A huge well done to all Y6 children who presented their House Captain speeches on Friday. Your teachers were extremely impressed with the quality of your speeches as well your confidence and willingness to step outside of your comfort zones.

Your new House Captains are as follows:

Green – Bobby & Ellie

Blue – Niomi-leigh & Aston

Yellow – Sophia & Kai-Jaxon

Red – John & Zoe

Well done!

 

 

Dear Parents/ Carers,

Can I take this opportunity of welcoming you to Monkton Academy and introducing myself as the Principal. I have been in this role since January 2019 having been the headteacher of 3 other Primary schools in various Local Education Authorities. Since arriving, we have reflected on a number of school practices and procedures, all aimed at ensuring that children are happy, safe and will reach their full potential. We believe that children learn best by 1^st hand experience and hope to foster curious, confident independent learners who learn what their special talent is.

We consider ourselves to be a happy, positive and caring school who have the best interests of your child at heart. We are really looking forward to welcoming you and your child into school and getting to know you (and you to know us). With this in mind, we have arranged a meeting for Wednesday 15^th of September in the school hall. Refreshments will be available from 9.15am with our welcome meeting starting at 9.30am. You will also get an opportunity to meet our senior staff, who will be available to answer any questions you may have.

In addition, you may want to look on the school website or sign up to the school App or access our school Facebook page. These give current and relevant information to you at the touch of a button. We also communicate via the normal school and class based newsletters.

I also write a school blog, which can be accessed at monktonjuniors.wordpress.com.

We are really looking forward to welcoming you into the Monkton family and are thrilled that you are trusting your child’s education with us.

Can you please return the slip below, so that we can confirm the number of people attending.

Hope to see you on Wednesday morning.

Steve Bowler

8th September 2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

Please find attached a copy of your child’s log in for Developing Experts. This is an online Science platform the children can use at home to enhance their Scientific understanding. I decided to implement this as a response to feedback from parents, carers and children last year in which it was very clear that the development of home school links in Science were desired.

This website contains a range of lessons, which can be carried out at home, as well as videos, quizzes and word searches. It is designed to accompany the Science learning your child takes part in at school and is directly linked to the National Curriculum for the year group your child is in. It is not designed as a replacement for Science lessons in school but will enhance and embed their classroom learning.

Science participation and engagement has shown a significant rise within school over the past year despite the obstacles created by Covid19 and I would love this to continue. Therefore, usage and achievements in Developing Experts will be celebrated throughout each term in assemblies for those children who are taking part at home.

I hope that this goes some way to adding to our Science journey as we continue to move the subject forward at Monkton both in school and at home.

If you or your child have any questions relating to Developing Experts, please refer them to your child’s class teacher or myself and I will be happy to help.

Yours Sincerely,

Mr Bircham
Science Coordinator.

 

8^th September 2021

Dear Parent/Carer,

Welcome to Year 5! As part of the Year 5 curriculum, from September, children will take part in swimming lessons. To start with, each class will take part in one swimming lesson. This will form an assessment of their current swimming ability. After this, the children will be split into groups. One group will spend a period of weeks swimming while the other group takes part in PE at school. If your child is not in the first group you will be notified when it is their turn to begin swimming. Once your child has completed their swimming sessions you will also be notified.

Lessons are every Wednesday morning and swimmers will be required to be at school for 8.15am prompt for the register. The bus is set to leave no later than 8.25am so it is essential that your child is in school no later than 8.15am so that they can be registered.

5B will be the first group to swim on Wednesday 15^th September. 5H will swim as a class on Wednesday 22^nd September. As mentioned previously, after both classes have swam, they will be split into groups and you will be notified by letter when your child will be swimming.

The lesson begins at 9am, so in order to ensure a quick turnaround when we arrive at the swimming pool, we ask that all swimmers wear their swimming costumes or swimming shorts under their uniforms and make sure that they have a towel and dry clothing in their bags to change into once they leave the pool.

Please remember your child will need a swimming cap, which can be purchased from the school office.

Yours sincerely,

Miss Heathfield & Mr Bircham

Dear Parents/Carers

September Arrangements

Monday 6^th and Tuesday 7^th September are Staff Inset days. Pupils to return to school on Wednesday 8^th September.

We are returning to our normal school times which are –

8.15 – Breakfast Club (to start Monday 13^th September)

8.30 – School gates open

8.45 – Registration

3.00 – End of school day

On behalf of everyone at Monkton Academy, we hope you have a lovely holiday and we are looking forward to welcoming you all back to school, for what will hopefully be a more normal school year, in September.

Dear Parent/Carer/Guardian

Advice for Child to Self-Isolate for 10 Days 

Your child’s school has been advised that there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19 within the school setting.

Following a risk assessment with the local authority public health team in line with the latest public health advice, the school has identified that your child has been in close contact with the individual who has had a positive test result for coronavirus (COVID-19). In line with the national guidance your child must now stay at home until midnight on 29^th July 2021 Your child must not go to school, childcare settings or any public areas: your child must remain at home.

If your child is well at the end of the 10-day period of self-isolation, then they can return to their usual activities.

Other members of your household can continue normal activities provided your child does not develop symptoms within the 10-day self-isolation period.

For more information, please see the guidance for contacts of people with confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection who do not live with the person.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-contacts-of-people-with-possible-or-confirmed-coronavirus-covid-19-infection-who-do-not-live-with-the-person

 

What to do if your child develops symptoms of COVID-19

For most people, especially children, COVID-19 will be a mild illness.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are recent onset of:

• new continuous cough and/or
• high temperature and/or
• a loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

If your child develops any of these symptoms of COVID-19, they should remain at home and arrangements should be made for them to be tested. At that time all other household members must also stay at home, not go to work, school or public areas, even for exercise.

Testing can be arranged by calling 119 or via  https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test

 How to stop COVID-19 spreading

 There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with COVID-19:

• wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
• use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
• wash your hands as soon as you get home
• cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
• put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards

If you need support with isolation, please contact your local Council. Please see appendix 1 which gives details of financial support available through the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme.

Yours sincerely

 

Tom Hall                                                                   Steve Bowler

Director of Public Health                                     Principal

 

 Appendix 1

 

Financial support if you have to take time off work to care for your child while they are self-isolating

If you are on a low income and you need to take time off work to care for your child while they are self-isolating, you may be eligible for financial support from your local council  through the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme.

The Test and Trace Support Payment scheme is open to people who live in England and who meet the following criteria:

• They are the parent or guardian of a child or young person in the same household and need to take time off work to care for them while they self-isolate; this is limited to one parent or guardian per household for the child or young person’s self-isolation period
• Are employed or self-employed
• Are unable to work from home while undertaking caring responsibilities and will lose income as a result
• They are currently receiving or are the partner of someone in the same household who is receiving at least one of the following benefits:

o          Universal Credit

o          Working Tax Credit

o          income-based Employment and Support Allowance

o          income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

o          Income Support

o          Housing Benefit

o          Pension Credit

• Their child or young person:

o          is aged 15 or under (or 25 or under with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC) and normally attends an education or childcare setting

o          has been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace or by their education or childcare setting because they have been identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19

Discretionary payments are also available for people on low incomes who are not on means-tested benefits but who may still face hardship as a result of the requirement to self-isolate. Your local council may have additional eligibility criteria in place for discretionary payments.

If you are eligible, you will receive a £500 payment from your local authority in addition to any benefits and Statutory Sick Pay you receive currently. If you are unsure which local authority you should claim from, you can check on Find your Local Council on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council

Your local council will contact your child’s school to verify the information you provide about your child as part of the process of confirming whether you are eligible for a payment.

You can see the full eligibility criteria for the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme and find out how to apply at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme-claiming-financial-support/claiming-financial-support-under-the-test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme

If you think you meet the eligibility criteria listed above and would like to apply to your local council for a payment from the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme, you should provide this letter to your local council to support your application. You will not be able to make an application for a payment from the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme without this letter.

 

 

 

 

Dear Parents/Carers

We have had confirmation this morning of a positive case (PCR test) within Year 3 and there have been further positive Lateral Flow Tests as well.  All children must now isolate until midnight on 29^th July .

We hope you all have a lovely summer and look forward to seeing everyone in September.

 

Dear Parent/Carer/Guardian

Contact Tracing of Positive COVID-19 Cases Within Education Settings

 From Monday 19^th July 2021, the Government has advised that close contacts in schools will be identified via NHS Test and Trace and schools will no longer be expected to undertake contact tracing.

However, I am asking all South Tyneside schools, working with the Public Health Team, to continue to undertake close contact tracing of positive cases within the school until the end of this term. If your child’s school contacts, you to tell you that your child has been in close contact with a positive person in the school then your child will be required to self-isolate and you will receive a letter to this effect.

I have not taken this decision lightly. I want to keep all children, staff and the wider community of South Tyneside as safe as possible leading into the summer break.

The infection rate in South Tyneside now is extremely high and increasing every day. The number of people being admitted to hospital is also increasing.

Schools in South Tyneside will also continue with the current protective measures that have been operating, as outlined in their risk assessments, until the end of the summer term (e.g. bubbles, limited visitors, staggered entry/departure times, staggered lunchtimes, increased cleaning etc).  This will help to minimise the impact to schools and allow them to stay open until the end of term.

With one week left of term for most schools, it is important that we continue to reduce risk and manage positive cases and close contacts of positive cases in our schools in the same manner we have done up until now.

Please note that from 23^rd July 2021 NHS Test and Trace will work with either the positive case – or in the case of children – the parents, carers or guardians of the positive case to identify close contacts.

Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.

Yours sincerely

 Tom Hall                                                                Steve Bowler

Director of Public Health                                     Head Teacher

Dear Parents/Carers

Uniform Policy

Wearing a smart uniform is important here at Monkton Academy and must be worn at all times, unless given permission by a member of staff. Uniform issues related to matters of religious observance may be granted.

Our uniform supplier remains the same

Initial Images – www.initialimages.co.uk

Rekendyke Industrial Estate

2D & 2E Eldon St

South Shields

NE33 5BZ

Tel no – 0191 4558128

 

Our Uniform consists of the following –

Navy blue sweatshirt or cardigan with our school badge (the sweatshirt or cardigan does not need to include the school logo). A Monkton sports top can also be worn

Light blue polo shirt

Regulation black or grey school trousers and skirt

Sensible black school shoes

(We are aware that some children have sensory difficulties however there is now sensory clothing ranges from Asda and Marks & Spencer)

 

PE Kit

White PE T shirt

Navy Shorts

Suitable sports footwear

 

We would also like to make you aware that the following is not part of the school uniform and are not acceptable in school and will be monitored from September –

Leggings or jogging pants

Trainers

Any make up, including fake tan

False nails or nail varnish

Dyed hair

Jewellery (watches can be worn)

Ear rings (small stud is acceptable) must be removed for PE.

 

Thank you