I hope everyone is enjoying what would have been the half term and are taking a break from home learning.

I am in school this week and have noticed that many families have not collected their work packs for last week, with some families not collecting theirs from weeks before. If you no longer require them would you please email consettjunior@durhamlearning.net to be removed from the list for printed packs.

We appreciate that it is very difficult to work with your children at home and we know many of you are struggling, just do what you can and please don’t put to much pressure on you or your children, this is all very different. The work packs are accessible on your child’s class page if you prefer that to paper copies and there are also very good lessons and subjects on
National Oak Academy and Access BBC bitesize

I am in school most days and working from home (and ‘attempting’ to home learn my children) the rest so my time in school is extremely valuable and the resources to print the packs are expensive. Please consider this if you have opted for packs but are not able to collect them.

Stay safe and take care
Mrs Raine

Reminder to families who have previously received a text to state they are eligible. Your order for the free uniform MUST be emailed to consettjunior@durhamlearning.net before this Friday, 31st May. Late orders will not be processed.

Please see the original website link below for details about free school uniform eligibility for the next academic year.

https://www.consett-jun.durham.sch.uk/september-uniform-free-for-pupil-premium-children/

From 1st June we are changing the meal provisions in school. Our school as always been open for children of key workers and vulnerable children since the lockdown in March. At most, we have only ever had a maximum of seven children in school in any one day. Our kitchen closed in April, vouchers were put in place and children were required to bring in their own packed lunch.

Recently, all known key workers who were eligible for a place were contacted to see if they would need their place moving forward. We have 29 families who were eligible and a further four families will now need their place, with others needing theirs at the end of June. This means more children will be accessing the provision and we need to reduce the items brought into school to keep cross contamination to a minimum.

As previously informed we are working through our risk assessments to allow us to open for Year 6 as soon as it is safe to do so, in our risk assessment we have stated that all meals will be provided by our catering team, Taylor Shaw. Taylor Shaw are reopening most of their school kitchens from 1st June and we are one of those schools.  Not all schools are doing the same but we need to consider the administration of meals and minimise the risk of contaminated items being brought into school. Therefore, children accessing school, either for childcare or when the school reopens for wider groups, they must only bring in their coat. Bags, water bottles and packed lunches must NOT be brought into school.

Food vouchers for children coming into school will stop, as their meal will be provided for them. Families who pay for school meals will be charged for their meal on ParentPay. This process will be reviewed weekly as part of the risk assessment, if and when we feel able to change this, we will inform you in our usual ways. We understand that this may not be an option that you or your child may prefer, but this is to ensure the safety of all our children and staff.

Taylor Shaw will offer the following to all children,

Sandwich: bread or buns. Choice of ham, cheese, tuna.

Veg sticks – Carrot/ cucumber.

One of the following changing daily:

Crackers and cheese.
Pizza .
Pizza whirl.
Cheese scone.
Cheese pie.

Various fruit.

2 x pieces of sweet treats which could be:

Biscuits.
Traybake.
Shortbread .
Cake( various).
Fairy cake.
Jelly.

Any questions, feel free to contact the school office

Mrs Raine

Consett Academy have been working behind the scenes and uploading transition documents, videos and staff introductions to a specific page on their website. This will be an amazing help for all year 6 who are going there for the next step in their learning journey and also for their families in supporting them through these difficult times.

Consett Academy have asked that we work with them in sharing as much information as possible with you, which we will do using our app, website and text messages. We encourage you and your child to access the links and videos they have provided, to support the best transition possible during school closures. They will aim to upload and update information on this link every Tuesday and this is also shared on their facebook page.

https://www.consett-academy.org.uk/162/transition-2020

Why not start by viewing one of their three virtual tours…

Ground Floor –
https://youtu.be/SuKnNqXPG40
First Floor –
https://youtu.be/ApTLM0WQleU
Second Floor –
https://youtu.be/iPI1uZMkK10

NSPCC School Service – Covid 19: Summary of NSPCC guidance, advice and support for children, parent/carer and professionals.

Please see the document below for links to support your work with children, young people and their families in these challenging times.

Covid19 – NSPCC parents, professionals and children guidance and support summary May20 (1)

 

We have been informed that there will be no national voucher provided for the upcoming half term week. As we have done our batch orders with Edenred until the end May the families who are entitled will receive them. However, we have been informed to miss a week in June to compensate for this. Therefore, there will be no vouchers issued for use during the week commencing Monday 8th June.

To ensure we are still providing meals for our families during this week we will be offering packed lunches to collect from schools. This will be for one week only and your next voucher will be issued at the end of that week for use w/c Monday 15th June. This is on the understanding that our kitchen will again reopen on Monday 1st June for those children returning to school. If the kitchen does not open then we will explore other avenues of support.

If you would like a packed lunch made up for collection for the w/c Monday 8th June please email consettjunior@durhamlearning.net by Monday 1st June to place your order. Families who email school will receive a text the week before with collection details.

Monday 18th May, 2020

Please see below a letter to our year 6 families (and the wider school to keep you informed) for the potential reopening of school on the 1st June. Obviously, this is subject the Governments 5 steps protocol and also in light of any other changes prior to then.

Parents and Carer – Year 6 return on 1st June

Even though schools are closed, this big prize draw is back for a seventh year!

We could win £5,000 of National Book Tokens for our school’s library, ready to spend when schools reopen – and if your entry is picked, you’ll also get £100 of National Book Tokens to spend on yourself!

Whether you work in a school or have school-aged children yourself, you’ll know the importance of a good school library – and not just for learning. Studies show that reading for pleasure doesn’t just give children an advantage academically; it can improve their wellbeing, too.

To nominate our school please complete via the link below:

https://www.nationalbooktokens.com/schools?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=schools

This message is to accompany the year 4 work which will be set for week commencing Monday 18 May

Children find reading and showing time on analogue and digital clocks extremely difficult. If your child is struggling with these worksheets please spend time with them reading and showing times on actual clocks. If possible follow this sequence: o’clock – half past – quarter past & quarter to – minutes past (in 5 min intervals)- minutes to (in 5 min intervals) – minutes past (to the nearest minute) – minutes to (to the nearest minute) etc. Once your child is able to do these with an analogue clock repeat the same sequence with a 12hr digital clock, and then with a 24hr digital clock.

There is a great online visual clock at https://www.topmarks.co.uk/time/teaching-clock which can be used to show a variety of analogue, 12hr and 24hr clock times.

13th May, 2020

Dear parents and families,

I’ve resisted the temptation to message you all straight away in regards to the Government’s announcement that schools MAY reopen to Year 6 children on 1st June, with further opening toward the end of June, as I didn’t feel I was in a position to give clarification in regards to safety and next steps.

Now having a few days of contemplation and listening to a huge amount of advice, views and opinions from various people, I am still in no position to give clear guidance. We are still awaiting further clarity from the Local Authority and a promised Toolkit to aid opening from the DfE, these will arrive at some point. Perhaps then we can begin to give thoughts as to how we can safely open for more pupils, especially with care given to staff and pupils safety in regards to social distancing. I am also in daily communication with my fellow Headteachers in our local area, so that we can work together to come up with solutions that support families.

I will at some point be sending a link out that will take you to a simple questionnaire, this will ask whether you would currently consider sending your child back to school on June 1st – initially this will be aimed at Year 6 parents only, however, will be widened the survey at a later date to take in views of all families. As a parent, I can only sympathise with you all as to what is the right course of action – I firmly believe whatever decision you make must be right for your family and take into account your own circumstances. As always the school will fully support you at this difficult time and in the decision you may be forced to make.

If and when the school reopens for children other than the current Key worker children, I will of course share with you the systems and measures we set out to ensure the best protections and procedures are their for your children and my staff.

All I can emphasise is that whatever decisions I make it will be with the safety of children and staff at the very forefront of my decisions. As you can well imagine I receive daily updates and will endeavour to keep you all up to date with any changes.

Please stay safe, or alert! We are certainly missing our wonderful children.

Best wishes,

Paul Dixon

Head Teacher