Christmas Cards from Home

Dear Parents and Carers,

Despite everything that is going on in the outside world, here at Newdale we want to hold onto as many traditions as we can.

We know that Christmas cards and kind gifts sent in for staff are a huge part of Christmas and we are keen for the children to be able to swap cards safely. In order for this to happen, we will be asking you to do the following –

Please do not allow your children to lick the envelopes for obvious reasons.

Cards must only be brought in the week beginning 7th December. The last date that we can accept cards will be Friday 11th December. We will not be accepting any cards past this date.

The reason for this is that once the cards are brought in, they will be isolated in a sealed box. Following an isolation period, the cards will then be distributed to the children in the week beginning 14th December.

If we were to receive cards in after the cut off date, we would not be able to isolate them in time to send out. Please do not send any cards or gifts in after the 11th as we will not be able to accept them.

Thank you for your continued support.

Reception Virtual Tour

Take a virtual tour around our Reception classes here at Newdale Primary! These videos are available for all to watch, particularly our families that are interested in sending their child to our school in September 2021.

You can click on the links below to view the videos through our YouTube channel (they can also be found on our ‘Reception Resources’ page). We hope you enjoy them!

Update 26.11.20

Dear Parents and Carers,

As you are aware, we closed the Year 2 bubble yesterday. We are grateful for all the kind words of support that you as the parent community have shared with us – it really is appreciated.

Mrs Bishton and I have continued to work with the Health Protection hub throughout yesterday evening. Some of the Year 2 pupils are required to self-isolate, meaning that they must not leave the house and return to school until 8th December.

However, along with the Health Protection Hub we have been able to identify a small list of pupils who have not been in direct contact with the positive case. This group of pupils do not need to self-isolate and therefore do not need to stay in their homes. We have contacted all of these parents directly to inform them. These pupils will still need to remain off school, as staff absence means that we are unable to cover in those class bases at this time. We are hopeful that as staffing issues ease, we can invite this group of pupils back to school sooner. We will be in immediate contact with these parents as soon as we are able to do this.

Many parents are asking for our advice in taking their child for a test. We are not medical professionals and can only follow the guidance we have all been given. Our advice to you is to directly follow the Government guidance below –

Symptoms of COVID-19
The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID 19) are recent onset of:
A new continuous cough and/or
High temperature and/or
A loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

If you or your child has any of these three main symptoms, you need to immediately get a test and self-isolate until the result is known.

Telford and Wrekin council are now asking you to book a COVID-19 test as a precaution, if you are showing other symptoms, such as:
Headaches
Aches and pains
Feeling tired for no good reason
Sore throat
Runny nose
Sneezing
Tummy ache in children

You can book a test online, it is quick and easy.
If you are booking a coronavirus test as a precaution due to one or more of the above symptoms, you don’t need to self-isolate unless you receive a positive test result.
However, if the symptom which is the reason for the test relates to vomiting and diarrhoea, you will need to follow our sickness policy and keep your child off school for 48 hours after the onset of the symptoms.

How to stop COVID-19 spreading
There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with COVID-19
Do
– Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
– Use hand sanitiser gel (with 60% alcohol) if soap and water are not available
– Wash your hands as soon as you get home
– Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
– Put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards
All the staff and pupils here at Newdale will continue to work with the Health Protection Hub to ensure that the safety of our children is at the forefront of all we do.

Kind regards,

Miss Cook
Headteacher

Update 23.11.20

Dear Parents/Carers,

 

As part of our ongoing risk assessment, we need to ensure levels of ventilation across the school are high. We are told this constant movement of fresh air helps us keep our school safer.

 

This means that we need to have periods of time where the doors to classrooms and windows are left open. Before now, this was not too much of an issue but now the temperatures are dropping it could be.

 

Please ensure your children are adequately dressed e.g. with an extra layer under their shirt and of course please make sure they have a coat.

 

We continue to do all we can to protect everyone in our school, but we need your help along the way.

 

As ever…

 

  • Keep your children off school if they are displaying symptoms (do not risk it for the sake of everyone else).
  • Maintain social distance yourselves at all times and wear a mask.
  • Make sure children wash hands before arriving at school and immediately when they come home.
  • Keep us up to date – communication is key at this time.

 

If in doubt, call the office (01952 387720) and someone will do their best to help you.

 

 

Miss Cook

Headteacher

Found – mobile phone

A mobile phone has been handed into school that was found just outside the school grounds.  Please contact the office on 01952 387720 if you believe that it belongs to you.

Parent/Carer Survey Autumn 2020

We would like to thank all of the parents in school and nursery who completed a parent survey this year. We were delighted to receive back over 250 surveys this year! Each survey has been read and we really value your thoughts and opinions. Once feedback has been discussed with all staff, we will share with you our next steps as a school.

The winners of the £50 Asda vouchers are:
Harley (Year 6)
Tiana (Year 1)
Coby (Ladybugs)

Vouchers will be given out by the end of the week.

Many thanks for taking the time to complete a survey, your views are important to us.

A day to remember

The children marked Remembrance Day by making and displaying their poppies. We watched the two minute silence as the wreath was laid at the cenotaph. We talked about people looking after us and keeping us safe. We thought about happy, sad and scary times. The children were fantastic at remaining quiet for the whole two minutes. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the poppy appeal.

Update 11.11.20

Dear Parents/Carers,

 

Just a quick note to say ‘thank you’ for the efforts everyone is making to keep our site Covid free. We are delighted in the response we have had to the request for all parents to wear face coverings on our site.

 

As you will undoubtedly of heard, there are relatively high numbers of Covid in Telford and therefore we continue to operate strict hygiene and ‘bubble’ systems in school. Adult to adult transition holds the highest risk and with your help we are managing to keep everyone safe.

 

I continue to carefully analyse the advice we are given as schools and update our risk assessment accordingly.

 

Kind regards,

 

Miss Cook

Children In Need November 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

This year we are concentrating our efforts on our Remembrance event on 11th November, please reference the post from 3rd November for further details.

We are aware that Children In Need is also on this week.

We do not want to over burden parents with requests for money and also need to be very careful when handling money on site due to the risks of contamination.

As a result of this, we ask you to support Children In Need elsewhere if you can. There are plenty of collection pots around our community and an option to donate online should you wish.

Miss Cook