Dear parents and carers,

I hope you have had a good week.

We have had another fantastic week at Kings Academy Ringmer. We have been holding our Open Mornings, where visitors are able to tour the school in lesson time. As Principal, this has certainly been a proud moment given the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the large number of guests. They have commented on how confident, smartly dressed, polite and personable our student tour guides have been. We have had more students offer to support this than ever before. With regards to the school, visitors have commented on the student engagement in lessons, the calmness in the corridor changeovers, the cleanliness of the site and the positivity of staff. We have also received positive correspondence from East Sussex regarding the positive conduct of our students in using public transport in comparison to other schools. The students continue to be a credit to the school and we look forward to moving forward together this year. 

I am delighted to advise that our current school attendance is 0.8% above the national average. Whilst 0.8% may seem a small figure, it can have a significant impact on outcomes for our students. I thank you for your continued support on this, and ensuring your children are here every day. If they are feeling a little under the weather, please send them in and we can review. Attendance is crucial to success. 

You will soon be receiving the parent survey and coffee morning dates. The questionnaire will offer opportunities to detail what you think we do well as a school, and where we can improve. The responses will formulate how we move forward on ‘our journey to excellence’ to become the best school in Sussex. There will also be an opportunity to detail any ways you as parents and carers can help the school improve and become better. All ideas welcome!

We currently have some key roles out for pastoral support staff. If you know anyone who would suit these roles, please pass on the details. All information is on both our website and social media platforms.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Best wishes,

Mr Harvey

Principal

 

Useful Information for Parents / carers - SEE POSTERS ATTACHED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE

• King’s Academy Ringmer Behaviour and Achievement posters 2023-24 

• King’s Academy Ringmer Communication Guide 2023-24 - Please use this guide to help signpost you to the correct staff member / process to our most common concerns/questions 

• ESCC bus expectations guide 

• King’s Academy Ringmer Attendance poster 2023-24

 

ECO News

It has been a wonderful start back to the year for Eco here at King's Academy Ringmer.  Mrs Teague has spoken at assembly and toured many of the Year 7 students around the school, showing them the many Eco initiatives, we have here.  These include: our solar panels, wind turbine, electric car charging point, low energy sensor lighting in the corridors, ground-source heating in the Steve Green Building, our Living Wall in the Steve Green canteen, full of living plants to improve the environment and wellbeing of students, our biomass boiler and Eco Hub building with living roof.  

Mrs Teague also invited all the new year 7's to come join the Eco Club and get involved with our Eco activities to improve the biodiversity on our site, reduce energy usage and support work to protect marine environments.

We have restarted our Eco Club meetings on a Monday lunchtime in the Eco Hub building.  Any students are more than welcome to attend the meeting and become an Eco Rep.  At the moment the Eco Reps are preparing to help at the Ringmer Village Eco Extravaganza on Saturday 28th October 2023.  We will be supporting this event and Mrs Teague and some of the Eco Reps will be there, helping out and displaying information about our activities here at school.  Please do call in to the event as it will be full of interesting information and stalls.  Thank you, Mrs Teague

 

Free School Meals

Do you qualify for Free School Meals?
To make applications easier for parents/carers we have changed the way that you can apply for free school meals. Applications are now processed online via East Sussex County Council, the criteria for being able to apply and for the online application please see the details below.

Free school meals for children in Year 3 and older

Older children may get free school meals if their parents or carers get any of these benefits:

• Universal Credit - GOV.UK – if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

• Income Support - GOV.UK

• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) - GOV.UK

• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) - GOV.UK

• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 - GOV.UK

• The Guaranteed element of State Pension Credit -GOV.UK

• Child Tax Credit - GOV.UK, only, if your annual household income (assessed by HM Revenue & Customs) isn’t over £16,190

[Anyone who gets Working Tax Credit - GOV.UK, won’t get free meals regardless of income]

• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

Children will get free school meals if they meet the criteria and are in school both before and after lunchtime.

Children eligible for free school meals on or after 1 April 2018 will remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they’re in on 31 March 2023 even if your circumstances change.

• Apply for free school meals online

Our Electronic Checking Service might be able to confirm entitlement. If not, you’ll need to show recent proof that you qualify. Meals cannot be given until eligibility is verified.

Apply online if your child goes to school in East Sussex. 

Thank you, Debbie Duckworth, School Business Manager

 

Information from Neighbourhood Policing Team, Eastbourne, Lewes and Wealden – B Section

The Neighbourhood Policing Team has asked us to pass the following message onto our parents / carers - Recently Ringmer has had issues with youths using catapults. They are asking parents / carers to monitor if your child owns one to ensure it is not being used inappropriately.  Thank you for your assistance with this.  

 

Safeguarding - End-to-End Encryption and Children - IWF

End-to-End Encryption, previously the domain of spies and those seeking to exist below the observation of the authorities is now becoming a must-have feature in the e-communication world. The inexorable rise of e-communication fuelled by the increased sophistication of mobile phones, and communication apps such as WhatsApp and the direct message feature of Instagram has made image sharing an essential of telephonic dialogue. The commencement of End-to-End Encryption as a feature of all messaging apps, owes much to the screen capturing of private images and texts in the adult world. However, the question remains is the enhancement of security via this level of encryption an advantage or disadvantage to child protection? The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), has recently published an article on this topic. Please follow the link below to find out more: 

https://www.iwf.org.uk/resources/end-to-end-encryption-and-keeping-your-child-safe-online/