Dear Parents / Carers,

We are looking forward to welcoming you to our Winter Wonderland experiences over the next few weeks. We only hope that the weather is kind to us and that we do not have to postpone or worse cancel some. We will be carefully monitoring the weather apps and will give you as much notice as we can if we need to move or cancel the event. Fingers crossed!

We will be sending a series of reminders to ensure everyone is clear about dates, times and what to bring. I apologise now for the repetition; we just want to be sure that everyone accesses the information.

When it is your child’s event, please consider the following:

• Wait near Basecamp which is by our visitor’s car park. We will cordon off some car park spaces so you have somewhere to wait.
• Let your child’s teaching team get the children into Basecamp without encouraging the children to come to you beforehand.
• Bring TWO mugs, one for you and one for your child for the hot chocolate treat.
• Do not bring younger siblings or other family relatives – we are trying so hard to keep numbers to an absolute minimum to reduce the risk of any family or staff member having to self-isolate over Christmas.
• Do feel free to take photos of your own children but do not post any images that have other children in the background on social media.
• Make sure your child is dressed for the weather. We will proceed with each event unless it is pouring with rain or very windy.
• Let your child come in PE kit if it is a normal PE day.
• Dig out your Christmas jumpers for you and your child to wear.
• Bring your singing voices as no doubt you will be asked to join in!
• At the end of the event, parents will leave the Basecamp before the children – we can then ensure we have everyone before taking the children back to class.

As I say, I apologise in advance for any repetition. We simply want to avoid confusion. The children are all excited about the events we have planned in school, and we know this will be extra special for them as you are invited as their guests.

We understand that for various reasons, not all parents will be able to attend. Staff already have very special activities to do for those children, so they do not feel left out.

Fingers crossed everyone!

Miss Cook

Headteacher

Newdale Primary School and Nursery

Dear Parents/Carers,

Over the next few weeks, we have let you know of some very exciting events that we have got planned for the children to get them into the festive spirit.

As a school, we are continuing to tightly follow COVID-19 guidelines to ensure that we keep the virus at bay. In line with these guidelines, if your child is attending the cinema or pantomime, it is optional for them to wear face coverings on the coach and when seated in the theatre. Members of staff will ensure that there is ventilation on the coaches as we know that this is key to limiting the spread of transmission. Hand gel will also be provided to the children on the trips at relevant intervals. We are tightly following the risk assessment guidelines issued by the theatre.

As mentioned in previous parent correspondence, if your child is feeling unwell or displaying symptoms, please refrain from sending them into school and take a precautionary test.

Please refer to class pages on the website for further information about year group specific events.

Many thanks

Miss Cook

Dear Parents/Carers,

We are going full steam ahead with our plans for Christmas with our main aim being that we have an offer that is fun and exciting for the children.

We thought we would be over this pandemic by now but unfortunately Telford and Wrekin Covid 19 data does not reflect that we are. Our data indicates that we have one of the highest infection rates in the West Midlands. It is very difficult for school leaders to judge what is the best way forward with planning Christmas events when there is the threat of ruining staff and family Christmas breaks if people need to isolate; and of course, the potential for people being very poorly with Covid over the holidays. As always, we follow the guidance from the Health Protection Hub, and we look closely at our own data and the outbreaks we have. We also must take into consideration staff and children’s vulnerabilities when decision making.

It is important to remember that not all schools will have the same offer. Schools have their own circumstances which dictate what they can offer. For example, some schools have much larger halls than ours and in some cases they even have two school halls.

As everyone knows, being outside is the safest place to be, which is why we thought long and hard about how we could celebrate Christmas safely, with an event that not only the children would enjoy, but also one that parents could attend to share some of the magic of Christmas with their children. We know from our recent cases that most infections have been passed on to children from their parents and this is why we would rather avoid having groups of parents in school at this time. We do hope that someone from your family can attend, and can only apologise that we have to limit numbers, but again hope you can see why.

We are of course carrying out as many other Christmas activities as we can in school to ensure the children are suitably excited about this special event as we break up for the holidays:

• We booked the pantomime before the pandemic nearly 2 years ago! The cost of this event has been heavily subsidised by school with parents only actually being asked to pay half the amount. We have checked with the theatre and they have their own strict measures in place to reduce the risk of infection. Our staff teams will of course be carrying out all of the usual procedures with hand sanitizing etc. We know the children will love this experience and that it will be something they remember forever!

• We also have the cinema experience for Year 2 – 6; the rest of the school will be enjoying their own cinema experience in school complete with a sweet treat!

• Christmas dinner day will proceed as normal as will our annual visit from Mr and Mrs Claus who kindly come and talk to each class in the hall and tell them about how their preparations are going.

• Teachers will also be offering lots of the normal Christmas activities in class and we are confident that what we have on offer that will be enjoyed by them all.

• Children are invited to wear their Christmas Jumpers or something Christmassy on the day they have their Winter Wonderland experience and also for their Christmas dinner day.

We understand that parents would have liked to see nativity plays and participated in carol concerts, but we really do hope you can see that we have thought carefully about the Newdale offer and struck a fair balance between fun for the children and the safety of everyone leading into the Christmas holidays.

Of course we have everything crossed that we can return to ‘normal’ next year and invite as many of you as possible back into our building. Please believe us when we say we would much rather do this and please do not compare us to other settings as all schools have their own community data to consider along with their own building/space limitations.

Thank you for your patience and hope to see you at our Christmas Wonderland events.

Please note that all dates are posted on our website. I will also ask teachers to message out these dates again, so you are clear.

Miss Cook

Headteacher

Flu immunisation’s are taking place on Thursday 9th December for children in reception, year 1, year 2, year 3, year 4, year 5 and year 6. Consent forms are going home today, please fill in and return the form to school. Please return the consent form if you do or do not give consent. Regards

Your child will be bringing home an Information Check sheet this week.  Please ensure you check carefully that all of the details that we hold are correct including contact numbers and permissions and mark any changes. Al sheets should be signed and returned even if all of the information is correct.