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KAR Weekly Newsletter 11/12/2020

Here is the Principal's Weekly Newsletter video, please see below if you simply wish to read the information or access the links.

Early School Closure

Hopefully, you received the letter from me this week which explains that track and trace in schools nationwide can cease on 23 December instead of Christmas Eve.  Schools will therefore need to close their doors on Thursday 17 December.  This means that those lessons that were planned for Friday 18 December will now be placed on google classroom.  Students will be expected to complete the work and staff will be available via email to support any students that need it.  This will only be lessons 1 to 3 as school officially finishes at 12.10 pm.

 

Please ensure that you read the letter carefully so you know what to do should your son/daughter have one of the three symptoms of COVID 19.

Christmas Jumper Day

Due to the early school closure, we will now Christmas jumper day o Thursday 17 December. 
This is NOT a non-uniform day so jumpers should be worn with school trousers/skirts and blazers if you wish. You will not be required to wear a tie under the jumper. 

 

Theatre trip next week

Next Thursday 17th December the school will take 70 year 8 and 9 students to The Spire in Brighton to see A Christmas Carol as told by Scrooge. The performance is a special one-off matinee just for us and of course, is totally Coid compliant. Parents have been emailed the information. Tickets and consent can be made via Parentpay to which the deadline is close of play on Monday.

 

PE Team

In PE this year we have had a great run with the weather and been able to have almost all of our planned lessons outside.  The weather has turned a little bit colder and students are advised to wrap up warm for the lessons.

 

Students are allowed to wear skins underneath their PE kits to ensure that they keep the heat in.  Whilst the online shop is currently restocking on the school fleeces, students can wear appropriate plain jumpers in lessons (without a hood) and are also advised to wear the school tracksuit bottoms.

It has been noted that some students are choosing not to change their school socks and use these for PE, students should be changing these for lessons so that they are able to put on clean, dry socks
after the lesson.

In the New Year lessons in Key Stage 3 will be Rugby and Fitness, in Key Stage 4 we will continue with the current activities.

Hopefully, with the vaccine now starting to be administered we will be able to start running more clubs and possibly even start having fixtures against other schools.

Please pass on our thanks to the students to in their continued enthusiasm in PE

The PE Team

 

12 Days of Giving - Food Bank Donations

Reminder that we are again supporting the food bank this December. Food banks are requiring donations more than ever, between April and September 1,239,399 emergency food parcels were provided to people in crisis this year. We are collecting donations every morning leading up to the
last week of term. There is a collection bucket and the entrance for each bubble. 

 

The Bumper KAR Inter-house Family Christmas Quiz

Just a reminder that the closing date for entries to the Christmas quiz is Sunday 13 December.

 

Buses – totally cash after Christmas

We have been informed by the bus companies that after Christmas they will no longer be taking any cash for bus tickets. They have been lenient this term with allowing students to pay in cash but as
of January they must use one of the pre-paid cards to tap as they get on. This is to do with H&S and COVID. 

 

Get a FREE i-go leisure discount card and enjoy exciting offers

i-go is a FREE leisure card for 0 to twenty-five-year olds with special educational needs or disabilities in East Sussex. With an i-go card you get exciting offers from our i-go partners including leisure centers, days out, entertainment and more.  Plus we provide information about the accessibility of venues and activities.

i-go is also the Children’s Disability Register for East Sussex, helping us to plan and commission services.

You or your child can apply if they have one of the following –

An Education Health and Care Plan (or Statement),
Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance, a Concessionary
Disabled Person’s Bus Pass, a Blue Badge. Or you can ask a professional to support your application.

For more information please go to www.igo.eastsussex.gov.uk Call
0345 60 80 192  Or email us at i-go@eastsussex.gov.uk

 

Starfish Up2Scratch DJ Academy

Starting in January, Up2Scratch DJ Academy has a selection of new youth music courses based around DJ skills and music production running at Starfish Studios in Lewes.  Please see attached a digital flyer with all relevant information is attached

 

Course signup is available through the Starfish website: https://www.up2scratchdjacademy.com/starfish-courses

More information on Starfish is available at: 

https://www.starfishlewes.co.uk/

 

Up2Scratch DJ Academy provides a comprehensive
programme across a wide range of skills, via private tutoring and group based workshops. For further information on their DJ and music production tuition please contact them direct to discuss your requirements.

 

Safeguarding Focus

         
TikTok Update Parental Controls
with Family Pairing Feature (SWGfL)


TikTok is used by many teenagers and sometimes children younger than that 13 despite its terms and conditions. Using the new Family Pairing feature can allow parents to guide their child’s TikTok experience in a safer way.
Features include:

Search: Decide what can be searched for. This includes
content, users, hashtags, or sounds 

Screen Time Management: Sets how long your teen can spend on TikTok each day

Discoverability: Decide on the account being private (you decide who can see their content) or public (anyone can search and view content)


To find out more information about TikTok's Family Pairing feature and to download a helpful poster to share with students and parents, go to: https://swgfl.org.uk/magazine/tiktok-update-parental-controls-with-family-pairing-feature/  .  Also see following link that allows parents control online time for all their apps as well as Tic Toc https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.kids.familylink&hl=en_GB&gl=US

        
Relationship abuse and keeping safe at parties

The response to Covid-19 will mean that there are far fewer gatherings, however it is still worth mentioning the importance of consent in relationships.

Staffordshire County Council has created a resource-rich website called 'know about CSE' (Child Sexual Exploitation), part of this can also be 'peer-on-peer' abuse'

The website has information for professionals, parents and carers, and young people themselves. There is also advice for businesses like hotels and taxi drivers.

The website can be found here: http://knowaboutcse.co.uk/

 

Have a great weekend

 

Kind regards

Sian Williams

Principal