Latest News

Free School Meal Hampers for May Half Term

Wed 29 Apr 2020

During the May half term period, Tilly’s are unable to provide the free school meal delivery service.

Therefore the school has organised for the school catering team, HC3S, to create a free-school-meal hamper which will include lunch items for one child for the five days. All hampers will be available to collect from school on Monday 25th May from 10:30am and we will contact all families with an exact time to collect nearer the time, so that we can adhere to social distancing guidelines.

If you would like to order a free school meal hamper for May half term, and are usually in receipt of free school meals, please contact the school office on 02392 584048 by 3pm on Friday 15th May 2020. No orders after this date will be accepted as the HC3S team need to order the correct quantities of food in time to prepare the hampers.

Message for Mrs Howlett, Headteacher (24.04.20)

Fri 24 Apr 2020

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope you are well and are staying safe at home, at the start of this Summer Term and in these unusual circumstances. It is important to continue to adhere to the Government guidelines. It is really important that we do exactly what we are being told to do in these times, by doing so we will all help to reduce the risks of COVID 19.

I hope your family is continuing to enjoy being able to spend time as a family and to look after your physical and mental health, which is vitally important at this time.

I know there has been a lot of hype in the press about schools reopening. This hype is unhelpful and at this time there are no plans to reopen and we will continue to only be open to those children of critical workers and to those families that have been identified by the school and local authority. We will reopen when we are told to do and only when it is safe to do so.

We were open all over the Easter holidays and we are proud to continue to support the children of our critical key workers and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our parents who are critical workers who are doing everything they can to help support the national effort to fight COVID 19.

Please continue to access the opportunities for home learning via our website www.newtownceprimary.co.uk As per my previous communications, we are suggesting a maximum of 2-3 hours per day spent on home learning and please only do as much as you feel your family circumstance allows. What is most important to me is that our families stay physically and mentally well. You know your children/child best and please do not be troubled by the amount of work being provided by school, be pleased, as we want to give you as many opportunities and activities across a range of themes, projects and subjects to help as possible, but to what extent your child completes these is up to you.

You can use Seesaw and Tapestry to share your child’s learning with their teacher and I would like you as parents to share your strength, your calm and your laughter with your children. I want every child to have happy memories throughout this unsettled period and I want as much as possible for our lovely Newtown community to stay safe.

Our lovely Newtown Community includes our friends at Gosport Borough Football Club who are organising food parcels for our families each week. If you are in need of a food parcel, please contact the school office and we will organise this for you.

Myself and the staff miss everyone very much and we cannot wait until we are back together with the pupils again. When this period is over, no one will be left behind, our fabulous teachers will make sure of that, whenever the time comes that we return to school. In the meantime, please stay in touch with your child’s class teacher via Seesaw, tapestry or via the school email address and I hope to see everyone soon.

Kindest regards

Mrs. Howlett

Headteacher

Year 6 Leavers Hoodies

Wed 22 Apr 2020

As per previous years, we are delighted to announce there is an option for all year 6 pupils and staff to order and buy a Year 6 Leavers Hoodie to commemorate your child’s time with us at Newtown C of E Primary and their special Year 6 Leaver status.

However as the school is currently only open to those pupils of critical workers, during the COVID 19 period, all Year 6 Leavers Hoodies can be ordered directly from the company via the link below:

https://www.leavershoodies.com/shop/newtown-c-of-e-primary-school-2020

All orders and payments must be completed by 11pm on Tuesday 5^th May 2020. All hoodies will arrive at Newtown C of E Primary School and will be distributed to the children by the school.

As soon as we are able to, we will communicate with all parents and families about the other Year 6 Leavers Events.

Message from Mrs Howlett, Headteacher (17/04/2020)

Fri 17 Apr 2020

Dear Parents and Carers

It has now been announced that the lockdown period will be extended for at least a further three weeks. We will continue to give updates as soon as we receive them and will continue to offer support in any way that we can. That means school will remain closed for the majority of families until further notice. We will only be remaining open for children of critical workers and those recognised by the county who need to be in school.

We continue to urge all parents who are critical workers and have an option to keep children safe at home to continue to do so. This is vital to protect all the children and staff who are in school and will continue to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

From the briefing last night, as a nation, the measures we are taking in terms of the lockdown and social distancing are working and it is vital we continue to follow the guidance given. This has been an incredibly difficult time for all of our Newtown community. The staff of Newtown have been overwhelmed by the love and support given by the parent body.

Children coming into school:

Children can be at school from 8.30am-3pm. If your child is entitled to free school meals, they can arrive from 8am and be offered a free breakfast place. Due to increased numbers we cannot offer this now to all children due to the social distancing measures we need to put in place.

If any parents have any concerns around their working hours and drop off at the start of the day, please do not hesitate to get in touch and we will try and help in any way we can. The children will be carrying out a variety of learning activities as well as completing the packs provided for home learning. Children entitled to free school meals or who would like to order a hot lunch can continue to do so in the normal way when they arrive at school.

Home Learning:

Home learning will move to weekly and we are only expecting the children to spend 2 or 3 hours during the day to complete it, depending on the age of the child (this can be spaced out over the course of the day and does not need to be completed all at once)

The home learning packs will be uploaded to the school website each Friday where you will be able to access them. You can find the home learning on the website by following the links:

• https://www.newtownceprimary.co.uk/

• Click on 'children'

• Click on 'home learning resources'

• Scroll down to 'year group home learning resources'

• Click on the relevant year group

• Scroll down to find the resources under the date for the week

• Home learning resources for the previous weeks will remain on there for the time being

We have limited hard copies, but if you require a paper copy you must phone the school number during the day on a Friday - before 2pm. Please state your child's name and year group when placing your order. Your paper copy will be made available after 10am on the following Monday each week. This will be placed in a box by the main door and will be named for you to collect.

Please phone the school office to inform us when you are on your way to collect. If you know your child is on the Special Educational Needs (SEND) register and may require a pack from a different age group, then please inform the office team when placing your order. For example, your child may have some additional needs in maths and may require the maths pack from another year group.

Home learning will include:

• Daily English (including reading, writing, spelling and handwriting)

• Daily Maths

• Daily phonics (in Early Years and KS1)

• Weekly project

• Weekly science

• Some weeks there may be French/Music/Computing/Personal Development Learning which will be included

The pages of the work pack will indicate the days of the week to complete for English and Maths.

Please remember learning comes in lots of different ways so enjoy this time with your children and find other ways to learning, for example bake, play in the garden, play board games, make dens, examine different types of wildlife/trees outside. The Newtown 90 which we gave out at the beginning of the year will give you some further inspiration of learning opportunities to complete as a family.

All children who are learning at home and who are entitled to a free school meal will continue to have a lunch delivery. Please contact the office if you think you might be entitled to this offer.

Other Notices:

lease remember to use your personal log in to the Seesaw app. This gives your child the opportunity to keep in touch with child’s class teacher and share the activities they have been completing at home. If you need to contact the school for support, please do so and you will be able to speak to a key member of staff.

Finally, please can I remind all parents not to try and contact staff directly by email or through other channels. If you need to contact a member of staff please telephone the school office or email adminoffice@newtown.hants.sch.uk and we will pass your message on to the relevant staff member. The staff member will reply via parentmail or via the admin office email account. This is to safeguard all our staff in the unprecedented time.

Thank you again for all of your support and if you have any queries please do not hesitate to get in touch. We look forward to welcoming all of our Newtown children and their families when it is safe to do so. Please continue to take care and stay safe.

Kindest regards

Mrs E Howlett

Headteacher

Welcome to our new Year R families!

Fri 17 Apr 2020

We are delighted to welcome our new year R families to the Newtown C of E Primary community, whose children will be starting school with us in September. We will shortly be sending you all welcome packs and further details.

If you have not received your first choice school and would like to speak to Mrs Howlett, Headteacher, about securing a place at our Ofsted graded GOOD school, please telephone the school office on 02392 584048.

We also have limited places in other year groups so please get in touch to discuss your child starting school at Newtown.

During this current COVID19 period, the school office is manned 8am-3pm daily, so please telephone or email adminoffice@newtown.hants.sch.uk

Newtown C of E Primary School:
• Ofsted GOOD 2019
• SIAMS GOOD 2019
• Winner of Best School 2018 ‘The News’
• Achieved “Happy School” status 2018

For those new year R families that are joining us in September, unfortunately we cannot offer a tour of the school at this time. However, if you would like to call the school office at any point, Mrs Howlett, Headteacher or Mrs Mitchell, Deputy Headteacher, will be happy to welcome you personally to our school and take any questions or queries you may have. Please call the school office on 02392 584048 any time between 8:30am and 3pm.

Thank you to TILLYS - Our mobile Free School Meal provider

Tue 07 Apr 2020

Thank you so much to Tillys on Forton Road, who have been providing our families with Free School meals and delivering them door to door during this unprecedented period.

It has been such a success and as you can see the staff at Tillys have been overwhelmed with our families letters of thanks and the pictures that have been left for them.

Please can we ask that if families, who are receiving free school meals, have any questions or queries regarding the meals, please can you contact the school and not contact Tillys directly. The team at Tillys cannot accommodate individual requests for each different family.

In addition, there will be no specific changes to the meals made unless your child has a known dietary requirement registered with the school and its normal catering provider HC3S.

Thank you to Tillys once again.

Free School Meal Provision during the Easter Bank Holiday

Tue 07 Apr 2020

Tillys will continue to provide families with free school meals for the Easter bank holiday dates (Good Friday and Easter Monday).

On Thursday, Tillys will deliver your Thursday lunches along with a food parcel so you will have enough wraps, fillings and other items to create a lunch for your child/children on the Friday and Monday of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. The normal delivery service will then resume on Tuesday 14th April.

Home Learning Update 03/04/2020

Fri 03 Apr 2020

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope you are well and keeping safe. I have been receiving some lovely emails and updates about the learning that is happening at home. I really am so pleased that so much effort is being put into what I know must be a difficult task. I also just wanted to re-iterate that if all the learning isn’t completed – please do not worry, of course home learning is important, but also keeping our children (as well as ourselves) upbeat and calm is paramount. Please remember to have fun, cook, paint, play board games, and enjoy each other’s company!

Please find an addendum to our Home Learning and Curriculum policies, and an addendum to our Mental Health & Wellbeing Policy in the policy section of our website. These set out everything for parents and staff for this unprecedented COVID-19 situation. Please take time to read these as I am sure it will alleviate some of your queries or concerns but I do want to take this time to focus on a few important points:

Home Learning for primary school children should take up to 2-3 hours per day. This is a guideline. Please do not think you have to sit your children down from 9am-3pm to complete home learning.
Please ensure the children are enjoying playing in the garden for example and not in front of a screen.
Seesaw log in codes have been sent to all parents via Parentmail or through the post, everyone should receive these by Friday. This application does not replace the Home Learning Resources found on our website. Seesaw can be used for years 1-6 to share completed work with your teachers and for teachers to respond to you. Year R can keep using Tapestry in the same way. Some teachers may add a story or demonstrate how to solve a problem via Seesaw.
To encourage children and parents to use Seesaw, we would like every child to share something new about what they have learnt that week, starting next week and we will be revealing a Golden Acorn winner each week during term time only from Friday 24^th April.
We now have many ways staff and parents can communicate with each other safely (ParentMail, emails via adminoffice@newtown.hants.sch.uk, the school FaceBook page and Seesaw), however staff are not expected to respond immediately. I am sure you can appreciate some staff have had to change their working pattern and may have a day off mid-week due to them working over the holidays. Some may also have children they are looking after. Staff will respond to you, but at a time that is convenient for them to do so.
Due to regulations and guidance given by the DfE, we will not live-stream lessons. Online lessons are not desirable for primary children as the teacher-pupil interaction is not easily replicated.
On the Home Learning Resources section of the website ‘Phase 1 Learning’ was the first 2 weeks away from school which is coming to the end this Friday (3^rd April).
‘Phase 2’ is an Easter project for the children to complete but please ensure the children and your family have a break.
We still at this stage do not know what is happening after Easter but have planned in case we are still closed:
- Home Learning Resources will be published a week at a time after Easter.
- Packs can be collected outside the school reception, once parents have ordered them. If you need a pack you will need to phone the school office and ask for one.
- Packs will be named for collection.
- Paper-copy packs must be used as a last resort: Paper supplies and deliveries to the school are very limited and we can only provide packs until stocks last. Please use the school website to download the home learning resources where possible.

If your child is on the SEND register, the office will know which work from which year group is appropriate for your child to work from.
Phase 3 Home Learning Resources will start from Monday 20th April. A limited number of hard-copy packs will be available to order from Friday 17th April.
Our website does not enable us to have work as a word document. It has to PDF format due to copyright and GDPR legalities.
For years 1-6 your weekly home learning resources will include the following:
- A daily maths task
- A daily English writing task
- A daily handwriting activity
- Daily reading/comprehension
- Daily phonics or grammar punctuation or spelling (phonic cards can be collected from school)
- Project task for the week
- Weekly e-safety task
- Creative activity linked to the project (a research poster for example)

For years R your weekly home learning resources will include the following:

Daily maths including number and shape and space
Daily phonics (phonic cards can be collected from school) or online phonic games
A book to read with follow up tasks
A creative activity
We are also currently developing on the website key project areas for each year group. For example, if year 4 should be learning about the Vikings, there will be a Viking section with key links available for the children to use. In addition, we hope to soon have stories that children can access via our website too.
Staff will not be expected to mark all the children’s work on return to school, however there will be an opportunity for children to share all their learning on their return to school.

In this unusual time, where we are using ICT more frequently, please can I stress the importance of e-safety. I have posted on Facebook and on this latest news section of the website some information regarding e-safety. Please can I also make you aware that the Code of Conduct for Parents and Carers and all policies still apply during this period. Updated policies and addendums for the COVID-19 period can be found on our website www.newtowncepri.co.uk/policies-and-procedures/

I have been overwhelmed with your thanks and support of the school and its staff during this period. I must however, thank you as parents and carers for all the support you are giving you children at this time. Please ensure everyone continues to remains at home and is safe.

I cannot wait to see the learning the children have completed via Seesaw and if you need to contact me at any time, please do so via the school telephone number or via the school email address.

Sending you my love and kindest regards on behalf of the staff and Governing Body,

Mrs E Howlett, Headteacher

E-Safety

Thu 02 Apr 2020

It is important during these times to be extra vigilant around the use of online resources to support learning. It is key that online resources are accessed with adult supervision.

Please ensure you check your parental control and privacy settings. Here are some helpful links for parents/carers with some key guidance and advice about safe internet and online use.

Please see our school website in the parents section, in useful links. We have also shared some useful links in the children's section of the website, in 'home learning.resources'.

https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-…/parents-and-carers
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-sa…/online-safety/
https://www.barnardos.org.uk/online-safety
https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/en_us/families

Seesaw Online Platform

Thu 02 Apr 2020

This term we have launched the Seesaw online platform. Seesaw is a simple way for teachers and children to RECORD and SHARE learning. It is not replacing the Home Learning Resources found on our website.

Each child gets their own e-portfolio and can add things to it, like photos, videos, drawings or notes. When there are new Seesaw posts, families can be notified via app notification, email or SMS.

Parents are only notified about their own child’s work, and all data is safe and secure.

The app will also provide an opportunity to communicate with the class teacher and share news in an environmentally friendly and secure way.

There are many benefits to using this app:

Teachers and children will upload posts about pupil’s learning and achievements.
Class teachers can send messages and reminders to parents via the app.
Extra home learning activities can be posted for children and parents to see.
Teachers will be awarding the Golden Acorn through the app based on posts that are uploaded.
Seesaw is private; you will only see posts created for your child.

Each child/parent has been issued with their own personal invitation via Parentmail. Please keep all codes and passwords secure. For those parents not using Parentmail, your codes have been sent home and you should receive these by Friday, depending on the postal service at this time.

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