Open Evening – Wednesday 21 September 2022

If your son/daughter has volunteered to help at our Open Evening for prospective parents and students, please can you ensure that you have signed and returned their permission slip.  Please note that the slips state an arrival time of 5.15pm.  We have now changed that to 5pm.  

Dropping off – If you are dropping your son/daughter off, to help with traffic flow, please only drop off in the school bus lane.  

Picking up - If you are collecting your son/daughter at the end of the evening, we will be running a one-way system.  Please therefore follow the road to the left of the school building around the back and park on the playing field.  Your son/daughter will come out to the field to meet you there.  You exit via the gate leading out into Harrisons Lane.  

All parking on the night will be on the school field.  

 

Science Department

We have now launched Tassomai for Y8-11 (year 7 to follow in a few weeks).

Tassomai is a powerful learning platform that supports pupils to learn more effectively.

Students can use their school email address and the case sensitive password QuizLearnGoal to login for the first time. It will then be prompted to change their password and add themselves to their science group. If students require technical assistance they should speak to their science teacher. https://app.tassomai.com/login   We will set up parental reports within the next two weeks, which will support in monitoring students completion and progress.  To confirm students should complete 4 daily goals per week.  More information to follow.  Thank you, Mr G Weir- Director of Science

 

Maths Department

Coming very soon to King’s Academy Ringmer - Sparx Maths. - We are replacing Hegarty Maths with Sparx Maths.  Developed by Colin Hegarty but revised and better.

More information to follow

 

Year 11 Post 16 Careers Event 

Event date: Thursday 6th October 2022

Event Location: KAR in the hall

Event time: 6-7pm

Local colleges will be attending for students to discuss what courses they offer and there will also be details of T-Levels and Apprenticeships.

 

ECO Club

The Eco Club will start on Monday 26 September during lunch, and will run weekly.  Please come along and meet Mrs Teague and Miss Pillar, and talk about any ideas and projects we can work on this term.  We are looking forward to meeting you and welcoming anyone new who is interested in getting involved.

 

Y9 / 10 Duke of Edinburgh Award

Students will be having an assembly regarding our launch of the DofE Award in the week commencing 26th September.  Keep an eye out for letters and updates.

 

Offering.All.Students.Individual.Support

Student ambassadors and Peer mentors

These students are here to offer support with many issues including friendships, school worries and to help you settle into secondary school. They are happy to listen and help in any way they can to make your experience at King’s Academy a positive one.  All of these students have completed training, both online and in person they also wear a blue badge.  Peer mentors are available to meet with you 1:1 during tutor if required. 

If you feel you would benefit from a mentor you can do any of the following;

• Speak to your tutor

• Email Miss Beattie - jo.beattie@kingsacademies.uk

• Ask a student ambassador to contact Miss Beattie

Ronnie, our school therapy dog is in school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and spends lunchtimes in the eco garden, everyone is welcome to join her.

 

Catering and school meals

Please find attached below, a copy of the new menu choices and the up-to-date Tariff of charges. This information is also on the school website for reference

 

Free School Meals

If your child qualifies for free school meals (FSM) please see below information of how the funds are allocated - 

For information on how the FSM allowance is actioned please see details below - 

• Each morning the FSM allowance is allocated to the students. We will call this money purse 1, any funds that you allocate to your child's lunch account we will call purse 2.

• Any items that students buy is taken firstly from their FSM allowance (purse 1) and if there is an overspend it would come from any additional funds that you put on his lunch account via ParentPay (purse 2) eg - Allowance £2.20 (please note these figures are all for example only not the current charges)

Breakfast - bacon roll bought £1.50 leaves 70p left on the account in purse 1 

Break - cookie bought £1.00 - this would then take the 70p that is left from the FSM account (purse 1) and 30p from any funds that you have allocated (purse 2) 

Lunch - main meal £2.20 - this would all come from any funds that you have put on the account (purse 2) 

 

• Any unspent FSM money (purse 1) gets taken off at the end of each day it does not get carried over, any funds that you put on the account (purse 2) carries over until it is all spent.

 

You can see on ParentPay what your child is spending the funds on. We are able to print out both food choices for the day and money spent. If you would like me to send this to you please let me know. 

 

I hope this explains the system here however should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me at ringmer.finance@kingsacademies.uk

 

Attendance at Kings Academy Ringmer

It has been a disruptive time for all schools and families during the last few years. Now that students return to a more settled pattern of school life, focus can return to attendance and progress in school. Therefore, the impact upon children’s education through lost learning time can be significant. We as a school aim to develop and maintain a whole school culture that promotes the benefits of high attendance. Please take the time to read our Attendance and student registration policy on the school website.

Our school has a whole school attendance target of 95.4%.

Progress related to attendance: 

·         Students above 95% attendance should achieve 3/4 grade higher across their best 8 subjects.

·         Students who have between 90-95% attendance should achieve their predicted grades across their best 8 subjects

·         Students who have between 80-90% attendance will achieve a full grade lower across their best 8 subjects. 

Government departments track school attendance figures. It is considered that attendance of 90% or below is persistent absence which will now be closely monitored by the Senior Leadership Team staff.  Failing to improve on this 90% can lead to prosecution, which King’s Academy Ringmer wants to help families avoid. As a school we aim to build strong relationships with families, listen to your needs and understand the barriers to attendance and work with you to remove them.

In weeks 3-4 parents whose children have between 90-95% attendance will be liaising with the Key Stage Pastoral Leaders (KSPLs) to identify any support the school can offer to improve attendance. Additionally, tutors will be having discussions with students and/or parents every time your child is absent. During week 5 parents whose children who are persistently absent (less than 90% attendance) will be invited into school for an attendance meeting with the Assistant Principal and the Attendance Officer to discuss the attendance policy and procedures at school.

There are things you can do to improve your child’s attendance and avoid falling into the persistent absence category:

·         If your child is unwell and you are unsure whether to send them to school, contact reception.

·         Avoid taking any holidays during term times

·         Check Edulink regularly to keep up to date with what % attendance your child has so that you know if they are at risk of persistent absence

·         Speak to school staff with any concerns.

·         Talk to your child about the importance of them being in school and let them know how important you feel it is.

For your reference:

The table below provides an example of the impact of lost learning through pupil absence:

Attendance % over a school year	Equal to number of days absent	Converted to approximate weeks of absence	Approximate number of lessons missed	School Concern Level
95%	9.5	2	47.5	Pupil can catch up and still succeed
90%	19	4	95	Poor attendance -we are concerned
80%	38	8	190	Very poor attendance – we are very concerned
70%	57	12	285	Serious concerns

A child who has an absence percentage of 80% has missed 38 days of school and has missed 190 lessons.

Punctuality is also highly important. Pupils who arrive late to school are:

·         Not only losing learning but also disrupting the learning of others as they arrive late for lessons. 

·         Pupils do not like being late into school and can be upsetting for them.

·         Intervention and prevention is key as we want to prevent this.

The table below provides an example of the impact of lost learning through pupil lateness.

Number of minutes late per day over a school year	Approximate equivalent number of days lost learning
5	3
10	6.5
15	10
20	13

We want to help families get their child to school on time.  Here are some things you can try:

·         Have everything you/your child needs for school prepared the night before

·         Ensure that your child goes to bed at a reasonable time so they are not too tired to get up in the morning

·         Ensure your child has a good night’s sleep by minimising their use of devices at bed time.

·         Have a consistent bedtime routine for your child

·         Set an alarm to allow plenty of time for your morning routine in getting to school on time

Thank you for your support. Regular attendance drives and communication will be sent at the beginning of every term. I hope we can make improvements to attendance and punctuality.

 

Lost Property

We have a number of unnamed items of property currently unclaimed at reception, which cannot be returned as we are unaware of the owners. Please ensure that all belongings/clothing brought into school are named, so that if lost, they can be returned to students directly. If you are missing an item belonging to you, please come down to reception and ask if we have seen it. Thank you.

 

Bus Details 

I have been advised that there are no changes to bus routes this year; they will follow the same timetable as last year. We do ask that students are at the bus stop at least 5 minutes early in case the bus is running ahead of schedule.  Firle Bridge Closure - we have spoken to ESCC and they are currently working on a solution to the school transport whilst this work is taking place. They will be in touch with parents directly with the information

 

Parenting Support

Please find attached an up to date ‘What’s On’ guide which outlines all the East Sussex Healthcare FREE courses for supporting parents and carers with those common behaviour, anxiety and resilience issues.

Kind regards,

Sian Williams

Principal