Newsletters

Friday 5th March 2021

Return to school - Monday the 8th of March 

We really cant wait to welcome all of the children back into school on Monday . We realise that whilst some children may be excited, others understandably are feeling a little anxious. Please know that we will continue to make sure that a number of measures, such as class bubbles, social distancing where possible, increased hand washing and also increased cleaning , are in place . We shall also make sure that all of our children feel safe and nurtured , when they return to us.

Within this newsletter, you will find a number of useful links recommending activities you could use with the children, to help prepare them for their return.

As always if you have any concerns at all then please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Arrangements for arriving and leaving school:
Arriving at school
In line with government guidance, we shall once again be using staggered starts for the children’s entry into school. The timings for these, are as they were in the autumn term. Please make sure that you are on time to drop off and pick up your child at their allocated times. 
Staggered Starts w/c 8 th March 2021: 

8:30 am Y6 – Main Gate Y5 –Side Gate
8:40 am Y4 – Y4 classroom (side entry) Y3 –Main Gate
8:50 am Y2 – Side gate (near church) Y1 –Main Gate
9am Nursery and Reception - Main Gate
Parents to walk the children to the FS block.

The end of the school day:
 The school day for all FS and KS1 children will end at 3pm. Please collect your child from the point you drop off.
KS2 will need to be collected at 3:15pm, again from their drop off point. As we struggle for space, I would ask that you collect your child and leave, otherwise there will be congestion around the school, making social distancing
difficult to achieve.
 Please can I strongly urge all adults to wear a face covering, when dropping off and collecting your child.

 

 

 

Turn on the Subtitles

As we celebrate the love of reading and all things literacy this week with World Book Day , Stephen Fry has created a special video to share a quick and simple tip that could help improve children’s reading skills and help make TV more of a learning experience.

Extensive research shows that turning on the subtitles while children are watching television can double the chances of them becoming good at reading. Please check out the video by clicking: https://youtu.be/I-zISnJ-oao and share with parents/carers where possible.

Getting Back to School Safely 

  www.sheffield.gov.uk/backtoschoolsafely.  This website includes all the information you need in readiness for the children returning to school.

At the end of the first lockdown a range of resources were produced by services across the local authority and NHS to support children and young people’s health and well-being as they returned to school. This included documents for parents and carers. These are all still available on the learn Sheffield website by clicking on the following link and then the ‘Emotional Health and Well-being’ tab. You may find it helpful to review these and provide information to parents as you plan for children to return. These documents also include guidance and support on Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) and on supporting mental health needs that have developed during lockdown

https://learnsheffield.co.uk/Covid-19

Government guidance for parents and carers, can be found by clicking on the following link.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak?utm_source=24%20February%202021%20C19&utm_medium=Daily%20Email%20C19&utm_campaign=DfE%20C19

Uniform

The main changes that we shall be making are as follows:

  •  All children from Reception to Year 6 will need to wear a tie – available from the school office: £2 for ties on elastic (most suitable for younger children) £4 for clip-on ties (most suitable for older children)
  •  Iron/sew on school badges to be ironed/sewn onto cardigans/jumpers and PE sweatshirts. These will be available to purchase from the school office for: £1 each if you would like to fix these on yourself.  Or £1.50 each if you would like us to fix them to your uniform using a professional Heat Press
  • All children from Reception -Y6 will wear a white shirt (with a collar that is suitable for a tie.)
  •  Children in FS1 (Nursery) – will wear black jogging bottoms and green sweatshirt and a white polo shirt. Iron on school badges may be purchased for sweatshirts.

The new uniform shall be compulsory from September 2021 , however if your child has outgrown their current uniform, please do purchase this new style.T

These changes will hopefully minimise much expense, as the plain uniform items will be available from a range of stores and supermarkets – Sainsbury’s, Asda and M&S to name but a few. The plain items are much cheaper than pre-embroidered ones

Parents of Y2/Y4/Y5 children

As you will be dropping off and collecting your child from the side gates , I wanted to make you aware of the situation within the grounds of the church.

Fr Mark, has informed me that the church will be having some internal work, commencing the 8th of March. This will mean that there will be a number of vehicles and workmen on site and potentially skips too.
For the safety of yourselves and the children, we are asking you to use the gate nearest to the school . We will cordon off an area where you can stand and wait before dropping off and collecting your child.
Father Mark, hopes that all works will be completed by the 27th of March.
 

Updated Risk Assessment - Version 12

Please note that there is now an updated risk assessment (version 12) available to view on the school website.

Events and webinars - International Women's Day 2021

International Women’s Day is a day that raises awareness of  women’s rights. It takes place every year on March 8. International Women’s Day dates back to 1911, when many women were fighting for the right to vote. The United Nations (UN) began sponsoring the day in 1975.

In school, the children shall be researching inspirational women, both historical and current day. They shall also explore a number of gender equality issues.

 

As promised we now have a school  Facebook page.

This can be found at :

https://www.facebook.com/StJoeHandsworth/