We looked at a range of intricate Anglo-Saxon patterns. We then used our sketch books to improve our mastery of art and design techniques by sketching our own Anglo-Saxon patterns. We used our patterns to create print blocks onto polystyrene. We were really pleased with our finished designs!

Our final Head Teachers Award of the half term!

We are so proud of how hard all of our children have worked over our first half term back at school. A special mention to our head teachers award children …. Well done guys, we are super proud!

We have had a spooky end to the half term. We all came dressed up in our spooky colours and enjoyed a treat from the Parent Group. A massive thank you! Enjoy half term everyone!

 

 

Dear Parents

Firstly can I thank everyone, children, parents and school staff alike for their efforts during this first term back to school. Although it’s been a challenge for many we have started to see a steady rhythm within schools living under covid measures. Thank you.

It is in this respect that I write to you today. With the high rates of COVID-19 in County Durham currently, I am asking parents to let the school know if their child tests positive for COVID-19 during the half term break. If your son or daughter receives a positive COVID-19 test after Friday 23^rd October 2020 please contact the school immediately on Nettlesworth Primary School email: Nettlesworth@durhamlearning.net and provide the following information:

 

Name of child

 

Class/year group

 

Date of the COVID-19 test

 

Does the child have symptoms? Yes or No

 

What date did the symptoms start?

 

What date did the child last attend school?

It is very important that you provide this information so that the school can identify any close contacts that your son or daughter may have had in school during their infectious period. The school will then follow up close contacts and request that they isolate for 14 days to prevent further transmission of COVID-19. Please note that you should also report any close contacts that your child has had outside the school setting through NHS Test and Trace. If you are unable to speak to your school please make sure you have provided information of all close contacts within the school to NHS Test and Trace.

In addition I know our children and young people will still want to see their friends during the holidays, but please can I remind all parents that children and young people must not meet up in groups larger than six people (of any age) and that young people should not be gathering indoors with friends. Please also remember where they do meet up in groups of six or less they should still observe social distancing and good hand hygiene. Helping our children and young people to understand the importance of this will help to keep us all safe and healthy.

Thank you again for your help in this matter and I wish you a safe and well half term break.

Your sincerely

Amanda Healy, Director of Public Health for County Durham

Richard Crane, Head of Education and Skills

We have had lots of fun in class 2 creating our very own messy pumpkin pictures. They all look very scary!

Class 2 are having lots of fun making a mess to celebrate the end of their Cornerstones topic of Muck, Mess and Mixtures. They have so far helped carve a pumpkin and explore the mixture we retrieved from it. They also created spooky ghost by creating a slimy mixtures of PVA glue and shaving foam! They are looking amazing!

Home learning support – information for parents & carers

 

When will my child need to learn from home?

• If your child has to self-isolate because of coronavirus – either individually or as part of their class
• If there’s a local lockdown and the school is advised to partially close or your child has to shield

What is my child expected to do?

We’re determined to make every effort to keep our pupils on-track and make sure no one falls behind if they need to learn from home because of coronavirus.

We want to make sure your child can learn as much as possible at home. The following guidelines will explain what we’d like your child to do while learning remotely, and how we plan to support you and them.

 

When providing remote learning, teachers must be available between 9am-3pm on their working days

If they’re unable to work for any reason during this time, for example due to sickness or caring for a dependent, they should report this using the normal absence procedure.

When providing remote learning, teachers are responsible for:

 

Setting work –

 

• Teachers will provide learning for their current class. The amount of work they need to provide is daily Maths and English lessons plus 3/4 lessons for foundation subjects each week. Daily phonics lessons will be planned for KS1 and SPAG lessons for KS2.
• Teachers will use resources provide by the Oak National Academy, White Rose Maths and BBC Bitesize, as well as other resources identified by school curriculum leaders.
• The work will be set daily.
• Teachers will print out weekly learning packs. The packs can be printed by staff who are on site, ready for parents to collect or staff can deliver to homes.
• Teachers will outline the work daily via DB Primary Platform.
• Weekly live teaching via TEAMS (online PSHCE and well-being lessons)

 

• Providing feedback on work –

Pupils can email work to their class teachers. All work submitted will be acknowledged by the class teacher. Feedback will be given for English and Maths on an individual basis. Feedback will be age appropriate.

 

• Keeping in touch with pupils who aren’t in school and their parents –
• In the case of a national or local lockdown, Teachers will call pupils/parents at least every 3 weeks. Any concerns should be recorded and Head teacher alerted. In the event of a self/class bubble isolation, communication will be via email. If there has been no communication from either a parent or child via by day 3 of lockdown/self-isolation period starting, teacher or SLT member will call parents/pupils on day 4.
• Vulnerable pupils will be called weekly – CP/EHCP/identified pupils, this will be done by SENCO/DSL.
• Emails received from parents and pupils are to be checked between 9am and 3pm, Mon- Fri. Teachers should respond to pupil/parent emails within 48hours.

 

 

What support will our school provide? 

• Regular contact with teachers through telephone calls/email/DB Primary Platform and TEAMS
• Regular feedback via telephone calls ,email and DB Primary Platform so your child knows how they’re doing
• Resources

What can I do to help my child?

Create a positive environment for your child to learn at home, for example:

• Distinguish between weekdays and weekends, to separate school life and home life
• Designate a working space if possible
• At the end of the day, have a clear cut-off to signal school time is over
• Create and stick to a routine
• Put a timetable up on the wall
• Make time for exercise and breaks throughout the day to keep your child active

 

• Reinforce the importance of children staying safe online.
• Be aware of what your child is being asked to do, including: sites they will be asked to use and school staff your child will interact with
• Emphasise the importance of a safe online environment set age-appropriate parental controls on digital devices and use internet filters to block malicious websites. These are usually free, but often need to be turned on.

 

 

Website Resources

 

 

 

BBC Bitesize  www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize -A range of revision materials and online daily lessons

 

Daily lessons for homeschooling – BBC Bitesize

Oak Academy

A range of virtual lessons have been produced on various topics.

 

Home – Oak National Academy

Remote Learning 2020

A massive well done to all our children who have been working hard on their TT Rockstars in school and at home to enhance their multiplication tables knowledge.

We are celebrating today with these children who have scored the greatest amounts over the past 7 days.

Well done to everyone for your commitment; keep up the hard work and next week it could be you who achieves a certificate.

 

Wow! What can we say Hannah. We are absolutely blown away with how confident you are in your handling of horses. You have been training so hard all term for your upcoming Dressage Competition. Looking at your photos and video, we can already say that you are a true champion already.

Well done Hannah and good luck – we are all very proud of you.

Hannah – 15.10.20

A massive well done to the children who have worked super hard this week. They have all impressed us such much.