Friday 15th October - Update
That was a week and a half…
Well, it certainly has been an eventful week. Our first experience of multiple Covid 19 positive cases was not a pleasant one, and one I would prefer not to repeat. Our final count was 13 positive cases, including Mrs Timms. The vast majority of cases were in the same class, and a clear transmission path could be identified. Cases in other year groups, were mainly transmitted via siblings of Year 4, and were transmitted outside the school environment.
I think it is important at this point that we do not speculate how the virus got into school. With everyone out and about, visiting the parks, town and the fair for example, it only takes one asymptomatic case to spread. For the rest of this half term, we are going to keep to bubbles to be on the safe side. Hopefully, normal service will resume after the half term break.
However, we do need to prepare ourselves that Covid is going to be around for a while, and we may have more cases. I will, of course, keep you up to date with any developments and any actions I need to take. Please do not make decisions based on social media speculations, it does not help and can lead to hysteria and inaccurate decision making.
My main priorities are always the safety of the children and ensuring that education does not suffer. I do not make any decision lightly, and I always take advice from Public Health England and the local outbreak team, before taking action. Decisions are made with agreement from JTMAT and the governors.
I would like to thank you for your patience and level headedness of the last few days, and thank you to those of you, who offered thanks or support to myself and the staff. The children have been great and adapted with ease to the new routines in school (again!). They always amaze me on how wonderfully they adapt, how resilient they are and how they take everything in their stride.
I wish a speedy recovery to all our children who are positive, and I hope that they don’t feel too poorly. We are thinking of you all, and look forward to seeing you again, once your isolation is complete. There is some work on the website for you to complete, but only if you are well enough to do so. Please get in touch if there is anything we can do to support, including borrowing laptops or providing resources.
Have a lovely weekend everyone, I think we all deserve a quiet one…
Year 2 Phonics Workshop
Parents of Year 2 children should have received a text this week inviting them in to a phonic workshop with Mrs Claxton. Please could Year 2 parents reply to the text, letting us know whether you plan to attend or not. (if we have less than 5 attendees, we will not run the workshop.) The workshop takes place on Wednesday 20th October at 2:30pm. As we are in Covid times, the following rules apply:
Wear a mask in school
Remain socially distanced
Do not bring any young children or babies
Sanitise your hands on arrival
Allow us to record your attendance for test and trace purpose
Complete a lateral flow test before arriving, where possible.
Year 6 SATs Parent Workshop
Parents of Year 6 children should have received a text this week inviting them in to a SATs Maths workshop with Miss Gallagher. Please could Year 6 parents reply to the text, letting us know whether you plan to attend or not. (if we have less than 5 attendees, we will not run the workshop.) The workshop takes place on Thursday 21st October at 9:10am. As we are in Covid times, the following rules apply:
Wear a mask in school
Remain socially distanced
Do not bring any young children or babies
Sanitise your hands on arrival
Allow us to record your attendance for test and trace purpose
Complete a lateral flow test before arriving, where possible.
Clubs
Clubs will finish for the term next week. Thanks to all the staff for volunteering their time to run such a range of clubs during this half term. A new set of clubs will start in January, more information will be sent out nearer the time. If you require after school care please contact Fae at Winshill Childcare on 07726 322354
INSET Day and Half Term
Next Friday (22nd October) is an INSET day, so the school is closed to the children. The following week is half term. Therefore, the last day for this half term for the children is Thursday 21st October, I will update my blog on that day too.
The children return to school after the half term holiday on Monday 1st November.
Parents Evening
Tonight, the children will be bringing home a letter explaining how Parents Evening is going to work this term. The Parent Consultation Meetings will be taking place the first week after the half term break and will be a hybrid of phone calls and face to face meetings. Please read the letter for more information.
Look out for a text on Monday, which will enable you to book your appointment. Again, more details are on the letter.
Results of Questionnaires
Thank you to the 103 of you, who returned the parent questionnaires. We really like hearing your viewpoints, thank you for sharing them with us. You can find the results of the questionnaires on the website. We will be repeating the exercise later in the school year. Many thanks.
PTA Call for Volunteers
We had disappointing take up at our PTA meeting this week. Therefore, the PTA are re-arranging their meeting to Tuesday 9th November at 9am. You will see members of the PTA out on the playground in the next couple of weeks, hoping to rally up support for the PTA, who raise money for the children. It would be great to get as many of you involved as possible, so please volunteer for however many hours you can. Thank you.
Job Vacancy
We have a vacancy in school for a lunchtime supervisor. This is an additional role, to join the current team, due to an increase in numbers. You can find the advert, job description and application form here. If you have any questions about the vacancy or you would like more details, do not hesitate to email me on win-headteacher@win.jtmat.co.uk
Stay Safe … and help keep others safe
Miss Goodson
