Dear Parents and Carers,
Here is your Golden Ticket for the Splendiferous September when we return in the Autumn Term.
Have a lovely summer holiday.
Stay safe and take care
Mr Hughes
Month: July 2021
WEEKLY NEWS FOR FAMILIES
Dear Parents and Carers,
WOW !! The end of this academic year has at last arrived! What a roller-coaster! Thank you to all of our families for their continued support throughout this year.
It was lovely to see our Y5 children on zoom this afternoon before the start of the holidays.
We said ‘Good-Bye & Good Luck’ to Mrs Jacobs, Mrs Lavill, Mrs Rawlinson and Mr Thompson this afternoon. One of our Governors Mrs Tait presented them with their gifts.
This evening we will say our ‘Final Farewell’ to our wonderful
Y6 children.
TRANSITION VIDEOS
Our ‘Transition’ videos are on our You-tube channel for you to watch .
AUGUST PRAYER
I have attached our prayer for August.
SEPTEMBER
We return to school on Monday 6th September. Please keep your ‘Golden Tickets’ safe and bring them back with you to enter our ‘Splendiferous September’. We have an exciting two weeks planned for our start to the Autumn Term. More details will follow at the end of the holidays.
We really hope that we can go back to normal start and finish times in September, but we will need to follow the guidance at that time. I will send a ParentMail on Friday 3rd September to confirm arrangements with you.
We are expecting everyone to be in full school uniform in September. PE kit will be worn on PE days and we will let you know those in advance.
We are sending ‘Golden Tickets’ to those children who are not in school today.
I have attached the clubs that are planned for the Autumn Term. These will start in week 2 and we will send out joining instructions in week 1.
Thank you for showing such generosity with the gifts and good wishes today.
Have an amazing summer. If you need us then please use the office2@yaptonschool.org email.
Take care
Kim Huggett
WEEKLY NEWS FOR FAMILIES 16.7.2021
Dear Parents and Carers,
the Summer Holidays are on the horizon ! It has been another crazy year and I really didn’t expect to be ending this year in the way that we are !
Thank you for your understanding regarding the closing of Y5 and the cancellation of our end of term events that you were invited to.
FROM MONDAY 19th JULY 2021: COVID RESTRICTIONS
Even though we expect many restrictions are going to lift on Monday 19th July, I would like to ask that we keep to our restrictions as a school. We will continue to wear face-masks on the school premises, our hand washing routines will continue and we ask that only one family member comes onto the school site. We will also continue to carry out the ‘track & trace’ procedures and close whole classes if necessary. If you think your child/ren may displaying any COVID symptoms please keep them at home until you have confirmation with a negative test. I know that Yapton Pharmacy have ordered extra testing kits should they be needed. Remote Learning will be provided using Google Classroom if you have children at home. My reason for continuing these arrangements is so that everyone can enjoy the start of the holidays without any isolation restrictions. I welcome your continuing support to try to make this happen. I think this year, once again, we are all very much looking forward to a summer break and all the enjoyment that this brings. Thank you.
CLASSTEACHERS MOVING CLASSROOMS FOR SEPTEMBER: ARRANGEMENTS FROM MONDAY 19th JULY 2021
After school today, some of our teachers have moved their resources and belongings into the classroom that they will be teaching in from September. This means that they will have four days to settle into their new room. When you come to school on Monday and for the rest of the week…
Miss Costello and LEWES class will be in AMBERLEY classroom
Mrs Cummings and AMBERLEY class will be in BRAMBER classroom
Mrs Groves and BRAMBER class will be in PORTCHESTER classroom
Mr Thompson and PORTCHESTER class will be in BODIAM classroom
The class timings at the start and end of the day will remain the same for the children as will their play and lunch times.
VIRTUAL TRANSITION ARRANGEMENTS 21st JULY 2021
As we cannot hold our usual transition arrangements this year, we are going to create welcome videos for each class for September. These will go onto our You Tube channel on Wednesday 21st July during the day so that they will be ready to watch when your children return home.
POP UP UNIFORM SHOP 21st JULY 2021
We will run our Uniform Shop in the Hall at school drop off and collection times. Please use the door from the playground. Miss Beadle will be available to help with sizing etc. I have attached a uniform list so that you can be sure that your child/ren will have the correct uniform for September. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of uniform: It helps children to feel that they belong;they are part of our school family;have a sense of pride and it also evens the dynamics with regard to designer labels etc because everyone is the same. In school we talk to the children about ”LOOK SMART – THINK SMART”, shirts tucked in and a smart approach to all that we do!
THURSDAY 22nd JULY 2021
Please can ALL children come to school in their PE kit . Each class will be performing their country dancing routines to the rest of the school. Amberley class will also perform their winning dance routine to the rest of the school.
This is our last day at school before the holidays. We are closed on Friday 23rd July 2021.
LOOKING AHEAD TO A ‘SPLENDIFEROUS SEPTEMBER’
Our new term begins on MONDAY 6th SEPTEMBER 2021. We will begin with a WHIZZ-BANG and a SPLENDIFEROUS SEPTEMBER! We have planned a two week ‘Reading Festival’ based on the work of Roald Dahl. We will celebrate Roald Dahl’s birthday on Monday 13th September with our very own ‘POTATO PARADE’. The two weeks will end with an ‘Exhibition’ which will be open to parents at the end of school on Friday 17th September. Each child will be given a Golden Ticket on Thursday 22nd July to bring home. They will need to keep their ‘Golden Ticket’ safe, ready to return their ticket as they arrive back in school on Monday 6th September. We have planned these two weeks to ensure that the children are excited to return and take part. After the last unsettled year, we are aware that there may be some anxiety on returning to school after another extended period of time at home. We are looking forward to an exciting start to our new year at school! I have attached a Splendiferous September poster for you to share at home.
SUMMER HOLIDAY HAMPERS
Don’t forget to buy a raffle ticket to win one of our fabulous ‘Holiday Hampers’! We will draw the winning tickets on Thursday morning (22nd July) and will phone the winners with the exciting news!
Have a fabulous weekend.
Take care
Kim Huggett
SAFETY WHEN TRAVELLING TO AND FROM SCHOOL
Dear Parents and Carers,
we have received this communication from Eastergate Primary School.
Please be vigilant and reinforce with your children about how to keep safe.
Dear Colleagues,
We had an incident this morning where a pupil was approached by two men in a white van. The following information was sent out to parents of pupils at Eastergate CE Primary this afternoon. I have been in contact with the police, the communications team and the safeguarding team at West Sussex. The communication below has been cleared with Steve Pickthall.
This morning we have been informed of an incident that occurred in Church Lane at approximately 8.15am. A pupil reported that they were stopped by two men in a small white van and asked to get into the van. The van approached Church Lane from Barnham Road and was travelling towards school. Thankfully the pupil was not physically harmed and information about the incident has been passed on to Sussex Police. Please talk to your children about ‘stranger danger’ and walking or cycling to school with a friend where possible. Should you have any information regarding this or any similar incidents, please report them to the school and police.
Take care
Kim Huggett
SCHOOL UPDATE
Dear Parents and Carers,
I am writing to update you about the current situation regarding COVID within our school community.
At present, we have one pupil in Y5 who has tested positive for COVID, which means that Y5 classes Bodiam and Hastings will not return to school before the end of term.
You will have heard in the news and certainly from many of the surrounding schools that there is a sudden rise in cases.
As a school, I feel that we need to keep to our current restrictions right until the end of term (even though many will be lifted on the 19th July) so that we can do all that we can to prevent the spread of the virus. This will mean continuing to wear masks on school site and only one family adult on the school run.
We will draw the winning tickets for the ‘Summer Hamper Raffle’ on Thursday 22nd July and notify you by phone so that you can collect your Hamper from outside the school office at the end of the day.
The Y6 Disco will still go ahead as they are a separate bubble.
Unfortunately this will mean that we will have to cancel the ‘Transition Day’ the ‘Stay & Play’ and the ‘Country Dancing Festival’. The children will still be able to perform their dances to each other.
We have exciting plans which I will share with you tomorrow regarding our return to school in September. We will include transitional activities as part of our curriculum when we return.
As always, please contact us using the office2@yaptonschool.org email.
Kind regards
Kim Huggett
YEAR 5
Dear Parents and Carers,
I have just had confirmation that the PCR test for the Y5 pupil was positive. This means that Y5 will not be returning to school before the end of term.
Please tell your children that we are missing them but are proud of them for isolating and playing a very important part in protecting others.
Please keep the family concerned in your thoughts and prayers.
Kind regards,
Kim Huggett
SCHOOL COVID UPDATE
Dear Parents and Carers,
I am writing to inform you that we have a COVID case in Year 5. We were notified quickly and were able to notify the Year 5 families early this morning. We await a follow-up PCR test result, which we will receive in the next few days. Following the PCR result we will know whether we can re-open the Y5 bubble or keep it shut for the remainder of the term. Please keep the family affected in your thoughts.
We have been notified today of another parent in another year group testing positive. We now have a couple of families isolating. This email is not to alarm you but to be honest about the current situation in school. It means that some teachers are teaching both in school and providing learning at home. As there are only 6 days left of the term and the children in school are beginning to take part in less structured activities, we will provide a Knowledge Organiser that contains all of the subjects that will be linked around a theme. Children isolating at home will submit their work on Google Classroom and the teachers will respond with feedback.
We will make a decision about the Country Dancing Festival and arrangements for Transition Day once we have received the results of the PCR test and have monitored the number of any further cases within our school families.
Thank you for your continued support.
Take care
Kim Huggett
YEAR 5
Dear Parents and Carers,
I am writing to update you regarding the isolation for Year 5.
I have contacted the Local Authority for the most up to date advice. As it stands, the isolation begins from the last point of contact with school and that was yesterday. Therefore the 10 days isolation begins from today and lasts until the end of Friday 23rd July.
If however, the results of the follow-up PCR test are negative, we will be able to re-open Year 5. We will not have this information for a couple of days. I will update you when we do have this information.
Work will be set in the form of a Knowledge Organiser on Google Classroom at 8am tomorrow morning. We have chosen to set work this way because if the children were in school, they would be taking part in less structured activities as we head towards the end of term with 6 days left. If you have lost your password, please email the class email address and either Mrs West or Miss Hook will let you know.
The school reports for Y5 children will be sent home with siblings today. If you have a neighbour/friend who is also a family at our school and you would like them to drop them round to you, please email office2@yaptonschool.org by 1pm tomorrow to let us know. Any reports that remain, will either be posted to you or possibly delivered to you by school staff.
I realise that this is disappointing to end the school year in this way, but we are not alone in this, many schools are having to close bubbles this week. Please keep the family concerned in your thoughts and prayers and I thank them for such speedy communication and thoughtfulness for the other children.
We have contacted Chartwells our food provider and are awaiting response from them regarding those children who are isolating who are entitled to free school meals. I will let you know when I have their response. The usual holiday vouchers will be ordered by the end of term.
If we can help in any way, please email us using office2@yaptonschool.org .
Take care
Kim Huggett
POSITIVE COVID CASE IN YEAR 5
Dear Parents and Carers,
unfortunately one of our children in year 5 has tested positive for COVID19.
That means that the Year 5 bubble will need to close and isolate.
PLEASE DO NOT COME INTO SCHOOL TODAY
I will email further details later. Mrs West and Mrs Hook will plan the remote work today ready to be set on Google classroom from tomorrow.
Take Care
KIm Huggett
WEEKLY NEWS FOR FAMILIES 9.7.21
Dear Parents and Carers,
at last we can see some sunshine today! Looking ahead to the end of term, there is a lot of information to share with you.
CONGRATULATIONS
To the Boyd family, the Laird family, the Signorelli-David family and the Vann family. Some of their road name suggestions for the new Dandara ‘Paddock View’ estate have been chosen. The children from these families will be photographed by the Dandara press photographer on Monday. Congratulations and thanks are due to the following year 5 children; Betsy, Michael, Rocco and Toby who successfully persuaded Mr Betteridge from Dandara Homes to donate us some ‘mud’ for our Mud Kitchen. They will also be photographed on Monday. The children will need to be in smart school uniform please. Thank you.
STAFFING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SEPTEMBER
I have attached our staffing arrangements for September to this Parentmail. We will sadly be saying goodbye to some of our staff members at the end of this term.
From our teaching team, Mr Thompson has made the decision to take a break from teaching in order to persue other career paths. In talking to Mr Thompson about his decision, he reflected on how special Yapton School is and how much he has enjoyed his time here. He is excited for the new opportunities that are ahead of him. I am sure you will join me in wishing him the very best and thanking him for his service to the school.
From our support staff team, we will be saying good-bye to Mrs Jacobs, Mrs Lavill, Mrs Mossop and Mrs Rawlinson. They have given an amazing amount of support to the children over many years. We will miss them but are excited for their new adventures. We thank them for all that they have done for the school.
Information about your child’s class for next year will be with their School Report. You will receive the reports on Wednesday 14th July.
YEAR 5 & YEAR 6
Please can I remind families to pay the outstanding balance from the Residential.
The play-list requests from the Y6 children have been sent to the DJ ready for the disco! Please can the Y6 children return their permission slips for the rounders and disco with their menu choices by Wednesday 14th July. Please can the Y5 children also return their disco permission slips by Wednesday 14th July. There is no cost to families for this. We have arranged it as a treat for the children, in particular the Y6 children who have missed out on so many of the traditional Y6 events and responsibilities.
SUMMER HOLIDAY HAMPERS
Thank you for the many donations that we have received for the hampers. I have attached a flyer that shows you the amazing hampers. In addition to the hampers, there is also the chance to win a Cream Tea for four people at the Avisford Park Hotel!! The raffle tickets will go on sale on Monday morning (12th July) before school. They will be available to buy at the beginning and the end of the school day until Wednesday 21st July. They will cost £1.00 each. We will draw the winning tickets at our ‘Country Dancing Festival’ on Thursday 22nd July.
COUNTRY DANCING FESTIVAL
We have planned to hold our ‘Country Dancing Festival’ on Thursday 22nd July at 1.30pm.The children are busy learning their routines at the moment. We still plan to be able to have families to watch. The restrictions are due to lift on Monday 19th July. We plan to hold this outside and are currently working on ways to hold this event on the school field in order to create more space. It may be that families sit in class groups. We will make sure that everything is clearly sign-posted and you will be clear about the arrangements.
ROAD MAP STAGE 4
I have put in a link to the DFE information about Stage 4 and its implications for schools and families. As a school, we will NOT be changing our staggered starts and finishes, staggered playtimes or staggered lunchtimes in the last week of term. The only changes that we will be making will be inviting families to the Country Dancing and mixing the Y5 and Y6 bubbles for the disco to say good-bye to the Y6 children. This will all happen on the very last day of the term on Thursday 22nd July.
FOOTBALL FINAL !!!
There has been much excitement and anticipation in school since the Euro semi-finals. There are many families who will be watching the final on Sunday with supporters from our school families for both Italy and England. We will be open at the normal times on Monday morning and expect everyone to attend. We are prepared for tired children (and staff) on Monday and will adjust our lessons and teaching accordingly. After the unsettlement of the last 18 months it has been lovely to hear the chatter and feel the buzz about the games over the last few days (even for the staff who are not football fans!).
Have a great weekend.
Take care
Kim Huggett