Dear Parents / Carers,

The children have had so much fun in the snow this week.  They have played so well together and have certainly been busy building snowmen.  There are still a few bodies left on the field!

Teacher Strikes

You may be aware that the trade unions who represent teachers in our academy, have been balloting for strike action. This is a national action, in relation to a dispute with the Government about pay, which you will also have seen in other sectors. To be clear, this is not a dispute about the operation of our academy.

The results of the ballot from the National Education Union (NEU) supported strike action. Some of our teachers are members of this trade union, and may be taking strike action on the following dates:

Wednesday 1st February

Tuesday 28th February / Wednesday 1st March

Wednesday 15th March

Thursday 16th March

We are currently working on plans to keep our academy open for as many children as possible, but it may mean that some children will need to learn from home on these days. We will communicate again with more details when we know which children will be affected.

We’re aware that this is a cause for concern for everyone, but we will do everything we can to ensure that learning continues when these strikes take place.

Dear Parents / Carers,

Year 6 have had a fantastic week at Standon Bowers,  They’ve shown confidence and enthusiasm in all of the activities.  We have seen the children really develop with some of their personal skills. From the beginning of the week where some children struggled with independence, throughout the week they have shown a growing strength and have amazed us at how resilient and independent they’ve become.  By the end of the week, they’ve been problem solving and making informed decisions along with independently completing tasks.  They’ve dealt with the wind and the rain and kept smiling throughout it all.  There will definitely be some extremely muddy washing for you later!

A massive thank you to Mrs Sharman, Ms Shaw, Mrs Hughes, Mrs Bebbington and Mr Golds who have all taken it in turns to stay with the children overnight.

Internet / Gaming issues

It’s been brought to my attention about some of our children are seeing scary images on Roblox and Youtube which they are discussing in school.

Along with this, there’s an online message going around Staffordshire about self harm within the context of a DARE game.

Please can I ask that you do keep an eye on what your child accesses online.  Whilst we constantly teach children about being safe online it’s very difficult to monitor this outside of school.  We can only hope that with your support, the children use what they’ve learnt and apply it to all contexts. 

Bikeability

This week our Reception and Year 1 children have amazed us all.  The trainers have been super impressed with Year 1 and at how quickly they’ve managed to ride bikes with no stabilisers.  The children’s confidence has grown so much and their focus on riding certainly helped them to power around the playground – with no crashes!

Dear Parents / Carers,

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a lovely break and managed to spend some quality time with your family and friends.

The children have started the new year with a great deal of enthusiasm and have settled so quickly into their learning, which is great to see.