I know it’s a few weeks before we break up for Christmas and I know it’s still November … but today I thought I would share with you our plans for Christmas.

It will be nice to have something to look forward to…

Christmas Podcast: As we can’t complete the usual Christmas Concerts and Nativity this year, the whole school will be contributing to a Christmas Podcast for the end of term. You will be able to hear the children performing songs and poems, as well as shout outs and jokes. The podcasts will be available to download from the school website, by the end of term.

Christmas Dinner: Children will be able to have a Christmas Dinner in school again this year, however due to bubbles, we will have to spread Christmas Dinner over two days.

Reception and Key Stage 1 will have their Christmas Dinner on Tuesday 15th December (KS2 will have sandwich bags - there will be no hot option for KS2).
Key Stage 2 will have their Christmas Dinner on Wednesday 16th December (Reception and KS1 will have sandwich bags - there will be no hot option for Reception and KS1).

You will receive a text next week, asking whether you would like to book a Christmas Dinner for your child. Please reply to the text by Friday 4th December.

Christmas Dinner will consist of:

Roast Turkey or Quorn Roast
Roast Potatoes, Mash Potatoes, Stuffing, Cocktail Sausages, Peas, Carrots and Parsnips. All served with gravy.
Christmas Tree Shortbread Biscuit.

Christmas Disco: We can’t have the usual Christmas Disco this year. Instead, each class will have the opportunity to have their own bubble disco. The discos will take place during the day on Monday 14th or Tuesday 15th December. Each class will go in separately to maintain bubble safety. Children should come to school in their uniform as normal.

Christmas Class Parties: On Wednesday 16th December, the children will be having their class Christmas Parties, these will be socially distanced and will adhere to Covid regulations, however we have some exciting party games planned. School will supply a snack and a drink for the children. On this day, the children can wear their party clothes to school.

Christmas Jumper Day: On the last day of term, Friday 18th December, the children can wear a Christmas Jumper to school. Please can they wear their usual trousers/skirt and school shoes.

Last Day of Term: On the last day of term, we will be announcing our “Stars of the Term”, unfortunately parents will not be able to attend, but the children will come home with their certificate.

The end of the Autumn Term is on Friday 18th December at 1:00 pm. The gates will be open from 12:50. Please continue to adhere to social distancing and wearing face masks, when collecting the children. The new Spring Term, for the children, will start on Tuesday 5th January.

There will be no PE in the final week of term; so the children will be expected to wear uniform everyday, unless specified above.

Some gentle reminders…

Reception Admissions: If you have a child who is due to start Reception in September 2021, the admissions process is now open. Please apply online at:

https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Education/Admissions-primary/Apply/Overview.aspx The deadline for Reception admissions is the 15th January.

Attendance: If your child is unable to attend school, please make every effort to inform school and let us know why. You can contact us by phone, text or email. We have a duty of care to find out why a child is not in school, and will contact you if we don’t hear from you. There are clear attendance and punctuality policies in place. If your child’s attendance falls (for whatever reason); you will receive a letter or a phone call. This is normal procedure.

Covid Rules:

Clarification on Masks - Several parents have asked me whether staff are wearing masks in school. For clarification, staff wear masks when they come into contact with other adults outside their bubble, including at the start and at the end of the day. They do not wear masks when they are teaching, however, if they are in close proximity to a child (e.g. listening to a child read 1:1 or administering first aid) they will wear a mask. We are trying to get the balance right, between protection and “normality”. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

What if a bubble bursts? - We have been very fortunate that we have not had a positive test result in school yet. If there was a positive result, school will ask for advice from Public Health England and the Department of Education. We would then contact parents, of children who had had close contact with the positive person. This may be a few individuals, this may be a whole class, depending on the individual circumstances. These children will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days and work will be provided via the school website. Any siblings would still be expected in school as normal. The close contacts will receive a letter outlining the next steps, the identity of the positive case, will not be shared. However, as I have said before - there have been no positive cases in school yet - although we are prepared in case there is.

End of Lockdown 2 - December 2nd is the last day of lock down 2. After that Staffordshire will move to tier 3. More information can be found here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-restriction-tiers-what-you-need-to-know#very-high-alert From a school’s perspective, the rules will continue to be the same.

Christmas - The government has announced that households can create a “Christmas Bubble” over the Christmas weekend. The bubble is restricted to a maximum of 3 households. This is three households in total, not three different households each day. The simple rule is the more people you have contact with, the higher the risk of infection. Try your best to keep all the children and yourselves safe over the Christmas Period.

Stars of the Week

Reception: Isabelle & Elsie
KS1: Logan, Piper, Millie & Ayaan

KS2: Dillon Dotty, Ethan, Autumn, Lilly-Mae, Kacey, Ethan & Chloe

Headteacher’s Award: Ellis, Brooklyn, Ruby & Razvan

Stay Safe

Miss Goodson