Y1 Newsletter: Week 30 - 26.04.24

We are motivated and engaged!

A note from Mrs McCormack (Primary Principal):

26 April 2024

Dear Parents,

Welcome back. It has been such a joy seeing our students happy to return and eager for the remaining 9 weeks of the academic year.

It has certainly been a busy start to term, and I want to extend a big thank you to Ms. Jayne and the PE team for kicking off Sports Week, and to Mr Glenn and Mr. Max for putting together an exciting E-Sports showcase. Meanwhile, Year 6 are gearing up for Madagascar the musical, and we would be delighted if you could join us for one of the performances on May 8th or 10th.

On other news, on Monday we had a most unusual visitor to one of our Foundation Stage classrooms – a green tree snake! He was captured overnight and returned to the wild. His visit certainly provoked a lot of interest from our youngest students!

Sarah McCormack

Learning

Class Blogs

Please visit our class blogs every Friday to find out about our learning in each of the classes!

Curriculum

To find out about our Year 1 curriculum please visit our Curriculum page.

PSHE

This week in PSHE, the students have been learning about the age ratings of TV and movies and why they are there to keep us safe. We learned some of the different rating symbols and what they mean. The lesson slides are below. Please look through them with your child and talk through the points again.

There is a fantastic website which can help you to know if a TV show or movie is appropriate for your child. Please use Common Sense Media gives guidance for parents on what TV shows and movies include and what is appropriate for you child's age. Please see the link below.

If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher.

RSE Presentation

Thank you to all those who were able to attend our RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) presentation on Thursday 28th March. Please find the slides below for your reference.

Unfortunately, there was a technical problem with one of the videos we wanted to share about how to talk about sexual abuse with your child. Here is the video in full (I have also added it again to the presentation). If you have any questions about any of the things discussed in the presentation, please contact your child's class teacher. 

Tech Talk

0:00 #1 Installing Office 365 on additional devices in your house

0:57 #2 Five tips for having healthier conversations with your kids

Screenagers Blog | 5 Ways To Have Healthier Parent-Child conflicts (screenagersmovie.com)

1:51 #3 Make sure emails from Patana don't go into your junk email folder

PTG Quiz Night

General Information

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease – Preventative Measures

HFMD is a viral infection which spreads via direct contact, particularly of body fluids caused by coughing and sneezing.

Symptoms of HFMD may include fever for 2/3 days, sore throat, runny nose, rash (palms of hands, soles of feet, buttocks, mouth), poor appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy.

Because of the prevalence of HFMD in Thailand, we are required to report all cases to the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority.

The school response (children kept at home for seven days + rigorous cleaning of buildings and equipment) helps avert closures.

Rigorous and frequent handwashing is also an important preventative measure.

If you notice such symptoms, please contact Nurse Joe and a member of her team will check all children in the class.

If your child with symptoms, and there are other siblings in school, please share this information with Nurse Joe.

Khun Joe can be contacted at kiau@patana.ac.th

Air Pollution

At this time of year we notice a change in the Air Quality in Bangkok.

In the morning before school starts when we have the Status:

Unhealthy

From 7am onwards, Year 1 students should come inside and go to the creative art area (in the middle of Year 1) where there will be teachers supervising them safely inside.

Parents are encouraged to drop their children at the doors. 

We please kindly ask parents not to stay in this space as it can become crowded and overfull. Some students can find separation from parents more challenging on these days as well, so please support your child by giving them a big hug and then leaving them with us (see below for more guidance on separation).

Should your child arrive before 7am on any day, they should go directly to the Primary Office until duty staff begin to supervise.

Please find the school policy for Air Quality Here

Morning Separation

It is very common for some children to find separating from their parents challenging in the mornings. This can be triggered by a variety of reasons: a change in their normal routine, an argument with a sibling, a parent being away, feeling unwell, etc. Many children are not able to explain why they are upset when they are struggling to separate from a parent, but here are some suggestions on how to best support your child:

• Make saying goodbye a positive time. When you leave your child, however sad or worried you may be feeling, smile and wave goodbye confidently and happily, otherwise they will pick up on your tension. By giving your child experience of saying goodbye then having happy reunions, you are teaching them an important life lesson.
• Talk about what you'll do together later. Talk to your child about what you're going to do when you see them again so they have something to look forward to with you. For example, you could say: "When Mummy comes back to pick you up, we'll go to the shop together to get food for dinner."
• Leave something comforting with your child. It may comfort your child to have something they identify with you – like a scarf with your scent on or a favourite toy – close by. This may reassure them while you are away. These items will be kept in your child's school bag, but having them there can bring reassurance and a sense of calm. 

If you are concerned about separation issues, please speak to your child's teacher as there may be individual systems they can put in place to support your child in the mornings. 

Birthday celebrations

There are no birthdays in Year 1 next week.

Reminder: We cannot give out party bags or gifts - please keep these for any sort of celebration that you do out of school.

If you would like to send in some birthday treats for your child to share with their class, please arrange a day with your child's class teacher. We will only be able to manage individual items like brownies, doughnuts, or cupcakes. 

Please remember we are a nut-free Primary School and also check with the class teacher for any other dietary requirements of the class.