Over St. John's CE Primary SchoolHead Teacher Blog: Friday 14th March 2025
Date: 14th Mar 2025 @ 4:07pm
What has happened to the weather since last week?! I’ve dug my thermals back out!
We have had a quiet but busy week in school punctuated by the many comings and goings of Year 2 as they have been having their swimming lessons every day at the pop-up pool at St. Joseph’s. They are doing incredibly well.
I have received lots of information about things that are going on in the local community over the next few weeks which make up the large part of my blog this week but I think that you will find some of them very useful.
Junior Safety Officers
Our JSOs shared their monthly bulletin in Collective yesterday with their latest messages about staying safe with booster seats, staying safe online and stranger danger. You may have also spotted them outside school yesterday morning as they carried out a traffic survey. I have attached their latest bulleting below for you.
#WakeUpWednesday
Online multiplayer games like Roblox are enjoyed by millions across the world and can be a great way for friends to socialise; however, they can also expose young people to a variety of potential harms. Roblox is a multi-platform game that enables people to play anonymously, which can often be something that attracts people to misuse the game and put younger players at risk of harm.
In addition to interacting with random strangers across the world, it’s important to be aware of other risk factors, such as in-game purchases and potential scams that can put young people at risk financially. National Online Safety have created this week’s free guide – also available in podcast format – offering parents and educators expert advice about what can be done to ensure that young people have a safe and enjoyable experience with Roblox.
Attendance
Thank you to those who completed the attendance survey that was sent out last week. We are currently analysing the results.
As always, we are looking for attendance to be at least 96%. For the school this week we are at 97.25% which is a fabulous achievement – thank you! Since September, we are on 94.88%.
Here is a rundown of each class attendance this week:
Hatchmere: 95.45%
Sandymere: 97.14%
Delamere: 94.74%
Oakmere: 95.83%
Linmere: 100%
Blakemere: 99.23%
Well done to Linmere for the best attendance this week who will receive our trophy in Collective Worship next Friday. That is our first 100% week all year and is a fantastic achievement!
Once again, I would like to acknowledge that we continue to have some good attendance figures over the past few weeks, with several over and above 96% – thank you.
As always, I appreciate how difficult it is when there is illness circulating but also appreciate you checking Is my child too ill for school? and being reassured that we will send them home if they are too ill to be in school. You might also be interested in this link from the Government about support for parents for attendance:
Improving School Attendance - Government Support for Parents May 2024
Cricket
As we are a part of CCB's school coaching programme during this academic year, we have been asked to make you aware of opportunities for KS1 and KS2 children to take part in cricket away from the school gates this summer.
Local clubs will be running Allstars (for 5–8-year-olds) and Dynamos (8–11-year-olds) which start just after Easter. Please take a look at the attached posters, both of which contain a QR code for parents to scan and search for the most convenient venue.
Level 2 Teaching Assistant Course
There is a course running that is free to anyone in the community aged 19+ and on an out of work benefit or earning less than £25,000 per year to learn to become a Teaching Assistant. A DBS check is required before starting the course.
Last year, all 18 learners completed the qualification and gained employment – 16 out of 18 obtained jobs working as a Teaching Assistant in a school. If this is something that is of interest to you, please take a look at the poster below.
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).
School Dinners
School dinners currently cost £3 per day, £15 per week. We sent out information this week that Edsential are increasing their costs and from 1st May, school dinners will cost £3.30 per day, £16.50 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 1
Friday 28th March: Open the Book Collective Worship
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
Tuesday 22nd April: School opens at 8.35am for the Summer Term
Have a lovely weekend.
Take care,
Mrs E Snowdon