It's been an action-packed week and one that has made us all very proud. Not only did we make the local press for our Harvest Festival, but we've also featured in the national 'Nursery World' magazine for our OPAL exploits. Please do take 5-10 minutes to read the article (attached below) because it very clearly outlines the 'Why?' 'How', and 'What' (along with the overwhelming benefits) of OPAL.

I can honestly say that this year we have the best team I have ever had at Crawford's since my tenure. We are all united and extremely driven in providing heartfelt, nurturing, and exceptional learning opportunities for our young learners. Our recent phonics workshop, harvest festival, TTRockstars day, and parents/carers evening attest to the ongoing committment my staff have.

It's also been affirming to receive such lovely feedback from you, the parents/carers and the community, about the school's development. A strategic vision for now and the imminent future is to raise the general awareness of 'Who we are?' as a school and what we are trying to achieve; your involvement is central to this so we look forward to more planned events and experiences which put the community at the heart of the school.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mr F.

October:

• Thursday 13th - Parents' Evening - 4-6 pm
• Thursday 13th - World mental Health Day - Miniature donkey's visit
• Monday 17th - EYFS Open Day - 9-11 am
• Tuesday 18th - U11 7 V 7 girls football festival
• Friday 21st - Last day of half term
• Monday 31st - PD Day

November

• Tuesday 1st - Children return to school
• Thursday 3rd - U9 Mixed Football Festival
• Tuesday 8th - U11 7 V 7 Boys/Mixed Football Festival

We will also be saying farewell to Mrs Smith - Kayleigh has worked at Crawford's as our admin assistant for the past two years and she has adapted to a very busy, challenging admin environment post covid. Once again, she will be missed and we extend our gratitude for her professionalism and service.

We are advertising for a new Office Manager - if you know someone or are interested in this opportunity, please contact the school or apply via the link below.

Please ensure your child has a healthy snack in school to have at break time - e.g., a piece of fruit, carrot sticks, muesli bar, yoghurt tube. No chocolate bars or crisps please, and nothing containing peanuts.

Younger children (YR to Y2) have fruit or vegetables provided by the School Fruit & Veg Scheme.

Please note, that any snacks brought in to school will be collected by the Class Teacher and handed out at break time. Therefore, please can you ensure that any tubs, bags, etc are named.

We are an allergy-aware school and would like to remind all families that there may be pupils in school with a nut allergy. If a child with a nut allergy comes into contact with nuts, or with a pupil who has eaten nuts, then this could lead to an anaphylactic reaction. Anaphylaxis is a severe and potentially life-threatening reaction to a trigger such as an allergy.

Because of this, the school cannot accept products containing nuts to be provided in lunch boxes or for eating at other times.

Do you care for, or are affected by, a family member who has a physical or mental illness or missuses drugs or alcohol, you are a young carer. If you are a young person who is affected by a brother or sister’s disability, illness or additional needs, you are a sibling carer.

https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/parent-workshops/

Children and young people use many different social media apps and sites. The most popular are Facebook and Instagram, with many others such as Snapchat, TikTok and Twitter.

There are lots of benefits to social networking. They can allow users to stay connected with friends and family. They can also learn many different things, from make-up or gaming tutorials to making slime, or how to create their own videos.

Like most things, there can be negatives too. For children and young people, there are risks that you should be aware of, to help keep your child safe on social media.

Will Wright at West Suffolk Council has advised that, for families that are not in receipt of free school meals, but that are in financial hardship:

A) Have you also spoken to the Citizen Advice service in West Suffolk about any financial hardship funds available?

Citizens Advice West Suffolk | Free, confidential, independent advice (suffolkwestcab.org.uk)

Or

B) Suffolk Advice and Support Service

Suffolk Advice and Support Service Helpline (SASS) 0800 068 3131 | Community Directory

The following policies have been updated by the School Governance Committee (SGC): of particular note, is our Behaviour for Learning Policy; we are no longer using Class Dojo - our rationale is that we strongly believe learning is not a competition, neither is it beneficial for children to perform or seek praise for an extrinsic award. We believe that recognition matters more to the children than rewards. By recognising pupils who go 'above and beyond' we instil aspiration, reflection, resilience, courage and a sense of belonging - we will, therefore, still be praising children in class and recognising their efforts and achievements - our award postcards will continue to be awarded but these will be via post as a special form of recognition. If you would like to know about the changes to the policy, please click on the policy link below:

• Child Protection Policy
• Fire Emergency Policy
• Behaviour for Learning Policy
• Anti-bullying
• Administration of Prescribed Medicines
• Delivery and Collection of children to school
• Effective Learning Policy
• Feedback & Response Policy
• Handwriting Policy
• Intimate Care Policy
• SEND Policy
• RHSE Policy
• Agreement for all Volunteers
• Asthma Policy
• PSHE Policy
• Pupil Application for leave of absence
• PSHE Policy