Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Newtown Community Christmas Appeal

  Wed 25 Nov 2020

   

  As part of our Newtown Community Christmas Appeal, we are creating Christmas Dinner Hampers and Christmas Goody Boxes for our families most in need at Christmas. We have 50 families that have been adversely affected by the COVID pandemic and we need your help!

   

  Calling all local supermarkets, local businesses and organisations: We are looking for the following items/donations so that we can put together our Christmas Hampers. If you can help please get in touch with school as soon as possible.

   

  Thank you!

  

• Parents' Evenings: 1st and 3rd December 2020

  Wed 25 Nov 2020

   

  Following our communications to you on 2nd November 2020, Parents' Evening Appointments are available to book until Monday morning. If you have not already done so please log onto your ParentMail account and go to the Parents Evening section to book your appointment time. If you cannot access Parent Mail please call the school office.

   

  As you know, this year will be different, and all parents evening appointments will be conducted via the telephone. Your child's class teacher will telephone you at your allocated appointment time. Your appointment will be for a maximum of 10 minutes as we need to run to time in order for the teachers to ensure they complete every appointment booked.

   

  The teachers will attempt to call twice and will have to move onto the next parent appointment if the call is not answered a second time. Teachers will also end the call after the scheduled 10 minutes has ended, even if you were late starting the call. Please make sure you are aware of your appointment time and are available to take the call.

   

  Thank you

• Please donate to our Forest School!

  Wed 18 Nov 2020

   

  We are developing our Outdoor Learning/Forest School area! If you know of anyone that could donate the following materials, please get in touch with the school:

   

  • Tree Stumps
  • Small Logs
  • Branches (to build dens with)
  • Bungee cord
  • Scaffold planks
  • Large sheets of material
  • Plastic milk crates
  • Wooden posts (Cylindrical)

   

  Thank you!

• Children in Need

  Thu 12 Nov 2020

   

  We have received some questions today from pupils regarding what is ok to wear tomorrow in support of Children in Need:

   

  What is allowed

  • School uniform MUST be worn, however Pudsey/Children in Need t-shirts can be worn with all other uniform items e.g. skirt/trousers/cardigan/jumper
  • Pudsey earrings can be worn if they are studs.
  • Small Pudsey/spotty facepaints e.g. on face/cheeks can be worn
  • Pudsey ears can be worn
  • Dots and spots can be worn on school uniform

   

  What is NOT allowed

  • No Pudsey/Children in Need dresses
  • No full Pudsey costumes
  • No necklaces or dangly earrings
  • No coloured/dyed hair

   

  Thank you!

• Nut-Free School

  Wed 11 Nov 2020

   

  As we have some children in school who suffer from a severe nut allergy please could we take this opportunity to remind everyone that our school is a Nut-Free school. This means that the following items should not be bought into school:

   

  • Packs of nuts
  • Peanut butter sandwiches
  • Nutella/ Chocolate Spread sandwiches
  • Fruit and cereal bars that contain nuts ie tracker bars
  • Chocolate bars or sweets that contain nuts
  • Sesame seed rolls (children allergic to nuts may also have a severe reaction to sesame)
  • Cakes made with nuts

   

  Thank you

• End of term - Friday 18th December 2020

  Tue 10 Nov 2020

   

  The school will now close at 1.15pm on the last day of term, which is Friday 18th December 2020.

   

  Mrs Howlett has taken this decision as she feels it important to maximise the time spent with our families over Christmas time, which supports the school's pupil and staff wellbeing priorities. This is in line with other local secondary schools in the area.

   

  In addition, the site team can then ensure the whole school site has a thorough deep clean and that their time is not affected by working late into the early evening.

   

  We will communicate the exact staggered collection times nearer to the date to ensure social distancing takes place.

   

• Lockdown Measures as of 4th November 2020

  Wed 04 Nov 2020

   

  Following the Prime Ministers announcement on 31^st October 2020, we are still awaiting specific guidance from the Government on how and if this impacts schools and our daily operation.

   

  However, there has been some definitive measures put in place that the nation needs to follow which will impact some of the procedures at Newtown C of E Primary School:

   

  Attendance

  Attendance for children at Primary School is mandatory. All absences not relating to sickness or illness will be classes as unauthorised.  The Department for Education has been clear to state that “the government are keeping schools open during lockdown because the education and wellbeing of pupils is a national priority and that have already lost crucial learning time”.

   

  Collection of children

  As from Thursday 5^th November, children can only be collected by someone living within their household or by someone fulfilling childcare arrangements e.g. childminder or grandparents. Children will not be able to be collected by anyone that does not fill this criteria and codes will not be given out to allow other adults/friends to collect.

   

  Departing the school site

  Once you have dropped off your child at school in the morning and collected your child at the end of the school day, please can we implore that parents and carers leave the site and cycle-path area immediately and return to your own homes. We cannot have lingering of any kind on or near the site, due to the national lockdown.

   

  One parent/carer at all times

  To limit the number of adults on site, we are continuing to inforce a strict rule of one adult only to collect and drop off children.

   

  Face Coverings

  Due the number of Coronavirus cases rising in the local area, we are asking ALL adults to wear a face-covering when on the school site. This is to protect all members of the Newtown Community including the staff. All staff will be wearing face-coverings at drop off and collection points and when talking to parents/carers.

   

  Social distancing

  Please can we ask all parents and carers to strictly adhere to the yellow markers on site when dropping off and collecting your children. It is critical that everyone keeps to a 2 metre distance, even when talking with each other and to staff members. We have received a number of complaints from parents who see children mixing with other children and adults on departure from the school site. It is imperative that families keep a safe distance from each other.

   

  Visitors inside the school building

  We will be limiting the number of visitors coming into the school building, including parents. Most meetings will now take place via telephone or video call. Please use the school telephone number 02392 584048 to leave a message for a member of staff, who will call you back outside of learning time.

   

  Other activities

  At this stage we are unsure how the lockdown and subsequent guidance will affect After School Club, Rock Steady, Karate and other activities. We will communicate any further updates as soon as we have been notified.

   

  Thank you for your support and understanding. I will endeavor to communicate any further updates to you as and when I receive this from the Government. Please keep safe and if you need any further support please do not hesitate to contact the school.

   

• School Tea Towels

  Tue 03 Nov 2020

   

  As a unique fundraiser, the school is organising school tea towels for you to buy for potential Christmas presents.

   

  Each of the children have drawn a picture of themselves which will be printed on the tea towel with the child's name underneath. The towels have the school name, logo, key stage area, children's pictures and names printed on them. We have 2 different tea towels one for Early Years and Key Stage 1 (Years R to 2), and one for Key Stage 2 (Years 3 - 6).

   

  The number of tea towels will be limited, so please complete the form sent home via parentmail to confirm how many tea towels you would be interested in purchasing. The tea towels will cost £4.00 each. Please note the form is only an expression of interest, it is not a order form. Order forms will be released once we have the tea towels on site. Sale of the tea towels will be on a first come first served basis. We hope you like the children's efforts.

   

  Please respond by 11am on Thursday 5th November

• RBL Poppy Appeal 2020

  Tue 03 Nov 2020

   

  Each year we support the Royal British Legion by selling Poppy Appeal merchandise for the children. This year we are still supporting the Poppy Appeal but as with everything else, we are having to work slightly differently.

   

  We have 2 boxes of children's items and will therefore be providing each year group with the opportunity to purchase items on a different day over the next week. Please be advised that there is a limited number of each item, but we will do our best to ensure each year group has access to all items. The dates for each year group are listed below:

   

  Wednesday 4th November - Year 6 and Year 1

  Thursday 5th November - Year 5 and Year 2

  Friday 6th November - Year 4 and Year R

  Monday 9th November - Year 3

   

  Should your child/ren wish to purchase any of the Poppy appeal items, please send them in to school with their donation in a named sealed envelope on the day allocated above. The children should hand this donation to their teacher when they arrive at school for safe keeping.

   

  Thank you for helping us support The Royal British Legion and the Poppy Appeal.

• Parents' Evening Autumn 2020

  Tue 03 Nov 2020

   

  Due to the COVID 19 restrictions, the Parents' Evening consultation meetings will take place over the telephone on 1st and 3rd December 2020. A limited number of video calls will be available should you specify you would like this option in the notes section. Teachers will telephone you on the date and time booked.

   

  Appointments have been arranged for Tuesday 1^st December and Thursday 3^rd December from 3.15pm-5.15pm.  We look forward to hearing from you and discussing your child’s learning, their progress over the past term and the next steps in their learning. 

   

  During these meetings, if your child has Special Educational Needs and is on the SEND register, a SEND tracker will be shared with you, which will indicate your child’s progress, targets and interventions. 

   

  We look forward to meeting with you all, albeit remotely and I hope you take the opportunity to share in your child’s achievements, progress and next steps. 

   

  Please use the Parentmail app to book an appointment from 3pm on Monday 2nd November. If you cannot access Parentmail, please call the school office who will make the appointment for you.