WEEKLY NEWS FOR FAMILIES 17.12.21

Dear Parents and Carers,
 
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!
 
We have had a festive final week here in school. The Carol Services in the church were thought provoking and a real celebration of the learning that has been happening in our R.E lessons here in school. The behaviour of the children was exemplary and was commented on by several members of the public who saw us walking to and from the church. Thank you to the parents who came with us and helped with the walking. On Wednesday, we took our festive tombola and raffle outside onto the playground after school. We raised an amazing £381.00! Thank you to everyone who took part and especially to the group of parents who organised this event. In total (from the Christmas cards, the discos and the tombola event), we have raised £1,029.00 to buy practical maths resources for our classrooms. Each class will be able to choose their own resources. On Thursday, we were excited to meet ‘Santa’ who came to visit us and give out presents. Our KS1 Art Club took the ‘baubles’ that they had made round to hang on the Dandara Christmas tree. Today, we had a school full of ‘reindeer’ who all completed the ‘Reindeer Run’ in aid of Chestnut Tree House. We ended our term by coming together in the hall to sing some of our favourite carols. It has been a festive, fun-filled week!
 
GOOD NEWS
I am really pleased to be able to tell you that the child who was poorly with meningococcal disease is now at home looking forward to spending Christmas with their family.
I am also really pleased to be able to share the exciting news that Miss Beadle, our school secretary, is expecting a baby next year in the early summer. We are looking forward to welcoming a new member of our Yapton School family.
 
LAUNCHING OUR LEARNING
We are looking forward to beginning our new ‘Learning Journey’s’ when we return to school on Tuesday 4th January 2022. I have attached details to this ParentMail.
 
CLUBS FOR THE SPRING TERM
We have some new clubs on offer for the children to take part in as we return to school in January. The clubs will start in week 2. Unfortunately, it will only be the school-led clubs that will be free. We will send links and further information on how to sign up for these clubs when we return in January. I have attached the proposed timetable for you to look at.
 
Have a ‘fabulous festive season’.
See you all on Tuesday 4th January 2022.
Take care
Kim Huggett

CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY AND THE REINDEER RUN THIS FRIDAY

Dear Parents and Carers,
 
As the children are completing the ‘Reindeer Run’ on ‘Christmas Jumper Day’, they will need to wear their Christmas jumper with their PE kit so that they have the correct clothing and footwear for running.
We are looking forward to this event.
 
Kind regards
Kim Huggett

WEEKLY NEWS FOR FAMILIES 10.12.21

Dear Parents and Carers,
 
We have had an exciting end to our week! Yesterday afternoon we took part in a Christmas Worship here in school with the team from C.Y.E from Cobnor. They told the story of Christmas from the perspective of looking at the earth from heaven. They helped us to consider how one tiny baby could make such a difference. The actors enabled the story to come to life.  Later on we held our ‘Christmas Disco’s’. There were some dance floor classics intermingled with current top tunes! Everyone had a great time (especially the staff!). The DJ remarked that our school was the best school for not only participation, but for behaviour and manners as well. Well done to all of our children for setting such an example. We raised £440 to go towards buying more practical maths equipment for our school. This is amazing! Thank you. today, we were entertained at our ‘Rock Steady Concert’ by our very own rock-stars ! The children demonstrated such amazing talent and confidence. Well done to all of those children who took part.
I have attached the Christmas events for the last week of term to help at this busy time of year.
 
STAFFING UPDATE
As we move to the end of term I would like to update you with some staffing changes. Mr Blunden is recovering well from his knee surgery, but has decided to hang up his tools and retire at the end of term. He has worked tirelessly at our school for many years and he will be missed. I would like to thank Mr Blunden for all of his work over this time. Mrs Blunden will also be joining Mr Blunden on their new adventures as she will be leaving us at the end of term. We will miss Mrs Blundens friendly face in the office and her reassuring voice at the end of the phone. We wish them both a very happy time together. In January we will welcome Mr Stuart Floyd to our school on a permanent basis as our new Premises Officer. Mr Floyd has been helping out on a temporary basis while Mr Blunden has not been at work. We will also be welcoming Mrs Shelley Farrell to our school as she will be our new Attendance and Family Support Officer. Mrs Farrell has experience of working in schools and will bring this experience to the role. Miss Stone has also decided to look to new horizons and adventures. She has worked on the support staff team for many years and her calm, friendly approach will really be missed around our school. We wish Miss Stone an exciting New Year! We will be welcoming Mrs Linda Vann to our support staff team. Mrs Vann will be the full time Teaching Assistant in Lewes Class from January. Mrs Vann brings a wealth of experience and a creative energy to our school. Mrs Duymun remains unwell and we send her our warmest wishes and thanks for covering Mrs Bowles maternity leave. We welcome Mrs Bowles back to our school in January following her maternity leave after the birth of her little boy.
 
NORTH END ROAD
Last Friday, Mrs Signorrelli-David and I attended a meeting with Nick Gibb MP, Ms Pendleton and Mrs Worne (both local Councillors). The focus of the meeting was to discuss the issues surrounding the volume of traffic on North End Road and the impact of this on the safety of our children here at school. Many solutions were discussed and longer term plans are currently starting a feasibility process. One of the positive outcomes was that the decision has now been made to confirm that we do need a School Crossing Patrol. I have attached a recruitment leaflet to this ParentMail as there may be a parent who would like to apply and be trained to carry out this role, or you may know someone locally who would be interested. I have received the following information to share with you in addition to the attached leaflet. 
Anyone who may be interested can look at the job description, person specification and download an application from the WSCC website.  If they have any questions about the role they can contact David.Payne@westsussex.gov.uk  or telephone 0330 222 5450.  
 
Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you all on Monday ready for our final week of term.
 
Take care
Kim Huggett

WEEKLY NEWS FOR FAMILIES 3.12.21

Dear Parents and Carers,
 
It doesn’t seem possible that we only have two weeks remaining of this term!  We are really hoping that we can go ahead with everything that we have planned for a ‘festive’ end to the term. I understand that it is disappointing for families to read on this week’s ParentMail that we have altered some of our plans, but please understand that this is following the COVID guidance that we have received. The ‘Christmas Tombola’ on Wednesday 15th December at 3.15pm will now be held on our school playground. Thank you to those families who have already donated items for this. Our red collection tray will be outside school by our gate each day next week. Our Christmas lights are up and we have a lovely Christmas tree in the hall. Our Christmas post boxes are being dusted off as I write… they will be ready for Monday. Please make sure that the children write their friends name and their class clearly on the envelopes. The post-boxes will be in the library and we will recruit some willing Year 6 volunteers to help with the distribution of the cards. I have attached our ‘Prayer for December’ to this message. In school we are reflecting on the celebration of Christmas and how we can be a ‘light’ to others.
Staffing Update
Our new teacher for Lewes Class – Miss Parsons – will be at school on Thursday 8th December.  On the same day, Mrs Horrex will spend the day in Pevensey Class.  Both teachers are really looking forward to spending some time with their new classes.  They will be available to talk to parents and carers before and after school as well.
Christmas Treasure Hunt
Attached is an advert about the Treasure Hunt at John Lewis in Chichester.
Christmas Camps
Another attachment gives details about some Christmas Camps happening in the local area.
New Netball Club
Also attached is a flyer about a new netball club for the Six Villages area.
 
Have a lovely weekend.
Take care
Kim Huggett

CHRISTMAS NEWS FOR FAMILIES 30.11.21

Dear Parents and Carers,
 
YAPTON SCHOOL CHOIR AT EDGECUMBS
Wow! Our school choir sang beautifully at the ‘Christmas Market’ on Saturday. Their behaviour was exemplary and many members of the public noticed this. Thank you to the families who gave up their Saturday morning.
 
CHRISTMAS ARRANGEMENTS
Following the revised guidance that we have received from the DFE (Department for Education), we have looked carefully at the adjustments that we could make to try to ensure that as many of our planned activities could go ahead as arranged. I have attached a revised ‘Christmas 2021’ to this ParentMail.
The school disco tickets will come home tomorrow and will be £3.00 per child. We will provide a snack and some great tunes!
 
MASKS
From tomorrow, all visitors to our school will need to wear a mask and we will only be allowing essential visits to take place. Any event that involves parents/families being in school will mean the ALL PARENTS/FAMILIES MUST WEAR A MASK. Please understand that this decision has been made to protect our school community and we wouldn’t want to be in the embarrassing situation of having to provide parents/families with masks to enable them to attend an event. Thank you.
School staff will wear masks whilst moving in the corridor spaces which are difficult to ventilate. All classrooms now have a CO2 monitor. staff are checking the levels constantly and making sure that the ventilation is at the required level.
 
Thank you for your continued support and understanding. If you have any concerns, please see either myself or Mr Hughes.
 
Take care
Kim Huggett