Over St. John's CE Primary SchoolHead Teacher Blog: Friday 6th October 2023
Date: 6th Oct 2023 @ 2:02pm
We have had a fairly ‘quiet’ week in school this week as we have all gone about our usual routines in school. Wednesday evening saw our first Governing Body meeting of the academic year and we elected a new Chair for the year. We welcome Mr Terry Woods to the role of Chair and Mrs Sarah McClellan as our Vice Chair. The Governors meet six times per year to focus on the strategic direction of the school – they are not responsible for any of the day-to-day operational running of the school, which is down to myself as Head Teacher.
Class Blogs and Website Pages
You may or may not be aware of the class pages on our website. On these pages, the teachers post weekly blogs and you will find information about what your child will be learning about in the curriculum maps. Please do take a look at these on a regular basis each week to find out what is happening in your child’s class. Teachers may add blogs at different times that are convenient to how they work, but you will find that it tends to be around the same time for each class each week – please do take a look and share your child’s learning with them.
Safeguarding Concern Alert
We have received a message from the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Head of Safeguarding regarding concerns expressed around children accessing an app called Quora. This is reported to be a site that gives tips and encouragement to children in taking their own life. It is always prudent to monitor your children’s mobile phone activity but please be particularly vigilant to this app and I would suggest that you do not allow your children to download it. Thank you.
#WakeUpWednesday
Among Us: fairly safe, or pretty sus? This scenario of spaceship crew members cooperating to complete tasks and uncover murderous alien imposters has garnered a sizeable and committed following with younger gamers. Though Among Us is presented in a (mainly) sanitised visual style, any children’s game which essentially foregrounds the concepts of deceit, betrayal and killing is always likely to cause some concerns. This week’s #WakeUpWednesday guide gets among it with Among Us.
Attendance - Reminder
We have seen quite a number of requests for holidays recently. Schools are not allowed to authorise pupil holidays in term time. Any child going on holiday in term time will receive an unauthorised absence which may result in a Fixed Penalty Notice with a fine issued 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. So far this term there have been 14 weeks of lost learning due to holidays in term time. We are generally always aware of holidays that are taken, even if a request for absence has not been put forward, as there are always a number of people who let us know that families are on holiday. It is up to the school to decide how absence is authorised and if we feel that the absence is due to a holiday and not, for example, an illness, then a Fixed Penalty Notice can still be issued.
It is also important to remember that Fixed Penalty Notices can also be issued for irregular attendance – not just for holidays – when there are 5 or more days absence over the course of a term. Our policy is quite clear that time off for things such as birthdays, shopping trips and fun days out will not be authorised and as such, will count towards the 5 days for irregular attendance – these do not have to be consecutive days.
If your child has a medical appointment, it is always best to arrange these outside of school hours or in the school holidays. If your child needs to attend a medical appointment during the school day, we will require proof of the appointment, such as a letter or text message, otherwise we will no longer be able to authorise these.
Well done to Sandymere with the highest attendance this week and once again we had 3 classes with above 96% attendance.
Hatchmere 97.00%
Sandymere 98.89%
Delamere 92.78%
Oakmere 94.09%
Linmere 92.17%
Blakemere 97.41%
|
Attendance during one school year |
Equivalent Days |
Equivalent Sessions |
Equivalent Weeks |
Equivalent Lessons Missed |
|
95% |
9 Days |
18 Sessions |
1.4 Weeks |
45 Lessons |
|
90% |
19 Days |
38 Sessions |
3.4 Weeks |
95 Lessons |
|
85% |
29 Days |
58 Sessions |
5.4 Weeks |
145 Lessons |
|
80% |
36 Days |
72 Sessions |
7.1 Weeks |
180 Lessons |
|
75% |
48 Days |
96 Sessions |
9.3 Weeks |
240 Lessons |
Applying for Secondary School Places for September 2024
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 2023, otherwise your application will be classed as a late application and could have a severe impact on your preferred school choice. Results are available from 12.30am on 1st March 2024. To apply, you will need to create an account or log in on this link. Before making your application, it is important you view the Transferring to Secondary School Booklet to help you with your choices.
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 oversubscribed. However, you have the option to apply for 3 secondary schools of your choice. Further details with regards to this can be found in the ‘Transferring to Secondary School’ information booklet in the link above.
Applying for Primary School Places for September 2024
If you have a child who is turning 4 years old between now and 31st August 2023, 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 2024, 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 2024. 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 £2.70 per day, £13.50 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.
Confirmed Dates for the Autumn Term 2023 – new dates highlighted
Tuesday 10th October: Year 6 Play Leader Training in school
Friday 13th October: Individual photographs
Tuesday 17th October: Pupil Consultation Evening 4pm – 6pm
Thursday 19th October: Oakmere Trip to Crown Farm Quarry (revised date after the hornet’s nest!)
Thursday 19th October: Pupil Consultation Evening 3.10pm – 5.10pm
Friday 20th October: School closes for half term at 3pm
Monday 30th October: school gates open at 8:35am
Monday 13th – Friday 17th November: Anti Bullying Week
Monday 13th November: Odd Socks Day for Anti-Bullying
Thursday 16th November: Vale Royal Falconry visit for assembly and to work with Delamere
Friday 17th November: Friendship Friday
Wednesday 6th December: Christmas at Cotebrook trip for Hatchmere, Sandymere and Delamere
Tuesday 12th December: Carol Service in St. John’s Church at 1.30pm. All welcome. Collection of all children from church.
Thursday 14th December: Whole school pantomime – Aladdin – at Northwich Memorial Court
Friday 15th December: End of term at 2pm
Wednesday 3rd January 2024: School opens at 8:35am
Have a lovely weekend.
Take care,
Mrs E Snowdon