Important news and information as we start the second half of the school year...
Newsletter 8
Thursday 23rd February 2023
Dear Parents/ Carers,
The half way point of the school year is an important period. Families are being informed of how things are progressing as part of the mid-year consultations and the teaching team are keen to initiate (and deliver!) the additional interventions (and adjustments) that have been identified to help keep moving the children forward. We will strive to keep standards high at Tudor and we must be as determined as ever to keep ensuring the children get the BEST provision. We are proud to share that since our Ofsted report has been shared that we have received a lot of interest in our approaches at Tudor- from schools in Dacorum to key advisors at county level. We find ourselves in a position where we have the potential to share our impact even more and I remain aspirational as ever for all our school community- the staff as well as the children. Let’s really go for it!
Speaking of aiming high, the themes of learning continue to inspire our Tudorites and the children in early years are loving the new space theme. Check out Wren’s planet paintings- can you believe this amazing artist is in nursery- she is clearly aiming for the stars! (She could even tell me about the sizes of the planets… WOWZERS!)
As well as ensuring the progress of the children, we continue to invest in the school site. We have installed the cupboard for the new defibrillator that will be accessible to the school community- thanks so much to all those parents that helped fund this resource.
Also, 78 new (energy efficient) lights were fitted in the main school building and Mr Denny has also been busy! He designed and built some tremendous upgrades in the outside area for early years- the children were so excited to sit in their new shelter! Have a look on our twitter pages to see the RANGE of things that make Tudor so special.
Strike action day 2- Wednesday 1st March- As previous communication has shared, the NEU has declared a series of strike action and a number of classes will not be in operation on this second strike day. The classes that are closed are: Nursery, Red, Yellow, 1P, 2R, 2Q, 4U, 5X, 6Y, 6Z. If your child is in a class that is CLOSED and you are a CRITICAL worker (who is also timetabled to work that day), please contact the school office. We may be able to assist. All at Tudor request that (regardless of whether you are pro or anti industrial action) you respect individual staff decisions. Hopefully, this dispute will be resolved with speed, empathy, thoughtfulness and for the best outcomes which will benefit children and staff. Thanks in advance for your support.
Safeguarding at Tudor - a reminder of 'Online chat and etiquette'
We encourage all parents to continue to oversee the online behaviours that your child engages with at home. It is important that the message that we share in school is echoed at home- children need to be reminded of their 'expected behaviours' whilst chatting to their friends online and what to do if they hear or see something that makes them uncomfortable. Do remind them of their responsibility to behave in the same respectful and kind way that they would when they see their friends in school - being 'virtual' is no excuse for poor behaviour or inappropriate language!
Class assemblies- Please ensure you use our website as your main source of information. You can find out all of the key dates including when each class is presenting their assembly to parents:
9th March- 2R
17th March-1O
23rd March- 3T
30th March- 4V
Inclusion at Tudor Primary- a message from Miss Reading- our Leader for Inclusion:
If your child has an individual support plan, you will be or will have already received a letter inviting you to a support plan meeting. To ensure your child achieves their full potential, it is vital that parents, teachers and children work together to review and plan these individual targets, therefore, please do attend this meeting. If the original appointment time is not convenient, do contact your child's class teacher to arrange an alternative date and/or time. On Tuesday 28th February at 9am, Chrissie Phillips - Family Support Worker will be attending 'Tudor's Coffee Morning'. We will be discussing anxiety and offering some practical ideas on how you can support your child to manage this. Chrissie will also be able to offer advice and support relating to any other difficulty your family may be currently experiencing. All parents and carers are welcome - we hope to see you there (plenty of tea, coffee and biscuits provided!).
Applications for Tudor Nursery, for children who turn 4 in the next academic year (Sept 23 – Aug 24) are now open. You can apply online using the QR code here, or visit our website www.tudor.herts.sch.uk > Parents Information > Pupil Admissions. The deadline to apply is 13th March 2023 at 9.00am.
COMMUNICATION- PLEASE ensure that your contact details are up to date and any changes with phone numbers/ emails are given to the school. CHECK that you have downloaded the Arbor app so they you receive school news and information. We will no longer be sending SMS text messages. It is fair to say that the VAST MAJORITY of enquiries/ questions the office team receive have already been given/ answered multiple times on the website/ newsletters/ school comms.
PUNCTUALITY- a HUGE factor in social and educational development- At the start of the year, all families were informed about the changes to the structure of the school day. To ensure full compliancy with government expectations the OFFICIAL start time of the day was moved forward to 8.45am. This is when we expect all children to be in school as learning activities are taking place from this point. Registers CLOSE at 8.55am and class teachers are unable to add children as present in classes after this point. PLEASE be on time. We hope to see all children IN at 8.45am!
An increase in school meal pricing- Increased costs are causing additional difficulty for families at the moment and it is disappointing that I have to inform you that there will be a rather significant increase in the cost of school meals from the start of the summer term. From Tuesday 18th April, the cost of a school meal will be £3.20. Our school is already having to deal with levels of debt (of unpaid lunch payments) that is not sustainable. Going forward, families with an existing debt of over £10 will be not be able to access the school meals service.
Managing absence- If your child is absent, you MUST inform the school. In addition, on any subsequent/ further day of absence please update the school with the situation so we are aware of how things are progressing. The duty of care (whether they are in school or not!) is a key part of our work at Tudor and this can only be achieved with clear cooperation between home and school.
Whilst it has been a few months since our school inspection took place, all at Tudor would like to thank the parent community for the most wonderful feedback that was given to the inspection team. The school also received some amazing emails of support from families during the ‘experience’ and these helped all the team to remain positive. The level of feedback was really impressive as well as the detail that was given. Even though we wanted to show the inspection team the high quality of our provision, there is no doubt that those who we TRULY want to impress EVERY day is YOU- our school community! Thanks again- such a level of support is fully appreciated. We hope you are as happy as your children!
