On Friday 11th February, we will be holding a ‘Dress to Express’ Day to raise awareness of Children’s Mental Health Awareness week which is from the 7th to 13th February. There will be lots of activities focusing on the theme ‘Growing Together’ along with time to think about how children can manage their own wellbeing and what to do if they feel they are struggling. Please click on this link for more information.
Dear Parents /Carers,
Swimming for Year 3 and Year 6
Due to some building work at Chesterton Sports College, we won’t be going swimming for the next 2 weeks. The next swimming lessons will start the week beginning 14th February as long as the building work is completed.
All of the term dates up to 2024 are on the school website. Please do check this before booking holidays as holidays cannot be authorised as they’re not classed as exceptional circumstances.
The last day of the summer term for our children is Friday 15th July 2022.
Dear Parents / Carers,
Year 6 Residential
The children have had a super time at Standon Bowers this week. They have all taken part in the activities, even the ones they were a bit or a lot worried about. They have shown fantastic examples of teamwork, resilience, support, care and so much enthusiasm.
It’s been lovely to see them out of their usual environment and having so much fun. Some children have conquered their fears of caves and dark spaces, heights and abseiling, some children have found that they can solve problems using group ideas rather than just their own. There has been so much laughter, which is just so good to hear.
And the night times – they have slept so well. The staff can’t believe how well they have all slept – especially the boys.
Well done to the children for going out of their comfort zones and trying something new.
Thank you to Mrs Sharman, Ms Master and Mrs Shaw for organising and spending the time with the children and being away from your own families. We all appreciate this dedication from you.
Thank you to the parents for helping to get everything ready for your children. I hope you all had a lovely week and didn’t worry too much.
Our Year 6 class went to do their 5 day residential stay this week at Standon Bowers. They have been absolutely brilliant! Taking part in all of the activities, showing resilience and gaining a lot of success! As you can see from these photographs, they have had an amazing time, creating some great memories from this fantastic experience. Well done Year 6!
It seems like the holiday break was so long ago now that we’re all back into the full swing of work and school.
Next week, Year 6 will be visiting Standon Bowers for their outdoor education adventure week. I’m sure they’ll have a wonderful time. I know some children will feel a little anxious but once they’re there and taking part in the activities, they’ll be filled with excitement and feel so proud of themselves when they’ve achieved each task.
Remember to pack your bedtime Teddy and lots of warm socks!
The children have had a fun time learning to ride balance bikes and pedal bikes today. We’ve been very lucky to gain this activity free of charge from Cyclist Training. They provide instructors as well as all of the bikes and safety helmets. The children will be taking part in this extra activity every Friday.
Some of our children have been visited by the Chance to Shine coach regarding cricket. This term, Years 2,3 5 and 6 will be taking part in extra cricket activities every Wednesday starting Wednesday 12th January.
Thank you for your continued support.
Take care and stay safe
Mrs Wilmer
Dear Parents / Carers,
What a busy couple of weeks it’s been with the parties, the early years singing and activity afternoon, the nativities, the parties and the grande finale of the carol concert today.
It’s been so lovely to see parents back in the school and taking part in some of our events. We’ve managed to do this as safely as possible, so thank you to all of you for helping with this.
On Friday, our Nursery and Reception class went to Stafford to see ‘Dear Santa’ at the theatre. The children thought it was magical! They really enjoyed the show and joined in all of the songs that Santa and his Elf sang. The children were amazing throughout the trip and made us very proud. Well done and Merry Christmas Early Years!
On Wednesday the whole of key stage 1 and key stage 2 went to The New Vic theatre to watch this year’s Christmas production of ‘Beauty and the Beast’. The children were mesmerised throughout this show! The clever, imaginative ways that the show was created was amazing to see. As always, our children were brilliant and were very well behaved throughout.
We did it! We put on the KS1 Christmas plays and they were absolutely amazing. The children were confident and acted brilliantly. Their singing was beautiful. And you the parents have supported the whole way through from providing costumes, listening to the Christmas songs endlessly at home and taking the safety precautions to help the plays go ahead – thank you so much.
A massive thank you to the staff who have made this happen. We all appreciate your hard work and time spent on getting this ready.
I hope this made you feel like Christmas is really here and we can actually celebrate it this year.
Year 1 – 6 children had a great time at the theatre on Wednesday. It was so good to see them enjoying the show. The early years children had a fun time at Stafford today. They even got to meet Santa and received a gift.
Just a reminder that Monday 13th December is Christmas jumper day in exchange for bringing in some chocolate for our children’s Christmas Bingo.
The bingo games will be on Tuesday 14th December.
I have a huge THANK YOU to make to Absolute Barbers and Platinum Dog Grooming. They have very generously offered to donate a treat for every child in the school. This way, even if a child doesn’t win at the bingo, all of our children will have a special something. Thank you so much. This is such a kind gesture, which we are all grateful for.
Years 1 – 6. On Wednesday you’ll receive your child’s end of term report. We hope you are as impressed as we are with their progress.
Early years – Due to the new framework, the children won’t be assessed until the end of the year. If there are any concerns, staff speak to you immediately. If you have any concerns, please contact the staff.
The government wants all children, by the end of year 6, to be able to swim 25 metres. As we are very fortunate to be able to offer two lots of swimming sessions, we took the following decisions.
We always take Year 3 swimming and therefore have kept to this plan.
We then took the decision to take Years 5 and 6 swimming as they have the least amount of time to catch up and achieve the official requirement.
Current Year 4 children will go next year and then they will also have 2 years to catch up if necessary.
Just a reminder to parents that this is limited to 1 adult per child. Please can you take a LFT before coming to school and wear a face mask. Thank you.
We’re all looking forward to you joining us on the last day of school. If the weather is terrible, we will cancel this as standing outside in stormy weather will not be pleasurable for any of us. Fingers crossed for calm weather.
Thank you for your continued support.
Take care and have a lovely weekend
Your mental wellbeing is really important.
If the current situation with Coronavirus is impacting your wellbeing find help and information from these organisations.
Don’t face it alone – reach out, we will still support you.
DON’T FORGET OUR SMALL AND TALL CLUB
I’m a student
ChildLine (their services are still available with some changes, like the times you can call).
I’m a parent or carer
I’m an adult
More Useful Links
Specific to COVID 19
Children’s Commissioner – Children’s Guide to Coronavirus
Inter-Agency Standing Committee My Hero Is You – how kids can fight COVID 19
Free download book Coronavirus A book for children Illustrated by Axel Scheffler
We’ve got quite a busy couple of weeks ahead of us in school and no doubt you will have at home too. Staff and visitors are once again wearing face masks in the corridors and communal areas in the school. Next week we will be performing our KS1 Christmas play and early years singing to our parents. Parents please remember to wear your face masks and carry out a LFT before you come to school.
On Monday, our winning team will be having their treat. Every child in the school belongs to a team; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales. Every time a child does anything positive, they receive a team point. At the end of each term, we reward the team with the most awards.
Next week, there will no doubt be lots of photos on Twitter and Facebook along with the website for you to have a look through. I’m not saying what the treat is as it’s a surprise but I’m sure you’ll hear all about it on Monday afternoon.
Wednesday 8th December
Years 1 – 6 will be returning from the theatre at approximately 4:30pm in 4 coaches. If you park along Abbots Way, please can you ensure that there is enough room for the coaches to get to the school. Do not park on the zig zag lines by the school.
Thank you.
Christmas Chocolate Bingo – but not as you know it!
The children have asked if we can hold a chocolate bingo. Due to current circumstances, we have decided to hold the bingo during the day with just the children taking part.
I’m sure many of you will have heard the excitement about the Christmas tree and decorations in school. I feel that we can actually celebrate Chritsmas this year and I’m so looking forward to when some of our parents can come in and watch the Christmas plays.
Please can I ask that all adults who are coming into school take an LFT before and wear a face mask. Thank you.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to allow photographs to be taken during the play due to various reasons. Thank you for your understanding of this.
As a local community school we would like to offer our support to the much treasured Alice Charity. They have launched their Teenage Gift Appeal for this year as this is the age group that tends to be left out. We don’t think anyone should be missed off Santa’s list, so we are hoping to spread the appeal and to collect gifts (in a gift bag) between Monday 29nd November to Friday 3rd December. This is already an expensive time for everyone and it may be that you would like to help but in a different way. So, as well as taking in teenage gift donations, we will be taking in any kind of festive food donations, to make Christmas that little more special for families that struggle. If you can help, then donations can be dropped off in the main reception area or sent in with your child to put in their class donation box. Thank you
Donation week – Monday 29th November to Friday 3rd December 2021
#ShowYouCare
Illnesses
Please can I remind you that if your child has sickness or diarrhoea, they need 48 hours without any symptoms before coming back to school.
Any main symptoms of covid, children need to have a PCR test. If they have symptoms which aren’t the main symptoms, children need to do a LFT.
INSET day (staff training)
We have organised an INSET day for Monday 6th June 2022. The children will not be in school on this day.
Play Safe, a new national safeguarding campaign (Football Association)
Over the weekend, the Football Association and the NSPCC launched ‘Play Safe’, a national campaign to focus attention on the vital importance of safeguarding in football. At the heart of the campaign are three short films to emphasise the importance of safeguarding for key groups of people, crucially children themselves.
One aspect of the campaign is prompting parents to ask questions:
• Do you know your child’s club Welfare Officer?
• If so, do you have their tel no. in your ‘phone, as well as that of the NSPCC?
• Are you up to speed with your child’s club’s safeguarding policies and procedures?
• Do you regularly check-in with your child to see what they are enjoying/not enjoying and why?
More information can be found here: https://www.thefa.com/PlaySafe
