Over St. John's CE Primary SchoolHead Teacher Blog: Friday 15th November 2024
Date: 15th Nov 2024 @ 2:33pm
Poppy Appeal
Thank you so much for all your support with this year’s British Legion Poppy Appeal. The donations have been collected and counted and I am delighted to tell you that we have raised a huge £246.73. Thank you again.
PTFA Updates
As shared via School Spider yesterday, the PTFA are running a Christmas Jumper sale on 29th November straight after school. Jumpers will be selling for £2 for a child and £3 for an adult. They are asking for donations over the next couple of weeks and there is a box in the office for you to drop them off in ready for washing. Please see the fabulous poster attached below.
Welcome to Mr Teece
A very warm welcome to Mr Teece who has joined our team as a caretaker after school. If children are in clubs, they will see him around making sure that our school grounds are spick and span. We are certain that Mr Teece will be a fabulous addition to our school community.
Guardian Education Awards 2025
The Guardian Education Awards 2025 for Mid Cheshire are back for another year and promise to be the best yet! Ten awards will celebrate schools, nurseries and colleges across Mid Cheshire, honouring pupils and students, teachers and teaching assistants, and classes and teams. The Guardian want to highlight everything that’s good about Mid Cheshire's educators, shining a spotlight on innovation and best practice across the town.
Who should win one of their 10 awards?
There’s pupil of the year for primary and secondary, class or team of the year and headteacher of the year as well as awards for teachers and teaching assistants.
They will also be handing out a lifetime achievement award and an innovation award.
Entries are invited from teachers, parents, governors, pupils and anyone with knowledge of a particular school or education establishment. All schools are welcome to enter as long as they are based in Mid Cheshire.
Individuals or institutions can enter more than one category, but this should be made clear on the entry form.
If you would like to make a nomination, you can do so here using this link:
https://forms.office.com/e/ePXVHHKK4h?origin=lprLink
The closing date for entries is Saturday 30th November 2024.
Weekly Attendance
Congratulations to Oakmere who have had the best attendance this week. The magic number that we are looking for is at least 96% attendance or above so once again, almost all our classes have been closer to that this week than previously. Well done and thank you!
Hatchmere: 97%
Sandymere: 96.67%
Delamere: 97.22%
Oakmere: 97.92%
Linmere: 96.6%
Blakemere: 95.2%
#WakeUpWednesday
Figures from Cycling UK tell us that only 2.2% of UK schoolchildren currently cycle to school despite the majority owning a bike. Encouraging young people to get into this hobby can be a great way to keep them active and cut down on their screen time – while potentially providing them with a healthy and convenient way of travelling to and from school or getting around in general. Of course, it’s imperative that children and young people know how to keep themselves safe while riding from A to B, if we want to avoid the risk of injury or other unpleasant experiences that could discourage them from continuing with the hobby. That’s why National Online Safety have put together this free guide ready for Road Safety week, starting on 17th November, providing you with expert advice on teaching cycle safety to children and young people.
Absence During Term Time – Reminder
As shared towards the end of last term, 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 also open for them to apply for their Reception place. The timescale is slightly different for this and you have until 15th January 2025, but like the secondary school place, 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 next 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 Autumn Term 2024 – new dates highlighted
Friday 29th November: Christmas Jumper sale after school
Thursday 12th December: Whole School Pantomime Trip
Friday 13th December: PTA Christmas Fayre
Thursday 19th December: Carol Service in St. Johns Church at 1.30pm – collection from Church
Friday 20th December: Christmas Jumper Day and school closes at 2pm
Have a lovely weekend.
Take care,
Mrs E Snowdon