Headteacher Newsletter Issue 11
FORTNIGHTLY NEWSLETTER ISSUE 11: 25.2.22
We hope you all had a great half term being with family and doing more now that life is much easier around COVID, despite the storms! We are all pleased to be back and are looking forward to our Book Week next week including our Author visit on Monday.
Staffing
Mrs McIntyre will be leaving her Learning Support Assistant role today, due to other commitments. We wish her well and would like to thank her for all her hard work. Mrs McIntyre will continue to work with us but in a voluntary capacity.
Years 1 and 2 Multi Skills Event
Before half term Class Two had a fantastic afternoon participating in Multi-Skills at JFAN. We took part in many new games, listening carefully and learning new skills along the way! We learnt how to throw and catch correctly; how to effectively jump to enable to us to go the furthest and how to weave in and out of objects at speed!
Hockey Tournament/Match
On Wednesday some of Class Six attended a hockey tournament at JFAN. There were 15 schools in attendance spread over 4 pitches.
We played 7 matches the majority of which we drew, unfortunately we didn’t progress to the final rounds.
For some of the children it was their first taste at a real match following our training sessions before Christmas. We faced some tricky opponents, but the children played brilliantly and enjoyed their morning.
COVID update
As you are all probably aware the Government announced The Living with COVID plan earlier this week. This is good news that as a nation we are moving forward. The isolation changes that have been announced are around the legalities, the advice for isolation of a positive result is still in place –
“From Thursday 24 February, the Government will remove the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test. Adults and children who test positive will continue to be advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for at least 5 full days, and then continue to follow the guidance until they have received 2 negative test results on consecutive days.
In addition, the Government will: No longer ask fully vaccinated close contacts and those aged under 18 to test daily for 7 days, and remove the legal requirement for close contacts who are not fully vaccinated to self-isolate.
End routine contact tracing. Contacts will no longer be required to self-isolate or advised to take daily tests. Staff, children and young people should attend their education settings as usual. This includes staff who have been in close contact within their household, unless they are able to work from home.”
Contacts
We will still inform you of a positive case and recommend that LFT for contacts take place in order to keep any low levels of infection from rising in school, particularly at the moment. Many children do not show symptoms so this will help us avoid the infection spreading further. We appreciate this is no longer part of the national guidance and that tests are no longer easy to obtain, but any support is greatly appreciated.
To date the infection rates have been low overall in school, however we are currently going through a rise in cases following half term, similar to the pattern after Christmas. Year 5 is particularly effected at present, with 8 cases in the class. The Public Health Team have advised us to keep this year group separate for the time being. We are anticipating that this will calm down once the impact of half term has passed, but during this time we will need to continue with our tight protective measures in order to stop this increase from taking hold across the school. We would really appreciate your support with this.
As you are aware, the Omicron variant is still present and can be rapid when it takes hold. We are keen to have a normal routine in school and across our school community, therefore, as before, it is vital that we are vigilant in recognising and acting on COVID symptoms. If we keep up this level of monitoring then we can keep the school running at its full normal offer, including visitors and cross school working.
We will continue to ask visitors to wear masks in school and to take a LFT before their visit. Staff, unless they wish to, will no longer be wearing one from the end of next week when we envisage the impact of half term has ended.
Staff, for the moment, will continue to take Lateral Flow Tests twice a week. Ventilation, strong hygiene and cleaning routines will be in place. These measures will be increased if the virus rate increases rapidly at any time. Equally, if we can remove masks completely we will do so.
As a reminder, the main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:
- a high temperature– this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
- a new, continuous cough– this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
- a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste– this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
If you have any of these symptoms you should take a PCR test, as per the guidance. You are advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people while you are waiting for the test result.
Other symptoms linked with COVID-19 include shortness of breath, fatigue, loss of appetite, muscle ache, sore throat, headache, stuffy or runny nose, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting. Any of these symptoms may also have another cause.
To clarify this is the isolation advice –
Anyone who receives a positive lateral flow result will need to start isolating immediately. This will be day 0 of the isolation period. On day 5 and 6 you can take two lateral flow tests 24 hours apart. If they come both come back negative your child can return to school on day 6 if they do not have a temperature. If the LFT are positive then the isolation period must continue.
Snow Procedures
We had a very mild start to the new year but the temperature is dropping and although snow is not currently fore-cast we would like you to be aware of our snow procedures should the need arise –
Bad weather
In the event of severe weather conditions and possible school closure a notice will be placed on the school website.
Parents will be notified via our school website or the Essex County Council on the ‘Emergency School Closures’page: https://www.essex.gov.uk/education-schools/schools/dates/pages/emergency-school-closures.aspx
Parents will also be notified through our School Communication Chain – details below.
Please note that when the school is open in bad weather a path will be cleared to enable you to gain access to the school but care does still need to be taken.
Communication Chain
You will recently have been informed about our Parent Communication Chain. In order for the Communication Chain to be effective, it is important that phone calls are made as opposed to emails or texts, in order to ensure contact is made. Normally the chain will be activated the morning of the school closure as the decision is made on the day, unless in exceptional circumstances we know of the need in advance. We will try to open the school where possible, hence the decision being made at the last minute, once we can assess the school site. We will endeavour to give you as much notice as possible, but, as you are aware, it takes some time for the communication to pass through.
Facebook can be used as a supplementary means of communication if requested to do so by a member of the leadership team, but this is not part of the school process. Parentmail, the Communication Chain, the school website and the Essex link above are the school notifications.
Thank you again for your support with this process.
Lost property
Please could we make sure all uniform is named so that we can return misplaced items.
Sickness
The school office should be notified on the first day of each absence before registration at 9.00am and this should be followed up in writing on the day of return.
If your child has been vomiting or had an upset stomach a 48 hour leave of absence from the last episode is required. For guidance on other illnesses please contact the School Office or refer to the document on the website in the ‘Attendance’ section – “Guidance on infection control in schools and other childcare settings”.
Lateness
School starts at 8.50 a.m. We have noticed several children are consistently arriving late for school – ‘late’ is defined by not being within the school gates by 8.50 a.m. Please make every effort to be at school on time and if you know that your journey will be disrupted by road works, do allow time for this.
Please note that lateness is recorded on a per pupil basis.
Thank you.
Mobile Phones
This is a gentle reminder not to use mobile phones whilst on the school site. This is part of our safeguarding policy for all of our children.
Application for leave of absence for term time holidays
Guidance from the Local Authority:
“Leave of absence may only be granted by a person authorised in that behalf by the proprietor of the school. As from 1st September 2013, the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 amended Regulation 7 to prohibit the proprietor of a maintained school from granting leave of absence to a pupil, except where an advance application has been made by the parent with whom the pupil normally resides, and the proprietor considers that there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application.
Taking your child out of school during term time could be detrimental to your child’s educational progress. There is no entitlement to parents to take their child out of school during term time, however, you may apply to the school for leave of absence if you believe there are exceptional circumstances.
If the absence is not authorised and the holiday is taken, the case will be referred to the Education Welfare Service who may issue a Penalty Notice for £120 (or £60 if paid within 21 days) to each parent for each child taken out of school.”
Please note occasional days for birthdays and treats cannot be authorised and cheaper prices cannot be considered to be a valid reason. No leave of absence will be granted during our assessment weeks or the first week of the Autumn term. Medical appointments, if at all possible should be made outside school hours. Siblings of children attending medical appointments should remain in school.
Free School Meals Funding
You can register for Free Schools Meals Funding if you meet the criteria below.
If you have a child in Key Stage One and are receiving the free meal, which is part of the universal offer, you could be missing out on this additional funding for the school, which will support your child with their learning, if you meet the criteria below. You have to apply for this funding. If you think you meet the criteria below then please follow the guidance below and contact the school office.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
22nd February Bag2School
28th – 4th March Book Week
1st March Parent Consultations – early – online
1st March Friends of Clavering Pancake Event
3rd March Parent Consultations – late – online
11th March Sharing Assembly – Year 1 Parents
14th – 18th March Art Week
17th March Friends of Clavering Film Night
25th March Sharing Assembly – Year 5 Parents
28th March Tray Day
30th March Church Service
31st March Easter Egg Hunt
1st April End of term
ACHIEVEMENTS
STAR OF THE WEEK
Week ending February 4th
Reception Jude – for getting on quickly with his jobs and great handwriting
Year One Jaxon – for his improved effort towards his work, particularly in Maths, counting and ordering numbers
Year Two Teddy – for super effort with his handwriting
Year Three Poppy – for always having a positive attitude to learning and being kind and helpful
Year Four Morgan – for great effort and improvement in his reading
Year Five Anna – excellent problem solving skills in Maths
Year Six Conor – for his balanced and well-argued newspaper report
Week ending February 11th
Reception Oscar – for his great effort when writing about Amelia Earhart
Year One Barney – for his excellent improvement in phonic sound recognition and overall reading fluency
Year Two Benjamin – for fantastic effort to slow his work down to improve accuracy
Year Three Esme – for a positive attitude to her learning and assessments
Year Four Tommy – for good understanding in Science, particularly when writing the conclusion to our experiment
Year Five Emmie – for her interesting Titanic presentation
Year Six Olivia M – for her detailed and imaginative account of life in a hillfort
HEADTEACHER’S AWARD
For children who have achieved their personal best:
Reception:
Thea – for great improvement in her handwriting – so small and neat
Ollie – for his excellent reading – spotting tricky words and new diagraphs
Class 1:
Kyle – for his excellent effort and continued progress particularly in reading and Maths with subtraction and addition.
Lila – for her hard work to improve her phonics recognition and good knowledge of place value, addition and subtraction in Maths.
Class 2:
Harry – for fantastic effort with his reading.
Phoenix – for a great improvement with her Maths work.
Class 3:
Ella – for great progress in reading and gaining in confidence in maths
Penny – for great progress in reading and excellent effort in all subjects
Class 4:
Max H- Great progress in his reading and stamina when writing.
Ellie – for great effort in all areas of the curriculum especially her understanding in maths.
Class 5:
Joshua B – for a huge improvement in engagement and effort
Matilde – for pushing herself to achieve her best
Class 6:
Olivia A – for the great improvement in her maths.
William C – for his caring and positive attitude towards everyone. A great role model
for other pupils.
WRITER OF THE WEEK
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R Cruz for great effort when writing tricky words
1 Consuello for great scientific writing explaining material properties 2 Sophie for enthusiastic ‘free’ writing 3 Toben for working hard in RE to record information for Chinese New Year. 4 Tommy for great retelling of Boudica’s rebellion 5 Emma for completing a wonderful fictional autobiography 6 Oskar for great use of rhetorical devices in his newspaper report
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| w/e 11.2.22
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R Jude for Great writing about Amelia Earhart
1 Astrid for super handwriting 2 Kitty for choosing to write in her free time 3 Joseph for great effort with his handwriting 4 Max Sullivan for a great science conclusion, using appropriate vocabulary 5 Arlo for his excellent Titanic poem 6 Ethan – for great effort recording information about the lungs during science
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KITCHEN AWARD
Each week the kitchen team present an award to the class or individual for good manners –
4.10.21 Class One – for exceptional manners
11.10.21 Kayleigh – for always saying thank you
18.10.21 Eve – for great manners
1.11.21 Consuello – for stacking the trays when they started to fall
8.11.21 Taylor – fabulous salad serving
15.11.21 Darcey – helping people in the line for lunch
22.11.21 Amelia – for being mature about her food choices
29.11.21 Rory – for being a brilliant buddy at lunch time
1.12.21 Will C – for being polite and being a great buddy
8.12.21 Millie S – for picking up the trays
Reception Class – for trying new foods
31.1.22 Alfie F for trying hard to use the scraper to clear his tray
31.1.22 The Whole School for acting so sensibly during a fire drill over lunch time
Well done!
Well done to Rory, Year 6, for being selected for the U11 West Essex County Cricket.
Look out for our next edition of ‘Friday Focus’:
The fortnightly Friday Focus is a chance for every class at Clavering to share their learning with the Clavering School community. It is a great opportunity to find out what each year group has been up to and engage in conversations around learning.
If you have any questions at any time, please feel free to make an appointment.
Have a good weekend.
Rosalind Allsop
Headteacher
