Dear Families,
First up, a massive congratulations to our Year 6 children for getting through their SATS this week - they are and were all amazing and did themselves proud. It was great for them to enjoy a much-deserved morning of bowling today! A big shout out to all rest of the school who came together to support them.
Following distressing reports of discriminatory and offensive language being used in our community, this is an important time to outline our values as a school and the work we do to confront racism and all forms of prejudice.
Fundamental to all we do at JKPS are our values: Justice Kindness Perseverance and Spirit.
The first two in particular, Justice and Kindness, underpin our commitment to being an inclusive school. Being inclusive means ensuring that everyone feels welcome, and that everyone belongs.
Racist language and behaviour are both distressing, trauma-inducing and undermines everything at the heart of these values - at JKPS, we have a zero-tolerance to all forms of discrimination.
Whilst being proactive across our curriculum about promoting Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, we recognise this is not enough. Our Behaviour and Ethos Policy sets out our definition of Racism, and our procedures for dealing with, and logging incidents of reported racism in school. These records are rigorously monitored internally and externally. Still, we recognise this is not always enough.
Therefore, in order to better confront racism systemically, we are working closely with our ACC to better understand the issues within our community. The work is being supported by the Trust Inclusion lead. There are initial steps currently in progress and we will update in the coming weeks with opportunities for parents/ carers to be involved.
Working together as a community: if you are concerned about, or made aware of racist language, or racist behaviour within our community, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the school leadership team directly via the admin email.
And please do talk to your children about racism - staying silent will only perpetuate these issues. There are useful resources at - kidshealth.org and nspcc.org.uk .
We hope that by working together, we will come together to become an even stronger community where everyone feels that sense of belonging.
Schönes Wochenende!
Patrick
Key messages:
School Photos: As per the email sent to families this week, school photos will take place next week.
Walk To School Week: Next week is walk to school week and we will be actively encouraging children to move more on their way to school, whether it's by walking, scooting or cycling. Thank you to Ms Natalie and the Eco Council for leading this. Today's assemblies were all about how the children can take part, so do ask your child about the competition we have in school as part of it.
Early collections: There has been an increase in families collecting children earlier than the end of the school day. Please note that, unless in exceptional circumstances, children should be collected at 3:20pm, or after their club or wraparound care.
