Schools have been working hard over the summer period to prepare and welcome back all pupils in the new academic year. A range of protective measures have been put in place in order that parents and children feel confident of their safe return to settings.

As a school, we understand that, as parents, you may have anxieties or concerns about your child’s return and we encourage you to contact us if you have any specific concerns that you would like to talk through or any help and support that you or your child may require.

As echoed by the Government, it is vital for all children who can be at school to return, given that the sooner children can return to school, the better it is for their health and mental wellbeing, wider development and their educational prospects.

The Government have made clear the expectation that all children will return to school in September 2020 when school attendance will, again, be mandatory and the school’s attendance policy clearly mirrors this.

The Government have planned for a range of potential scenarios detailing the actions that parents and schools should take in the event of one of the issues arising and this is attached in the summary attendance policy leaflet. I would be grateful if parents could familiarise themselves with this.

The updated policies can be found on our website (link below)

CJS Team

https://www.consett-jun.durham.sch.uk/about-us/school-attendance/

All children and young people, in all year groups, will return to school and college full time from the beginning of the autumn term. For CJS this will be mandatory from Thursday 3rd September.

The DfE have published guidance and requested that we share this with our families.

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/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-in-the-autumn-term

From Tuesday 1 September, the new 0-25 Family Health Service provided by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust will be running in County Durham.

Service users have been notified, but they have also asked if we could share the link below with our families. For further information and support should you need it please go to: https://www.hdft.nhs.uk/services/childrens-services/growing-healthy-county-durham/​

After almost six months absence from school for the majority of pupils, we are conscious that returning to school in September will be a very anxious time for our children. Families will inevitably be worried about sending their children back to school and will want to know what we are doing to keep them safe. There is so much information to take in regarding the changes, and it will be overwhelming for you all, especially if you have children in other schools.

We are sharing all information as we receive/amend it, but it is still a lot. To support our children and families we have created a virtual video tour of the school. This won’t contain all the changes, but the visual element is the best way for your child to understand how school will look when they come back.

All other information can be found on this website, if you still feel we have missed something, please do email the school.

Take care

CJS Team

Dear Families

There is a lot of information that has either been shared or soon to be shared. Some families have contacted school to ask questions which can be found in information already shared. This can be found within the link shared earlier today or by directly accessing the post below. There is a detailed FAQ link at the foot of the page.

https://www.consett-jun.durham.sch.uk/changes-to-the-times-of-the-day-september-2020/

I hope this helps and we do appreciate there is a lot to come to terms with. The class pages are almost ready too. If your child’s class page states ‘coming soon’ please continue to check throughout the week.

Kind regards
CJS team

We have now added more services to ParentPay. Previously only dinners and breakfast club were paid in this way. But due to moving towards a cashless school and keeping items in school to a minimum, other services have now been added. Therefore the payment of dinners, breakfast club, clubs (when on) and trips must be paid through ParentPay. However, school fund and those going to Ford Castle in 2021 (so far this is still planned) will be through cash payments in school. Future residential trips will be added to ParentPay. If we raise money for any charity now, where possible a ‘Just Giving Page’ will be set up.

School fund can still be paid in the same way or dropped into our ‘money spinner’. School fund is £1 per week (or a donation if you prefer) and is used for resources for the children. We do rely on school fund.

Please can we also request that you keep on top of your ParentPay balances. There are 24 families who owe money on ParentPay, we have contacted these families to make them aware of this, however they remain in arrears. Some families who have now left the school have arrears on their account. This will be raised with the finance committee before referring to the finance team at DCC for further action.

If you are new to our school you will receive your ParentPay activation codes on Tuesday 1st September.

CJS Team

Please ensure your child keeps an inhaler in school if they have a doctors diagnosis of Asthma. Children took their inhalers home at the time of lockdown in March. Please check the expiry date and return one with them next week.

If your child needs an inhaler in school it must be prescribed by their GP, therefore have their name on. Labels are usually on the box, if you have disposed of the box you can put their name on the inhaler itself. You should also complete a school Asthma form, if you require this form please speak to Mrs Raine.

Dear Parents/Carers/families and our lovely ‘incredibly missed’ children

We hope you have all enjoyed the summer holidays and managed some ‘safe’ breaks away or days out together. As I am sure you will agree school re-opening is desperately needed. At this time of year we usually send you all a list of reminders about returning to school after the summer, these are required now more than ever and are also quite in depth. Please take the time to read through them, and discuss with your child, as well as re-capping on the information in the link below regarding changes to the operation of the school day including times – adhering to these things is vitally important for the safety of all. Over the next few days the teachers will forward information to me which will be uploaded to class pages regarding timetables and this term’s curriculum. Understandably many children and families are anxious about the reopening of schools, rest assured we are preparing for this and will ensure support is in place for any child/family who are struggling.

Next week we have arranged short visits for our Year 3 pupils, additional transition days for current pupils and then a full school return for all on Thursday 3rd September. If this applies to you we have already sent you a school text, but we will re-send again this week.

https://www.consett-jun.durham.sch.uk/changes-to-the-times-of-the-day-september-2020/

Below are a few reminders and bits of information to read before starting back…

First day back – School re-opens to ALL children on Thursday 3rd September. Year 3 children have been allocated a visit time on Tuesday 1st September. All Year 3 and selected current pupils have been invited to come to school for a full day on Wednesday 2nd September. Please do not send your child into school before Thursday if this has not been arranged.

Breakfast club – We will be running our breakfast club from Thursday 3rd September. You do not need to book a place for this club. It starts at 7.45 a.m., so please ensure your child does not arrive before this time as there is no supervision of your child until 7.45 a.m. Breakfast club remains to be £2.50 per day and free for all children on FSM or for pupils we receive pupil premium funding for (if you are unsure please contact Mrs Raine). This must be paid using ParentPay in the week your child attends. Children come to the main door and ring the bell to enter.  Breakfast club changes for Covid – children must sit at their own year group table only, staff will operate a table service for children. There will be no outdoor time during breakfast club and when their start of day commences they will go to the class from the hall. 

School start time – School starts at different times depending on the year group your child is in.

Year 3 and 4 times from 3rd September on wards

Start time: 8.45 am
Lunchtime: 11.50 am – 12.35 pm
End of Day: 3.05 pm

Year 5 and 6 times from the 4th September on wards

Start time: 9.00 am
Lunchtime: 12.35 pm – 1.20 pm
End of Day: 3.20 pm

If children come into school before their designated start time it must be for the breakfast club service.  If you have children in different year groups your other child can go into breakfast club and sit at their year group table for the 15 minute wait time. At the end of the day children who have siblings finishing at 3.20 p.m. will wait in the hall and be escorted out with their class teacher at 3.20 p.m. This support will mean families do not need to wait outside for the 15 minutes and also keeps the flow of parents/carers moving to prevent issues with social distancing.

School Meal Arrangements – All children must remain on the meal arrangement they accessed before the holidays, unless you informed Mrs Raine otherwise. There is a two week notice period required for a change to school meal arrangements. If you change without notifying the office then your ParentPay account will be charged the daily rate. School meals remain at £2.05 and the weekly rate is £10.25. Children on packed lunches can access a dinner on a Friday as part of an on-going Fun Friday arrangement we run, but this must be pre- ordered, either on a one off basis or permanently. Meal arrangement changes due to Covid – all children will have a staggered lunch and will eat in their classrooms. Lunchtimes in the hall will cease due to the inability to successfully clean the area and allow the children sufficient time to eat their lunch. Instead, by year group children on school meals will go into the hall to collect their meal and return to the classroom to eat. 

Swimming lessons – Due to Covid there will be no swimming sessions this term. This will be reviewed and changes will be shared with you accordingly. 

School uniform – Please visit our website for the school uniform requirements. All children must be in the correct uniform, which includes shoes and P.E. kit. Our uniform supplier is Tots to Teams. https://www.consett-jun.durham.sch.uk/parents/our-school-uniform/ . Changes due to Covid – school uniform is preferred but it will not be mandatory until the second half term. However, we discourage children from wearing football strips and clothing that may get damaged. Our school policy on ear rings, hair and nail polish remains the same and can be found by accessing the school uniform link. 

School finish time – See above.

Appointments – All routine medical appointments, unless an emergency or exceptional circumstances, should be made outside of the school day. If they are during the school day, you must provide a copy of the appointment details. Changes due to Covid – if you have an appointment during the school day which cannot be made at any other time, you must inform Mrs Raine so that changes for entering and exiting school can be arranged.

Emergency contact information – If you have moved house, changed your contact number, or your listed contacts  have change, please forward this information to Mrs Raine on the first day (or before by email). If you are a family who require two sets of important information, you must inform us of this. If you are a parent who does not live with your child, we can post important information to your address, i.e. school reports/newsletters.

Water bottles – Children in year 3 will be provided with a school water bottle (and homework bag) on their first day. Additional water bottles can be bought from Mrs Raine for £2.00. Water bottles must go home everyday so please ensure your child remembers this. Should they forget please do not send them back into school for it that day.

After school clubs – Changes due to Covid – ALL after school clubs have been put on hold. We hope to be able to start year group clubs after this half term, as we cannot mix year group bubbles. This means that the on going clubs, band; cross country; football and karate are also on hold. We will look at the possibility of resuming after school cross country by year group, if the need is there. If you require the Infant School after school club, all questions relating to must be directed to Consett Infant School. 

Payments to school – We have now added more services to ParentPay. Previously only dinners and breakfast club were paid in this way. But due to moving towards a cashless school and keeping items in school to a minimum, other services have now been added.  Therefore the payment of dinners, breakfast club, clubs (when on) and trips must be paid through ParentPay. However, school fund and those going to Ford Castle in 2021 (so far this is still planned) will be through cash payments in school. Future residential trips will be added to ParentPay, If we raise money for any charity now, where possible a ‘Just Giving Page’ will be set up. 

School fund can still be paid in the same way or dropped into our ‘money spinner’. School fund is £1 per week (or a donation if you prefer) and is used for resources for the children. We do rely on school fund.

School texts – If you need to contact the school to inform of absences, general enquiries etc., we have a school text number, 07537436638 . Alternatively you can send an email to consettjunior@durhamlearning.net . If your child is absent from school you must ensure you inform us, otherwise this is recorded as an unauthorised absence, which will result in an attendance referral if they hit the triggers. It is our responsibility to monitor and support attendance in our school. Changes due to Covid – we have received updated policies and procedures for attendance which we will share shortly. Attendance from September is mandatory. We will support all families who are anxious about returning to school, but this is a legal requirement and we must conform to this. Failure to send children to school after it has been raised with you and support offered, will result in a Fixed Penalty Notice and furthermore face prosecution. 

We hope this information is useful, especially for those new to our school. Please contact us should you need any further help.

Looking forward to seeing and meeting you all over the next few weeks.

CJS Team

Dear CJS families and friends, usually at this point in the year I would be sending out a message to you all to recap on the year we have had, to say goodbye to our year 6 class and to wish them well in the rest of the journey, obviously this year has been like no other and therefore i have been unable to do this. Instead, we decided to say thank you and goodbye in a final end of year assembly.

Have a lovely summer break, take care and if you need anything over the summer, please don’t hesitate to email us.

Mr Dixon and all the CJS team.

 

If you have been receiving the Edenred vouchers for free school meals please can you check your emails including the ‘spam’ to ensure you have redeemed all the codes you are entitled too. Today I have resent any codes that have not been redeemed since they started in March.

The summer voucher ecodes have been ordered and on checking the portal today they are all ready to go live tomorrow (17th July). If you normally receive these ecodes you will get yours tomorrow. If you have any problems or encounter error codes can you contact me straight away so i can aim to have this resolved before 14th August.

It is my understanding that the system will close after the 14th August and therefore codes not redeemed will be lost.

Kind regards
Mrs Raine
Operations Manager