Updates from Mrs Norden

We very much hope you have had a wonderful summer, enjoying some rest, as well as some adventures.   As always the arrival of the start of term seems to come around so quickly, with the last two training days a hive of activity for staff.

We are really looking forward to seeing the children back with us next week and below you will find reminders and updated information to help with organisation.  This includes a link to an initial set of diary dates, which can also be found on the website diary pages, and details such as PE days for PE kits.

As part of our staff training today, we have engaged with our safeguarding and child protection updates.  The government updated guidance for 'Keeping children safe in education' in schools and colleges, was published yesterday and contains additional information for us to encompass within our systems and protocols.  This therefore leads to updates to our Safeguarding and Child Protection policy, which will be published on our website's safeguarding page once completed within the next few weeks. 

From our work today, I need to remind you that children should not have mobile phones in school, nor should they wear smart watches which can connect to the Internet.  Please can we ask you to ensure these are not brought to school.  If they are, we will secure them in the office for return at the end of the day, and will contact you to discuss. 

Unfortunately, early in the holiday we had an upsetting incident where Dandelion, our mini moo, was taken from the school grounds and put on top of the pavilion roof from where she dropped causing a huge amount of damage.  We know for the classes involved in her creation it will be upsetting after all the hard work and love which went into her design and making.  Hopefully, a local craftsman and Mrs Cowburn can mend her enough for her to once again return to being a part of the school environment, even if that might now need to be inside. 

As you may be aware the Parish Council have extended the village field permanent path, which now reaches our rear gate.  We are very grateful for the support this provides all our families, especially as wetter weather returns, and Mr Bidwell who will now not need to shovel piles of bark chippings each term.

                                                                                                                        _{Anna-Claire Norden
                                                                                                                                       Headteacher}

Autumn Term Information

Diary Dates

Please click here to access a set of diary dates for the school year.  Please note that this contains as many dates as have been scheduled so far, but there will be more to come such as sports competitions, school trips etc..  As always, whilst we do not anticipate making any changes, as the last few years have definitely taught us, some changes may become necessary.  If this is the case, we will give you as much notice as we can. 

5th September - Children's first day

Gate systems remain the same, with those needing to access all Reception classes, Swans, Owls, Swallows and Preschool using the front gate.  While all other classes are accessed via the back gate.  If you should need to access both please start at the front and work your way round leaving by the rear gate.

Please remember the narrow side path around the side of the school and car park is a one-way system moving from the front to the rear of the school.  We  had quite a few people access it the wrong way towards the end of term which led to a couple of injuries and a few children becoming panicked when separated due to the confusion.

Preschool Timings

At the end of term we sent out a survey to look at whether changing timings for preschool was possible due to the primary school changes brought about by government legislation.  Unfortunately, with less than half of our families completing our survey, and an unforeseen change in staffing, we are not in a position at this time to offer longer sessions.  

We will return to this before half-term as we recognise that for families with children across both settings this may cause some difficulties.  As explained in the survey funding which drives staffing, staffing capacity to cover additional time and the requirements of the changeovers between Kids club and preschool in the same environmentally have to be considered carefully.

The implications for safeguarding is that the school gates will need to close at 8.50am when primary registration begins and will reopen at 9am for preschool to come in.  At the end of the day the gate will be open for preschool to leave and will reopen at 3.20 for primary pickups.  As the period at the end of the day is now 20 minutes the front playground may be in use for primary curriculum activities and so unfortunately, it will not be possible for parents and children to wait in the playground. 

PE days

Children need to come to school in PE kit on PE days. Children should not wear earrings for PE and will be asked to remove them as part of our H&S protocols

Please note that whilst the days set out below are the PE days for each class there may be weeks when there may be changes for operational reasons.  If this is the case information will be sent out to those classes either in a separate email in the week before or using our weekly newsletter. 

Rabbits and Mice - Thursday and Friday

Yr1/2 (Otters, Foxes, Squirrels)  - Monday and Tuesday

Swans - Monday and Tuesday (Next week this will be different with Wednesday 7th being their PE day instead of Monday 5th)

Kingfishers and Badgers - Tuesday and Friday

Ravens - Wednesday and Friday

Owls and Swallows -  Wednesday and Thursday

Parent Information meetings

All start at 2.30pm - if you cannot attend information will be sent out after the meeting to all parents in the phase.

Tuesday 6th Sept Yr3/4 

Wednesday 7th Sept Yr5/6

Monday 12th Sept Yr1/2

Wednesday 14th Sept Reception

Cuppa and a chat at Drop off time

There will be an opportunity for our Reception parents to join Mrs Norden and PTA members for a 'cuppa and a chat' after you have dropped your children off for their first day at school on 5th September.  After leaving them at the gate to go into class please come round to the hall to join us.

On Friday 9th, the same invitation is open to all parents who would like to join us after drop off for a 'cuppa and a chat'.

Uniform and all clothing - please ensure clothing is named.  This enables us to ensure any lost property is returned and piles of unclaimed clothing does not build. 

Jewellery - to ensure safety we encourage children not to wear jewellery at all to school, however, small studs are acceptable as they present less fo a hazard. 

Bags and items from home - as children will not be changing at school for PE they should only need to bring to school lunch boxes, outdoor wear (e.g. coats), water bottles and reading/library and homework books.  Other items should not be brought to school, and we ask that any bags for carrying items are as small as possible to support space in cloakrooms. 

Year 6 - Year 6s are allowed to walk home with written permission from parents.  If you are happy for your child to walk home please can you email the school office to confirm this, using Year 6 walking home as your email subject.  Any child without permission will be expected to be collected by an adult.  

Guitar Lessons

Mr Cory, who offers guitar lessons here at school, has 1 remaining available 30 min after school slot (£16.50 per session, 4.04 - 4.34pm) and 1 remaining available 15 min after school slot (£8.75 per session, 3.37 - 3.52pm) from September. If your child is interested in learning the guitar, and is age 7 or above please contact Mr Cory via email at jimmypagefans@hotmail.com. Please include:- pupils name, parent/guardian name, school name, class teachers name for 22/23 term, home address & mobile phone number. Please book early to avoid disappointment.