Over St. John's CE Primary SchoolHead Teacher Blog: Friday 4th March 2022
Date: 4th Mar 2022 @ 11:05am
World Book Day
What a fabulous day was had by all yesterday as our children were further inspired to pick up a book and read for World Book Day! It was lovely to see all the children dressed in their crayon colours as we used the book 'The Day the Crayons Quit' by Drew Daywalt – there is photographic evidence of our Over St. John’s box of crayons which we will share with you soon. Am I sure that the children have told you about the activities that they got up to in class during the day, but do take a look at class blogs, where they are available, for further information. Thank you to all those who attended our story-telling sessions at the end of the day and braved the weather to hear 'The Day the Crayons Came Back'. It wasn’t quite the campfire session that we had hoped but I think that the rain would have put the fire out and made the book soggy and no one would have thanked us for making them sit out in it, but it was a lovely, cosy session in the hall instead!
In line with Word Book Day, our local library has been busy getting ready to mark the occasion. They are holding a competition to win World Book Day books and will be open on Saturday. They will also be, while stocks last, exchanging the World Book Day vouchers for £1 books. Please find attached a poster (in A4 and A3) advertising this. It is free of charge for children to join the library as long as they have their parent or guardian with them and no ID is required to join. There are now also no late fees for Under 13s.
COVID Guidance
As you will be aware, the laws with regards to COVID changed over the half term holiday and the legal requirement to self-isolate has been removed. The guidance states: ‘if you have any of the main symptoms of COVID-19 or a positive test result, the public health advice is to stay at home and avoid contact with other people.’ Therefore, if your child is unwell or tests positive for COVID, we would still advise that you do not send your child to school. This is for the safety of everybody. The latest guidance indicates that whilst the law has changed, the directives for public safety remain and schools are able to refuse any children who have tested positive. We will follow this guidance, so isolation continues to be up to 10 days, unless you have 2 negative tests on day 5 and 6, 24 hours apart. Isolation will finish after day 5 at the earliest if you test first thing in the morning on day 5 and 6.
‘Children and young people with COVID-19 should not attend their education setting while they are infectious. They should take an LFD test from 5 days after their symptoms started (or the day their test was taken if they did not have symptoms) followed by another one the next day. If both these test results are negative, they should return to their educational setting if they normally attend one, as long as they feel well enough to do so and do not have a temperature.’
Ukraine
I am sure that many of you will be worried about what is happening in Ukraine and wondering about how to have conversations with your children, should they ask questions. The Department for Education have produced some information that can help support families talk to children about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and give guidance as to how to avoid misinformation. In school, we will be talking about this during our class Collective Worships on Thursday 10th March, in age appropriate ways. Please do take a look.
Monster Phonics
For those children in Reception and Year 1, you may or may not be aware that we use the Monster Phonics scheme to help to teach our children the early reading skills. Monster Phonics are holding a short webinar for you to watch – no participation necessary! – to help you understand the teaching of phonics. It could also be really useful to help you support your children to read in Year 2 and lower Key Stage 2. Their information says:
Do you know your phonemes, from your split-diagraphs from your graphemes…?
Learning English is complicated. Furthermore, many children find phonics confusing; with 144 ways of spelling 44 sounds, this is hardly a surprise.
Parents are told helping their children at home is critical to advance their progress, yet no-one helps parents understand Phonics. We’re then thrown into a world of phonemes, Fred in your head, graphemes, split-diagraphs etc etc…..!!!
This webinar will guide you to better understand the systematic teaching of phonics – how your child learns to read and spell. It will give examples of how to use Monster Phonics to accelerate learning for your child. It will provide you with fun and engaging strategies to improve reading and spelling.
Follow this link to book yourself a place on the free Monster Phonics half hour session on Thursday 17th March 2022 at 8pm.
If you are unable to make the webinar, please do follow the link anyway and have a look at some of the videos that are on there to give you an idea of Monster Phonics.
Free Literacy Counts Reading and Writing Parental Sessions
Don’t forget about the two free sessions running later on this term from The Winsford Education Partnership, in conjunction with Literacy Counts, to support parents with reading and writing at home – this useful for all age groups. The first session is called ‘Read with Me’ and will take place virtually next week on 9th March from 7pm – 8pm and the second is called ‘Write with Me’ and will also take place virtually on 30th March from 7pm – 8pm. These free short sessions will be a really good opportunity for you to find out ways in which you can support your child at home with their reading and writing in the virtual company of other parents across the town. An e mail with a flyer attached for both of the sessions that contains a link on the flyer to click to book a place was sent home last week – please do click the link to book yourself a place and if the e mail has gone astray, just contact the office to resend. I have not shared these flyers on my blog as the sessions are only for Winsford parents and anybody could access the link on the internet who is not part of the Winsford Education Partnership – please do not share also.
Vale Royal Junior Choir
As a school, we love to sing and I think that there could be a number of children who would like the opportunity to join a choir in the spare time. Please find attached below details of the Vale Royal Junior choir that runs at Oaklands School on Wednesdays from 6pm to 7.30pm for children aged 8 – 14 years. The choir is free to join for anyone from Over St. John’s as it is run by the Edsential Music Service, who we use to teach violins to the Year 5 children at school. Please take a look at the attached flyer for more information.
#WakeUpWednesday
Founded in the US by two former Yahoo employees, WhatsApp was already extremely popular when it was bought by Facebook in 2014, sending its usage figures stratospheric. Now, more than 50% of the two youngest generations (Millennials and Generation Z) use WhatsApp every day – including many who are well below the app’s specified age threshold.
Wherever there is a young and dedicated user-base, of course, the threat of grooming is a sinister, ever-present spectre. Indeed, some aspects of WhatsApp which are designed to be helpful or increase privacy – such as disappearing messages and live location services – actually exacerbate the risks. Check out this week’s National Online Safety #WakeUpWednesday guide for all the details.
School Dinners
School dinners cost £2.34 per day, £11.70 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 school 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 2022 – new dates highlighted
Wednesday 9th March: Read With Me webinar 7pm – 8pm
Wednesday 30th March: Write With Me webinar 7pm – 8pm
Friday 1st April: Easter Service at 9.15am
Friday 1st April: School closes at 2pm
Have a lovely weekend.
Take care,
Mrs E Snowdon