Dear Parents,
As you read this you will be relaxing on the first day of your half-term holiday – I hope you enjoy quality family time.
It has been an exceedingly productive half term. All new teachers and pupils have appeared to have settled very well. I was speaking to a new Year 12 pupil yesterday who had attended 5 schools, he said that so far this was definitely the best – I believed him!
FOUNDATION STAGE PARKING
I am continually reminding parents that the use of the bottom car park is for Foundation Stage parents only. Even for these parents the space is limited so I would ask that, once you take your child to the classroom door, you refrain from staying in the playground. This would help to alleviate the traffic congestion.
ATTENDANCE
Congratulations to Miss Aspden’s Year 6 class for achieving the best attendance since the start of term – 98.5%. In the Secondary School Miss Perez’ Year 12 class had the best attendance with 97.8%.
Please let us continue to improve overall pupil attendance. Many families are still taking their children out of school earlier than the last day of term or half-term, for longer holidays!
May I please remind parents that if you intend to remove your child from school during term time that an absence request form must be filled in and returned to school. The authorisation for the absence will or will not be granted according to our policy. Forms are available here and at Reception.
REWARD
I spent a lovely lunch hour yesterday with Mrs Escobar serving delicious food to the 15 pupils in the Secondary school who achieved the highest number of house points this half term. Congratulations to them all, keep it up!
CHARITY RUN – SAVE THE CHILDREN
Thank you all for your support yesterday. The money raised was € 1.886,08
CONGRATULATIONS TO MS STEEL
Congratulation to Ms Steel (Head of Science) and Mr Kemp (History teacher) on the birth of their beautiful, healthy baby boy.
SEPARATE LETTER
In a separate letter I have written to you about an exciting new initiative we are going to introduce in September 2020. Please read it carefully.
WINTER TIME
A reminder that the clocks go back at 3 am on Sunday 28 October – we get an hour’s more sleep but we have to prepare for darker, colder evenings!
I look forward to seeing you all after the holidays.
Yours sincerely,
Elizabeth Batchelor
Principal
PRIMARY SCHOOL
Dear Parents,
As you can see below, we are continuing to develop children’s digital literacy and safety through the introduction of online activities; however, it should be said that this should not replace the importance of children being able to play without technology, to be creative and use their imagination, to read and have fun exploring and solving everyday problems. I hope that the children have the opportunity to do just that this half term, developing healthy minds and bodies and, of course, having fun.
Don’t forget the clocks go back at 3am on Sunday 28 October. Have a great week and see you on 5 November, all children smart in their winter uniform ready for school photo week.
Doodle Maths – Children in Year 4 and Year 5 now all have access to Doodle Maths. This is an online resource which helps children to practise a range of maths skills. It creates a personalised learning programme for children based on their knowledge and understanding of different mathematical concepts. To take advantage of all of the features of Doodle Maths follow the instructions found on the following websites to download the resource onto your tablet or computer:
https://www.doodlemaths.com/
https://www.doodlemaths.com/
Internet Safety – Children in Aloha College will begin a new and exciting learning journey with a focus on internet safety when we return from the half term break. Part of this programme will involve participation in an innovative curriculum package called Gooseberry Planet. This is an online safety program for all children which, additionally, allows KS2 children to participate in gaming technology whilst learning about how to keep themselves safe when using the internet. Parents will be asked to complete a simple registration process in order to gain access to useful resources to support you to keep your children safe online. In addition, KS2 parents will be able to check their child´s progress through the gaming units of study. Children will be given their unique log in details in November, after which point parents will be able to register. Further information will be shared then.
Next week’s target: ENQUIRY
Talk Homework: If I could fly into space what would I need to take with me?
Yours sincerely,
Kathryn Salmon
Headteacher, Primary
SECONDARY SCHOOL
Dear Parents,
Anna Alieva and Shailin Katebiyan (Year 10) have kindly offered to write this week’s newsletter on what was a huge success at Aloha College last academic year: Operation Christmas Child.
A gift for all children
Could you imagine waking up on Christmas morning and not having anything to look forward to? No gifts, no warm home-cooked meal that you get to enjoy, no family to celebrate with, no Christmas Tree? It seems extremely saddening, right? It’s something that surely none of us want to go through. Sadly, many kids around the world are in this situation and we can’t imagine what it must feel like to spend such a gloomy Christmas. Hopefully, we can help make Christmas an unforgettable day for hundreds of children with the help of the ‘Be Kind Campaign’ and Operation Christmas Child at Aloha College, but most importantly we need your help to do so.
Operation Christmas Child is a global campaign that aids children from developing countries to get their gifts and make a Christmas unforgettable. The process is as simple as the outcome is amazing. All pupils in key stages 3,4 & 5 have received information via form tutors and Google Classroom. Each form group is going to try and contribute at least 1 shoe box as a collective effort, but if there are any families who wish to get involved, then please do so. You need to decide the age range and gender of the child you are creating for, find a shoe box, wrap it (top and bottom separately) and fill the box full of appropriate gifts. There is a link you can click on below to check what you are and are not allowed to send in the boxes. Please note that for each box which will be sent off, 6 euros must be included, to help with the cost of shipping.
These gifts will be sent to Togo, Ukraine or South Sudan, where the children will open them up on Christmas Day and a smile will brighten up thousands of faces.
The campaign was started 25 years ago by Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian non-governmental organisation that provides moral and physical help to people in need all over the world. Since then it has turned the lives of more than 6 million children in developing countries and transformed their families for the better. Shoeboxes have been sent out from the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Besides the gifts, the organisation also provides the children with religious and school education, which they finish off with a gorgeous graduation ceremony.
Hopefully, you will dearly want to help us fulfill our goal in making even more lives happier. All you need to do is get shopping and packing! And remember this Christmas, it’ll be life-changing for them – and for us.”
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a restful half term break.
Yours sincerely,
Francisco Escobar
Headteacher, Secondary
