Over St. John's CE Primary SchoolHead Teacher Blog: Friday 10th January 2025
Date: 10th Jan 2025 @ 1:29pm
Happy New Year to you all and I hope that you had a lovely Christmas with family and friends and managed to get some well-earned rest. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the cards, gifts and well-wishes that the staff and myself received at the end of term - it is always greatly appreciated - thank you.
We have had a very wintry start to the Spring term, but fortunately I think it will be doing a disappearing act over the weekend as we move into double figures for the temperature by Tuesday. I would like to thank you all for managing to get your children into school and a special thank you to all the staff who travel in from far and wide to make sure that we haven’t had to cause any disruption to the children’s education. I would also like to thank the children for being so very patient this week as we haven’t been able to go outside. At the beginning of the week the snow was too wet and I know that children had already arrived with wet feet before the day had started so we didn’t want to add to this. Then the ice came and despite our best efforts at gritting the playground, it still wasn’t safe for them to go out to play on it. We have managed to get out for 10 minutes today though, a class at a time on the cleared section of the playground to help with the Cabin Fever! I must say that the children’s behaviour has been fantastic as I know how frustrating it can be when you are stuck inside – although on the other hand, some were very glad to be in the warm as I know I was!
Morning Routine
As we start the new year, please may I take this opportunity to remind you again about the morning routine at Over St. John’s. The school gate opens each morning at the beginning of the day at 8.35am. The children are able to go straight to class and get on with the activities that are there for them. Our register is taken at 8:45am promptly and as such, if your child is not here at 8:45am, they will be marked late on the register. Please ensure that your child is in school a couple of minutes before 8:45am so that they are on time for the register as I close the gate a couple of minutes before this time. If you arrive before 8.35am, please remind your children that they should stay by your side as Delamere Street is a very busy road and traffic also turns into our car park – they should not be playing and running around outside whilst waiting.
The whole school goes in to Collective Worship each morning at 8:50am and if children are late, it can be unsettling for them to have to walk in to Collective Worship in front of the whole school as well as distracting for the children that are already there. Your support with this would be greatly appreciated.
Illness
It is that time of year when so many people are catching lots of different bugs that are going around. With some of these, it is important that your child stays at home to avoid passing the illness around but there are others that they are perfectly fine to come to school with. I am re-sharing a link that gives you an idea of some common illnesses and whether you should keep your child at home or send them in to school: Is My Child too Ill for School?
Attendance
As you will be aware, we are having a focus on attendance this year as our attendance figure is below the national average for all schools. To help us understand why this is and work out what we can do about it, we are conducting an attendance audit at a variety of different levels within the school. I am asking for your support in completing a survey that will be sent home over the next few days from a parental perspective and would like to thank you in advance for completing this for me.
As always, we are looking for attendance to be at least 96%. For the school this week we are at and here is a rundown of each class attendance:
Hatchmere: 93%
Sandymere: 98.57%
Delamere: 86.11%
Oakmere: 94.17%
Linmere: 93.85%
Blakemere: 94.62%
Well done to Sandymere for the best attendance this week!
As a school, this week's attendance has been 93.63%, which is well below our target of 96% and overall since September, we are on 94.14%
#WakeUpWednesday
JusTalk Kids – billed as a child-friendly version of the JusTalk social networking platform – boasts a strong community of younger users, with approximately 20 million accounts having been created on the app. In theory, a social media site designed specifically for children and young people should avoid many of the usual risks associated with other platforms. In practice, however, it’s important to note that JusTalk Kids has its fair share of online safety concerns. You’ll find expert advice on the hazards in the app, and how you can safeguard the children in your care as they use it in this week’s free guide, empowering you to make a young user’s time on the platform as secure as possible.
Absence During Term Time – Reminder
As I have shared a number of times previously, there have been some changes to the way that Penalty Notices are issued for absences during term time. Penalty Notices are issued for irregular attendance, with days off here and there throughout the term including holidays.
The new National Framework for Penalty includes:
- A Penalty Notice must be considered for 10 sessions (5 days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period – these days do not have to be all at the same time, they can be a couple of days here and a couple of days there; they can be a combination of a couple of days holiday and a couple of days absence at other times too.
- An increase to the amount of a Penalty Notice is now £160 if paid within 28 days, and £80 if paid within 21 days. This fine is issued to each parent separately for each child, so both parents receive the £80 fine, meaning that for one child it equals £160 (£80 for Mum and £80 for Dad) if both parents take the child.
- A second Penalty Notice could be issued to the same parent for the same child within a rolling 3 year period being charged at a higher rate of £160 with no option for this second offence to be discharged at the lower rate of £80.
- A national limit of 2 penalty notices that can be issued to a parent for the same child within a rolling 3 year period, so at the 3rd (or subsequent) offence(s) another tool will need to be considered (such as prosecution or one of the other attendance legal interventions).
Applying for Primary School Places for September 2025
If you have a child who is turning 4 years old between now and 31st August 2025, or know of a child who is, then the application round is open to apply for their Reception place, but it closes next Wednesday 15th January 2025. Before making your application, it is important you view the Starting Primary School Booklet. Results are available from 16th April 2025. To apply, you will need to create an account or log in on this link.
If you would like to visit Over St. John’s with a view to a Reception place in September or know of someone else who would, please do just ring the office and we will arrange a time to suit yourselves and us. We do not hold an open morning as I prefer people to see us as we are on a daily basis and have more personal time during a look around with me to ask any questions that they may have.
School Dinners
School dinners cost £3 per day, £15 per week. Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 receive free meals as part of the government’s Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) scheme. Dinner money must be paid in advance via School Spider.
If you are in receipt of benefits and think that you may be entitled to free school meals, please click here for more information and support and how to apply. It is very important to apply for free schools meals whatever year your child is in, even if you receive the UIFSM in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, as the school receives a sum of extra money to further help support your child and their education.
Confirmed Dates for the Spring Term 2025 – new dates highlighted
Dinner Week 2
Monday 13th January: After School Clubs start
Wednesday 15th January: Applications close for Reception places for September 2025
Tuesday 21st January: Year 5 Fire Escape to Safety with Cheshire Fire and Rescue
Wednesday 22nd January: Governors visiting school for the afternoon
Wednesday 29th January: Blakemere to visit Winsford Library
Wednesday 5th February: Linmere to visit Winsford Library
Tuesday 11th February: Pupil Consultation Evening 4pm – 6pm
Wednesday 12th February: Oakmere visit to Winsford Library
Thursday 13th February: Pupil Consultation Evening 3.15pm – 5.15pm
Friday 14th February: School closes for half term at 3pm
Monday 24th February: INSET day – school closed
Tuesday 25th February: school opens at 8.35am
Wednesday 26th February: Delamere visit to Winsford Library
Wednesday 5th March: Sandymere visit to Winsford Library
Wednesday 12th March: Hatchmere visit to Winsford Library
Monday 31st March – Wednesday 2nd April: Year 2 and 3 Residential to Robinwood
Friday 4th April: Easter Service in St. John’s Church at 9.15am. All welcome.
Friday 4th April: School closes for Easter at 2pm
Have a lovely weekend.
Take care,
Mrs E Snowdon