Thank you to all of the parents/carers who came along to our afterschool Phonics Launch, where we discussed our new scheme of reading books that match directly with the Read Write Inc. programme that we deliver daily in school.

It was great to have you all back in our happy place and to see so many of your questions regarding teaching your children to read at home being addressed.

For those of you who were unable to make it I have attached the PowerPoints and some useful links that will help you begin your child’s reading journey. Additionally, we have sent a copy of the letters given out to the parents to every child.

Thanks once again for your continued support – if you have any other questions then please do not hesitate to contact us 🙂

Intro_to_Read Write Inc_Parent Meeting Powerpoint 

We would like to introduce our brand new Playground Buddies and Sports Leaders!

Before the summer the some children from year 2 volunteered to become playground buddies and worked super hard to train with Mr Beveridge. They are now fully trained and ready to support our Sports Leaders and children at playtimes. A massive well done to these children!

In KS2 several children trained to become Sports Leaders. These children also worked super hard with Mr Beveridge and are now qualified! They will be helping teachers run PE lessons, as well as leading games at playtimes and helping to run clubs and events with Mrs Aspinall. Look out for all of their hard work. Again a huge congratulations to these children too!

We are super proud of you all!

rse_primary_schools_guide_for_parents__

7^th September 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

We’ll be reviewing our relationships and sex education (RSE) curriculum and policy, so we can be sure our RSE provision is appropriate for our pupils based on their:

• Age
• Physical and emotional maturity
• Religious and cultural backgrounds
• Special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)

We need your feedback to help us do this.

Here’s how you can help:

We’re running a focus group on Wednesday 15^th September at 4pm. If you’d like to participate, please email d.lee103@nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk  or call the school office on 01913710444 before Friday 10^th September 2021.

A focus group meeting should take no more than 1 hour.

To help you understand the curriculum requirements we need to meet, please take a look at the enclosed summary of what all pupils are expected to know by the end of primary school. If you’re joining a focus group meeting, please read this before the meeting.

Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,

Donna Lee

Head Teacher

RSE expectations: primary

Here’s what all pupils should know by the end of primary school. These are the expectations set by the Department for Education.

Families and people who care for me

• That families are important for children growing up because they can give love, security and stability
• The characteristics of healthy family life, commitment to each other, including in times of difficulty, protection and care for children and other family members, the importance of spending time together and sharing each other’s lives
• That other people’s families, either in school or in the wider world, sometimes look different from their family, but that they should respect those differences and know that other children’s families are also characterised by love and care
• That stable, caring relationships, which may be of different types, are at the heart of happy families, and are important for children’s security as they grow up
• That marriage represents a formal and legally recognised commitment of two people to each other which is intended to be lifelong
• How to recognise if family relationships are making them feel unhappy or unsafe, and how to seek help or advice from others if needed

Caring friendships

• How important friendships are in making us feel happy and secure, and how people choose and make friends
• The characteristics of friendships, including mutual respect, honesty, trust and trustworthiness, loyalty, kindness, generosity, sharing interests and experiences, and support with problems and difficulties
• That healthy friendships are positive and welcoming towards others, and do not make others feel lonely or excluded
• That most friendships have ups and downs, and that these can often be worked through so that the friendship is repaired or even strengthened, and that resorting to violence is never right
• How to recognise who to trust and who not to trust, how to judge when a friendship is making them feel unhappy or uncomfortable, managing conflict, how to manage these situations and how to seek help or advice from others if needed

Respectful relationships

• The importance of respecting others, even when they’re very different from them (for example, physically, in character, personality or backgrounds), or make different choices or have different preferences or beliefs
• Practical steps they can take in a range of different contexts to improve or support respectful relationships
• The conventions of courtesy and manners
• The importance of self-respect and how this links to their own happiness
• That in school and in wider society they can expect to be treated with respect by others, and that in turn they should show due respect to others, including those in positions of authority
• About different types of bullying (including cyber-bullying), the impact of bullying, responsibilities of bystanders (primarily reporting bullying to an adult) and how to get help
• What a stereotype is, and how stereotypes can be unfair, negative or destructive
• The importance of permission-seeking and giving in relationships with friends, peers and adults

Online relationships

• That people sometimes behave differently online, including by pretending to be someone they’re not
• That the same principles apply to online relationships as to face-to-face relationships, including the importance of respect for others online (even when we’re anonymous)
• The rules and principles for keeping safe online, how to recognise risks, harmful content and contact, and how to report them
• How to critically consider their online friendships and sources of information, including awareness of the risks associated with people they’ve never met
• How information and data is shared and used online

Being safe

• What sorts of boundaries are appropriate in friendships with peers and others (including in a digital context)
• About the concept of privacy and the implications of it for both children and adults (including that it’s not always right to keep secrets if they relate to being safe)
• That each person’s body belongs to them, and the differences between appropriate and inappropriate/unsafe physical and other contact
• How to respond safely and appropriately to adults they may encounter (in all contexts, including online) who they don’t know
• How to recognise and report feelings of being unsafe or feeling bad about any adult
• How to ask for advice or help for themselves or others, and to keep trying until they’re heard
• How to report concerns or abuse, and the vocabulary and confidence they need to do so.
• Where to get advice (e.g. family, school, other sources)

SCHOOL ADMISSIONS – 2022/2023 ACADEMIC YEAR

Starting School 2022 Postcard

As in previous years, we are strongly encouraging parents/carers to apply on-line for a school place for their child. All the information you need to be able to do this is available from the Council’s website from 6 September 2021:

www.durham.gov.uk/schooladmissions

This letter will provide details of how you can make your child’s application for a Secondary School placement in 2022.

Secondary 2022 Preference Letter to Parents

The application process for the Secondary Admissions 2021 Intake is due to begin on Monday 6^th September 2021.

Returning in September

August 2021 COVID 19 Risk Assessment

Coronavirus Outbreak Management Plan

Coronavirus Outbreak Management Plan updated Sep 21

9^th August 2021

Plans for Returning to School in September

Dear Parents and Carers,

We hope you are enjoying the summer holidays and having some lovely quality family time. Just an update for you all to prepare for the children’s return to school in September. We have put together plans for the children’s return on Thursday 2^nd September, which thankfully resembles normal school life again. These plans are based on the current guidance from the Department for Education. They are subject to change should the government make any additional changes during the summer holidays.

From September, it is no longer recommended that it is necessary to keep children in their class bubbles. This means that all children shall be able to mix together on the playground and the school field again. We will be able to hold assemblies together as a school community in the hall and children will not need to avoid mixing with other bubbles at lunchtime or during any extracurricular group sessions.

From September, there will no longer be staggered start and finish times for each class group. On a morning, the children are to be dropped off at the school gates anytime between 8:30am and 8:45am. All children must be in school for 8:45am. Please could parents/carers drop their children off at the gates where staff are waiting to allow them straight into the school. Children will go straight into their classroom. At the end of the day, all children shall be picked up at 3:30pm from the school main gates. Each class teacher will see their children out to their parent/carer at this time. Please note that for the first day only Class 1 children will begin school at the slightly later time of 9.30am and go home at 3.15pm in order to allow them to enter and leave school in a quiet manner without the rest of the school.

Car parking

At the beginning and end of the school day is a problem at most primary schools. Children and parents arrive and depart in a relatively short period of time and this causes congestion.

Please don’t:

Block the road, emergency vehicles and other traffic may need access

Park on yellow lines, zig-zags or block the school entrance

Park on the pavement, across dropped kerbs or residents’ driveways

Park opposite or within 10 metres of a junction

Expect drivers to reverse on to the main road

Park where you will cause inconvenience to other road users

Leave your vehicle with the engine still running

Stop in the middle of the road to drop your child off, even for a few seconds

Please walk to school if you can. If you have to come by car, try to share trips with friends or we can use the car park next to the community centre. Parking on restricted areas or mounting the pavement is a traffic offence.

Breakfast club

Breakfast Club will begin on Thursday 2nd September. Children arrive at school 8am for those who wish to attend and pay via parent pay at the cost of £1 per day.

After-School Clubs

After-school clubs shall resume in September, starting week beginning Monday 20th September. Further information about all clubs shall be circulated to parents during the first week back. If parents are collecting children after an after-school club, please wait outside the school gates and staff shall bring the children out to you.

PE Kits and School Uniform

Children shall come to school wearing their full school uniform every day. When your child has PE, they all must bring their PE Kit to school with them as KS2 can now get changed in school. Children are no longer to come to school wearing their PE Kit from September. We recommend that children bring their PE kit into school on a Monday to put on their cloakroom peg, then it goes home on a Friday to be washed, then brought back to school on a Monday. Children can now bring to school again school bags and pencil cases if they would like. School provides all children with water bottles.

Hand Hygiene

Frequent and regular hand cleaning is now regular practice in school, therefore this shall continue into the new academic year. Children shall have their hands sanitised by staff members upon entering the school and at regular times during the day.

School Dinners

School Dinners will increase from £2.10 per day to £2.15 per day from September 2021. If you have arrears with your school meals, please can you ensure these are paid. Many Thanks

Managing Covid-19 in Schools

As Covid-19 becomes a virus that we learn to live with, there is now an imperative to reduce the disruption to children’s education. The school will keep an up to date risk assessment and an outbreak management plan is devised in the event of an outbreak of positive cases within the school community.

• Tracing Close Contacts and Isolation

The government has said that from 16th August 2021, children under the age of 18 years old will no longer be required to isolate if they are contacted by NHS Test and Trace or identified as a close contact of a positive Covid-19 case. Instead, children shall be contacted to say they have been in close contact with a positive case and advised to take a PCR test.

• Positive Cases of Covid-19 or Where a Child Develops Symptoms

Children and staff must stay at home if they have any Covid-19 symptoms or if they have had a positive test result. If any child develops Covid-19 symptoms (however mild), we will call parents to come and collect them and the child should follow the public health advice.

• Asymptomatic Testing with Lateral Flow Tests

The government are stressing that testing remains important in reducing the risk of transmission within schools. It is likely that the government will continue to promote the twice weekly testing with lateral flow tests from September and kits can be collected from your local pharmacy or ordered online. If any child tests positive on a lateral flow device, they must book a PCR test immediately.

• Cleaning and Well-Ventilated Spaces

As part of our risk assessment, regular cleaning of areas and of equipment shall continue next year to ensure that our school are doing all that we can to prevent a spread of the virus in our community. Teaching environments will be well ventilated.

• Visitors to the School Site

As the Autumn term progresses, we will welcome parents back onto the school site for any events that we hold in school such as coffee mornings, parents evenings and performances. If parents need to contact the school regarding an issue or to speak to a member of staff, we would still encourage you to telephone the school first. If you have to pick your child up from school during the school day, please come to the main entrance where a staff member shall bring your child to the door.

Should any of the above procedures change over the summer, I will contact all families before the end of the summer break. I would like to thankyou all again for your continued support.

Best Wishes

Donna Lee

Head Teacher