Over St. John's CE Primary SchoolHead Teacher Blog: Friday 18th October 2019
Date: 18th Oct 2019 @ 4:07pm
It was lovely to see so many of you at Parent’s Evening this week and we hope that you enjoyed the opportunity to get to know your child’s class teacher, find out more about the expectations for this year and about the progress that your child is making. Over the course of the year, we will have two more Parent’s Evenings, one in February and one in May and we also send home attainment and progress information at the end of each term for children in Years 1 to 6. If you were unable to see your child’s class teacher for whatever reason, please do contact them via the school office to make an alternative appointment.
Staffing in Blakemere from January
We have now recruited a maternity cover teacher for Mrs McLaughlin and I am delighted to tell you that we will be welcoming Miss Hartley to teach in Blakemere after Christmas until Mrs McLaughlin’s return. Miss Hartley is currently teaching a Year 5 and 6 class near Chester and so she is familiar with all that is expected of these year groups. Miss Hartley will be in school at some point next half term to meet the children and spend some time with them as well as speaking with Mrs McLaughlin to ensure a very smooth handover.
Roof Repairs
Yesterday caused great excitement amongst the children as some scaffolding began going up around the school building. We are having some roof repairs carried out over the next few weeks so it will be here to stay for a little while longer but will mean that we will be watertight – especially considering all the rain that we have been having and I’m sure will continue to have!
#WakeUpWednesday
Fortnite Chapter 2 is just the latest instalment of this hugely popular gaming experience. Enjoyed by millions of children and young people all over the world and accessible on almost every platform and every device, its brand continues to get stronger and stronger. But should parents worry? Can the game become an addiction? And how violent is it? National Online Safety have produced a handy guide for this week’s #WakeUpWednesday.
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Out of Hours Club at the Church Hall
You may remember during the summer term that St. John’s church were in the process of setting up an Out of Hours Club for our children before and after school. There was a good initial expression of interest but as the club got closer to opening, the interest dwindled – the numbers of people that would actually use the club fell and made it impossible for the club to cover their running costs, so unfortunately they have not been able to open. For those of you who are still wanting before and after school cover, we do have childminders who work in and out of school whose contact details we could pass on and there is St. John’s Pre-school (no affiliation to the school) across the road who also offer this service if you need to get in touch with them.
This is unfortunate as a breakfast club is something that parents have expressed an interest in but if can’t be made financially viable then we would be unable to run it.
Applying for Secondary and Reception Places for September 2020
If you have a child in Year 6, the application round has now opened for you to apply for a secondary school place. It is very important that you do this before the deadline which is 31st October, otherwise your application will be classed as a late application and could have a severe impact on your preferred school choice. Before making your application, it is important you view the Transferring to Secondary School information booklet. To apply, you will need to create an account or login if you have an existing online account.
As a school, we are a partner primary with both The Winsford Academy and Hartford CE High School which means that applications for children from our school are considered above some other categories, should the school be oversubscribe. Further details with regards to this can be found in the ‘Transferring to Secondary School’ information booklet in the link above.
If you have a child who is turning 4 years old between now and 31st August 2020, 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 2020, but like the secondary school place, before making your application, it is important you view the Starting School information booklet. To apply, you will need to create an account or login if you have an existing online account.
Confirmed Dates for the Autumn Term 2019 – additions to last week are highlighted
Thursday 24th October: Harvest Service in St. John’s Church at 9.15am. All welcome.
Friday 25th October: School closes for half term at 3pm
Monday 4th November: School opens at 8:45am
Friday 22nd November: Blakemere to visit Chester for the Dewa Roman Experience
Sunday 1st December: All Together Service in St. John’s church at 11am
Hatchmere to take part, but all members of our school community are welcome.
Monday 2nd December and Tuesday 3rd December: Linmere to take part in the WEP Christmas Concert at the Lifestyle Centre
Monday 2nd December: Sandymere and Delamere to ‘Sing the Christmas Story’ at St. Chad’s Church
Tuesday 10th December: School nurses to carry out Nasal flu vaccination for all children
Tuesday 17th December: Carol Service in St. John’s Church at 1.45pm. Collection from Church for all children at 3pm, not at school.
Thursday 19th December: Whole school pantomime visit
Thursday 19th December: School closes at 2pm for Christmas
Have a lovely weekend,
Take care,
Mrs E Snowdon