Headteacher: Mr. P.Malcolm Founded 1895

School Term Time Survey. A big thank you to those who replied to the school term time survey. It has been one of our most popular surveys and we have had many replies. I am sorry the internet link did not work. We are still working on that one! The results are as follows. The majority of respondents felt the summer holiday is too long and it should be reduced to four or five weeks. There was no clear preference for reducing the holidays to four or five weeks. The majority of respondents wanted an extra week in June and failing this at Christmas. Our school day was seen as just right in terms of length and start time. Finally, if childcare is provided, it should be at the lowest cost of £3 per hour. Some families noted that all schools would be better moving to a new system. Also that holiday firms were already changing prices and as such there would be little reduction in holiday cost. INSET days were a concern for a few and these are becoming more challenging within the system. Part-time employees are growing in number meaning an INSET day needs to take place on each day of the week. We intend to discuss these results locally and see if other schools wish to run a similar survey. We have a great deal to think about going forward and this survey helps governors see the picture from a parental point of view. Once again thank you for taking the time to reply. Your Children. We have reached the time of the year when families visit to see which school they would prefer for their child. In order to facilitate showing families round, we are retaining our traditional school visits and to fit everyone in I am taking families around in groups. To date these visits have

Love Lane, Rayleigh Essex SS6 7DD www.rayleighprimary.org.uk

Tel: 01268 775712

Fax: 01268 770190

E-mail: [email protected].

The Rayleigh Primary School Academy Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales with company number 08445314. The registered office is at Rayleigh Primary School, Love Lane, Rayleigh, Essex SS6 7DD.

ensured that those who choose to come to Rayleigh, do so for the right reasons. As the longest running outstanding school in Rayleigh we remain full because our school ethos allows us to transcend changes in teachers, changes in Ofsted inspection criteria and changes in curriculum. Our specialisms in Dance, Drama, Music and Languages coupled with continued high standards have enabled us, as the Teaching School in the town, to be awarded a Centre of Excellence by the Local Authority. All of this has a clear impact upon your children, their responses when I take families round on school visits are delightful. I felt it appropriate to pass on to you that the joy they show, their passion for learning and the open manner in which they politely talk to every adult has been mentioned by every visitor. Their welcome for all children that join us is a credit to you as parents and has built the wonder that is our school. Well done everyone! Extra Free DNA Tests This is an early warning to say we will be ordering extra DNA tests. We hope to have a minimum of ten further tests to allocate. Our project funded by the ErasmusPlus system has shown some very favourable results. We are now looking for families who in the past may have moved due to war, natural disaster or trade. For example, perhaps one of your relatives fled from Europe during the World Wars, or moved from Canvey due to the Great Flood of 1953 or if your surname is Huguenot perhaps your family brought weaving to London! If you have an interesting story to tell we would love to hear it. We will issue our extra tests to those who are happy to have their story put on the website. Please contact your class teacher if you have a story! Could You Build an Air Raid Shelter? We are hoping to bid to the heritage lottery fund to build two historical structures in Spring Gardens. One would be a World War Two Air-raid shelter. The other would be a World War One trench. These would help us when we ask the children to imagine what it would be like living and working under such conditions. To help us with a bid it would be useful if we could get an idea how much such structures would cost. Improving our school has always been at the heart of our mission and we are always glad to hear from families who can lend a hand. So if you think this is something you can help with, please get in touch. We would also like to hear from anyone interested in painting murals or sculpture. There is always room for a little extra for the children! Please contact the office if you can help.

Love Lane, Rayleigh Essex SS6 7DD www.rayleighprimary.org.uk

Tel: 01268 775712

Fax: 01268 770190

E-mail: [email protected].

The Rayleigh Primary School Academy Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales with company number 08445314. The registered office is at Rayleigh Primary School, Love Lane, Rayleigh, Essex SS6 7DD.

The Cook Off! We would love to have a food from around the world event on our playground. This is an idea in its infancy and we thought we would ask the local restaurants if they would set up a table with some of their favourite dishes. Perhaps you as a family are interested in joining in. If so, please contact the office and they will take your name. E-Safety With the Christmas season approaching, students could be getting new gaming consoles, some for the very first time. It is important that parents are aware of the positives and dangers presented by gaming, especially online. The NSPCC has lots of information about how to make sure that our children are safe when they are gaming online. 1) Check the game's content. 2) Know how to mute, block and report. 3) Be share aware. Think carefully about what information is given out through their gaming profile. 4) Activate safety settings. Most new consoles will not have these automatically activated. 5) Talk to your children. Conversations about online safety should be regular. Children's use of the internet is ever changing, as adults we need to make sure we are regularly in conversation with them about being safe online.

For more information see the link below: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/online-gameshelping-children-play-safe/ PTA News Thank you to everyone who baked and bought cakes for our ‘Spooktacular Bonfire Bake off’. The standard of entries was incredibly high and we raised over £200 in less than an hour. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to ‘Grout’s the bakers’ who were our judges and to the local businesses who kindly donated prizes. We have had to cancel our planned Car Boot and Table Top Sale this weekend due to lack of interest. We hope to rearrange the event in the spring and apologise for any inconvenience.

Love Lane, Rayleigh Essex SS6 7DD www.rayleighprimary.org.uk

Tel: 01268 775712

Fax: 01268 770190

E-mail: [email protected].

The Rayleigh Primary School Academy Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales with company number 08445314. The registered office is at Rayleigh Primary School, Love Lane, Rayleigh, Essex SS6 7DD.

The PTA will be running the annual Christmas Bazaar next month, where the children shop for their own Christmas gifts. We’ll be sending out requests for donations soon so please keep us in mind. Seats are still available on our Christmas Shopping Trip to London on Sat 25th Nov. Tickets are £25 and include return coach which departs from school at 9am and leaves Oxford Street for the return journey at 7pm. Breakfast pastries and a glass of bubbly or orange juice will be served as you join the coach and you’ll also be entered into a cash raffle too. Interested? Email us on [email protected] or message our Facebook page. Don’t forget we sell the Essex Pass for £8.00 (normal price £9.99) which offers loads of discount days out and would make a great Christmas present. Visit www.essexpass.com for more info on where you can use it and email us on [email protected] or Facebook message us if you’d like to buy one. Next PTA meeting: Fri 8th Dec at 1.00pm. Everyone is welcome to come along and find out more about getting involved – we hope to see you there. Diary Dates 24th Nov - PTA disco (deadline for ticket requests 20th Nov) 25th Nov – London Shopping Trip 30th Nov Snow White Pantomime Yr1 to Yr6 2nd Dec– Choir Singing at Lower Barn Farm Christmas Market 11am to 11.30am. Families and Friends are invited to go along to support them and join in the fun! 2nd Dec – Rayleigh Library 11am to 1pm Meet Father Christmas plus crafts and Author visit 12th Dec – Yr 1 & Yr2 9.30am & 2pm Christmas Production 13th Dec – Yr 1 & Yr2 9.30am Christmas Production 18th Dec – Nursery & Reception 9.30am & 2pm Christmas Production 19th Dec- Nursery & Reception 9.30am Christmas Production 21st Dec – 1st Jan Christmas Holiday 29th Jan – Dance Festival Palace Theatre 30th Jan - Young Voices at the O2 Sat 24th Feb 2018 – PTA Quiz Night Weds 18th April 2018 – Happy’s Circus

For Children starting in a Reception class in September 2018 online applications can be made via The Essex Admissions website between 13th November 2017 and 15th January 2018.

Love Lane, Rayleigh Essex SS6 7DD www.rayleighprimary.org.uk

Tel: 01268 775712

Fax: 01268 770190

E-mail: [email protected].

The Rayleigh Primary School Academy Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales with company number 08445314. The registered office is at Rayleigh Primary School, Love Lane, Rayleigh, Essex SS6 7DD.