Dear Parents and Carers, 

It's been a busy and worrying week, please see the end of the letter where there is a lot of information regarding Corona Virus and all the questions and queries you may have.

Breakfast, Books and Bagels

Thank you to all our parents who were able to support with this event, it was lovely to have you in school and hopefully you gained some support in how to help your child at home with their reading as well as spending some quality time with your child. We have done this event with Nursery to Y2 and rest assured it will be in KS2 soon.

Sports Relief

Thank you for your support with this and despite the weather, we managed to get some sport into the day too. We were visited by a British Championship Gymnast too in our assembly. We raised £265 in total - Well done everyone!

Parking

We have had many complaint from parents about parents parking on the pavements, please can you refrain from doing this as the footpath is for walking on not driving on. 

Y1/2 Trip

To celebrate the end of our Spring term topic, ‘The Victorians’, we will be visiting Beamish on Friday 27 th March 2020. A voluntary contribution of £12 will cover the cost of transport, entry into the museum and educational workshops which will be led by staff at the museum. Unfortunately, insufficient funds would lead to the trip being cancelled. Could we ask that all payments are made by Wednesday 25 th March 2020.

In order to fully enjoy the experience, it would be amazing if the children could come dressed in their Victorian clothing, which they wore at the start of the topic. (Please note that black, grey and white outfits would make suitable Victorian costumes).

Please make sure that the children have sensible shoes and a weather proof coat and are dressed warm enough to be outside all day.

As we will be filling the day with as many educational opportunities as possible, the timings of the school day have been affected and we plan to return to school at 3.30pm.

Year 4 Residential

As part of your child’s curriculum we would like to offer a mini residential experience to to prepare them for life and the up and coming events in Year 5 and 6.

We are working with the West View Project which is a company in Hartlepool, who specialise in outdoor learning for children in Primary Schools.

We have organised the following trip to educate and give them some experience at camping outdoors!

The children are only away 1 night but the experience is over 3 days.

Day 1 – Children come to school as normal. Throughout the day they will be looking at their destination, working in small groups erecting tents, shopping for themselves with a budget and cooking food on an outdoor stove.

Day 2 – Children arrive in school and after registration etc will go on the bus. They will go shopping to purchase their food supplies and then will head to Pybus Campsite (this is a Scout campsite), in Kirkby – Stokesley. Children will then use their skills from the previous days to set up their camp. Children will complete some outdoor activities and games as well as helping to cook their meal on an outdoor stove.

Day 3 – The children will continue to complete some outdoor games and activities before heading back to school. Children will arrive back to school at normal time, if not a little earlier.

Tents, stoves and food etc are provided in with the cost. All the children need to take are clothes and a sleeping bag!

This trip is heavily supervised by adults as your child’s safety and wellbeing is extremely important to us.  As a school we are heavily subsidising this trip in the hope that all pupils will attend and benefit form from such an amazing experience and opportunity. The cost of the trip is £35.

Group 1 activities will take place on 24^th/25^th/26^th June

Group 2 activities will take place on 1st/2nd/3rd July

There is a space for all Y4 children if they wish to go. You can pay for this trip via pay parent pay from today. Closing date is Monday 30th March.

British Values

This week the children have learning about what to do with a worry. The value we focused upon was resiloience. 

Behaviour

This week Darling House Family won with the most DoJo's.

Attendance

This week we have 94% attendance, this is lower than usual due to several issues which are out of our (and your) control

Corona Virus

We wanted to communicate with parents about our ongoing actions around managing the Coronavirus (COVID-19).  Please be reassured that WISE Academies is adhering closely to the advice which is being regularly updated from the Department for Education and Public Health England. 

We hope that the following information will prove helpful:

Are schools closing?

No.  At the present time, government advice is clear that schools should remain open.  However, we are continuing to monitor this situation carefully.  In the event that official advice changes at any point, our main priority will be to communicate this to parents. 

In the event of schools being told to close, parents will be informed immediately and we will set out arrangements for children to complete work at home to continue their learning.

Unless specifically advised to the contrary children should continue to attend school as normal.

Have we had any confirmed cases of pupils or staff being diagnosed with COVID-19?

No.  Please be assured that at the time of writing, there have been no known confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) within our academy or within any WISE Academies setting. However, we want to assure you that we are monitoring the situation closely.

In the event that there was a confirmed case of coronavirus amongst our academy community, we will immediately undertake a risk assessment and will always follow advice from the Public Health England and decisions would be taken accordingly.

What to do if you are concerned about symptoms

NHS advice is that you should stay at home for 7 days if you have either of the following symptoms:

• High temperature
• A new, continuous cough

The advice is that you do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.  You do not need to contact NHS 111 to tell them you are staying at home.

If advised to self-isolate you must follow government and NHS guidance.  If this applies to your child, please report their absence to their school in the usual way and ensure you confirm that you are self-isolating your child because they are showing symptoms of coronavirus infection.

What can we do to minimise the risks?

All advice is to ensure that all children and staff wash their hands regularly with soap and water.

We have implemented the advice from Public Health England for education settings to prevent the spread of coronaviruses including routines around coughs/sneezes and hand washing.

Please encourage your children to wash their hands carefully and regularly for 20 seconds with soapy water and to sneeze or cough into a tissue and dispose of it in the bin.

We are sure that parents will already be taking reasonable precautions to maximise hygiene.  Please help us by making sure children are washing their hands thoroughly before leaving to come to school and after arriving home.

Where can I obtain further advice and guidance?

If you are concerned or would like further information about the coronavirus outbreak, please see the links below:

• NHS Website - For all the latest information about Coronavirus please visit:

www.nhs.uk/coronavirus.

• Department for Education Coronavirus helpline: 0800 046 8687

This helpline has been set up to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline.

Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)

Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk

Public Health England website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response

How will Bexhill Academy contact me if the situation changes?

The situation continues to be closely monitored and we will communicate with parents through all available means.   Please ensure that the academy has two points of parent/carer contact information for your child – this could include an email address and phone number (preferably a mobile number). If this requires updating please let us know.

In summary, WISE Academies continues to operate normally in line with the current advice published by the Government and Public Health England for schools and education settings.   Parents can be assured that the safety of our pupils and staff across the trust remains our priority.  

Further updates will continue to be communicated to parents as the situation develops.

10th - Y4 Swimming to start

25th/26th Macmillan Coffee Morning

7th - Y3 trip

8th - Harvest Festival (Y5)

11th October - Y5/6 trip

23rd - EYFS millitary Event

24th Spooky Disco

25th - school closed for inset. Children off fo half term and return on the 5th November.

4th  - Poppies on sale

4th - School closed for training day

5th November

EYFS launch event

12th - Odd socks day

15th - Children in need Day

3rd /4th parents evening

4th - Y1/2 trip to Boldon Lodge

6th - Reception Class Xmas Play

9th - Panto production in school

10th - Y1/2 Xmas Play

11th SEN reviews

12th Y3/4 Xmas Play

12th Trip to Old Trafford

19th - Y5/6 Xmas Play

18th - Winter Wonderland

19th Xmas Party Day

20th - Break up for xmas Hols

6th - Children return to school
31st - Sportability Festival

6th Nursery End Event

13th Valentines Disco

13th Break up for half term

14th - School Closed for PD Day

5th March - World Book Day

13th - Sport Relief

23rd-26th Book Fair

27th Y1/2 Beamish trip

3rd - Break up for Easter Hols

1st-3rd - Y5/6 Ullswater Residential