Dear Parents/Carers

We are noticing an increasing number of mobile phones being brought to school.

If your child must bring a mobile phone for safety reasons, it MUST be handed into the school office on arrival. If not, it is considered unauthorised .

It is then confiscated and will only be returned to the child’s parents.

Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

Dear Parents/Carers

Thank you to everyone for helping us in our recent fundraising activities. We have raised the following amounts for two worthwhile causes. –

Poppy Appeal –  £291.89

Children in Need – £129.55

Also a big thank you to all children who brought in plastic bottles for our poppy display outside of school.

Dear Parents/Carers

Tempest Photography will be in school next Tuesday 23^rd November to take individual photos. Unfortunately due to the current COVID restrictions we cannot accommodate sibling/family photos.

Thank you

 4th November 2021

Dear Parent/Carer,

Following the information released earlier this week regarding Coronavirus restrictions from South Tyneside Council I can now inform you that the following clubs will run on the dates specified below for specific year groups. This is to minimise the cross year group interaction. 

• Nutrition Ninja’s will run on Mondays with no changes

• Breakfast Running Club: Please can students wear a few thin layers which can be removed easily, along with hats and gloves as this will remain outside as long as possible. 

Tuesday: 9th, 16th and 23rd November will be for Year 3 & Year 4 pupils only. 

Tuesday: 30th November, 7th December & 14th December will be for Year 5 & 6 pupils only.

(This is for those children who already attend this club, if you are interested in your child being part of this club, 07:30 – 08:15 am please let the office know). 

• Year 5/6 Rugby Club will be outdoors as long as the weather permits then a mixture of indoor sports will be offered. 

Tuesday: 9th, 16th, 23rd November will be for Y6 pupils only.

Tuesday: 30th November, 7th December & 14th December will be for Y5 pupils only. 

• Y3/4 Sports Club 

Thursday 11th, 18th, 25th  November Y4 pupils only.

Thursday 2nd, 9th, 16th December Y3 Pupils only. 

• Y5 Swimming will continue as normal.

If you have any questions regarding the above activities please contact the office.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Moat

Sports Lead 

A reminder for parents/carers that tomorrow, Wednesday 3rd November, is our Beamish trip. Arrival and departure times at school remain the same. Children are to wear their school uniform but as we will be outside for most of the day, please ensure your child is suitably wrapped up (hats and gloves). Children also require a packed lunch. If you have any questions, please contact the school office.

1^st November 2021

Dear Parent(s)/ Carers,

I hope you all had a relaxing half term after such a busy start to the new academic year. During the half term break, we received an update from the Local Authority and Director of Public Health. This will have an impact on the way we currently organise a number of school-based arrangements.

Much as we would like it to be, the pandemic isn’t over. The vaccination programme whilst being very successful is never going to stop all transmission and consequently any resultant harm on its own. Indeed, hospitals across the country are beginning to see a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases being admitted.

Even though adults who test positive may not become ill, many are absent from work because of household transmission from their children, or because they need to care for children who have tested positive. This is impacting on children’s education and critical services such as the NHS and social care. We are also seeing increases in infections across the borough and infections in school age children have been the main contributory factor to our rate of COVID-19 in recent weeks. This means we now need to consider what we can do to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in our schools and in the community.

We have learnt during the pandemic, that children need a whole school experience as much as possible. It is this all round experience that makes the difference. Unfortunately, this whole school experience can lead to disruption and high levels of staff and pupil absence. Therefore, the following temporary measures are being put in place:

The use of face coverings – we encourage all parents/ carers to wear a face covering when dropping off or collecting children

PCR testing – we recommend all adults and pupils have a PCR test if there is a positive case in the family or close contact. If this test is negative, the child can return to school, but must stay at home and arrange another test, if they go on to develop symptoms. Daily LFT testing for 5 days for any adult who is a household contact of a positive case and is exempt from isolation and whose child continues to attend school. Testing should start from when symptoms started or if they don’t have symptoms, from when they tested positive.

Reducing mixing between year groups as much as possible to reduce the risk of transmission. As a result of this, we will no longer be holding assemblies. No new clubs will start and any after school clubs will be year group based where possible. There will be no clubs this week; this will give us chance to make any necessary arrangements. Further details will follow. Breakfast club will continue, but the children will be socially distanced. Whole school events will be suspended. This includes the school pantomime, choir concerts and the after school Christmas party

Minimise visitors to school – we will be limiting visitors to school. Communication will be by phone where possible. Visitors must wear face coverings unless exempt. All open events will be put on hold for now.

We will continue with the additional attention given to ventilation, cleaning and hand hygiene measures.

Public Health have advised us that these measures will be reviewed in 2 weeks and again at the end of November. We will advise you of any changes as soon as possible. Hopefully, we can return to normal as soon as is practicable.

We would like to thank you for your cooperation in these matters

Steve Bowler (Principal)

Dear Parent/Carer

COVID-19 – important information about year group (Year 4 – class 4G)

 We have been advised that there have been a number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 within your child’s year group. The school has been working very closely with South Tyneside’s public health team to review the measures we currently have in place to ensure that we are doing everything we can to keep your children and the school safe.

If your child has not already had a PCR test South Tyneside Council have advised that you book a test for them as soon as possible. You can do this online  get a coronavirus test . If you have problems or cannot use the online service call 119. Please report the result to the school.

Please note you should not book a PCR test for your child if they have received a positive PCR test result in the last 90 days unless they have developed any new symptoms.

The school remains open, and your child should continue to attend as normal if they remain well. Please be reassured that for most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

We would ask that you monitor your child’s health for the main signs of Covid-19:

• A new continuous cough
• A high temperature
• A loss or change in their sense of smell or taste

If your child becomes symptomatic, you must:

• Keep your child away from school
• Book a PCR Test for your child as soon as possible
• Report the result to school

About 1 in 3 people with COVID-19 do not have symptoms but can still infect others. As there have been a number of cases in your child’s year group, as a precaution you may wish to consider limiting your child’s contact over the next week with anyone in your family or social circle who may previously have been classed as clinically extremely vulnerable or older people (65 years and over).

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

• get vaccinated – everyone aged 16 and over can ‘grab a jab’ and book COVID-19 vaccination appointmentsnow and a programme is taking place to offer the vaccine to 12-15 year-olds
• wash your hands with soap and water or use hand sanitiser regularly throughout the day
• 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
• meet people outside and avoid crowded areas
• open doors and windows to let in fresh air if meeting people inside
• wear a face covering when it’s hard to stay away from other people – particularly indoors or in crowded places
• participate in twice weekly LFD testing following national guidelines (recommended for 11 years and over) rapid coronavirus tests if you do not have symptoms

Regards

Tom Hall      

Director of Public

Dear Parents/Carers

There are a couple of changes next week for after school clubs –

There will no Yr5/6 Rugby club on Tuesday due to the Year 6 residential trip to Thurston and no Yr3/4 Sports club On Thursday due to the Halloween party.

However Running club on Tuesday morning will go ahead as normal.

Thank you

Dear Parents

If there is any child who wants to go to the Halloween party and hasn’t yet bought a ticket, this Friday is the last day. After this, tickets will no longer be available as we need to know final numbers.

Thank you