Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• School Update

  Thu 28 May 2020

  Following this evenings government announcement about school reopening we are delighted to be welcoming more children back to school from Monday 1st June. 

   

  As we have explained previously the children will be placed in bubbles within school with numbers limited in accordance with government guidance. From Monday 1st June we will have the following structure:

   

  Class One - Will remain in class one as per usual

  Class Two  - Will remain in class two as per usual

  Class Three - Will be split into two bubbles taught by Ms Woodrow or Miss Richardson

  Class Four - Year one children will remain with Ms Handley

  Class Ten - Will be split into two bubble taught by Mr Haigh or Ms Baliol-Key/Mrs Anderson

   

  We have planned our provision so that we are able to welcome back all children in EYFS, Year One and Year 6.  If at any point you decide that you would like your child to return to school then please contact the school office.

   

  In addition to this we will continue to provide childcare to the children of Key Workers and this will continue in the school hall.  If you haven't previously accessed this provision and now require it again please contact the school office. 

   

  Finally, those children who aren't yet due to return to school will continue to be provided with home learning using the same channels as before the half term break.  As always please contact us if there is anything we can do to support you with this. 

   

  Many thanks for your continued support in these ever changing times.

   

  David Nicholson 

• School Update

  Fri 22 May 2020

  Next week, we hope you can enjoy the May half-term holiday.  Please remember: the school is closed in order to allow staff time to prepare for the school’s re-opening and teachers will not be setting nor uploading any work for children to do onto the school website, during the half-term break. 

   

  We will be contactable through the enquiries email address if you have any concerns around the reopening or you require provision as you are classed as a key worker.  We have planned for all of the children in YR, Y1 and Y6 to return so we will have space to accommodate any child who wishes to return to school. 

   

  The government have identified eligible year groups which are strongly encouraged to return to school, on this date, unless they are self-isolating or they are clinically vulnerable.  The Government have stipulated the reasons for their return as:

   

  • Reception: support early development through child-initiated play;
  • Year 1: support Reading development; and
  • Year 6: support English and Mathematics as well as prepare students for transition to secondary school.

   

  The staff have been busy preparing the classrooms and the pictures attached hopefully give you a bit of an idea as to how the classrooms may look.  As we explained in the information for parents we have planned to provide the children with their own work station and equipment to use throughout the day.  The children will then stay in these bubbles for the entire week. We have been very mindful to try and leave the classrooms as normal as possible whilst meeting the requirements set out in the guidance. 

   

  Before the return to school, all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 will be notified which ‘class bubble’ they have been allocated, when they return to school along with a reminder about the drop off and pick up points.  Staff will be on hand again to greet you and to collect your child/ren for you. Please be mindful that ‘school drop off’ and collection will take slightly longer than normal, during this period.  I would ask for your patience and understanding as we implement these new arrangements.

   

  In the meantime, we would like to encourage all our children and their families to have a well earned rest and try to enjoy the sunshine as much as you can at this current time.

   

  We all miss you incredibly and we can't wait to be welcoming you all back to school as soon as we are allowed to do so.

   

  Stay safe

   

  Mr Nicholson  

   

   

  

• School Update

  Thu 21 May 2020

  Good morning everyone,

   

  I hope you are all well and enjoying the sunshine. 

   

  In school we continue to prepare for the partial reopening of our school on Monday 1st June.  The staff have been working hard to prepare the Risk Assessments and alter the classrooms etc so that we comply fully with the guidance. 

   

  As has been explained in our communications to parents in YR, Y1 and Y6, social distancing in a school is virtually impossible.  Instead, the children will be placed in what are now know as 'bubbles' with a class teacher and an additional adult.  They will then spend their whole school day in this bubble learning, eating and playing together in both their classroom and outside. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the staff for their hard work in preparing for the reopening.  All of the staff have been amazing and they are 100% committed to getting our school open again.  

   

  I understand that our parents may have concerns about their child/ren returning to school on Monday 1^st June.  All I can do is reassure you, this has been a considered decision on behalf of the Government to look to possibly re-open schools on 1^st June, as long as there is no change to the COVID-19 emergency and the Government recommended measures have been implemented in schools.  If anyone does have any questions then please contact school and we will do our upmost to answer them and reassure you.  We have planned for all of the children to return to school so if you decide at any point before 1st June that you want your child to attend then they will be more than welcome. 

   

  We will continue to provide provision for the children of 'key workers' who are in the other year groups and again as always please contact us if you wish to access this provision. 

   

  At this moment we have received no indication as to when the other year groups will be back in school as soon as we do hear anything we will let you know.  In the meantime we will continue to provide 'home learning' guidance for these year groups and the teachers will be available to support as much as their new teaching commitments allow. 

   

  As has been explained we do have some new drop off and pick up arrangements which are as follows;

  • Class 1 will use the main entrance.
  • Class 2 will use the existing Foundation Stage entrance, with the waiting area being on the footpath.
  • Year 1 children will wait on one of the 3 playgrounds.
  • Year 6 children will enter school through the car-park and the gate to the field.  They are invited to wait for their teachers on the school field.

   

  We would urge all parents to follow the 2m social distancing guidance when dropping their children off at school.  Staff will be on hand again to greet you and to collect your child/ren for you. Please be mindful that ‘school drop off’ and collection will take slightly longer than normal, during this period.  I would ask for your patience and understanding as we implement these new arrangements.

   

  As the school is due to re-open on Monday 1^st June, we won't be offering any hot school lunches and these will be the arrangements:

  • Year 6 parents who wish to, they can purchase a packed lunch from our school meal provider, or provide their own;
  • Reception and Year 1 parents who wish to can order a FREE packed lunch, as part of the Universal Free School Meals, or provide their own-from our school meal provider;
  • Families in receipt of Free School meals, in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 will continue to receive a weekly food hamper so will have to provide their own packed lunch.  If you would prefer to have a packed lunch rather than the hampers then please let us know. 

   

  The order forms for Ideal opened on Tuesday 19^th May and will close at Midnight on Sunday 24^th May.

   

  I would like to thank you all for your patience and understanding as we navigate our way through these unprecedented times.

   

  I look forward to welcoming ‘back to school’ many of our Reception, Year 1 and Year 6, from Monday 1^st June, if the school re-opens. 

   

  I will continue to keep you up to date.

   

  Stay safe.

   

   

• You are shining lights

  Fri 15 May 2020 Miss Mills

  Good Morning,

   

  I have a little treat for all of you.

   

  Usually on a Friday in school we would celebrate your achievements with our Star of the Week assembly.

  
  So today even though we can’t do that, we have made something for you to show you that you are all stars.

   

  You just need to visit your class page to find it.

   

  We miss you so much and we can’t wait to see you again.

   

  You are all stars. You are our shining lights.

   

  Enjoy! Love Miss Mills

• School Update

  Thu 14 May 2020

  Good morning everyone, 

   

  What a strange week it has been, I have never been in so many Zoom meetings! 

   

  I understand that parents may have lots of questions regarding the possibility and practicalities of the school  re-opening from the 1^st June.  At this stage, I can confirm that we are looking at the Government guidance and establishing plans, procedures and guidance for this eventuality.  Last night the Trustee's agreed that the Risk Assessment we have completed is very thorough and based on the latest government guidance.  

   

  We greatly appreciate all of the responses to the ParentMail survey we sent out and this has helped with our planning.  Our next stage is to produce more detailed guidance for parents about our exact plans for what school will look like and how we will manage the risks to our staff and children.  This will be ready very soon and I hope that it will provide some reassurance to you all.  Throughout all of these challenges we face I am reminded of our school value of 'Love' and the scripture we always refer to which is: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Matthew 22: 39.  Never has this been more important to remember and we certainly all do love all members of our school community and the safety of our staff and children will be paramount to any decisions we make.

   

  In the meantime school continues to be open this week, next week and from 1st June for those children whose parents are 'key workers' and require us to provide provision for them.  The staff have supported this incredibly well and if anyone does need their child to attend please let us know, we are here to help.

   

  As we move towards half term, keep enjoying the sunshine now it is back.  The teachers will continue to support home learning through guidance to activities and support for the children.  I know I am speaking for the whole team when i say: we are here to help, please get in contact if there is anything we can do.

   

  Take care

   

  Mr Nicholson 

• School Update

  Wed 13 May 2020

  Good morning everyone,

   

  We have been working hard on our plans for the partial reopening of school and parents who have children in the affected year groups should have now received a letter outlining our plans.  Additional information for parents is available on the following link:

   

  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/reopening-schools-and-other-educational-settings-from-1-june?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

   

  Home Learning

  The teaching staff continue to provide daily home-learning tasks and they are available to support 

  the children as required.  We are all extremely grateful for the support that you are all providing the children at home.

   

  Don’t forget, you can also access regular daily lessons in English and Maths, as well as other core subjects, in a new version of the BBC Bitesize website, as well as from the new Oak National Academy. 

   

  Virtual Competition

   

  On Monday 11th May 2020, the third competition was launched:  Cricket Skills

   

  For this competition your pupils will need to complete 4 cricket skills challenges – Batting, Catching, Throwing, Bowling (see the instruction videos in the pack attached).  Remember to ask someone to video them completing the challenges and you can have a go as many times as they wish and record their best scores.

   

  Ask a parent/guardian to:

  1. Complete the entry form and include their child’s  best scores for each skill.
  2. Upload a link to the video of one of their skills being performed onto the entry form.
  3. From here you will need to input some other information so that we know which school you attend.

   

  You have two weeks to submit your entry from 11^th May onwards until Friday 22^nd May. The best scores from each SGO area will be selected for a county final event.  Good luck!

   

  I know that these are uncertain times for us all but we will continue to support our school community as best we can.    

   

  Stay safe.

   

  Mr Nicholson 

• School Update

  Tue 12 May 2020

  Good morning everyone,

   

  How lovely it is to see the sun returning, as we navigate these uncertain times it certainly seems to make things a little easier! Hopefully you will have continued to receive guidance from the teachers around home learning activities.  I would also like to draw your attention to the latest Collective Worship from Mr Buckeridge along with the new Sporting competition (cricket) run by Mr Plumb and the Lincolnshire SGO's.  

   

  Finally, I hope that today you will all have received the following letter via ParentMail, which explains where we are up to with regard to the reopening of our school. 

   

  Take care and we look forward to seeing you all soon,

   

  David Nicholson 

   

  May 12^th 2020

   

  Dear Parents/Carers,

   

  As you will all be aware the government have now released information about the reopening of schools.  This will see children in year 6, year 1 and Foundation Stage return to school on Monday 1^st June with other year groups to follow at a later stage.

   

  We realise that this is a very uncertain time for all members of our school community and there are still many questions to be answered.  I would like to take this opportunity to reassure you that the whole staff team are committed to getting our school reopened for the communities we serve.  We now have very clear guidance from the government around the steps we can take to ensure that school will be as safe as is possible at these times.

   

  Myself, and the Senior Leadership Team are meeting later today to finalise our plans as to how things will look on 1^st June along with any other measures we will need to put in place.  These plans will then be shared with the trustees’ tomorrow evening.  Once these plans have been agreed by all we will share them with yourselves later this week to give you clear guidance for the future.  I firmly believe that at this time we as a school have a duty to be open and honest with yourselves so that you are best placed to make an informed decision over whether you choose to send your child into school or not. 

   

  As a parent myself, I fully understand the concerns that many of you may have about sending you children back to school and as the government have indicated there will be no punishments for anyone choosing to keep their children at home for an extended period.   Having said this we are all committed to making our school a safe place for the children to return to and the safety of all members of our school community will be our number priority throughout.  

   

  We all look forward to seeing you again soon, take care and continue to stay safe.

   

  My kindest regards,

   

  David Nicholson  

• School Update

  Mon 11 May 2020

  Good morning everyone,

   

  I am sure like myself you are all left a little confused by the briefing from yesterday about what the next few weeks may look like particularly with regards to the reopening of schools.  We have been assured that over the next few days we will get further guidance from the government about this and as soon as we hear anything we will let you know.  I would like to take this opportunity to reassure you all that we take the safety of our school community very seriously and this will be our number one concern when it comes to reopening school.

   

  In the meantime school is open this week and next week for the children of 'key workers' if you require your child to attend school then as before please contact us. 

   

  Right about now, our year 6 children should have been sitting their first SAT paper and our thoughts are with them all.  What a shame that their final year at primary school has seen so much disruption and uncertainty.  I am sure that in years to come you will be able to look back and reflect on living through an unprecedented situation and smile at the memories it will provide. 

   

  In terms of home learning, this will continue in the current format for the rest of this term and the teachers have planned activities for this week and will be available on Google Classroom and via the telephone to assist.  Once we know what the plans are for after half term we will review our provision and update you with any changes. 

   

  I hope you all managed to enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend, the lovely weather on Friday and Saturday certainly helped. 

   

  Take care everyone,

   

  Mr Nicholson 

• School Update

  Thu 07 May 2020

  Good morning everyone,

   

  How lovely it is to see the sun out again and I hope you will all make the most of it before some cold weather returns on Sunday.  With tomorrow being the 75th anniversary of VE-Day I know that you may have lots of exciting things planned, remember if you do get any good pictures or do some great work then please send me a copy and I will make a video to show them all.

   

  Whilst I think about work, Mr Haigh has starting collecting together examples of your amazing 'lock-down' writing and he is going to make a display of these in school.  Remember keep trying to access the work your teachers are sending you and don't forget to keep those standards high! Your teachers are there to help and support, please ask if you need anything.  

   

   

  11+ Information

  This week we have been notified by the LINCOLNSHIRE CONSORTIUM OF GRAMMAR SCHOOLS about the slight changes to the 11+ tests scheduled for this September.  They have changed the test dates.  The new test dates are:

  • First 11+ Test – Verbal Reasoning 19 September 2020
  • Second 11+ Test – Non-Verbal Reasoning 26 September 2020

   

  These dates are one week later than originally planned.  Parents of Year 5 children who wish to work on 11+ at home can access free online resources by visiting our 'Home Learning' page where we have added a link to the resources. 

   

  In the 'home learning' section of the website we have also put the revised Key Dates for 2021 Entry, as well as information from both King’s School and KGGS and a series of answers to Frequently Asked Questions. 

   

  Year 6 transition

  Mr Haigh has been consulting with the secondary schools and he has been busy telling them all how amazing all of our year 6 children are.  Our understanding is that they are looking at alternative ways to complete the transition process and they will be in contact with families very soon to share these with you.  It may be worth checking out the websites of the secondary school as they have starting adding a transition page onto these. 

   

  Virtual PE Challenge

  Don't forget that it is not to late to enter the virtual Penthalon which is being arranged by Mr Plumb and the Lincolnshire School Games team.  The details have been sent out to you all and they are on the Home Learning page of our website.  It would be great if we could get some entries from our school. 

   

  I understand that these are uncertain times for us all.  However, I also understand that the Prime Minister is due to announce the ‘next phase’ of the lock-down on Sunday as part of the Governments Daily Briefing.  Perhaps after Sunday, we might have a better understanding of how the lock-down or the next steps will affect schools and of course our children and their families.  We have begun making plans for the reopening of school so that we can make sure we can open as soon as possible in the safest way possible. 

   

  Take care and stay safe, I hope you all manage to enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend the best you can.

   

  Mr Nicholson 

• School Update

  Tue 05 May 2020

  Good morning everyone,

   

  Here we are for another day of learning at home, as I type this I have George working upstairs, Stanley sat next to me doing some maths and Darcy scooting around in her baby walker.  I'd like to think that it is a scene of calm and orderly learning, however the reality is somewhat different! 

   

  VE-DAY

  We have had a communication from the Royal British Legion as they are leading the events to mark VE-Day in this new world we find ourselves in.  Here is the plan of events for the day they have put together:

   

  Royal British Legion Schedule

   

  1100-1102          – Two Minute Silence

  1115-1200          – The Royal British Legion VE75 Livestream

  2000-2110          – VE Day 75: The People’s Celebration, BBC One

  2100                    – ‘We’ll Meet Again’ Singalong

   

  Two Minute Silence

   

  The Legion is calling on people to join in a national moment of reflection and Remembrance at 11am on Friday 8^th May and pause for a Two Minute Silence, not only in recognition of the service and sacrifice of the Second World War generation, but also to reflect on the devastating impact Covid-19 has had on so many lives across the world.

   

  People are invited to take part in the Silence in whatever way they feel appropriate be that standing at their window, stepping outside their home, whilst remaining distanced from others, or taking the opportunity for a quiet moment of reflection. To build momentum towards this important moment, please share this with your communities and encourage everyone to come together in Remembrance at 11am.

   

  The Royal British Legion Livestream

   

  Following the Silence the Legion is hosting a VE Day livestream, sharing stories and memories from those who served and sacrificed during the Second World War. The Legion is inviting people to grab a cup of tea and join us for the livestream as we bring the World War Two generation together with today’s generation to chat about their experiences.

   

  Hosted by TV presenter Sonali Shah, the programme will feature contributions from social historian Julie Summers and cook and influencer Melissa Helmsley. The stream will be live from 11.15am on the Legion’s website rbl.org.uk/veday75.

   

   

  VE Day 75: The People’s Celebration BBC ONE:  20:00 – 21:10 

   

  To mark the 75^th anniversary of VE day, in these unprecedented times, the BBC in partnership with The Royal British Legion will honour and celebrate the World War Two Generation with an evening of memories and music.  Featuring some of those who remember this historic day, together with Britain’s favourite performers who will entertain us with popular songs of the era.  In a fitting finale at 9.00 pm we will see the nation unite for a very special rendition of “We’ll Meet Again” as we all give thanks to our veterans and remember our loved ones.

   

  ‘We’ll Meet Again’ Singalong

   

  Lyrics available on The Royal British Legion website https://www.rbl.org.uk/stories/ve-day-singalong

   

  VE Day 75 Learning Pack

   

  Designed for 7-14 year olds the learning pack includes first-hand accounts from the Second World War generation, veteran interviews and a range of activities to allow families to explore and commemorate VE Day 75 together. People can follow the activity on social media using #VEDay75 and #VEDay75Live during the livestream.

   

  Branch led activities

  Many Branches are organising online/virtual VE Day 75 activities so don’t forget to check what your Branch might have planned and join in.

   

  This looks like a fabulous resource and I will be using some of them with my own family on Friday.

   

  Resources and Library

  Don't forget that we have put resources to support home learning and a selection of books in the foyer at school, you are more than welcome to call in and take whatever you need.

   

  Future Plans

  As you will be aware we continue to wait for guidance from the government as to what the future holds, as soon as we know anything we will share this with you.

   

  Provision in School

  We continue to provide childcare in school for those children whose parents are key workers and their is no alternative but to attend school.  If you do need to access this provision then please contact us through the enquiries e-mail address so that we can add you to the list and plan our staffing accordingly. 

   

  Don't forget that we are all here to help and support you the best we can.

   

  Stay Safe,

   

  David Nicholson