Dear Parents and Carers

Year 3 and 4 have had a wonderful few days on residential at Astley Burf. They have enjoyed challenging themselves on the high ropes, scaling the climbing wall, archery, long walks and a talent show, amongst other activities. They managed to dodge the worst of the weather and were even able to enjoy a camp fire last night. The staff who have accompanied them are very proud of them all – even if the children didn’t want to sleep on the first night! Huge thanks go to Mrs Hadley, Mrs Jarrott, Miss Howarth, Mrs Evans, Mr Lamb and Miss Beddoes who so generously gave their time to ensure that the children had an unforgettable experience!

It has been lovely to welcome parents and carers into school this morning for the Macmillan Coffee Morning. A wonderful array of cakes were served and there was a lovely atmosphere with time to chat after the busy school run as well as supporting a very worthwhile cause. Thank you to the RFA who organised and ran this event.

Kind regards

Mrs D Hudson

Headteacher

On Thursday the Department For Education (DfE) will carry out the  school census which determines our school budget for next financial year. The characteristics of our school (its size, location and relatively low levels of deprivation) means that our school does not get as much funding as others. We cannot influence this but we can influence the amount we get in our budget for ‘universal free school meals.’

**This means we need everyone in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 to book a school meal on Thursday 5^th October, along with every child in Key Stage 2 who is entitled to free school meals. ** 

The school gets another amount of additional funding for every child who is eligible for free school meals because of household income. It is therefore important that you apply for free school meals even if you currently don’t pay for lunches because your child is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2.

https://www.dudley.gov.uk/residents/benefits/free-school-meals/

Please contact the school office if you need support with this.

Yesterday, a group of children from the School Council visited the Black Country Food Bank to learn more about their work. They provide emergency food packs and toiletries to people in crisis. We heard that last year they provided over half a million meals - a rise of over 20% from last year.  We also learned that at this time of unprecedented need, donation have fallen as people cope with the cost of living crisis. Jen, who showed us around, told us that this year for the first time, the charity had had to buy food to keep the foodbank stocked and had spent £30,000 to ensure that they could meet need.

The children were inspired by the work of the volunteers and are looking forward to sharing their experience with the rest of the school in an assembly next week. We will be collecting Harvest donations for the food bank next week. A full list can be found on the Black Country Food Bank Website but the following items are in especially short supply at the moment.

• 1LTR CARTONS LONG LIFE MILK
• 1LTR CARTONS LONG LIFE FRUIT JUICE
• BREAKFAST CEREAL – MULTIPACK
• PACKET MASH POTATO
• PASTA SAUCE/COOKING SAUCES
• TINNED SOUP
• TINNED FISH
• MEAT FREE TINNED RAVIOLI, CHILLI, MACARONI CHEESE
• TINNED FRUIT IN JUICE
• SHAMPOO
• TOILET ROLL
• ROLL ON DEODERANT
• SHOWER GEL

Donations can be brought into school from Thursday 5th October onward.

Our Assemblies will be held on Friday 6^th and Monday 9^th October. For fire safety purposes we are repeating the assembly and ask that where possible’, you attended the relevant assembly to the key stage of your child. (If you have children in both key stages please come whenever is most convenient)

• Friday 6^th October          10.00 a.m.           Reception and Key Stage 1 Parents
• Monday 9^th October       9.00 a.m.             Key Stage 2 Parents

We look forward to seeing you.

We are extending the deadline for nomination forms to be returned to school to 12 noon on Friday 6^th October 2023. Please do consider if you might be able to support the work of the school in this important way – please speak to Mrs Hudson if you would like to find out more.

Sadly, over the past week we have received two separate complaints about parking, from residents of Gregory Road. This is a persistent problem and we share the frustration of our neighbours. Inconsiderate parking is not only an inconvenience but is hazardous to pedestrians and can also hinder access for emergency vehicles.

• Please avoid double parking along the length of Gregory Road and obstructing the driveways of our neighbours. (Marked out with the white I-------I)
• Do not park on the yellow’ Keep Clear Zig Zags’ or in the turning circle in Gregory Road.

Please do not park or turn round in the school car park.

We are entering the season of coughs and cold and are seeing a number of Covid cases. It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school when they're unwell. There are government guidelines for schools and nurseries about managing specific diseases. These say when children should be kept off school and when they shouldn't.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

In summary - it's fine to send your child to school with a minor cough or common cold but if they have a fever, keep them off school until the fever goes. Children with diarrhoea or vomiting should stay away from school until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 2 days (48 hours).

COVID-19

If your child has mild symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough, and feels well enough, they can go to school. Your child should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and they either:

• have a high temperature
• do not feel well enough to go to school or do their normal activities

What to do if your child has tested positive

Your child is no longer required to do a COVID-19 rapid lateral flow test if they have symptoms. But if your child has tested positive for COVID-19, they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days after the day they took the test.

This Weeks attendance 

Whole School - 96.52%

Reception - 99.33%

Year 1 – 98.28%

Year 2 – 94.67%

Year 3 – 98.67%

Year 4 – 95.71%

Year 5 – 92.67%

Year 6 – 96.31%

Well done Reception!

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Mrs Hudson is the Designated Safeguarding Lead and any concerns should be shared with her or the Deputy Safeguarding Leads – Mrs Hadley, Miss Beddoes and Mrs Gledhill.  Where child protection concerns are raised, the school has a statutory duty to refer these concerns to children’s social care.

Next week, we are welcoming Saltmine Theatre Company who will be presenting ‘Blast Off’ – an online safety production and workshop which covers issues such as cyberbullying, grooming and inappropriate content for KS1 and KS2. It teaches children how to stay on safe websites, not to share personal information, to respect other Internet users, and to tell a trusted adult if they feel unsafe.

Barnardo’s provide some useful support for parents and carers who want to learn more about how to support their children to stay safe on-line.

https://www.barnardos.org.uk/blog/online-safety-parents-questions

Follow us on Twitter