Thank you to Mrs Aspinall for organising a fantastic PE treat this week. Everyone enjoyed practicing their hula hooping skills. Some people even managed special tricks! Working as a team we made hula hoop huts too. Everyone received a certificate for being a Hoopstar!
19th April 2021
Dear Parents/Carers,
I am writing to let you know that we will have a really sad farewell at the end of the Summer Term. I would like to inform you of Mrs Shaw’s intention to retire from her role at Nettlesworth Primary School. This has been a difficult decision but Mrs Shaw feels that now is the right time for her to retire.
As many of you know, she has been with our school for 19 years and it has been such a privilege to work with her as part of our team. She has had the pleasure to see many of our children over the years grow and develop during their time in primary school and the privilege to work with dedicated teachers, support staff, parents/carers and Governors. We would like to thank her from the bottom of our hearts for all she has given to the school and wish her well in her retirement.
Yours Sincerely
Donna Lee
Head Teacher
Class 3 and 4 had an amazing day this week learning all about their history topics. Richard, the history bloke brought in lots of amazing artefacts for the children to try on and explore. Richard is looking forward to coming back to show the younger children Toys from the past in the new academic year.
In Class 3 we became Ancient Roman soldiers.
In Class 4 the new topic is A Child’s War.
So proud of all our super stars this week!
Well done to Ava in Class 3 who has jumped up two reading levels!
Well done Jay in Class 1 for excellent work since returning to school after the Easter Holidays
Excellent knowledge about animals Tyler, especially snakes!
Wonderful enthusiasm about our new Cornerstones Curriculum – well done Brooke.
Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you for everything your family are doing to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
Please find below information you need to know to help your child attend school safely.
Have coronavirus symptoms and need a test?
If anyone in your household has symptoms you need to book a PCR (Polymerase Chain
Reaction) test as soon as possible. For more information and to book a PCR test visit
www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or call NHS test and trace free on 119.
As coronavirus symptoms in children can vary it is advised that children who are unwell
should not attend school until they are well again.
Don’t have coronavirus symptoms and need a test?
LFD (Lateral Flow Device) testing is a fast and simple way to test people who do not have
symptoms of coronavirus but may still have the virus. It involves taking a throat and nose
swab sample and processing the sample with a lateral flow device which provides a result
within 30 minutes.
Visit www.durham.gov.uk/covid19testandtrace for information on how you can book an
LFD test or how to get tests to self-test at home.
Once you have completed your LFD test you must register your results at
www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result
If you receive a positive result from your LFD test, NHS test and trace will ask you to take
PCR test to confirm the result.
LFD tests are not to be used on primary school (or younger) children if they do not have
symptoms and should only be used by the person they were issued to. If you or your
secondary aged child has been provided with home testing kits, these tests must not be
used by anyone else in the household, for example a parent or another child in the family.
LFD testing detects around 60% of cases and is useful for picking up cases in people
without symptoms, however you could be infected and test negative.
LFD tests should not be used by anyone who has coronavirus symptoms or if your child
is self-isolating after being in close contact with a positive coronavirus case.
Self-Isolation
Anyone identified as being in close contact of a positive coronavirus case is legally
required to self-isolate at home for 10 days to ensure they don’t pass the infection on to
others, even if they don’t have symptoms.
This guidance still applies even if you have received one or more doses of a COVID-19
vaccine.
If required Durham County Council offers support to people having to self-isolate through
the County Durham Together Community Hub, details of which can be found at
www.durham.gov.uk/covid19help or by phoning 03000 260 260.
Getting to and from school
During peak times public transport can be very busy. If you can please consider using
alternative modes of transport to get to and from school. The best way is to walk, cycle or
scoot whenever possible, even once or twice a week makes a huge difference. Not only
does it give you quality time outdoors improving yours and your child’s health, but it also
reduces pollution around the school. If you do choose to travel by car consider parking
away from the school and walking a short distance to reduce congestion and making the
school gates safer for everyone.
To find out more visit www.durham.gov.uk/article/24031/Getting-to-and-from-school, or
speak to your school about the support they can give to alternative modes of transport.
Don’t forget we still need to maintain social distancing at drop off and pick up times at the
school gates. please work with us and the school to keep everyone safe by keeping more
than 2 metres apart wherever possible from people outside your household, to prevent the
spread of Covid19.
School leaders are working hard to make sure that children are safe in school and that the
risk of the virus spreading is minimised. We all have a responsibility to keep our
communities safe and we need the support of parents, grandparents and carers when they
are at the school gates.
The most recent guidance is set out in the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-stop-the-spread-of-coronavirus-covid19/how-to-stop-the-spread-of-coronavirus-covid-19
Please keep your distance, please do not gather in groups and remember:
HANDS Wash your hands regularly and for 20 seconds.
FACE Wear a face covering in indoor settings where social distancing may be
difficult, and where you will come into contact with people you do not
normally meet.
SPACE Stay 2 metres apart from people you do not live with where possible, or 1
metre with extra precautions in place (such as wearing face coverings or
increasing ventilation indoors)
Please continue to support our schools with the excellent work they are doing to educate
your child and keep them safe.
Yours sincerely
Amanda Healy Jim Murray
Director of Public Health Head of Education and Skills
Adult and Health Services Children and Young Peoples Service
All staff completed their second part of the paediatric first aid course today. It was very informative and all staff have renewed or completed training and can now deliver treatment where needed – keeping our little ones extra safe!
12th April 2021
Dear Parent / Carers,
We hope you have had a lovely Easter break and welcome back to the start of our Summer Term. We can’t wait to see all the children again tomorrow.
After school clubs
Again we have had to think carefully about how we can make this provision work alongside our wider protective measures, like keeping pupils in their ‘bubbles’ when possible. We also understand that a lot of parents/carers need access to wrap around care to help with work commitments.
Class 1, 2, 3 and 4 Teachers are going to offer their class bubble one hour after school tuition three times per week . We can then keep our bubbles together and offer extra tuition to try and help close any gaps of learning for all of our Reception-Year 6 children. These tuition sessions will be of no cost and will last one hour immediately after the class bubble finishes for the school day. This after school provision will start week beginning 19th April on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Class 1– 3.00pm-4.00pm -Tue, Wed, Thur
Class 2– 3.15pm-4.15pm -Tue, Wed, Thur
Class 3– 2.45pm-3.45pm-Tue, Wed, Thur
Class 4– 3.30pm-4.30pm- Tue, Wed, Thur
SIBLINGS MAY CONTINUE TO ARRIVE AT THE EARLIEST TIME AND LEAVE AT THE LATEST TIME.
Class Teachers will send out letters on Tuesday 13th April 2021 so that we know which pupils will be attending these sessions.
Breakfast club will continue as normal. Children who attend will be served breakfast in their own classroom bubble to avoid class bubbles mixing. It will start at 8am and finish when their class bubble arrives. It will continue to cost £1 per day, which you can pay via parent pay. Parents/Carers will need to follow same arrival guidelines as attending school classes and supervisory assistants will meet at main entrance at 8am. Please could children arrive on time.
Arrival and Departure
The times of arrival and departure for the different year groups continue to be:
Class 1 Children (Reception) – 8.45am-3.00pm
Class 2 children (Years 1/2) – 9.00am-3.15pm
Class 3 children (Years 3/4) – 8.30am-2.45pm
Class 4 children (Years 5/6) – 9.15am-3.30pm
At these allocated times parents/carers will need to be waiting outside main school gate at main entrance, alongside the green fence, adhering to social distance requirements at all times. Only 1 adult should drop off/pick, up to reduce the number of people around school. Please walk, or cycle, to school whenever possible – to ease traffic congestion. Please disperse as soon as you have dropped off / collected your child – to avoid unnecessary larger gatherings.
Parents/Carers will not be allowed to enter the school building/school site or have the daily contact or conversations they are used to having with staff but we will try our best. Contact will continue to be mostly electronic via email and telephone and prior arranged appointments. Please adhere to strict social distancing at drop off points and only arrive at school in time to drop off and collect your child. Arriving or staying close to school outside of this time could put other staff, parents/carers and pupils at risk. Please ensure you are aware of your child’s pick up and drop off times and stick rigidly to these times to help the day run smoothly – Your child’s class teacher will collect children from the gate and they will be escorted into school to wash hands immediately. Children and parents must wait alongside school fence and not come to the door and ring buzzer. If you are late you must ring the office to arrange an alternative drop off/pick up.
If you need to pass any medication into school please contact the office in the first instance- 0191 3710444 and we will arrange to meet you in the main entrance.
Staffing Update
Mrs Aspinall will be returning back to school from Maternity Leave on Monday 10th May. Mrs Plant’s last day at school will be Friday 7th May and would like to thank her for all of her hard work and dedication over this challenging time while covering two maternity leaves. She will be a big miss and we wish her lots of luck and success in her future work.
COVID-19 Information
Please remember that if your child develops any of the three key symptoms of COVID-19, you must keep them off school and book them a PCR test and you need to inform the school that they are absent due to suspected COVID-19. Whilst a lot of the time these tests end up being negative, every potential case of COVID-19 has implications for school – if we are aware that pupils are going for tests, we can begin planning for a potential bubble closure sooner. If we only find out once they have received a positive result, this understandably causes extra strain and stress which could be eased if we were aware of the possibility. In addition to this, we are required to report to the DfE on a daily basis whether we have pupils off for reasons relating to COVID-19, so it is imperative that we know if that is why your child is off so our information can be as accurate as possible.
COVID-19 Symptoms & Testing
It is also important to remember that if you, or your child, develop symptoms of COVID-19, it is not enough to have a lateral flow test, which many of you will be taking on a regular basis. Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms must isolate and book a PCR test whether or not you have had a negative lateral flow test.
Statutory KS1 and KS2 assessments
Statutory KS1 and KS2 assessments planned for summer 2021 won’t go ahead but school will still do teacher assessments. We will administer the optional Year 4 multiplication tables check and the Year 1 Phonics Screening Assessment within the 3-week period from 7 June 2021. Year 2 and Year 6 teacher assessments will take place week beginning May 10th 2021.
The DfE has added temporary disapplications to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) – as such, it won’t be mandatory to complete the EYFS profile assessment in 2021.
PE Kits
Children in Class 1 and 2 will need to bring their full PE kit into school on the first day back in a PE bag or carrier bag. Please ensure that this is labelled with their name and class. The PE kits will be stored in the cloakrooms on a labelled peg in school and sent home weekly to be washed. Class 3 and 4 will come into school with their PE kits on allocated PE days to avoid moving around.
Class 3- PE days for the rest of this term are WED and THUR
Class 4- PE days for the rest of this term are WED and THUR
School Holidays and Term Dates 2020 – 2021
I am sure that many of you will have had holidays cancelled or postponed and will be considering when these can be re-booked for next year. It is really important to remember that holidays during term times can only be authorised in very exceptional circumstances. Very few holidays are ever authorised and this is likely to be even lower next year. It is going to be essential for ALL children to be in school as much as possible due to the extended closure of schools during the latter half of this year. Please also bear in mind that if you do decide to take a holiday during term time which has not been authorised, if your child is out of school for more than 7 consecutive days you can be fined – £60 per parent for each child.
| Holiday | Closing Date | Date re-open for Teaching Purposes |
| Summer Holiday | Friday 17th July 2020 | Wednesday 2nd September 2020 |
| October Half Term | Friday 23rd October 2020 | Monday 2nd November 2020 |
| Christmas Holiday | Friday 18th December 2020 | Tuesday 5th January 2021 |
| February Half Term | Friday 12th February 2021 | Monday 22nd February 2021 |
| Easter Holiday | Friday 26th March 2021 | Tuesday 13th April 2021 |
| May Day | Friday 30th April 2021 | Tuesday 4th May 2021 |
| Summer Half Term | Friday 28th May 2021 | Monday 7th June 2021 |
| Summer Holiday | Friday 16th July 2021 | Thursday 2nd September 2021
|
Once again thank you for your support in these challenging times.
Donna Lee
Head Teacher
Well done to our award winners this week.
Well done Oscar and good luck in your new school.
Well done Lacie-Mae for an excellent dance performance.
On the last day of term we had a birthday party for everybody – as so many children had lockdown birthdays.
As a special surprise, the ice cream van came and brought us all a tasty treat!
Have a lovely Easter everybody!
