Over St. John's CE Primary SchoolHead Teacher Blog: Friday 11th February 2022
Date: 11th Feb 2022 @ 10:05am
This morning we were treated to a fabulous Collective Worship led by the children in Oakmere class on their class Christian value of forgiveness. The children read, acted, questioned, prayed and sang beautifully. They shared the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant and got us to think about how forgiveness can be very hard, when we feel we have been wronged, but we can do all things with God’s strength and in forgiving someone, it will help to heal wounds and move on. Have a listen to Forgiveness by Matthew West which we sing in school and Oakmere shared with us.
Children’s Mental Health Activities
This week has been Children’s Mental Health week and we have focussed on this today in particular. The children have been carrying out some fabulous activities in class on the theme of Growing Together – please see the class blog pages for more details of what the children have been up to, to help them accept the challenges of the week and develop confidence in themselves and their abilities.
The children have also been reminded of who our Well-Being Workers are in school who they can go to for support and we shared the Winsford Education Partnerships Well-Being Worker video to remind us all of what we can to do support each other and ourselves.
Free Literacy Counts Reading and Writing Parental Sessions
A few weeks ago I gave you some advance notice of two free sessions that will be running later on this term and promised further information would follow. The Winsford Education Partnership, in conjunction with a company called Literacy Counts, are running some free short sessions for parents of primary age children within the town. The first session is called ‘Read with Me’ and will take place virtually on 9th March from 7pm – 8pm and the second is called ‘Write with Me’ and will also take place virtually on 30th March from 7pm – 8pm. These free short sessions will be a really good opportunity for you to find out ways in which you can support your child at home with their reading and writing in the virtual company of other parents across the town. Later on today, you will receive an e mail with a flyer attached for both of the sessions that contains more information and a link on the flyer to click to book a place. I have not shared these flyers on my blog as the sessions are only for Winsford parents and anybody could access the link on the internet who is not part of the Winsford Education Partnership – please do not share also. It would be fantastic if you could spare the hour on the two occasions to listen to this vital information on how you can support your children at home. Thank you.
World Book Day
This year we will be celebrating World Book Day on Thursday 3rd March. Plans are afoot in school as to how we will mark this and details will be sent out soon. However, you will not need to go to any trouble or expense around character costumes – we think we have come up with an idea that all can easily take part in. This sounds very secretive, but we are putting a poster together currently to share with you and the children and I don’t want to spoil the surprise!
CWAC Local Area Special Educational Needs Ofsted
I have attached a letter below that all schools have been asked to share with parents and carers, regarding the inspection of Cheshire West and Chester Council local area’s effectiveness in identifying and meeting the needs of and improving outcomes for children and young people who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The letter explains how you can share your views.
#WakeUpWednesday
According to the Office for National Statistics, 12% of British children who don’t use any social networking apps or sites on a normal school day exhibit symptoms of mental ill health. When those parameters are extended to include young people who spend three or more hours on those platforms in a day however, the proportion with mental health difficulties leaps to 27%.
Many of the staunchest challenges that children face in modern life are encountered online – but they don’t have to overcome those obstacles alone. To tie in with Children’s Mental Health Week, National Online Safety’s #WakeUpWednesday poster has tips for how young people can also use the digital world to support any friends who may be enduring a tough time.
Film Night
St. John’s Church will be holding another film night on Sunday 27th February and this time they will be screening the Disney film ‘Encanto.’ Please see the attached flyer for info – no need to book, just turn up!
School Dinners
School dinners cost £2.34 per day, £11.70 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 school 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.
Absence during Term Time
Please may I remind you that schools are not allowed to authorise pupil holidays in term time. Any child going on holiday in term time will receive an unauthorised absence. Our registers are regularly checked by the Education Welfare Service and parents may be issued with a fine from the Local Authority for unauthorised absence, which is currently £60 per child, per parent and this rises to £120 if paid after 21 days but within 28 days.
Confirmed Dates for the Spring Term 2022 – new dates highlighted
Friday 11th February: Children’s Mental Health Day in school
Tuesday 15th February: Pupil Consultation Evening 4pm – 6pm (not Sandymere)
Thursday 17th February: Pupil Consultation Evening 3.15pm – 5.15pm (not Sandymere)
Friday 18th February: School closes at the usual time for half term
Tuesday 1st March: School re-opens at the usual time
Wednesday 9th March: Read With Me webinar 7pm – 8pm
Sunday 27th March: Encanto film night 4.30pm St. John's Church Hall
Wednesday 30th March: Write With Me webinar 7pm – 8pm
Friday 1st April: Easter Service at 9.15am
Friday 1st April: School closes at 2pm
Have a lovely weekend.
Take care,
Mrs E Snowdon