‘Mayflower Primary School ensures children learn in a safe, caring and enriching environment. Children are taught how to keep themselves safe, to develop positive and healthy relationships, how to avoid situations where they might be at risk including by being exploited.’

http://mayflower.j2webby.com

Friday 5th October 2018

TERM DATES 2017/18

School closes: Friday 19th October School opens: Monday 29th October

School closes: Friday 21st December School opens: Tuesday 8th January

School closes: Friday 15th February School opens: Monday 25th February

School closes: Friday 12th April School opens: Monday 29th April

School closes: Friday May 3rd School opens: Tuesday 7th May

First and foremost, I wanted to sound a very warm note of welcome to you all at the beginning

of what promises to be another exciting and creative year at Mayflower Primary School. I

have been very impressed with the way the children have come back after the long, hot

summer holidays and I know that they share the eagerness of staff to do their very best as

the new school year gets underway.

As this is my first newsletter entry, I wanted to thank you for ensuring such super rates of

attendance. Our aggregate for the first 4 weeks is substantially higher than last year and I do

sense that there is a real commitment on the part of all parents to ensure that children come

into school each and every day. I know you understand that good rates of attendance of

95%+ will help your child to make the best rates of academic progress possible. As always,

I thank you for your fulsome support.

Sadly, I have received a number of holiday requests so thought this would be a good

opportunity to remind you that I cannot authorise any term-time absence unless the most

exceptional of circumstances can be established. I would urge you all to consider carefully

whether or not the holiday has to be taken in term time and if you conclude it must, it is

incumbent on you to inform me of the reasons why. This can be done via a Leave of Absence

Request Form, which is available from the main school office. For me to be able to consider

any request, I will need to receive this form at least 2 weeks before the departure date. Please

remember that our Education Welfare Officer will consistently fine parents for requests of this

kind so please come and discuss with me before making your booking. Many thanks.

Pleasingly, we have welcomed 9 new children to our school, all of whom transferred to

Mayflower during the summer holidays. They already feel as though they have been with us

for much longer and this pays handsome tribute to the very warm welcome they have received

from their new classmates. It is always good to see our school growing in this way but I just

wish I had a little bit more space!

We have also embraced the wonderful new facilities in the Nursery outdoor playground and

it has been so pleasing to see the children engaging in this new part of the school. I think

you know the importance I attach to outdoor learning and am so pleased that our children

now get such wonderful opportunities to learn, live and play in the great outdoors!

Finally, I am very excited to report that our 3-class structure in Year 6 is firmly embedded and

the small classes have already resulted in our children receiving much more attention from

their class teachers. It really is amazing to see what difference this makes and I am indebted

to the staff, who have made what once seemed like an aspiration, turning into such an exciting

reality. The follow-on from this is that 1AB are now fully established in the mobile and we are

looking forward to further developing their outdoor play and learning spaces over the next few

weeks. As always, my thanks go to our staff and you all for making our school the happy,

caring and creative learning community it has become over the last few years. Here’s to the

year ahead!!

ATTENDANCE

Mayflower School’s attendance target for the Academic year 2017/18 was set at

95.2%+. Unfortunately, due to the levels of sickness and holidays taken, we have not

met this target, and at the end of the academic year our attendance stood at 94.9%

which is disappointing. In addition, 32 children were classed by the government as

being persistent absentees, as their attendance was 90% or below at the end of the

year.

I am hoping that we can all work really hard to improve attendance at Mayflower

School for the 2018/19 academic year.

At present, our attendance at 05/10/2018 stands at: 97.4%, which includes the

Nursery. If we exclude the Nursery, it stands at 97.7%. This is a fantastic

improvement on this time last year and we need to work very hard to maintain this. I

am confident that you will all help us by sending your children to school every day.

Class attendance figures for September 2018 were:

7thSeptember 13thSeptember 21st September 27thSeptember

F1 am 100% 98.9% 93.7% 93.8%

F1 pm 100% 97.4% 91.2% 97.3%

LA 94.7% 93.3% 96.7% 99.3%

AK 97.5% 94.% 96.9% 98.3%

AB 93.1% 99% 99.7% 98.6%

KM 93.9% 96.8% 96.5% 97.7%

RMC 99.4% 97.1% 97.7% 96.1%

AJ 98.7% 96.5% 98% 97.7%

PA 99.3% 98.7% 97.3% 100%

LG 98% 97.7% 97% 97.7%

KW 99.4% 99.4% 99.4% 99.4%

CR 98.7% 98.4% 97.4% 100%

PV 98.3% 97.2% 99.3% 99.7%

SD 97.7% 94% 95.7% 98.3%

RC 98.1% 94.3% 100% 97.6%

CS 97% 98% 99% 97%

BW 99% 96.7% 97.6% 99%

Our trophy winners for September were:

Foundation Key Stage 1 Lower

Key Stage 2

Upper

Key Stage 2

7th September F1 AM & PM RMC KW BW 13th September F1 AM AB KW CS 21st September AK AB KW RC 28th September LA AB PA & CR BW

Congratulations to all of these classes for their fantastic achievement of winning

the trophies in September.

SINGING TROPHY

The singing trophy for September is going to Class 3PA for

their really wonderful singing on Mondays with Mrs Leonard

and in Key Stage 2 assemblies on Wednesdays. Well done.

PARENT GOVERNOR ELECTION

I am pleased to inform you that Mrs Salleh was successful in the parent governor election,

and will be joining the Governing Body. We all extend our congratulations to her.

LOST PROPERTY

Would all parents please check in lost property for any missing items as we have a large

amount in the main reception area. Most of the children’s school clothing has a label

attached for you to write your child’s name on, this would help us greatly to get it back to

the right child.

BRITAIN IN BLOOM

We are delighted to announce that

Mayflower has been awarded a GOLD in

the Britain in Bloom Best School Garden

category this year.

We’ve also heard a rumour that we might

have the Best School Fruit and Vegetable

Garden in the East Midlands! We’ll let you

know if this is confirmed.

Thanks to all our wonderful gardeners,

adults and children, for their hard work

and enthusiasm.

GROW YOUR GRUB COMPETITION

The word is out that, for the fourth consecutive year, Mayflower has won the Leicester City

Council Grow Your Grub competition! We are really looking forward to the presentation

ceremony on Friday 19th October! Well done Gardening Team – AGAIN!

LUNCH BOXES

Would all parents please name their child’s packed lunch box. This helps us get it back to

the right child when it has been lost. Thank you.

AFTER SCHOOL AND IN SCHOOL CLUBS

We’ve had a great take up for all our clubs this term and apologies to those children who

didn’t get the clubs they wanted as they were oversubscribed.

VISITORS IN SCHOOL

Year 5 - WW2

Many thanks to Mrs Mould and Mrs Lewis who came into school to share with the children

in Year 5 their experience of being children during the 2nd World War. Year 5 asked lots

of very interesting questions and were fascinated by the replies.

Year 2 - Arts Award

Thanks to Gemma Bhagalia from The Spark

who visited our Key Stage 1 Assembly to

give very special certificates to all of our

current Year 2 children who took part in

the Spark Festival Plus project, “A Square

World”, last year.

The Arts Award Discover certificates are

a national qualification from Trinity

College London which recognise the work

the children did in taking part in arts

activities, finding out about artists and

their work and sharing personal

experiences with others.

Big thanks too to the Year 1 staff who

engaged so enthusiastically with the

project last year.

Let’s hope we get the same opportunity

this year!

EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES

We would like to offer a big thank you to all our parents and carers for your wonderful

support for European Day of Languages this year. The children had a great day jetting off

to different countries and experiencing different languages and cultures. This year was

especially marvellous as so many of the countries involved were ones that staff have visited

as part of our Erasmus Plus projects.

Amidst all the fun and laughter, we hope the children remember the important message we

shared with them at the end of the day:

Through learning language, we learn about culture.

Through learning about culture, we learn respect for others.

Through learning respect for others, we can hope for peace.

INTERNATIONAL WORK

As part of our ongoing international work, we have 3 teachers visiting schools abroad this

week and next. Miss Brown and Mrs Stokes will be visiting our partner schools in Bordeaux,

France as part of our Erasmus Plus Key Action 2 project called Thinking Allowed. Mrs

Chandarana is currently in Poland with teachers from across Europe learning how to use the

eTwinning platform to support Maths and Science in school.

These trips will not only allow our teachers to broaden their skills but both trips will be a

great way for them to gain new and exciting ideas that they will bring back to the children

at Mayflower. Watch this space! If you would like more information regarding these visits

and the value that they will bring to the school please do not hesitate to ask!

ST DENYS CHURCH IN EVINGTON - OPEN FOR INTERFAITH WEEK

The congregation of St Denys Church at the top of Shady Lane would like to invite you -

their neighbours of all faiths and none - to come and see what goes on inside the oldest place

of worship in Evington as they prepare for their 800th birthday. The Church will be open

for visitors on Saturday 17th November 10am-4pm.

You will be able to explore the building and its history, ask questions about the Christian

faith, share refreshments and even observe worship (Morning Prayers at 10.30am and

Evensong at 3.30pm). All are welcome, but the church would especially like to extend this

invitation to those in the community of different faiths in the hope of building closer

friendships and greater understanding.

The congregation of St Denys are looking forward to seeing you!

INTO FILM FESTIVAL

Thank you so much to all of our parents and carers who have already returned their slips

and made payment for this wonderful whole school experience.

BOOKFAIR

Our Book Fair arrives at Mayflower on Tuesday 9th October and leaves on Tuesday 16th

October. It will be open every lunch time Tuesday - Friday 12:30pm until 1:00pm and

Thursday 11th October after school. Prices start at only £2.99!

Come along and pass on the pleasure of reading!

READATHON 2018

We're off! Over 28,000 children across the city of

Leicester are reading, raising money and being totally

amazing!

Our DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time is from 2pm on

Friday 5th October for 15-10 minutes.

Don’t forget to bring in your favourite reading material e.g.

a fiction book, a non-fiction book, a poetry book, a play, a

newspaper, a comic, a magazine or even a manual!

Sponsorship money can be donated online or handed in to

school by 15th October please.

https://readforgood.org/leicester

SPORT AT MAYFLOWER

Year 5 and 6 Mixed 5-a-side Football

Play Leader Training in Year 5