Head Teacher Blog: Friday 17th February 2023

Date: 17th Feb 2023 @ 1:16pm

School Spider

Thank you for your patience at the end of last week and over the weekend as School Spider wasn’t working. As I said on Monday, there was an issue with the company that hosts the server but they managed to get it back up and running again. It did cause a few technical hitches with Pupil Consultation Evenings that had been booked as some bookings were lost, you have had difficulty paying for dinners and some of the information that was posted on the website after 22nd January has been lost – you will notice that blogs previously posted have now gone. However, School Spider have worked really hard with the company that hosts our server to get everything back up and running as quickly as possible, so things should now be back to normal.

Pupil Consultation Evenings

Thank you to all those parents and carers who were able to attend the Pupil Consultation Evenings that took place earlier this week. It is always a pleasure to meet with you and have conversations about your lovely children. If, for whatever reason, you were unable to make it this week, please get in touch with your child’s class teacher so that we can update you on how they are doing and anything further that you can do to support them at home too – education is a two way partnership and it is very important that the children know that all adults involved in their education continue to speak to each other.

Ready, Respectful, Safe

A couple of weeks ago in my blog on 27th January (which is no longer available due to School Spider issues), I mentioned that we are drip feeding some changes into our Behaviour system at school. This week, we have stripped back our rules to just three – ready, respectful and safe. These should make life much simpler at school as we can all remember them much more easily and they cover all aspects of school life very simply for all age groups. Children have discussed these in class over the last week and talked about the ways that they would look during the school day. These will be our new school rules after half term.

As previously promised, I will continue to keep you updated as further changes take place.

Industrial Action – Tuesday 28th February 2023

School will be fully open to all groups on the regional strike day of Tuesday 28th February 2023.

#WakeUpWednesday

The rise of programmes like ChatGPT has brought the use of artificial intelligence solutions into sharp focus. Designed to potentially make our lives easier and support everyday tasks, this advanced machine-learning technology offers boundless possibilities and will be a part of our future and our children’s future, for generations to come.

The opportunities that these AI solutions bring can’t be underestimated, so it’s important that we, as trusted adults, understand how they work, what they can be used for and what potential risks they could spawn. That’s why National Online Safety have created this week’s guide to help trusted adults understand exactly what AI solutions are all about.

New Images Half Term Event

A fabulous event is happening over February half-term at New Images Youth and Community Centre. They have secured funding to deliver a FREE Recipe Bag project to 50 families in Winsford. Each bag will contain the ingredients to produce Easy Peasy Tomato Pasta and Super Duper Forky Biscuits (on average to serve a family of 4/5).

The process to secure a bag is simple and is via Eventbrite – see the poster attached below. The funding is aimed at children who are in receipt of benefit related free school meals but other families can apply also.

School Dinners

School dinners cost £2.45 per day, £12.25 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 as we do not accept cash in school.

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.

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 2023 – new dates highlighted

Week beginning 28th February: Dinners Week 1

Friday 17th February: School closes for half term at 3pm

Monday 27th February: School closed – INSET day

Tuesday 28th February: School opens at the usual time

Thursday 2nd March: Dragon themed World Book Day with story sharing at the end of the day

Friday 31st March: Easter Service in St. John’s Church at 9.15am. All welcome.

Friday 31st March: End of Spring Term - school closes at 2pm

 

Have a lovely half term break.

 

Take care,

Mrs E Snowdon

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