Riverside News Issue 428 – 04.10.24

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Riverside News

Important Reminder: No Riding Bikes or Scooters on School Grounds

We would like to remind all parents and carers that, for the safety of everyone, children (including younger siblingsare not permitted to ride their bikes or scooters on the school site. Mornings and afternoons are particularly busy, and riding on school grounds presents a serious hazard to others.

Please ensure that your child[ren] dismounts from their bike or scooter before entering the school gates and walks it to the designated racks. At the end of the day, they should collect their bike or scooter and walk it off-site before riding home. 

If school staff notice children riding bikes or scooters on site, they will be asked to dismount immediately.

Thank you for helping us keep our school safe and welcoming for all.

STAR of the Week

Leopard: Ella J

For being such a super learner! Ella loves trying out all the activities in class and really enjoys showing us what she can do and what she has learnt! Well done Ella!

Zebra: Luna H

For always working hard during independent learning; challenging herself with all the activities and for always helping to keep the classroom tidy.

Lion: Reggie J

For showing such enthusiasm in all areas of learning. Keep it up, Reggie. We are so proud of you.

Bear: Jack H

For an amazing piece of writing about the ‘Big, Bad, Pig’ using capital letters, finger spaces and full stops accurately. Amazing effort Jack!

Otter: Thomas J

For working hard in all your subjects and for sharing some detailled answers in our class discussions! Keep up the good work!

Seal: Caleb B

For taking inspiration from the artwork of Andy Goldsworthy to create his own land art sculptures during our visit to Kendal Park. Caleb was extremely enthusiastic and loved looking for different natural features to help him create his artwork. Great job Caleb!

Dolphin: Lily R

For trying hard in all lessons and for listening well on the carpet during every input. Well done Lily.

Tiger: Harriet T

For producing an excellent text map based on ‘The truth about Trolls’ and for always trying her best in all her lessons. You are a fantastic role model Hattie- well done!

Panda: Devon F

For his wonderful retell of our story map. Devon demonstrated his resilience when participating to retell our informative text. He mastered the Makaton signs for sing and dance, showcasing this enthusiastically to all of his friends.

Turtle: George S

For being a good all-rounder. George contributes to lessons, is respectful to his class community and challenges himself in all lessons. Keep up the good work.

Giraffe: Aylina M

For her fantastic portal story for her hot write with excellent use of vocabulary and beautiful hand writing.

Monkey: Chloe S

For outstanding word in maths. Exceptional job in solving our multi-step word problems.

Kangaroo: Mark K

For outstanding performance in Maths, consistently demonstrating exceptional engagement during lessons and actively contributing to class discussions.

Koala: Emily C

For her seamless integration into Riverside and Koala class. She has show great determination to achieve her very best at everything from inside the classroom to outside on the Netball court and football pitch! Keep up the amazing start!

 

Attendance

W/E: 27/09/24

Seal98.7%
Panda98.6%
Zebra98.5%
Monkey98.3%
Dolphin98.1%
Koala98%
Otter97.9%
Tiger97.4%
Leopard96.3%
Giraffe96.3%
Lion95.4%
Turtle94.3%
Kangaroo93.9%
Bear91%
96.6%
Overall Attendance

Reporting Pupil Absence

This is a reminder to all parents/carers that the correct way to report absences is to leave a message on the absence line answerphone daily. If messages are sent by email to the admin email address they will not be registered in time for the morning attendance and you may then receive a call from our attendance team.

Letters

Below are a list of letters, leaflets and posters uploaded to the website this week.

Leaflets/Posters for Parents

Letters sent this week

Parent Teacher Consultations Autumn 2024 – 04.10.24

Years 1-6 Sumdog East Essex Contest – 03.10.24

PTA Spook-A-Thon – 30.09.24

Previous letters, leaflets and posters can be found on the school website Events & Letters > Letters & Parent Meetings

Coffee Morning for SEES Parents

If you are the parent of a child who attends a South Essex Extended Services (Rochford Extended Services as was) school, the first coffee morning is as follows:
Thursday 3rd October
9 45 am to 11 30 am
Rayleigh Primary School, Love Lane, Rayleigh.
(Please park in the public car park behind Iceland)
 
We are lucky to have a guest speaker, Kate from Essex Family Forum will be joining us, to talk about her role and how you can benefit from knowing about this service.
 
The SEES coffee morning is free, great speaker, tea, coffee, good quality biscuits …. lots of reasons to come along!

 

SEN coffee mornings

Here are the SEN coffee morning dates for 2024-2025. If you have a child currently on the SEN register, are curious about an element of SEN or simply would like to come along for a chat about something SEN related, please attend.
 
They will be held in the red building meeting room at 9:10. If you would like to attend, please drop an email to sen@riversideprimary.co.uk.
 
  • 10th October- focus on ‘What is Autism’
  • 12th November- Focus to follow
  • 6th February- Focus to follow
  • 20th March- Focus to follow
  • 8th May- Focus to follow
  • 26th June- Focus to follow
We look forward to seeing you, 
Miss Marshall and Mrs RIce

Persistent Absences

If your child takes too much time off school they will become categorised as PA or persistently absent.  Missing school will make your child fall behind in lessons and will impact on their academic progress and achievement. 

Below is the percentage of children per year group who currently fall into this category.  If you are worried about your child’s school attendance, please do not hesitate to contact the school where we can work with you to improve this.

Year Group % of
Persistent Absences
R 11%
1 13%
2 10%
3 4%
4 8%
5 9%
6 18%
Overall 11%

Team Points

 

Makaton at Riverside: Building Inclusive Communication

Our staff have been working diligently to learn Makaton, following a recent training session. We’re now practicing regularly throughout the school, focusing on new signs every week. Miss Willard, who is qualified to Level 2, has generously volunteered as our Makaton Champion. This week, she introduced children in KS2 to Makaton, teaching them some basic signs.

We’re excited to share our ‘Sign of the Week’—“Good Afternoon.” You can watch this in action via the following YouTube link: Good Afternoon – Makaton.

Below is a little youtube link to watch too!  Good Afternoon- Makaton (youtube.com)
 

Keep an eye out for more Makaton signs and updates as we continue our journey towards more inclusive communication!

Head Boy and Head Girl Interviews: A Proud Moment for Riverside

This week, Mrs. Smith, Miss Shaw, and Mrs. Watts had the pleasure of interviewing the prospective Head Boy and Head Girl candidates. The children who applied took the process very seriously, impressing us with their maturity and dedication. It was incredibly challenging to select just one Head Boy and one Head Girl, as all the candidates performed brilliantly, embodying our STAR values throughout the task.

Here are some standout quotes from the interviews:

  • “My confidence has grown massively thanks to the teachers, and they’ve taught me how to respect everyone and treat all equally.”
  • “[This is] a special role for two lucky Year 6 pupils. It’s an amazing opportunity for someone in their last year of primary school.”
  • “I’ve developed my social skills because I was shy when I first started Riverside, but the children and teachers here really brought me out of my shell.”
  • “I want to represent Riverside as a leader. I am proud of Riverside as a school.”
  • “[A good role model is someone who] inspires younger ones to live meaningful lives. They show young people how to live with hope, determination, and passion.”

We would like to congratulate every child who participated in the process this week.

We are thrilled to announce that Mason is our new Head Boy and Lydia is our new Head Girl. This year, they will be proudly wearing unique ties instead of blazers, so keep an eye out for them around the school!

Year 4 Visitor

This week, Year 4 had an exciting visitor: Reverend Neil from the local free church! He shared his journey to Christianity and spoke about the importance of the Bible in his life. The children were eager to learn and asked Reverend Neil some incredibly thoughtful questions, demonstrating their curiosity and engagement with the topic. It was a wonderful opportunity for our students to explore faith and beliefs, and they left with a deeper understanding of the subject. Thank you, Reverend Neil, for inspiring our Year 4 students!  

Sumdog Contest

Harvest Festival 17th October

This year, Riverside will be collecting donations for our annual Harvest Festival.  Once again, all items donated will be going to the Southend Harp Appeal in aid of homeless people in the area. Please bring your items into school between Monday 23rd September and Wednesday 9th October and they will be collected by your child’s teacher. The list attached/below details those items that would be really appreciated. We look forward to receiving your donations.

Thank you

Mrs Brewer and Mrs Sear

Safeguarding

Row Row’s Grab Bag

11+ 2025 Entry Important Dates

AUTUMN TERM — LOCAL AUTHORITIES DISTRIBUTE INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR APPLICATION PROCESS

14 October 2024 — Results will be emailed to all candidates.

31 October 2024 — Published closing date for the receipt of applications to Local Authorities.

1 March 2025 — NATIONAL OFFER DATE

Achievements

At Riverside, we love celebrating our pupils’ achievements, both inside and outside of school. If your child has accomplished something beyond the classroom, we want to hear about it!

Please email admin@riversideprimary.co.uk with a brief description along with any photos of their achievement. We’ll be thrilled to showcase their success in our weekly newsletters.

PTA

To see more posters swipe your screen. Further posters for events can be found by clicking here.

Sumdog Years 1-6

Sumdog is an online learning tool which provides personalised maths practice that children love. It adapts questions to each child, using engaging games to build their confidence, and it’s been shown to accelerate progress.

We currently have Sumdog  Maths for Years 1 to 6 and Spelling and Grammar for Years 3 to 6. 

Your child’s login details should be in their yellow reading journals. The school code is SS56ND

Dinner Menu

We are operating a two week rolling menu. The menus, ingredients and allergen lists can be viewed on our website by clicking here.
School Dinners cost £2.60 per day.

Childcare Vouchers

Tax free childcare vouchers can be used to pay for Breakfast and Twilight sessions.


Breakfast club cost £6 per session.

Please arrive in between 7.30 – 8.15am. Your child will be walked back to their class by a member of staff when the school day begins.

Included in this cost will be a drink and a breakfast of toast and cereal.


Twilight club cost £7.50 per session.

Twilight Club runs from 3:15pm to 5pm. Your child will be taken to Twilight club by their class teacher at the end of the school day.

Included in this cost children are provided with a drink and healthy snack

Bookings must be booked 24 hours in advance via ParentPay.

To contact a member of the Twilight staff, please call 01702 230911 and select the Twilight Club option.

KS1 playground

Please do not allow children to play on the equipment either before/after school. At the end of the day, parents and children should leave the site promptly . This enables us to open up the playground for our other clubs. Thank you.

KS2 playground

Please note that the day in KS2 does not start until 8:40am when the doors open. Children should not be left unsupervised on the playground before this time. Children should not play on the equipment. Thank you

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH UPCOMING EVENTS!

Dates not shown on previous issues are added in RED!

Autumn 1 2024

04-10/10/24 — Years 1-6 Sumdog East Essex Maths Contest

07/10/24 — Year 5 Road Safety Walks

08/10/24 — EYFS presentation to parents – how the EYFS curriculum works – POSTPONED

17/10/24 —HARP assemblies

18/10/24 —Year 4 Egyptian Day

25/10/24 —PTA: Spook-A-Thon

25/10/24 —Children break up today

Autumn 2 2024

04/11/24 — Children return today

05/11/24 — Parent/Teacher Consultations 3:30 – 6:30pm

07/11/24 — Individual/Sibling Photographs

07/11/24 — Parent/Teacher Consultations 3:30 – 6:30pm

02-14/11/24 — TTRS England Rocks Contest

15/11/24 — Children in Need

21/11/24 — EYFS 2025 Open Evening

22/11/24 — Non-Pupil Day – INSET

25/11/24 — Non-Pupil Day – INSET

02/12/24 — Christmas Post Box Opens

06/12/24 — KS1 & KS2 Christmas Rehearsalds (filming)

10/12/24 — KS1 Christmas Productions 9:30 & 1:30

12/12/24 — KS2 Christmas Productions 9:30 & 1:30

13/12/24 — EYFS dress rehearsal to school

17/12/24 — EYFS Christmas Productions 9:30 & 1:30

18/12/24 — Christmas Dinner – Whole School

18/12/24 — Christmas Jumper Day

19/12/24Christmas Post Box Closes