We have been asked to take this opportunity to make you aware of some of the recent changes made to the
Healthy Start Voucher scheme (HSV) as this scheme will be particularly beneficial to families you are
working with as it lessens the strain on household budgets. We want to make our families aware about
the scheme to see if they qualify and support them to complete an application if they do as the
vouchers act as a basic nutritional safety net and encourage families to make healthy food choices.

There’s recently been some changes to the application process. As of the 6th April 2020, a health
professional signature is no longer required and the service is moving towards a fully online
application.

Families can now complete the application online following the link below:

https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthy-start-vouchers/how-to-apply/online-application-form/

What is Healthy Start?

• HSV is a government scheme to improve the health of low-income pregnant women and
families with young children on benefits and tax credits.
• The scheme will support families during the current situation as it helps low income pregnant
women and young children to buy fruit, vegetables, milk and infant formula.
What can families access?
• Pregnant women and children over one and under four years old can get one £3.10 voucher
per week. Children under one year old can get two £3.10 vouchers (£6.20) per week.
• Women and children getting Healthy Start food vouchers can also get vitamin coupons to
swap for free Healthy Start vitamins
Where can the vouchers be spent?
You can use your Healthy Start vouchers in any shop that is registered to take part in the
scheme. Lots of shops accept Healthy Start vouchers, including corner shops, food co-ops,
greengrocers, market stalls, milk floats or vans, pharmacies, supermarkets. Look out for the Healthy
Start sticker in shop windows, or ask inside. If you’re struggling to find infant formula milk during the
current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, you can now use your vouchers to buy infant
formula milk online.
Use the link to find a retailer near you:

https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthy-startvouchers/where-to-use-the-vouchers/

Who qualifies for Healthy Start Vouchers?

Families can qualify for Healthy Start if they are at least 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under
four years old and if the family receive the following benefits:
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Child Tax Credit with a family income of £16,190 or less per year
• Pension Credit; or Universal Credit with no earned income or total earned income of £408 or
less per month for the family.
• People also qualify if they are under 18 and pregnant, even if you don’t get any of the above
benefits.

Please ensure your child returns to school in September on the same school meal arrangement they were on when they left (this applies to your voluntary meal option prior to lockdown  in March). If your child is going to change from school meals to packed lunch (or reverse), you must inform Mrs Raine by this Friday (17th).

If your child returns to school and moves to packed lunches without this prior notice, you will be charged for their meals on ParentPay until you notify us otherwise. Please remember, school meals prices in September will increase to £2.10 per day.

In September, we will be continuing with the current Fun Friday Meal orders. This will allow any packed lunch children to access a meal on a Friday only, therefore no reason to commit to dinners full time. If you child already accesses these on a permanent basis, then this will remain the same in September.

Fun Friday meals must be ordered on the Monday of the week they would like it, this can be done by emailing Mrs Raine or permanently ordering this Friday option, just ring the office for more details. As we return as a whole school on Thursday 3rd September, you can place that week’s order on that day.

Kind Regards

CJS Team

8th July, 2020

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that you and your families are all well. I wish to update you to how we plan on reopening the school fully in September. The Government has issued all schools with guidance, that when implemented allows us to fully open in September. Obviously as you can imagine, there are many procedures and potential changes the must be applied before this can happen. However, I wanted to share with you what we have agreed so far:

• As previously informed – Staff Training Day – Tuesday 1st September.

This day will now focus on – Year 3 pupils and one parent will be invited into school to meet their teacher. Alongside this we will be inviting a proportion of or current children (SEND, vulnerable others), into school to meet their new teacher. Parents will receive a school text informing them. These sessions will be in groups and for one hour.

• Wednesday 2nd September

All year 3 pupils and the selected pupils, in the categories mentioned above to return to school. FOR THIS DAY ONLY 9.00 a.m. – 3.00 p.m.

• Thursday 3rd September

All Pupils return to school following new timetable.

To enable us to return safely we have put a number of measures in place which included an increased cleaning rota. The main change that our families must be aware of is the need to adjust the start and finish times of the school day to accommodate less children entering and leaving the site at a given time. These times will begin on Thursday 3rd September.

Year 3 and 4 times from Thursday 3rd September onwards

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

Year 5 and 6 times from Thursday 3rd September onwards

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

I will be issuing a FAQs sheet to supplement the changes for September later this week, which will cover your questions on breakfast clubs, sibling pick-ups, after school clubs, how lunchtimes will operate, procedures if there are cases of Covid in school and rules for entering the site etc. I thought it important to share the slight changes with regard to start and end times now, to support you to plan work and other school drop offs around these times.

As there will be more information to follow, I ask that you do not contact school until it has been released, as it may well cover your queries.

Kindest regards
Mr Dixon
Head Teacher

Changes to the school day – September 2020

FAQ’s September 2020

Update…

We now know that due to other commitments this capsule will not be buried in the school grounds until September.

What you need to do before FRIDAY 17TH JULY:

Email you Lockdown photo to mark, include their name and a perhaps a brief description mwphotography92@icloud.com Write a letter for the capsule (no surname or address) this must be sent to school, it can be posted to us as long as you write ‘lockdown letter’ on the envelope as we will not be opening them until 2030.

The capsule will be part of history and will be opened by our pupils of 2030.

https://www.consett-jun.durham.sch.uk/time-capsule-project-cjs-and-mark-wilkinson-photography/

Good luck

Mark and the CJS Team

On Friday 10th July we were due to hold a fun day at Consett Rugby Club, this has now been postponed due to the Covid pandemic and we can no longer raise money in the way we had planned. We had hoped for all children to take part in a fun run around the field and those who are more energetic would run from Rowley back to the Rugby Club.

After this event we had arranged for lots stalls, music, entertainment and much more to complete the event until mid evening. It is really disheartening that this can be no more, especially as it was for our chosen charity ‘If U Care Share’.

BUT!!!! Yesterday we contacted those families who were going to take part in the 5k Rowley to the Rugby Club run to see if they would still like to do this as a final bid to reach our total of £1,500. Many families are still going to do this and we hoped many more would also like to do the same.

We have amended the charity link to incorporate that more of our CJS families are going to compete in their own 5k fun run.  Please take part too…you can run or walk and you can do any 5k route you would like and on any day before Friday 17th July. You can submit your evidence to consettjunior@durhamlearning.net which can be photographs, videos and screenshots from a fitness device.

https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/consettjuniorschool

We have also been informed that Dylan H from Year 3 and his younger sister Hollie have set their own challenge of doing ONE million steps before they go back to school in September! Dylan said he wanted to raise money for the charity that school were raising money,  If U Care Share. It’s such a shame the fun day can’t go ahead so they thought this would be a good way to add a little bit extra. They have set up a seperate Just Giving page, and we have no doubt that they’ll smash their challenge!

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/claire-smith-193?utm_term=9nvNKg4dn

Today would have been the Year 6 Transition Day to the Academy. While we can’t welcome you in to the building, we have put together some videos with tasks you can try to give you an idea of some of the things that are waiting for you when you do join us. As well as the below taster videos, please check out the Art activity https://bit.ly/2NGcqwo and English Poem https://bit.ly/3id9Fk8to accompany the videos.

Parents – you are also missing out on the Parents’ evening which we would have held tonight. So, we have recorded what we would have said and hope you find it useful. You should also have received, in the post, a handbook with more info about Academy life to help prepare your child for a start at the Academy.

Check out our FB page at the following times for our online taster sessions and Virtual Parents’ Evening.

10 am – Science
11 am – Computing
12 noon – English
1 pm – Technology
2 pm – PE
3 pm – Music
4 pm – Parents’ Evening Presentation

If you have any queries please contact us at enquiries@consettacademy.org.uk with the subject “Transition”.

School reports were previously scheduled to go home with children on Wednesday 8th July (date already on the school app calendar). This will still be the case.

On Wednesday 8th July, the end of year school reports will either be sent home with children who are currently in school or they can be collected between 8th and 10th July. Any reports not collected will be sent through the post to home addresses.

If you have siblings in school, both reports will be in the same envelope.

Please see information below regarding the issue of FSM vouchers over summer. A RESPONSE IS REQUIRED. Please complete the short surveyin the link at the bottom of this page before 29/06/2020.

The Covid Summer Food Fund will provide support for children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals (FSM) over the summer holiday period. Please refer to the Department for Education guidance here.

Each eligible child can receive a £90 eCode to cover the summer holiday period. Schools must order the eCode at least one week before the school term ends and it will be issued to the parent/carer within seven days unless they have specified a distribution date further in the future. We recognise a single £90 eCode may not be suitable for all families and schools have the discretion to schedule a number of smaller eCodes instead, if they see fit.

In all circumstances, an eCode must be issued to the parent/carer before the end of the school term. This will enable staff to identify if a family hasn’t received their eCode and resolve the issue before the holidays begin. If smaller vouchers have been scheduled, the last of these must be delivered by 14th August.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Uv_fRWSDc02_Oo-YvfENhzGYEp0zDERAnxWCoX5eIjVUN0JPN1ZZS1FCWklDVlNaWlRHMVNUSUhHMy4u

 

Mark Wilkinson Photography, Consett, is now open and has invited us to take part in a fantastic project…

The theme…A Time Capsule of Lockdown memory photographs…

To take part email your lockdown pictures to Mark at mwphotography92@icloud.com

These pictures will be viewable online (Mark Wilkinson FB page and his website) as well as being printed and put in the time capsule. Mark will create a memory slideshow for social media and all photographs received will be included in that. The best picture overall will take prominent place in the window of Mark’s shop as well as smaller pictures around it. The winner will also receive a free print of their photograph.

This time capsule will be buried somewhere in our CJS school grounds. Which will be part of history in years to come, it could even be your grandchildren that are part of opening the capsule!

We are also hoping to invite a local MP to be involved in the burial of the capsule…

We know that children have been involved in so many activities during lockdown and have made so many memories so lets pull them together and create the most memorable time capsule for our future generation to open.

Please ensure you include your child’s name and reference to CJS when emailing your photographs.  Please send your photographs by Friday 17th July.

Good Luck

CJS and Mark Wilkinson photography.

Online educational resources for schools and parents to help children to learn at home during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The Dfe have updated their guidance for online education resources for home learning to include additional resources and new tips to help parents and carers with home education, while they may not be attending their normal education setting.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-online-education-resources

The lists include subject-specific resources for:

English
maths
science
PE
wellbeing
special educational needs and disability (SEND)

These resources are currently being offered for free.