knowles – 2^nd in Cubs District Quiz, Dylan Baird – Cubs Camping Badge, Kacie Young and Layla Jessop – Cubs Hiking Badge, Maddison Jackson – Cubs Hiking & Membership Badges

James Billington – Beavers Friendship & Hiking Badges

Maddison Jackson and Layla Jessop – Entertainers Badge at Girl Guides

Millie Poppy – Has been nominated to hold the flag for Girl Guides on Remembrance Sunday

Nevis Dores – 100m Swimming Badge, Forrest Dores – 50m Swimming Badge, Hendrix Dores – 25m Swimming Badge, Zephyr Dores, Chloe Page and Daisy Jackson – 10m Swimming Badge

Tori Bellis – Raised over £500 for charity by having a sponsored haircut!

Wayne Smith – Achieved 1^st place in a Karate competition.

Summer Reading Challenge for 2016

Here is a list of children who took part in the Big Friendly Read held in the summer break at our local library:

Alfie Bessey, Jack Bloomfield, Hollie Chambers, Finley Custance, Jack Dewbery, Forrest Dores, Hendrix Dores, Nevis Dores, Zephyr Dores, Libby Lay, Matthew Dyble, Ben Knowles, Ella-ann Knowles, Jack Knowles, Molly Knowles, Destiny Noller, Faith Noller, Lula Petrini, Tyler Schamp, Malwina Wandzel, Ethan Ward and Roman Wandzel.

Really well done to you all!  We hope you enjoyed some great stories!

Poppy Appeal

House Captains will be selling poppies in school this week.

Attendance

Thank you to everyone for continuing to support the school with improving attendance.

 

U11 Tag Rugby

On Wednesday 12^th October, seven of our Year 6 pupils took part in a Tag Rugby tournament at Lowestoft Rugby Club. They played brilliantly and won three matches, finishing second in their group. Afterwards they played in the second place play-offs, which ended in a draw. Well done to the whole team – a super effort!

Click here for pictures of the day.

Science Cosmos Roadshow

On Wednesday 19^th October, the children in Years 5 and 6 visited East Point Academy for a fun-filled morning of science. The morning was divided into two parts: a practical activity exploring forces and free play with the hands-on exhibits. The pupils represented Kessingland brilliantly and a fantastic time was had by all.

Click here for pictures of the day.

Norwich Cathedral

On Thursday 20^th October, the pupils in Years 5 and 6 visited Norwich Cathedral to take part in creative workshops based on the Trinity, alongside some other Diocesan schools. Dance, drama and art and craft sessions were enjoyed by the children. At the end of the day everyone joined together to celebrate in Collective Worship. Well done to Tia who wrote her own prayer and read it out in front of over 300 people.

Click here for pictures of the day.

Time and Tide Museum

Last week Year 5 and 6 experienced life as children in World War II. Dressed as evacuees, the children were taught how the Home Guard defended our shores; what to expect during an air raid; how food was rationed and the skills of make do and mend. The children engaged in all the activities, answering questions and taking part role-play. An amazing day was had by all!

Click here for pictures of the day.

Friends’ Books Stall and Cake Bake Sale

Thank you to everyone who supported either event by baking cakes or bringing in books. We raised over £200 at the Cake Bake and £80 at the Book Sale.

Coracle Building

Six Year 5 and 6 children took the opportunity to spend two extra days in the half-term break with Mr Milton and Mrs Allard in Tunstall Forest. The children, parents and in some cases grandparents, built coracles (small, round boats) over the two days. They will be testing them out on the water next week. We would like to thank all the volunteers at the Hands on Heritage site for giving our school the opportunity to be involved. All of Year 6 will be given the opportunity to attend ‘Hands on Heritage’ in the summer term.

Click here for pictures of the day.

St Edmund’s Church

Families from Kessingland C of E Primary Academy attended the Fun and Food in School Holidays event during the October half term holiday. This event was arranged by the Kessingland Help in Need Trust and supported by St Edmund’s Church, Morrisons, Kessingland Foodbank and the school.

There were games, a story and art activities and the families produced a piece of artwork for an exhibition in St Edmund’s Church.  We will be holding further Fun and Food in School Holiday events and the school will notify parents and carers via the newsletter.

New Admissions policy

The Trust have a new Admissions Policy that is in consultation. This can be found on the school website.

Dates for the Diary

Tuesday 8^th November – Year 1 and 2 Pirate Experience at the Time and Tide Museum

Wednesday 9^th November – Parents’ Evening (3:30pm-7:00pm)

Thursday 10^th November – Parents’ Evening (3:30pm-7:00pm)

Tuesday 15^th November – Year 6 –  Crucial Crew (pm)

Tuesday 15^th November – Coracle Launch (pm)

Friday 18^th November – The Great Bake Off House Competition for Children in Need.

Monday 5^th December –   Recycling Day – (Reception Classes)

Thursday 8^th December – Family Thursday for Owl and Otters

Tuesday 13^th December – 9:00am Nursery Christmas Performance

Tuesday 13^th December – 10:30am Reception Christmas Performance

Tuesday 13^th December – 2:15pm KS1 Christmas Performance

Tuesday 13^th December – 4:00pm KS2 Christmas Performance

Wednesday 14^th December – 9:00am Reception Christmas Performance

Wednesday 14^th December – 11:00am Nursery Christmas Performance

Wednesday 14^th December – 2:15pm KS2 Christmas Performance

Wednesday 14^th December – 4:00pm KS1 Christmas Performance

Thursday 15^th December – Christmas at the Church

Thursday 15^th December – Christmas Dinner

Friday 16^th December – Carols around the Tree – 3:30pm

Click here to download

The term is starting to gather pace and the children have represented the school in a number of events in the community. Reception enjoyed their first Family Thursday and we were delighted to see so many parents and carers working alongside their children.

Community Successes

Jonathan Fletcher – Two bronze medals and one silver medal in swimming

Ella-ann Knowles – Cub of the week and a personal best in swimming

William Butcher – Overall U11 Waveney Athletics Champion

Hattie Petrini – Received a Blue Peter Badge for making a bug hotel.

Andreas Cross – 2^nd out of 25 at the Originals Dance Competition in Woodbridge.

Layla Jessop – 2-year badge at Cubs

Ethan Ward – Certificate for reading 6 books over the summer holidays.

Very well done to you all for your super achievements.

Attendance

Week Beginning 26^th – Otters and Aardvarks had attendance above 97%

Week Beginning 3^rd October – Owls and Aardvarks had attendance above 97%

Everyone in Aardvarks was also on time every day!

Portals from the Past

Years 3 and 4 had a very interesting day learning about the Stone Age with ‘Portals from the Past’. The children enjoyed listening to the stories and being involved in workshops. Some of our lucky children also had the opportunity to be involved in demonstrations.

St Edmund’s Church

The school is continuing to develop its partnership with St Edmund’s Church and we will be supporting each other in a number of projects before Christmas. We have already joined together for our Harvest Festival. A big thank you to everyone who donated items for the local foodbank.

Kessingland C of E Primary Academy and Kessingland St Edmund’s Church are also working alongside Kessingland Help in Need to provide Fun and Food for families in the school holidays. (FISH) This event will include playing games, arts and crafts for all of the family and will also include a lunch which will consist of soup and an opportunity to build your own sandwich with your family.

Our first event is being held on Thursday 27^th October 11am – 2pm at The Church Hall in Church Road, Kessingland. Places for this first event are limited, so we would recommend that you complete the form below and return it to the school office by Monday 17^th October.

U11 Hockey

A big well done to the Kessingland Hockey team. Although the team were unable to reach the knock-out stages, the team represented the school extremely well and we are very proud of you.

Matball

The Year 3 Matball team represented the school at Pakefield High School in the annual Lowestoft competition. The team not only showed an outstanding attitude throughout the competition; they also finished the competition as runners-up. An excellent achievement, especially as there were 14 other teams in the competition!

Coding

Year 6 travelled to Beccles Free School to enter the Coding competition against other local primary schools. I am delighted to share that the school won this competition and I have received some fabulous feedback on how our children applied themselves during the day. The winners’ trophy was presented by the MP, Mr Peter Aldous.

New Staff

Each of our phases are now being supported by an additional member of support staff. Miss Cole is supporting in our Nursery in the morning and in KS2 in the afternoon. Miss Draper is supporting in Reception, Miss Casbolt is supporting Key Stage 1 and Miss Williams is supporting Key Stage 2.

Recruitment

We are currently seeking to recruit an Office Apprentice through Lowestoft College. More information can be found at https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeship/-23856

Scooters and Cycles

Please can we ask that children do not ride their scooter or bike in the school playground or on the path outside the front of the school. A near miss was reported yesterday evening and someone could get seriously hurt. If everyone follows this rule, we can ensure that this risk is removed.

Friends of the School

The first Friends event will be a cake stall on Wednesday 19^th October. The Nursery cake stall will be set up on the KS1 playground and cakes will be sold at the end of Nursery. The rest of the school will be able to buy cakes at the end of the day on the KS2 playground. We would be grateful if parents and carers could donate and bring in the cakes to the office on Wednesday morning. This event can only be successful if cakes and buns are donated and then purchased. Hopefully this will be the first of many events.

We are still looking for members. Our next meeting is on Friday 14^th October at 9am. The more volunteers we have, the more opportunities your children will have. Please support us if you can.

Safeguarding Policy

The school has updated its Safeguarding Policy. This can be found on the school website.

MacMillan Coffee Afternoon

Miss Graham, Mrs Baldwin and Mrs Mutimer organised a staff event to support the Macmillan Appeal. I am delighted to share that the school staff baked so many cakes that the we raised £220. This was good practice for the cake stall next week!

Dates for the Diary

Tuesday 11^th October – Year 6 House Captain Elections

Wednesday 12^th October – U11 Tag Rugby competition at Lowestoft Rugby Club (1:00pm-3:30pm)

Friday 14^th October – Friends Meeting (9:00am)

Wednesday 19^th October – Friends Cake Stall

Wednesday 19^th October – Year 5 and 6 Science morning

Thursday 20^th October – Year 5 and 6 Norwich Cathedral Visit (All day)

Friday 21^st October – PD Day (Please do not bring your child to school!)

Monday 24^th October – Friday 28^th October – Half Term week

Thursday 27^th October – Food in the School Holiday

Wednesday 2^nd November – Year 5 and 6 Evacuee Experience at the Time and Tide Museum

Tuesday 8^th November – Year 1 and 2 Pirate Experience at the Time and Tide Museum

Wednesday 9^th November – Parents’ Evening (3:30pm-7:00pm)

Thursday 10^th November – Parents’ Evening (3:30pm-7:00pm)

Click here to download

Newsletter 2 – September 26th 2016

We are now three weeks into term and I am very grateful to the support we have received from parents and carers. We were delighted to see so many people join us for the Discovery Cafes and it has been lovely to hear the positive comments regarding our new maths homework books. We are continuing to look at a number of new initiatives that will help enable our children to make outstanding progress and we have some very exciting things planned for the future.

Pupil of the Week

Otters and Owls will start pupil of the week when they join in with the whole school celebration assembly. This will ensure all the parents in these classes get to see the presentation during the Celebration Assembly.

Community Successes

Mickayla Wright – passed level 5, 6 and 7 in gymnastics

Ashton Neller – won his boxing fight at the Ocean Rooms and is still unbeaten!

Travis Neller – won a medal for boxing

Ella-ann Knowles – passed her level 10 in swimming and won two medals

William Davis – completed a boxing demonstration

Paige Kilduff  – won a medal in drama at the Crocodile School of Drama

Ty Knowles and Harvey Gooch – took part in training at Norwich City. Ty was awarded a trophy for being the most improved player.

Jack Bloomfield – awarded man of the match for Sole Bay football club

Alfie Bessey – Level 1 swimming badge

Makia Bessey – Level 2 swimming badge

Alfie and Makia were also awarded the trainee of the week at Kessingland Football club

Olivia Bice – performed a dance at A Night at The Musicals with Stage Stars

Kieran Hewitt – Novice Swimming Gala, 2 medals

Jonathan Fletcher – Novice Swimming Gala, 4 medals

Aaron Fletcher – Novice Swimming Gala, 1 medal

William Butcher – 31^st in the Lowestoft Scores Race

Samuel Binks – Bowler of the Season at Beccles Cricket Club & 35^th in the Lowestoft Scores Race

Attendance

Week Beginning – 05.09.16

Otters, Aardvarks, Giraffes and Lemurs all achieved attendance above 98%.

Aardvarks were all on time every day for the week – well done!

Week Beginning – 12.09.16

Owls, Meerkats and Lemurs all achieved attendance above 98%.

Otters were on time every day for the week – well done!

This shows that we still have a lot of improvement to do!  Please make sure your child is in school on time every day.

The Co-op Local Community Fund:

As you may have seen in the local Co-op. we have successfully applied to be supported by their community fund. We are hoping to raise enough funds to buy a school mini-bus. This will open up so many new opportunities for our pupils as many of the trips we would like to organise, become far too expensive because of the cost of transport.

How can you help?

If you become a member of the Co-op and buy their branded products, you will be helping the school achieve this goal. Every time members buy Co-op branded products and services, from buying a loaf of bread to planning a funeral, 1% of your spend goes to our school, if we are your chosen charity. To do this you must become a member, which costs £1 and can be done in store. The school will be the chosen charity for the next 6 months but you will continue to make a 5% saving with your membership card after this date. We will hopefully see our total continue to increase.

Discovery Cafes

Thank you to everyone that joined us for the Discovery Cafes. Over the three events we had almost 100 parents join us and we are delighted with the extremely positive feedback.  We plan to do a similar event in January and April and hope that even more of you join us next time. Can we get more than 100?

Coracles

After our very successful Year 6 residential to Hands on Heritage last year, the organisers have not only invited us back next year, which is fantastic as they can only accommodate three schools each year, they have also invited us to participate in other projects. The first is a two-day project during the October half-term. I am extremely grateful that staff members have volunteered to give up two days of the holiday. The project involves making coracles (small boats) and then sailing them on Thorpeness Meare. This opportunity will be provided for free through externally sourced funding but will only be available to pupils in Year 5 and 6 who meet the strict criteria given by the external funding. Those eligible will be identified and given the opportunity to apply later this week.

‘Minecraft in Education’ Academy!

Where can you explore Egyptian pyramids, build a castle, visit distant planets or design your own unique world?  The answer is Minecraft!   We are very excited to announce that we will be launching our very own Minecraft Academy very soon.

After seeing first-hand how Minecraft is being used to develop creativity, problem-solving and thinking skills in schools across the world it will be fantastic to give our children the chance to share in this amazing learning tool.  We know children love Minecraft already and our brand new Minecraft Academy will now give them the chance to show how these skills can be used to develop collaboration with others and also to open up their minds to ways of using Minecraft that they may never have imagined.

Harvest Festival

As you will be aware, our school will be visiting St Edmunds Church on Thursday morning for our Harvest Festival.  This visit will include Year 1 to Year 6 pupils. We are supporting the local food bank this year and we would be very grateful for any donations of tinned or dried food in packets. We already have your permission slips for local visits, if this has changed, please contact the school as soon as possible.

Dates for the Diary

Wednesday 28^th September – Year 3 and 4 Portals from the Past – Stone Age Day (In school)

Thursday 29^th September Harvest Festival at St Edmunds Church (10:30am – 11:30am)

Tuesday 4^th October – Year 6 Robotics at Beccles Free School (12:30pm-3:10pm)

Wednesday 5^th October – Year 5/6 Hockey competition at East Point Academy (3:30pm – 5:00pm)

Thursday 6^th October – Otters Class & Owls Class Family Thursday (9:00am – 9:45am)

Thursday 6^th October – Year 3 Matball competition at Pakefield High School (1:15pm – 3:00pm)

Tuesday 11^th October – Year 6 House Captain Elections

Wednesday 12^th October – Year 5/6 Tag Rugby competition at Lowestoft Rugby Club (1:00pm-3:30pm)

Tuesday 18^th October – Year 6 Mathletics Competition at Beccles Free School (All day)

Thursday 20^th October   – Year 5 and 6   Norwich Cathedral Visit (All day)

Monday 24^th October – Friday 28^th October – Half Term week

Wednesday 2^nd November – Year 5 and 6 Evacuee Experience at the Time and Tide Museum

Tuesday 8^th November – Year 1 and 2 Pirate Experience at the Time and Tide Museum

Wednesday 9^th November – Parents Evening (3:30pm-7:00pm)

Thursday 10^th November – Parents Evening (3:30pm-7:00pm)

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Newsletter 1 – September 5th 2016

Welcome Back

I hope that you have all enjoyed the summer break.  We are looking forward to a brand new school year and we are sure it will bring lots of great experiences for our children.  Our ‘Core Value’ for this half term is ‘Courage’ and the children will be exploring this concept through Collective Worship and discussion.

I am ever so grateful to our fantastic members of staff for their commitment and determination to continue to help the school to be the best it can be. The inside of the school looks fantastic and this has only happened because the staff have given up so much time over the holiday to help one another improve their area. Inside the school you will see outstanding learning environments on display and we have had an artist help us to rejuvenate the entrances to our EYFS classes.

The ICT suite now has enough computers for pupils to have their own work station during lessons, which will also enable more pupils to be involved in lunchtime clubs. The school has a new sensory room that will be accessible to everyone in the school and the school now has a library that any school would be proud of. It has a huge range of the latest and most exciting books on offer.

We have a very exciting curriculum planned for the new academic year and we will be introducing a number of new initiatives, including: No Nonsense Spelling, Minecraft Academy and Lego Robotics. Year 1 to Year 6 will be holding Discovery Cafes for parents and guardians to join us in the next couple of weeks and the Reception parents are invited to a Family Thursday. The dates for each year group are shared in this newsletter. It would be lovely if every child has a family member to join them.

How can you help at home?

The children will be coming home with spellings each week alongside Maths and English homework – Please support your child in doing their homework and encourage them to have a go. We will be running a homework club during lunchtimes and all staff will take the time to help if needed. Please do this before the date it should be handed in.

Listening to your child read every night – We have introduced a Reading Challenge across the school. We now have a library that has exciting books in it but we need the children to be listened to as well. The impact of listening to your child read every night has a massive effect on their progress in school. Any child who reads for five nights every week (including weekends) for a whole half-term, will be invited to a tea party, served by staff.   Please do sign the Reading Diary after each reading session.

Making sure your child is in school and on time – Although the school improved its attendance figures last year, it still needs to improve further. The children are learning so much in school and walking into the classroom half-way through a task or after missing the previous week’s lesson makes it very difficult for a child to achieve their potential. Please help us to enable your child to be the best they can be.

Joining the Friends of the School – Without your support the children will have less opportunities and some visits will not be able to be organised. A lot of the funds that are raised, subsidise the more expensive trips and make it affordable to all.  We are delighted that so many parents and carers have expressed an interest in joining our Friends Association.

The next AGM is on the 15^th September and it is at that meeting that we will decide whether there is enough support to keep running. Even if you are only able to support occasionally, it would be lovely to see you on the 15^th as we can then create a pool of volunteers to call upon during the course of the year. I appreciate that as a new parent you may be worried about attending but please find the courage. Your child will be here for another six years.

Sharing Success outside school – Please encourage your child to share their achievements outside school. We love to celebrate all achievements, big and small but we need to know about them.

Staff Changes

Over the summer, two members of staff have decided not to return in September: Mrs Marum, one of our support assistants, and Mrs Mitchell, a lunchtime supervisor. I am very grateful to them both for the support they have given to children during their time at the school.

Recruitment

The school is currently advertising for an additional Lunchtime Support Assistant. If you would like further details and an application form, please see Mrs Downie in the school office.

After School Clubs and Breakfast Club

This was shared at the end of last term but I am sure some parents will appreciate a reminder of the opportunities on offer for their children.

Like most schools, Kessingland Church of England Primary Academy ‘Breakfast Club’ and some after school clubs will have a charge from September. As pressures on budgets continue to grow, we are unable to continue to offer all these opportunities for free. We will be using some of our Pupil Premium funding to still fully subsidise these clubs for the children who are entitled to Pupil Premium and advise all parents and carers to check their eligibility. Breakfast Club will cost £1 a day and the DT and Culinary Club will cost £1 a week for children not in receipt of Pupil Premium. There will be more clubs offered during the year.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3	Pilates (Miss Graham)	Creative Arts/DT (Mrs Baldwin)	Choir (Miss Graham)	Maths (Mrs Baldwin)	Story Time Reading Club (Miss Graham)
Year 4 Year 5 Year 6	Hockey (Miss Drake)	Pilates (Miss Graham)	Creative Arts/DT (Mrs Baldwin)	Choir (Miss Graham)	Den Building (Mrs Hayward)   Netball (Miss Drake)

There will also be a Culinary Club for Year 6 on a Monday. This is limited to 12 places.

There will also be a selection of clubs for the children to be involved in during lunchtimes, including a lot of new opportunities. There will be no charge for these clubs and there is no need to sign up. These clubs will be advertised during assemblies. Please fill in the attached form if you would like your child to attend a club.

Dates for the Diary

Wednesday 14^th September – Year 3 and 4 Discovery Cafes (9:00am – 10:20am)

Wednesday 14^th September – Year 5 and 6 Discovery Cafes (1:50pm – 3:05pm)

Thursday 15^th September – Friends AGM (9:15am)

Friday 16^th September – Year 1 and 2 Discovery Cafes (1:50pm – 3:05pm)

Friday 16^th September – School Family Worship (3:15pm)

Wednesday 28^th September – Year 3 and 4 Portals from the Past – Stone Age Day (In school)

Wednesday 28^th September – Year 6 Group 1 Robotics at Beccles Free School (12:30pm – 3:10pm)

Thursday 29^th September – Harvest Festival at St Edmunds Church (10:30am – 11:30am)

Wednesday 5^th October – Year 6 Group 2 Robotics at Beccles Free School (12:30pm-3:10pm)

Thursday 6^th October – Otters Class & Owls Class Family Thursday (9:00am – 9:45am)

Tuesday 18^th October – Year 6 Mathletics Competition at Beccles Free School (All day)

Thursday 20^th October – Year 5 and 6   Norwich Cathedral Visit (All day)

Monday 24^th October – Friday 28^th October – Half Term week

Wednesday 2^nd November – Year 5 and 6 Evacuee Experience at the Time and Tide Museum

Tuesday 8^th November – Year 1 and 2 Pirate Experience at the Time and Tide Museum

 

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Newsletter 15 –  19^th July 2016

As we find ourselves at the end of the year, it gives us time to reflect upon what has been achieved. I would like to thank you for the support you have given this year and for the positive comments you have shared about our school.  It really is a wonderful school community and we are very proud of our pupils and their achievements in all areas of life.

At the start of the year, the two areas of attainment that the school needed most to improve in, was the KS2 SATs and Year 1 Phonics results.  I am delighted to share that the school has closed the gap in KS2 compared to the national average, by 15%. Although national statistics have not been released for the Year 1 Phonics, we know we have improved our results by 26%. Across the school, we have seen at least good progress and in many cases, outstanding progress.

Although the school is making rapid progress, there is still a great deal for the school to do. The school now has solid foundations that we can build upon in the future and next year will see further improvements. Our hard-working staff will be in for much of the summer, getting a new library, sensory room and Science area ready for September.

2016/17 Staffing

Unfortunately, at the end of this year, we will be saying goodbye to some members of staff.

Mrs Thompson has chosen to leave the employment of Kessingland Primary Academy on the grounds of ill health.  We wish her well in the future and thank her for her commitment and positive impact on the school.

Miss Waters will be taking up a new career outside education. We wish her all the best in her future plans.

Mrs Taylor-Graham will not be leaving the school, but will be completing a secondment at another school in September. We also wish her every success in this new role and look forward to her returning in the future.

Mrs Chatfield will be reducing her hours from September. Although Mrs Chatfield will not be in school every day, she will now be our relief Midday Supervisor.

Africa Alive

The whole school visited Africa Alive yesterday and everyone had a fantastic time. We are very grateful to Africa Alive for enabling all 218 pupils to enter their wonderful premises for free; to Beccles Free School and in particular, Paul the driver, for safely transporting all 218 pupils on their minibus and to the parents and carers that supported us on the day.

Friends of the School

We are delighted that so many parents and carers have expressed an interest in joining our Friends Association. We really do need your support if the Friends are going to continue to provide brilliant opportunities for your children in 2016/17. The next AGM is on the 15^th September and it is at that meeting that we will decide whether there is enough support to keep running. Even if you are only able to support occasionally, it would be lovely to see you on the 15^th as we can then create a pool of volunteers to call upon during the course of the year.

After School Clubs and Breakfast Club

Like most schools, Kessingland CofE Primary Academy ‘Breakfast Club’ and some after school clubs will have a charge from September. As pressures on budgets continue to grow, we are unable to continue to offer all these opportunities for free. We will be using some of our Pupil Premium funding to still fully subsidise these clubs for the children who are entitled to Pupil Premium and advise all parents and carers to check their eligibility. Breakfast Club will cost £1 a day and the DT and Culinary club will cost £1 a week for children not in receipt of Pupil Premium. There will be more clubs offered during the year.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3	Pilates (Miss Edwards)	Creative Arts/DT (Mrs Baldwin)	Choir (Miss Edwards)	Maths (Mrs Baldwin)	Story Time Reading Club (Miss Edwards)
Year 4 Year 5 Year 6	Hockey (Miss Drake)	Pilates (Miss Edwards)	Creative Arts DT(Mrs Baldwin)	Choir (Miss Edwards)	Den Building (Mrs Hayward) Netball (Miss Drake)

 

There will also be a Culinary Club for Year 6 on a Monday. This is limited to 12 places.

All after-school clubs will start the first week back.

There will also be a selection of clubs for the children to be involved in during lunchtimes, including a lot of new opportunities. There will be no charge for these clubs and there is no need to sign up. These clubs will be advertised in the new term.

Please fill in the attached form if you would like your child to attend.

Dates for the Diary

Wednesday 20^th July – Last day at school and non-uniform

Monday 5^th September –  Pupils return to school

Thursday 15^th September –   Friends AGM (9:30am)

Newsletter 14 –  8^th July 2016

This academic year has certainly not slowed down. Only this week, the whole school competed in a fantastic Sports Day and over 80 pupils attended fantastic opportunities in the community. On top of this, we have also hosted a Year 6 farewell party.  All of these opportunities take time to organise and energy to support and I am very grateful to our wonderful staff for continuing to offer so much for our children.

This week we say goodbye to the majority of our Year 6 children. They have worked incredibly hard this year and have coped with the pressures of Year 6 extremely maturely. We are very proud of you all and wish you every success in the future. As they start to get ready for their next chapter, Kessingland Church of England Primary Academy are also getting ready for its own. Information regarding arrangements for 2016/17 and school reports will be shared next week.

Community Achievement

Andreas Cross – ‘Stars of the Future’ Dance competition regional winner.

James Billington – Canoeing with the Beavers and for gaining a swimming certificate.

Maddison Jackson – Football trainer of the week.

Daisy Allard, Tamika Molefe & Forrest Dores – Queen’s 90^th Birthday poster competition winners.

Jamie Hutton gained his yellow belt in Karate.

Leo Owens took part in the Armed Forces Parade and earned his Sea Cadets Beret.

Jack Knowles won Trainer of the Week at football training.

Molly, Jack and Ben Knowles Achieved their Stage 2 Swimming Certificates.

Ella-Ann Knowles won 2 medals at a swimming gala.

Jonathan Fletcher won 3 medals at a swimming gala.

Aaron Fletcher won 3 medals at a swimming gala.

Royal Ballet School

In the last newsletter we congratulated Andreas Cross on successfully auditioning for the Tring Park Classical Ballet Academy. This week we are congratulating Andreas for gaining a place at the Royal Ballet School of Dance. This is an amazing achievement and we wish Andreas every success.

Olympic Poetry Event

This afternoon, 43 children in Years 4 and 5 visited East Point Academy to participate in a sports and poetry event organised by the charity, FlipSide. The afternoon started with an inspirational talk by Danny Crates, a Paralympic gold medalist and 800m world record holder.

Next, poet Joseph Coelho, shared some of his brilliant poems with the pupils. Everybody helped to write a poem about the Olympic Games. The afternoon ended with a fantastic performance by Grupo Senzala Capoeira. Two of our students were even chosen to dance on stage!

An inspiring afternoon was enjoyed by all.

Big Sing

The Year 6 had an opportunity to join together with Year 6 from all our DNEAT academies to enjoy a celebration before they make their transition to high school. The event took place at the Open Venue in Norwich. It was a joyous occasion and our Year 6’s lifted the roof at ‘The Big Sing’. Songs ranged from ‘We are the Champions’ to ‘This is the day’ and many of us have had the opportunity to hear some of the singing in the leavers’ assembly today. We were very proud of Indira Gopee who represented our Year 6 on the stage and gave a speech about her memories of primary school.

Sports on the Beach

Our Year 5 attended the Sports on the Beach event in partnership with Lowestoft Rising. This year the event was themed around the Rio Olympics and Kessingland Church of England Academy was flying the flag for the USA. During the day the children had the opportunity to compete in a number of events, including kite flying, and gymnastics, achieving points as they moved around the activities and having a fabulous time.

Non-uniform Day

The School Council would like to support a charity that will enable less fortunate children the opportunity to have a playground to play in. Our children are really fortunate as they are now able to play in our activity area every lunchtime and they wanted to help make sure that other children also had this opportunity. A former Kessingland pupil is currently involved in the East African Playgrounds Charity and will be travelling to Uganda in the summer to help do this. We will be supporting this charity by having a non-uniform on the last day of term. On this occasion we are asking for a voluntary contribution.

Dates for the Diary

Tuesday 12^th July –  Year 2 Sports Coaching at Kessingland Primary Academy. (1:00pm -3:15pm) organised by Saxmundham Free School.

Friday 15^th July – Move Up Morning

Monday 18^th July to Thursday 21st July – Beccles Free School Transition (Year 6)

Monday 18^th July – Africa Alive –  Whole School

Tuesday 19^th July, Wednesday 20^th July and Thursday 21^st July – Sir John Leman High School Transition Day (Year 6)

Wednesday 20^th July – Last day at school

Monday  5^th September –  Pupils return to school

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Newsletter 13 –  20^th June 2016

It hardly seems possible that we say goodbye to our Year 6 children in less than three weeks.  The year has gone so fast and the last few weeks of term continue to be very busy.  If we are lucky enough to enjoy some sunny weather, please can I ask you to ensure that your children come to school wearing sunscreen and with a hat to protect them during outside play.

Community Achievement

Shayna Richardson & Logan Newton were awarded an award for swimming 50m.

Jessica Drane, Charlotte Lambert, Chantelle Goddard, Caitlyn Jones & Isabella Anderson were awarded their First Aid badges at Brownies.

Jack Bloomfield, Harvey Gooch, William Butcher, Daniel Wallace, Dylan Baird, Samuel Binks, Ty Knowles & Harrison Butcher were all given a trophy for completing a season with Sole Bay Football Club, with Harvey Gooch receiving the Manager’s ‘Player of the Season’ award.

Ella-Ann was awarded a certificate for completing the 50m Butterfly.

James Billington – Won a swimming award.

Molly Knowles – Gained her yellow belt in Karate.

Travis Neller –  Football Trainer of the week.

Mia Fuller and Harvey Gooch raised £50 to buy some rounders equipment for use at lunch times.

Mia Fuller, Alice Ward, Lily Fairweather, Leah Eastaugh and Caitlin Holmes – Best Den Builders at Hands on Heritage.

Jonathan Fletcher – ‘Swimmer of the Month’ at Lowestoft Sports Centre Swimming Club

Caitlyn Jones – Gained the Queen’s Birthday Celebration Badge at Brownies

Ava Shipley – Won 5 rosettes at a horse riding gymkhana

Tring Park Classical Ballet Academy

Congratulations to Andreas Cross for successfully auditioning for the Tring Park Classical Ballet Academy. The Academy is designed to discover talented children and provide them with the highest level of classical training available. Entry to the Classical Ballet Academy is by audition only. We wish Andreas every success.

56 Club

Alfie Bessey and Jonathan Fletcher are our latest members.  Well done!

Suffolk Young Carers Photograph Competition

Congratulations to Owls Class for winning the photograph competition! Kieran Whall presented the class with a professionally framed copy in last week’s Celebration Assembly and this will be displayed in the main school entrance. The children also received book tokens and a number of other goodies for winning the competition.

French for the Family at Kessingland CofE Primary Academy

Croissants, pains au chocolat, baguettes and crêpes! These were just some of the tasty treats which awaited parents and grandparents who recently took part in the “French for the Family” event at Kessingland CofE Primary Academy.

The French for the Family event provided a genuine opportunity for children and parents to learn a new skill together, as well as an enjoyable environment within which pupils could experience a culture different to their own.  A warm thank you goes to our local branch of the Co-op, to Morrisons’ supermarket, as well as to the Sailors’ Home Public House for their kind donation of food, which enabled us to provide our children and their families with a memorable learning experience.  Finally, a big thank you to all of the relatives that supported the event – it was great to see so many people there.

French Theatre Day

“Parlez-vous Français à Kessingland CofE Primary Academy”

On Tuesday 24^th May, more than 150 Year 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 children enjoyed a play in French performed by two young performers from the Onatti Theatre Group. The play was called “Parlez-vous français?” and told the story of Ben, an English student who ended up in a French hospital on the first day of his skiing trip.

Left alone in the examination room, he has to use his limited French to make himself understood by a very stern and unsympathetic nurse.  All is not lost as a young French maiden called Nicole comes to the rescue!  A production full of great laughs and full of great French language too!

KS1 Carlton Marshes

The Key Stage 1 pupils had a fantastic day at Carlton Marshes, learning about the habitats of local wildlife. The children were given the opportunity to complete exciting activities like dyke dipping, mini-beast hunts and doing a nature walk. Thank you to all the parents that joined us for the day.

Year 3 Benacre

Year 3 visited Benacre, where they took part in a variety of countryside-based tasks.  This included some brilliant activities, like working with birds of prey, sheep shearing and dog handling. The children and adults had a fantastic time.

Hands on Heritage

Tunstall Forest was the setting for the Year 6 residential trip last week. The Celtic/Roman archaeological site is an excellent place to learn new skills and experience outdoor life. All the children took part in the various crafts: pewter casting, shell jewellery decorating or candle making, whittling, weaving, cooking and fire-making. Den building in the forest was a highlight of the visit as our children worked fantastically in their teams. Chatting by the campfire and an early morning walk, where a small herd of deer were spotted, also formed part of our time at the settlement. Our children were a delight to be with; they were polite and enthusiastic in all that they did. The volunteers at the site were extremely complimentary about their attitude and behaviour. It was a lovely end to a very busy SATs period.

Swimming Gala

The Year 6 Swimming Team deserve many congratulations for a super effort at the swimming gala.  Very well done to all who took part – you were a credit to our school.

Sports Day

Thank you for your understanding about our decision to cancel Sports Day.  The forecast the day before was extremely poor and it was with some frustration that we saw that the weather was, in fact, not as bad as predicted.  We look forward to our revised date of 4^th July.

Library Visits

All pupils have now visited the local library.   This is such a great local resource and we hope that as many children as possible will make use of it over the summer, perhaps by taking part in the Reading Challenge over the holiday.  If you do earn your medal completing the challenge, please be sure to bring it in so that we can celebrate this achievement!

PCSO Visit to Owls Class

The Owls class enjoyed a visit from Lynne, our Police Community Support Officer.  The children very much enjoyed sitting inside the police car and hearing Lynne talk about the role of the police.

Reading Questionnaire

Congratulations to Mrs Banham for winning the £10 gift voucher following the draw for those who completed the Reading Questionnaire. Thank you to those who took part – it gave us some much-valued ideas and information.

Dates for the Diary

Tuesday 21^st June – Multi-Faith Day

Friday 24^th June –  DNEAT Big Sing Celebration at Norwich Cathedral (Year 6)

Tuesday 28^th June – Beccles Free School Transition Day (Year 6)

Monday 4^th July – Sports Day

Tuesday 5^th July – Beccles Free School Transition Day (Year 6)

Wednesday 6^th July – Poetry Afternoon at East Point Academy (Year 4 and 5)

Thursday 7^th July – Sports on the Beach Schools Competition – (Year 5)

Thursday 7^th July – Year 6 Leavers’ Party (5:30pm – 7:30pm)

Friday 8^th July – Year 6 Leavers’ Assembly – The assembly will start at 9:00am and parents and carers are invited.

Tuesday 12^th July –  Year 2 Sports Coaching at Kessingland Primary Academy. (1:00pm -3:15pm) organised by Saxmundham Free School.

Monday 18^th July to Thursday21st July – Beccles Free School Transition (Year 6)

Monday 18^th July – Zebras Morning Class Discovery Café (9:00am-10:20am) – Parents and carers are invited.

Monday 18^th July – Owls Class Discovery Café (10:30am – 11:55am) – Parents and carers are invited.

Monday 18^th July – Cheetah, Giraffe and Meerkat Class Discovery Café (1.30pm-3:30pm) Parents and carers are invited.

Tuesday 19^th July –  Aardvark Class Discovery Café (9:00am-10:20am) Parents and carers are invited.

Tuesday 19^th July – Lemurs and Antelope Class Discovery Café (10.30am-11:55am) Parents and carers are invited.

Tuesday 19^th July – Zebras Afternoon Class Discovery Café (1:45pm-3:00pm) Parents and carers are invited.

Tuesday 19^th July, Wednesday 20^th July and Thursday 21^st July – Sir John Leman High School Transition Day (Year 6)

Thursday 21st July – PD Day – No school for pupils

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We are always proud of the way our children work, but I was particularly proud of our Year 6 and Year 2 children last week for the way they approached the SATs.  They are to be commended for their positive, cheerful attitude and their determination to do their best.  Very well done to you all.

Community Success

The following pupils achieved recent community success:

Riley Willis – Joined Cubs and attended a St. George’s Day service. Riley also shared how to join the group.

Alfie Bessey – Trainer of the week (Football)

Andreas Cross – Came 2^nd in the group section at a dance competition in Norwich.

Ty Knowles, Harvey Gooch, Harrison Butcher & Shane Garner attained the Silver Respect Award at Sole Bay FC’s annual presentation.

Zephyr Dores and Hendrix Dores gained a Stage 3 swimming certificate. Forrest Dores and Nevis Dores attained a Stage 4 certificate.

Malorchi Wright – Attained a 5m swimming certificate.

Michaela Wright – Attained a Stage 2 swimming certificate

Ashton Neller – Won a gold & a bronze medal in kickboxing competitions in Norwich and Birmingham.

Ava Shipley – Came 3^rd in the dressage section of a gymkhana.

Dylan Baird – Attained the Inspirational Moment award for mastering his times tables.

56 Club

Alfie Bessey and Jonathan Fletcher are our latest members.

Suffolk Young Carers Award

Congratulations to our SAFS team for ensuring that Kessingland was the first school to be awarded the Suffolk Young Carers Silver Award. What a fantastic achievement! If you would like to find out more about the work we are currently doing to support Young Carers in our school, please take a look on the school website.

Library Visits

The Reception children enjoyed an afternoon visit to Kessingland Library. They were accompanied by members of staff and parent helpers, and were met at the library by Sandra Knights (Library Manager), Jill (Library employee) and some members of ‘The Friends of Kessingland Library’ committee. All of the library staff and volunteers were very pleased to meet the children and to encourage them to use this wonderful resource. The children were greeted, introduced to the library staff and then were shown around the library by Jill. She explained that there are not just books, but computers with internet access, CDs, DVDs, newspapers, magazines and even children’s craft activities every Sunday morning and during the holidays!

The children enjoyed stories read by two different members of the Friends of Kessingland Library and then had the opportunity to browse the books available to them. Those children who had brought their own library card with them, enjoyed checking out and stamping a book of their choice to take home and share with their families. Any children who did not have a library card, were given an application form to sign up to the library and were allowed to borrow a school book to read at home if they wished. The children all very much enjoyed their visit, were exceptionally well behaved and were a credit to the school.

Every class will be visiting the Library this term and we plan to do this regularly in the future.

Pentecost Celebration

We were very grateful that Reverend Janet and Pat, the Church Warden, were able to join us for our Pentecostal Celebration Assembly. It was a wonderful assembly and included some outstanding readings by Annalise Anderson, Aimee Baskott, Boe Beavers, Dylan Baird, Tahlia-Marie Davis, Forrest Dores and Harrison Moore.

Year 6 Robotics

Beccles Free School has been sharing their pupils’ expertise with our Year 6 pupils over the last three weeks. The school recently represented England at the Robotics World Championships in China. Our children learnt about different aspects of coding and then finished the experience with a robot battle. We are very grateful that our children were given this opportunity and our current Year 5 children will get the same opportunity next term.

Beach Radio – Growing Together Challenge

Kessingland CofE Primary Academy was chosen as one of the winning schools in the Beach Radio, Growing Together Challenge and we gratefully received a number of packets of seeds that KS1 children have already started to sow. A big well done to everyone involved. We look forward to seeing a packed flower bed in the near future.

Owls Family Wednesday

Thank you to all the parents and carers that joined us in Reception for Owl Wednesday. It was lovely to see so many of you having so much fun.

Fritton Owl Sanctuary

The children in KS1 were delighted to spend the afternoon with special visitors last week. We already have a number of wonderful owls in school but we were able to learn more about the feathered variety. We are very grateful to the Fritton Owl Sanctuary for joining us with Shadow, a baby tawny owl and Fluke, a barn owl.

Future Newsletters

Future newsletters will be in black and white. This will significantly reduce printing costs and allow us to spend more money on the children. We will also be looking at options to send newsletters to parents and carers  by email in the future. Not only will this reduce costs, it will also make us a much greener school.  We have included all the dates below in very small text for the same reason. There are only a few additions to the dates shared in the previous newsletter.

Dates for the Diary

Thursday 19^th May and Friday 20^th May –  Hands on Heritage Year 6 Residential

Tuesday 24^th May – French Theatre Day – Year 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

Wednesday 25^th May – Year 3 visiting Benacre

Monday 30^th May to Friday 4th June – Half -Term

Tuesday 7^th June – Antelopes Class French for the Family (9:00am-11:00am) Parents and carers are invited.

Tuesday 7^th June – Lemurs Class French for the Family (1:00pm-3:00pm) – Parents and carers are invited.

Tuesday 7^th June – KS1 will be visiting Carlton Marshes

Tuesday 14^th June –  Sports Day (EYFS and KS1 9:40am-11:40am) (KS2 1:10pm -3:10pm) Families are welcome to join us for both events.

Tuesday 21^st June – Multi-Faith Day

Friday 24^th June –  DNEAT Big Sing Celebration at Norwich Cathedral (Year 6)

Tuesday 28^th June – Beccles Free School Transition Day (Year 6)

Monday 4^th July – Reserve date for Sports Day

Tuesday 5^th July – Beccles Free School Transition Day (Year 6)

Wednesday 6^th July – Poetry afternoon at East Point Academy (Year 4 and 5)

Thursday 7^th July – Sports on the Beach Schools competition – (Year 5)

Thursday 7^th July – Year 6 Leavers’ Party (5:30pm – 7:30pm)

Friday 8^th July – Year 6 Leavers’ Assembly – The assembly will start at 9:00am and parents and carers are invited.

Tuesday 12^th July –  Year 2 Sports coaching afternoon at Kessingland Primary Academy, organised by Saxmundham Free School.

Monday 18^th July – Beccles Free School Transition Day (Year 6)

Monday 18^th July – Zebras Morning Class Discovery Café (9:00am-10:20am) – Parents and carers are invited.

Monday 18^th July – Owls Class Discovery Café (10:30am – 11:55am) – Parents and carers are invited.

Monday 18^th July – Cheetah, Giraffe and Meerkat Class Discovery Café (1.30pm-3:30pm) Parents and carers are invited.

Tuesday 19^th July –  Aardvark Class Discovery Café (9:00am-10:20am) Parents and carers are invited.

Tuesday 19^th July – Lemurs and Antelope Class Discovery Café (10.30am-11:55am) Parents and carers are invited.

Tuesday 19^th July – Zebras Afternoon Class Discovery Café (1:45pm-3:00pm) Parents and carers are invited.

Tuesday 19^th July, Wednesday 20^th July and Thursday 21^st July – Sir John Leman High School Transition Day (Year 6)

Thursday 21st July – PD Day – No school for pupils.
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Newsletter 12 – 25th April 2016

Newsletter 11 – March 21st 2016
Newsletter 10 – March 7th 2016

Newsletter 9 – February 12th 2016

Newsletter 8 – January 25th 2016
Newsletter 7 – January 11th 2016

Newsletter 6 – December 6th 2015

Newsletter 5 – November 23rd 2015
Newsletter 4 – Novenmber 9th 2015

Newsletter 3 – October 19th 2015
Newsletter 2 – October 5th 2015

Newsletter 1 – September 18th 2015
Newsletter 4th September 2015
Building Work Update