Newsletter 21: 9th February 2018
‘The best that I can be’

Crazy Hair Day

Thank you to all of you who contributed to our fundraising event today. It was really kind of you to give over and above the suggested donation. Some children even gave their own pocket money, which was so lovely to see. Our children really are kind and compassionate. We raised £339 to help George’s friend Gabriel to have an operation that will help him walk again.

Spelling Bee Competition

Well done to everyone throughout the school, from Reception to Year 6, for taking part in our Spelling Bee Competition this week. Without exception, everyone has learnt some new words and spelling patterns and I was very impressed with each year group.
Many year groups were very hotly contested and to find our final champions some very challenging spellings were given.

The Dame Tipping Spelling Bee Winners for 2018 are:

Reception: Thea Shorter
Year 1: Ava Shorter
Year 2: Adaora Emechebe
Year 3: Milo Shorter
Year 4: Deborah Ajayi
Year 5: Zachary Teshola
Year 6: Amber Gordon

Thank you to all who took part and to parents who helped children to learn new words. Prizes were presented in today’s assembly.

Young Voices 2018

On Tuesday the majority of the junior school attended the Young Voices Concert at the the O2 Arena in London. The afternoon was spent rehearsing with the conductor and making sure we knew the tricky bits of the songs. There were nearly 8,000 singers in the choirs from schools from all over London, Essex and Kent. We enjoyed taking part and singing with professional singers Natalie Williams and Alfie Sheen. We also had dance moves to learn choreographed by Urban Strides Dancers. It was a late night but many of us had parents in the audience watching us. Thank you to Mrs Omodara for organising this for us.

Young Voices at the O2, by Tommy Randall and Jack and Lexi Webb

Young Voices is a choir with lots of different schools. There were more than seven thousand children there in the 02!! We have been practising since September. All of our class have been practising 18 songs. Our 3 favourite songs are ‘Stevie Wonderland’, ‘Singing Together’ and ‘Jumbo Bwana’.

Safer Internet Day

During assembly on Tuesday, we watched 2 short films about staying safe online and how our wellbeing can be affected by online activity. Please discuss this with your children and have a look at the materials yourself if you have a chance at: https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/

I have been made aware that some children in the school are playing ‘Roblox’ unsupervised and are making ‘friends’ with people they do not know. As you may have read in the press, online games where children enter ‘worlds’ as different characters can be and are used by adults who wish to make inappropriate contact with children. Please be vigilant whenever your children are online.

The Importance of Reporting Absence

I am writing this to make you aware of the school procedure for children who have unexplained absences from school.

There have been public cases in the past where schools have not chased up the reasons as to why children are off of school. It has then transpired that there have been tragic circumstances around these absences, e.g. illness of a parent and a child unable to seek help.

We will do everything we can to prevent such situations occurring as I am sure you would agree that your child’s safety is paramount to us all.

If your child is not going to be in school please call the office on 01708 745409 or email the school on office@dametipping.havering.sch.uk to report their absence. Please do this before 9.30am on the first day of the absence.

If we have not heard from you by 10am then we will start to call all the contact numbers that you have provided in order to gain an explanation for the absence. If we still have not been able to ascertain where your child is then we will make a home visit. However, if we still haven’t been able to get a response then we will report it to the police as your child will then be classed a ‘missing child’.

This procedure is to ensure that we know where your child is and that you are all safe. Please let us know in good time why your child is absent from school. If you would like to talk to me about this please make an appointment to see me.

After School Care Reminder

Please remember that after half term, After School Care will finish at 4pm on Mondays and Fridays. This is due to the fact that we did not have enough children attending on the days to pay the staff.
On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, the provision will finish at 6pm. Please ensure that you have alternative childcare arrangements in place.

Primary Contact Messages

Please check your Primary Contact for messages about the school lunch menu for the first week and changes to the opening times of our school uniform suppliers Red Oak Roller.

 

Dame Tipping Gospel Choir

The Dame Tipping Gospel Choir will be singing at the Easter Service on Thursday 29th March. It’s not too late to join us if you would like to sing too. Rehearsals will be held on Wednesday 21st February (at St John’s Church); Thursday 8th March (school) ; Thursday 22nd March (school) and Wednesday 28th March (school) from 6.30-8pm.

Work of the Week

Reception- Lily Nicholls for writing her name independently.
Class 1&2- Yoana Kitanova for her problem solving in Maths.
Class 3&4- Naa Dedei Osaji-Okai for incredible progress in her Maths assessments.
Class 5&6- Bonny-Blu Kedadi for her fantastic descriptive writing.
Well done, everyone!

Commendations

Reception- Zack Stafford for his excellent effort to recognise sounds and say them and Molly Percival for always being kind and helpful to her friends.
Class 1&2- Freddy Parrish for persevering with his writing and Ellie Allen-Moss for exceptional determination to achieve in Maths.
Class 3&4- Caleb Chen for always trying his best and being a fantastic role model at all times.
Class 5&6- Imogen Snell and Fibian McKenzie for being kind and thoughtful to their peers.

Attendance

Reception- 98.57% ; Class 1&2- 95.67% ; Class 3&4- 97.86% ; Class 5&6- 96.80%

Dates for the Diary

Tuesday 20th February- Termly learning conferences for all year groups by appointment (2-7pm)
Thursday 1st March- World Book Day
Thursday 22nd March-Wednesday 27th March- Book Fair (after school in the hall)

I would like to wish everyone a very happy half term.

Mrs. Kathryn Waters