Sherborne Primary School www.sherbornepri.dorset.sch.uk
2020 – 2nd Half - Autumn Term Bulletin – No.53
NEWSLETTER NEWS
EVENTS
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REMINDERS
The Run Up to Christmas at Sherborne Primary Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for supporting the changes to our operations during the first half of Autumn Term. This has been truly appreciated. Christmas at Sherborne Primary will look a little different this year due to the National situation but we will ensure that the children enjoy this magical time of year. Sherborne Primary has always been committed to helping local charities and in this present situation they need us even more. We will once again be linking with the amazing Sherborne Food Bank. Each class will be putting together a ‘hamper’ for a deserving family which will include food items & presents etc. We truly appreciate your support and generosity with these special projects that show our children it is always good to think of others. Can I also take this opportunity to thank everyone for your kind and generous support during our very challenging Covid outbreak and reassure all the school will always prioritise the safety of our community first. Staff Updates We would like to say a fond farewell to Margaret Welsh who is retiring from our amazing Clean Team after 37 years at Sherborne Primary! She started in 1983! We all wish her a successful and well deserved retirement; such loyalty! Each class made a special card and the staff presented her with a new garden bench to say thank you for all her hard work and dedication during her time at Sherborne Primary (Please see photo below). A Huge congratulations to Mrs Hawkins (Jaguars Class) who is expecting her first child early next year. We all send Mrs Hawkins & her family best wishes from everyone. I will be communicating with Jaguars Class parents / carers when we have appointed her replacement. COVID-19 Updates & Reminders I recognise this is an anxious time for families, particularly as children start to show symptoms of common illnesses that would normally occur at this time of year. I also know the school, yourselves and our community have had to deal with the real impact of positive Covid-19 cases within SPS now. I can reassure you that we will always strive to do EVERYTHING in our power to reduce the risk of spreading the Covid-19 infection. Coronavirus Symptoms are: - A new persistent cough - A high temperature - A loss of taste or smell Please DO NOT send your child to school if they or anyone in your household has any of the above symptoms. If you are unsure of any symptoms, please follow the guidance below. Thank you. Please ring 119 for testing & 111 (https://111.nhs.uk/) for advice & support. A useful parent information link is also below: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance For medical advice relating to actual Covid-19 symptoms, please use the 111 helpline or online service as we are currently receiving a high number of calls, which should be answered by medical professionals rather than our school office team. All other illnesses and their symptoms should be dealt with in the usual way and we can provide guidance on this when you notify us of your child's illness. As we have explained previously, if any adult or child presents with COVID-19 symptoms whilst at school, they need to be collected and then tested as soon as possible (please ensure your contact details are up to date). If the test is confirmed as positive, it is possible that ALL the adults & children within their bubble may be sent home to isolate for 14 days (this also includes anyone within your household). The school will immediately seek advice from Public Health England for our response. We will still be operating our ONE WAY SYSTEM (to avoid everyone crossing on our paths) & a gentle reminder to
Sherborne Primary School www.sherbornepri.dorset.sch.uk
2020 – 2nd Half - Autumn Term Bulletin – No.53
NEWSLETTER NEWS
EVENTS
DATES
REMINDERS
NOT use ANY of the outdoor play equipment before or after school as it is carefully timetabled for safety reasons. We have streamlined our start & finish times so that we can begin the school day on time with all of the classes. Our doors will be open five minutes before the start of the day so that we can start learning on time. To support this we will be opening the top gate towards McCreary Road. Please continue to social distance whilst using this gate. Thank you. Due to Covid cases in school, we are now asking everyone to wear a face covering whilst on site (unless exempt). Staff are also mirroring this when in transit around school (but not whilst teaching or in front of children). The school has a full & detailed risk assessment for our new arrangements available on request & on our website Annual Flu Vaccination Tuesday 17th November The school nursing team will be coming to the school on Tuesday 17th November to administer the flu vaccination for all children in Reception to Year 6. Consent forms will be online. Please complete the online consent form using the following link: https://links.inhealthcare.co.uk/dorset-child-fluimms with session code 3stcxz. New Phonic & Reading Schemes Thank you for supporting your children with our new Read Write Inc Phonic Scheme & the Accelerated Reader KS2 Reading Scheme. We are already seeing the benefits of this in the classroom. We are also asking our KS2 pupils to try and enter the ‘Millionaires Club’ by reading a million words! I know we would all agree that reading is the best way to help children progress. SIMS Parent App The office is using the SIMS Parent App to ensure that we have the most up to date contact information. You all should have received your email invitation during the last half term to register. It is very important that we hold the correct contact information for the children in the event we need to ring parents to collect. Please register and confirm (via the app) that all of your details are correct. Please contact the office via telephone or email if you haven’t yet received the email invitation. We thank you in advance for your cooperation. Starting a new school in September 2021 Applications are now being accepted online for new reception children. If you would like to visit the school, we are happy to show prospective parents around after 3:30pm. Please call our school office to make an appointment. Reception pupils starting School in September 2021-Please submit applications by 15th January 2021 https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/education-and-training/schools-and-learning/apply-for-a-school-place/startin g-school-for-the-first-time.aspx Remote (Joint) Learning We are all hoping that our school will stay open no matter what happens with the pandemic. However if your child does have to be off school (e.g. awaiting the results of a Covid test or a family members test) we will be providing remote (joint) learning from day 1, as per government guidelines. Please contact your class teacher for more information. PTA IF YOU WISH TO JOIN THE PTA, PLEASE LEAVE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS WITH THE SCHOOL OFFICE OR CONTACT THE PTA THROUGH THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE. The PTA is exploring a number of ways to engage our families and raise funds for the school in a new ‘remote’ way! Linked to the present situation. This has included a new lottery fund raiser. We will be hosting a non uniform day on Friday 13th November. Children are welcome to come dressed in Monster themed fancy dress or non-uniform to support Children in Need. Will will inform parents next week how they can donate online via school money and we will then split donations between our school and Children in Need. This year our PTA are funding a number of projects, including helping the school to revamp our reading & library books. Thank you for your kind contributions!
Sherborne Primary School www.sherbornepri.dorset.sch.uk
2020 – 2nd Half - Autumn Term Bulletin – No.53
NEWSLETTER NEWS
EVENTS
DATES
REMINDERS
SCAPA Updates - COVID-19 Update SCAPA offers a Breakfast Club which currently starts at 7:45am and Afterschool Club which now finishes at 5:30pm. You are now able to book in split sessions for afterschool, please see the breakdown and costing below: Breakfast Club - £4.00 1 - End of School until 4.30pm = £4.80 2 - 4.30pm - 5.30pm = £2.85 3 - End of School until 5.30pm = £7.65 If you are new to SCAPA please email the School office for registration forms to get set up on School Money. SCAPA will be operating within our new larger ‘bubble system’ (to keep all safe). This will mean we will be utilising the hall (as well as the usual SCAPA facilities) to increase COVID-19 safety. Separate information is available for SCAPA via our website / Class Dojo. Due to the current situation and logistics, SCAPA will not be open over the Christmas Holidays (as per last year).
The online booking system closes at 12 noon on Friday for the following week and we may be unable to accept late bookings within the same week. Please note all late bookings incur a £2 charge. Reminder: School Money has a new ‘Top up’ feature. To access it log in, click into the clubs section, type in the amount of credit you want to add in the Top Up box and then proceed to the basket to pay by debit card. When you book your session(s) and your child attends breakfast Club, SCAPA or Holiday Club, it will use the credit automatically. Please note: I t is not possible to add credit for other types of payments, such as trips. School Uniform with trainers / Winter Requirements Thank you all for supporting our uniform requirements so well this term. We are kindly asking everyone to revert back to our usual black school shoes after Christmas for the start of the Spring Term 2021. Extra-Curricular Clubs We are very sorry that our extra-curricular clubs programme will be CANCELLED until further notice, due to the new government lockdown. We have several staff who would mix between bubbles to organise these clubs and in the present situations we wish to maintain our learning provision as a priority. Thank you for your kind understanding and we will inform you if this changes. Chartwells and Booking School Meals If your child is having a school meal provided by Chartwells, please ensure that you book your meal (packed lunches at present to support our COVID-19 risk assessment) w ith Chartwells by the cut off date. The deadline for ordering meals is at midnight on Sunday one full week before the meal is served. We recommend that you book your meals for the whole term to avoid missing out a week. Please visit https://dorset.mealselector.co.uk) to book your meals. If you have not booked a packed lunch through Chartwells, please provide your child with a packed lunch from home. Please ensure that packed lunches from home are NUT FREE as we have a number of children with allergies.
Sherborne Primary School www.sherbornepri.dorset.sch.uk
2020 – 2nd Half - Autumn Term Bulletin – No.53
NEWSLETTER NEWS
EVENTS
DATES
REMINDERS
Free School Meals We want to make sure that we are providing your child with the best education and support we can. Healthy school food has obvious health benefits and can help pupils establish healthy habits for life. Healthy school food can also help to improve pupils’ readiness to learn. Families who receive certain benefits may be eligible for free school meals. Your child is eligible for free school meals if you’re in receipt of one of the following benefits: • Universal Credit with an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400. • Income Support • Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance • Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 • The guarantee element of Pension Credit • Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for the four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit) • Child Tax Credit (with no Working Tax Credit) with an annual income of no more than £16,190 Registering for free meals could also raise an extra £1320 for the school to fund valuable support like extra tuition, additional teaching staff or after school activities. This additional money is available from central government for every child whose parent is receiving one of the benefits listed above TO FIND OUT WHETHER YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR FREE SCHOOL MEALS PLEASE LOG INTO https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/education-and-training/schools-and-learning/at-school/free-school-meals.aspx(You will need to give your National Insurance Number). Once you find out you are eligible, you can book your meals online at https://dorset.mealselector.co.uk) School Money The school office is continuing moving towards a cashless office and we thank parents for their support and cooperation. School Money is the online payment system. You have the facility to make payments for school expenses such as snacks, trips and SCAPA with your debit or credit card. The payment system benefits both us as a school and you as a parent. Not only are you able to pay for items from the comfort of your own home, but you are also able to access your account at any time to see if there is anything you need to pay for. You will be signed up to the school money automatically as long as you have provided us with the correct contact details. To log into School Money, please visit www.eduspot.co.uk and click sign in in the top right hand corner. In the drop down box, please select School Money Parent Login. You will then need to enter your email address, mobile number and the password we have sent, and your child's first name. Please contact the school office if you require any assistance and we appreciate your cooperation in using this system.
Potential School Closure in Extreme Weather (This time of year!) The school has only closed a few times during the history of the school, each time due to heavy snowfall and linked to the amount of safe staffing available to keep our pupils safe. The advice is that the school will open if at all possible but that if there is a snowfall… - Children arrive as usual at school at their usual Covid staggered start times - Children are properly clothed – Wellingtons, coats, gloves, hats (all named please). - Contact numbers are current. If the school closes during the day, parents will be contacted first (school text system) – children may be sent to “safe” (friends’) house(s) etc by agreement. - No child will be sent home without a safe arrangement being in place.
Sherborne Primary School www.sherbornepri.dorset.sch.uk
2020 – 2nd Half - Autumn Term Bulletin – No.53
NEWSLETTER NEWS
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Parents of the youngest children may choose to keep their children at home if they feel this is appropriate. No bicycles/scooters etc are to be brought to school. In case Chartwells are unable to provide meals, please send your child to school with a packed lunch. When the decision is made to close the School a text message will be sent to all parents as early as possible on the day. This will also be placed on the front page of our Class Dojo, web-site & our Facebook Page.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY – Autumn Term 2020 As known at time of printing Date
Time
Thursday 17th Dec
All day
Details LAST DAY of AUTUMN TERM (INSET Day - Friday 18th Dec)
1st day of the Spring Term 2021 - MONDAY 4th JANUARY 2021 A Snapshot of the 1st Half Autumn Term 2020
Mrs Welsh retiring after 37 years!
Our exciting Science Dome for Yrs 1 to 4
Sherborne Primary School www.sherbornepri.dorset.sch.uk
2020 – 2nd Half - Autumn Term Bulletin – No.53
NEWSLETTER NEWS
EVENTS
Yr 6 Senior Pupils organising your generous Harvest Gifts
DATES
REMINDERS
It is great to be back to normal in class!
Yr 4 organising their Greek Timelines