Thank you to the parents who have already filled in our remote learning survey.
If you have not done so already, please could you complete to continue to help us refining our offer.
Michelle Bishton
Deputy Headteacher
Email – The Den
Question & Answer Sessions
Dear Parents, Carers and Children,
Follow the link below to join Mrs Powell and Mrs Huda’s question and answer session every Wednesday at 2pm. We have set aside some time where you can ask any questions you have and also let Mrs Powell and Mrs Huda know how you are feeling and how you are getting on with your online work.
If you are logging in as a guest, please can you use the child’s name so we know who is in our session. There might even be some special guests joining us from time to time.
Click here to join the meeting
Thanks
Mrs Huda
Pastoral Team
18.1.21 Online Learning Offer Survey
Dear Parents and Carers,
We hope that you all continue to stay safe and well.
The best way for your children to continue making super progress during this difficult time is for them to access our very carefully planned Online Learning Offer. These sessions are as they would be if your child were in school and in fact are the same offer as the ‘critical worker’ children we have in school. Paper packs are a last resort and we discourage this if there is any way you can gain online access for your child. (Call us if you need help).
For those of you whose children are accessing learning at home, we are keen to gather your thoughts as to the provision that we are offering.
Please could you follow this link https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=2s8TOK9SpUy44yMVeXcKujfWR1zrUJ1JhQgacqv0-RBUQUcwTEc3ODlOMlhIMjEyRVVUTVFaVUwzTS4u and respond to this by Friday 22nd January at 3pm.
Every response will be read and used to further improve our offer if needed. Feedback will also be passed onto staff and governors, who I hope you will agree are working so hard to keep your child’s progress as the priority.
Kind regards
Mrs Bishton
Update 18.1.21
Dear Parent/Carer,
Like everyone, we are hopeful that the end is now in sight with the rapid roll out of the Coronavirus vaccine.
Over the weekend we were however informed of two positive cases of children, one in Year 6 and one in our Nursery provision.
Unfortunately, we have had to put a number of children and adults into isolation in Year 6 and the same for Nursery. Clearly the ‘track and trace’ method of detection is so difficult when the children are so young in Nursery and hence the impact of this has been much wider.
We want to reassure you that we continue to strictly follow all guidance as far as prevention of spread of the virus is concerned in school and nursery. It is so important that you also follow the national guidance at home. Please keep a very careful eye on your children and do not send them to school if they are unwell. Unfortunately Coronavirus in children can very often result in there being zero symptoms, which of course makes it very difficult to detect.
As a resident of Telford and Wrekin, you are allowed to access regular testing. We know that lots of families are doing this, which really does help us keep a grip on the virus transmission. If you can please follow this link and look to book tests as regular as you can –
https://rapidtest.telford.gov.uk
We are delighted with our online learning offer and hope you can spare a few minutes later today filling in the parent survey so that we can see clearly see what is working well and areas that we need to tweak.
Paper packs of work are an absolute last resort and no where near as beneficial to your children as the online lessons. We have been trying so hard to support all families in gaining online access. If you still are struggling please do ring the office and we will do all we can to get you up and running.
Thank you for your continued support.
MIss Cook
Headteacher
School Dinner menu W/B 18th January 2021
Below is the hot dinner menu available for those children attending school next week
Monday- Hot dogs. Potato wedge’s. Baked bean’s. Pea’s. Ice-cream.
Tuesday- Meatballs. Pasta twists. Tomato sauce. Seasonal Veg. Biscuit/cake.
Wednesday- Sliced pork. Herby potato’s. Seasonal veg. Fruit jelly.
Thursday- Breaded chicken. Rice. Curry sauce. Seasonal veg. Biscuit/cake.
Friday- Fish. Chip’s. Baked beans. Sweetcorn/pea’s. Mousse.
Remote Education Information to Parents
The information link below is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home. You can also view the document on the website in the section called ‘Parent guides’.
New critical worker/vulnerable child form – Monday 18th – Friday 22nd January
Please complete the form below if your child is eligible for a school place during the current school closure. All applications will be reviewed and considered once the form has closed at 9.00am on Thursday 14th January.
Please note that the filling in of this form does not guarantee you a place.
A member of school staff will contact you Friday afternoon to inform you if we can safely offer your child/ren a place. If we are unable to, we will support you in directing you to the remote learning offer we have in place.
All school staff would like to thank you for your unwavering support in these testing times.
Update 12.01.2021
Dear Parents/Carers,
We are receiving some very positive comments about our online learning offer. This is great as teachers really are trying very hard to ensure the offer will ensure as much progress as possible. Mrs Bishton will soon be sending out a brief survey to allow us to collect responses to share with outside agencies.
It is important to note that the children in school receive exactly the same offer as those at home. There is no benefit educationally, in sending your children into school and in fact only an increased level of risk as far as the virus is concerned.
The message continues to be: keep your children at home if you can. It is only ‘critical’ workers who literally have no other choice that we are considering applications for.
We have been informed that we are to be allocated some additional laptops to support our home learning offer. If you really are struggling to access online learning and are currently relying on paper packs, then contact the school and we will see what we can do to help.
As you know the data is showing alarming increases in virus transmissions across Telford. We continue to do all we can in school to keep everyone safe, including regular testing of all of our staff. We ask that you continue to join us in this battle and importantly do not send your children into school unless you have to or if they are displaying any signs of illness.
At the moment we are lucky to have healthy staff to ensure high quality education throughout. If we have cases, this limits this offer and affects us all.
The new survey to fill out for a child school place for next week is due to be sent out tomorrow (Wednesday 13th January), with a deadline of 9am on Thursday 14th January. Please remember, that if you do require a place, we require the form so that we have enough time to verify status and shift patterns.
Thank you for your continued support.
Miss Cook
Headteacher
PE days in school for all year groups
RECEPTION PE- Tuesday and Thursday mornings
YEAR 1 PE- Tuesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon
YEAR 2 PE- Tuesday morning and Friday morning
YEAR 3 PE- Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon
YEAR 4 PE- Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon
YEAR 5 PE- Tuesday afternoon and Friday morning
YEAR 6 PE- Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon
On the day’s that your child does PE, they should come to school in their PE kit.
Update – Please read!
Dear Parents/Carers,
I firstly want to thank you for working so well with us and having patience as we try and sort, then re-sort our systems dependent on what the Government throw at us!
The uncertainty has been a challenge to all of us especially those who have to juggle child care with work. The Newdale teams have worked so hard to organise both the ‘critical worker’ teaching offer, as well as an equally high quality online offer for those children who cannot come to school.
Places for children in school
The message is very clear – If you can keep your children at home, then that is the safest option for everyone. The word ‘critical’ means just that. We are only able to offer places for children whose parents are ‘critical’ workers. Please think very carefully about this before you fill in the application form. We are sending the form out weekly. This is because we have to check parents shift patterns and days required and then staff accordingly. It is a logistical challenge, with such a big school. Please note, once the form has closed, we will not be accepting late applications.
As well as trying our hardest to accommodate ‘critical’ worker children, we are inviting more ‘vulnerable’ children into school. This is on a case by case basis and usually involves Mrs. Powell or Mrs. Huda ringing parents individually.
Online learning
Teachers are investing a lot of time into the online learning offer and we need parents to do all they can to allow their children access. We have lent some laptops out and have some others for children who are really struggling (ring us if this includes you and we will see what we can do!) Again, this is on a case by case basis. Paper packs are really a last resort and are clearly not going to be anywhere near as good an offer as the online live teacher sessions.
We carefully monitor who is accessing the online learning and contact families if we see engagement is not daily and we thank you for your support in this. So far we are delighted in the efforts shown by our children and families… thank you. We understand that some parents are struggling to support children as they are ‘working from home’. Teachers are aware of this and trying hard to make sure the expectation is such that they need little help from you. It is so important that we keep our children learning, so that the gaps in knowledge and understanding do not become wider than they already are.
E Safety
We have noticed a few children turning to tik tok and you tube as they are couped up at home with a limited amount of things to do. E safety has never been so crucial as it is now. Miss Newport will continue to send tips out to parents, but in the meantime please check your children are not posting videos to the general public. You need to check content regularly and talk to your children about what they are doing online and what to do if they feel uncomfortable. We are very experienced in supporting E Safety and only happy to help should you need advice and support.
Preventing the spread
Anyone who is a critical worker or in fact a resident of Telford and Wrekin, is eligible for free rapid lateral flow tests, even if they are not displaying symptoms. Please follow this link to book you and your family a test: http://rapidtest.telford.gov.uk/ We cannot force you to get tested, but we politely ask that you do consider this on a regular basis, especially if you are sending your children into school. This could prevent an infection rapidly spreading in our school.
Staff in school are accessing this offer and get tested at least once a week to reassure you and their colleagues. Only last week a member of staff with no symptoms at all, tested positive and we were rapidly able to identify the very few direct contacts and prevent further infection. As you know, the biggest risk linked to transmission is not the children, but adults. This is why our procedures when considering interaction with you and other staff is paramount in our fight in keeping the virus at bay.
One effective strategy to help with limiting the spread, is to keep levels of ventilation high. Please ensure your children have their ‘winter woollies’ on when they come to school, as classroom doors and windows are open periodically throughout the day.
Exercise
Exercise and fresh air are really important when considering children’s mental health. Please find time to get your children out on walks and if you can tune into our school offer… Miss Jones, Mr. Irvine and Mr. Stone are trying their best to outshine Joe Wickes with weekly PE challenges! Please do check these out on the website and get your children to join in: of course you are welcome to have a go too!
Free School Meals
We will be providing school meals vouchers to children who are eligible and working from home. Edenred UK are currently working with the Department for Education (DfE) to deliver supermarket vouchers to those families. Whilst this system is being sorted out, if you are desperate for food we can offer packed lunches in the short term. Please call the office immediately and we will do all we can to help.
I apologise for the number of letters I am demanding you read and in some cases, like today, the length of the letters! We know communication is the key and we know it is important that our parent community is clear as to what we are doing and why we are doing it.
We are hopeful that next week will be a little bit easier for everyone as we settle into our routines. Thank you for your continued support and patience.
Miss Cook
Headteacher
