What an accolade for Maryland! We received news from the office of the Schools Minister, that Maryland has been selected as one of 12 schools in the country to appear in the 2017/18 publication, The Parliamentary Review. The publication comes out in September and is a report to the public and education profession on education matters in the last year. Schools are selected to be profiled if they stand out as beacons of best practice.

To get an idea of the Review, please go online to look at the 2016/17 version at www.theparliamentaryreview.co.uk click on Primary Education, click on the image (see right).

Safeguarding alert – dangerous website, Roblox. We have been alerted to the virtual reality game and instant messaging site, ROBLOX, which is unmanned and where children can interact with strangers. News articles have

highlighted the danger of this forum being used by paedophiles to groom young children. This site is

accessible to children of any age and as some are young and naïve, they lack the ability to comprehend when another player is making inappropriate requests of them. We appeal to all our parents and carers to be aware of the websites their children are gaming on.

Christmas events you won’t want to miss

FRIDAY 8th DEC Family disco

Junior hall 6 - 8 pm. Parking in playground

Tickets on sale from the Children’s Centre. Our ever-popular DJ, Mr.Bee, keeps you dancing, taking part in games and competitions … and that includes the adults, so put on those dancing shoes and dress to party, party, party!

TUESDAY 12th DEC Bake ‘n take -Junior hall and Projects

exhibition– Infant hall

MONDAY 18th DEC 11am and 2:30pm Nursery nativity plays

THURSDAY 14th DEC Infant nativity play 2pm

FRIDAY 15th DEC 2pm Farewell assembly

PLUS raffle, (free) afternoon tea & mince pies for parents/carers.

Prompt start at 2pm in the Junior hall. Parking in playground.

Farewell to Mr. Arthur and best wishes for his retirement Mr Arthur, our Site Supervisor, has been caring for our school premises since 2010. Originally from Ghana, he spent 29 years in Germany where his adult children still live. His plans for the future include volunteer work in care homes and of course frequent family trips to Germany. Mr Arthur has shown the school great loyalty and dedication over the years, never complaining about those difficult parts of the job, for example when the alarm goes off at 3am! We have much to be grateful to him for. I’m sure you will join us in wishing him a happy and fulfilling retirement. We shall all miss you very much, including the ladies in Cluckingham Palace to whom you have shown so much love and attention!

This year’s annual pantomime performance- ‘Aladdin’ 19th December is the day we shall welcome a theatre company to perform a pantomime version of the enduring tale, ‘Aladdin.’ We have to ask parents for a contribution of £2 per child to cover the cost of the professional production.

When you send your contribution in, please place the money in an envelope, with your child’s name and class number written on it.

Growth Mindset update This is our new attitude to learning where we ensure the children have a positive mindset towards learning. We are already seeing success in how children are more motivated, persistent, putting more effort into their work and not giving up. They understand that mistakes are nothing to be ashamed of (they are ‘mini lessons’) and you will hear children around the school talk about not being able to do something...YET. Back in September we gave each family a bulb to plant and we are pleased to say that some children have reported that their bulb has started to grow. The bulb is a reminder that persistence and patience will pay off in our learning. Has yours started to grow?

IN THIS ISSUE: - Don’t miss any of our December events

MARYLAND PRIMARY SCHOOL DECEMBER 2017 NEWSLETTER

Gurney Road, Stratford, E15 1SL www.maryland.newham.sch.uk

020 8534 8135

Fax: 020 8534 4426 E-mail: info@maryland.newham.sch.uk

@MarylandPrimary

Message from Mrs Jackson Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers Apart from wishing you all a Happy Christmas I just want to say a big THANK YOU AND FAREWELL to two wonderful staff members who are leaving us. Good luck and enjoy your retirement Mrs.Cooper and Mr.Arthur. We will miss you so much. Message from Mrs Cooper Deputy Headteacher

As I shall be retiring from school life at the end of term, I wanted to take this opportunity to say goodbye to our community and to thank you for con-tributing to what has been a most fulfilling phase of my life, here at Maryland.

Staff, pupils, parents and carers have put their confidence in me and sup-ported my day-to-day work and the many initiatives it has been my pleas-ure and privilege to be a part of. I am aware that none of those could suc-ceed without your encouragement and co-operation. For this I am most grateful to you all.

I shall miss you all more than I can express, but I have every confidence in the talented, energetic team that takes my place under the inspirational leadership of Mrs Jackson. I know Maryland will continue to be an outstanding school where people are proud to work and where children thrive.

Curriculum corner ‘BLACK DEATH DAY’ IN YEAR 4! As part of their history curriculum, Year 4 had a drama day with a theatre group recreating the horrors of living in London at the time of the Great Plague, also known as the Black Death. Soon there will be some of the best of the children’s writing uploaded to our wE-PUBLISH website.

Our homework ‘clinics’ on Tuesdays have proved extremely popular. We started these because parents were asking us for guidance with home-work, so thank you for the suggestion. You have told us how helpful the sessions are and how much you have gained from working with your child using the Google Chromebooks. These sessions are regularly on Tuesday, so please drop in for the whole or part of a session, 3.30-4.30pm on Tuesdays in the junior hall. The sessions are run by our senior leadership team, so they are able to guide you on any aspect of the curriculum for any yeargroup.

Parent notice

We respectfully request that parents do not knock on classroom windows and doors or peer through windows to get the attention of our staff or a child.

Once the bell has gone in the mornings and before it rings at the end of the day, parents are asked to keep a reasonable distance from the classroom so as not to disturb what is happening inside. If you wish to see the teacher, please make an appointment for a time after school.

First aid in the school—expectations and restrictions

We would like to make our parents aware of the limitations we work under with regard to administering first aid when children are sick or injured. Firstly, our first aiders are all trained and their training refreshed every 3 years.

To deal with cuts, bruises and sprains we are permitted only to use water to clean (not antiseptic) and apply a plaster. We may apply pressure to stop bleeding and a cold compress to prevent swelling. We are not permitted to provide pain-killers or any other medication. We send home a letter if your child has been injured and, if the injury is to the head, we give a sticker as well, to draw your attention to the injury in case your child forgets to give you the letter.

If your child needs any medical attention during the school day for a chronic or temporary condition, including injuries, you must meet with our Senior Welfare Officer to draw up and sign a health plan for your child. In this case only prescribed medicines can be administered, but not over-the-counter medication.

If our first aiders consider the injury or illness serious or infectious, parents will be called to come and collect the child.

With winter upon us, please be aware of Norovirus guidance from the NHS. If your child has vomiting and/or diarrhoea, s/he must be kept at home until 24 hours after the last symptom disappears. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Norovirus/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Headlice. We advise a child’s parents when we see headlice on him/her. We also usually message the parents in the same yeargroup to check their own children. For how to deal with headlice (nits) see http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Head-lice/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Thanks for supporting our fundraising Our sponsored spell raised £29 with a book prize awarded to the winning child from each junior class. The Nursery and Infant singalong raised £90.

Diary Dec 17/Jan 18

Christmas lights switch on in Nature’s Garden after school Mon 4 Dec 17

Christmas disco. Have you got the moves? See you there 6-8pm Fri 8 Dec

Homework research project deadline Years 1-6 Mon 11 Dec

Bake ‘n Take and project exhibition in halls. After school. Tue 12 Dec

Nursery Nativity plays 11.00 am and 2.30 pm Thu 18 Dec

Infant Nativity play 2pm Thu 14 Dec

Special farewell assembly—all welcome. 2pm in hall. Raffle,

mince pies and tea for all adults attending

Fri 15 Dec

Christmas pantomime (visiting theatre company) ‘Aladdin’ Tue 19 Dec

Class parties after lunch Tue 19 Dec

Children’s last day of Term 2 School closes 3.15pm Tue 19 Dec

First day of Term 3. Schools starts at 8.55am. Wed 3 Jan 18

Parents evening (1) 3.30-7.30pm. 1:1 appointments with

teachers. Letter to follow in January.

Wed 24 Jan

Parents evening (2) 3.30-5pm. 1:1 appointments with teachers.

Letter to follow in January.

Thu 25 Jan

Please contact the school office if you wish to

advertise in our monthly newsletter.

Puzzle corner

ACROSS DOWN

1. One of Santa’s reindeer 2. Christmas month

3. Santa’s helpers 4. He hates Christmas!

5. December 25th is _______ 6. You hang them by the

7. Christmas drink chimney.

10. The name of a popular 8. We unwrap our ……… on

snowman Christmas day

9. …… to the world!

CHRISTMAS CROSSWORD PUZZLE

FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY