Over St. John's CE Primary SchoolHead Teacher Blog: Friday 6th September 2019
Date: 6th Sep 2019 @ 4:10pm
Welcome Back!
It is really lovely to be back at school and see all the children again. There were so many smiling and excited children at the gate on Tuesday morning, which also continued the rest of the week!
We have welcomed some new people into our school community this week. In Hatchmere we welcome Jaydan, Alice, Amelia, Sophia, Alyssia, Ariana, George, Connie, Lexi-May, Bobby, Ernie, Brooke, Marley, Evie, Kobe, Phoebe, Victoria, Keiya, Ava and Zac. The children have already settled in well and have been very busy on my visits up to Hatchmere. I am sure that the children will have a fantastic year. Although you may already be familiar with the names of our new members of staff, we also formally welcome Mr Pasquill, who joins our team teaching in Linmere and Mrs Pradeep who is providing teaching support in Oakmere and who make very welcome additions to our strong OSJ Team.
Communication via School and Home
For those of you who are unfamiliar with my blog, this is something to keep your eye on every Friday (or the majority of Fridays, depending on my calendar!) This is my main form of communication with you all and I provide updates as to what has been going on in school, information about forthcoming events as well as other information that I think you may find useful. In terms of communication, please continue to keep your eye on our website as teachers regularly update the class pages with information and copies of any letters sent home are placed on here also (click on Virtual Office>Parent Zone>Letters to find these). Events happening in school can be found on the calendar also. If you click on the event when looking at it on the calendar, more information is provided, should it have been added. We also send texts home as quick updates and reminders to information that has generally already been shared with you. If you think that you have not had the information in the text previously, please do check the website and letters that have been sent home.
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.
#WakeUpWednesday
National Online Safety believe that all parents, carers, teachers and trusted adults should be empowered with all the information needed to have informed and age-appropriate conversations about online safety with children and so, every Wednesday, they produce practical, easy to follow guides which focus on specific risks that they think adults and children need to be aware of. I share this information with you on a Friday.
This week, they are talking about social media. Often seen as the ‘be-all and end-all’ of a child’s social media presence, collecting friends and followers is the ultimate measure of popularity. But do more friends mean more concerns? Does a higher following mean a greater need to please? Can the value of real friendship be lost? To help you discuss this with your child and help you to manage the pressures that the desire to be seen as popular can bring, please take a look at the handy guide below.
Reminders
School dinners cost £2.30 per day, £11.50 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. Please may dinner money be paid in advance via the School Money system? You may remember that I blogged in the summer term about outstanding dinner money – we still have over £1000 owing in dinner money and it is very important that meals are paid for otherwise it means that money for other things needed for your children’s education is not available.
If you are in receipt of benefits and think that you may be entitled to free school meals, please click https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/education-and-learning/school-meals.aspx for more information 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.
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.
Confirmed Dates for the Autumn Term 2019
Thursday 12th September: Year 6 to visit The Winsford Academy for a tour
Wednesday 18th September: Oakmere class to ‘Go Fun Run!’ at Moss Farm
Sunday 6th October: All Together Service in St. John’s Church Hall at 11am Blakemere to take part, but all members of our school community are welcome.
Friday 11th October: Delamere class trip to Nantwich
Wednesday 16th October: Parents Evening from 3.10pm until 6.10pm
Thursday 17th October: Parents Evening from 4pm until 5.30pm
Bookings for Parents Evening are made by parents online via our school website. Details as to how to do this will be sent out nearer the time.
Friday 18th October: Individual photographs
Friday 25th October: School closes for half term at 3pm
Monday 4th November: School opens at 8:45am
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 Winsford Education Partnership Christmas Concert at the Lifestyle Centre
Tuesday 10th December: School nurses to carry out Nasal flu vaccination for all children
Thursday 19th December: Whole school pantomime visit
Thursday 19th December: School closes at 2pm for Christmas
I hope that you all have a lovely weekend – I think we all need it after getting back to early starts this week!
Take care,
Mrs E Snowdon