Dear Parents,
I am thanking you all once again for your support whilst we face continuous challenges. Our core business of teaching, learning, well-being and safeguarding has never been so difficult, but with your help we are still open, still going and still smiling. We are all looking forward to a well earned Christmas holiday, but we have one more week left in school, and intend to make the most of it. As I have said many times, our school, and its curriculum goes beyond our school gates. So if your child is at home, learning can continue via our pod pages. Teachers are telling me how much they enjoy seeing the pupils using the pod flipbits and home quests and how hard many are working to keep their learning going! Well done all - we are very proud of you! Here are the headlines this week:-
1. Retirement - Mrs Joseph will be sadly leaving us at the end of next week. Mrs Joseph has been at the school for many, many years, and has had a huge influence on the lives of hundreds of pupils in her care. We will all miss Mrs Joseph, and I know the pupils will particularly miss the lovely outdoor education that she has developed in recent years. I know you will join me in wishing Mrs Joseph well in her retirement and good luck in all her new and exciting ventures.
School Reports - Next week we will release the Autumn 2021 online reports into your child's Hwb account. If you are unsure of how to access these, please visit our "How to..." guide on the website. Here is the link. Please note that reading and spelling assessments (PryCop and Pysgodyn only) were taken in September. We will be re-assessing your child in the Spring term, and we will discuss these with you in the parent meetings. You will also notice that we are not reporting on your child's attendance this term due to the impact of covid.
100 Club - We are now collecting for Spring Term's 100 club. Please support us with just £1 per week, as this makes a huge difference to the resources and opportunities we can offer our pupils. You can sign up for 5 weeks (£5) or 10 weeks (£10) and negotiate your numbers with Jayne in the office. A big thank you to the staff who diligently record the draws each week to raise money for the pupils. Please ask your relatives and friends to support us too! For more information click here.
Christmas Raffle - Our raffle will be drawn by the lovely office staff on Tuesday. We have loads of prizes to give out, so if you want to increase your chances, please send in your money (clearly marked in an envelope) and we will add your tickets to the draw. Just let us know what name and contact number to write on the tickets. Thank you to all those who have donated prizes. Don't worry if your child is not in school - we will find a way of getting your prize to you by the end of term.
Virtual Concerts - A huge applaud must go to all the staff and pupils for getting these concerts completed amid all the disruptions. We hope you all enjoy the shows which will be accessible via our website's video channel next week. Don't forget to tweet a picture of your family enjoying the shows!
Christmas Lunch Tuesday 14th - Christmas Lunch will be served on this day. Don't forget you can send your children in Christmas jumpers to make it even more festive. Please ensure your sQuid account is topped up.
Storm Damage - Our poor poly tunnel had no chance fighting against the two recent storms, and we have been left with just a frame. We do not want to lose this superb resource for our pupils, so we now need to seek someone who can advise on how best to re-cover and repair this outdoor classroom. If you know of a company or a local firm who can help, please let us know so we can seek some quotes.
Launch Day January 5th 2022 - Please ensure you have completed the consent form for this day as we are taking the pupils to an exciting venue for part of this day. All pupils will need wellies and waterproofs for this day. If your child does not have wellies, please let us know and we will try to source.
Omicron: Latest Guidance - "If you are a close contact of someone who is confirmed or suspected to have the Omicron variant, you must self-isolate from the day you were last in contact with the person who tested positive and for the next 10 days, regardless of your vaccination status or age. Contact tracers will let you know if your contact is a confirmed or suspected case of the Omicron variant. You should also take a PCR test on day 2 and day 8. It is important that you take the tests even if you feel well as you may have COVID-19 even if you do not have symptoms. Even if these tests are negative, you must complete the isolation period. This is because if you have been infected, it can take time for symptoms to develop or to become infectious to others. If the variant is suspected, you must isolate until it has been confirmed that the person who has tested positive does not have an Omicron variant. Once that happens Test, Trace, Protect service will contact you and advise on what to do next. This may mean you can leave self-isolation but it will depend on your age, vaccination status and nature of the contact."
Have a super weekend, and keep safe.
Mrs Caswell