E-newsletter 128

Easter Service

It was fantastic to be back in a packed St Mary's for our Easter Service - the first time that the whole school has been together in church since December 2019. Many of our pupils had not experienced a school service like this before and so there was plenty of nervous excitement! The children sang beautifully - all credit to Mrs Austin - and classes shared Easter related work from their Global Curriculum themes. Our volunteer readers were amazing. Many thanks to Rev Morna for supporting our service.

Netball Success!

Our netball team participated in the Year 5/6 Development Competition last night against 10 other local schools. The children were amazing - they worked brilliantly together as a team and demonstrated excellent netball skills. The team recorded some very impressive results, including an 8-0 win, and finished 3rd overall which is a tremendous achievement for a small school. 

Everybody at school sends their very best wishes to Kobe who suffered a nasty injury in the final moments of the very last game. If you are reading this, Kobe, we hope you continue to mend quickly.

Online Safety Policy

Since the global pandemic began, children have had unprecedented access to the Internet. Over the last two years, pupils in our school have become proficient in the use of Microsoft Teams which they have used extensively to communicate with their friends and teachers, access and submit school work as part of the Remote Learning Strategy and interact with peers via email, video calls and chats.

Remote Learning participation rates were very high overall throughout the pandemic and, at a time when social contact was heavily restricted, children had a safe means to quickly and easily check in with teachers and communicate with their friends.

Feedback from staff, pupils and parents on the school's learning platform has been overwhelmingly positive. Establishing a secure online platform has enabled children to confidently develop their knowledge and understanding of ICT in a safe online environment. The vast majority of children have engaged brilliantly and have observed the school's Internet safety rules responsibly. On the very rare occasions of misuse, issues have been dealth with promptly.

The Online Safety Policy was updated early on in the global pandemic and has been updated again to reflect the emerging needs of the school and its pupils. The Policy is available on the school website and also here. Please take some time to read through the policy. I have copied part of the Parents section for your quick reference (in italics) as it contains useful advice on some of the most important additions relating to parental expectations.

Parents are expected to:

• monitor their child’s safe and appropriate Internet use (including Teams) outside of school
• ensure that appropriate safeguarding controls are in place on their home Internet and personal devices
• supervise their child’s Internet usage, including appropriate time limits and curfews
• notify a member of staff or the Head Teacher of any concerns or queries
• ensure their child has fully understood the acceptable use rules 

End Of Year Assessments

End of Key Stage 2 (Year 6) assessments will take place each morning from Monday 9th to Thursday 12th May. All of the children in Year 6 have been invited into school early for breakfast on each of those days to help them settle into the day - this has always been very popular in the past.

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End of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) assessments will take place throughout the week beginning Monday 23rd May. Year 1 pupils will sit the Phonics Screening Check in the week beginning Monday 6th June. 

Year 4 children will take a statutory (online) Multiplication Check in June.

More information on these will be shared shortly.

Cake Sales

Many thanks for supporting our cake sales. The Year 1 cake sale raised £34.30 and the Year 3 cake sale raised £26.00 - these amounts will be added to the relevant class budgets!  

School Travel Awards Finalist!

With our upcoming summer term residentials for Year 2, 4 and 6, I am delighted to report that our 2021 Year 6 Perranporth residential is a finalist in the 'My Best School Trip' Award category at the School Travel Awards 2022.

The trip was shortlisted for promoting outdoor and adventurous activity, enabling children’s autonomy and supporting pupils' well-being. The trip was, and continues to be, organised and run entirely by our staff team which meant that we were able to go ahead with the residential safely and confidently despite the global pandemic. You will of course remember the restrictions in place around this time last year and the trip marked a rare opportunity for the children to not only socialise and work together but also for them to travel and visit new places. The school stands to win £1500 if it is successful at the awards' ceremony later on this month. 

Reminder: Reception and Year 6 Height and Weight Check

The School Nurses will visit our school on Thursday of this week to carry out height and weight checks on pupils in Reception and Year 6. The NHS assume your consent for the checks and so please do familiarise yourself with the 2 hyperlinked documents below so that you can make an informed choice and opt-out if you do not wish your child to participate.

if you have any questions, feel free to contact me or the School Nurse Team via the contact details on the letter.

Reception and Year 6 Height and Weight Check Letter

Reception and Year 6 Height and Weight Check Leaflet

Term Dates

You can find term dates for the 2022-23 academic year on the school website and here.

Welcome Back Miss Jenkinson

Over this week and next, Miss Jenkinson will begin her eagerly awaited return to work! It is wonderful to see Miss Jenkinson again and, although she has been in regular communication with us all, we will be delighted to welcome her back full-time from Monday 16th May. Mrs French and Miss Jenkinson will share class teacher responsibilities over the next fortnight to ensure a smooth transition for the pupils.

FOGS

Following on from their recent successes with Film Nights and the Easter Tombola & Scavenger Hunt, FOGS held a fantastic whole school disco on Friday. Not only did the children have a great time but a huge sum of £513.30 was raised which will be used to support school improvement projects. Many thanks to FOGS for organising such a brilliant event.

Year 4 Residential Information Meeting

A reminder that the Year 4 Residential Information Meeting is tomorrow (Thursday 5th May) at 3.45pm in Pine Class. Children are invited to attend and you will see plenty of photos of past visits!