Over St. John's CE Primary SchoolHead Teacher Blog: Friday 24th January 2025
Date: 24th Jan 2025 @ 11:49am
I think we have been blown into the weekend today! We have been very fortunate not to have been as affected as others by Storm Eowyn and as such, the children have enjoyed playing out in the windy weather. I heard one child this morning say that the trees were dancing – a fabulous way to describe it!
Governor Visit
We had a lovely afternoon on Wednesday as we welcomed our governors into school to see our school in action. They had a tour of the school, visited several lessons, spoke with the School Council and also spoke to staff about all the work that goes on behind the scenes with things such as the curriculum, attendance and safeguarding. The children were absolutely fabulous and the governors – who generally meet in the evenings so don’t necessarily get to speak with the children – were very taken with how well behaved, polite and engaged with their work that the children are.
Attendance
As always, we are looking for attendance to be at least 96%. Attendance has been really positive this week, building on another positive last week - thank you so much for your support with this! Overall, this week, attendance is 96.42% and here is a rundown of each class' attendance:
Hatchmere: 98.1%
Sandymere: 98.57%
Delamere: 96.67%
Oakmere: 96.4%
Linmere: 94.23%
Blakemere: 95.38%
Well done to Sandymere for the best attendance this week, with Hatchmere hot on their heels!
#WakeUpWednesday
A study entitled, The Digital Health Generation, has highlighted that more than 70% of young people in the UK, some aged just 8, are using apps and other digital online technologies to track and manage their health. For those of us who might struggle with sticking to a routine or even knowing where to start, physical wellbeing and fitness apps promise to do the heavy lifting for you providing meal plans, exercise routines and more.
However, some of these apps aren't always as safe as they might first appear and they tend to present a few risks to their users – especially for their underage demographic. That’s why National Online Safety have put together this free guide on safety concerns around physical wellbeing apps, to provide you with expert advice on how to mitigate these risks for young people.
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 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 Spring Term 2025 – new dates highlighted
Dinner Week 1
Wednesday 29th January: Blakemere to visit Winsford Library
Wednesday 5th February: Linmere to visit Winsford Library
Tuesday 11th February: Pupil Consultation Evening 4pm – 6pm
Wednesday 12th February: Oakmere visit to Winsford Library
Thursday 13th February: Pupil Consultation Evening 3.15pm – 5.15pm
Friday 14th February: School closes for half term at 3pm
Monday 24th February: INSET day – school closed
Tuesday 25th February: school opens at 8.35am
Wednesday 26th February: Delamere visit to Winsford Library
Wednesday 5th March: Sandymere visit to Winsford Library
Wednesday 12th March: Hatchmere visit to Winsford Library
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
Have a lovely weekend.
Take care,
Mrs E Snowdon