Welcome back to another academic year at Cape. It has been a pleasure to see all of the children settling into their new classes and getting to know their new teachers.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents of the importance of making sure your child comes to school every day. We know we are still living with COVID and families must be vigilant about getting a test if a child or family member displays any COVID symptoms. However, coming to school every day is really important, days of lost learning will impact on your child’s education. In addition, it is really important your child is on time for school every day. Just 5 minutes late every day adds up to nearly a week of lost learning over the course of the year. Prompt collection at the end of the day is of equal importance too. Look out for some initiatives and prizes for children coming to school every day. Mrs Pick, our attendance officer, is looking at ways to promote great attendance and rewards for children who come to school every day. Please, please help us to make sure attendance reaches the national target of 96.9% this year.

We would like to share with parents some diary dates for the year. We have tried to ensure all major events are planned well in advance; there may be some slight amendments but we will let parents know as soon as possible. There will also be additional dates of trips that each individual year group will share with parents. For a list of all events please go to the calendar section of the school website.

12^th October Flu nasal spray for children

21^st October – Learning Together Day (this may be virtual or face to face, we will confirm shortly)

22^nd October – School Closed INSET

25/10/21 – 29/10/21 Half Term

3^rd November – School Photographs

3^rd November – Reception & Year 6 heights and weights (school nurses)

17^th December – Wear a Christmas jumper

17^th December – Break up at 1.30pm

20/12/21 – 03/01/22 Christmas Holiday

4^th January – School Closed INSET

18^th February – Learning Together Day

21/02/22 – 25/02/22 Half Term

11/04/22 – 22/04/22 Easter Holiday

2^nd May – Bank holiday

5^th May – potential council elections (staff INSET)

9^th – 13^th May – KS2 SATs week

30/05/22 – 03/06/22 Half Term

6^th June – Year 1 Phonics testing & Year 4 Multiplication tests begin

Thursday 21^st July – Break up at 1.30pm Summer Holiday

We will be continuing with our 2 for £13 trip initiative again this year. We ask that parents contribute £13 per child to the cost of trips and we guarantee that your child attends at least two trips across the year. This represents excellent value for money as often a single trip can cost in excess of £20. Payment is required through ParentPay our online payment system. Please see Mrs Saghir in the school office is you are unsure about ParentPay or your ParentPay account.

I would also like to draw your attention to our procedures for term time holidays which have been issued by the Local Authority. You can find further information on our school website by following this link:

https://www.capeprimary.com/holidays-in-term-time/

The term of office of one of a parent governors has come to an end and so we have a vacancy for a new parent governor. We will be sending out a letter to all parents in the next couple of days explaining the process for applying to be a parent governor at Cape.