Updates from Mrs Norden

We have had a busy few weeks in school, which has included a whole school poetry project, elections for our new School councillors and Rights Respecting School committee members and our Harvest assembly today.  News articles and blogs below provide more details on some of this.

Our library will be back up and running for the children from tomorrow (30th).  The delayed start has been because we have been supporting Fen Drayton Primary school staff with a space to store resources and work on the preparation of new equipment and books.  As you may be aware, the school had a fire in the holiday period, which has led to a delayed start for them and a need for the renewal of most resources.  We wish them well as they re-open in temporary mobile accomodation next week while work on their building continues. 

We will be holding our annual PTA AGM tomorrow at 7pm (see poster below) and we hope as many of you as possible will be able to join us.  We are so dependent on the funds the PTA raise and their work is invaluable as the money raised enables us to maintain many of our 'entitlements'.  These include subscriptions for our music provision (Charanga), resources for our phonics scheme and new ipads for the children to use.

As you will have seen from our yearly diary dates, our autumn term parent consultations will be face to face.  Based on the data from our summer parent/carer survey this term will be face to face and the spring term consultations on line.  The autumn consultations will take place across two afternoon/evenings - Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd. A letter with further details will come out two weeks prior.

As you will have seen from previous information, the DfE have changed the legal duties for attendance.  Our governors have now ratified our new attendance policy, which can be accessed on our website by clicking here.  Please make sure you read to understand the new expectations and responsibilities. 

Finally, a reminder for cauliflower card designs and forms to be returned to school tomorrow as these need to be collected by the PTA and sent through to the company on Tuesday.

                                                                                                                               _{Anna-Claire Norden}

_Headteacher

Autumn Term Updates

Hand, Foot and Mouth - We have had several confirmed cases this week.  Please be vigilant should your child have symptoms (click here). It is highly infectious, and if caught can make you very unwell.  We do have medically vulnerable children and staff and so children should not return if they have a high temperature or open ulcers, as these will lead to further spread.

Talk and Tours

We are holding three Talk and Tours this term for families with children starting in Reception in September 2025. The format will be a tour with Mrs Norden, our headteacher, across the school 'at work', to see our environment, organisation and ask questions.

They will last approximately an hour. The dates are as follows:
Monday 7th October at 2pm
Thursday 24th October at 9.15am (slight time change to diary dates published)
Wednesday 27th November at 9.15am (slight time change to diary dates published)

If you would like to attend one of these meetings, please complete our form to support our organisation, which can be accessed by clicking here.

If you have already provided your details and tour date to the school office, you do not need to complete the form.

Safeguarding

The government have updated guidance for 'Keeping children safe in education' in schools and colleges, and this contains additional information for us to encompass within our systems and protocols.  Updates to our Safeguarding and Child Protection policy, have now been completed, and the updated version has been published on our website's safeguarding page.  Please click here to access it.

Community

EIFA workshops for parents/carers - Please click here to access information on the latest Education Inclusion Family Advisor (EIFA) workshops (online and face to face).  Jane Rogers is our local EIFA and can support families directly.  Please click here for more information. 

PTA News - access their website page here for ways to support our fundraising

Cauliflower card designs and forms need to be returned to school by Monday 30th Sept

Next Events:

30th September PTA AGM (see poster below)

Second Hand Uniform Clothes - if you need any uniform items please see poster below for details.

Asda Fundraising

We’ve got some exciting news to share with you.

Parentkind – a charity that supports school PTAs - have teamed up with Asda, who is making millions of pounds available to donate to primary schools across the UK through their ‘Cashpot for Schools’ initiative. To support our school, all you have to do is opt-in through the Asda Rewards app, shop and scan in store or shop online at Asda.com.

Between 2nd September and 30th November 2024 – every time you shop with Asda using your Asda Rewards app, Asda will donate 0.5% of the value of your shop to your chosen Primary school. Also, every time somebody opts-in to support our Primary school, Asda will give an additional £1 to the school Cashpot. Plus, it doesn’t stop there – Asda are also giving £50 to every school to get them started.  

The supermarket has joined forces with Joe Wicks to support the initiative – look out for the TV advert, radio ads and social media coverage!

It’s as easy as 1,2,3

1. Download the Asda Rewards app, register and opt-in to Cashpot for Schools (make sure you have the latest version of the app installed)

2. Choose our Primary School – either searching by name or postcode

3. Shop instore across Asda and George, or online at Asda.com and start filling your Cashpot as you shop 

Asda does the rest, all money raised will be donated to schools to spend on the things they need the most. We are aiming to spend our donations on new books, supporting with subscriptions, new equipment and more.

Remember, anyone can sign up – so start spreading the news and raising funds for our school.

This initiative is on top of the existing Asda Rewards benefits you get as a shopper – so you won’t lose out on any of your own earnings or Cashpot, so everyone is a winner!

For more details, visit asda.com/cashpotforschools.

SEND, Safeguarding, Health and Wellbeing Links

SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) information can be accessed through our SEND website pages here

Safeguarding Information - please click here for our Safeguarding page especially should you have concerns relating to the safeguarding of our children and families.  Please click here to go directly to our Safeguarding policy.

Attendance Policy - please click here for the school's attendance policy. It is vitally important parents and carers are aware of their responsibilities and the formal processes for attendance matters.  The NHS have created a useful webpage to support decision-making when children are unwell - you can click here for the link.

SEMH (Social Emotional Mental Health) resources for parents - Please click here to access an overview sheet with signposted resources for you to use at home to support your children.  The overview sheet can also be found at the bottom of the SEND page on our website here.  

H.A.Y Cambridgeshire Community Wellbeing support -  How Are You South Cambs? | Home (haysouthcambs.co.uk)

NHS Mental Health Services - www.keep-your-head.com and SHOUT - a new Text service on 85258 which provides real-time support to people of all ages who are struggling with their mental health (text the word HEAR to 85258).

Chat Health is a NHS confidential NHS service for help and advice. It’s safe and easy for you to speak to a qualified health professional. Just send a message, you don’t have to give your name. Discreet and quick. It only takes one message to start making a difference. You’ll get confidential advice from trained health staff in your area. Click here to access the site to start a web chat today.

To find out about Pupil premium and Free school meals, please visit our Pupil Premium page by clicking here. 

Links to each Phase page under the Curriculum tab on our website.

                                Reception    Yr1/2    Yr3/4    Yr5/6

Access SCOPay Parent Information here and EYandP Fees and Funding Page here