End of Term Newsletter - Autumn Term 2023-2024

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With lots already planned and plenty more to come, we constantly refine and develop safeguarding across the curriculum. 

Attending school regularly is so important, both academically and socially. We believe that children need to be in school for all sessions so that they can make the most progress possible. Children who are absent from school, <ul><li>miss vital learning,</li><li>miss their friends,</li><li>can find it difficult to catch up when they return to school.</li></ul> Catching up an absent child can also affect others in the class, as adults time has to be spent on one child. We recognise that there are occasions when it is appropriate to authorise an absence, such as when a pupil is genuinely too ill to attend school, has a medical appointment that cannot be taken outside of school hours or a request for leave has been agreed in exceptional circumstances. However, the Government does not support parents taking children out of school unless the school agrees this is appropriate under ‘exceptional circumstances. Any request for leave should be made in writing to the Head of School using the school’s request form. Subject to the guidance below, we may apply for a penalty notice for unauthorised leave:

If your child is absent from school without authorisation, you will be committing an offence under the Education Act 1996. We may submit a request to Cornwall Council for a Penalty Notice to be issued, in accordance with Sections 444A and 444B of the said Act. Penalty Notices are issued per liable parent, per child and each carry a fine of £60 if paid within 21 days or £120 if paid after this but within 28 days. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice may result in legal action. Absence not authorised by the school may result in a prosecution in the Magistrates’ Court under Section 444(1) or Section 444(1A) of the Education Act 1996, leading to a fine of up to £2,500 and/or a custodial sentence. Cornwall Council may also apply for the costs incurred in taking the matter to Court.

If you have any concerns regarding your child(ren)'s attendance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

All the children have had a fantastic first term in Year 2. They have been brilliant Sandy Stars, showing high levels of perseverance and resilience in their new learning. The children have also enjoyed sharing their creativity during our DT days this term. They did a brilliant job of creating their very own pop-up books based on the 'Tales from Porth - Goolan' story. It was also wonderful to see how the children were able to support one another when making the different mechanisms inside their pop-up books. &nbsp; Year 2 loved visiting the White River Cinema to watch Super Mario Bros. this term as part of the Into Film Festival. We were so proud of how sensibly and safely our children walked to and from the cinema. &nbsp; It has been a busy term of celebrations, with European Languages Day, Black History Month, Children in Need, Remembrance Day and of course our Nativity performance.&nbsp; A BIG well done&nbsp;to all the Year 2 children for preforming a BAA-brilliant Christmas Nativity. You all worked extremely hard to learn your lines and songs and your hard work truly paid off! Thank you to all of our parents and carers for the fantastic costumes.&nbsp; &nbsp; All the adults in Maple and Willow Class would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!🎄🌟

Year 6 has been buzzing with activity this term! We delved into our World War Two topic, diving into stories like "Carrie's War" and exploring themes of resilience through the poem "Invictus." Ending the term with "Letters from the Lighthouse," we've been captivated by these tales. In Maths, we worked incredibly hard during our daily arithmetic, seeing our scores soar each week. Plus, we tackled place value, the four operations, and fractions. Art became an adventure in drawing techniques, inspired by war themes and the works of artist Cherry Crawford. We even got crafty in DT, using our textile skills to create comforting pillows from old materials. Geography broadened our understanding of fair trade, while in History, we delved deep into World War 2—debating Britain's entry, evacuations, the Blitz, and coping strategies. Computing taught us internet safety and web creation, and Science took us on a journey from exploring blood to experimenting with electricity, building circuits and solving puzzling problems. Trips added excitement to our learning: from a Kernow King workshop at the library to cinema outings and an inspiring day at Plymouth University—learning about exciting courses and career paths. Year 6 has been a whirlwind of learning and adventures!

exploring the effect of exercise on our bodies 

Using milk bottles to create Mammoths in English

Our Class cinema trip to watch Matilda the Musical

Using chocolate to understand how rocks are made!

Snow day! We felt really festive after this day!

All the children have transitioned amazingly into their new learning&nbsp; environment. They have really gone from strength to strength within every lesson across the curriculum. Year One have shown great resilience when taking on new learning and shown how they can be supportive friends.&nbsp;They have also enjoyed exploring all the areas in the classroom as part of their continuous provision. &nbsp; Year One loved visiting the White River Cinema&nbsp;to see to watch Epic Tails this term as part of the Into Film Festival, the children walked very sensibly and safely. &nbsp; It has been a busy term of celebrations, with European Languages Day, Black History Month, Children in Need, Remembrance Day and the children's first&nbsp;official Nativity.&nbsp; A huge&nbsp;congratulations&nbsp;to Year One for preforming an amazing Christmas Nativity. You all worked extremely hard on learning lines and songs!&nbsp; &nbsp; All the adults in Chestnut and Holly Class would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year⭐&nbsp;

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End of Term Newsletter Autumn Term 2023-2024

Forthcoming events:

December: 19th Last day of term (2pm finish) January 2024: 4th Spring term begins - pupils return to school 15th After school clubs begin this week 15th Deadline for applying for reception class place in September 2024 (children born between 01-09-2019 &amp; 31-08-2020) 17th Year 1-6 Open Afternoon (3:00pm) 17th Together for Families drop in session for parents with senior family worker, Geraldine Matthews (3:00pm-4:30pm) 31st Parent/Carer Workshop 'Internet Safety' (2:30pm) 31st Reception Classes &amp; Nursery Parent Meetings (3:15pm - 6:00pm) February 2024: 1st Reception Classes &amp; Nursery Parent Meetings (3:15pm - 6:00pm) 9th INSET Day (School &amp; Nursery closed to pupils) 12th - 16th Half term holiday March 2024: 5th St Piran's Day - Cornish Celebration 7th World Book Day (Non-uniform: Dress as your favourite book character) 15th Red Nose Day (Non-uniform: Wear red) 25th Last week of after-school clubs 28th Last day of Spring term (School &amp; Kids Club finish 2pm) April 2024: 15th Summer term begins - pupils return to school May 2024: 2nd Nursery &amp; School closed (School in use as a Polling Station)

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Another busy and exciting half term where we've enjoyed sharing Christmas performances, singalongs, nativities, pantomimes and much more - festive celebrations have certainly been underway! With glitter and sparkle in an abundance, creative crafts and festive cards have been made across the school form Nursery to Year 6. It's wonderful to have such a super selection of Christmas cards, with a nostalgic Cornish theme, to deliver to our local community residential, nursing and care homes - Sandy Hill children are certainly spreading their cheer with true Christmas spirit. Looking ahead to next term, when my secondment for 2 terms starts, I look forward to seeing Sandy Hill children continue to thrive, well supported by a dedicated staff team, lead by Mr. Walker, a true team who go above and beyond for the children. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year with family and friends! 🎄🎅🎄

"Working together, inspiring excellence" As a member of the <a href="https://www.aspireacademytrust.org/">Aspire Academy Trust</a>&nbsp;we have a centralised approach to policies. We have an extensive list of policies that cover&nbsp;the&nbsp;nursery, school and&nbsp;Kids Club. All Ofsted statutory policies are located under the '<a href="https://www.sandyhill.org.uk/web/policies/50134">Statutory Information</a>' page on our school website. In addition to these statutory policies, a selection of additional useful policies can be found on our '<a href="https://www.sandyhill.org.uk/web/useful_links__downloads/316217">Parents/Useful Links &amp; Downloads</a>' page. Please also read our '<a href="https://www.aspireacademytrust.org/socialmedia">Aspire Social Media Policy</a>' and '<a href="https://www.aspireacademytrust.org/parentconduct">Aspire Parent Code of Conduct</a>' .

If you are unable to find a particular policy, please contact the school office. Thank you.

Please may we remind parents/carers that neither smoking nor vaping is permitted whilst on school premises. Thank you.

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Events &amp; Activities

The Time2Move Holiday Programme will offer fun physical activities, games and wider activities plus a meal for all children.&nbsp; Activities take place across the Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays. All children aged 5 to 16 are welcome to attend and it is completely&nbsp;funded&nbsp;for children that are eligible for benefits-related Free School Meals.&nbsp; The activities are all delivered by approved providers. Click <a href="https://www.activecornwall.org/parents-and-carers/">here</a> to search for activities near you.

Communication &amp; Interaction - Makaton

Makaton is a unique language programme that uses symbols, signs and speech to enable to communicate. Being able to communicate is one of the most important skills we need in live. Almost everything we do involves communication! Makaton uses signs along with speech in spoken word order to help provide extra clues about what someone is saying. It can help people with no speech or whose speech is unclear. Using symbols can help people who have limited speech and those who cannot, or prefer not to sign.

We are so proud of Mrs Facey who has successfully completed her Makaton Tutor training following lots of hard work and study over the last few years. Mrs Facey already runs the after school Makaton club with Mrs Whetter, and is leading the development of Makaton use through Early Years and beyond!

You can find out more about Makaton by visiting the <a href="https://makaton.org/TMC/TMC/About_Makaton/What_is_Makaton.aspx" style="color: rgb(10, 43, 147);">Makaton Charity webpage here</a> or search for 'Makaton' on platforms such as YouTube for tonnes of videos showing you how to get started.

Wow, what an amazing Autumn Term the Year 5 children have had! Mr Lockett and Miss Rogers are so incredibly proud of how the children have settled into the routines and expectations of Upper Key Stage 2! Across the curriculum, the children have completed some exceptional learning. We have really enjoyed our first Year 5 topic - The Benin Kingdom. During which, we have learnt all about this civilisation and the many incredible skills their people had. We have studied a range of intricate artefacts from this time and also created our own Benin inspired bronzes. Within English lessons, the children have written for a range of purposes and enjoyed adapting their writing to suit the required style. At the start of the Autumn Term, the children enjoyed using an animation - The Shadow of Blue - as an inspiration for their writing. This was an excellent motivator for writing and the children composed some excellent written adaptations of the short film. Across each maths lesson, the children have worked hard to develop an understanding of the key arithmetic strategies for Year 5. The children are really enjoying witnessing their scores increase during the year and are striving to beat their personal arithmetic best! The children have also learnt all about the place value of numbers up to 1,000,000, addition and subtraction and multiplication and division. Finally, Mr Lockett and Miss Rogers would like to wish the children a very Merry Christmas and a restful break.

Wow! What an amazing first full term in Reception. We have been amazed by the children in Apple and Cherry class this Autumn term. They have approached learning with curiosity, awe and wonder. This term, the children have got to know new friends, learnt the rules and routines of being at school at Sandy Hill Academy, and flourished in their new learning environment. A huge moment for many children has been beginning to segment and blend words to read them, and getting their very first phonic reading book. The children have continued to show interest and enthusiasm for phonics, and learning new sounds. We have encouraged the love of reading through stories and song, and learning rhymes during the recent 'Nursery Rhyme Week'. We have been working on our play skills, and have enjoyed our weekly 'We Thinkers' sessions, where we have been learning to talk about our feelings, and think about how we move our bodies, including thinking before we react. In our maths sessions, we have explored shape, including finding 2D and 3D shapes in our environment. We have explored numbers to 5, and have been working on our number recognition and formation. The children have been practising subitising to 6, and using these skills in every day contexts. A huge well done to all of the children for their wonderful singing and signing at our Christingle Sing-A-Long service - what a special evening. We hope you all have a wonderful break over Christmas, thank you for being such Sandy Stars this term!🤩

writing tricky words and exploring 3D shapes

Our Year 4's have had a great start to their new academic year and it has been a pleasure to get to know them! They have immersed themselves in all our topics across the curriculum from learning how to sew a Celtic inspired purse in DT lessons at the very beginning of the year, to learning new skills in map reading when orienteering in P.E recently; it has certainly been jam packed! In English, we have worked on handwriting alongside enjoying using Spelling Shed to learn the weekly spellings. The children have written descriptions, instructions and biography's all linked to our history topic of The Romans Vs The Celts. In maths, each child has enjoyed placing themselves on the TTRockstars leader board in preparation for the Multiplication Check coming up in June. We have also focused on place value, addition and subtraction, area and multiplication and division. We have been extremely impressed with the increasing mental arithmetic scores each week and the children's dedication to handing in homework to support this. In science lessons, the children have loved taking part in experiments linked to our topics of electricity and sound. A particular highlight was making our own torches out of pringle tubes! Computing lessons have been focused around staying safe online as well as honing fundamental keyboard skills which will be essential for accessing the computing curriculum as we move through KS2. In geography, we have learnt all about sustainability and this will be great knowledge to bring into our next topic, The Amazon Rainforest! We have been lucky enough to be involved in the cross country event at Poltair school as well as our enjoyable trip to the cinema. We are looking forward to many more events to come in the new year (such as learning how to play the ukulele!) and hope you have a brilliant Christmas with your loved ones. Merry Christmas, The Year 4 Team :)

What a wonderful first term we have had here in Acorn Class. Lots of Autumnal learning from watching the season changes in our outdoor areas to looking at our planet frozen! The children loved freezing their Nursery toys and then enjoying an ice pop after. We were lucky to have a visit from the local fire brigade, and we loved climbing up into the engine and seeing all the exciting equipment they use everyday to help us. Acorn Class were so excited to have all the parents visit for our open afternoon. Sharing their learning, and seeing how proud they are really does put smiles on all around. Getting to Chalk Draw everywhere is a highlight each day. Even the cleaning up part! Our Christmas sing-a-long was a wonderful afternoon. The children were amazing and so brave! Lots of future performers in the making. Watch out Sandy Hill! Christmas Lunch and Jumper day was so exciting. It was a pleasure to see so many enjoy these festivities and the children really enjoyed their roast. Thank you all for a fantastic term and have a peaceful Christmas. From the Nursery Team

Learning a variety of balances in gymnastics!

Talking with children it's been super to hear how children view themselves both in the playground and in the classroom. Excellent discussions have supported adults to continue to meet the needs of all pupils.

We know pupil voice can contribute to a school's improvement and continue to actively encourage and involve children in self-evaluation, planning, and decision-making processes.

If you think you may be eligible for free school meals, please follow the link: <a href="https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/schools-and-education/schools-and-colleges/school-meals/further-information-about-free-school-meals/">Further information about free school meals - Cornwall Council</a>

Worried about a child? Who to contact if you have concerns about a child: Multi-agency Referral Unit (MARU): 0300 123 1116 Out of Hours Service: 01208 251300

Cornwall's Early Help Hub offers family support to help with common family matters (i.e. parenting support, health visiting, school nursing) for children and young people. To request help: earlyhelphub@cornwall.gov.uk 01872 322 277

Crisis Care Award (Cornwall Council) 0300 1234 121 Housing (Cornwall Council) 0300 1234 161 First Light (Domestic Violence Support) 0300 777 4777 Citizens Advice Cornwall 0800 144 8848 Remake Cornwall 07480 135818 remakecornwall@gmail.com St Austell Foodbank 01726 65313 info@staustell.foodbank.org.uk

Address: Sandy Hill Academy, Sandy Hill, St Austell, PL25 3AT Email: hello@sandyhill.org.uk Nursery enquiries: nursery@sandyhill.org.uk Phone: 01726 75858 Website:<a href="http://www.sandyhill.org.uk">www.sandyhill.org.uk</a>

All the children in Year 3 have had a fantastic first term! They have made exceptional progress so far, whilst also being brilliant Sandy starts by showing great self-motivation and resilience through their new learning! All the children have loved engaging within their first topic in Year 3 which has been the 'Stone Age to the Iron Age'. In this topic, the children have completed some fantastic cross curriculum work. For example, they have created a Stone Age fact book on book creator, created some Stone Age art, and written some some Stone Age stories in English which are linked to the book 'Stone Age Boy'. It has also been a busy term where the children have engaged in some creativity days during DT where they designed and created crown based on their personalities using printing techniques. And we have had lots of celebrations where they have created some superb work and shown great teamwork during these days! The children in Year 3 have celebrated European languages day, Black History month, Children in Need, Remembrance day, and of course our Christmas performance. Year 3 have also loved their trip out to the cinema for the 'Into film festival', where Elm class watched Matilda the musical, and Ash class watched the Super Mario film. Both classes showed great respect, manners, and resilience whilst walking to and from the cinema. Well done Year 3! All of the adults within Ash class and Elm class are so proud of all year 3 have achieved already! And we would all like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 🎄🌟

It's been exciting for all our pupils to gain some new experiences again this half term, including the visit from Jaydon Paddock who, along with his teammates, was crowned 2019 World Champions. Aspirations around gymnastics and the wider world of sport were discussed with many ambitions clear!

Inter house tournaments have continued to be a part of our sporting experiences and widened awareness of the range of sports as well as opportunities available, for example boccia, a Paralympic sport introduced in 1984, a precision ball sport was the focus of our latest inter-house tournament. Super to see all Sandy Hill students aspiring to achieve, determined to succeed!

Domestic Abuse Support

Domestic abuse refers to any form of violence or mistreatment that occurs within a household or intimate relationship. It can take many forms, including physical, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse. Domestic abuse is a serious issue that affects people of all genders, ages, and backgrounds. It is important to recognize the signs of domestic abuse and seek help if you or someone you know is experiencing it.

For support, contact our local domestic abuse and sexual violence service, Safer Futures: <a href="https://saferfutures.org.uk/" style="color: rgb(9, 100, 185);">saferfutures.org.uk</a>&nbsp;0300 777 4777 (9am – 5pm, Mon – Fri) or: Cornwall Refuge Trust’s 24hr helpline on 01872 225629 for support outside of those hours.

If you or your children are in immediate danger call 999

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