School Newsletter : 09 February 2024

We have installed a new school office security and monitoring system (InVentry) to record all comings & goings made by staff, visitors, parents, pupils, contractors etc. We will also be using this system to record late arrivals as well as early pickups (for example for a dentist appointment).

This will help us monitor patterns of lateness and punctuality, so that we can work closely with those requiring additional support to ensure that every child’s school learning time is maximised.

After the February half term break, if your child is late, you will need to come into the office and register their arrival. On the touch screen, you will need to select the ‘Sign In’ tab, your To do this you need to select the sign in tab on the touch screen, your child’s year group and their name. You will also be asked to register the reason for your late arrival eg: appointment (medical/dentist), left late, traffic etc.

Conversely, if your child needs to be collected before the end of the school day, you will need to sign them out. Once again, you will need to select the ‘Sign Out’ tab, your child’s year group and select their name. You will also be asked to register the reason for leaving early eg: appointment (medical/dentist) or illness etc.

Dear Parents and Pupils,

As shared in the school newsletter last Friday, we have been reviewing ways in which we celebrate behaviour at Burdett-Coutts over the past week or so.

When we talk about behaviour this covers many types seen across the school day and includes examples such as:

• learning (academic)
• cooperative learning (how well we work with others)
• playground: sharing, turn taking, inclusiveness, resilience
• manners: being polite, helping others, showing care (for others and the environment), respecting others (teachers and pupils)
• kindness: to others, self and school environment, showing kindness to help someone feeling sad, sharing a smile, asking how you are, including you in games and discussions.

At Burdett-Coutts we are fortunate and blessed to see so many wonderful daily and weekly ways to celebrate the behaviours observed in school.

Therefore, following the half term break, as well as continuing to celebrate these children during the Thursday Celebration Assembly, we will also be naming and celebrating all pupils who are awarded a Gold Certificate in the newsletter and introducing the following additional forms of celebration:

Postcards
Each week teachers will select up to 2 pupils who will have a postcard sent home, acknowledging a particular behaviour noted in school. This has been trialled in several classes over the past few weeks, with positive feedback from parents and pupils!

BC Tea
Each week teachers will present invitations to two pupils in each year group that invites them to attend an Afternoon Tea with a member of school staff.

Staff will take turns hosting Afternoon Tea with pupils, which will be a wonderful opportunity for children to share and celebrate their reason for attending, whilst enjoying a yummy Afternoon Tea! Those who are selected will also have their names published in the school newsletter each week.

We look forward to sharing and celebrating our pupils’ continued successes within their school day with you. A copy of our Behaviour Strategy, “Stay on Green”, is included with this letter as a reminder of all the steps used for managing behaviour in school.

Thank you for your continued support,

Burdett-Coutts Staff

• New Behaviour Initiative Letter (PDF) >

• Easter Egg Competition Template (PDF) >
• Easter Egg Competition Template (Jpeg) >

In conjunction with Capital City College and supported by the Mayor of London, there will be a free numeracy programme held at St. Stephen’s Church. Open to any adults over 19 years old, the program will run every Monday morning @ 11.30am, for six weeks beginning on Monday 19th February 2024.

Please see the information leaflet and the enrolment letter below for more information. If you require paper copies of these documents, please ask at the school office.

• Multiply Free Maths Skills Courses information leaflet (PDF) >
• Enrolment letter (PDF) >

Our next event is the Easter Fair on 15th March. Please come to our meetings if you can, it’d be lovely to meet new parents and it’d be great to have you onboard. Our meetings will be on Thursdays in the Ground Floor Hall from 9 – 10am on the following dates:

• 22nd Feb
• 7th March
• 14th March

Please ensure that your child is wearing the correct PE kit to school each week.

Pupils who are not wearing their full PE kit will not be able to participate in lessons, and a note will be sent home indicating why they were not able to participate.

The full PE kit for the Autumn/Winter term is as follows:

• Plain navy blue leggings or tracksuit bottoms
• School navy blue PE t-shirt
• School navy blue sweatshirt (all year groups).
• Pupils in KS2 (Years 3 – 6) must wear a school navy sweatshirt for PE and NOT their school jumper.
• Plain black trainers (velcro if your child struggles with shoe laces)
• Please ensure all items of uniform are clearly labelled (with a permanent pen or label)

On Monday 8th January, parents were sent a welcome email from Arbor via the school office email account. Please read this carefully, as it contains vital information of the steps required to download the Arbor app, which is now live and ready to use for our school.

Once you have downloaded the app and followed the setup steps, you will be able to pay online for the following:

• Breakfast Club
• After School Club (6 o’clock club)
• School Trips and Visits
• Nursery Extended Day Fees
• Preschool Fees

You will also be able to view your child’s details held by the school, such as their attendance record  and the named adults allowed to collect them from school.  After the Easter Break, you will also be able to sign up and pay for Extended School Day (Enrichment) Clubs.

We understand that while paying online is the preferred option for many of our families, those wishing to continue paying by cash will still be able to do via the school office.

If you would like your child to move from bringing a packed lunch to having a school meal, you must inform the office at least a week in advance of this change being made. Kindly note pupils are not allowed to alternate between having packed lunches and/or school meals on a daily or weekly basis. If you have any questions, please see a member of the school admin staff at the school office.

You can find the current school lunch menu here >

If you require a printed copy, please ask at the school office. Should you have any questions about the menu, kindly make an appointment to speak with Miss Barnett.

February 2024 half term vouchers for pupils eligible for FSM are available for collection from the school office.

We have noticed several pupils are consistently late to school each day. It is essential that every child arrives at school by 08:45 o that they are in class and ready to learn at 09:00. If your punctuality has slipped recently, please ensure that you take steps to arrive in school on time after the February half term break.

Why good school attendance matters: Missing a few days of school here and there may not seem a big deal, but research shows that it can have a significant impact on children’s learning.

Children who miss a substantial amount of school fall behind their peers, and struggle to catch up. Most of the work they miss is never made up, which can lead to big gaps in their learning.

• Poor attendance often starts at primary school and children who fall into this pattern are likely to under-achieve at secondary school.
• Pupils who miss between 10 and 20% of school (that’s 19 – 38 days per year) stand only a 35% chance of achieving five or more good GCSEs, compared to 73% of those who miss fewer than 5% of school days.
• An attendance rate of 95% is generally considered good; this allows for children to miss 9.5 days across the school year.
• Persistent absence (PA) is defined as an attendance rate of 90% or below.
• All pupils are expected to have an attendance rate of 95% or higher.

Attendance class of the week: Each week we will be celebrating the class with the highest attendance levels.