Happy New Year! I hope that you have all had a great break from school and are feeling healthy and happy at the start of the new term.  The Spring Term is always incredibly busy.  The children have returned to school full of enthusiasm and excited about the adventures coming up - we've got Year 4 starting their swimming lessons, Year 3 visiting Wagamama, class assemblies, parent workshops, ZooLab visiting Year 1, Year 6 attending Junior Citizenship, a Chelsea football festival, forest school for Year 3 and we also welcome all our new families and children who start in our Nursery next week! So much to fit in before half-term!

Supporting Your Child With Sleep - workshop next week
A final reminder that Gabriela, who is our Education Wellbeing Practitioner, will be delivering a Supporting Your Child with Sleep Parent Workshop at King’s Oak on the 10th January 2023, from 8:45-9:45. This is an in-person workshop, so please come along to learn from this informative session.
Date: 10th January 2023, 8:45-9:45, at King’s Oak.
Overview of content:
● Why is sleep important and how much sleep children need.
● The circadian rhythm.
● How to encourage good sleep.
● Resetting the circadian rhythm.
● The bedtime routine.
● The bedroom environment.
● Wider sleep hygiene strategies.
● Specific strategies.

If you would like further information about this, or any other work offered by the Mental Health Support Team, please speak to the designated Mental Health Lead for your child's school, Mrs Sener. Alternatively, you can contact Gabriela on
gabriela.morenovera@achievingforchildren.org.uk
 

Message from the NHS
It is important to minimise the spread of infection in schools and other education and childcare settings as much as possible so parents should be advised that if their child is unwell and has a fever, they should stay home from school or nursery until they feel better and the fever has gone. Is my child too ill for school? - NHS

Parents can also support in helping children to learn about the importance of good hand hygiene with regular hand washing at home with soap and warm water, and encouraging catching coughs and sneezes in tissues then binning them and washing hands, which is another simple way to help stop illness from spreading.
 
Flu vaccination uptake among young children remains low. Flu can be very unpleasant and in some cases can lead to more serious illness. Getting your child vaccinated protects them, and others they come into contact with, and it’s still not too late to take up the offer:
 
Has your child missed their flu vaccination? - NHS South West London Integrated Care Board
Friday 13th January 14.30 -16.00 - Teddington Health and Social Care, Queens Road, Teddington TW11 0LR. For any queries, please call us on 020-3691-1027 or 020-3691-1042

New Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) for King's Oak

My name is Nikki Dufosee and I am the Education Welfare Officer attached to King’s Oak school. I will be working closely with the school staff to increase attendance and improve punctuality. Part of my role as an EWO is to monitor persistent absentees (under 90%) and to support the school and families in improving this.
I would like to remind all parents/carers that holidays should not be taken during term time and they will be marked as an unauthorised absence. All other appointments need to be made out of school hours.
Alongside regular attendance, punctuality is the key to successful learning. Please be mindful that constant lates are disruptive for all pupils and do impact the overall attendance percentages.
I look forward to being in school and together raising the attendance at Kings Oak. If you would like to discuss your child's attendance you can contact me via the school office.

Playtime and Lunchtime News

We are pleased to inform you that we have ordered and received a variety of new playground equipment to support our lunchtimes and encourage the children to stay active and learn new skills. We hope the children will all make use of the equipment and enjoy a variety of new games. Children who show good behaviour at playtime or lunchtime will receive weekly rewards and incentives. 

We have also introduced a new Lunchtime ‘Reflection’ system, to support children who may have made a wrong choice during playtime.  

If a child has been issued a reflection time, they will be supported by an adult and encouraged to think about how their behaviour has affected others and how they might change their behaviour in the future. We will be using the ’Zones of Regulation’ and restorative approaches to problem solve and think about solutions. 

The refection times are from 5 minutes - 35 minutes depending on the severity of the behaviour. These will be displayed on cards used by staff to remind children of the correct behaviour. 

Reflection times will be run by a member of SLT during lunchtime, after the children have eaten their lunch. 

If your child receives a 35 minute reflection time, you will be informed of the circumstances and outcome. 

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas break and wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Ms Fiona Hawthorne
Pastoral Lead
 

Have a fantastic weekend everyone - see you on Monday.

Ian Hutchings

Headteacher