Newsletter December 2021
Article 2
All children have these rights, no matter who they are, where they live, what their parents do, what language they speak, what their religion is, whether they are a boy or a girl, what their culture is, whether they have a disability, whether they are rich or poor. No child should be treated unfairly on any basis.
This is our final newsletter of the term and of 2021 and what a very busy and turbulent term it has been!
This year again has remained difficult for all with the prevalence of Covid, new variants, new guidance etc. However, we wanted to keep the magic of Christmas alive for the children, families and staff. Yr 1- Yr 6 have performed a Carol Service at St Marys Church and shared the experience with parents, who chose to purchase the link. Music club performances, Christmas Breakfast, Film Night, Christmas Lunch, Reception/Nursery workshop and sing-along are just some the great times the children have shared the past few weeks. Yet again, this year things have had to be a little different, but as a school we have still focussed on the Christmas story, how we demonstrate kindness at this time of year and made sure that the magic of Christmas, joy and laughter has still filled our school.
Thank you for your support.
A big thank you for all your support for your children and the school in recent weeks. Families have supported a variety of fund-raising projects as well as our recent Christmas Film Night, Christmas Breakfast, Christmas Jumper Day, Santa’s Grotto and the Christmas Party.
Reception and Nursery Christmas Craft.
Last week the Nursery and Reception Children enjoyed dressing up in their wonderful Christmas costumes for their Christmas Craft activity session – there was a wonderful atmosphere and the children really enjoyed the activities.
Thank you so much!
Thank you to our wonderful office team, Mrs Hunter, Mrs Needle and Mrs Alexander, for all their hard work with the Christmas activities. I would also like to thank Lyndsey and the kitchen team for their support with the Christmas Breakfast.
A big thank you to our cleaning team for keeping the school clean.
Poppy Appeal 2021
WOW! We had an overwhelming amount of support for the Poppy Appeal this year. We raised £514.81 - which was amazing. We thank you and the children so much for your generosity in supporting this great cause.
Save the Children – Christmas Jumper Day
Thank you for your kind donation to this worthy cause. It was great to see the children and staff taking part in this annual event. We raised a huge £313.65! Wow!
Attendnace winners
The Attendance winners for December were Year 2B with an amazing 99% attendance! Well done everyone - they can wear their own clothes to school on Friday 7th January 2022.
Christmas Party
This afternoon, the whole school enjoyed a Christmas party in year groups, playing games and having fun. Reception and KS1 also enjoyed partaking in the ‘Panto’ – Jack and the Beanstalk. They had learned the songs in class beforehand. KS2 enjoyed a disco in the hall in their phase groups, followed by fun and games! The children and staff had an amazing time!
One Snowy Night
Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have all enjoyed a fantastic morning watching 'One Snowy Night' at the MAC Theatre in Birmingham. Percy the Park keeper and his animal friends had to take shelter when the snow came down, just like it did a few weeks ago for us! It was the first 'school trip' for all of the children, following a disrupted two school years, and they were absolutely fantastic; a credit to their parents, teachers and the school. After our success with One Snowy Night, we hope to continue to be able to offer out-of-school experiences moving forward, restrictions dependent. Well done everyone and thank you. Mr Wade.
You can see from the comments below how much they enjoyed the theatre experience:
RC
Charlie - I liked it when the animals knocked on Percy's door.
Lottie - My favourite part was when Percy had to keep picking up all the rubbish!
RJ
Oliver - My favourite part of the show was when the mole came through the floor. It was really funny!
Chloe - I found it funny when all the animals fell out of the bed!
The coach driver commented that the Reception children’s behaviour was exemplary and that they had been the best class of children that he had taken out this year!! Well done Reception!
IC
Riley: I want to watch it again and again! Percy is so funny!
Frankie: I liked it when the mole was banging on the floor and all the animals were scared.
1J
Jenson - "My favourite part is when the people kept throwing the rubbish, it made me laugh".
Sierra - "I liked it when the animals came inside"
2B
Enzo- I really liked it when Percy answered the door. He had to keep answering it because there were so many animals. I liked the squirrels the best.
Darcey- My favourite part of the story was when Percy was keeping the park super clean and tidy. He was keeping it tidy for the animals who live there with him. I liked the mice the best.
2W
Daisy - The show was so good! The rabbits kept arguing and it was really funny.
Sam - I liked the rabbits too. It was a great morning!
Welcome
We would like to welcome Stacey Rivers, as the new member of our cleaning team.
PE Competition:
As part of our PE curriculum, all classes take part in a half termly competition based on the topic they have been focusing on. This challenges them to use their newly acquired knowledge and skills in a competitive situation, which contributes to their physical, cognitive, emotional, and social learning. The children showed enthusiasm and competed to the best of their ability. The lucky winners are as follows:
Class 1J
1st Samuel
2nd Phoebe
3rd Sierra
Class 1C
1st Ava-Lily
2nd Benas
3rd Lyla
Competition: Gymnastics Routine
Class 2W
1st Lucas
2nd Mya
3rd Autumn
Class 2B
1st Hugo
2nd Thomas
3rd Abigail
Competition: Balance and core strength - 'The Plank’
Class 3/4C
1st Autumn S
2nd George
3rd Daisy-Mae D and Rayarn C
Competition: Dance competition - Ancient Egypt dance
Class 3/4 O
1st Heather
2nd Destiny
3rd Jessica
Class 3/4M
1st Layla
2nd Amber
3rd Sam P
Competition: Gymnastics competition - Landings
Class 5/6R
1st Dan and Henry, Jaiya, Lola and Sienna
2nd Dougie and Seth, Archie and Harry
3rd Lydia and Riley
Class 5/6B
1st Lacie W
2nd Leo S
3rd Libby H
Class 5/6D
1st Kamran
2nd Lacie T
3rd William S
Competition: Dance Competition - Ancient Greek Olympic Dance
Schools have received the following guidance from the DfE:
“From Tuesday 14 December, a new national approach to daily testing for contacts of COVID-19 is being introduced (including until the end of the autumn term). All adults who are fully vaccinated and children aged 5 to 18 years and 6 months, identified as a contact of someone with COVID-19 – whether Omicron or not – should take a lateral flow device (LFD) test every day for 7 days instead of self-isolating. Daily testing by close contacts will help to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Daily testing for contacts of COVID-19 will help protect education settings by reducing transmission and will also help keep pupils in face-to-face education.
Once notified by NHS Test and Trace as a close contact, all eligible staff, pupils and students should take an LFD each day for 7 days and report the results through the Online Reporting System and to their setting. If they test negative, they can continue to attend their education setting. Outside of the education setting, they should continue to follow the advice set out in the Sunday 12 December press release. This approach should also be adopted over the winter break and on return in January.
If they test positive, they should self-isolate and order a PCR test to confirm the result. If the PCR is positive, they must self-isolate for 10 days. If the PCR test is negative, they no longer need to self-isolate but should continue to carry out the remainder of the daily tests, and only need to isolate if it is positive.
For primary aged children LFD test kits are available through the usual routes (community test sites, local pharmacies or online).
Children under five years old do not need to take part in daily testing for contacts of COVID-19 and do not need to isolate.
Anyone over the age of 18 years and 6 months who is not vaccinated, must isolate in line with government guidelines if they are a close contact of a positive case.
What to do if your child develops symptoms of coronavirus (COVID 19)
The main symptoms of Covid-19 are a new, continuous cough, or a high temperature, or a loss of, or change in, their normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia). If your child develops any of these symptoms, they should isolate immediately and arrange a test via www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling 119.
In addition to the above main Covid-19 symptoms, if your child develops any of the following symptoms, it is also recommended they arrange a PCR test: loss of appetite, sore throat, extreme tiredness, sneezing, headache, diarrhoea, joint or muscle ache, vomiting, nausea, rash, runny nose or congestion. This is because these other symptoms have also been linked to Covid-19 infection. Individuals with any of these other symptoms (apart from diarrhoea and vomiting) can carry on attending school if they are well enough to do so. For more information please visit www.dudley.gov.uk/coronavirustesting
For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness
If your child does develop symptoms, you can seek advice from the nhs.uk website at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/check-if-you-have-coronavirus-symptoms/. If you are concerned about your child’s symptoms, or they are worsening you can seek advice from NHS 111 at https://111.nhs.uk/ or by phoning 111.
Further Information
Further information is available at
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
Dates for the diary
Tuesday 4th January 2022– School reopens for the spring term. New Nursery children begin.
Thursday 17th February 2022 – school closes for half term
Friday 18th February 2022 - School closed to pupils – INSET day
Monday 28th February 2022 - School reopens at the usual time
As 2021 draws to a close, on behalf of the whole staff, we wanted to wish you happy holidays and thank you for all your support throughout this term, which has continued to be challenging. Thank you to all of the staff for their hard work and continued commitment. Have a great Christmas and a happy new year.
We look forward to a brighter 2022.
Mrs Miller and Miss Stanton
