The EllisChurch Of England Primary School

20.10.21  New Ellis Church

Dear Parents, 

The first monthly Ellis Church meet up will be held in the school hall on Thursday, 11th November 2021, 3:30-4:30pm.

Please see the attached poster for more information.

Mrs Hurding

 

 

 

 

 

 

19.10.21  Y6 Forest School and Garden

Dear Y6 Parents,

Please can you send your child with suitable footwear and a coat on Thursday ready for use in forest school and the garden. A spare set of clothes is not needed.

Thank you

Mrs Jaques

 

18.10.21  Y4 Lego Club next Half Term

New Year 4 After School Lego Club

Dear Parents,

We are pleased to offer a new Year 4 after school Lego Club running from 3:15-4:15pm every Thursday.

The club will run for 6 weeks from 4th November 2021 until 9th December with a maximum of 15 places available. 

The club will be organised and run by Mrs Willis. Each week will have a different theme to give the children opportunity to show their creative side. 

The club is free of charge. Please email Mrs Fiddes to express your child’s interest and once we have an idea of numbers we will decide how to proceed with allocating spaces.

Miss Cook 

Wider Curriculum Lead

 

15.10.21  After School Clubs next Half Term

Dear Parents,

We are delighted to be able to offer a range of after school clubs after half term.

Monday   November 8^th, 15^th, 22^nd, 29^th.  December 6^th.

KS1 Gross Motor Skills Free of charge

This club will work on fundamental skills such as throwing, catching, running and jumping.

Please email Mrs Fiddes if your child would like a place at this club.

 

Tuesday   November 2^nd, 9^th, 16^th, 23^rd, 30^th.  December 7^th.

Y4/5 Tag Rugby Free of charge

This club is run by a qualified rugby coach with over 20 year’s experience.

The club will be held outside on the field so children will need to bring appropriate shoes and clothing for the weather. 

Please email Mrs Fiddes if your child would like a place at this club.

 

Wednesday   November 3^rd, 10^th, 17^th, 24^th.  December 1^st, 8^th.

Y3/4 Forest School £2.50 weekly payable on ParentPay

This new outdoor learning, Forest School and Rainbow Garden club will be run by Miss Batley. For safety reasons numbers are limited to 15 for this club. The charge of £2.50 will be paid on ParentPay and all the funds will be used to enhance our outdoor areas.

This club is now full.

 

Wednesday    November 3^rd, 10^th, 17^th, 24^th.  December 1^st, 8^th.

F2 Footie Stars £2.50 payable direct to the coach

This club will be run by Adrian Barnard who is a qualified football coach and will be held in the school hall. The cost is £2.50 weekly and is to be paid in cash directly to Adrian.  There will be a maximum of 12 places available and an adult will need to be present with their child. 

 

Thursday   November 4^th, 11^th, 18^th, 25^th.  December 2^nd, 9^th.

Y5/6 Handball Free of charge

Please email Mrs Fiddes if your child would like a place at this club.

 

Kind regards

Miss Cook

Y3 Teacher & Wider Curriculum Lead

15.10.21  F2 Autumn Gifts

Dear Parents,  Autumn Gift Email for Parents

We have been busy making our Autumn gifts in F2. Please see the attached for more information.

Thank you

The F2 Team

 

14.10.21  Extra Curricular and Sporting Trips Consent

Dear Parents,

Throughout the year the school organises local visits/trips away from the school site as part of the children’s learning experiences. These visits are approved by the headteacher and are an extension to classroom activities and present no significant risk to the health and safety of the pupils. Participation is always dependent on good behaviour.

The purpose of the extra curricular consent form is to enable parents to give their child permission to participate in these local visits/trips away from school without the need to sign a separate consent each time.

Full details of the visit will be explained prior to the trip, including any activities to be undertaken, what they will need and the time they will be expected to return.

Examples of these extra curricular visits/trips are:

Walks around the local area: e.g. Jump cenotaph, Hemingfield, Elsecar Park, Wombwell Church.

Inter-School Sports Competitions: e.g. Shafton, Kirk Balk, Netherwood, English Institute of Sport.

Local Schools: Transition visits, Inter-School Competitions.

I have placed a consent form on ParentPay for you to give consent for your child. The end date for the form is the year your child finishes in Year 6, this will allow the consent form to follow your child through school, meaning consent only needs to be given once throughout their time with us.

Thank you,

Hayley Fiddes

 

14.10.21  F1 Autumn Gifts

Dear Parents,

We have been busy making our Autumn gifts in Nursery. Please see the attached for more information.

Thank you

The F1 Team

 

14.10.21  Ellis Information

Dear Parents,

We are heading towards the last week of a wonderful busy half term in school.  We are beyond proud of all your children, their attitude to learning and each other has been a joy to see.

CV-19 update

As you are aware CV-19 is still around and we are beginning to have new cases in school as of today.  We officially inform you when we have 5 or more cases.  The increase of cases in school in Y6 was hard for everyone, children, staff and parents.  I contacted Public Health every day and followed advice given.  It was my decision to keep the Y6 class separate and for staff to wear masks in shared spaces and to encourage lateral flow testing.  We are so grateful for our parents support as everyone has been willing to do lateral flow tests when they have been in close contact with Covid.  We never had contact from Track and Trace. This week Public Health have updated guidance to say we can encourage Primary schools to do lateral flow tests.  So I am delighted we were already encouraging this as it seems like the safest option we have.

UPDATED ADVICE FROM PUBLIC HEALTH:

Primary: advise that primary schools can also suggest that their pupils who are identified by NHS Test and Trace as close or household contacts undertake daily LFD testing while awaiting the results of a PCR. This is left to parental discretion and test kits for primary aged pupils can be accessed via gov.uk or their local pharmacy.

We do also understand that as a result of CV-19 in school other family members may get CV-19 and this is a stressful situation.  We are not allowed to close down classes now, it is seen as the last resort.  The only time classes have closed in the area since September is due to not having enough staff due to them having CV-19 to safely run a class.  We can agree or disagree with this but this is the current guidance from Public Health I have to follow.

I really don’t think the guidance will change much now as the main goal is to keep children in school.

School Development

On Tuesday we had our first visit since Covid from a School Evaluation Officer and are proud to say he agreed with our judgements that school is good.  We have not stopped improving our wonderful school and we are delighted with the result.  This is down to everyone’s support to make The Ellis ‘the best it can be’.

Bookshop

The Y6 book shop crew have been so motivated organising and getting the shop ready over the last few weeks. They did us all proud on their first shop on Tuesday and raised over £109 pounds for us to buy more books for the bookshop! 

If you are ever clearing out books we willingly take them as we can use them either in school or to sell in the bookshop.

SEESAW

A reminder that Curriculum information for F1, F2 and Y2 to Y6 is available on Seesaw for you to listen to.

By the end of next week your child’s class will have put on a Harvest celebration video for you to enjoy at home.

The Y1 curriculum evening was held online in the Summer term before the children started in Y1. Any questions regarding the curriculum please don’t hesitate to contact the class teacher.

HARVEST gifts

We will be sending any donations of food to the local foodbank, however, as a family, you may prefer to donate to a charity or leave food in the supermarket for the foodbanks.  If you would like to bring a donation to school, please can you do so on the 20th October.

Parents evenings and SEN reviews

We have decided the safest option is to keep these virtual.

We will organise the appointment system to be set up for the first week back and will let you know which days and times your teacher has appointments.

Parents evening appointments will be the week beginning 15^th November.

SEN reviews appointments will be the week beginning 22^nd November – these will be longer appointments and will include your parents evening too.

INSET

The 1^st November is a school INSET day so our children will not be in school.

Thanks for your continued support,

Mrs Hurding

 

14.10.21  Y2 Local Walk

Dear Parents and Carers,

This half term we have been reading the story ‘The Jolly Postman’ and have been learning about the journey of a letter. We have also been studying aerial photographs of Hemingfield and looking at street maps of the surrounding roads. 

In order to bring our topic to a close and to carry out some local area geography field work, we would like to walk the children to the post box outside Mick’s Plaice fish and chip shop on the corner of Cemetery Road on the afternoon of Tuesday 19th October. The children will be accompanied by Mrs Trotter, Mrs Andrews and Miss Batley. We will take 15 children in the first group (Mrs Beever will do PE with the other half of the class) and then we will come back to school and swap groups so that all children have walked there on Tuesday. We are going to address our own envelopes at school (having enclosed something inside it!) and then post our letters and see how long they take to arrive at our houses! Whilst posting letters is something lots of us take for granted, in today’s ‘fast technology world’ of emails and text messages, sending and receiving letters is less common and it will a lovely way to round off our learning this half term. 

The walk is covered under our ‘local walks’ permission form so there is no need for a separate signature on this occasion if you have completed the form on ParentPay. Please ensure your child has a coat and sensible shoes on the day. Should the weather make it unsafe to carry out the walk, we will endeavour to rearrange it at the first possible date. 

Please could we ask that before the 19th October, you take your child to buy a first class stamp from a shop or a post office, for them to put on their envelope. These can be sent in any time from now onwards and we will put them safely on the envelopes. (We have envelopes in school so there is no need to send one of these). 

Kind Regards

Mrs Trotter

Charlotte Trotter

 

13.10.21  Reds in the Community Holiday Club

Dear Parents,

We have been asked to share this email with parents, it is however, only targeting those who are eligible for benefit related free school meals. Hayley

Good Morning,

Reds in the Community will be supporting the Holiday activities and food programme 2021 by delivering FREE multi-sports sessions during the October Holidays thanks to funding from Barnsley Council, Department for Education and Healthy Holidays. We are reaching out to schools and partners to support us in ensuring the children and young people who would benefit the most from these activities have access. We are looking to target children and young people who are eligible to access free school meals.

Our Fit and Fed with the Reds camps will be delivered across two venues in Barnsley and consist of a blend of multi sports, wellbeing and educational activities that are accessible to all 8-16-year-olds who are eligible for free school meals.

The Multi-sport camps will be delivered 10am – 2pm at the below venues:

Astrea Academy Dearne

5ives Community Sports Centre

Please also see the following link where parents can sign up their children for the provision and our Facebook promotion post that you can share.

5ives

Astrea Academy Dearne

Facebook

Kind Regards,

 James Cooke

Premier League Kicks Officer

 

11.10.21  Jump Family Centre Holiday Club

Dear Parents,

We have been asked to forward the following email and poster on to our parents.

It is only for local families with children eligible for benefits related free school meals. Thank you. 

 

Good afternoon,  Jump Family Centre Healthy Holiday Halloween Club

We’re working in partnership with BMBC on the healthy holidays programme this October half term.

As part of the programme, we’re excited to let you know that we are providing free holiday activities and meals for local families with children eligible for benefits related-free school meals.

The club is at Jump Family Centre and is running each day of half term, from Monday 25 to Friday 29 October 9am-3pm.  We’ll be providing:

• a tasty and nutritious breakfast and lunch for each child
• enriching activities, themed daily and focused on wellbeing, creativity, culture, teamwork, building confidence & resilience and physical activity
• nutrition education for children and families, along with support and signposting for families to other services (where appropriate).

There’s also a link here for further information about the club.

  Kind regards.

 

11.10.21  Hockey Event

Dear Parent/Carer,

                         Your child has been selected to represent the school in a Year 3/4 Hockey Competition event at Springwood School on Friday 15^th October 2021.  The event will start at 1:15pm and should finish before 3pm depending on how well the school perform!

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue at 12:45pm.

Your child will need to bring shorts/tracksuit bottoms, trainers and their water bottle. They will be given a school shirt.  The event will be held outdoors, therefore your child will also need to bring warm clothes for when they are spectating. 

If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Cook

Wider Curriculum Lead/ Y3 Teacher

 

11.10.21  Bookshop and Crazy Craft pop up shop

Dear Parents,

Our new Bookshop recruits have been working hard to get the book shop up and running again. 

The bookshop will be open on Tuesdays and we have allocated different times for different classes F2 to Y6.  Books cost between 50p and £2, many are second hand.  The money goes towards buying new books for the book shop.

We also have a group of Y5s who have been busy making crafts, they are called the ‘Crazy Crafts’.

They are having their first pop up shop outside the main entrance of school on Thursday 21^st October, shop open from 3pm. 

Thank you

Mrs Hurding

 

11.10.21  PGL Residential

Dear Y5/6 Parents,

We are pleased to let you know that we have now confirmed numbers with PGL for Friday 24^th– Sunday 26^th June 2022.  Both Y5 and Y6 will be attending PGL together, however children will be in rooms and groups with others from their own year group.

The cost of the trip, including transport, will be £140 including coach travel.

If you have not already registered your interest but you would like your child to now attend the residential please could you log on to ParentPay where you will be able to pay the initial deposit.

An initial deposit of:

£30 will be due by Friday 22^nd October 2021. Please note this is non-refundable.

Your child will not be able to be added after the 22^nd October if this has not been paid

Further payments of:

£40 by Friday, 8^th April 2022

The remaining balance- £70- will be due by Friday, 3^rd June 2022

As always, there is the option to pay small, regular amounts if you prefer to spread the cost of the visit. The amount will be available on ParentPay as a reducing balance so that you can spread the cost more easily.

Please contact Mrs Edwards if you have any queries regarding this.

Kind Regards,

Mrs Edwards

 

11.10.21  F2 NELI

Dear F2 Parents,  NELI

We are delighted that our school is participating in the NELI programme this year. Please see the attached letter for more details.

Rachel Hurding & Mr Grayhurst

 

8.10.21  SEND Coffee Morning

Dear Parents,

We will be holding our next coffee morning for families of children on our SEN register on Thursday 11th November from 9-10am. There will be drinks and biscuits, time to chat, a Thrive activity and an opportunity to share how you feel about our current review meetings for your children’s individual plans. 

We would love it if you could come and join us, but if you can’t, please feel free to get in touch if you have any concerns or would like to share your ideas with us.

If you know you would like to attend then please reply to this email, it helps us if we know how many people to plan for.

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

 

6.10.21  Early Years Framework on Seesaw

Dear Foundation Stage Parents,

We will be posting several clips onto the Seesaw site to inform parents about our revised Early Years Framework, the Prime areas of Learning and ideas on how to support your child’s phonic, reading and writing and maths skills.

These clips will be available for you to access from Friday 8^th October. You will need to sign onto the seesaw site using your child’s login code.

If you have any questions regarding the information in the clips, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher via the comment option on seesaw.

We hope you find this information useful

Mrs. T. Pollard & Mr. D. Grayhurst

 

5.10.21  Young Voices

Dear Parents, 

Your child has been allocated a Young Voices 2022 place for the concert at Sheffield Arena in February. Today we are sending home a letter and order forms for t-shirts / tickets. Please read it carefully as we have had to bring the order form deadline forwards to this THURSDAY 7th OCTOBER (however the payment can be delayed until the original date of Wednesday 20th October – all is explained in the letter!). Please check your child’s book bag as we do not want anyone to miss out on the chance of ordering tickets, but we have had to make it a quick turnaround! 

 Kind Regards

Mrs Trotter and Mrs Edwards

 

1.10.21  Ellis Information

Dear Parents,

CV-19

Thank you for everyone’s support. The CV-19 situation has calmed, however, we still need to be prepared for it happening again.  The measures we have put in place helped to reduce the spread.  We appreciate all our parents support and are grateful to those who are taking their family members for PCR tests when needed. Please continue to be mindful that children should not be in school and to go for a test if they have CV-19 Symptoms.

When your child is having to isolate and they are well enough, they are expected to complete the home learning set on SEESAW.  Teachers will put work onto SEESAW daily for your child to access.  This will help your child continue to learn and on their return to school they will understand the learning that has been set and not feel so behind.  We work hard to make sure the learning on SEESAW is as close as possible to the learning in school.

EVENTS

We are continuously debating and thinking how we can safely manage events in school.

It was wonderful yesterday morning to be able to run a small coffee morning for our SEND children’s parents.

We will continue to adapt and change as we go in relation to events in school, however, at this stage we will still not be putting on large events.

CURRICULUM EVENINGS

We have decided that the Autumn 1 scheduled Curriculum Evenings will be virtual rather than inviting all parents into school.  Y1 to Y6 will place Curriculum information for their year groups onto Seesaw by  8^th October.  Y1 and F2 have already had their curriculum evenings.  However, as the Foundation Curriculum has been updated, the Foundation Team will also be sharing new Curriculum information onto Seesaw by the 8^th October.

HELLO YELLOW

We will be taking part in ‘Hello Yellow’ again this year, as ever, it is vital that we raise awareness of the importance of taking care of our Mental Health and to raise awareness with our children that’s it’s ‘ok not to be ok’.

Everyone can wear something yellow and you can decide how much yellow! It can be a yellow ribbon, shoelace, socks or a badge, or even head to toe in yellow if you have it!

This is on Friday 8th October.

HARVEST FESTIVAL 

To celebrate Harvest this year your children’s class will be putting a Harvest song or poem onto SEESAW for you to be able to enjoy together.  Seesaw is a safe space to share films, where only schools’ families can access the images. This enables our children who are not allowed on Social Media also to be shown too.  We will be sending any donations of food to the local foodbank, however, as a family, you may prefer to donate to a charity or leave food in the supermarket for the foodbanks.  If you would like to bring a donation to school, please can you do so on the 20th October.

HALF TERM HOLIDAY

Half term holiday is the 23rd October -31st October.

Monday 1st November is an Inset day, so children return on the 2nd November.

PARENTS EVENING

Parents evening and SEN reviews are scheduled for the week starting the 15th of November, it is highly likely these will be virtual and we may need to arrange the appointments over two weeks, but we will let you know before half term.

CHILDREN IN NEED

We will take part in Children in Need on the 19th November. Please dress up in SPOTS or anything Pudsey Bear related.  We ask that if you wish to make a donation to make it as a family online.  

CHRISTMAS

We have not yet made a decision regarding the KS1 Nativity.

We have set the date for Christmas dinner and Christmas jumper day, which is the 8th of December. Your child doesn’t have to wear a Christmas jumper on Xmas dinner day, it can be a t-shirt or something festive.

Christmas Party day is the 15th of December, please come dressed to party but be mindful of outdoor play. The lunch menu will be party food and there will no alternatives on these days. We will send further information on this later on.

We still need to work out the Christingle which is on the last day of term, 17th December.

Thank you for everyone’s support

​Mrs Rachel Hurding

 

30.09.21  F2 Information

Dear F2 Parents,

The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) curriculum videos, including one for Phonics, will be available to view on Seesaw on the 8th October.

To supplement this, on the 7th October, we will be sending out a small guide about Phonics, our RWI (Read Write Inc) programme.

Attached is the welcome to school booklet which also contains some useful information on the EYFS curriculum and Foundation Phonics (Read Write Inc).  Welcome to F2 Parent Booklet

Mr Grayhurst 

F2 Teacher

 

29.09.21 Kirk Balk Academy Open Evening

Dear Y6 Parents,

We have been asked to notify you of the Kirk Balk Academy Open Evening which is taking place on Wednesday, 13th October from 4:30-7:30pm. Please see the letter below for more details. 

 JGT – Open Evening Letter 27.9.2021.docx

Thank you

 

29.09.21  Science Workshop Y5/6

Dear Parents,

We are excited to let you know that, as part of our Science learning about Space (which is Y5’s current topic and revision for Y6), we have arranged for a workshop run by ‘Real History Alive’ to bring our learning to life and give the children an interactive experience which they will enjoy and remember. The event will take place on Friday the 22nd of October.

The experience will involve astronaut training and pre-flight preparations, a tour of the solar system on a virtual space craft and a post flight report with question time for the space cadets!

We are asking for donations of £1.70 per pupil for us to be able to offer this experience to our Y5s and Y6s. Payments are made via Parent Pay. Please be aware that without sufficient donations the event will not be able to go ahead.

Many thanks for your continued support,

The Y5 and Y6 Team

 

28.09.21  Forest After School Club Postponed

Dear Parents,

Unfortunately we have been notified of staff training that is to be undertaken after school for the next three Wednesdays, which has an impact on our Wednesday Forest School club. 

The club will now start on Wednesday, 3rd November (after half term) and everybody who has received a place will remain the same.

Thank you

 

27.09.21  New After School Clubs

Tag Rugby Y4/5 Free of charge Starting 28th September

This new Tag Rugby club will be run by a qualified rugby coach with over 20 year’s experience.

The first session will start on Tuesday, 3:20-4:20pm and will be open to Years 4 and 5.  The club will be held outside on the field so children will need to bring appropriate shoes and clothing for the weather. We will initially run the club up until Christmas.  If your child would like to attend this club please email Mrs Fiddes.

 

Forest School Y3/4 £2.50 weekly starting Wednesday 29th September

This new outdoor learning, Forest School and Rainbow Garden club will be run by Miss Batley. The first session will start on Wednesday, 3:20-4:20pm and will be open to Years 3 and 4. For safety reasons numbers are limited to 15 for this club. The charge of £2.50 will be paid on ParentPay and all the funds will be used to enhance our outdoor areas. If your child would like to attend this club please email Mrs Fiddes.

This club is now full.

 

 F2 Footie Stars starting Wednesday 3rd November

On Wednesday 3^rd November a new Footie Stars football club will be starting for our F2 children. 

The club will be run by Adrian Barnard who is a qualified football coach and will be held in the school hall. The cost is £2.50 weekly and is to be paid in cash directly to Adrian.  There will be a maximum of 12 places available and an adult will need to be present with their child. 

Anyone who is interested in the club please email Hayley at h.fiddes@theellis.org to secure your place. 

Hayley Fiddes

 

27.09.21  Swinton Academy Open Evening

Dear Parents,

Swinton Academy will be hosting an open evening on Monday 4th October for all Year 5 and Year 6 students

Please see the attached for more information. Open Evening 2021 Letter    2021 Poster

Hayley Fiddes

 

24.09.21 Young Voices Feb 22

Dear Parent/Carers

We would like to offer the children in Year 5 and 6 the opportunity to take part in Young Voices which is an amazing concert for primary school children.  Our school has been part of it for several years and this year it is set to be a very exciting one as it is the 25^th anniversary of Young Voices which has been rescheduled from last year. We are aware that some of our Y3 and 4 children may be disappointed by our decision to limit this year to Y5 and 6 however we feel that in light of the current situation this will be the safest option for this year. We hope that our Y3 and Y4 children will be able to join us again from next year.

The concert we will be taking part in is at The Utilita Arena, Sheffield on Friday 4^th February 2022 at 7.00pm.  Before then there is a lot to do! We will practise the songs and the dance moves one lunchtime each week and will send a CD and lyrics home for the children to begin learning the songs. They are also available on Spotify.

There is no cost for your child to take part in Young Voices and children will be transported to and from the concert by coach (the cost of which will be covered by school). On the day of the concert, children will take part in an afternoon rehearsal at the arena and will be required to bring a packed tea. Staff will then bring the children back to school after the concert. (A letter with further details outlining all the arrangements will be sent out nearer the time).

You can buy tickets for the concert (these are £20 each) and the children need either a plain white T-shirt or a Young Voices T-shirt (priced at £12 or £14.40 for adult sizes).  Once your child has returned their permission slip we will send out order forms for tickets and t-shirts. The order deadline for tickets and t-shirts is Wednesday 20^th October. These will need to be paid for via either cash or cheque, made payable to the school.

Please note, there is no obligation to buy either of these. Tickets ordered through school will be allocated seats together, however parents are welcome to purchase tickets directly from the arena right up until the concert date (although these will not necessarily be near other parents).

You can find out more on the website www.youngvoices.co.uk where there is a dedicated Parents section.

Final choir numbers are needed as soon as possible so if you would like your child to take part please email Mrs Fiddes by Tuesday September 28th.  We only have a certain number of places available and therefore will allocate on a first come first served basis. Thank you.

Yours sincerely

Mrs C Trotter and Mrs E Edwards

 

24.09.21  PGL Residential Trip Y5/6

Dear Parents,

We would like to let you know we have provisionally rebooked our residential trip for next year, at PGL Caythorpe Court. Due to demand from other schools who also missed out last year, the centre is fully booked for our usual Wednesday to Friday stay and the prices for the Monday to Wednesday stays have increased significantly so we have opted for the weekend slot to minimise cost. The date of our travel is Friday 24^th June to Sunday 26^th June 2022. As our Y6s have missed out on their trip last year we are opening this year’s visit up to Y5 and Y6.

As soon as I have exact numbers I will be able to give an exact cost based on the number of children going but I don’t envisage it going over £195 including coach travel. I have spoken with PGL and confirmed that should the trip not be able to go ahead, we are fully protected.

If you would like your child to attend please reply to this email. As soon as we have confirmed numbers I will be able to confirm the exact price. I will then send out payment schedules and details of how to pay the deposit to secure your place.

For more information about this trip and the types of activities on offer please visit:

http://www.pgl.co.uk/PGLWeb/Schools/Primary-schools/adventure/centres/CaythorpeCourt_activities

Please note participation in this trip will be dependent on consistent good behaviour in school.

Yours faithfully

Mrs Edwards

Deputy Headteacher

 

23.09.21  Track and Trace Information

Dear Parents,

A parent has passed on some information that has been received from Track and Trace.

They have said that symptoms for Covid -19 are coming out more as a headache and sore throat to start with and then a head cold, not the usual temperature, cough, and loss of taste initially. The cough and loss of taste seem to come a few days after the positive test. 

Please continue to keep an eye on your children becoming ill.

Thanks for your support,

Mrs Hurding

 

23.09.21  New After School Clubs

Dear Parents,

We are excited to let you know of two new after school clubs that will be starting next week.

Tag Rugby Y4/5 Free of charge

This new Tag Rugby club will be run by a qualified rugby coach with over 20 year’s experience.

The first session will start on Tuesday next week, 3:20-4:20pm and will be open to Years 4 and 5.  The club will be held outside on the field so children will need to bring appropriate shoes and clothing for the weather. We will initially run the club up until Christmas.  If your child would like to attend this club please email Mrs Fiddes.

Forest School Y3/4 £2.50 weekly

This new outdoor learning, Forest School and Rainbow Garden club will be run by Miss Batley. The first session will start on Wednesday next week, 3:20-4:20pm and will be open to Years 3 and 4. For safety reasons numbers are limited to 15 for this club. The charge of £2.50 will be paid on ParentPay and all the funds will be used to enhance our outdoor areas. If your child would like to attend this club please email Mrs Fiddes.

Miss Cook

Wider Curriculum Lead/ Y3 Teacher

 

22.09.21  Email from Wath Academy

Dear Y6 Parents,

We have been asked to distribute the following email to parents:

Dear Parent/Carer, 

Due to unprecedented interest in the open evening, we would like to have an indication of numbers for each presentation, this will also allow us to plan for the appropriate amount of tour guides on the evening. 

Please could you select the presentation you will be attending via the Microsoft Form link below.

https://forms.office.com/r/7RMGNrSVUu

Thank you in advance 

Wath Academy 

 

22.09.21  Covid-19 Update

Dear Parents,

We really do appreciate everyone’s support during the current increase of Covid-19 in school and we want to continue to do everything we can to keep everyone safe.

Can we please ask that you try to limit the amount of people who collect and drop off at school to limit traffic as much as possible. 

Staff are currently wearing masks again in communal areas. We totally understand if you need to wear masks at collection and drop off, we are not enforcing it at this stage but are strongly recommending it to keep everyone safe.

If your child has any signs of illness we are recommending taking a lateral flow test, again we can only recommend this. You do not need to send us the test result.  If a sibling has Covid-19 please be vigilant when the sibling is sent to school in terms of checking beforehand to make sure they do not have CV-19.

We thank you for all your support.

Mrs Hurding

 

22.09.21  Important Y6 Information

Dear Y6 Parents,

As you all communicate with each other I know that you will be aware of the increasing cases of Covid-19 in the Y6 class.  We really appreciate everyone’s support in this matter.

We are currently keeping the Y6s separate to help to decrease the spread but we are mindful that more children are getting Covid-19 in class.  Please can you continue to keep an eye on illnesses and test if you have any concerns?  Will you also keep an eye on siblings as we are very mindful that we can continue to spread throughout school.  We are following all the current advice and we do have lateral flow tests in school for staff, however, if you need to use some please let us know as we really want to help the situation as much as we can.  We do also have some PCR tests in school which are the ones that you have to send away.

I have been informed it is Track and Trace who should be informing you and to my knowledge they have not, hence the reason for my email.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns.

I know Mrs Edwards is putting work on Seesaw for when your child is well enough to work at home.

Thank you for your continued support

Mrs Hurding

 

22.09.21  F2 Information

Dear F2 Parents,

Please can you discuss the lunchtime menu with your child as a few children are saying they don’t like what they have ordered. If you log on to ParentPay and choose the lunch with your child there are actual pictures of the food served here in our school that your child can look at.

Also, it is expected by the end of this school year (when they leave F2) that children are able to use a knife and fork. Please practise this with your child and encourage independent use so they are ready for when they move into Y1.

Thank you for your support,

Mr Grayhurst  

 

21.09.21  Public Health Update

Dear Parents,

The local Yorkshire Public Health have been in contact and we are currently following all the guidelines that they have recommended.  I will of course update you if the situation changes at all.

Thanks for your support.

Please stay safe,

Mrs Hurding

 

21.09.21  Nursery Information

Dear Parents,

Share a Story Reading Session

Thank you for your interest in our ‘Share a Story’ reading session which was due to be held in nursery each Wednesday.

Unfortunately, we feel that it is not the appropriate time now to have any additional adults in the classroom at this moment. Therefore, we will need to cancel these sessions.

Your child will, however, continue to have their reading session alongside the staff in nursery.

As soon as we feel it is safe to start these sessions, we will let you know.

Until then please do not hesitate to contact the nursery staff if you have any questions regarding your child’s wellbeing, education and progress.

Shoes

Now is the time to help your child put on their shoes independently. We find that children often put their shoes on the wrong feet. Here is a quick idea how to help:

1. Write your child’s first name on a sticky label.
2. Cut the label in half (so half of their name is on each piece of label)
3. Put the 1st part of their name in the left shoe and the last part of their name in the right shoe.
4. Show your child how, when they place their shoes correctly together, it spells their name! Good Luck!

Jewellery

Please remember that if your child has earrings they cannot remove themselves, please can these be taken out on the morning of PE (Monday AM).

Under the Barnsley policy we are unable to let children take part inan indoor PE activity if they have earrings in and staff are unable to put plasters or tape over the earrings.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Pollard

 

21.09.21  Urgent Covid Advice

Dear Parents,

PLEASE READ THE ATTACHED LETTER  Warn and Inform Letter

Please be mindful then when we have 5 cases or more in school I have to contact Public Health, I have contacted Public Health this morning.  Please see the information attached.

I am waiting for the local response before I make changes, but I will be informing today. 

The class that has several cases in is being kept as separate as possible today and also for the rest of the week as an immediate action.  I strongly recommend alongside this letter that if you have any concerns regarding symptoms that you please go for a PCR test.  Please be mindful as a school we may have to phone if your child is not well.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards,

Mrs  Hurding

 

21.09.21  F2 Information

Hello Everyone,

We hope you are keeping well. We are so pleased with how well the children have really settled down into  school life at The Ellis and they are really keen to learn and do well.

A few of you have been making enquiries about home learning so we thought we would send an email to answer your queries and hopefully provide you with the support that you need.

• Reading Folders will be sent home every Thursday (once a week) – please return your child’s folder by the following Wednesday at the latest.
• The Reading Diary is for recording comments about how well your child is reading either their Read Write Inc. Phonic Book or their Colour Banded Book or both J
• The Home Learning Book is for giving us updates about the learning and key experiences that your child is enjoying at home. You can add photographs if you like and your child may even want to include some of their work or drawings if you feel that this is appropriate.

A number of you have also been asking how we encourage the children to read the words using phonic strategies. We ask children to Fred Talk (say the individual sounds) then read the words. There are three helpful videos on the Ruth Miskin website that you may want to watch that will hopefully help you.

Parent Video: Sound Blending: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNyFikwNQTg

Parent Video: Sound Blending Books https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no4CbSS3ve8

Parent Video: Red Ditty Books  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLXCVD_MVOg

Both Mr Grayhurst and Mrs Pollard will be posting information videos about the curriculum (including phonics) on SeeSaw in the coming weeks so please look out for them.

As part of getting to know the children’s starting points at the start of this year, we are carrying out a number of activities as part of our baseline assessment. As your input as parents is vital, as you know your child best, we will be sending home a simple proforma to complete regarding your child’s development. This week our focus in Communication and Language Development and the following weeks will be Physical Development followed by Personal, Social and Emotional Development. We hope that you are able to complete this for us, we greatly appreciate your support.  

As we mentioned before, we are keen as an Early Years Team to forge good links with you as parents. For this reason. Mrs Pollard our Nursery Teacher in her role as EYFS Co-ordinator is going to trial Library sessions with small groups of parents and children in Nursery . She has recently sent letters out to Nursery parents to find out what the level of interest is and will hopefully begin the trial in the next couple of weeks to see how it goes. We will evaluate as a team how this has worked with the view to offering parents in F2 the same opportunity. We will be in touch with you again at the start of October with updates about this.

Please remember that although we still have restrictions in place we are always available at the start and end of every day if you need to speak to us about something and you can always contact us via phone or email if you have a worry or query. We look forward to working with you this year and hope that we find ways to develop positive working relationships with you all.

Please take care and we will be in touch again very soon.

Warm regards,

Mr Grayhurst and Mrs Beevers

 

20.09.21  The Ellis Update

Dear Parents,

CV-19

As to be expected with the new CV-19 reduced restrictions we are beginning to have some positive cases of Covid-19 in school.

Please continue to be vigilant and test if there are any signs of symptoms. It feels very strange not being able to inform you of cases in school, however, if everyone continues to be mindful of symptoms and adults continue to take regular lateral flow tests this is all that we need to do.  We do not need to inform public health at this stage.

Morrison’s Good to Grow

Our school is now registered on the My Morrison’s app (this is different to the shopping app). Online tokens are automatically rewarded each time you shop and scan your Morrison’s More Card. We would really appreciate it if you could donate your online tokens to our school. Any items we receive will be used throughout school in our outdoor areas. Thank you.

Our Cleaner, Margaret

Mrs Margaret Hinchcliffe, one of our cleaners,resigned last week.  Margaret has cleaned our school for over twenty three years including the old building and the current building since 2007.  To celebrate Margaret’s time with us she is going to be guest of honour at our Gold awards next Friday 24^th September and will then join us for VIP tea.  If anyone would like to contribute towards her leaving gift from Team Ellis please can you hand in the money to Mrs Fiddes in the office. 

Thanks for your continued support.

Mrs Rachel Hurding

 

16.9.21 LA SEND Letter to Parents

Dear Parents,  LA SEND letter to Parents

We have been asked to distribute the following email and attached letter containing a survey link.

Mrs Hurding

Dear colleague,

 Following yesterday’s Ofsted notification that the Local Area SEND Provision is being inspected could you please circulate the attached letter to parents/carers from Ofsted and ask that where possible they complete the survey via the link included in the letter.

 Thank you

 

16.9.21  New F2 Footie Stars After School Club

Dear Parents,

On Wednesday 3^rd November a new Footie Stars football club will be starting for our F2 children. 

The club will be run by Adrian Barnard who is a qualified football coach and will be held in the school hall. The cost is £2.50 weekly and is to be paid in cash directly to Adrian.  There will be a maximum of 12 places available and an adult will need to be present with their child. 

Anyone who is interested in the club please email Hayley at h.fiddes@theellis.org to secure your place. 

Kind regards

Nicola Cook

Wider Curriculum Lead/ Y3 Teacher

 

16.9.21  SEND Coffee Morning

Dear Parents,

Thank you so much for the positive response to the possibility of a SEND coffee morning for parents. I am delighted to invite you to join us for our first coffee morning on the 30th of September from 9-10am.

This will be an informal opportunity to chat to Mrs Hurding, Mrs Gay and myself and get to know some other parents. 

We are really looking forward to seeing you there. 

If you are not able to attend, but would like an opportunity to catch up and check in, then please do not hesitate to get in touch and arrange a time to pop in and see me.

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

 

9.9.21 SEND Coffee Morning

Dear Parents,

I would like to introduce myself (Mrs Wise) as the school’s new SENDCo and hope to find new ways to support you as parents of children with SEND.

We are considering holding a coffee morning where you can meet with myself and Mrs Gay, our PSA (Parent Support Advisor) where we can have informal chats and you can ask questions or just spend time getting to know other parents.

Would you be interested in attending such an event? 

Please respond to this email letting me know whether this is something that you would find helpful and that you would be interested in attending.

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

KS2 Lead & SENDCo

 

9.9.21  The Ellis Update

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your continued support.

Starting School

We now have all our F2 in school, they have settled in so well.

We understand that saying goodbye in the mornings can be hard for some of our children and parents.   We know leaving your child upset is tricky.  Please be reassured we have wonderful staff who will nurture and settle your children and if they continue to be upset we will let you know.

 

Morning and end of day routines

Nursery and Y1 to Y6 all start school at 8.45am.

F2 start school later at 8.55am, we are very mindful that if you have dropped off older children you will need to wait, (this is fine) however, please be aware of others and do not gather as we may still need to let the Y1 and Y2 children in who start earlier.  Can we please all be really careful not to gather whilst waiting on the pavement of School Street as parents, children and buggies need to be able to get past safely. 

We have taken away the one way system, this is to speed up the drop off process, not slow it down, so if it’s really busy and congested, like we said last week please use the one way system. 

We will keep reviewing as we want this to be right and safe for everyone, we know the drop off and collection system helps our children to concentrate and be ready for learning quicker in the mornings.

 

CV-19

The new risk assessment is now in place and it is very different.  If we have a positive case in school we now do not inform you unless Track and Trace tells us to.  Please be extra vigilant on keeping an eye on Covid symptoms. 

As we have now opened school fully we will need to wait to see what happens this Autumn term with viruses.  Our priority is to keep our children learning in school.

We love that we can now see our parents, however, we are going to take it steady with large parent gatherings inside at this stage.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like to come in to talk to staff, we are now allowed limited visitors into school. 

 

Water Bottles

Children can now bring in their own water bottles in all classes.

 

PE kits and PE  TRAINERS

We are aware that our children have not had to change for PE for nearly two years and for many this will be a new skill to learn.  We will help! 

As a school we encourage outdoor play and have agreed that it is fine to wear trainers for school which can also be used for outdoor PE. 

Y1 to Y6 have pumps for indoor shoes.

All classes now have a wellie rack outside, it works really well if children can have a pair of wellies readily available in school as this enables us to be ready for Forest school. We have a timetable but we also want teachers to be able to use the Forest school for learning whenever it fits with their learning.

F1 and F2 have their shoes that they come to school in and put their wellies on for outside.

Please remember to label all clothing including shoes and wellies. Thank you

 

School Priorities

We are so proud as a school to have continued to improve our teaching and learning offer throughout Covid.  Our outdoor areas are truly wonderful learning spaces. They promote amazing cross curriculum learning that impacts on our childrens’ confidence and love of the environment through Forest school, Rainbow garden and Tranquillity garden (our pond).  All areas in school outside have improved with the Foundation trim trail, climbing frame and slide and the Y5/6 area now has a wonderful common room feel environment for our older children.

This year’s priorities are:

School priorities for 2021 to 2022

Priority 1

The Quality of Education

• Reading and language acquisition is fundamental to The Ellis curriculum – improve access and quality of non –fiction texts
• Handwriting and presentation policy used to improve writing standards in school
• Maths mastery is consistently taught to enable standards to continue to improve and all children to catch up.  F2 and KS1 are taking part in ‘Mastering number’ project
• EYFS new curriculum – Nuffield Early Language Intervention

Priority 2

Behaviour and attitudes

• Thrive ambassador school – safe environment
• Review behaviour policy

Priority 3

       Personal development

• Designated mental health lead – develop a whole school approach to promote mental health and well-being

• RSE curriculum taught using 1 Decision
• Forest school accessed by all children and impacts on learning behaviours
• SIAMS ready- The Ellis Curriculum as a Church school

Priority 4

      Leadership and management  

• All leaders are working to improve outcomes across school for all groups of children – combined score increases
• All leaders are ensuring that the Ellis Curriculum intent and implementation are embedded securely and consistently across our school 
• New to role SENDCO

As ever please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Hurding

 

8.9.21  Barnsley Catering Newsletter

Dear Parents,  Parent Autumn 2021 Newsletter

Barnsley Schools Catering Service like to keep parents in the loop and have asked us to distribute their latest newsletter to all parents.

A reminder that the menus (with actual photographs of the school meals offered here at The Ellis) are on the ParentPay system for you to view and choose meals with your child. Even if your child receives free meals you still need to go through to the payment screen but no money will be taken.

  Thank you

Hayley Fiddes

 

Summer Reading Challenge 2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

  If you child has completed the Summer Reading Challenge 2021, please can you send them in with their certificate and medal so that we can celebrate their achievements in our Gold Awards next Friday 17^th September.

Thanks,

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

7.9.21  Jewellery Policy and PE

Dear All Parents,

Jewellery Policy

A reminder that if your child has earrings they cannot remove themselves, please can these be taken out on the morning of PE.

Under the Barnsley policy we are unable to let children take part in PE if they have earrings in and staff are unable to put plasters or tape over the earrings.

Thank you. 

 

3.9.21  Welcome Back

Dear Parents,

A huge thank you for all your support getting your children ready to be back in school.

Amazing children

As ever our children have shown great resilience to the changes and all seem raring to go with their learning in their new classes.

The children were all fantastic in the hall yesterday for lunches and assembly, it really was a special day seeing our children able to mix again.  The children seemed to also really enjoy being able to see each other at playtimes.

Starting school after the holidays is always hard for all and this can cause anxiety with children and parents.

Please don’t hesitate to contact school if you have any queries.  We know that the start and end of school is a really busy time, however, if you email or phone we will always make sure that one of the staff team get back to you when they can.

 

The START and the END of the day

Thank you again for your patience, we said we would review things if needed and we have made some changes that we are hoping will sort the busyness out.

It helps if everyone can come on time rather than arrive too early. It also really helps with the congestion if everyone parks in a safe space that does not impact on the already very small pavements and ideally parks 5 minutes from school.

We are aware that we need to improve our plan too.

The START of the day

In the mornings we will open the bottom gate at 8.40am for the F1s (Nursery) Y1/Y2s.

The F1 parents can enter and wait from the Nursery gate along the fence like we used to during Pod school.  Nursery is opened at 8.45am.

Y1 and Y2 parents can wait alongside the fence of Rainbow garden and we will open the red gate at the top at 8.45am.

F2 parents can arrive for 8.55am. If you arrive earlier please wait until the Y1 and Y2 children have gone in.

Y3/Y4/Y5/Y6  can stay the same in the morning, arriving for 8.45am and they can come straight into school.

We really do encourage our Y4/Y5 and Y6 children to become independent as early as possible, this helps themselves as well as school congestion at the start and at the end of the day.

Remember we will need permission to confirm that you are happy for your child to leave the premises by themselves.

We no longer have to follow the one way system, however please use the way that is quietest at the time to also ease congestion, prams may also find it easier to walk around the one way system as there should be more room.

End of the day

The F2s finish first, so please arrive for 3.10pm. We will open the School Street gate at 3.05pm so parents can wait along the fence of Rainbow garden. 

Please can the Y1 and Y2 parents arrive for 3.15pm and let the F2 parents go first.

Nursery finishes at 3.30pm, however, Mrs Pollard will sort earlier pick-ups to fit in with collecting other children.

 

Y3 to Y6 school ends at 3.15pm  – we will be around to help with the changes tonight.

Y3 parents at the end of the please day can you come to wait outside the main entrance of the school building on the pavements and we will bring the Y3 children to you.

Y4 parents can you wait in the school carpark and we will bring your children to you.

Y5 and Y6 parents please wait outside the main entrance gates and again we encourage Y5 and Y6 to go home independently as soon as they are ready.

 

CLASS NAMES

To celebrate our Forest school this year’s class names are woodland creatures.

F2 – Ready Robins

Y1 -Super Squirrels

Y2- Remarkable Rabbits

Y3 –Outstanding Owls

Y4 – Fantastic Foxes

Y5 – Hardworking Hedgehogs

Y6 – Brilliant Badgers

 

TWITTER

Every class has its own Twitter account to share learning as well as a separate The Ellis account and Rainbow garden account.  Please follow us it is a wonderful way to see the learning taking place in school.

FACEBOOK

The school Facebook account is run by the Head and Deputy so we share more whole school events and learning as well as news and updates.  It is the quickest place to find out if school is closed for snow etc.

 

Water Bottles

We  continue to have water bottles in school but it also fine to bring in your own water bottle as well.

 

Wellies

As a school we do encourage everyone to have a pair of wellies in school as they helps us to learn outside whatever the weather may be. Every class has wellie racks outside the class, the wellies do get passed up but obviously sometimes they do become too small. 

 

PE clothes

We will be changing for PE again, especially if the children are using the hall inside, so the children will need PE kits.

Ideally a plain white t-shirt and plain black or navy shorts.

 

Breakfast club

Breakfast club has worked very well in the hall so we are continuing this.

Miss Allot and Mrs Hodgson run breakfast club, he cost is £2.50 per day and is paid via ParentPay. 

Please contact Mrs Fiddes regarding payments if you are unsure.

 

Rainbow Garden

I am sure you will all agree that the addition of the new huge flowers and rainbow trim on the fence is truly fantastic.  These have been donated by the local artist Button tin and they were previously used at the WE Wonder.

We are offering a Rainbow garden club for Y2 to Y6 on Mondays, starting 6^th September. Initially we will be running this until the 27^th September until we have Miss Batley’s new University timetable confirmed.  We have spaces for ten children and there is a small charge of £2.50 per week for this. If your child is interested please email Mrs Fiddes.

We are also continuing with our community garden time, this will initially be Wednesday mornings, all are welcome and we will update you with further changes to days etc.

Thank you for your continued support.

Regards

Mrs Hurding

 

16.07.21  End of Term Information

Dear All Parents,

WE DID IT!

A huge thank you to all our children and parents for helping us get through this year.

We hope you have had a chance to see the video we have put on Facebook that summarises what team Ellis has achieved throughout the last 18 months.  We have certainly all learnt to dance in the rain.  It is titled ‘What a year’.

Your children’s smiles and enthusiasm have kept us all going at times when it has been really hard.

I am beyond proud of how we have used the pandemic to continue to improve our school.

Isolation

We are so sad that  Orange pod and Yellow pod have had to isolate and it really is not the end of term we had hoped for, we have missed you all.  We hope you have felt we have been able to continue to connect with you through Seesaw, Twitter, Facebook and Zoom.

Y6 Leavers

We are pleased our Y6s got to spend their last few weeks in school with us.

We have posted the Y6 leavers video on Facebook today, it really does celebrate their time at The Ellis and the hard year with the pandemic! 

September

The Current DFE guidance that has been sent out is saying that we no longer need to have bubbles, so POD school will finish.

However, I still feel wary making decisions now about September when the CV-19 climate is still very unstable.

My plan will be to continue to respect everyone and keep everyone safe.  

I will email in September with our plans to keep everyone as safe as possible. 

Drop off and collection

We want to learn from the pandemic and adapt school if we think some routines have worked better.  Dropping off children at the school gates has been amazing for promoting their independence, they are ready to learn quicker in the mornings.  Parents have also commented how much easier it is to drop off.

With this in mind we are going to continue with this plan.

Nursery times continue to be 8.45am to 3.30pm – please use the school street gate.

F2   8.55am to 3.10pm – please use the school street gate and come up to the red gate near F2 for drop off.

Y 1 and Y2  gates will be open from 8.45am for drop off, school times are 8.50am to 3.15pm, please come up to the red gate.

Y3, Y4,Y5 and Y6 can arrive at 8.45am at the main gate and go straight around to their classes, school times are 8.50am to 3.15pm.

Collection will be as it is now, however, we are aware there will be more children waiting in their class lines so please bear with us.

We will continue to have adults on the gates.

It will still help the flow of traffic if you follow the one way system.

We will see how it goes and adapt if we feel we need to, we have got quite good at that!

Please note we may have to go back to how it has been this year if we have to have POD school again.

INSET DAYS

We have now been told when our extra bank holiday for the Queen’s 70^th Anniversary is, so for school staff it is the 21^st July. This is because the 3rd June is already in our holiday week.

20^th July will now be the inset day that was originally on the 21^st July.

The Inset days next year are:

Wed 1.9.2021

Mon 1.11.2021

Tues 4.1.2022

Mon 6.6.2022

Wed 20.7.2022

Summer Holidays

We hope you all have a wonderful Summer.

Children return to school on Thursday, 2^nd September.

 Thank you for all your support,

 Take care and stay safe,

Mrs Hurding

 

15.07.21  New Nursery Starters

Good afternoon,

A very quick email to let you know that your child will need the following ready for when they join our nursery:

A full school uniform – You can order directly from the supplier (Vortex), please see the link below. I have also attached an order form. Please ensure your child’s uniform is clearly labelled.

Our website link is the following, which will direct you to the homepage: www.vortexschoolwear.co.uk

Below is the link that will take you directly to our School’s page:

www.vortexschoolwear.co.uk/Primary-Schools/The-Ellis-CE-Primary-School

A water bottle – labelled with your child’s name- this will be sent home each day to be washed and returned.

A library folder/ book bag (this can be ordered with your school uniform if requested).

A healthy packed lunch for children who are staying for the full day (no nut-based products/ grapes cut in half please).

A pair of wellies for outdoors – labelled. These will stay at nursery.

Your child will not need indoor pumps or PE kit

We are all really looking forward to your child starting with us in September.

Mrs. Pollard

 

15.07.21  Nursery Hot Dogs and Ice Cream

Dear Parents,

Tomorrow (Friday) we will be having hot dogs and ice cream in nursery. If you do not want your child to take part of this activity please let the nursery staff know.

Thank you

Mrs. Pollard and Mrs. Kelly.

 

15.07.21  Fit and Fed with the Reds

Good Afternoon,

Reds in the Community will be supporting the Holiday activities and food programme 2021 by delivering FREE multi-sports sessions during the Summer Holiday thanks to funding from Barnsley Council, Department for Education and Healthy Holidays.

They are looking to target children and young people who are eligible to access free school meals.

The Fit and Fed with the Reds camps will be delivered across a number of venues in Barnsley and consist of a blend of multi sports, wellbeing and educational activities that are accessible to all 8-16-year-olds who are eligible for free school meals.

I have attached their promotional flyer to this email. Please also see the following link where parents can sign up for the provision and our Facebook promotion post that you can share. SIGN UP LINK   FACEBOOK 

The Multi-sport camps will be delivered 10am – 2pm over the 6 week holidays with venues including:

Dorothy Hyman Sports Centre l Astrea Academy Dearne

5ives Community Sports Centre l Athersley Rec Football Club

Meadstead Primary Academy l Carlton Park

Thank you in advance for supporting us in reaching children and young people who would benefit the most from this programme during the summer holidays!

Kind Regards,

Kieron Campbell

15.07.21  After School Clubs

Dear Parents,

If you think your child would be interested in attending the following (free of charge) afters chool club in September, please let me know.

It is just a guide for numbers and will be finalised when we return back to school, so please don’t worry if your child changes their mind.

Thank you

Y1/2 Multi Sports

On Mondays, starting from 6th September for Y1/2 children.  3:20pm-4:20pm.

Y3/4 Football

On Thursdays, starting from 9th September for Y3/4 children.  3:20pm-4:20pm.

 

15.07.21  Y6 Forest School Session

Dear Y6 Parents,

I just wanted to inform you that in tomorrow’s forest school session (16/07) we will be using paints and it might get a little bit muddy up there for our final session. Please could you send your child in with clothes that are okay to get paint/dirt on them so we can make the most of our session. 

Thank you very much! 

Miss Batley

 

12.07.21  Y1/2 Orange Pod Information

Dear Parents, 

We hope you are well and all the staff at The Ellis are thinking about our orange pod children and their families. We all wanted to spend this last week together and we are missing you already, but we also know these things are out of our control and safety is paramount. We are trying to find ways of bringing closure to this year for your fabulous children so here are a couple of things we are doing. 

 Towards the end of the week, we will have a Y1 and separate Y2 zoom meeting so we can get together, albeit virtually, one more time. We are just sorting out times and links and will get this information to you soon. Please keep checking your emails. 

 Mrs Broadbent and Mrs Trotter are going into school on SUNDAY 18th JULY to bag up all the children’s work and if you are available and would like to pop down between 10.30 and 12pm on that day, we would love to see your faces once more before the holidays and pass your things over to you. If you can’t make this day, please do not worry, everything will be kept safe for September. Please enter via the gate on School Street and come round to the cloakroom door. Please ensure we continue to adhere to socially distancing as the rules will remain the same on that day. Thank you. 

Y2 children – A Mrs H Vlog will be coming your way to introduce you to your new classroom etc so watch out for that on Seesaw!

 Y1 children – Mrs Trotter is so pleased that she popped in on Friday to see you all! But she will also put together a little message for all our Y1 children which again will be on Seasaw. 

Please can the orange pod staff take this opportunity to thank you all for your endless support this year. It has been a very difficult one, with lots of changes along the way, but your ongoing kind words, smiles and encouragement have kept us going. 

Finally to our orange pod children – we are struggling to find the words to say how fantastic you have all been! But please know all the staff in Y1 and Y2 (and the rest of the school) are so incredibly proud of you. Each one of you is special and a true shining star. Keep smiling and let’s make the most of this last week together. We love to see your smiley faces and hear your voices, so please send us some videos on Seesaw. 

 Take care,

 Kind Regards

 Orange Pod Team

 

11.07.21  Orange Pod Closure Letter

Dear Orange Pod Parent,

Further to the recent orange pod email please find attached more detailed information regarding the pod closure.  Orange POD Closure Letter

Thank you.

 

11.07.21  Orange Pod Closure

Dear Orange Pod Parents,

It is with great regret we have to close Orange pod as we have just found out about a positive case of CV-19.  Isolation is until and includes the 17th July.

This is not the end of term we wanted for any of our children.

We will organise SEESAW and an end of term zoom as well as book collection in the holidays.

We wish you all a safe Summer.

Mrs Hurding

​Mrs Rachel Hurding

Headteacher

 

09.07.21  Green Pod Information

Dear Green Pod Parents,

Y5 and Y6 will be using the forest, rainbow garden and having additional outdoor and sports opportunities during the last week of term. Please can children be dressed appropriately and have sensible footwear for being active all week.

Please can we also remind you that if your child has not yet brought a named plastic bag into school then they need to be in on Monday.

Many thanks,

The Green Pod Team

 

06.07.21 Information for Nursery Parents

Dear Nursery Parents,

Library

We will not be doing library this week or next week. Please could all folders be returned to school so they can be passed on to the new teacher.

Summer Gifts

Please see the attached email for information on our Summer Gifts the children have been making.

Thank you,

Mrs Pollard

 

06.07.21  Sky Sports News

Dear Parents,

We are delighted to say that Sky News are coming into school to film (safely) outside in the Green Pod.

Would you be happy for your child to talk about the England Semi-Final tomorrow?

If yes please can you sign this form?

If you do not have a printer please let us know and we can print one in school in the morning and get you to sign the consent.

Thanks for your support,

Mrs Hurding

 

05.07.21  Summer Reading Challenge

What is the Summer Reading Challenge?

The Summer Reading Challenge, presented by The Reading Agency and funded by Arts Council England, encourages children aged 4 to 11 to set themselves a reading challenge to help prevent the summer reading ‘dip’. Each year the Challenge, delivered with the support of public libraries, motivates over 700,000 children to keep reading to build their skills and confidence.

Each year the Summer Reading Challenge has a different theme. For 2021, The Reading Agency is partnering with WWF for Wild World Heroes, a nature-themed Challenge that will inspire children to engage with environmental issues. The Challenge will launch in libraries in England and Wales on Saturday 10 July. Children can set themselves challenges, play games and earn badges.

Use the link below to be taken to the challenge homepage.

https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/

How do I get involved?

When first signing in, children create their own personal avatar and set themselves a summer reading challenge goal. This is how many books they intend to read throughout the summer (we would recommend 6 books, one for each week). Once this is completed, children can enjoy exploring the website. There are a range of different activities and games for children to play throughout the summer, children also get the opportunity to write book reviews and recommendations. Each time the children finish a book, they add it to their profile and leave a review, unlocking digital badges and online reward items along the way. At the end of the holidays, the children will receive a certificate for reaching their challenge goal. We’d love it  if children could bring their certificates into school so we can celebrate their fantastic achievements!

Children who reach their summer reading total will also be entered into a special Ellis raffle prize draw, our winners will be able to choose a free book from our very own book shop!

Local libraries are also supporting the reading challenge, so you can always get involved by getting books from there too.

Please do not hesitate to get in contact if you have any questions.

Happy Reading!

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

05.07.21  Slide Event Postponed

Dear Parent/Carer,

It is with great sadness that we must postpone our Class of 2020 event (initially scheduled for Thursday 8^th July).  As you will be aware, the Covid case rate in Barnsley has risen significantly over the past couple of weeks and therefore Public Health Barnsley have urged schools to go back to a stringent approach until the end of the school term where contacts are kept to a minimum.  

It was not an easy decision to make but the safety of our community must come first.

We are hopeful that we will be able to reschedule in Autumn 2021 and will of course be in touch when we have a new date.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Kind regards,

Mrs R Hurding & Miss A Saunders

 

05.07.21  Y6 Information

Dear Parents,

As you may be aware, Wath Academy have changed their transition dates to 14^th/15^th/16^th July. With many bubbles having to close recently,  the change of date is to remove the complexities of students returning to primary schools after the event, and to keep everyone as safe as possible. With this in mind, we are changing our picnic event to Tuesday 13^th July.  This day will be a chance for all our Y6 pupils to celebrate their time at The Ellis as we do not want anyone missing out. Please can you ensure that your child comes to school with a shirt on that they would like signing. Children will also need a packed lunch that day. The surprise planned Y6 treats will also be going ahead on the 13^th July.

We will of course endeavour to make the remaining three days the best they can be for our Y6 pupils who are not at Wath.

If your child is going to the Wath transition they will need to remain at Wath for all of those three days.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders  and Mrs Hurding

 

05.07.21  Important Ellis Information

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to our Pink and Red pod, it was wonderful to see all our children this morning.

We have two weeks left at school  and  I need to continue to keep everyone as safe as possible.

The picture regarding CV-19 is really hard at the moment. The two images we have in the media seem poles apart, on the one hand we can see crowds growing at the football and tennis, yet we are aware that we need to continue to limit risk as much as we can at school.  Also the message is that everything will be relaxed from the 19^th July.

However, the picture in Barnsley at the moment (as we are aware of from our school) is that there is an increase in cases of CV-19.  Many bubbles in our local schools are currently isolating.

From Public Health Barnsley

Current situation

The case rate in Barnsley has risen significantly over the past week or so, with cases being concentrated in the unvaccinated age ranges which has proved a particular challenge for schools, this coupled with the increase in social mixing and the emergence of the Delta variant has meant we are now dealing with a number of outbreaks in Barnsley schools.

Due to the current situation we are asking schools to review any changes they have made to their risk assessment and COVID control measures and think carefully if these are necessary or whether there is an option to go back to a more stringent approach until the end of the school term where contacts are kept to a minimum.

 With this new Public Health information, where we have been urged to strengthen and not relax arrangements over the next two weeks, it is with great regret that we have to cancel our transition plans. Even though we had planned it as safely as we could, it does involve staff changing pods. This decision has not been an easy one, children are at the heart of all decisions made at The Ellis and I have been guided that the risk of potential transmission and disruption does not justify running transition as we had planned.  We are truly sorry.

However, our other Transition plans that are in place to support children and parents can continue.

We have TEAMs meetings organised for parents of children moving into F2 and also for parents of children moving into Y1.

Transition for those that are in the same pod is easier, they already know the cloakroom, staff and outdoor areas.  The way pod school has been running has meant increased interaction with their next teacher.  So this system will help our Y1 through to Y2 children.  Y3 to Y4 and Y5 to Y6.

We are mindful that for our  F1 to F2, F2 to Y1, Y2 to Y3 and Y4 to Y5 this is harder.

We have already organised September transition for our F1 to F2 children to stat school over three days.

For all other classes we will be doing transition activities for the first two days  (2^nd and 3^rd  September) when we return to school. 

To help the children who are moving to the equivalent of a new pod, we will be making Mrs H Vlog style videos for them to watch.  These will be on Seesaw sometime during the last week so can be watched again over the Summer holidays.

We will no longer be able to invite one parent for the Merit awards, these will now be on different days during our last week and again we will film and put out on Seesaw the same day.

Merit awards for Green Pod on Tuesday 13^th July

Merit awards for Yellow Pod on Wednesday 14^th July

Merit awards for Orange Pod on Thursday 15^th July

Merit awards for Red and Pink Pod on Friday 16^th July

We had already planned that the Y6 leavers assembly was going to be a film, that will also be shared on the last day (Friday).

We will continue to make these last two weeks in school the best we can for your children.

This Wednesday, to celebrate England in the Semi-finals, let’s all wear England football shirts or red, white or blue, please do not go out spending if you do not have one, it is fine to still wear school uniform if you prefer.

Thanks for your continued support.

Mrs Hurding

 

02.07.21  Advice from Public Health

Dear Parents, we are sending this email on behalf of Public Health. Thank you.

Current situation

The case rate in Barnsley has risen significantly over the past week or so, with cases being concentrated in the unvaccinated age ranges which has proved a particular challenge for schools, this coupled with the increase in social mixing and the emergence of the Delta variant has meant we are now dealing with a number of outbreaks in Barnsley schools.

can I ask that you all to continue to do the big 3 things that we know will support the COVID effort:

• Remind the community to adhere to the most recent guidance, remembering hands, face, space and fresh air
• Encourage your community to take part in twice weekly LFD testing
• Encourage you community to get vaccinated when invited

Isolation

If a child has symptoms and is awaiting a test result, their whole household should be isolating. There is no test or amount of testing that can allow someone to break isolation. Please remind pupils that when they are isolating they should not leave the home and if they are a contact even though household members do not need to isolate, they should not have visitors in their home.

PCR testing for contacts

The guidance has change regarding PCR test and you can now seek one without symptoms if you are a contact of a positive case. 

What to do if you are a contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19

 

You can arrange to have a single PCR test whether or not you have symptoms. This is because you are at a higher risk of being infected. The results of the PCR test will help NHS Test and Trace contact people who may have caught the virus from you. They can then self-isolate and avoid passing it on to others.

You should arrange to have this test as soon as possible within your 10 day isolation period, so that NHS Test and Trace can identify the people that you have been in contact with. You can order a home test kit or book an appointment at a test site. To reduce the risk to others you should only use a test site if you are unable to use the home PCR testing service. If you go to a test site, strictly observe social distancing advice and return home immediately afterwards. If you order a home test kit you should use it and return it within 48 hours of receiving it.

You should not arrange to have a PCR test if you have previously received a positive PCR test result in the last 90 days, unless you develop any new symptoms of COVID-19. It is possible for PCR tests to remain positive for some time after COVID-19 infection.

LFT Tests and Isolation

LFD tests are not advised for primary school age children and as such we should not be recommending that they take them. Please continue to encourage LFD testing to all who are eligible.

Kind regards

Daniel Clark

Senior Public Health Officer

 

 

02.07.21  Y5 Homework Schedule

Dear Y5 Parents,

Please accept my apologies for not sending a homework email earlier this half term. 

This week’s homework should be Baby Birds in the Comprehension book and imperial Units in the Maths book. Please don’t worry if it hasn’t been completed.

Next week is Johnny and the Dead for reading and Perimeter for maths.

The final week of term is Goodnight Mister Tom and Area.

The booklets will not have been completed by the end of term but the children may want to/benefit from having a go at any undone parts over the Summer Holidays. 

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you ever have any questions.

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

 

01.07.21  Barnsley Catering Service Newsletter

Dear Parents,

We have been asked to forward Barnsley School’s Catering Service newsletter to parents, they would like to inform parents of their service and highlight the importance of school meals. Schools Catering Service – Parent newsletter

Thank you

 

30.06.21  Y6 Parent Information

Dear Y6 Parents,

Sadly, with the CV-19 increasing in the area and Miss Saunders’ pregnancy we have had advice that she will need to work from home.

We know Miss Saunders will continue to keep in touch with us all and she is sad that she will miss the children’s final weeks in school.   Mr Hamilton will be covering and Mrs Brinkley and Mrs Gray will also be around teaching and supporting the class.

As a school we are determined to continue with the sleepover planned for Friday.  Mrs Trotter and Miss Batley have agreed to stay over with Mrs Wise due to Miss Saunders and Mrs Hurding being unable to attend.

We know the children will all have an amazing time and I am very grateful for our staff stepping in to make it happen for our children.

Please be mindful that there are lots of positive cases of CV-19 in the area, so we may have to cancel at last minute.

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Hurding and Green Pod

 

29.06.21  Sex and Relationships Education

Dear Parents,

We would like to inform you that we will be delivering the sex and relationships curriculum on Wednesday 14^th July. We will be covering relationships, puberty (including hygiene) and conception. If you do not want your child to take part in this lesson please let me know so that alternative arrangements can be made.

Kind Regards,

Mrs E Edwards

 

28.06.21  Orange Pod Pick Up and Drop Off Changes

Dear Parents, 

 

We have been made aware that the ‘Beat the Street’ tagging is adding to the busyness in the morning.  Obviously, this is something we are encouraging our pupils to do, however, we have also been made aware that there has been some dangerous driving that impacts on school too.

 

Please continue to look out for each other and socially distance during drop off and pick up.

 

We are going to trial all of Orange pod arriving over a ten-minute window between 8.40am and 8.50am, this is what naturally seems to be happening, and it also allows less people to have to wait on the street.

 

We will start this tomorrow. We are aware we do not have Pink and Red pod this week, so it is a good opportunity to try it and see if it works. 

As Orange Pod are so settled we are also strongly encouraging them to start to say goodbye to you at the bottom gate. Many parents have started doing this and again it reduces the people traffic in school.  We understand this is not always possible but please try if you can.

 

Thank you for your support,

 

Mrs Hurding

 

25.06.21  Young Voices

Dear Parents, 

I am just writing with a Young Voices update. As I am sure you will not be surprised to hear, there will be no Young Voices concerts this year (2021). We do have a provisional date of 4th February 2022 at Sheffield Arena but as with everything this year we know this is subject to change, even though I really hope we can resume this amazing trip again next year. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our current Y6 children who have attended Young Voices in previous years, for their excellent behaviour and enthusiasm during these events and I hope they have provided you with memories which will last a lifetime! 

I will be in touch in the new academic year to gather the names of KS2 children who would like to attend the 2022 event. 

Kind Regards

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

 

24.06.21 Public Health Update

Dear Parents, 

Public Health have just informed me that staff and children have to isolate on the 3rd July too.  They do apologise for saying the 2nd July.  

Thank you for everyone’s support.

​Mrs Rachel Hurding

 

24.06.21  Holiday Club

Dear Parents,  Olympic Holiday Club

St. Mary’s Church are planning a holiday club for the Summer holidays. Please see the attached flyer for more details.

Thank you

 

24.06.21  Wath Academy Message to Y6 Parents

Dear Parents,

Wath Academy would like to invite your child to their summer school. Please see the information below.

Kind regards,

The Y6 Team

 

Good morning,

Would the following message be able to be passed on to Y6 parents please?

Wath Academy Meets Tokyo Olympics 2021! Wath Academy are creating positive school memories that last a lifetime for their upcoming Year 7 students starting this August! Sign up for the 1-week summer school using the link: https://forms.office.com/r/uiMh2dRfrW

Kind regards,

Kirsty

Wath Academy

 

24.06.21  F1/F2 Pod Closure

Dear Parents,

We have had to close Pink and Red Pod (F1 and F2) due to a positive case of CV-19. 

As a result of Mrs Hurding covering in Nursery yesterday I will also be isolating. 

Due to other cases Miss Hickey and Mrs Pollard have been isolating this week.  Miss Turton has only been in the Pink pod the last 48 hours.  We will continue to keep school as safe as possible.  Mrs Edwards will be running school and I will be working from home.

We will keep you up to date with any more information.

Mrs Hurding

 

24.06.21  F1/F2 Pod Closure

Date: 24/6/21

Advice for Child to Self-Isolate for 10 Days

Dear Parent,

We have been advised by Public Health England that there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19 within the school.

We have followed the national guidance and have identified that your child has been in contact with the affected child. In line with the national guidance we recommend that your child now stay at home and self-isolate until 3^rd July.

We are asking you to do this to reduce the further spread of COVID 19 to others in the community.

 

The isolation period includes the date of the last contact with the case and the next ten full days. This means that if, for example, the last contact with them was at any time on the 15th of the month, the isolation period ends at 23:59 hrs on the 25th. If your child is well at the end of the 10 day period of self-isolation, then they can return to usual activities.

 

Other members of your household can continue normal activities provided your child does not develop symptoms within the 10 day self-isolation period.

 

Please see the link to: Guidance for contacts of people with confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection who do not live with the person https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-contacts-of-people-with-possible-or-confirmed-coronavirus-covid-19-infection-who-do-not-live-with-the-person

 

What to do if your child develops symptoms of COVID 19

 

If your child develops symptoms of COVID-19, they should remain at home for at least 10 days from the date when their symptoms appeared. Anyone with symptoms will be eligible for testing and this can be arranged via https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test or by calling 119 .

 

All other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 10 days. This includes anyone in your ‘Support Bubble’.

 

The isolation period includes the day the first person in your household’s symptoms started (or the day their test was taken if they did not have symptoms, whether this was an LFD or PCR test), and the next 10 full days. This means that if, for example, your 10 day isolation period starts on the 15th of the month, your isolation period ends at 23:59 hrs on the 25th and you can return to your normal routine.

 

Household members should not go to work, school or public areas and exercise should be taken within the home. If you require help with buying groceries, other shopping or picking up medication, or walking a dog, you should ask friends or family. Alternatively, you can order your shopping online and medication by phone or online.

 

Household members staying at home for 10 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community.

 

If you are able, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period.

 

Symptoms of COVID 19

 

The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:

 

• new continuous cough and/or
• high temperature and/or
• a loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

 

For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

 

If your child does develop symptoms, you can seek advice from NHS 111 at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/check-if-you-have-coronavirus-symptoms/ or by phoning 111.

 

You should follow the PHE ‘Stay at Home’ Guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

 

How to stop COVID-19 spreading

 

There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with COVID-19

 

• wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
• use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
• wash your hands as soon as you get home
• cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
• put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards

 

Further Information

 

Further information is available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

 

Yours sincerely

 

Mrs Rachel Hurding

24.06.21 Menu Change Tomorrow and Friday

Dear Parents,

Tomorrow’s menu and Friday’s have been swapped with each other.

So to clarify:

Thursday (tomorrow) will be fish fingers, savoury quiche or egg mayo wrap.

Friday will be American hot dog, jacket potato or Vegetarian quorn dog.  

I have attached the menus again for you to take a look at.

Thank you

Hayley Fiddes

 

23.06.21  Y6 Progress Review Meetings

Dear Parents,

Relevant information has been shared with secondary schools as part of your child’s transition, however, if you would still like to speak to Miss Saunders please let Mrs Fiddes know and a phone call can be arranged.

Kind regards,

Mr Grayhurst

F2 Teacher and SENCo

 

23.06.21 Progress Review Meetings

Dear Parents,

As the school year comes to an end, we would like to invite you to meet with your child’s class teacher to review their progress related to their School Focus Plans, (which have replaced the old IEPs), Monitoring and Assessment Individual Map (for those who have an EHCP) and to consider transition into their new year group. 

Please log onto https://theellisce.schoolcloud.co.uk/ to book your remote meeting. ​

If you have any queries at all relating to the meeting, please let Mrs Fiddes know in the office.

Kind regards

Mr Grayhurst

F2 Teacher and SENCo

 

23.06.21  Swimming Lessons in Y5

Dear Y4 Parents,

​I am really looking forward to teaching your child in September and supporting them in the next steps of their learning at The Ellis. We have lots of great experiences and topics planned!

Excitingly, the class will be starting swimming lessons from the second week of the Autumn term of Y5 which is a wonderful thing for them to look forward to.

The Curriculum swimming lessons will run for 12 weeks from Friday, 10th September until Friday, 3^rd December at Wath Leisure Centre.

Your child will need to bring with them each week a swimming bag containing:

• Swimming costume or trunks

Girls should have a one piece bathing suit, no bikinis or tankinis

Boys should wear swimming shorts, but these should be tight fitting and should not be longer than the middle of the thigh

• Bath towel
• Swimming Cap (for all children)
• Goggles (Only for medical reasons)

If your child does not have a swimming cap, please send £2 in a labelled envelope on the first day of swimming to purchase one at the reception desk.

Any medication your child may require, such as asthma medication, will need to be taken to the pool.

We will be travelling to the pool with Globe coaches, departing at 1:30pm and returning just in time for the end of the school day. The coach and the pool will be following full Covid Government guidelines.

The lessons are free, however, please complete the online consent form on ParentPay to give your permission for your child to attend the swimming lessons.

Kind regards

Mrs Wise

 

23.06.21  Nursery Staff

Dear Nursery Parents,

Mrs Pollard has been informed by Track and Trace that she needs to isolate for the rest of the week.

There will be a combination of Mrs Kelly and Mrs Hurding alongside Miss Turton, who supervises the children at lunch and is the Teaching Assistant in Y4.  Miss Allott is also supporting.

Mrs Pollard has no symptoms and is working at home so can be contacted if needed.

Don’t hesitate to ask any of us if you have a query.

Mrs Hurding

 

22.06.21  Facebook and Twitter

Dear Parents,

Just a quick reminder that our school Facebook page is where you will find information about whole school events and some highlights of our learning. It is monitored by Mrs Hurding and Mrs Edwards.

The best place to see information about your child’s class is on Twitter. Each class has their own Twitter handle and post regular updates about their learning and key information about class events. Our twitter feeds can also be viewed on the school website.

Rainbow Garden also has a Twitter handle so that you can see how it is developing and being used by our children.

Our Twitter information is:

@theellisprimary

@theellisf1

@theellisf2

@theellisy1

@theellisy2

@theellisy3

@y4theellis

@theellisy5

@y6theellis

@rainbowgarden_

Happy browsing!

Mrs Edwards

Deputy Headteacher

 

22.06.21 After School Club Collection

All of the after school clubs finish at 4:20pm irrespective of what time your child’s pod finishes school.

Thank you

 

21.06.21  Y6 Photo Request

Dear Parents,

In Y6, we’re busy preparing our leavers video and I’d love to include any first day at school photos that you may have.

Please could I ask that photos are sent by Friday 25^th June to h.fiddes@theellis.org

Y6 have had such a disruptive 18 months and I know we’re eager to make their send-off ‘the best it can be’.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

17.06.21  ParentPay Arrears

Dear All Parents,

Dinner money and breakfast club payments are once again going into arrears on some of the children’s accounts.

Your accounts MUST be kept free from debit balances at all times.

If you have a minus balance on your child’s account, please ensure that payments are made over the weekend to clear this. I will be looking at them again on Monday and unfortunately will have to phone for packed lunches to be brought into school if either account is still in a minus.

Thank you,

Hayley Fiddes

 

17.06.21 Y2 Information

Dear Parents, 

We have a few missing cardigans (one brand new) and jumpers in Y2. Please could I ask you to check all your child’s clothes to make sure they belong to them.

With the very hot weather, please could you send your child with suncream on and a hat. We encourage lots of water bottle stops during the day to rehydrate.

Also a reminder it is sports day next Monday (21st June).

Thank you for your support. 

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

 

16.06.21  New School Menus

Dear Parents, (mainly F2 and Y1/2)  Menus June 2021

We have noticed that children are choosing things that they don’t know or like from the new menus. Not only is this causing a lot of food waste, it also means that they aren’t eating very much at lunchtime. 

Actual photographs of the meals that are served in our kitchen will be placed onto ParentPay by the end of next week so please, when you are placing your child’s order from home, show them the photograph and explain to them exactly what the food is.

No one likes to see a child upset and be hungry because the food that has arrived isn’t what they were expecting.

I have attached the new menus again.

Thank you

Hayley Fiddes

 

15.06.21 Foundation Stage Sports Day

Dear Parents,

 We will be holding our foundation Stage Sports Day on Tuesday 22nd June at 9.15am. (1.15pm for the afternoon nursery children). All children will take part in 3 activities.

Please can children come to school in their PE kit (shorts and t-shirt for F1 children) and apply sun-cream if the weather is hot. We will be offering the children refreshments throughout the activity.

Unfortunately parents cannot be invited to this event but we will post photos on our school social media sites.

Thank you

Mrs. T Pollard & Mr. D. Grayhurst.

 

15.06.21  Curiosity Baskets

Dear Parents,

We are collecting items for our curiosity basket (things that children may not know what they are/ things that inspire thinking and conversation). If you have any items that are small enough to fit into a basket, please send them into nursery for our children to look at and investigate. As they will not be returned please do not send in precious or sentimental items. 

Examples of things we are looking for are:

a pocket watch, old phone, keys, door latch, old coins, medals, fountain pen, quill, monocle, old pill box, peacock feather, fossil, loofah, mask, necklace etc.

Thank you

Mrs. Pollard

 

14.06.21  After School Club Collection

Multi-Sports After School Club Collection

If your child is attending the after school multi-sports club on either Tuesday or Thursday please collect them from outside the main office.

Thank you

 

14.06.21 National Sport Week at The Ellis

Dear Parents,

From Monday 14^th June to Friday 18^th June we will be celebrating National Sport Week at The Ellis. 

This year’s theme is ‘Together Again’.  Children will have the opportunity to access the Chance to Shine Cricket programme and will be completing more sporting activities over the week.

Children are welcome to bring sporty clothing to get changed into if they would like to. 

 

Chance to Shine Cricket Programme

Tuesday 15th – Y1/2 and Y5.

Wednesday 16th – Y3/4. 

Thursday 17th – Y6. 

 

On Tuesday 22nd Foundation Stage will be holding amini sports event.

 

Kind regards,

Miss Cook

Wider Curriculum Lead/ Y3 Teacher

 

11.06.21  Water Safety Letter

South Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue have asked us to distribute the following letter to parents:

Dear Parents,

As you may have heard in the news, over the late May Bank Holiday weekend our crews were called to an incident in which a 16-year-old boy tragically drowned in Ulley Reservoir, Rotherham, despite the best efforts of emergency services on scene.

This was an extremely sad incident that served as a stark reminder of how dangerous open bodies of water – such as lakes, quarries and reservoirs – can be. Our thoughts and sympathies today remain with the boy’s family.

However, our thoughts are also with parents of children right across South Yorkshire, such as yourself, and using the tragic event at Ulley as our motivation, we are asking that you speak to your kids about water safety at your earliest convenience.

Our key messages, for children of all ages across the county, are as follows:

• You should never jump, dive or ‘cannonball’ into open bodies of water such as lakes and quarries – you don’t know what’s underneath the surface and could end up suffering from cold water shock
• Cold water shock is where the sudden change in temperature, from being in warm weather to cold water (even in summer open water can be extremely cold), causes your body to shut down and stops even strong swimmers
• You should only swim where its safe and legal – the swimming baths, outdoor lidos and other sites where lifeguards are present
• Don’t give in to peer pressure from your friends to jump into the unknown, and never swim after having consumed alcohol
• Should you get into trouble in the water you should float to live – try to stay calm and just focus your energy on floating and shouting for help – until support arrives

Clearly we do not want children to be scared of safe swimming. In fact, quite the opposite – we actively encourage parents to take their children for organised swimming lessons, where possible.

We also recognise that organised open water swimming, be that in land or on the coast, has a wide array of physical and mental health benefits – and can be done safely.

However, we have seen countless examples this year already where groups of young people have been jumping into open bodies of water.

This is absolutely not acceptable and can put them at risk in lots of different ways. Not only is there cold water shock, but often these lakes and quarries are on private land.

We want people across South Yorkshire – young and old – to enjoy and respect water safely, and we thank you in advance for your support.

Kind Regards,

Joint Community Safety Department

South Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

 

10.06.21 Y4  Newsletter and Topic Information

Dear Y4 Parents,

Please find attached our Y4 newsletter (some home learning project suggestions follow on at the bottom) along with our Topic Web. Summer Newsletter      Topic Mind Map Coasts

The Y4 Team

 

9.6.21  Sex and Relationships Curriculum

Dear Y5 Parents,

We would like to inform you that we will be delivering the ‘Growing and Changing unit’ of the sex and relationships curriculum on Tuesday afternoons over the next few weeks. We will be covering relationships, puberty (including hygiene) and conception. If you do not want your child to take part in this series of lessons please let me know so that alternative arrangements can be made.

Kind Regards,

Mrs E Edwards

 

9.6.21 Ofsted Questionnaire

Dear Parents,

Welcome back, what a glorious week we had weather wise, let’s hope it continues.  Questionnaire for parents OFSTED 2021

At parents evenings we have previously asked you to complete a questionnaire based on questions Ofsted may ask parents during an inspection. 

We would really value you taking the time to complete the attached questionnaire.  The questions have not been changed in light of CV-19, we would therefore also really appreciate any comments added at the bottom of the page regarding school through-out the pandemic along with our remote learning using Seesaw from January 2021.  We value all views as these continue to help school to ‘be the best it can be’.

Please return your questionnaire by Friday. If you would like a paper copy then please let us know and we will send one home.

Thank you,

Mrs Hurding

 

8.6.21  School Information

Dear Parents,

New Menus

Please find attached the menus that will be starting from next Monday (14th June). These have already been updated to ParentPay so please continue ordering and paying for your child’s school lunch in this way. Menus June 2021

School Photographs

School Photographs will be taking place outside tomorrow (Wednesday). Unfortunately this year we are unable to take sibling photographs, however, your child will have an individual photograph taken along with a class photo.

Recently Installed Nursery Trim Trail

We are very excited and proud to show off the new nursery trim trail that was installed over half term. Please ensure your children do not use this before or after school whilst waiting for siblings. Thank you.

Beat the Street

Your child will be coming home today with an envelope containing the Beat the Street information which is running from June 10th to July 22nd. Last time we participated our school came 2^nd out of the whole of Barnsley. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could equal this or go one better this year?! A fob has been issued for your child’s use and there is a card included in the envelope for adult use. Please look out for the special sensors (Beat Boxes) that should have already been placed on local lampposts approximately half a mile apart. As the weather improves it is the perfect way to get out and about keeping fit whilst also earning points for our school.

Come on The Ellis!

Mrs Edwards

Deputy Headteacher

28.05.21  After School Clubs

Dear Parents,

After School Clubs Returning Soon!  

We are delighted to let you know that we have two after school clubs starting after half term run by sports coaches. Both clubs are free of charge and will run from 3:20pm-4:20pm.

Tuesday KS1 Multisports Club (4 weeks)

22nd June, 29th June, 6th July and 13th July.

Thursday Y3/4 Multisports Club (5 weeks)

17th June, 24th June, 1st July, 8th July and 15th July.

Monday Rainbow Garden Club run by Miss Batley. (5 weeks)

14th June, 21st June, 28th June, 5th July and 12th July.

 

28.05.21  Public Health Survey

Dear Parents,

Please see the information below from Public Health which we have been asked to share.

The Public Health team want to find out how children and young people of Barnsley have been feeling during the COVID-19 pandemic and we have developed a very short survey (only 13 questions) to help us gather that information

To go to the survey click the link below:

Take me to the survey 

Or visit: https://surveys.barnsley.gov.uk/s/YFEZGV/

 If you would like to find out about what emotional wellbeing support there is available locally please visit our new hub pages:

Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing Hub – Children & Young People

Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing Hub – Adults, Parents & Carers

Who can complete the survey?

We want to hear from all  school age children and young people living in Barnsley (up to age 25 for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND))

If you are under 13 years of age you will need a parent or carer to give their permission to complete the survey.

Parents and carers: you may want help your child to answer the questions in the survey if they are younger or need any extra support.

Those who are 13 years or older can complete the survey alone without the need for consent from an adult.

Why do you want to know how I’m feeling?

Our emotional health and wellbeing is more important than ever and we want to help you to take care of it.

The information we get from this survey will help us to decide how to support children and young people as best we can through this difficult time.

Who will see my answers?

The survey will be completely anonymous and the questions have been worded so that there will be no personal information that may identify you.

A link to the full privacy notice is included at the top of the survey which offers more detail on how we will use the data.

I have already done this survey before

Day by day different things are happening and situations keep on changing, which is why we would like it if you can do this survey more than once so we can see how your feelings change over time.

Thank you for taking the time to be involved, we hope that with this information we can support your emotional health and wellbeing through these difficult times.

 

28.05.21  Operation Encompass

Dear Parents,

Our school has been given the opportunity to take part in a project that will run jointly between schools and South Yorkshire Police.  This project is known as Operation Encompass.

Please see the attached letter for more information.  Operation Encompass

Mrs Hurding

 

27.05.21 Y6 Update

Dear Parent/Carer,

The current DFE Covid-19 guidelines states that we need to continue to run as a pod school.  We have been busy planning the end of year events and would like to update you on our plans to safely celebrate the class of 2021’s time at The Ellis.

Y6 Cricket Day

Miss Cook has kindly organised for our Y6 pupils to enjoy a whole day of cricket with qualified cricket coaches on Thursday 17^th June. Please can you send your pupil in a PE kit that day.

Y6 Sleepover

On Friday 2^nd July, children can return to school at 6pm for a sleepover. Children will set their beds up in the hall before going outside to enjoy some activities in the forest area.  Once we have eaten, we will be settling down to enjoy a film and a ‘midnight feast’. Myself (Miss Saunders), Mrs Hurding, Mrs Wise and Miss Batley will be the adults at the event.

Children will need the following:

• Sleeping bag
• Pillow
• Sleeping mat
• Snacks for a midnight feast (enough for themselves).
• PJs
• Toothbrush
• Clothes for the next day

Food will be provided (both evening meal and breakfast), we kindly ask for a £5 donation towards this (this can be paid using ParentPay).

Children must be collected by 8:30 am on Saturday 3^rd July.

No phones or electronics please.

Y6 Picnic 16^th July

On the last day of term, we would like to have a picnic (fingers crossed for good weather!). Children will be able to sign shirts/leavers’ books and we will of course be throwing in a few surprises too! We will be busy creating a leavers video next half term, children will have the opportunity to watch this in class and we’ll be sharing it on our social media platforms for parents to enjoy.

Please note that these events are subject to good behaviour in school.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact school.

Thank you for your continued support.

The Y6 Team

 

27.05.21  Updated RSE Curriculum

May 2021

Dear Parents,  Relationships and Sex and Health Education Policy Apr21-Apr23

we sent this information back in December 2020 but we are resending it as the Governors have now approved the RSE (Relationship and Sex education) Policy, which we have also attached to this email.

RE: New statutory curriculum of Relationship Education and Health Education 2020.

Dear Parent / Carer,

You may well have seen in the national and local press that certain elements of Personal Social Health Education (PSHE) are about to become compulsory.  These are the areas of Relationship Education and Health Education.  As a school we have started to implement these into our current curriculum. We know that certain topics within these curriculum areas may potentially cause concern for parents. We also know that elements of this curriculum are already being misrepresented in the media and so we wanted to give you, our parent body, the correct information about the changes that are coming and the chance to view, not only the new legislation, but also the award winning resource we have chosen to support your children’s learning within these key areas.

The new curriculum areas have been agreed by the Department for Education.

If you would like to know more about what your child will be learning you can find it by following this link:

(Please press ctrl and then enter if it doesn’t open straightaway)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/908013/Relationships_Education__Relationships_and_Sex_Education__RSE__and_Health_Education.pdf

Teaching Expectations for Relationship Education from page 19

Teaching Expectations for Health Education from page 31

To ensure your children get the very best teaching in these areas we have chosen to use an award-winning resource – 1decision. 1decision is part of Headway Education and has been kitemarked by the PSHE association – the effective governing body for the subject in the UK – as being a quality assured product. The 1decision resources have been developed over the past seven years and each module has been created by PSHE and Safeguarding experts together with schools, and most importantly children, and can proudly say they are providing resources to schools in 39 counties. As a school we are proud to say we will be using these resources and you may like to find out more about them by visiting their website: www.1decision.co.uk

If you have any queries or questions regarding our new 1decision resource or anything else about the PSHE lessons we deliver. Please feel free to email our PSHE lead Mrs Beever on j.beever@theellis.org or Mrs Hurding on r.hurding@theellis.org Thank you.

 

25.05.21  Y6 Leavers 2020

Dear Parent/Carer,

We hope that you and your family are well.

It is with great pleasure that we would like to invite your child back to The Ellis CE Primary on Thursday 8^th July 2021 4pm-5pm.  The plan is to celebrate the Class of 2020’s fantastic fundraising achievements during the lockdown in 2020. We are having a plaque made up and would love to take a group photo of the children that can be displayed in school. We will also be inviting the Chronicle to take photos and run a story.

Please can you give permission (via email) for your child’s photograph and name to be published in the Chronicle.

Please note that this event is only for children, the whole event will be held outside and children can use the Y6 gate.

We look forward to seeing the class of 2020 again.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Mrs R Hurding & Miss A Saunders

 

25.05.21 Rainbow Garden

Dear Parents,

Rainbow Garden Project

The Rainbow garden is a wonderful resource that we utilised during the first lockdown and also for the children as they returned to school in September.  We are aware however, that it needs some attention and tlc to get it ready for planting.

Miss Batley is going to run a community event on Tuesday afternoons, 1pm-4pm, starting after half term to help get Rainbow garden ready for growing, we also need to rebuild the borders and dig and deweed the areas.  We would love it if parents or grandparents could help us with this project on Tuesday afternoons.  The volunteers would stay outside.  If anyone has any spare vegetable plants that are ready for planting after the holidays and who would be willing to donate them to us that would be really helpful.  So if you are handy with a saw or a spade and available on a Tuesday afternoon, please let us know.

Rainbow Garden Club Y5/6 £3 per week

Miss Batley is also going to run a Rainbow garden club on Monday nights for the Green Pod starting on Monday 7^th June.  The club will run 3:30pm-4:30pm, please collect the children from Rainbow garden.  There is a limit of 15 spaces for this Y5/6 club, names will therefore be taken on a first come first served basis. We will charge £3 for the garden club which will be paid for via ParentPay when we have confirmed your child’s place at the club.

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Hurding

 

24.05.21 The Return of After School Clubs

Dear Parents,

After School Clubs Returning Soon!  

We are delighted to let you know that we have two after school clubs starting after half term run by sports coaches. Both clubs are free of charge and will run from 3:20pm-4:20pm.

 

Tuesday KS1 Multisports Club (4 weeks)

22nd June, 29th June, 6th July and 13th July.

 

Thursday Y3/4 Multisports Club (5 weeks)

17th June, 24th June, 1st July, 8th July and 15th July.

 

Please email h.fiddes@theellis.org to express your child’s interest in one of the clubs. Unless we have extreme adverse weather, the clubs will be outdoors. Children can bring suitable clothing and footwear if they wish to get changed. An email will be sent confirming attendees of the club at the close of school on Friday 28th May.

 

Kind regards,

Miss Cook

Wider Curriculum Lead

 

24.05.21  Ofsted Questionnaire

  Questionnaire for parents OFSTED 2021

Dear Parents,

Thank you for all your support during a busy half term, we continue to be delighted with how well everyone has settled in school.

At parents evenings we have previously asked you to complete a questionnaire based on questions Ofsted may ask parents during an inspection. 

We would really value you taking the time to complete the attached questionnaire.  The questions have not been changed in light of CV-19, we would therefore also really appreciate any comments added at the bottom of the page regarding school through-out the pandemic along with our remote learning using Seesaw from January 2021.  We value all views as these continue to help school to ‘be the best it can be’.

We would like you to complete and return the questionnaire by 11^th June please, either in paper form or by email to h.fiddes@theellis.org

If you would like a paper copy then please let us know and we will send one home.

Thank you,

Mrs Hurding

 

14.05.21  Spare School Uniform

Dear Parents,

We would welcome spare school uniform aged 5-7 years please, especially boys’ trousers.

Many thanks.

 

14.05.21  School Photographs

Dear Parents, 

We are delighted to announce we have been able to organise class and individual photographs to be taken in school next Thursday, 20th May. 

The plan is to have the photographs taken outside to be as safe as possible.  Unfortunately we will not be offering sibling photographs this year.

As always, you are under no obligation to purchase the photographs.

​Mrs Rachel Hurding

Headteacher

The Ellis C of E Primary school

 

14.05.21  Nursery Transition

Dear Nursery Parents,

Your child will be spending 2 days in their new classroom with their new teachers on Thursday 8^th and Friday 9^th July.

Your child will go straight into their new classroom on both of these days. Sessions will be 8.55am-3.10pm.

A letter will be sent to you in the next few weeks regarding dinner time and an invitation for parents to attend a zoom meeting with Mr. Grayhurst.

If you have any questions regarding transition please do not hesitate to contact school.

Thank you

Mrs. Pollard

 

12.05.21 School Information

Dear Parents, 

POD SCHOOL

As we head to the next stage of the roadmap the new school’s guidance from the DFE was sent out yesterday.  

As we were predicting, school will need to continue to run as Pod school.  

The main change is to secondary schools saying that the pupils will not need to wear masks.

DFE guidance, May 2021states:

‘Minimising contacts and mixing between people reduces transmission of COVID-19. This is important in all contexts, and you must consider how to implement this. You must do everything possible to minimise contacts and mixing while delivering a broad and balanced curriculum. The overarching principle to apply is reducing the number of contacts between pupils and staff. This can be achieved through keeping groups separate (in ‘bubbles’) and through maintaining distance between individuals.‘

The advice continues to state

• That we cannot do large gatherings
• That we need staggered start times
• That we continue to work in a well-ventilated environment

HOLIDAYS

The guidance states the importance of all children being in school:

‘As restrictions begin to lift, some families may be looking to take holidays. As usual, parents should plan their holidays around school breaks and not take their children out of school on holiday during term time. Where a parent wishes to take their child out of school for whatever reason, the onus is on them to apply for a leave of absence and demonstrate why they believe the circumstances are exceptional. Schools make decisions on granting leave of absence, but will not normally do so for a holiday.’

TEMPERATURES

We have routinely been checking children’s temperatures as part of the school risk assessment since the start of CV-19, if your child has a high temperature we will phone you, however, if the temperature is normal we do not need to inform you.

LEARNING IN SCHOOL

It has been an absolute delight to be able to go into lessons and observe over the last two weeks.  As your Headteacher I am always keeping an eye on teaching and learning, however due to CV-19 restrictions I have not been able to stay in the pods for long. I have been so happy to be able to go into classes for longer.  It has confirmed what I already knew – that your children are working hard to improve and our teaching staff are providing our children with engaging lessons.  Everyone is working hard to ensure everyone is ‘the best they can be!’

STAFFING FOR NEXT YEAR

We are delighted to announce next year’s staffing.

F1 – Nursery

Class Teacher – Mrs Pollard

Support Staff – Mrs Kelly          Morning session: Miss Hickey          Afternoon session: Miss Allott

 

F2 – Reception 

Class Teacher – Mr Grayhurst    

Support Staff – Mrs Beevers        Morning session: Miss Allott

 

Y1

Class Teacher – Mrs Broadbent

Support Staff – Morning session: Mrs Andrews        Afternoon session: Miss Hickey

 

Y2

Class Teacher – Mrs Trotter

Support Staff – Mrs Freeman

 

Y3

Class Teachers – Miss Cook/Miss Beresford

Support Staff – Mrs Law

 

Y4

Class Teacher – Miss Saunders    

Support Staff – Miss Turton       A new Teaching Assistant

Mrs Beever to cover management time and PPA in Y1 to Y4

 

Y5

Class Teacher – Mrs Wise

  

Y6

Class Teacher – Mrs Edwards

The Y5/Y6 team will all be working together with Mrs Jaques, Mrs Brinkley, Mrs Wood, Mrs Connelly

 

TRANSITION

We will be having two full days of transition. All the children will move up to their next class to allow them time with their new teaching staff and to be in their new classroom. 

The Transition days are going to be the 8th July and the 9th July.

We will make a space for our Y6s to go in, they will have the hall and outdoor areas to use for learning.

The children who are starting F2 (Reception) in September and are new to our school will have a separate afternoon to visit the F2 class on the 14th July.

Our new F1 (Nursery) children and the children going into F2 will also have some transition time in September.

More information to follow.

 

PARKING

We know parking around school is a constant battle.  

If everyone parked safely, ideally a 5 minute walk from school, this would ease the congestion and would enable buggies to pass and be kinder to our local community.  We know the heavens opened yesterday but let’s all look after each other by parking safely and responsibly.

 

BREAKFAST CLUB reminder

When you drop off for Breakfast club, please do not drive into school.  The gates are open to enable staff to arrive safely.  We know cars drove in during Rainbow school but now we are Pod school and our numbers are increasing for breakfast club, parents driving in are stopping staff being able to park. 

 

We thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Hurding

 

05.05.21  Year 6 Start Times

Dear Parent/Carer,

It has come to our attention that a number of our Year 6 pupils have been arriving at school from 8:20am. Please can we remind you that the start time for Green Pod is 8:45am. Due to our current pod system and for safeguarding reasons, it is important that children arrive no earlier than 8:40am.

We do offer a breakfast club that is open from 8am, please contact h.fiddes@theellis.org if this is something that you would be interested in.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact school.

Thank you for your continued support.

The Y6 Team

 

05.05.21  Polling Day – Thursday 8th May

Dear Parents,

We hope you managed to enjoy a longer weekend.

Thursday is Polling day, which means our Nursery is closed for the day.

As Nursery is being used for the community Polling station please be mindful that the community will also be using our one way system on Thursday.  People waiting to vote will come up the School Street entrance and pass Rainbow garden and will queue along the blue railings by the red Nursery gate, this is the same place our Nursery parents queue in the morning.

I am going to put a post on ‘Our Hemingfield’ Facebook page to encourage the community not to vote during school drop off and pick up times.

Please be reassured we have had a meeting with the Polling organiser and we have made the system as safe as possible.

Regards,

Mrs Hurding

 

28.04.21    The Ellis Update

Dear Parents,

Amazing children

I really mean it when we say we are super proud of all our children’s attitude at school this week, everyone is pushing themselves.  The amazing learning behaviours in school are certainly helping all your children to ‘be the best they can be!’

Holidays

With this in mind, we know we have all had such a hard year and I know some people are owed holidays that had to be cancelled, but please do everything you can to keep your children in school over the next term.  I promise you your children will not be in school over the Summer.  All our learning in school is sequenced over a week and if children miss Monday’s input it does impact their understanding for the rest of the week.

Parents Evening

Thank you so much in supporting us to embrace a new system for Parents evening and for the SEN reviews that are next week.  We have had some feedback that the meetings were not long enough and as a result of such a tricky year there has been lots to talk about. If you feel you still have unanswered questions, please do not hesitate to let us know and we will find a time to phone you.  Staff are working incredibly hard to support all our children on their learning journeys and we know you want to support at home too.

Catch up

There is no doubt the best place for learning is school as we all need practical support and peers to really help our learning. 

The whole country is currently on a catch-up plan to support children to fill in the gaps to their learning.  We are so proud of how hard many of you worked during the last lock down and we do understand family reasons if this was hard. 

 As parents you have supported us throughout the pandemic and we need to be realistic about our catch up plan, it may take a while and that is ok.  We have increased staff to support our plan. 

 As a school we continue to hold on to the importance of catching up socially alongside academically.  Opportunities to learn outside builds children’s confidence as well as learning about our wonderful world and improving language, these skills then all impact on our inside learning.

Being a Thrive school has supported us all throughout the pandemic and our children continue to learn to talk about what is happening to them alongside learning to regulate.

Thank you for all your support in encouraging your children’s learning at home too!

Mrs Trotter

Mrs Trotter is going to be completing her Forest school training alongside Miss Batley, 10th May to the 13th May.  Mrs Trotter has planned the learning for the week and the Y2s will be taught by Mrs Beever, who they all know well.  We are very excited that when completed we will have two Forest school teachers in school.

Mrs Edwards

As you know Mrs Edwards is returning to school after Spring Bank.  We can afford (due to ‘catch up’ funding) to keep Mrs Jaques on as well for that half term, it therefore makes sense to keep Mrs Jaques in Y4 as she knows the class well and Mrs Edwards will support by boosting Y4 and Y5, allowing Mrs Jaques the time needed to write the reports.  As Mrs Edwards is our Deputy Head, this will also increase leadership capacity to help us all be ready for September.

Transition

SLT (Senior Leadership Team) are currently working on sorting out staffing for next year, we know its later than we usually inform you, but you will have the information as soon as we have worked it out.

We also want to work out how to safely do transition in Summer 2, as we want all our children to meet their new teacher and class before the Summer holiday, everything is crossed that we can do this. 

 We are still awaiting information from the Secondary schools for the Y6 visits, again we hope these can be real rather then virtual.  

There is still no new guidance out from the DFE, so we have to continue in our Pod school, at the moment.

Y6 ‘Crazy Crafts’ and the Bookshop

We want to safely start selling again at school.

Some of our Y6s have started a business selling crafts and we want to be able to offer cheap books again to our children.

The safest way to start this initially is to open the shop in the hall the same day as the children have their assembly in the hall.  The Y6s will wear masks and gloves.  Mrs Hurding will supervise.

So, starting next week the shop will be open for: 

Orange pod on Tuesdays

Yellow pod on Wednesdays

Then stating on the 10th May

Green pod on Mondays

The cost of most things will be between 50p and £1.50.  

We will work out how to include our F2 Red pod children, after half term, but it will most likely be on a Thursday. We will update you.

Rainbow Garden

We are also wanting to start a Rainbow garden club with Miss Batley in the Summer term after Spring bank, this may still have to be in Pods, but will be after school, we will let you know before half term.

Thank you so much for your continued support

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need to

Mrs Hurding

 

28.04.21     Inset Days

Dear Parents,

Our inset days for next year have now been finalised.

Inset Days 2021/2022

1st September 2021

1st November 2021

4th January 2022

6th June 2022

21st July 2022

 

Queen’s Jubilee

We have been informed that May Bank Holiday (30th May 2022) will be moved to Thursday, 2nd June 2022 with an additional bank holiday for the Queen’s Jubilee being given on Friday, 3rd June 2022.

Mrs Hurding

 

26.04.21   Y5 Pumps

Dear Y5 Parents,

We have noticed that quite a few Year 5 children are mentioning that their pumps no longer fit.

We are encouraging the children to bring home their pumps that are too small and to let you know that this is a problem. As a school which is mainly carpeted, we need the children to wear pumps in order to protect the floors.

Please can you help us to ensure that all the children have a pair of pumps that fit in school.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Mrs Wise

 

22.04.21   Volunteers Monday 26th April 

Dear Parents, 

Thank you to the parents who have offered their time to come and help dig out in the KS1 outdoor area on Monday 26th April. It is very much appreciated. I have sent an email directly to the volunteers I have on my list. 

If anyone has suddenly acquired a spare hour, morning, afternoon or day next Monday and would now like to volunteer, please just let me know! We will be taking the turf up in an area, laying membrane and gravel and then the Tuesday after, the 4th May, we are also looking for any volunteers to do some more digging, washing gravel, painting wood and possibly moving a shed!!!

Please feel free to contact me directly at c.trotter@theellis.org and as always thank you for your kindness. We are also amazed at the volunteer support we receive. 

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

 

22.04.21   Y5/6 Toys from Home

Dear Y5/6 Parents,

We have noticed that many of the children are enjoying bringing Pokemon cards and toys from home into school at the moment and it is lovely that so many of them have a shared interest. Unfortunately, the cards are becoming a source of conflict between some children as they fall out over swapping cards or damage and we are finding that resolving these conflicts is having a negative impact on learning time. For this reason, we are asking that the children no longer bring the cards into school. 

We also have a small number of children bringing toys into school, which are often similar to the Thrive resources we have in school. We love the way the children are using different objects to support regulation and well-being, however these are becoming a distraction during learning time. Please can the items also be left at home as we have plenty of Thrive resources in school that can be used if needed.

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

 

21.04.21   School Communication

Dear Parents,

Thank you for all your support in re-settling our children back into learning since the Easter holidays.  We can see that everyone is working so hard to support our children to ‘be the best they can be!’

Parent Governor

Thank you to all our parent Governor applicants. We are delighted that so many parents voted.

We are pleased to announce that Mr Peter Spratt was the successful candidate and we welcome him to our team.

Parents evening

Thank you for supporting us with the new cloud system, it has taken a lot of organising for the teachers to be out of class, so it is really important you check your times and let us know if there are any changes. Thank you. 

We really appreciate your continued support,

Mrs Rachel Hurding

 

19.04.21  F2 Summer Newsletter

F2 Summer Newsletter

 

19.04.21  Y1 Summer Newsletter

Y1 Summer Newsletter

 

19.04.21  Y2 Summer Newsletter

Y2 Summer Newsletter

 

19.04.21  Y3 Summer Newsletter

Y3 Summer Newsletter

 

19.04.21  Y4 Summer Newsletter

Y4 Topic Map Inspirational People      Y4 Summer Newsletter

 

12.04.21  The Big Pedal

Dear All Parents,

Sustrans Big Pedal is the UK’s largest inter-school cycling, walking and scooting challenge.  Sustrans Big Pedal 2021

The challenge runs from Monday 19^th April to Friday 30^th April, is free and we would love everyone to be involved.

Please see the attached information leaflet for more details and how to get involved.

Regards,

Miss Cook

 

12.04.21  Y6 Newsletter

Dear Parents,  WWII Summer Newsletter 2021

Please find this term’s newsletter attached along with an overview of our topic and suggestions for home learning.

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Saunders

 

12.04.21  Y3-Y5 French Food Tasting

French Food Tasting

Mr Hamilton is very excited about teaching French this term and is planning lots of exciting activities to do with the children. He would like to give them the chance to taste some French food in the next few weeks.

Please reply to this email if you do not wish your child to taste the food or if you need to let us know about any food allergies.

Many thanks,

The KS2 Team

 

12.04.21  Y5 Newsletter

Dear Y5 Parents,

It is wonderful to be back in school. The children are already enjoying our new topic and we are looking forward to the term ahead.

Newsletter

Please find this term’s newsletter attached along with an overview of our topic and suggestions for home learning.

WWII Summer Newsletter

CPG Homework Books

Please could you support your child to bring their CPG homework books into school by Wednesday this week.

Due to the disjointed nature of this academic year thus far, we need to check who has their books still and where the children are within the books before starting to set homework from them again. 

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Wise

 

12.04.21  Message From Public Health

 Dear Colleagues,

I hope you all managed to get some rest over the Easter holidays. 

Please find the attached letter, which can be shared with parents/carers and outlines the position surrounding home testing, PCR testing, along with some frequently asked questions, which we hope you will find helpful. Just a couple of things to think about on your return:

Travelling to the UK from another country

Just a reminder that if you have students who have been away during the Easter holidays, on their return to the UK they need to :

• quarantine for 10 days
• take a coronavirus (COVID-19) test on day 2 and day 8 of quarantining unless your job permits exemption (this should have been booked before travel)
• follow the national social distancing rules

If they have visited a red list country then they must quarantine for 10 full days in a managed quarantine hotel.

Town centre gatherings

As the COVID guidelines ease as we progress through the roadmap there is an increased opportunity for our children and young people to see there friends outside of school. We are unfortunately already getting reports that children are meeting up in the town centre and are not following COVID guidelines and are also taking part in anti-social behaviour. We are continually looking to see what we can do to reduce this but if possible could you reiterate to your children and if appropriate parents what is expected of them. As always if you have any intelligence about gatherings or behaviour that is not following the guidelines please email CovidMarshals@barnsley.gov.uk.

Kind regards

Dan

Daniel Clark

Senior Public Health Officer (Children, Young People and Families)

Public Health

Barnsley Council

 

26.03.21  Green Pod Outdoor Learning

Dear parent/carer,

After the Easter break, we will be using the Forest area and the outdoor environment for our learning on a Wednesday and just wanted to inform you that your children may get a little muddy.  Please could you support their outdoor learning by ensuring your child has appropriate footwear, a change of trousers and a warm coat in school on a Wednesday. A pair of gloves would also be useful.

We hope that you have a lovely Easter break.

Many thanks,

The Green Pod Team

 

25.03.21  Letter to Parents from BMBC

Sent on Behalf of the Executive Director for Children’s Services

Dear Parents and Carers

As the Director of Children’s Services in Barnsley, I wanted to write to thank you all, your children and your family, for following all of the Government guidance in respect of the Coronavirus pandemic.

We should all feel incredibly proud of how well children and young people have adjusted to the tighter arrangements in our schools and my thanks to secondary school pupils for wearing face coverings in school and to you, for co-operating with regular asymptomatic testing.

Because asymptomatic testing is happening regularly, across schools, households and places of work, we are seeing a rise in case rates in Barnsley. This leads to more people having to self-isolate and we are seeing an increase in the numbers of classes having to self-isolate in our schools. This is particularly hard for children and young people who have already had their education severely disrupted over the last year, despite excellent remote and online home learning, and all your efforts to support your children’s education.

Our schools have robust control measures in place, to minimise the risk of transmission and we maintain, that schools remain as safe as anywhere can be, during this time. But schools can only seek to control what happens in school, and not what happens within our communities.

I know that so much has been asked of you over this last year, but I ask that you support our schools and communities, by maintaining social distancing at the school gate and on the journey to and from school.

Controlling transmission of the virus in our communities and protecting people from infection, by following the government guidance, helps to control it within our schools, keeping children in school and minimizing further disruption to their education and to family life.

Finally, when you receive the offer of the vaccination, which I have very recently, I urge you and your family members, like me, to have it. As our Director of Public Health, Julia Burrow’s says, ‘every vaccination gives us hope’.

My thanks to you all.

Kind regards

Mel John-Ross

Executive Director – Children’s Services

 

23.03.21  Y1 Email

Dear Y1 Parents,

I know it is a huge inconvenience having to close the year 1 class for the first day back after Easter – Monday 12^th April.  I apologise for the short email yesterday and would like to explain why we have made the decision to close the classroom.

After discussions with our Chair of Governors, it was agreed, that on this occasion, due to Cv-19 it is the right decision for everyone’s safety.  Throughout lockdown and through all other school changes I have never closed school to allow us time to get organised.  School closure is definitely a last resort.

We did not think the building work would take place in the Easter holiday due to lockdown, however, we were informed last week that it was necessary to happen so that we can have the money from the diocese to pay for it.  I would have delayed until the Summer if I could have. 

We were told the Y2 classroom would take a week, it actually took longer but we were able to accommodate the extra day by having all the children in the hall.  This is not able to happen now due to our Pod school.  The hall is used by breakfast club, the Yellow Pod for learning and the Foundation classes use it for lunch.  The damp proof course went half way up the Y2 class walls and sadly we already have signs of damp again (so frustrating!).  As a result of this, the Y1 class damp proof course is now going to go up to the ceiling, this is a bigger job as it involves changing all the electrical sockets etc.  We have tried to reduce the time but even with the builders working longer hours and weekends the completion date is Friday  2^nd April.  From previous experience we know there will then be the need for a deep clean.  The cleaners are booked in for the weekend.  As you are aware we have a very committed team in the Orange Pod and if we could get in over the weekend to help we would all be in.

I hope this explains the situation more and again we are really sorry for the inconvenience, we would love to have all our children back in class and we are aware this year has already been so disruptive.

Thanks for your support,

Mrs Hurding

 

23.03.21  Y5 Taste Testing

Dear Y5 Parents,

This week the children are learning about edible insects as part of their English lessons.

We will be offering them the opportunity to try some dried mealworms, crickets, buffalo worms and locusts. This will be entirely optional and no one will be made to eat them, however we think that some of the children will be intrigued and enthusiastic to have this opportunity and to see that they really are edible and hopefully inspire them with their writing. 

The allergy advice on the packets suggest they are not suitable for people with allergies to crustaceans or molluscs and that they include gluten. If your child suffers from an allergy that means that they cannot have the option to taste test these then please contact school. 

Please be reassured that no child will have to try these interesting critters, so don’t feel like you have to respond to say that your child won’t want to eat them. We only need to know if they have an allergy that means they should not be given the option.

Many thanks for your continued support.

Best wishes,

Mrs Wise

 

23.03.21 School Milk for Under 5s

School Milk for under 5s

School milk is only free up until the term in which your child turns 5.

If your child was born in the month of June, for example, and will turn 5 in June, they will not receive free milk after Easter.

If this applies to your child (so if your child is already 5 or will turn 5 next term) and would like to continue to drink milk, you will need to please an order with School Milk ready for next term.

Orders are placed by going to School Milk online. I believe the cartons cost 22p each, £1.10 per week.

Thank you,

Hayley Fiddes

 

22/03/21  School Information

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your support on Friday for our superheroes day, supporting Comic relief.  We are so proud of all our children.  The CV-19 virus has impacted greatly on all our lives and it is significant that all our children have had a disrupted year at school and socially.  We will continue to support all children, please do not hesitate to contact us to share any concerns you have.  We are hoping after a two week break at Easter everyone will come back raring to go.

 

22.3.21  Y1 Class – Damp Proof Course

The damp proof course in school unfortunately needs to be re-done. We have already had the works completed in the Y2 classroom and the Y1 class and Y1/Y2 toilet block is now next on the list.  The work will be completed over the Easter holiday with the classroom needing to be put back together again the first day back after the holiday.  As we cannot have the whole Y1 class in the hall due to CV-19 restrictions this means that unfortunately all Y1 children are unable to return back on the 12^th April.  We are sorry for the inconvenience and look forward to seeing the children on the 13th.

 

22.3.21  Staffing

Mrs McAleavy is retiring this Friday and we wish her all the best as she starts her new adventures.

Mrs Wise and Mrs Rodgers are able to return to school after Easter as Shielding is being lifted on the 1^st April. 

Mr Hamilton who has been covering in Y5 will continue to cover for Mrs Wise’s leadership time and we are delighted that Mr Hamilton has also agreed to teach French for the Summer term.

We have a new TA, Miss Stenton, who will work with us after Easter full time in Green pod.

Mrs Edwards will be returning to teach in Y4 after Spring bank. 

Mrs Jaques will continue to work in Yellow Pod until the Summer to support transition and catch up.

 

We will be sharing our Easter celebration with you on the last day of term.

We really hope everyone has a fantastic Easter break.

Thank you for your support

Mrs Hurding

 

19/03/21  F2 Easter Gifts

Dear Parents,

Attached is some information regarding Easter gifts the children have been making in F2.  F2 Easter Gifts

Thank you for your continued support.

The F2 Team

 

19/03/21  Nursery Easter Gifts

Dear Parents,

Attached is some information regarding Easter gifts the children have been making in nursery.  F1 Easter Gifts

Thank you for your continued support.

The Nursery Team

 

19/03/21 Holiday Sports Provision

8-16 year olds who receive free school meals 

Reds in the Community will be supporting the Holiday activities and food programme 2021 by delivering FREE multi sports sessions during the Easter Half term funded by Barnsley Council.

We are reaching out to schools and partners to support us in ensuring the children and young people who would benefit the most from these activities have access. We are looking to target children and young people who currently access free school meals.

Our free Multi-sports camps will be delivered at 5ives Barnsley and consist of a blend of sport and wellbeing activities and are accessible to all 8-16 year olds who receive free school meals. There is a maximum capacity of 30 participants per day and these will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

The Multi-sport camps will be delivered 10am – 2pm Monday 29^th March to the 11^th April 2021 excluding bank holidays (Friday 2^nd & Monday 5^th April 2021)

To sign up to these free camps, children and young people need to complete an application found on the link below.

https://barnsleyfccommunity.co.uk/event/5ives-easter-multi-sports-camps/

Thank you in advance for supporting us in reaching children and young people who would benefit the most from this programme during half term!

Kind Regards,

Kieron Campbell 
Head of Participation and Health

 

18/03/21  F2 Reading Folders

Dear F2 Parents,

A reminder to all please that folders need to be returned every week by Wednesday.

Please can you make sure that the folder contains your child’s reading record, reading book, ditty book and home learning book when you return them please. 

There is a new note in your child’s home learning book and a list of high frequency words. Could you please make sure you read the message and stick their work photos etc in their home learning book.

Many thanks,

Mr Grayhurst and Mrs Beevers

 

12/03/21  POD School

Dear Parents,

Thank you

We are delighted how well all our children who have returned to school have settled back into school life and how brilliantly the children that were in school during lockdown have welcomed them.

Thank you to all our parents for supporting school and your children both at home and back into school.  It has been very noticeable that children who fully engaged in home learning have made progress.  Parents need to really celebrate that.

Home Time

It is really important we continue to be as safe as possible at home time, please come for the correct time and wait until you are called by a member of staff.  Remember the times have changed for some classes since lockdown.  Can you please ensure that grandparents know the correct times too.  Thank you also for your patience when it is raining at home time, it is very hard recognising everyone with their hoods up and masks on.

Outdoor learning

Improving our outdoor offer has been a school priority for the last five years.  We are delighted how we have been able to improve the environment throughout this year.  We now have an improved Rainbow garden (still lots to do), Tranquillity garden, Forest school, the climbing frame, the slide, reading shed as well as now having a separate KS1 learning area and improving our Foundation stage outside environment.  We have always believed that children benefit from learning outside and need to go out in all weathers, this is why we ask for children to always dress for the weather and have wellies available in school.  Outdoor learning is a vital part of our Ellis curriculum.  Due to CV-19 and supporting our children back into school we have increased outdoor opportunities as we believe it is vital children have space and time to socialise and learn outside.  We continue to have learning in the classrooms and children have their lunches in the classrooms, unless it is a lovely day then they can go outside.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have concerns about the outdoor curriculum.

Lunchtime supervisor

We have a lunchtime supervisor vacancy available potentially for after Easter, please can you let people know in the community who you think may be interested.

Comic Relief – next Friday – 19th March – Red Nose day

Dress up as a superhero or wear something to support Comic relief.  We are celebrating all our lockdown heroes.  All donations to be paid online please.

Easter Service

We will be producing an Easter celebration video for everyone to enjoy similar to the Harvest and Christingle ones.

​Mrs Rachel Hurding

 

12/03/21 Y6 E-Safety 

Dear Parent/Carer,

As we have had a couple of e-safety concerns this week, we would like to reiterate the advice from our e-safety Officer Tim Pinto.

‘Tik Tok is a very popular app with children as it includes viral videos of dancers, celebrities etc. The videos are limited to less than 60 seconds and users scroll through different videos. In the UK it has a minimum age of 13.

Advice for parents is to monitor their children’s use of social media apps such as Instagram, Snapchat and Tik Tok. All these have a minimum age restriction of 13 years old. Remember that all social media apps have risks and if you allow your child to use these apps, they must have adult supervision.

Look at privacy controls for devices and ensure that you know what they are downloading. All devices have built in restrictions to give you more control. A useful site for this is https://www.internetmatters.org/

It is also important that you regularly talk to your child about what they are doing online’. 

Tik Tok also has a safety centre, available here: https://www.tiktok.com/safety/resources/for-parents?lang=en 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact school.

Thank you for your continued support.

The Y6 Team

 

11/03/21  Friday Afternoon Nursery Places

Dear Parents,

A quick email to confirm that the requested Friday afternoon nursery places start for your child from tomorrow (Friday 12th March).

The payment will be put onto ParentPay once we know your child has attended that day.

Many thanks,

Hayley Fiddes

 

11/03/21  Y4 Learning

Dear Y4 Parents,

It was really exciting to welcome your children back to school on Monday and we hope to make their return a happy and positive experience.

We will be using the Forest area and the outdoor environment for our learning on a Wednesday and just wanted to inform you that your children may get a little muddy.

Please could you support their outdoor learning by ensuring your child has appropriate footwear, a change of trousers and a warm coat in school on a  Wednesday. A pair of gloves would also be useful.

 PE will be on a Tuesday & Thursday (but we will still not be changing into PE kits)

Could you please ensure that children bring their spelling logs and reading diaries to school on a daily basis.

Thank you for your continued support.

Many thanks,

The Y4 team

 

11/03/21 Y5 Bikeability

Dear Y5 Parent,

A reminder that our Year 5 children have been given the opportunity to obtain their Bikeability Level 1 & 2 in school during the week commencing 15th March.

There are still 16 places remaining on a first come first served basis.

If Bikeability is something you would like your child to participate in, for safety reasons it is very important that all of the criteria in the attached information is adhered to. If, in the opinion of the Instructor, your child’s bike is not in a road worthy condition, they will unfortunately not be allowed to participate in the course. For this reason, please read all of the information thoroughly and complete the consent form below. You can do this by pressing reply to this email, completing the relevant sections and then pressing send to return it to Mrs Fiddes in the office.

Mrs Wise

 

05/03/21  Y5 Outdoor Learning

Dear Y5 Parents,

We are really excited to welcome your children back to school on Monday and hope to make their return a happy and positive experience.

We will be using the Forest area and the outdoor environment for our English learning during the first week back and just wanted to inform you that your children may get a little muddy.

Please could you support their outdoor learning by ensuring your child has appropriate footwear, a change of trousers and a warm coat in school from Monday. A pair of gloves would also be useful.

Thank you for your continued support.

Many thanks,

The Y5 team

 

05/03/21 Nursery Session Confirmation

Dear Parents/ Carers,

It will be lovely to get all of the nursery children back into nursery where they belong!

We are changing the timetable slightly in order to spend more time outdoors which will help the children develop their social skills and their physical skills (something some of them have missed out on throughout the pandemic). Being outdoors is so refreshing and, as adults, we feel better out in the fresh air. I’m sure the children will benefit greatly from this opportunity.

 Therefore, please ensure your child has their wellies that they can leave at school and have warm clothes on. Please forgive us if they get muddy!

Can I also take this opportunity to run through the staggered drop off and pick up times too.

If your child is full time or attends the AM session please bring them to the double nursery gates (onto the nursery field) at 8.45am. Please queue around the blue fence and up the path (as there will be lots of adults now).  Please leave promptly through the main school gates.

Part time children will leave at 11.45am- please follow the same rules as where to wait and exit.

PM children will need to be dropped off at the nursery gate at 12.30pm. However, as the field gates will be locked to keep the F2 children safe, parents are asked to leave the way they came (down the path and onto School Street). Please be respectful of others and keep a safe distance.

We understand that some children will need to be collected early if they have siblings so nursery will be open to collect children from 3.00pm.

If you have any questions please contact school and they will transfer your call to me.

Take care and see you all very soon.

Mrs. T. Pollard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

05/03/21  Return to POD School 8th March

Dear Parents,

Return to school – Pod school is back!

We are nearly there!

We cannot wait to greet you all back into school on Monday.  We do understand it will come with mixed emotions for everyone and we will support you all every step of the way.

CV-19 

It’s a year ago today that we had the first death in this country due to CV-19, what a year this has been for everybody.

Lockdown has helped to decrease the number of cases and the vaccination programme is significantly helping our future, however as a country and a school we are having to continue to follow CV-19 safe rules to enable the road map to happen.

POD SCHOOL SAFETY – a summary

• All children will stay in their pods
• Staff will stay in pods and not mix wherever possible 
• Parents and Staff will wear face coverings at drop off and collection
• Staff wear face coverings in communal areas or where social distancing cannot happen
• Staff can take Lateral Flow tests – this is voluntary 
• Lateral flow tests are now available for families – school does not have these – this is voluntary
• Primary school children do not NEED to take tests unless they have symptoms
• We will continue with staggered collection and drop off times – the same as we had in SEPTEMBER

Please note the drop off and collection times have changed from Rainbow 21 school for some classes, we are back to the September times.

 

Times and meeting points:	Drop off	Collect	Waiting
Pink Pod   Nursery	8.45am	11.45am 3.30pm	Wait at Nursery red gate.  Socially distancing along the Foundation field
Red Pod   Foundation 2	8.55am	3.10pm	Wait at the red F2 gate. Socially distancing along the path parallel to Rainbow garden
Orange Pod	Y1  8.50am     Y2 8.40am	Y1 3.15pm     Y2 3.05pm	Wait at the red F2 gate. Socially distancing along the path parallel to Rainbow garden
Yellow Pod	Y3 8.50am   Y4 8.40am	Y3 3.15pm   Y4 3.05pm	Wait at the main gate from Y4 (as long as we know) children can leave school independently
Green Pod	Y5/6  8.45am	Y5/6  3.10pm	Wait at the main gate Ideally encourage to leave independently

 

World Book Day

We hope your children enjoyed World Book Day, thank you to everyone for taking part.

 

Comic relief – 19th March

Dress up as a superhero – everyone is a lockdown superhero.  If you would like to donate, please do so online.

 

Forest school

Thank you to all the parents who helped us this week put more fencing up along the path and paint the shed.

All staff have also been working hard getting school ready for everyone.

Thanks for your continued support,

Mrs Hurding

 

03/03/21  Y6 World Book Day Zoom

Dear Y6 Parents,

We are looking forward to seeing our in school and at home learners for our World Book Day Zoom at 2pm (4.3.21).

Please can children come with a book recommendation to share with their friends.

The link for joining the meeting can be found on Seesaw for our at home learners and children in school will be joining with Mr Hamilton from the classroom.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Many thanks,

The Y6 Team

 

03/03/21  Foundation Stage Seeds / Plants Plea

Dear Parents,

If anyone has any unwanted seeds, herbs or plants we would be delighted to accept them for our Foundation Stage.

Thank you

 

03/03/21  Y5 Bikeability

Dear Y5 Parent / Guardian,  Active Barnsley Covid Secure Bikeability Measures Letter to Parents Bike Check Notes for Parents

We are very excited to inform you that our Year 5 children have been given the opportunity to obtain their Bikeability Level 1 & 2 in school during the week commencing the 15th March. This is a very worthwhile accreditation and will give the children extra confidence to cycle safely whilst out and about on the roads.

If Bikeability is something you would like your child to participate in, for safety reasons it is very important that all of the criteria in the attached information is adhered to. If, in the opinion of the Instructor, your child’s bike is not in a road worthy condition, they will unfortunately not be allowed to participate in the course. For this reason, please read all of the information thoroughly and complete the consent form below. You can do this by pressing reply to this email, completing the relevant sections and then pressing send to return it to Mrs Fiddes in the office.

 If your child is unable to get their bike to school during that week please let us know as the instructors may be able to bring some spares with them.

Kind regards,

Mrs Wise 

 

I have read the guidance notes about the course and agree to my child taking part.   My child has the ability to comprehend and follow simple instructions.

I have understood that part of the training will take part on public roads.

I have checked the bike myself, or have had it checked by a specialist and confirm that it will be maintained in a safe and roadworthy condition.

I will ensure that my child has an approved cycling helmet to wear during the course.

My child has the following health problems;

Child’s Name:   Name of Parent / Guardian giving Consent: Telephone number:   Address (Required for emergency purposes):

 

03/03/21  WWII History Workshop for Y5/6 

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are very excited to welcome your children back to school on the 8th of March.

Please can we request that you return your borrowed devices and their chargers on the same date. 

Please return your loaned technology directly to Mrs Fiddes in the office to be signed off as returned.

Many thanks,

Mrs Hurding

 

03/03/21  School Loaned Devices

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are very excited to welcome your children back to school on the 8th of March.

Please can we request that you return your borrowed devices and their chargers on the same date. 

Please return your loaned technology directly to Mrs Fiddes in the office to be signed off as returned.

Many thanks,

Mrs Hurding

 

03/03/21  Y3 World Book Day Zoom Meeting

Dear Y3 Parents and Carers,

Our next zoom meeting will be tomorrow for World Book Day, for the Y3 children learning from home.

The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. The session will begin at 10am and the link will be on seesaw tomorrow morning.

We will start by sharing our favourite book. If you have the book and you would like to show it to everyone then please bring it along with you. 

If you have any questions or concerns then please let us know.

Many thanks,

Y3 Team

 

02/03/21 Home Testing Information

Dear Parents, 

The DFE have announced today that families with children in Primary schools will be able to access lateral flow tests: 

‘Whole families and households with primary school, secondary school and college age children, including childcare and support bubbles, will be able to test themselves twice every week from home as schools return from 8 March. Tests can easily be ordered and collected from local sites, or administered through workplace testing programmes.’

Please see the information below from Barnsley council to find out where your nearest site for collection is. 

​Mrs Hurding

From the Public Health Team

 

Dear Colleagues,

I thought it might be helpful to send you a quick summary of the latest guidance on rapid lateral flow testing (LFT) for households and bubbles of school pupils and staff.

The following people in England will now have access to regular rapid lateral flow testing made available to them as schools reopen:

• secondary school pupils
• primary and secondary school staff
• households, childcare and support bubbles of primary and secondary-age pupils
• households, childcare and support bubbles of primary and secondary staff

From 1 March 2021, members of a household, childcare bubble or support bubble of staff or a pupil can get a twice-weekly test:

• through their employer if they offer testing to employees
• at a local test site

Nearest rapid lateral flow test site can be found here.

• by collecting a home test kit from a test site

People can collect 2 packs of home test kits at a local collection point. Each pack contains 7 tests. Anyone 18 or over can collect. Find the nearest home test kit collection point.

• by ordering a home test kit online

Online test kits should not be ordered if a test can be got through other methods. This frees up home delivery. Rapid lateral flow home test kits can be order here.

People who participate will be asked to take a test twice a week (every 3 or 4 days apart) and report every result to NHS Test and Trace on the same day they take the test.

If anyone tests positive or gets coronavirus symptoms, they should tell the school and:

• self-isolate immediately
• get a PCR test to confirm the result
• follow the stay at home guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection

A negative result means the test did not find signs of coronavirus. But this does not guarantee a person does not have coronavirus, so they should keep following all coronavirus advice.

Kind regards,

Public Health Team

 

26.02.21  One Final Plea

Dear Parents, 

We are so excited that our Forest School area has undergone such a huge transformation in the last 3 months and we are now on the final stage.

We have ordered 84m of willow screening to go on the existing green fence around the edge / back of the field and there are some logs to move as wall. This is arriving on Monday or Tuesday! We would LOVE to get it up and the whole project completed for the wonderful return of our children on the 8th March! We know this is a tall order, but we are just wondering if any of our amazing parents are free to come and help Mrs Trotter next Wednesday (3rd March) for an hour, half a day or the whole day!!!! It is plenty big enough for social distancing and we will of course be outside! Hot drinks and biscuits along with lots of ‘thank yous’ will be available throughout the day!  Please feel free to email Mrs Trotter directly at c.trotter@theellis.org

We are so grateful for all the help we have been given and we could not have done it without you. We can’t wait to use it with all the children and would love this gift to be ready in time for their return if at all possible. 

Kind Regards

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

 

26.02.21  World Book Day Home Learners

Dear Parents & Carers,

On World Book Day (Thursday 4^th March) children in school will be enjoying hot chocolate and biscuits whilst reading and listening to stories.

We have purchased hot chocolate sachets and biscuits for any home learners who would also like to find a cosy spot and enjoy a treat whilst getting lost in a good book. You can collect these from the main office from Monday 1^st March between 9:30am and 3:30pm.

We hope that all of our children enjoy everything we have planned for World Book Day.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

26.02.21  Rainbow 21 Week 7

Dear Parents,

We are all beyond delighted that everyone can return on the 8th March as I know you will be too!

Mrs H Vlogs – has done a tour of school to remind everyone returning what school looks like, I have posted it onto Seesaw and will add it to Facebook later in the day.

Zoom 

We are delighted how well our Zoom meetings are working for our children who are working at home, remember we have worked hard to keep everything secure as a school so please do not share the links.

Next week will be the last Zoom and it will be on World Book day – Thursday – 4th March.  

World Book day – Thursday 4th March

Please enjoy all the stories and activities that will be on Seesaw, spend the day in your PJs or dress up as a favourite character.

Return to school

We will support all your wonderful children back into school and help the children who have been in school to settle into the new routines with a full class.  Just like we did in September we will be operating our ‘Restore Curriculum’ which includes plenty of time to socialise outdoors, Thrive activities to help us  be together again and support all, also reminders of our learning behaviours and the growth mindset to support all learning.  Wherever your child is at we will support them and continue their learning journey.  Your child will have acquired new skills throughout lockdown such as resilience and independence and life skills such as washing, gardening and baking.  These are all vital learning that will support their future.

Staffing

Mrs Wise – Y5 teacher / KS2 Assistant Head and Mrs Rodgers – Business Manager need to continue to work at home until Easter.  We are delighted that Mr Hamilton who all our Y5 children know can cover the day to day running of the Y5 class.  Mrs Wise will continue to plan and be involved with the class through virtual contact.

Mrs McAleavy has made the life decision to retire at Easter.  Mrs McAleavy is very happy about her decision but at The Ellis there will be a huge gap that we will have to fill.  We wish Madame McAleavy all the best in her new life adventures and we know she will stay in touch and come back to see us.

Y6

We hope all our Y6s get the places they hope for Secondary and that there will hopefully be some transition this year.  We will keep you posted with Summer plans when we know the impact the Governments’ planned Roadmap is having.

Nursery places

Parents are now able to contact us to place their children’s name on a waiting list for nursery places available from September. These can be either full time or parttime places.

Comic Relief – red nose day- 19th March

We are delighted that this will be when all our children are back in school and will be a celebration of all our lockdown superheroes – all of our children.  Dress as a superhero or wear something that supports Comic relief e.g t-shirts or red noses.   We are not selling red noses this year, however, I am delighted they are now made from re-cycled material.  Regarding donations – if you would like to donate to Comic Relief as a family please can do so online, there is no need to send money into school.

Parents Evenings

Parents Evening will be delayed until after the Easter holidays, so all teaching staff have time to assess and support children settling back into school.  We will let you know in due course, however it is highly likely they will not be face to face meetings as April is still restricting social contact.

Stay safe, 

​Mrs Rachel Hurding

Headteacher

 

25.02.21  F2 World Book Day Creative Project

Dear Parents and Carers,

We hope you are all having a good week. As you are probably already aware, it is World Book Day next Thursday 4^th March. We will be focusing on the story of What the Ladybird heard that week. As part of our topic that week the children in school will be creating a book theatre and to do this we will need a small cardboard box the size of a shoe box. If possible could we please ask you to send a shoe box into school by Wednesday 3^rd March at the latest.

 We also would like our home learners to be involved as part of this project for World Book Day.  Please see the web link for more information of what we are aiming to do.

https://www.worldbookday.com/online-masterclasses/how-to-create-a-picture-book-theatre/

Please remember that our next Zoom session will be on World Book Day Thursday 4^th March. We will notify you of the exact time next week.

 We hope you all enjoy the rest of your week and have a wonderful weekend.

 Thank you for all your hard work and support so far, we are looking forward to all the children returning to school on Monday 8^th March.

 Many thanks and kind regards,

 Mr Grayhurst and Mrs Beevers

 

 

24.02.21  F2 World Book Day

Dear F2 Parents,

Please can your child bring a bear to school on World Book Day (not too big!).

Many thanks,

Mr Grayhurst and Mrs Beevers

 

24.02.21  F2 Pancake Tasting

Dear Parents,

We hope that you all had a lovely half-term holiday and that you are keeping safe and well.

On Friday (26^th February) we will be tasting pancakes and other tea-time treats in school as part of our topic on Little Red Riding Hood (also because it was Shrove Tuesday last week).

Please let a member of the F2 Team know if you would not like your child to take part in this activity.

Many thanks and kind regards,

Mr Grayhurst and Mrs Beevers

 

24.02.21  Nursery Session Friday Afternoons

(Information for Parents of full time nursery children)

Starting from the week commencing Monday 8th March full time nursery children will have the opportunity to stay all day on a Friday if you would like them to.  As this is in addition to their 30 hour entitlement there will be a charge of £15 payable via Parentpay each week.

If you would like to take advantage of the additional childcare please let us know.

Hayley Fiddes

 

24.02.21  Return to POD School

Dear Parents,

 I hope this information reaches you well rested and in good health and that you all managed to have a good half-term. 

We are beyond delighted that all our children can return to school on the 8^th March. 

Our plan is to run POD school like we did in September, but we are aware that you may need some reminders of how it works and some of our families are new to school.

I’m sure that a number of parents may have questions about how we are approaching things at school. 

We have drawn together a Q&A format that we thought may be useful for parents. We hope we have covered the main points, though there may be more questions that follow.  PLEASE SEE ATTACHED.  The Ellis Covid Q and A March 2021 For Parents

There may be adjustments and alterations in response to situations changing, finding better (or safer) ways of doing things and simply to address mistakes or unforeseen issues.  

We will communicate these as swiftly as possible when they occur.  

School continues to regularly update the risk assessment on the school website.   

SOME REMINDERS FIRST 

We will be operating school similarly to Rainbow school to enable everyone to be as safe as possible. 

The Government has recognised that younger children cannot socially distance but are recommending we continue to use the POD/Bubble system in school. 

We have made the decision to continue to have sister classes together as they share the cloakroom and toilets, this will enable us to continue to have separate outdoor areas for each POD.  Each class will be separate inside their classrooms for learning.  This year each class is the name of an author to celebrate our love of books and reading at The Ellis. 

F1 Nursery                             PINK POD 

F2 Delightful Donaldsons    RED POD 

Y1 Wise Woollvins                ORANGE POD 

Y2 Perfect Potters 

Y3 Fantastic Fletchers          YELLOW POD 

Y4 Wonderful Walliams 

Y5 Creative Cowells              GREEN POD 

Y6 Determined Dahls 

We will continue with our one way system around school and parents will say goodbye at the drop-off gates. There will be a member of staff on the main gate and the gate near F2 to support the children saying goodbye and remind everyone of the one way system.   

F1, F2, Y1 and Y2 enter school from School Street and drop off at the red gate near F2.  F1 go to the Nursery gate.  All parents leave following the Foundation field and by walking up to the main gate.   

If you need to drop a KS2 child off second you leave them in the drive area at the end of the path for them to walk around the Y5/Y6 side of school and you leave via the main gate.  

 If you are just dropping off a KS2 child please leave at the main gate, when there is a staff member there.  

This is a great opportunity for everyone to start the park and walk for 5 minutes scheme.  It enables everyone to come to school for their allocated time and will ease congestion and therefore help the safety of everyone at drop off and collection time.  

No cars are allowed to drive into school or turn near the main gate during drop off and pick up times.  

  BREAKFAST CLUB 

Please only book into breakfast club if it is absolutely essential as we are trying to reduce numbers as much as possible.  Breakfast club will be in the hall and we will have a separate area in the hall for each pod.  We will use the front door for breakfast club starting at 8am.  To help us organise can you please let us know if your child will be attending. 

AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS 

We will not have any clubs after school during Spring 2 and we will review for Summer term. 

  To keep school as safe as possible for all our families and staff we all need to respect the social distancing rules that have been made by the Government in and out of school. 

 ALL PARENTS AND STAFF NEED TO WEAR FACE COVERINGS DURING ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE 

 Your cooperation and support is, as always, appreciated in this matter. 

Please do not hesitate to make contact if you have further questions that need answering before your return on the 8^th March. 

In the meantime it is really important that all our home learners continue to do their daily work on Seesaw as this will help when they return to school.

  Keep safe,

Mrs Hurding (Mrs H) 

 

24.02.21  School Council

Dear Parent,

I am emailing to let you know that your child is invited to participate in a school council meeting on Friday 26th February at 1pm. 

If your child is in school that day, then they will be supported to attend by a member of staff in school.

If your child is learning remotely, then a Zoom invite will be assigned to their Seesaw account and we would like them to attend the meeting through using that.

We hope they are able to attend. 

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

 

23.02.21  Y1/2 Zoom Meetings

Dear Orange Pod Parents and Carers, 

We would like to do another zoom meeting with our home learners this week (this will just be for the children who are not in school at all). The information for timings and days are below. The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. Please do not share this Zoom link.  

Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask you do this before the session. Please support your child to follow the link 5 minutes before the session and to make sure their screen name shows their first name. They will be placed in a waiting room and let into the meeting when it is time.  

Y1 – Thursday 25^th February, 1pm      

Y2 – Friday 26^th February 2pm (please have a piece of paper and a pen or pencil to hand) 

If you have any questions or concerns then please let us know. 

Many thanks, 

Mrs Trotter and Mrs Broadbent 

 

23.02.21  Y5 Return to School Information

Dear Y5 Parents,

We are really pleased that all our children will be able to be back in school on the 8th of March. It will be fabulous to have all the children back with their friends and learning together.

I am emailing to explain the plan for staffing in Y5 as the shielding guidance means that I will not be able to return to school with the children. Mr Hamilton, who is an experienced KS2 teacher has already started to build relationships with the children as he has been teaching the class three afternoons a week, will be teaching the class for the coming weeks. Mrs Brinkley, Mrs Wood and Mrs McAleavy will continue to support the class too.

I will, of course, continue to work from home, planning and supporting the class’ continued learning based on my knowledge of the children and will have contact with the children via Zoom. 

If you have any questions about these arrangements, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Many thanks, 

Mrs Wise

 

22.02.21  Zoom Meeting Y3

Dear Parents and Carers,

We hope that our ‘at home’ learners have enjoyed being able to see their friends and have some social time during the last Zoom call. We definitely enjoyed seeing them!

During this period of remote learning,  we would like to invite our pupils who are learning at home another Zoom meeting.

Our next Zoom meeting for Y3 will be at 12:30pm on Wednesday.

The Zoom link will be put onto Seesaw on the day of the meeting for children who are learning primarily at home.

Many thanks,

The Yellow Pod Team

 

22.02.21 Zoom Meeting Y4

Dear Y4 Parents and Carers,

 On Thursday, 25th February  at 1:00pm we would like to trial another class Zoom meeting for Y4.

 The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. Please do not share this Zoom link. 

 Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask you do this before the session. Please support your child to follow the link 5 minutes before the session and to make sure their screen name shows their first name. They will be placed in a waiting room and let into the meeting when it is time. 

This is only a 2nd attempt so please be patient with us in case there are technical difficulties but the initial plan is for each child to bring a joke to share and then we will share an activity together.

Please re- read the attached document with your child before the meeting. Ask them to think of a joke that they would like to share with their friends.

If you have any questions or concerns then please let me know.

Many thanks,

Mrs Jaques

 

22.02.21 Zoom for F1

Dear F1 Parents and Carers,

Our next zoom meeting will be on Wednesday 24th February for all of the F1 children.

The Zoom invite link and ID number will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. The session will begin at 11.00am and the link will be on seesaw the morning of the meeting, but do not access it until the session is about to begin. 

 Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask you do this before the session. 

 As previously, we aim to greet each other with a wave, moving onto singing a few nursery rhymes together (Mrs. Pollard will decide which rhymes) and then Mrs. Pollard will read a story. We will finish with a goodbye wave until the next meeting.

If you have any questions or concerns then please let me know.

 Many thanks,

Mrs Pollard and Mrs Kelly

 

22.02.21 Nursery World Book Day Zoom

Dear Parents,

 

World Book Day will be held on Thursday 4th March. This year I will be reading a story Via Zoom at 9.00am. It would be great to see you all!

 

Thank you,

Mrs. Pollard 

 

22.02.21 Nursery Pancake Tasting

Dear Parents,

Tomorrow (Tuesday 23rd) we will be making and tasting pancakes. Please let a member of the nursery staff know if you do not want your child to take part in this activity.

Thank you,

Mrs. Pollard

 

12.02.21    Rainbow School 21 Week 6 

Dear Parents,

We have all made it to half term and I know everyone is ready for a break, so we hope you get to spend some family time together this next week.

Gifts for all children

We have organised a gift for all children, the children that have been home all half term have received a kindness jar, all Foundation stage have received a little bear and the children in school and our blended learners have received a keepsake keyring.  As some of our blended learners are not in school this week their gifts will be saved safely in school for their return.  

Forest school/Residentials

We are so sad that we have had to cancel our residential trips, for our Y3 and Y6 children this is the second time it has been cancelled for them which is really hard.  

We continue to develop our school ground for learning and Phase two of Forest school was completed this week, which now means we have a path all around the edge of the field leading to the main Forest school area with the dens and fire pit.  This is going to be an amazing learning resource for all our children when they return.

ZOOM

We have had our first Zoom check in for all our home learners this week.  The Foundation included the children in school to enjoy some singing.  Y3s and Y5s have included the children in school as their teachers are at home.  The aim of the Zoom was to make contact with the children that had been home all half term or for a while.  We are sorry if this has caused some confusion but the children who are in school are able to have regular well-being checks.

CATCH UP CURRICULUM

When all our children return to school, we will support them settling back in, we are very aware that you have all worked so hard at home, but you are not teachers.  We are also aware that the children who have been at home will need support like we did in September to settle back into school.  We will take all our wonderful children onto their next stage of their learning journey and assess and check gaps.  We will continue to support everyone every step of the way.  

We know it is hard right now as we do not know for definite when our children are returning. 

World Book Day

World Book day is on the 4th March. We will be celebrating the event at home and at school, there has been an email today from Miss Saunders sharing our plan for this year.

COMIC RELIEF

Is on the 19th March – the theme is superheroes and every one of our children is a hero at the moment, we will dress up as superheroes but we do not want anyone to have to go to any expense, if you have a costume already, great, if not, masks can be made out of cereal packets and capes out of sheets or old material.  More details after half term.

So please enjoy half term and stay safe,

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Rachel Hurding

Headteacher

 

12.02.21    World Book Day   04.03.21

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are pleased to announce that this year World Book Day is definitely not cancelled. At The Ellis we are passionate about reading and promoting a love of reading, not just on World Book Day but every day.

As with everything, the way that we celebrate World Book Day this year will be different from previous years.  We will be flooding Seesaw with videos, reading challenges and fun ideas.  In addition to this, each class will have their Zoom meeting on World Book Day.  This will be for the children who are at home on the day.

We always love seeing the amazing costumes and creative outfits the children wear for World Book Day, but during these challenging times do not want to add additional pressure. This year we suggest wearing pyjamas and enjoying a day of ‘bedtime stories’ and cosy reading or wearing an outfit that the children already have that celebrates a favourite book or character. 

Tokens will be issued on your child’s return to school. If the lockdown lasts longer than 8^th March, I will be in touch with information about digital tokens.

As always, we would love to see as many photos of our pupils celebrating World Book Day. Photos can be sent in via Seesaw, email, Twitter and Facebook.

Please do not hesitate to contact school if you have any questions.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

 

12.02.21    Next F2 Zoom Session 24th February 2021

Dear F2 Parents and Carers,

It was so lovely to see you all at our Zoom session on Wednesday. We have had lots of positive feedback and it was so nice to bring all the children together again even if it was in a virtual way.  Our next session will be after the half term holiday on Wednesday 24^th February at 11am. As before, the Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. We will run the session at 11am for no more than 30 minutes. The link will be on seesaw by 9am that morning and we will also add the ID and password as we are aware that some of you struggled to access our last session.  

During our next session we would like to give each child the chance to share one thing that they are proud of and want to talk about. This could be a piece of work, an interesting object or project or activity that they really enjoy doing. Can we please remind you to keep your sound muted during the session until it is your child’s turn to talk as there was a lot of background noise/feedback during our last session which made it difficult for some of our children and parents to hear what was going on. I’m sure you all understand that we want everyone to enjoy the session and that means being able to see and hear clearly what is happening. Mr Grayhurst and Mrs Beevers will lead the session and let everyone know when it their turn to unmute their microphone on their device.

 We will finish our next session by reading a story together and singing a song together.  

Please remember that Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask that you please do this before the session. 

Please refer to the attached document again prior to the  meeting.

If you have any questions or concerns then please let us know.

Many thanks and kind regards,

Mr Grayhurst and Mrs Beevers

 

12.02.21    Green Pod Zoom Calls for ‘At Home’ Learners

Dear Parents and Carers,

We hope that our ‘at home’ learners have enjoyed being able to see their friends and have some social time during the Zoom calls. We definitely enjoyed seeing them!

During this period of remote learning,  we would like to invite our pupils who are learning at home to regular Zoom social time.

Y5 will meet at 1pm on Thursdays.

Y6 will meet at 2pm on Thursdays.

The Zoom link will be put onto Seesaw on the day of the meeting for children who are learning primarily at home.

Many thanks,

The Green Pod Team

 

11.02.21   Whirlow Residential Cancellation

Dear Parents, 

It is with great sadness that we are emailing to inform you that Whirlow Farm has cancelled all bookings for the year 2021. In the current climate of lock down, restrictions and the risk posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we understand why they have made this decision. 

We understand that the children will be greatly disappointed by this news and, as a school community, we share in that disappointment.

Please be reassured that we will process refunds in due course, but ask for your patience in this matter. We are aware that in the current climate the refunded money will be welcome and we will process the refund as soon as possible. 

We will continue to use our amazing school grounds to provide as many outdoor opportunities and are continually looking at ways we can bring different learning experiences to our children. Although it is of little reassurance at the minute, the good news is that as the children affected are only in Y2 and Y3, we are very hopeful that when the world is on the other side of this pandemic and life returns to normal, your children will have the opportunity to take part in a residential whilst still at our school, and you can be assured that this will be booked at the earliest opportunity!

We thank you for the understanding in this matter. 

Kindest Regards

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

The Ellis C E Primary School

 

10.02.21   Green Pod Reminders

Dear Green Pod Parents,

We just wanted to remind you of the following learning opportunities that need to be logged into at a specific time. We know this can be difficult but hope that the children will enjoy the events.

Y5 Zoom- 10.30am TODAY (Wednesday)

Y6 Zoom- 2pm Thursday

(Both of these can be accessed via Seesaw)

Space science live event at home – 1.30pm Wednesday (this is accessed via link that you were invited to sign up to via email.)

WWF webinar about Illegal animal trade – 11am Thursday (accessed via Seesaw).

We hope this reminder helps and that the children enjoy each of these events.

Many thanks,

The Green Pod Team

 

09.02.21   Y1 Zoom Meeting

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Thursday, 11 February at 1pm we would like to trial a class Zoom meeting for Y1.

The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. Please do not share this Zoom link.

Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask you do this before the session. Please support your child to follow the link 5 minutes before the session and to make sure their screen name shows their first name. They will be placed in a waiting room and let into the meeting when it is time.

If you have any difficulties getting into the Zoom meeting then please contact school as a member of staff will have a meeting link available that they will be able to email to you. Only use this if you cannot join via the Seesaw link.

This is a first try so please be patient with us in case there are technical difficulties but the initial plan is for each child to bring a joke to share and then we will share a story together. Remember that this is a social time for the children, so though you might want to be nearby to be on hand for technical glitches please don’t feel you need to be actively involved with the call.

Please read the attached document with your child before the meeting. It is important that they understand and agree to the rules around using Zoom. Ask them to think of a joke that they would like to share with their friends.

If you have any questions or concerns then please let me know.

Many thanks,

Mrs D L Broadbent

 

09.02.21    Y2 Zoom Information

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Wednesday, 10th February (tomorrow) at 9:30am we would like to run a second class Zoom meeting for Y2. This will be for our at home learners. (Apologies for the change in time, this is due to another two classes running theirs late morning and the Science event in the afternoon).

The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw as before and your child will be able to join from there. Please do not share this Zoom link. 

Same as before, I will let you into the meeting as soon as I see you waiting, so please make sure their screen name shows their first name. 

Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask you do this before the session. Please support your child to follow the link 5 minutes before the session. This time, please bring a joke to share and we will play a game together! 

To round up the half term, on Friday 12th February at 1pm, we would like to do a Zoom meeting where the children at home can join in singing our class song ‘I wanna be in the band’ with our children at school. Therefore, if your child is in school on Friday, there is nothing to do as Mrs Trotter will link the Zoom call in class so that the children can see their friend’s at home and if your child is at home, then you will find the Zoom link on a seesaw activity. You do not need anything for this one other than a loud singing voice and groovy moves! 

If you have any difficulties getting into the Zoom meeting then please contact school as a member of staff will have a meeting link available that they will be able to email to you. Only use this if you cannot join via the Seesaw link.

Please read the attached document with your child before the meeting. It is important that they understand and agree to the rules around using Zoom. Ask them to think of a joke that they would like to share with their friends.

If you have any questions or concerns then please let me know.

Many thanks,

Y2 Team

 

09.02.21    Y4 Zoom Trial

Dear Y4 Parents and Carers,

On Thursday, 11th  February at 1:00pm we would like to trial a class Zoom meeting for Y4.

The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. Please do not share this Zoom link. 

Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask you do this before the session. Please support your child to follow the link 5 minutes before the session and to make sure their screen name shows their first name. They will be placed in a waiting room and let into the meeting when it is time. 

This is a first try so please be patient with us in case there are technical difficulties but the initial plan is for each child to bring a joke to share and then we will share an activity together.

Please read the attached document with your child before the meeting. Ask them to think of a joke that they would like to share with their friends.

If you have any questions or concerns then please let me know.

Many thanks,

Mrs Rachel Jaques

Year 4 Teacher

 

09.02.21    Y6 Zoom Information

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Thursday 11th February at 2pm we would like to trial a social Zoom meeting for our Y6 at home learners.

The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. Please do not share this Zoom link. 

Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask you do this before the session. Please support your child to follow the link 5 minutes before the session and to make sure their screen name shows their first name. They will be placed in a waiting room and let into the meeting when it is time. 

If you have any difficulties getting into the Zoom meeting then please contact school as a member of staff will have a meeting link available that they will be able to email to you. Only use this if you cannot join via the Seesaw link.

This is a first try so please be patient with us in case there are technical difficulties but the initial plan is for each child to bring a joke to share and then we will share a story together. Remember that this is a social time for the children, so though you might want to be nearby to be on hand for technical glitches please don’t feel you need to be actively involved with the call. 

Please read the attached document with your child before the meeting. It is important that they understand and agree to the rules around using Zoom. Ask them to think of a joke that they would like to share with their friends.

If you have any questions or concerns then please let me know.

Many thanks,

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

09.02.21   Y3 Trial Zoom

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Wednesday, 10th February (tomorrow) at 12:30pm we would like to trial a class Zoom meeting for Y3. This will be for our at home learners. If your child is in school at this time then, on this occasion they will not be participating.

The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. Please do not share this Zoom link. 

Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask you do this before the session. Please support your child to follow the link 5 minutes before the session and to make sure their screen name shows their first name. They will be placed in a waiting room and let into the meeting when it is time. 

If you have any difficulties getting into the Zoom meeting then please contact school as a member of staff will have a meeting link available that they will be able to email to you. Only use this if you cannot join via the Seesaw link.

This is a first try so please be patient with us in case there are technical difficulties but the initial plan is for each child to bring a joke to share and then we will share some games together. Remember that this is a social time for the children, so though you might want to be nearby to be on hand for technical glitches please don’t feel you need to be actively involved with the call. 

Please read the attached document with your child before the meeting. It is important that they understand and agree to the rules around using Zoom. Ask them to think of a joke that they would like to share with their friends.

If you have any questions or concerns then please let me know.

Many thanks,

Y3 Team

 

09.02.21   Y5 Zoom Information

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

On Wednesday, 10th February at 10:30am we will be having another social zoom meeting for our at home learners. If your child is in school at this time then, on this occasion they will not be participating.

 

The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. Please do not share this Zoom link. 

 

Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device that you are using to join. Please support your child to follow the link 5 minutes before the session and to make sure their screen name shows their first name. They will be placed in a waiting room and let into the meeting when it is time. If you have any difficulties getting into the Zoom meeting then please contact school as a member of staff will have a meeting link available that they will be able to email to you. Only use this if you cannot join via the Seesaw link.

 

As ever, we know that the internet and working remotely comes with trials and tribulations so please don’t panic if you find it difficult to join or if you have a technical disaster at any point, but do let us know as we are working on sorting technical issues as we go and we will try to help you resolve any issues that occur.

 

It was a pleasure to see so many smiling faces last week and we hope that any children who were unable to join will manage to attend this time. Please read the attached document with your child before the meeting and remind them of the expectations. It is important that they understand and agree to the rules around using Zoom. This week we will be trying out a scavenger hunt so all the children will need with them is a smile and to be ready to collect some interesting objects from around the house!

 

If you have any questions or concerns then please let me know.

 

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

 

08.02.21   F1 Zoom Trial

Dear F1 Parents and Carers,

 On Thursday, 11th February we would like to trial a class Zoom meeting for all of the F1 children.

 The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. I will run the session at 11.00am for no more than 30 minutes. The link will be on seesaw the morning of the meeting, but do not access it until the session is about to begin. 

 Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask you do this before the session. 

 This is a first try so please be patient with us in case there are technical difficulties!

 We aim to greet each other with a wave, moving onto singing a few nursery rhymes together (Mrs. Pollard will decide which rhymes) and then finish with a goodbye wave until the next meeting.

 Please read the attached document regarding do’s and don’ts with your child before the meeting.

If you have any questions or concerns then please let me know.

 Many thanks,

Mrs Pollard and Mrs. Kelly

 

08.02.21   F2 Zoom Trial

Dear F2 Parents and Carers,

On Wednesday, 10th February we would like to trial a class Zoom meeting for the F2 children who are learning at home. This is a chance for Mr Grayhurst, Mrs Beevers and Mrs Allott to check in with our home learners in a live way and make sure that everyone is doing ok. It will be so lovely for as many of the children to join in as possible as we know how much they must be missing their friends. Moving forwards, we will look at how we can join the home and school learners together in future weeks.

The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. We will run the session at 11am for no more than 30 minutes. The link will be on seesaw by 9am in the morning so don’t panic if you don’t see it before then. 

During the session we will be singing some songs. Please access the YouTube links below in the meantime so that you can practise the songs before our Zoom Time:-

EYFS counting medley of songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtNdJ6zWgZc

5 Elephants – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQf6yWEScB8

Goldilocks – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFXE3zvXbjc

Wind the Bobbin Up YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg4WZvAXF5s

Twinkle, Twinkle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjrQ1rmS44M

 

We will also perform our Poetry Basket Poem ‘Popcorn’ and if we have chance we can recite the Little Red Hen story that we have been learning with actions.

Please note that Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask that you please do this before the session. 

This is a first try so please be patient with us in case there are technical difficulties.

Please read the attached document with your child before the meeting.

If you have any questions or concerns then please let us know.

Many thanks and kind regards,

Mr Grayhurst, Mrs Beevers and Mrs Allott

 

 

05.02.21  Rainbow School 21 Update

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

Week 5 of Rainbow 21 school

 

Snow 

Thank you for your support on Tuesday when it snowed.  I had to close school as I could not get enough staff in to run Rainbow 21 school safely.  We can usually ask all local staff to walk in and have all children that need to be in school in the hall, obviously we cannot run this system at the moment as this would be mixing pods, which is not safe for anyone.

Please have a snow plan ready for next week as more is forecast!

 

Well-being and home learning

We have added a well-being section to our website that we will begin to add useful information on to.

 

We are very aware how hard this lockdown is for all, especially for our children who are always at home.  We continue to work out new ways to communicate with you and we will be setting up a Zoom for the children at home with their classmates who are also at home.  Some classes may have the children in school, but we will do what we think is best for each class.  The plan is to have our first well-being Zoom before half term.  Please, bear with us as we need to train our staff first.   All the risk assessments are now complete and we will put the Zoom links onto Seesaw.  More information will come through when your child’s class is ready.  

We have trialed it this week with my to two assistant heads, Mrs Wise Y5 and Mrs Trotter Y2 and it was an absolute delight to see all the children at home.   

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need anything, we have been adapting our home learning to meet the needs of your children.  The great thing about Seesaw, as well as its flexibility of timings is how we can personalise the learning and feedback.  Teachers will continue to put the next steps of learning onto Seesaw.

We are aware that there has been a lot of coverage about ‘live’ learning.  In Barnsley 50% of the schools are using this system, the cameras are always turned off, so the interaction is limited.  We have made the decision around our community needs not to do this.  The schools that have been operating ‘live’ teaching have more teachers and less children in school.  Filming the mornings sessions would not work as all classes are using Seesaw.  The decision not to use ‘live’ teaching is based on the need for a flexible timetable, feedback from most families, the fact we continue to have 50% of our children in school and staff well-being. 

We are very aware that the children in school are getting more social contact which is why we are organising a well- being Zoom as well as increasing communication as much as we can.

 

Collection and Drop off at school

Can I remind everyone that only one adult should be dropping off and picking up children to reduce the numbers of adults at school.

 

We continue to be grateful for the support from our wonderful community.

 

Team Ellis all the way!

Stay safe,

Mrs Hurding

 

03.02.21  Space Event

Dear parents / carers,

We have registered for our school to take part in a fantastic online activity event the ‘Space Escape LIVE at home’ on Wednesday 10th February starting at 1.30pm. All our pupils are invited to join this brilliant event from home. All you need to do for your child to participate is follow this link below and register your child and you will be sent all the information you need to take part.

 https://wonderadventures.co.uk/spaceschoolseventparentsregistration​

The event will be broadcast live in a private Facebook group, the link will be sent to you once you have registered. There is also an option to join the event using a private youtube link instead. The direct event links will be sent in email on the morning of the event to all those who have registered.

You can also request to receive and event reminder on the day of the event via Messenger. This will give you the direct link to the broadcast and so take you directly to the event at the start time. It will also provide you with a link to watch it on YouTube if you prefer to access it that way. 

Go to this link to request this event reminder – https://wonderadventures.co.uk/EventReminder​

Please make sure you follow this link and register asap so we can confirm our schools numbers for the event. register here https://wonderadventures.co.uk/spaceschoolseventparentsregistration

 

02.02.21 Y2 Zoom Trial

Dear Y2 Parents and Carers,  ZOOM – Guidance for Parents and Children Y2

On Wednesday, 3rd February we would like to trial a class Zoom meeting for the Y2 children who are solely learning at home. (This is a chance for Mrs Trotter to catch up with them and see how everyone learning at home is doing, in a live way. Moving forwards, we will look at how we can join the home and school learners together).

The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. I will run the session at 1.30pm for no more than 30 minutes. The link will be on seesaw by lunchtime so don’t panic if it does not appear first thing. 

Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask you do this before the session. 

This is a first try so please be patient with us in case there are technical difficulties but the initial plan is for each child to bring a piece of learning they are proud of to share and then we will share a story together.

Please read the attached document with your child before the meeting.

If you have any questions or concerns then please let me know.

Many thanks,

Mrs Trotter

 

02.02.21  Y5 Zoom Trial 

Dear Y5 Parents and Carers,  ZOOM – Guidance for Parents and Children

On Wednesday, 3rd February at 10:30am we would like to trial a class Zoom meeting for Y5.

The Zoom invite link will be sent via Seesaw and your child will be able to join from there. Please do not share this Zoom link. 

Zoom works best if you have downloaded the free app onto the device and we ask you do this before the session. Please support your child to follow the link 5 minutes before the session and to make sure their screen name shows their first name. They will be placed in a waiting room and let into the meeting when it is time. 

This is a first try so please be patient with us in case there are technical difficulties but the initial plan is for each child to bring a joke to share and then we will share a story together.

Please read the attached document with your child before the meeting. Ask them to think of a joke that they would like to share with their friends.

If you have any questions or concerns then please let me know.

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

 

01.02.21  Y5/6 Illegal Animal Trade Webinar

Dear Green Pod Parents,

We are excited to tell you that we have arranged for the Y5 and Y6 children to join a WWF (World Wildlife Fund) webinar about illegal animal trade via zoom on Wednesday, 10th of February at 11am.

The link to the meeting can be found on Seesaw and children will need to follow it to join in at 11am.

We hope that the children will find this informative and engaging.

Many thanks,

The Y5 & Y6 Team

 

27.01.21 Rainbow School 21 Update

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are in week 4 of Rainbow 21 school and we continue to be proud of all our community.  Teachers and teaching assistants are working hard to make our school and home learning offer as similar as we can, our parents who are juggling their work at home alongside home learning are really feeling it and continue to be miracle workers and all our incredible children are now adapting to the new way of working.

SEESAW – REMOTE LEARNING

We are here to support everyone, please contact the class teacher or Mrs Gay if you are struggling with anything.  We continue to support with technology and adapting the home learning to work for your child.  We are monitoring the engagement of home learning and if your child is not engaging as much as they should we will email or phone.  We really value your supportive feedback to help us to continue to improve our offer.  

We want to support you so that the ‘remote learning’ can be the best it can be!

TEACHING

Our teachers are teaching in school in the mornings and working on Seesaw in the afternoons.  As we continue to have large numbers in school, we feel this is the best offer we can deliver for our set up.  We have sorted timetables for those families that want them at home, but most families with working parents need the flexibility that Seesaw offers us.

HALF TERM

The Government yesterday said that half term will be a normal half term and school will be closed for all vulnerable and key workers.

from the DFE

February half-term

Schools will close as usual over February half-term and are not expected to remain open to vulnerable children and the children of critical workers during that week.

Schools do not need to provide lunch parcels or vouchers during the February half-term.

STAY AT HOME

The Government continue to remind everyone to stay at home.  A lot of schools in the area are insisting that any parent working from home has to have their children at home too.  I continue to urge you to relook at your working schedules and only have children in school and send to breakfast club, when you absolutely have to.  Many families have reduced days to help us all be as safe as we can. Thank you for your continued support, we do understand this is hard for everyone at the moment.

The recent message from the Director of Education supports schools with the decision-making process.

A message from Mel John-Ross, Executive Director of Children’s Services, to parents and carers during the national lockdown

26 January 2021

Dear parents and carers,

I want to thank every one of you, for all that you are doing by following the rules during this national lockdown, helping to keep your families and our communities safe from COVID-19.

Our current infection rates remain worrying, so it is still essential that we all maintain all of our efforts to follow all the national lockdown rules.

COVID-19 has affected all our lives, and undoubtedly children’s education has been significantly disrupted. Barnsley schools have responded well and have excellent arrangements that support remote learning and keep children attending school, safely. I remain confident that schools are as safe as anywhere can be in our community for children, given the robust controls that they have put into place.

During this national lockdown, the government advised that all children and young people stay at home and access learning remotely. However, for families who need some additional support (referred to as vulnerable children), and children of a critical worker parent, schools and colleges should remain open for these children.

We need our critical workers, across many services and organisations, to carry out their roles to maintain essential services in response to the pandemic.

 However, for others, working and supporting their child’s learning and education, will be almost, if not impossible.

We have reached a shared position with Barnsley Headteachers, agreeing that all vulnerable children and children of critical workers should be able to attend school, in line with government guidance.

However, it is important to acknowledge that schools vary across the borough, in terms of their size, their capacity and the number of staff they employ, and the numbers of vulnerable and critical worker children attending school. For some schools, there will be occasions where it will be extremely hard to deliver both remote learning and teach children in school.

In these circumstances, Barnsley Headteachers will need to make decisions, in discussion with individual parents or carers, in the best interests of their school. This will always be informed by the school’s COVID-19 risk assessment. 

Barnsley Council and Barnsley schools are firmly committed to delivering the best education to all children and young people in the borough. We want all pupils to return to school immediately upon the government announcing the full reopening of schools and colleges nationally.

However, at this time, we need to work together to support you, and our schools, to deliver high-quality remote learning and education while ensuring that the needs of children who need to be at school, can be met.

TESTING FOR STAFF

We are delighted that all Primary school staff can now have testing twice weekly if they so wish, this is to keep everyone as safe as possible.  The tests have now arrived in school.

GOLD AWARDS – CELEBRATE ON A FRIDAY

As a school we have always praised all our children for their amazing efforts and achievements. On a Friday we have always celebrated with our gold awards assembly.  We always ask all children to stop and think about what they are proud of in the week.  The children learn to celebrate their peers’ successes which is an important life skill.  We are trying to replicate as many things as possible for home and school learners which is why we are now sharing the Gold Awards on Seesaw on a Friday. If you are at home on a Friday afternoon it would be fantastic if you could find ways together to celebrate your child’s amazing home learning for that week, you might choose to do a favourite activity as a reward, you could even have your own VIP tea sometimes.

WELL-BEING WEDNESDAY

We have set up well-being Wednesday onto Seesaw, each week we will share a different Thrive type activity you may wish to do at home.  We hope you enjoy it.

SLIDE

We are delighted that we now have our amazing slide but as you know this is bittersweet at the moment as we do not have all our children in school.

LOCKDOWN

Perhaps one of the reasons many may be feeling more stressed at the moment is the fact that we do not know how long this lockdown is going to go on for and this is impacting on all of us.

It has just been announced that it may be until the 8th March.

As ever, keep in touch and thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Hurding

 

25.01.20 Y1/2 Forest School Day

Dear Parents, 

Just a quick note to inform you that Miss Batley who helps to run our Forest School session will be doing Wednesday instead of Tuesday from this week onwards. Therefore, if your child is in school, please send their old trousers on a WEDNESDAY instead of TUESDAY. The children are really gaining such a lot from these sessions, but obviously with the weather as it is- it does mean dirty clothes! We appreciate your understanding and support in this matter. Outdoors is so important for mental well-being, now more than ever. 

With the change of Forest School day, we have slightly rejigged the KS1 timetable so art may be on a different day to the one we previously sent out. All subjects will be covered throughout the week, although it might not be on the day of the original timetable. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. 

For our wonderful children learning at home, please also feel free to use the outdoors on a Wednesday to support your child’s development and mental / physical well-being. We love to see photos of children going for walks, bike riding, running, digging in the garden, creating outdoor art and craft pieces and generally enjoying the outdoors. 

Thank you for your continued support. 

I am incredibly proud of all our KS1 children (and parents) who are showing such resilience, perseverance and positivity during the difficult time. 

Kindest Regards

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

 

20.1.20 Rainbow School 21 Information

Dear Parents,

 Thank you again for everyone’s support last Thursday and Friday when the snow forced us to close.

I hope everyone is beginning to settle into our new routines. Rainbow 21 school is now full to bursting so please continue to support us by reducing days in school for your children, if you can. 

REMOTE LEARNING

Thank you for everyone’s continued hard work in helping us to get SEESAW learning up and running.  As we have said before none of you have planned to home educate your children.  You are all juggling siblings, jobs and huge CV-19 anxieties.  We are beyond proud of all of you.

Staff will be in contact if we are not seeing SEESAW learning.  We want to continue to work together to get this right.  Thank you to those of you who have already let us know how we can improve things to help support you.  Please continue to make contact – we really do want to try to reduce the stress as much as possible.  It really is a delight to see so much wonderful learning and we love how the home learning is linked to the school learning.

Children in school (A reminder as we have sent this before)

Thank you for everyone who has supported us by reducing the time your child is in school,  we continue to have over 45% of our children in school.  We do understand not everyone can reduce days but please keep re-evaluating to help us.  I am sure you are aware that unlike last lockdown childcare bubbles can still operate, therefore this may be an option for you to keep your children in a smaller environment.  

A REMINDER OF THE GUIDANCE – which states STAY AT HOME IF YOU CAN

Critical workers  

Parents whose work is critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and EU transition response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors. Children with at least one parent or carer who is a critical worker can go to school if required. This includes parents who may be working from home.  

Schools should speak to parents and carers to identify who needs to go to school. If it proves necessary, schools can ask for simple evidence that the parent in question is a critical worker, such as their work ID badge or pay slip. Parents and carers who are critical workers should keep their children at home if they can.  

We know that every school will have a different number of children of critical workers who need to attend. It is important that on-site provision is provided for these pupils, and there is no limit to numbers of these pupils who may attend and schools should not limit attendance of these groups. This is because we are reducing overall social contact across areas and the country rather than individually by each institution.

 We continue to urge you to only use school when you absolutely have to for work, therefore if you are not working every day of the week, we are expecting you to take up the places only when you have to. We are all working hard to improve our blended learning to ensure that when a child is in part time, they can continue their education at home and be ready for when they need to attend school the week after. 

We are currently in a NATIONAL LOCKDOWN – the Government and their scientific advisers are saying the safest place is at home.  Every child who is in school increases the risk to our staff, as well as other children.  With the case rate as high as it was in April, along with the addition of a new strain of COVID-19, it is vital that we work together to reduce the number of children and staff in school at any one time. 

The bubble/pod system is still operating to keep everybody as safe as possible. 

STAFF TESTING

The Government are now offering regular testing for all primary school staff.  Please be aware that we have to act immediately on the data.  As ever, please be prepared for POD closures and have a family plan for what you will do if or when this happens. 

LOCKDOWN

We have been reassured that the Government are reviewing the length of lockdown but as of yet we do not know what the decision will be after half term.  We have the hope of the vaccine but this is going to take many months to roll out.

We cannot wait for the day when all our wonderful children are back in school, we are missing you all.

Thank you for your continued support during this difficult time and helping to keep everyone safe.   

Kind regards, 

Mrs Hurding  

 

19.1.20 Y5/6 PGL Trip Cancellation

Dear Parents and Carers,

It is with great sadness that we are emailing to inform you that the PGL residential trip will not be able to go ahead. In the current climate of lock down, restrictions and the risk posed by the COVID-19 pandemic we feel that it is the safest decision to cancel the trip.

We understand that the children will be greatly disappointed by this news and, as a school community, we share in that disappointment.

Please be reassured that we will process refunds in due course, but ask for your patience in this matter. We are aware that in the current climate the refunded money will be welcome and we will process the refund as soon as possible.

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

 

19.1.20 Grimm and Co for KS2 Children

Dear Parent/Carer,

Grimm & Co (a fantastic Yorkshire-based charity) have been in contact to spread the word about an exciting opportunity for our pupils at The Ellis. We love Grimm & Co and think this would be something that many of our young authors would enjoy. All the details can be found in the information below.

There are only 25 spaces available so if you are interested, please sign up as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Kind Regards,

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Parents,

Over lockdown, we would like to offer your KS2 students a chance to let off some steam and get involved in something creative.  

Digital Dens is Grimm & Co’s new virtual after school drop-in sessions – they are informal sessions we are holding every Tuesday from 4:00 – 5:00 with no commitment to attend every week. 

We’ll be playing games, making and telling stories and expanding our marvellous imaginations. In Digital Dens, we’ll make a space for your students to have fun whilst exploring story-making, drama, art and much more. Your school has been selected especially for this free programme, and we only have 25 spaces available, so we encourage your students to sign up as soon as they can.  

Grimm & Co has an excellent track record of providing children and young people with inspirational creative writing sessions which place them at the heart of the storytelling. Our participants’ work has been published in poetry and short story anthologies such as the recent I Know, I Wish, I Will, and Illustoria. We’ve also re-written museum exhibition descriptions, created best-selling albums, designed and produced board games, and even gate-crashed Grimm & Co’s AGM! 

We guarantee that your students will love our sessions and it will give them the much-needed lift to manage their time in lockdown.  

To sign up, please visit: Eventbrite –  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/digital-dens-tickets-135697180921

When: Tuesdays from 19 January, 4:00 – 5:00pm  

Where: Zoom 

Cost: Free  

 

 

15.1.20 Y2 Blended Learning

Dear Parents, 

Just a quick end of the week email to say well done for another week of home / school learning. It is wonderful to see so many of you accessing the learning at home if your child is not in school. I have tried different things this week to help as much as I possibly can. So I have added short videos for handwriting, spelling and some maths / English lessons. I have made the maths as large as I possibly can to help writing on the screen or adding text boxes and I have learnt how to send back work for children to edit. If you could let me know if these things have helped that would be great. (You can email me directly at c.trotter@theellis.org)I want to get it right but also don’t want to overload you with too many maths videos etc! You will be fed up of my face and voice in your house by the end of this! 

Just a reminder that unlike last time when the National Curriculum was suspended, this time we have to provide children with 3 hours learning in KS1 (this is set by the Government) so the activities set each day (which I also date) need to all be completed. I realise that some children much prefer certain subjects to others, but please ensure that they do not miss out English or Spellings etc just because it is not their favourite! Thank you to those who have done this so far. I also fully recognise what a difficult time it is when you are relying on internet or you are trying to work yourself and have one or more children needing you for home learning, so I just wanted to say thank you for what you are doing. (See gold awards video!!!!!!) If you are having difficulties, please let me know and where I can, I will help. 

The beauty of seesaw is that you do not have to do the work at a set time each day, so please do it to fit in with your schedule. I will keep trying to improve it and make it so that they can do as much of it by themselves as they can. 

As we are also so very aware that parents are working incredibly hard and may have children in other year groups and home schooling can be really tricky, please remember the different ways of sending me work as this may help a little. It does not all have to be written down. I ask that any written tasks for English activities are done using a pencil as this helps a child maintain their writing stamina and obviously the handwriting needs to be hand written. For other activities such as VIPERS, topic work, morning work etc please either write what your child says, type it (either your child can do this or the adult), use the voice recorder or video function as this is much quicker for them rather than writing it out or draw, paint your ideas. I am really conscious that you have such a lot on your plate and want to try to help you get through the work as easily as you can. You do not have to send anything back in response to my greeting, although if you want to, of course you can. For maths, we encourage children at school to complete as many questions as they can, but again if they start to struggle towards the end of the questions, just stop at that point. We do not want to cause anxieties or worry. Please keep taking time out to just be a family too. 

Finally and most importantly, please contact me if you are struggling. I promise to do everything I can to help. If I need to adapt things for your child and I can do it, I will. If they need me to just ring them to reassure them, I will.  I genuinely do know that this is really tricky and you are all doing a wonderful job. Please take this praise and pat yourselves on your back. Together we will get through this and thank you for your ongoing support. It is always much appreciated. 

Have a wonderful weekend, enjoy the snow and take care. 

Kind Regards

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

 

14.1.20 School Closure Friday

Dear Parents,

Thank you for all your support today, the timing of the snow falling made it hard for everyone.

We have decided that the school site will be closed tomorrow for critical worker and nursery children. The weather forecast suggests that the weather conditions are unlikely to improve, with below zero temperatures forecast for overnight.

With this in mind we cannot be sure that we can safely open the school site or have staff available to be on site. Several members of staff had to abandon vehicles today and are therefore without transport.

This decision has been taken early to enable you to make arrangements if you were expecting your child to attend the critical worker provision or Nursery tomorrow.

Seesaw learning will be available for all tomorrow but we also hope you get to enjoy the snow too.

If the weather and roads radically improve, we will reconsider, but we prefer to do it this way to allow you all as much time as possible to sort childcare.

Thank you 

Mrs Hurding

 

11.1.20 FS Blended Learning

Dear Foundation Stage Parents, 

Thank you to those of you who have managed to log in to Seesaw in order to help your child access learning at home. We, at school, fully understand how difficult supporting your child’s learning is at home alongside all of the many other duties you will have as a parent and also possibly working from home yourself. Give yourself a well-earned pat on the back!

In order to be consistent across learning, we have introduced a level of blended learning into our typical school day. This is where the teachers will be in class in a morning session teaching the key worker children and then moving to support children who are learning at home in the afternoon.

All work will be put onto seesaw each morning for you to access throughout the day. We do not want to be too prescriptive regarding when you support your child to do this work as we know you have many other responsibilities to manage throughout your working day.

We do not want to send home too much work to be done ‘on-screen’ or work that needs printing off. If an activity is sent home with an attached work-sheet it is so that you can see what we would like you to do to support your child, with an intention for you to recreate it ( draw and write on a piece of paper for your child to follow).

We also thought it may be useful to send a simple timetable of activities we will be posting on seesaw each day or each week (please see list below).

We hope this helps support planning your day. Please let staff know if we can help in any way.

Thank you for your understanding and commitment at this very unsettling time.

Foundation Stage 1 (Nursery) Mrs Pollard

Daily activities	Weekly activities
Share a story with a focus on using language and answering questions.	A physical activity- fine/ gross motor activity
A number activity	A language activity
An activity linked to phonics- Read Write Inc, including an initial sound activity linked to the daily letter.	A creative activity
	Name writing practice
	Have a go writing activity

 

Foundation Stage 2 (Reception) Mr Grayhurst

Daily activities	Weekly activities
A Read Write Inc. phonic lesson – please access the videos on the Ruth Miskin YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo7fbLgY2oA_cFCIg9GdxtQ	A physical activity- fine/ gross motor activity
A White Rose Maths lesson – please access the lesson on the White Rose website: https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/early-years/	My Weekend News Writing
A reading or writing activity linked to a particular story of the week for Literacy.	Share a story with a focus on using language and answering questions.
A Read Write Inc. letter formation activity	Number songs from Numberblocks Cbeebies
A creative activity

Remember that we here to help you in any way that we can so please do not hesitate to get in touch with us should you need any support.

Many thanks and kind regards,

Mrs. Pollard & Mr. Grayhurst

 

11.1.20 Seesaw ‘How to Guide’ for FS

Dear Foundation Stage Parents and Carers,  HOW TO GUIDE FOR PARENTS

Thank you for encouraging and supporting your children to access their learning on Seesaw. We know it has been a challenge and are hoping that the attached guide might help you understand the Seesaw platform a bit more.

We appreciate the time and effort you are giving to support remote learning at this challenging time. Please understand that teachers are aware that it is difficult to juggle the many demands you will have on your hands at the moment and appreciate all you are doing. We are working hard to adapt and provide learning that is manageable for you and your children.

Our youngest children learn lots through play and interaction, so Seesaw will offer suggestions and links to resources but we do not expect you and your child to be on the platform all the time. We love seeing the photos and videos of what they are doing at home! If you need any further support then please don’t hesitate to contact us. 

Many thanks,

Team Ellis

 

11.1.20 Seesaw ‘How to Guide’ for KS1

Dear KS1 Parents and Carers,  HOW TO GUIDE FOR PARENTS

Thank you for encouraging and supporting your children to access their learning on Seesaw. We know it has been a challenge and are hoping that the attached guide might help you understand the Seesaw platform a bit more.

We appreciate the time and effort you are giving to support remote learning at this challenging time. Please understand that teachers are aware that it is difficult to juggle the many demands you will have on your hands at the moment and appreciate all you are doing. We are working hard to adapt and provide learning that is manageable for you and your children. If you need any further support then please don’t hesitate to contact us. 

Many thanks,

Team Ellis

 

11.1.20 Seesaw ‘How to Guide’ for KS2

Dear Orange Pod (Y1 and Y2) Parents and Carers,  HOW TO GUIDE FOR PARENTS

What a week! Thank you to everyone who has shown such commitment to supporting our amazing children to keep learning in these challenging times. An amazing 97% of our KS1 children are managing to continue to engage with their learning during this lockdown period (both in and out of school). We are working hard to match up the learning on Seesaw to aid smooth transition between home and school as we know that children with critical worker parents need to be in school some of the time, but we expect these children to be learning at home on days where it is possible. 

We have tried to contact all families who are still struggling to get up and running. We know that there are a multitude of reasons for this, so please don’t panic if your child is yet to access their learning. We are here to help so let us know if there is anything additional we can provide as a school that will help your family at this time. 

In terms of learning on Seesaw, we appreciate that as the children get to grips with the technology they may be needing quite a bit of help and that this is very challenging for families. We are hoping that as they become more confident their independence will increase but understand that this is more tricky for our younger children. Seesaw is a flexible tool, so please don’t think that every piece needs doing on screen – photos of written work is fine (these can be done on the app so you could show your child how to do it – we don’t mind them being blurry photos – or you can add any photos at a convenient time), along with voice recorded answers. The Seesaw tasks can be done on paper with the answers numbered so please don’t feel you have to print reams of things. We are also happy for the children to draw pictures or have a go on their own – even if this means that the recording of learning is a bit wobbly as we know it is hard (the more they practise, the clearer it will get).

In KS1, we use a lot of practical resources in school to support the learning of children and visual prompts to support their independence. Because of the quick turn around to virtual learning, we know that you may not have these things at home and that has been making it harder for your children to access some of the tasks. We are working hard to adapt and get it right for everyone. One plan we have is that we are working hard to create packs with some of the resources that will help the children that are similar to the ones they have in school – these will include things like phonics mats, number lines and counters so that they can access their learning more effectively. The other is that we are making exercise books with lined and squared paper available to help with recording that is not on screen.

These packs will be available from the office from Monday between 9am and 2:30pm. For obvious reasons, we are trying to limit foot fall in school, so please ensure that only one person comes to collect these resources and that social distancing rules are observed when you are on school grounds.

Thank you to those of you who have given feedback on what is and is not working well – we are trying really hard to get it right for everyone and know that this may take some time. Communication is key in these challenging times so please stay in touch, but be mindful that staff are also managing children who are in school and marking and responding online is very time consuming. We will get back to you but it might take us a bit of time!

Finally, we know that the expectations for work in this lockdown are very different to the first one and that this has positives and negatives. In the original lockdown, the government suspended the national curriculum so children in and out of school were not expected to be continuing at the same pace of learning as they would during normal times. We know that many of you did continue learning, but that you also enjoyed more family time. This time around the expectation is that all primary school children will continue to do the same amount of work as they would have if they were in school with the government suggesting a minimum of 3 hours learning. We know that this is very difficult for our children and families, especially as so many of you are juggling learning for multiple children, working in and out of home and generally surviving in a time of crisis. As a school, we have chosen a platform where teachers can still support and respond (though please be mindful that this will not be immediate, with high numbers of children in school and lots of lovely home school children it is a very high workload for staff) and families can choose the best time for their circumstances to complete the work. You will have received ​a timetable in another email outlining the lessons that will be available each day – these should help you see the tasks that need doing each day and, if you are a home learner, then you can decide the time and order you complete them in. If your child is struggling with the workload, then please get in touch as we can help direct you to the most important pieces of work or help you find ways to make things more manageable. 

Again, thank you for all your support and understanding at this time. 

Stay safe.

Best wishes,

The Ellis Team

 

8.1.20 KS1 Blended Learning

Dear Orange Pod (Y1 and Y2) Parents and Carers,

What a week! Thank you to everyone who has shown such commitment to supporting our amazing children to keep learning in these challenging times. An amazing 97% of our KS1 children are managing to continue to engage with their learning during this lockdown period (both in and out of school). We are working hard to match up the learning on Seesaw to aid smooth transition between home and school as we know that children with critical worker parents need to be in school some of the time, but we expect these children to be learning at home on days where it is possible. 

We have tried to contact all families who are still struggling to get up and running. We know that there are a multitude of reasons for this, so please don’t panic if your child is yet to access their learning. We are here to help so let us know if there is anything additional we can provide as a school that will help your family at this time. 

In terms of learning on Seesaw, we appreciate that as the children get to grips with the technology they may be needing quite a bit of help and that this is very challenging for families. We are hoping that as they become more confident their independence will increase but understand that this is more tricky for our younger children. Seesaw is a flexible tool, so please don’t think that every piece needs doing on screen – photos of written work is fine (these can be done on the app so you could show your child how to do it – we don’t mind them being blurry photos – or you can add any photos at a convenient time), along with voice recorded answers. The Seesaw tasks can be done on paper with the answers numbered so please don’t feel you have to print reams of things. We are also happy for the children to draw pictures or have a go on their own – even if this means that the recording of learning is a bit wobbly as we know it is hard (the more they practise, the clearer it will get).

In KS1, we use a lot of practical resources in school to support the learning of children and visual prompts to support their independence. Because of the quick turn around to virtual learning, we know that you may not have these things at home and that has been making it harder for your children to access some of the tasks. We are working hard to adapt and get it right for everyone. One plan we have is that we are working hard to create packs with some of the resources that will help the children that are similar to the ones they have in school – these will include things like phonics mats, number lines and counters so that they can access their learning more effectively. The other is that we are making exercise books with lined and squared paper available to help with recording that is not on screen.

These packs will be available from the office from Monday between 9am and 2:30pm. For obvious reasons, we are trying to limit foot fall in school, so please ensure that only one person comes to collect these resources and that social distancing rules are observed when you are on school grounds.

Thank you to those of you who have given feedback on what is and is not working well – we are trying really hard to get it right for everyone and know that this may take some time. Communication is key in these challenging times so please stay in touch, but be mindful that staff are also managing children who are in school and marking and responding online is very time consuming. We will get back to you but it might take us a bit of time!

Finally, we know that the expectations for work in this lockdown are very different to the first one and that this has positives and negatives. In the original lockdown, the government suspended the national curriculum so children in and out of school were not expected to be continuing at the same pace of learning as they would during normal times. We know that many of you did continue learning, but that you also enjoyed more family time. This time around the expectation is that all primary school children will continue to do the same amount of work as they would have if they were in school with the government suggesting a minimum of 3 hours learning. We know that this is very difficult for our children and families, especially as so many of you are juggling learning for multiple children, working in and out of home and generally surviving in a time of crisis. As a school, we have chosen a platform where teachers can still support and respond (though please be mindful that this will not be immediate, with high numbers of children in school and lots of lovely home school children it is a very high workload for staff) and families can choose the best time for their circumstances to complete the work. You will have received ​a timetable in another email outlining the lessons that will be available each day – these should help you see the tasks that need doing each day and, if you are a home learner, then you can decide the time and order you complete them in. If your child is struggling with the workload, then please get in touch as we can help direct you to the most important pieces of work or help you find ways to make things more manageable. 

Again, thank you for all your support and understanding at this time. 

Stay safe.

Best wishes,

The Ellis Team

 

8.1.20 KS1 Timetable Information

Dear Y1 / Y2 Parents, 

Well, this wasn’t what we were expecting but we are going to make the best of the current circumstances. Thank you to those of you who have managed to support your child to log into Seesaw and have already started on the learning at home. Thank you also for your patience as we get more set up and sorted as we are trying our best trying to get things right for pupils in and out of school.

As a school, we selected Seesaw as a learning platform because it offers families flexibility, as we know that many of you will be working from home and juggling siblings at the same time – this means that your child can access their learning at a time that best suits your family. We also hope that Seesaw allows the children in Y1 and Y2 to present their work in a variety of ways such as voice recorders, videoing and uploading photos of what they have done on paper or practically. It is also a tool where parents can add comments if they are finding learning tricky (though please be mindful that feedback may not be immediate as staff are also in school every morning and have other roles to fulfil). The work tasks uploaded are not optional and need to be completed to ensure your child is ready for their next steps in learning when they return to school. These expectations have been set by the government and have changed since the last lockdown.  If you are having difficulties due to lack of devices or internet connections then please contact school because help is available. If your child prefers to work on paper or it is a practical activity then you can upload photos  – Seesaw has flexible tools that means each child can use it in the way that best suits them.  

  In order to be consistent across learning happening in and out of school and to support children who are accessing blended learning (a mix of being in school and learning remotely) we are going to follow a similar timetable for orange pod from next Monday. This means that work for the lessons on the below timetable will be available on Seesaw for all pupils (whether in school or at home) on the corresponding days but you can have flexibility with your household regarding the best working times.   

YEAR 1 

 

9.15 – 9.55

9.55 – 10.15

10.15-10.30

10.30-11.30

11.30 – 12.00

12.00 – 1.00

1.00 – 3.05

Mon

Flash  back 5

English

VIPERS

PLAYTIME

Maths

RWInc

LUNCH

Science / Topic

Story

Tues

Flash  back 5

English

VIPERS

Maths

RWInc

Rainbow Garden / Forest School with Miss Batley

Collective worship

Wed

Flash  back 5

Hand  writing

RE

VIPERS

Maths

RWInc

PE

PHSCE

Story

Thurs

Flash  back 5

English

VIPERS

Maths

RWInc

ICT

Art

Collective worship

Fri

Flash  back 5

Hand  writing

English

VIPERS

Maths

RWInc

Gold Awards

Music

PE

YEAR 2 

 

8.40 – 8.55

8.55 – 9.15

9.15 – 10.15

10.15-10.30

10.30-11.30

11.30 – 12.00

12.00 – 1.00

1.00 – 3.05

Mon

Morning Work (Arithmetic / spelling)

RWInc or Phonics

Maths

PLAYTIME

English

VIPERS

LUNCH

Hand  writing

Science / Topic

RE

Story

Tues

Rainbow Garden / Forest School with Miss Batley  (Literacy / Topic based)

Rainbow Garden / Forest School with Miss Batley  (Literacy / Topic based)

VIPERS

Hand  writing

Maths

Short SPaG English Whole class lesson

Collective worship

Wed

Maths

English

VIPERS

PE

PHSCE

Story

Thurs

Maths

English

VIPERS

ICT

Art

Collective worship

Fri

Maths

English

VIPERS

Hand  writing

Gold Awards

Music

PE

 

We are adapting learning as best we can to fit with learning online so some lessons will be shorter than they would have been in school and we will be utilising high quality, pre-made resources where suitable – we really hope that there will be enough variation to engage learners. Please remember that playtimes are an important part of the school timetable so encourage your child to spend some safe time outside, some time being active and time relaxing. Spelling shed and TTRockstars (Y2 only) should be accessed regularly and we encourage all our children to find time to get ‘lost in a book’. 

  Please understand that we know this is a challenging time and that we are trying our best to meet the needs of a wide variety of family circumstances. As ever, communication is key so please get in touch (or encourage your child to ask for help on Seesaw) if you are struggling or need extra support. Again, there is technical support that can be accessed from school if you have problems because of lack of devices or difficulties accessing the internet.  

  Many thanks, 

The Orange Pod (Y1 and Y2) Team 

 

8.1.20 Y6 Information

Dear Parents,

I hope that you are all well during these challenging and uncertain times.

On Monday (before Boris’ announcement) I sent out a number of emails (assuming that schools would be fully open). I don’t want to give any conflicting information and therefore I know it will be useful to clarify some of the information.

SATS

As you will probably have heard by now, the 2021 SATS have officially been cancelled. We as a school feel that this is the right decision for our pupils who have already been through a lot and do not need the added pressure of sitting their SATS this year.   We will continue to encourage and foster a love of learning and get our pupils ‘secondary ready’.

Remote Learning (Seesaw)

As you know, all learning is now on the Seesaw platform. If you are experiencing any technical difficulties, please do let school know.  As mentioned in previous emails, we have a set of tablets that can be loaned , please do get in touch if you need to borrow a tablet.  Try to encourage your child to do as much as is realistically possible, lessons are sequential and build on previously taught skills, therefore it is important that children complete their learning (especially in English, Reading and Maths).

Well-being

Please do get in contact if you are worried about your child’s mental health at any time. We prioritise wellbeing at The Ellis and want to support our community to the best of our abilities.  Please encourage plenty of screen breaks too. We love to celebrate our pupils’ achievements, so please feel free to send in any photos of children learning new skills, exploring the local area or enjoying their hobbies (the ones they can do at the moment).

Homework

Please do ignore the homework schedule that I sent on Monday. As children have now moved to remote learning, the usual homework set is no longer an expectation. This is because we do not feel it is fair to add any more pressure during an already difficult time.

Thank you

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for support during this tricky time. I appreciate that these are very challenging times and that many of you are juggling work commitments and/or siblings too. It really isn’t easy but we’re in this together.

The Y6 team are genuinely gutted that we have not been able to welcome all of our children back into school this week. That said, we want everyone in our school community to be as safe as possible and we look forward to when we can welcome everyone back.

Please take care and stay safe,

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

8.1.20

Dear Yellow Pod (Y3 and Y4) and Green Pod (Y5 and Y6) Parents and Carers,

What a week!

Thank you to everyone who has shown such commitment to supporting our amazing children to keep learning in these challenging times. An amazing 93% of our KS2 children are managing to continue to engage with their learning during this lockdown period (both in and out of school). We are working hard to match up the learning on Seesaw to aid smooth transition between home and school as we know that children with critical worker parents need to be in school some of the time, but we expect these children to be learning at home on days where it is possible. 

We have tried to contact all families who are still struggling to get up and running. We know that there are a multitude of reasons for this, so please don’t panic if your child is yet to access their learning. We are here to help so let us know if there is anything additional we can provide as a school that will help your family at this time. 

In terms of learning on Seesaw, we appreciate that as the children get to grips with the technology they may be needing quite a bit of help and that this is very challenging for families. We are hoping that as they become more confident their independence will increase. Seesaw is a flexible tool, so please don’t think that every piece needs doing on screen – photos of written work is fine, along with voice recorded answers. The Seesaw tasks can be done on paper with the answers numbered so please don’t feel you have to print reams of things.

If your child would benefit from a school exercise book with lined paper and one with squared paper to help them then there will be a supply available to be collected from the school office from Monday between the hours of 9am and 2:30pm.​ ​For obvious reasons, we are trying to limit foot fall in school, so please ensure that only one person comes to collect these resources.

Finally, we know that the expectations for work in this lockdown are very different for the first one and that this has positives and negatives. In the original lockdown, the government suspended the national curriculum so children in and out of school were not expected to be continuing at the same pace of learning as they would during normal times. We know that many of you did continue learning, but that you also enjoyed more family time. This time the expectation is that all primary school children will continue to do the same amount of work as they would have if they were in school with the government suggesting a minimum of 3 hours learning. We know that this is very difficult for our children and families, especially as so many of you are juggling learning for multiple children, working in and out of home and generally surviving in a time of crisis. As a school, we have chosen a platform where teachers can still support and respond (though please be mindful that this will not be immediate, with high numbers of children in school and lots of lovely home school children it is a very high workload for staff) and families can choose the best time for their circumstances to complete the work. You will have received ​a timetable in another email outlining the lessons that will be available each day – these should help you see the tasks that need doing each day, and if you are a home learner, then you can decide the time and order you complete them in. If your child is struggling with the workload, then please get in touch as we can help direct you to the most important pieces of work or help you find other ways to make things more manageable. 

Again, thank you for all your support and understanding at this time. 

Stay safe.

Best wishes,

Mrs Wise

 

8.1.20

Dear Nursery Parents,

 

We hope you are all ok, what a week this has been!

The last-minute decision of lockdown is the right one for everyone’s safety, however as it was such quick change of plan it has been hard for all of us this week.

The initial comments from the Government said that ‘early years settings may stay open.’  The information I found implied that headteachers could make the same decision as the rest of school, which is keyworker and vulnerable children in only.  This without a doubt is the safest option for staff and children as we are in National Lockdown and the main advice is ‘stay at home.’

However, the new DFE guidance came out last night and said all Early Years settings, including schools should remain open. 

However, if parents choose to keep children at home, as this is the safest option we will continue to receive the funding we are entitled to for Nursery.  As you can imagine this is becoming a huge Union and political issue.

As a school we still feel strongly that the safest option is for as many children as possible to remain at home, for the safety of our staff this is the decision I will be fighting for.  

Mrs Pollard is working hard to get home learning right for Nursery, we know being in Nursery with other children is the best thing for development but we will do everything we can to support you at home.

 

I really hope as parents you understand and agree with this, I am more than happy to work through and discuss any queries you may have about this decision.

 

So, in conclusion, if I can say that Nursery parents have chosen for their child to be at home for safety we will continue to get the funding for school.

 

Thank you for your continued support and welcome to our new parents.

 

Please stay in touch,

 

Mrs Hurding

 

8.1.20

Dear Y3 and Y4 Parents, 

 Well, this wasn’t what we were expecting but we are going to make the best of the current circumstances. Thank you to those of you who have managed to support your child to log into Seesaw and have already started on the learning at home. Thank you also for your patience as we get more set up and sorted as we are trying our best trying to get things right for pupils in and out of school.  

  As a school, we selected Seesaw as a learning platform because it offers families flexibility, as we know that many of you will be working from home and juggling siblings at the same time – this means that your child can access their learning at a time that best suits your family. We also hope that Seesaw can support independence for our Y3 and 4 pupils as they can use the tools themselves but always ask for help from school staff if they are finding learning tricky (though please be mindful that feedback may not be immediate as staff are also in school on a rota system and have other roles to fulfil). The work tasks uploaded are not optional and need to be completed to ensure your child is ready for their next steps in learning when they return to school. If you are having difficulties due to lack of devices or internet connections then please contact school because help is available. If your child prefers to work on paper and upload photos then that is fine – Seesaw has flexible tools that means each child can use it in the way that best suits them. 

  In order to be consistent across learning happening in and out of school and to support children who are accessing blended learning (a mix of being in school and learning remotely) we are going to follow a shared timetable for yellow pod from next Monday. This means that work for the lessons on the below timetable will be available on Seesaw for all pupils (whether in school or at home) on the corresponding days but you can have flexibility with your household regarding the best working times.  

 

Mon	Morning  Work	Maths	P  L  A  Y  T  I  M  E	VIPERS	English	L  U  N  C  H	H  A  N  D  W  R  I  T  I  N  G	Science	Spelling
Tues	Morning  Work	Maths		VIPERS	English			Topic	PE
Wed	Morning  Work	Maths		VIPERS	English			PSHE	RE
Thurs	Morning  Work	Maths		VIPERS	English			Art	PE	Collective  Worship  Rev
Fri	Morning  Work	Maths		VIPERS	English			French	Music

  We are adapting learning as best we can to fit with learning online so some lessons will be shorter than they would have been in school and we will be utilising high quality, pre-made resources where suitable – we really hope that there will be enough variation to engage learners. Please remember that playtimes are an important part of the school timetable so encourage your child to spend some safe time outside, some time being active and time relaxing. Spelling shed and TTRockstars should be accessed daily and we encourage all our children to find time to get ‘lost in a book’. 

  Please understand that we know this is a challenging time and that we are trying our best to meet the needs of a wide variety of family circumstances. As ever, communication is key so please get in touch (or encourage your child to ask for help on Seesaw) if you are struggling or need extra support. Again, there is technical support that can be accessed from school if you have problems because of lack of devices or difficulties accessing the internet.  

  Many thanks, 

The Yellow Pod (Y3 and Y4) Team 

 

8.1.20

Dear Parents,

Thank you for everyone’s quick response from last night’s email, it was not an easy email to write, as you know my job is about children in school, not trying to encourage them to stay at home.  

This week has been one of the hardest for all of us, mainly because the Lockdown decision – although it was the right one – was so last minute, and we have had to sort the aftermath of that this week.  Also, it seems harder, as the lockdown does not feel the same as last time, so we all need to adjust to what our new normal and new routines are.

The email was not intended to make anyone feel guilty if they have to send their child due to work commitments, I know if there was a choice we would all rather be at home as this is the safest place.  Our intention was to ask you to rethink and only use school when you have to.  We genuinely do appreciate that everyone as a result of the information has had a rethink and has been able to reduce children’s time in school.  However, if your job is such that your child has to be in school, then this is why we are open. 

As you know we are blessed with a wonderfully gifted and committed staff team at The Ellis, who always want to go that extra mile for our children.  They are working incredibly hard to sort out our new style of learning.  Teachers had already planned for six week blocks of learning in school and now they are having to adapt to SEESAW learning with no notice.  

We are hoping to offer as similar as possible home learning and school learning, this is known as ‘blended learning’.  We have set up a timetable where teachers are in class in the mornings and supporting on SEESAW at home in the afternoons.  Where needed I will increase teachers’ time at home to support the workload of SEESAW.  Our TAs (Teaching Assistants) are all working in school and are supporting the children in school using the same planning as we have on SEESAW.   HLTAs (Higher Level Teaching Assistants) are also supporting on SEESAW to help work load and teach the areas they normally teach and KS2 will still have French.  You will (if you have not already received a timetable) for learning. This is to support you, but has to be flexible to fit in with your needs and routines as a family.  One of the key lessons learnt for well-being from the previous lockdown is to try to stick to routines where you can.  

I know the government has now stated that we have to do home learning, but as a school our philosophy of looking after mental health continues to be vital.  This lockdown for many is also harder as we do not want to go back to such a hard time as before and the sun is not shining. 

 As ever as a school we will continue to do everything we can to support all the needs of our families.  Not one of you as parents has chosen to home school your children and not one of my staff came into the profession to teach in this way.  But I know as TEAM ELLIS we will work it out together and get through this.

STAFFING FOR RAINBOW SCHOOL 21

Every child is part of Rainbow School 21 – some will be working at home and some will be working at school.

Mrs Trotter as assistant head is overseeing the school logistics and Mrs Wise as assistant head (who is working at home) is overseeing the home learning logistics.  

We really do appreciate your patience and kind words more than ever this week.  We know everyone’s anxieties have been high this week.

Next week has to be better, at least we will all know where we should be on Monday.

Thank you,

Mrs Hurding

 

7.1.20

Dear Parents,   

What a start to 2021 for everyone!  

As you know, instead of properly planning for a period of closure, the Government plunged schools into closure overnight, leaving many questions unanswered.  It is now schools, staff, parents and children who are dealing with the consequences. DfE ‘Restricting attendance during the national lockdown: school’ guidance has just been published.   

We have to be honest, this week at school does not feel like a lockdown as we have over 45% of our children in school and requests are rising daily. We understand that there is an increase of keyworkers having to work where previously you were able to keep your children at home, however, we would ask for your complete honesty when applying for a critical worker place. The guidance states: 

Critical workers  

Parents whose work is critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and EU transition response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors. Children with at least one parent or carer who is a critical worker can go to school if required. This includes parents who may be working from home.  

Schools should speak to parents and carers to identify who needs to go to school. If it proves necessary, schools can ask for simple evidence that the parent in question is a critical worker, such as their work ID badge or pay slip. Parents and carers who are critical workers should keep their children at home if they can.  

We know that every school will have a different number of children of critical workerswho need to attend. It is important that on-site provision is provided for these pupils, and there is no limit to numbers of these pupils who may attend and schools should not limit attendance of these groups. This is because we are reducing overall social contact across areas and the country rather than individually by each institution. 

 We continue to urge you to only use school when you absolutely have to for work, therefore if you are not working every day of the week, we are expecting you to take up the places only when you have to. We are all working hard to improve our blended learning to ensure that when a child is in part time, they can continue their education at home and be ready for when they need to attend school the week after.   

We are currently in a NATIONAL LOCKDOWN where the Government and their scientific advisers are aying the safest place is at home.  Every child that is in school increases the risk to our staff, as well as other children.  With the case rate as high as it was in April, along with the addition of a new strain of COVID-19, it is vital that we work together to reduce the number of children and staff in school at any one time. 

The bubble system is still operating to keep everybody as safe as possible. This time we have not been given a maximum number of 15, however the guidance states: 

Limiting attendance does not suggest that schools and colleges have become significantly less safe for young people. Instead limiting attendance is about supporting the reduction of the overall number of social contacts in our communities. We have resisted restrictions on attendance at schools since the first lockdown but, in the face of the rapidly rising numbers of cases across the country and intense pressure on the NHS, we now need to use every lever at our disposal to reduce all our social contacts wherever possible. 

As you can imagine every child in school is increasing the risk and the danger that we will have to close the whole pods and school and with requests for full time Key Worker places continuing to rise, our daily number of children in school is ever increasing. 

Therefore, we are strongly requesting that you only send your child in on the days you are working as a Critical Worker and that on other days your child stays at home. If your child has a Key Worker place and you know your shift patterns, please let us know ideally 24 hours before where possible.  

We are genuinely delighted that you know that we are keeping school as safe as possible and you have such high trust in us,  right now the safest option is that as many children as possible are at home and therefore helping to keep our staff safe too.  

Thank you for your continued support during this difficult time and helping to keep everyone safe.   

Kind regards   

Mrs Hurding  

 

7.1.20

Dear Y5/6 parents,

We are really impressed with how well our oldest children are managing Seesaw.

We know that it has been a very quick adjustment for them and not everyone is quite up and running yet (understandable, given the very trying circumstances) so we are just doing a final check to make sure that everyone who would benefit from borrowing a tablet has requested one. Your child can borrow a tablet from school if they are currently having to share technology or are using technology that it is tricky to navigate the work on.

If you think that your child would benefit from borrowing a tablet then please let school know by the end of Friday (8.1.2021) as we need to prioritise the technology going to our oldest children first. After this time, we will start allocating the tablets to children from other year groups who need them.

Many thanks,

The Ellis Team

 

6.1.20

Dear Y5 and Y6 parents,

Well, this wasn’t what we were expecting but we are going to make the best of the current circumstances. Thank you to those of you who have managed to support your child to log into Seesaw and have already started on the learning at home. Thank you also for your patience as we get more set up and sorted as we are trying our best trying to get things right for pupils in and out of school. 

As a school, we selected Seesaw as a learning platform because it offers families flexibility, as we know that many of you will be working from home and juggling siblings at the same the same time – this means that your child can access their learning at a time that best suits your family. We also hope that Seesaw can support independence for our Y5 and 6 pupils as they can use the tools themselves and ask for help from school staff if they are finding learning tricky (though please be mindful that feedback may not be immediate as staff are also in school on a rota system and have other roles to fulfil). The work tasks uploaded are not optional and need to be completed to ensure your child is ready for their next steps in learning when they return to school. If you are having difficulties due to lack of devices or internet connections then please contact school because help is available. If your child prefers to work on paper and upload photos then that is fine – Seesaw has flexible tools that means each child can use it in the way that best suits them.

In order to be consistent across learning happening in and out of school and to support children who are accessing blended learning (a mix of being in school and learning remotely) we are going to follow a shared timetable for green pod from next Monday. This means that work for the lessons on the below timetable will be available on Seesaw for all pupils (whether in school or at home) on the corresponding days but you can have flexibility with your household regarding the best working times. 

Mon

Flashback 4/Fluent in 5

MATHS

PLAYTIME

English

Guided Reading

LUNCH

Arithmetic

SPELLINGS 10 MINUTES DAILY

Foundation Subjects

Tues

Flashback 4/ Fluent in 5

MATHS

English

Guided Reading

TT Rock stars Handwriting

PE

RE

Weds

Flashback 4/Fluent in 5

MATHS

English

Guided Reading

TT Rockstars Handwriting

French

Foundation Subjects

Thurs

Flashback 4/Fluent in 5

MATHS

English

Guided Reading

TTRockstars Handwriting

Science

Foundation subjects

COLLECTIVE WORSHIP – REV

Fri

Flashback 4 /Fluent in 5

MATHS

english

SPELLING TEST  Guided Reading

TTRockstars Handwriting

ART

PE

GOLD AWARDS

We are adapting learning as best we can to fit with learning online so some lessons will be shorter than they would have been in school and we will be utilising high quality, pre-made resources where suitable – we really hope that there will be enough variation to engage learners. Please remember that playtimes are an important part of the school timetable so encourage your child to spend some safe time outside, some time being active and time relaxing. Spelling shed and TTRockstars should be accessed daily and we encourage all our children to find time to get ‘lost in a book’.

Please understand that we know this is a challenging time and that we are trying our best to meet the needs of a wide variety of family circumstances. As ever, communication is key so please get in touch (or encourage your child to ask for help on Seesaw) if you are struggling or need extra support. Again, there is technical support that can be accessed from school if you have problems because of lack of devices or difficulties accessing the internet. 

Many thanks,

The Green Pod (Y5 and Y6) Team

 

5.1.20

Good morning, 

Happy new year to you all. Thank you for all your well wishes for the Christmas break and kind comments. They always mean a lot, now more than ever! Not quite the start to the new year any of us wanted, but I know how amazing your children are and whether in or out of school – they will continue to be amazing. They showed resilience, determination and positivity last time and I know they will again. I will do everything I possibly can to help you at home and to look after the children in school. I will put everything on Seesaw and will try my best to make it clear and straight-forward. I only see if from my end however, so if something is not clear, then obviously please let me know and I will get back to you. I am here in any way I can be and thank you for all you do day in day for your children. Together we will get through this. 

Today as I am sure you can imagine, in my role as assistant head, Mrs Hurding and I are trying to sort everything out, so if my responses are not as immediate today, please be reassured that it won’t be like this each day. I will respond today, but it may be more this afternoon or straight after school as Boris did not give us much warning so today is a major sorting day. I will be able to be more available throughout the day from tomorrow. 

You will be receiving an email today from Mrs Hurding with information on it. If you have any problems getting onto seesaw, again please let me know. 

Thank you again for how amazing you are as parents and the support you continue to show me personally and The Ellis. 

Now a quick note for my superstars!

 

Hello Y2s. 

I just wanted to tell you how brilliant you all are and how you make me burst with pride at the way you handle these sudden changes. Whether you are at home or in school, I am so pleased with you. I will keep in touch on seesaw and can’t wait to see your amazing work!

I want you to promise me three things over the next 6 weeks….

1) Keep trying your best whether at home or school

2) Keep helping your mummies and daddies out as they are working really hard too

3) Keep smiling! 

I’ll be in touch soon. 

Love Mrs T! 

 

5.1.20

Dear Y5 and Y6 parents,

Thank you for your support and patience during this challenging time. We know that remote learning is difficult for everyone and that it will take our children a while to settle into the new arrangements that come with this lockdown. We want to facilitate their continued learning as much as possible and, as such, want to extend the offer of a borrowed tablet in order to ensure that they can use Seesaw to complete their learning. If it would be helpful to you to have a borrowed tablet then please contact school to arrange this. If you have any other technical difficulties then please be get in touch. 

Many thanks,

The Y5 and Y6 team

 

4.1.20

Dear Parents,

I can only apologise for how last minute this announcement is.  

As there is now a National Lockdown starting from tomorrow, we will be open for keyworkers, please only come to school if you have to for work tomorrow and we will take it from there.

We have been sent no new guidelines yet. Please stick to the normal pod times tomorrow and we will let you know as soon as anything changes.  

We also understand that you may be a keyworker or have a vulnerable child who may not be in tomorrow but may need to come in another day.

Please give us tomorrow to sort out remote learning too. We will continue to update you.

Mrs H

 

4.1.20

Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope you are well.

Further to my previous email, please note that the new homework books will be sent home with your child this week and therefore the first piece of homework will be due on Friday 15^th January .

I have been really impressed with the way the children have taken to doing homework. Thank you for encouraging and supporting them.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Take care and stay safe,  

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

4.1.20

Dear Parents,

We really hope you have managed to have a good break and been able to see some family on Christmas day.  

We are very aware the current climate has changed and the CV-19 virus continues to be prevalent and impacts our every move.

We have had a fantastic training day today on Dyslexia and we plan to all be here and open for your children tomorrow.

The situation may change and I will continue to inform you every step of the way.

We will continue to operate all the safety measures we have in place to make school as safe as possible.  We appreciate all your help and support in this.  

Please continue to wear face coverings and keep a safe distance and help us to make drop off and collection as quick as possible.  We continue to encourage you to come on time and park away from school to ease congestion.

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

Kind regards

Mrs Hurding

 

16.12.20

Dear Parents,

After Christmas please bring your children to nursery at 12:30pm using the School Street entrance. Please wait at the nursery gates for the teacher to come and welcome your child and take them inside.

Could all adults please also leave the same way, using the School Street exit, being mindful of other parents and keeping a safe distance.

When collecting your child at the end of the session please pick them up from nursery using the School Street entrance once again, however, then exit using the one way system through the main school gates on Garden Grove.

Thank you,

Mrs Pollard

 

16.12.20

December 2020

RE: New statutory curriculum of Relationship Education and Health Education 2020.

Dear Parent / Carer,

You may well have seen in the national and local press that certain elements of Personal Social Health Education (PSHE) are about to become compulsory.  These are the areas of Relationship Education and Health Education.  As a school we have started to implement these into our current curriculum. We know that certain topics within these curriculum areas may potentially cause concern for parents. We also know that elements of this curriculum are already being misrepresented in the media and so we wanted to give you, our parent body, the correct information about the changes that are coming and the chance to view, not only the new legislation, but also the award winning resource we have chosen to support your children’s learning within these key areas.

The new curriculum areas have been agreed by the Department for Education.

If you would like to know more about what your child will be learning you can find it by following this link:

(Please press ctrl and then enter if it doesn’t open straightaway)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/908013/Relationships_Education__Relationships_and_Sex_Education__RSE__and_Health_Education.pdf

Teaching Expectations for Relationship Education from page 19

Teaching Expectations for Health Education from page 31

To ensure your children get the very best teaching in these areas we have chosen to use an award-winning resource – 1decision. 1decision is part of Headway Education and has been kitemarked by the PSHE association – the effective governing body for the subject in the UK – as being a quality assured product. The 1decision resources have been developed over the past seven years and each module has been created by PSHE and Safeguarding experts together with schools, and most importantly children, and can proudly say they are providing resources to schools in 39 counties. As a school we are proud to say we will be using these resources and you may like to find out more about them by visiting their website: www.1decision.co.uk

If you have any queries or questions regarding our new 1decision resource or anything else about the PSHE lessons we deliver. Please feel free to email our PSHE lead Mrs Beever on j.beever@theellis.org or Mrs Hurding on r.hurding@theellis.org Thank you.

Mrs Julie Beever

HLTA/PSHE Lead

 

15.12.20

Good Morning,

On behalf of Miss Turton, Mrs Connelly & myself can I take this opportunity to wish you all A Very Happy Christmas & A Peaceful New Year. Hopefully you will receive your Child’s Handmade Christmas Card. Unfortunately I didn’t get time to put the ‘handmade by’ stickers on the back or start or finish making any decorations. Their calendars for this year are all individualised but on a similar theme (a few are finished) but I would prefer to send them all home at the same time. We will finish them as soon as we get back to school in January. Please accept my apologies for the delay but it was beyond my control and all happened very quickly. 

Thank you for all your support this term, especially with the online learning.

Let’s hope things settle down a little inthe New Year and we can look forward to Summer and spending time with our families again on lovely sunny days out.  

Kindest Regards,

Mrs Rachel Jaques

Year 4 Teacher

 

14.12.20

Online Safety

Our Data Protection Officer, Mr Tim Pinto, has been posting his Twelve Online Safety Tips For Christmas via his Twitter and You Tube Account, along with a leaflet aimed at parents. He has asked if I will share them with you all.

https://twitter.com/TPesafety

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp3CKV_f1QX1YrK5eqfMJin9I5EMftzcq

https://esafetyoffice.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/The-e-Safety-Office-Christmas-for-Parents.pdf

Hayley Fiddes

 

14.12.20

Dear Parents,

We are so sorry we have had to close a pod, we know this has increased everyone’s anxieties about being in school. The case has come from outside school, but obviously impacted school due to a staff member having the virus.  We know how frustrating it was to find out late on a Sunday night, please rest assured I took action as soon as I knew.  We also totally understand as a school that if you need to make decisions that are best for your family this week, we will support you every step of the way – but please be mindful that staff do not have this option.  We really want everyone to be able to celebrate Christmas as planned.

DATA/Home learning

We have acquired some free data, if anyone in Yellow Pod needs any for home learning then please let us know. The teachers of Yellow pod will continue to provide work on Seesaw for the children, it is still an expectation that children will be completing activities, however, we also understand it is the last week of term so they may be more relaxed activities. Please encourage your children to practise on TT Rockstars regularly.

Yellow Pod

We are so sad that our Yellow pod are missing party day, however, one of the mums has had a great idea to make it a party day at home.  We have a plan to try and get our virtual visitor to you through SEESAW (hopefully it will work!).  Staff in school are busy trying to sort Y3 and Y4 calendars and cards and we will try and get them to you before Christmas.

Also, for reassurance, Mrs Kaskiewicz was due to be in Orange pod this week (Miss Cook has now returned from maternity) but she is currently isolating due to being in Yellow pod last week.

Thank you for all your support,

Mrs Hurding

 

14.12.20

Advice to All Parents – Single case adult in Yellow pod

Dear Parents,

We have been advised by Public Health England that there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19 within the school.

We know that you may find this concerning but are continuing to monitor the situation and are working closely with Public Health England. This letter is to inform you of the current situation and provide advice on how to support your child. Please be reassured that for most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

The number of children who have been in direct prolonged contact with the confirmed case will have received an individual letter and will be staying at home for 10 days.

The school remains open and your child should continue to attend if they remain well.

What to do if your child develops symptoms of COVID 19

If your child develops symptoms of COVID-19, they must not come to school and should remain at home for at least 10 days from the date when their symptoms appeared. Anyone with symptoms will be eligible for testing and this can be arranged via https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test or by calling 119. 

All other household members who remain well, must stay at home and not leave the house for 10 days. This includes anyone in your ‘Support Bubble’.

Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

The 10-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.

Household members should not go to work, school or public areas and exercise should be taken within the home.

If you require help with buying groceries, other shopping or picking up medication, or walking a dog, you should ask friends or family. Alternatively, you can order your shopping online and medication by phone or online.

Household members staying at home for 10 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community

If you are able to, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:

• a new continuous cough
• a high temperature
• a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

If your child or anyone in the household does develop symptoms, you can seek advice from NHS 111 at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/check-if-you-have-coronavirus-symptoms/ or by phoning 111.

How to stop COVID-19 spreading

There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with COVID-19

Do

• wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
• use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
• wash your hands as soon as you get home
• cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
• put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards

 

 

Further Information

Further information is available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

Mrs Rachel Hurding

 

Headteacher

14.12.20

Date: 14/12/20

FOR PARENTS OF CLOSE CONTACTS OF COVID 19 at The Ellis C of E Primary school – Yellow Pod  Y3/Y4

Advice for Child to Self-Isolate for 10 Days – Children can end isolation on the 21^st December, this means they are allowed out on the 21^st December.

Dear Parent,

We have been advised by Public Health England that there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19 within the school.

We have followed the national guidance and have identified that your child has been in close contact with the affected adult. In line with the national guidance we recommend that your child now stays at home and self-isolates.

We are asking you to do this to reduce the further spread of COVID 19 to others in the community.

If your child is well at the end of the 10 days period of self-isolation, then they can return to usual activities.

Other members of your household can continue normal activities provided your child does not develop symptoms within the 10 day self-isolation period.

Please see the link to: Guidance for contacts of people with confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection who do not live with the person

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-contacts-of-people-with-possible-or-confirmed-coronavirus-covid-19-infection-who-do-not-live-with-the-person

 What to do if your child develops symptoms of COVID 19

If your child develops symptoms of COVID-19, they should remain at home for at least 10 days from the date when their symptoms appeared. Anyone with symptoms will be eligible for testing and this can be arranged via https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test or by calling 119 . 

All other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 10 days. This includes anyone in your ‘Support Bubble’.

The 10-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.

Household members should not go to work, school or public areas and exercise should be taken within the home. If you require help with buying groceries, other shopping or picking up medication, or walking a dog, you should ask friends or family. Alternatively, you can order your shopping online and medication by phone or online.

Household members staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community

If you are able to, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period

Please see the link to the PHE ‘Stay at Home’ Guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

Symptoms of COVID 19

 The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:

• new continuous cough and/or
• high temperature and/or
• a loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

If your child does develop symptoms, you can seek advice from NHS 111 at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/check-if-you-have-coronavirus-symptoms/ or by phoning 111.

How to stop COVID-19 spreading

 There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with COVID-19

Do

• wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
• use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
• wash your hands as soon as you get home
• cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
• put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards

Further Information

Further information is available at

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Yours sincerely

Mrs Rachel Hurding

Headteacher

 

14.12.20

Dear Parents,

We are sorry to inform you that we have had a positive case from a member of staff in Yellow pod and we need to close it from tomorrow.  The 10 day self isolation rule starts tomorrow and the Yellow Pod isolation will start from Friday 11th December and therefore isolation will end on 21st December.  This date is not official yet as I am unable to get hold of Public Health.  We will send the official email tomorrow.

So sorry for the short notice.

Regards,

Mrs Hurding

 

11.12.20

Dear F2 Parents,

The children in F2 have been busy making Christmas gifts.  Please see the attached for further information. Foundation 2 Christmas Gifts

Thank you

Mr Grayhurst

11.12.20

Dear Nursery Parents,

The children have been busy making Christmas gifts in nursery. Please see the attached for further details. Nursery Christmas Gifts

Thank you

Mrs Pollard

11.12.20

Dear Y1 Parents,

Well done to the children who have worked so hard for Mrs Beever, Mrs Andrews and Miss Hickey this week.

Mrs Broadbent is missing them all greatly and Mrs Trotter is keeping her updated on what absolute stars the children are being.

So that Mrs Trotter can change their Read Write Inc books please can you ensure that your child’s book bag and reading books are in school on Monday.

Thank you

 

11.12.20

Dear Parents,

Contact Tracing during the Christmas Break

Schools have been asked by Public Health England and the Department of Education to continue to administer contact tracing in the first part of the Christmas Break. As the school is closed for the holiday, this will be managed by myself working from home. 

• If your child has symptoms and then tests positive for COVID, you must inform usif they were in school in the 48-hour period before the onset of symptoms. 
• If your child is asymptomatic but still tests positive you must inform us if they have been in school in the 48-hour period before the test was taken. 

 

The school procedure for notification of a child (or staff member) testing positive is as follows:

Notify Mrs Hurding:

On the school FACEBOOK messenger 

or

EMAIL:  r.hurding@theellis.org

 

While a response may not be immediate, you should receive one pretty quickly, unless I am notified late at night, I do need sleep!  

I will not be disgruntled to receive repeated emails until you get a response!  

Please do not hesitate to inform me regardless of the time.  

Please ensure you provide your child’s name, first date of symptoms, date of test and date of receiving the positive result.

I will then proceed to alert all known contacts of the positive case immediately.  

This is important as we know a lot of children and families will be coming together, possibly with vulnerable and older family members over Christmas.  For this reason, it is important that the information is shared and acted upon quickly by all involved.

 I will be following the guidance laid out by Public Health and should you be identified as a contact, you will be contacted in the following ways (this may seem a little impersonal as it will be a prepared message):

1A message directly through the School email will initially notify you of the exposure risk.

..I will post on Facebook if there is IMPACT on a pod.

 By doing this we have fulfilled our statutory duties by informing you, however, as we know messages can often be missed, please keep a look out.   

I would be grateful of a swift response to minimise any follow-up calls that I may have to make.

 If your child develops symptoms, or has a positive test when asymptomatic, after Monday 21 December 2020 then this will be outside the 48-hour period. Do not contact school and instead please liaise directly with NHS Track and Trace.  If NHS Track and Trace advise you to notify school (or you are in doubt)around this time, please feel free to do so utilising the methods outlined above.

 While the likelihood of a Christmas isolation is hopefully low, the potential is real.  The implications of this would mean the disruption of festivities for our children, staff and their families in both cases.  A crucial ‘window’ would appear to be from 11^th – 18^th December for isolation requirements over Christmas.  It is for this reason that we all need to maintain our vigilance so that hopefully all the above information can be disregarded!

 Your continued support and understanding at these challenging times is appreciated.

We want everyone to have a happy and safe family Christmas

Mrs Hurding

10.12.20

Dear Parents, 

We have kindly been donated a large hamper to use as a raffle prize to raise money for school funds.  We are selling tickets for a £1 a strip. Please send the money in with your child if you would like some.  We will keep the raffle tickets in school and draw the raffle next Wednesday 16th December. The winner will then be notified so the hamper can be collected from school before the holiday.  

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Hurding

 

9.12.20

Dear Parents,

We are still in school on Friday 18th December. 

The government announced yesterday that schools could take it as an INSET, however this is not an EXTRA inset as the media implies, we have to claw back the day elsewhere. 

So, as we have already planned out our year’s ‘insets’ we are not making the 18th an inset day. 

 If it was an extra day given to give everybody as an extra days holiday, I would not hesitate to do it to support our staff and families.

We will release our Christingle video on the 18th December to wish everyone a Happy Christmas.

Thanks for your support,

Mrs Hurding

 

9.12.20

Dear Parents and Carers,

Our Y5 and Y6 children are really enjoying digging, den building and exploring a small wooded area at playtimes. This area is very muddy and we have decided that it is only safe for children who have wellies on to use the area. Some of the children are very disappointed that they cannot access an area that they have been enjoying but for health and safety reasons we are only allowing children with appropriate footwear to play in our mini forest area as the conditions underfoot have become so slippery. If your child would like to play in this area, please could you provide them with wellies to wear in school.

Thank you for your continued support.

Best wishes,

The Y5 and Y6 Team 

 

9.12.20

Dear Nursery Parents,

Today, Wednesday 9th December will be the last  library session due to next week being party day.

You will be able to keep your child’s library folder over the Christmas break and return it after Christmas.

Many thanks,

Mrs Pollard

 

9.12.20

(Information for Parents of full time nursery children)

After Christmas, full time nursery children will have the opportunity to stay all day on a Friday if you would like them to.  As this is in addition to their 30 hour entitlement there will be a charge of £15 payable via Parentpay each week.

If you would like to take advantage of the additional childcare please let us know.

Hayley Fiddes

 

7.12.20

Dear Year One Parents,

We are sorry to say that Mrs Broadbent needs to isolate over the next two weeks due to a family member having the virus.  It does not affect school as Mrs Broadbent has not been in school since Thursday.  We are lucky we have Mrs Beever working in Orange Pod.  Mrs Beever will be leading the teaching in Y1 alongside Mrs Andrews and Miss Hickey.  Mrs Broadbent is working at home so is available if you have any queries, please send them via the main office email (h.fiddes@theellis.org).

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Hurding

 

4.12.20

Dear Parents,

As you know we pride ourselves on being an inclusive school.

We totally respect your need for your child not to be allowed to be on public media, however, we are following on from some feedback from the Harvest film we made.  

If your child was not in the film please be reassured, they were included in learning and practising the songs, however they were not on the final film, but they were our helpers behind the scenes.

As we are going to be filming our Christingle next week, we would like you to discuss with your children and yourselves and let us know whether you would prefer them to be in the video with golden sunshine masks we have made or continue to be a helper behind the camera.

The Christingle film will be shared on Facebook and Twitter, therefore, if you have said yes to one and not the other your child will wear a mask or be a helper.

Can you let us know your family decision by Monday please?

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Hurding

 

4.12.20

Dear Parents,

Well, the snow has certainly made it feel festive today.

Keeping warm

You will be pleased to know the heating is now on in school, but as we have to continue to have windows open please do encourage your children to bring extra layers into school to keep warm.  Another reminder is that we are a school that encourages children to be outside whatever the weather, so please make sure children dress accordingly.

Staffing

We are delighted that now lockdown has finished we have Mrs Wise (Y5 teacher and Assistant Head for KS2) back in school and Mrs Rodgers (Business manager).  Miss Beresford (Y3 teacher) has returned from isolation and on Monday Miss Cook is back from maternity leave.  Having staff back is the best Christmas present this year!

Before lockdown we had arranged for a Mrs Braisby to cover three afternoons in Y5 for Mrs Wise’s management time,  however due to family commitments she can no longer work this, so Mr Hamilton started with us yesterday.

Learning

We are aware that our children have a lot of catching up to do due to us not running a full school for nearly 6 months.  We are so proud of all our children’s attitude to learning and this is having a huge impact on their progress.  All our teaching staff are working flat out to support your wonderful children and the progress throughout school is evident.  Thank you for your support in listening to children read at home and encouraging home learning along with the use of SEESAW when in isolation.  All these things are truly helping our children ‘to be the best they can be!’

Forest School

We cannot thank our parent helpers enough for their commitment in getting the Forest school area ready for teaching.  The plan is for children to start to access the area in January.  Mrs Trotter and Miss Batley are continuing their training and should be fully trained by the Summer.  We have plans to expand the area, all around the edge of the field is a path that will be cleared in the Spring to connect to the larger Forest school area that is now ready.  Exciting times for the Ellis!  I am so proud of all the outdoor developments we have achieved throughout the pandemic!

Tepees 

Thanks to the generous loan of two tepees from one of our parents, Yellow pod and Green pod now have a Tepee in their outdoor areas.  They are making great areas to read and write too.

SLIDE FUNDING

Thank you for all the amazing fundraising you have been doing for our slide fund.  Every little bit helps the cause.  We are confident we will be able to get a slide in 2021.  

We are being creative with the school budget too.   

Please continue to donate and share the link with everyone!

https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-ellis-primary-slide-fundraiser?utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link-tip

Christmas Reminders

9th December – Christmas Dinner – Christmas Jumper or wear something Christmassy. Don’t forget to pre-order your child’s Christmas lunch on ParentPay using the Make Bookings tab.

16th December – Party day – Please wear party clothes or something festive (remember we will still go outside).

There may well be a virtual visitor that day for the children.

Christingle 

We will be filming Christingle this year within the pods and putting together a video for you to share with your families.

Thank you for your continued support

Mrs Hurding

 

2.12.20

Message from Julia Burrows, Barnsley Director of Public Health – 27 November 2020

Christmas household bubbles 

I’m sure that since the Government announced that up to three households will be allowed to stay together and form a Christmas bubble from 23 to 27 December, you’ve been giving a lot of thought to who will be part of yours and how you will manage the contact. 

This year, Christmas will by no means be a normal one, but many families and friends will be looking forward to seeing each other after what may have been months apart – any time with loved ones has taken on a new importance. 

Please read the Government guidance carefully: 

• you can form an exclusive ‘Christmas bubble’ composed of people from no more than three households
• you can only be in one Christmas bubble
• you cannot change your Christmas bubble
• you can travel between tiers and UK nations for the purposes of meeting your Christmas bubble
• you can only meet your Christmas bubble in private homes or in your garden, places of worship, or public outdoor spaces
• you can continue to meet people who are not in your Christmas bubble outside your home in line with our Tier 3 restrictions – can socialise in a group of up to 6 in outdoor public spaces, including parks, public gardens and the countryside
• you cannot meet someone in a private dwelling who is not part of your household or Christmas bubble

Sadly, Christmas will not be risk free – COVID-19 remains a significant threat and I urge you to use your personal judgement on your contact with vulnerable elderly relatives during this time. 

Think about your Christmas plans early, and consider meeting outside or getting together virtually, instead of mixing indoors with your bubbles. 

We know that household mixing is the main route of transmission of this virus.  Our home environments are less controlled then regulated ‘Covid secure’ settings and we are more likely to let down our guard.   

If you do decide to invite another household into your home as part of the Christmas bubble relaxation, think carefully about how you will manage the environment so you can still maintain a distance and good hygiene while you celebrate.  

Make sure there is good ventilation and wipe down frequent touchpoints regularly.    

Remember we are each far more likely to catch COVID-19 from a friend or a relative than from a stranger.

Thank you 

 

1.12.20

Christmas Dinner and Christmas Jumper Day – Wednesday 9th December

Roast turkey, stuffing, a sausage, roast and mashed potatoes, carrots, sweetcorn and sprouts. 

A Christmas biscuit or  muffin.

 

Christmas Party Day – Wednesday 16th December –

All of the following for each child provided in individual party boxes:

 Sandwiches, sausage rolls, pizza, carrot sticks, crisps, a bun, a drink of juice and an ice cream tub.

 

ParentPay Orders

Following on from a previous email which explained that you are now able to order your child’s lunches from home via ParentPay, we now have a few extra details regarding this new system for you.

Every meal ordered from home will go directly through to the kitchen, bypassing the class register and the office. You are able to book in advance which will take away the stress of checking the menu for each day. A list detailing the meal each child has ordered is printed daily in class ready for lunchtime.

If you would like to have a go at this pre-ordering system, please log on to your ParentPay account and click the ‘Make Meal Bookings’ Tab, ensuring the drop down box is set to ‘Lunchtime’. Click ‘Make or View Bookings’ which will take you to the menu where you can select meals for your child. You can navigate through the available weeks to select meals in advance by clicking on the box under the date. To make your selection click on the meal your child requires, the arrow will bring up an actual picture of the meal that is provided by the kitchen. You will be unable to select meals for the current day. Once you have made your selection please click ‘Confirm Bookings’ in the bottom right hand corner. If your child is in receipt of UIFSM (F2, Y1 Y2 children) or FSM (Free School Meal children) you will still need to follow through to the payment screen, however no payment will be taken from your account.

This new ordering and payment system has been put into place by Barnsley Catering Services. As soon as a meal is ordered the system will direct you to the payment screen. If payment is not made the meal will automatically be cancelled from the system and the kitchen will not receive the request for a lunch. 

Please ensure your arrears are cleared to ensure your child receives their lunch – I have sent many reminders to keep on top of accounts. 

If you are in receipt of free school meals or your child is in F2, Y1 or Y2 you will still be directed to the payment screen but no money will be taken.

Children can currently still order their lunches in class, however, we are trying to encourage as many parents as possible to place orders at home, this helps the kitchen staff determine meal numbers for the next day and also for stock ordering purposes.

If you would like to try and order your child’s Christmas lunch and Christmas Party food in advance then this would be very helpful. If you have any queries whilst doing this then please let me know and I will try and help. The normal menu for these days will NOT be available, there is only the one option of either Christmas dinner or party food on the relevant days, please choose the main meal option to order this. As you can choose the packed lunch from home option for your child, it would also be extremely helpful if you could do this so we know that your child will not be wanting meals on those days.

If you would like to view the pre-selections you have made, there is an option to Download the ‘Meal Selection Report’. This can be printed if you so wish to refer back to.

Hayley Fiddes

 

Nursery Children 

All nursery children will be included in the party day activities with food and games happening before 11:45am. The children will be able to dress up in their party clothes but be mindful of outdoor play. If your child would like the party food then this is ordered and paid for via the above method (ParentPay). Each meal is £2.

For nursery children staying all day, milk and snacks will be provided for the afternoon to ensure they do not get hungry from eating so early.

The children will all receive gifts from a virtual Santa.

Nursery children who stay for lunch are welcome to order a school Christmas dinner.

 

School Pumps Y1-Y6

Please can we remind Y1-Y6 that indoor footwear i.e. pumps are worn in class. It is so muddy outside at the moment and our carpets are taking a big hit!

 

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Hurding

 

1.12.20

Dear Parent/Carers,

I hope that you are all keeping safe and well during this current time. As class teachers, it certainly is very strange not to have regular contact with you all but hopefully the situation will improve in the New Year.

am just sending you a quick email to remind you that your class teacher will soon be in touch to organise an SEN Review Meeting via TEAMS. As you can imagine all the staff in school are working incredibly hard at the moment and time is precious so hopefully you will be able to arrange a time that is convenient to you both. For this reason the meetings will be around 15-20 minutes in duration. Should you need further time to discuss a particular concern then you will need to arrange another appointment at a mutually convenient time.

We thank you for continued support during this first term.

Take care and kind regards,

Mr D Grayhurst

(SENCO)

 

30.11.20

Dear Parents, 

We had a fantastic work force of parent volunteers last Thursday who spent the day in the new Forest School area and a massive thank you to those who gave up their time to help. We made lots of progress and it is looking amazing. There were a few jobs which we didn’t quite finish and therefore we are having a second day this Tuesday 1st December. If any parents are available for a couple of hours, for the morning or afternoon or all day and would like to come and help, we would love to have you! It is a huge area so we can adhere to social distancing. 

The jobs involve moving logs, moving piles of cut down twigs and bramble, weaving twigs into the fence, putting up cane screening on the fence and if there is time, cutting down some slightly overgrown bushes. 

This is such an amazing project and all the staff who came up to see what had been done were so excited and went away buzzing with ideas as to how they can use this area in January with their classes. It really is a hidden gem, which many people did not realise was part of our school grounds. 

If you are able to help, please contact me directly at c.trotter@theellis.org as I am co-ordinating the workforce. We realise this is short notice and there may be some parents who would like to help out but are unavailable on Tuesday. Please rest assured, we are always planning and developing our grounds and I am always recruiting helpers so we would love to take up offers of help in the future. 

Thank you for your continued support. As a staff, we are very grateful. 

Kind Regards

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

 

26.11.20

Dear Parents, 

We hope everyone is ok as we head back into Tier 3.

Staffing

We are delighted to say that Miss Hickey has joined our team as a Teaching Assistant. She will be working in Y1 over lunch and in the afternoons.

Miss Allott will be working in Nursery as extra support as well as helping in F2.

Forest school

We are so lucky to have such wonderful supportive parents, thank you to everyone who has helped today to prepare our Forest school area. We now have willow fencing up and a tunnel den!

Slide for school

We began fundraising last year for a school slide and have raised an amazing £2800 so far. We need to raise a further £3190.  If anyone would like to support school with a Christmas gift the crowdfunding link is below.  We will get creative with CV-19 safe fundraising ideas after Christmas, so please do let us know if you have any thoughts.  School is also going to allocate more money towards the slide from the outdoor budget.

Mr Mark Farnsworth has kindly organised the crowd funding for us.  Please donate and share if you can.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-ellis-primary-slide-fundraiser?utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link-tip

TIER 3

Message from Julia Burrows, Barnsley Director of Public Health – 26 November 2020  

 Barnsley to move back to Tier 3 (Very High) from 2 December  

I want to start this message with a big thank you to everyone who has been working hard to do the right thing and prevent transmission in our communities – we have recently seen our rates coming down and this is good news. However, we still have some way to go before we are on an equal footing with other areas of the country and the fact that our rates are still high means coming out of lockdown is a potentially dangerous time for us.   

Following the end of Lockdown, starting on Wednesday 2 December, Barnsley, along with the rest of South Yorkshire will be in Tier 3 (Very High) restrictions.  

You can read more about what this means on the Government’s website.  

I recognise that this is still a tough time for lots of people, and we still have to make significant adjustments to our everyday lives. However, we continue to follow all the guidance in place, to keep people safe and well and to limit the number of people who become seriously ill.  

 Meeting other people  

It’s in our human nature to want to meet and talk to people, especially as we are coming up to the festive period.   

The Tier 3 restrictions, as well as the Government’s plans for the Christmas period, allow us all to meet other people in certain settings. Although our COVID-19 rates are going in the right direction, I urge you to really think about who you need to meet up with, especially if they’re vulnerable.  

We are still in a critical position, and as we’ve seen in the past few months, things can change very quickly. We must all remember that if the transmission of COVID-19 grows again, so will infections, severe illness, hospital pressures and deaths, and December and January are the highest risk months for all this.   

Changes to Tier Three rules 

Although we return to Tier 3 there are some additional restrictions this time: pubs and restaurants are only allowed to offer takeaways, drive through or delivery service.  You will be able to meet in groups of up to six people in public spaces such as parks, public gardens and sports courts, although not indoors or in private outdoor places such as your gardens. 

Support bubbles extended  

There’s some good news for people who live alone and for families with young children in that support bubbles will be extended. From 2 December, you can form a support bubble with another household, if:   

• you are the only adult in your household (any other members of the household having been under 18 on 12 June 2020) or are the only adult who does not have a disability that needs continuous care; 
• you have a child under 1 year old; 
• you live with a child under 5 with a disability that needs continuous care. 

More information on this is available on the ‘What tiers mean’ section of the Government site.  

Getting ready for Christmas bubbles 

The Prime Minister announced this week that whatever tier we are in, between 23 and 27 December, three households will be allowed to form a temporary Christmas bubble. They can mix indoors and stay overnight. 

Bubbles will be fixed, so you won’t be able to mix with two households on Christmas Day and two different ones on Boxing Day. 

I’m sure you will already be considering who will make up your Christmas bubbles and I’ll be sharing my thoughts and advice on this from a Public Health perspective in my usual weekly message tomorrow. 

Reviewing our Tier position  

The Government will review our Tier position every 14 days, and the regional approach will last until March. They will use five criteria:   

•           case numbers across all age groups;  
•           cases in those aged over 60;  
•           the rate of rise or fall in infections;  
•           the percentage of those tested who have the virus;  
•           current and projected pressures on the NHS locally. 

Please continue to do all you can to help us manage our rates and cases.  

If you have symptoms (a high temperature, a new continuous cough, or loss of/change of sense of smell or taste) isolate immediately and book a test at https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling 119. 

Issued by Barnsley Council’s Communications and Marketing Service on behalf of Julia Burrows, Barnsley Director of Public Health.

Thanks for everyone’s continued support.

Mrs Hurding

 

24.11.20

Dear Parents,  Newsletter Nov 20 Party! Party! Home Learning Activities

My sincerest apologies for my error this half term. I had prepared the newsletter and home learning ideas for you all and had it all ready to send to Mrs Fiddes the first week back after October half term, but must have got somewhat distracted and found the email in my draft box this weekend. It then dawned on me that it had not been sent to Mrs Fiddes for her to send out to you. I am very sorry about this and will check next half term that I have sent it to you by the end of the first week. 

Our topic is Party! Party! and last week we really began looking at different festivals starting with Diwali (having completed a week on Guy Fawkes and a Remembrance week). The children are enjoying finding out about different religions and festivals and it is lovely to see the home learning they are beginning to bring in. Please use ideas on the attached sheet, or your own ideas, to complete a few smaller activities at home or one longer project. Unfortunately, this year we are unable to hand out home baked buns as we have in previous years during this topic (due to COVID), but you are still welcome to enjoy baking for your family!

Secondly, a couple of other things I would like to inform or remind you of. 

1) A massive thank you for the excellent returning of reading diaries, reading books and spelling books so far this year. I have been blown away by the high number which are returned each week and it really does make it so much easier for me to ensure Read Write Inc books are changed each Monday, so thank you very, very much. 

2) Although we are not able to do a nativity this year which saddens me greatly as I love watching our superstars shine, please rest assured that we will display the amazing talents of our KS1 children in a summer musical. We know that the Y2 children look forward to taking the speaking parts in our annual nativity and I certainly want to give them this opportunity, hence we are going to work towards an end of year musical! 

3) Thank you to everyone who has managed to log onto Seesaw and has sent work over the half term holiday. I am desperately hoping that our pod will not need to be closed, but if it did, it is essential that children can access their Seesaw login as this is how I will be setting work. If you have not yet logged on, please try to do so over the next couple of weeks and familiarise yourself with how it works. Any problems, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

4) I continue to have my fingers crossed that we are able to take the Y2 children on our Whirlow Residential in June / July. (As previously mentioned, if this cannot happen, we will roll it in Y3 and the monies already paid will be safe and used to pay for this in Y3). I have all the costings in now for the coach, food, accommodation and have had 27 parents confirm that they would like their child to take part which is phenomenal. I will therefore send out an email later this week with the price it will cost (based on costings for June / July this year) and the date this needs to be paid by. If we did have to move it to Y3 and there was a slight price increase by Whirlow, I would of course inform you of this, but I would envisage based on previous years that it would be roughly the same or the increase would only be a few pounds. I will keep you all informed of the information as soon as I get it and please remained assured that our children’s safety remains paramount in everything that we do. 

Last but not least, I would just like to take this opportunity to tell you again how amazing your children are. They come in every day and give their all. During this trying time, their smiley faces, positive outlook and enthusiasm brighten up every day and I genuinely feel privileged to be their teacher this year. The kindness and support shown by you all as parents, is also fantastic and so a heartfelt thank you from myself, Mrs Freeman and Mrs Beever. We really do appreciate you all and we couldn’t be prouder of these children if they were our own. Please tell them I have told you how amazing they are as I tell them regularly, but it is always nice when they know I have informed you too! 

Kindest regards and sorry again for my mistake and delay with the newsletter. 

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

 

24.11.20

Dear Parents,

This Thursday (26th Nov), I will be heading outside to do some jobs in the new Forest School area such as putting up willow cane fencing and moving logs. We already have one willing volunteer (and a couple of potentials depending on work commitments) which is fantastic, however, if there is anyone else available who would like to lend a hand, even just for an hour or two, please let us know. The area is large enough for us to socially distance and hot drinks will be supplied to keep you warm!! 

We are always so grateful for the help we receive and this new development we are creating will be amazing and provide us with so many more opportunities for our children. 

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

 

23.11.20

Dear Parents,

Apologies for the book fair leaflet link not working, I’ve been told that it will open on a computer but not on a phone or via our Facebook page.

If you would like a paper copy of the leaflet please let me know and I will send the relevant section home with your child.

Many thanks,

Hayley Fiddes

 

19.11.20

Dear Parent/Carer,

Celebrate reading at our Book Fair!

It’s coming up to that time of year again where we have the Scholastic Book Fair in school but as with everything this year, it will be quite a bit different to how we usually run the event.

Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 restrictions, we are unable to have parents in school. However, you are able to send your child in with some money if you would like them to browse and purchase any books.

Children will only be able to browse the wide selection of books in their pods, each pod has been allocated a slot (please see below for more information). The cases will be cleaned between uses.

Monday 23^rd November:  Pink and Red Pods (FS)

Tuesday 24th: Orange Pod (KS1)

Wednesday 25th: Yellow Pod (LKS2)

Thursday 26th: Green Pod (UKS2)

Books will be suitable from age 2+, please click on the link to browse the order form in case you would like to make any orders. https://images.scholastic.co.uk/assets/a/88/64/sbf-ie-parent-order-form-1974823.docx Please can you send any order forms back by Friday 27^th November so that we can get your orders in on time. Please place any money in an envelope for your child to hand to their class teacher to be brought to the office.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact school.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

19.11.20

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Thank you so much for embracing our new online learning platform, Seesaw, and supporting your children in their learning at home. We appreciate your patience and understanding as staff get to grips with the new technology and get used to teaching online. Your views are really important as we develop the most effective ways to deliver blended learning, so please keep communicating with school about any difficulties you may be having, any positives you have noticed and any questions you may need answering. We want to meet the needs of all children the best we can and we need to work in partnership with families to do so.  

When a class pod closes (as some of you have experienced) teachers will be delivering a full curriculum using Seesaw. This will be the equivalent (or as close as possible) of a day in school. The learning will be uploaded at the beginning of each day and then children can complete it within that day. Teachers will be available to respond to comments and to provide feedback during school hours as this is equivalent to a day teaching in school.  We will sort cover if the teacher is ill.

If your child is absent to school due to self-isolation but the class pod is not shut then please be aware that the learning available will be different as their class teacher will still be working full time in school. Teachers will still provide learning, in line with the government guidelines, but feedback will be less immediate and work may not be available as immediately (depending on when school is informed about the absence). It will be available within 24 hours of the first day of absence. Whilst waiting for Seesaw tasks to be set, we encourage pupils to use Spelling Shed, TTRockstars, the home learning projects set each half term and reading. For the period of self-isolation your child’s teacher will upload learning daily for Maths and English, with some topic lesson resources alongside, but please be mindful that they will also be teaching a full timetable in school too.

If your child is not accessing and completing learning, then contact will be made to offer support and problem solve as we want all our pupils to have the opportunity to continue learning when they are unable to be in school. We understand that family circumstances vary and that it can be challenging when children are unable to be in school. If you are facing difficulties in accessing learning or supporting your child at home then please let school know so we can find solutions together.  

Please can we also ask that you do not use Seesaw as communication tool between parent and teacher, unless work related and that we continue to use phoning or emailing school if you have queries about the school day or something that has happened at school.

Thank you for your continued support

The Ellis Team  

18.11.20

Dear Parents,

Thank you for everyone supporting us on Remembrance Day and also for Children in Need last week, these were two wonderful community events. 

We have not had a blue dress up day this year for anti-bullying week, we will however ensure we cover this very important subject in class and assemblies.

Forest School

We are having our woodland area cleared by tree surgeons this week, giving us more room to be able to teach. This area is a work in progress.  Mrs Trotter will be needing support to move the fallen trees, therefore if anyone is available to help during the day on the 26th November, please let us know.

Safety 

Thank you all for waiting patiently for your child’s time slot for arrival and departure. Just a reminder to keep safe near the walls on school street.  We are aware the dog muck is a frustration at the moment too.

Christmas

We know Christmas in school will be different this year but we will ensure we celebrate it.

We have decided not to do the KS1 Nativity this year, this is a special event and is all about performing to an audience. Instead we will do a KS1 Summer musical. 

We will still be celebrating Christingle, using battery lights in the classroom rather than the usual oranges.  Each pod will sing a song and we will put it altogether as a video to be shared with you on the last day of term.

Foundation stage will make and sell their Christmas goods and will also film themselves singing Christmas songs. This will be shared on the last day too.

We are saying no to Christmas cards coming into school this year, but children will make a card in school for their family.

9th December 

Christmas lunch and Christmas jumper day (or T-shirt). We will be serving Christmas lunch in the classrooms and we are very pleased to say that full time Nursery children are included this year. Each lunch costs £2 and is payable on ParentPay (unless your child is in receipt of free school meals or is in FS2, Y1 and Y2 who all receive free meals under the government scheme.)

On this day there will be no alternative menu choice.

16th December 

Christmas party day – we will be serving party food for lunch and festive activities in the classroom, please dress in party clothes but be mindful of outdoor play. Each party food box is £2 with the same exception as Christmas lunch and again, there is no alternative menu on this day. Payment is via ParentPay.

Lunchtime supervisor 

We do have a lunchtime supervisor position available in school, please ask for details if you are interested or if you know of anyone who might be suitable.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Hurding

 

12.11.20

Dear Parents/Carers,

At The Ellis we are passionate about providing our pupils with outdoor learning opportunities.

We are keen to improve our outdoor environment for our older children and would happily receive any donations of tyres, wooden crates/pallets or cable drum wheels (if you have access to any, of course).

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards,

The UKS2 Team.

 

Harvest Festival 2020

We will remember them 11.11.20

5.11.20

Dear Parents,

Wow what a week!

Welcome back to our Pink, Red, Orange and Green pods.  We are really missing our Yellow Pod.  

SEESAW Remote Home Learning

We are delighted with how many of you have engaged in our new SEESAW learning at home.  

The Government, like us, are wanting all children to engage in home learning and if for any reasons you are not able to access it, you must let us know so we can help to sort out the problems.   

The government has now made it a law that we have to provide home learning for children that are off isolating due to CV-10.  Obviously if your children are ill, we will not be expecting home learning to happen.  We know this is a huge learning curve for us all and we know that home learning, however much we try to improve it, is not the same as children in school.  

Thank you for all your support with engaging with our new learning tool, SEESAW.

SELF ISOLATION

We know that having to self-isolate can be frustrating, but it is essential to keep everyone safe and when we are told to do it we must follow this rule.  

LOCKDOWN

We are trying to continue to do as much as we can but the new lockdown rules now mean we are only able to have absolutely necessary adults in school.

We are so sorry we have had to cancel the school photographer as a result of this, we always try to arrange the photographer so you can have photos in time for Christmas and those timings will not work now.

We have also cancelled the Victorian Experience visitors that were due in to Y5 and Y6 next week. 

Our staff will continue to make learning engaging in school.

MASKS/Face coverings

Can I say a huge thank you to everyone for wearing masks/face coverings during drop off and pick up, if you remember this was a Tier 3 request, so is highly likely to continue after lock down.

STAFFING 

Mrs Kelly was our successful candidate and is now the Early Years Teaching Assistant working with Mrs Pollard in Nursery.

We are delighted to say that Mrs Andrews is now our Y1 Teaching Assistant, she is going to work the mornings and we will need to employ an afternoon TA in the future.  However,  Mrs Andrews has kindly agreed to work full time for the next two weeks.

We have had a supply working in Y1, Mrs Jane Street who has been fantastic and we are delighted that she has agreed to stay and be a full time second TA for us in year 3 using ‘catch up’ funding.  

We are also using ‘catch up’ money to increase the hours of our TAs and for extra support in KS1, Mrs Kaskiewich will be supporting KS1 when it is not her Y3 teaching days.

Mrs Kaskiewich will not be covering Y5 PPA any more, we had organised for a Mrs Braisby an experienced KS2 teacher to do this instead, however, yesterday we found out that sadly Mrs Wise has to shield during lockdown and Mrs Braisby is unable to take on a full-time teaching role.  We have a supply who is also a very experienced KS2 teacher with us, Mrs Drajling, she is settling in very quickly. Mrs Drajling will cover the Y5 class, Mrs Wise will continue to support the teaching and learning and we are planning TEAMS contact with the children.  Mrs Wise is still available, but is needing to work from home.   

Breakfast club

During lockdown we are allowed to continue with breakfast club for working parents.

CHILDREN IN NEED – Friday 13th November

This year we thought it would be nice to dress up in rainbow colours. 🌈 You can wear one colour from the rainbow, wear something with rainbows on or even wear every colour from the rainbow. If you have Pudsey T-shirts etc then wear these too! 

We are delighted that Children in Need is acknowledging the importance of mental health and we cant wait to see school filled with colour during a very grey time.

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

We will not be collecting money, please contribute as a family online if you feel you can. 

This video is really good, it links to all the work we have been doing on looking after mental health. 

https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/changing-lives/goodbye-rainclouds/

  Race for Life for Cancer Research

Thank you to everybody who took part in our recent race for life. Even in this uncertainty and during the upheaval of a pandemic we have managed to raise a staggering 1607! All of this donated money will go towards Cancer Research.   

Menu Change Tomorrow

Fish fingers have replaced the fishcakes tomorrow. (Friday)

Many thanks for all your support.

Mrs Hurding

 

5.11.20

Dear Parent,

While your child is unable to be in school, I am putting the equivalent lessons (as far as possible) onto Seesaw so they do not miss out on any curriculum content. The lessons that need completing every day are English, Maths and VIPERS with topic, PE, Art, etc. happening in the afternoons. I understand that it can be difficult to support learning at home but Seesaw should facilitate your child accessing learning relatively independently. I know that the technology can be tricky so it is fine for them to complete learning on paper and send it to me as a photograph. If your child is unwell or if there are complications in your household that means they are not able to work then we understand that but the expectation of the government is that any pupils at home should be engaging in learning remotely. If you are having difficulties with any aspect of Seesaw then please let us know as we are committed to support all our pupils and their families. 

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

 

5.11.20

School Photographs Cancelled

It is with great regret that we have to inform you that due to the new guidelines in place from today the photographer is unable to come into school, therefore there will be NO school photographs this year.

Victorian Workshop Y5/6

We are also sorry to inform you that our planned history workshop for years 5 and 6 will have to be cancelled due to the new measures being put in place this week. We had risk assessed and planned measures to make it as safe as possible, but as local statistics have changed and the new lockdown guidance has been published it has become unfeasible to invite external visitors into school. As a school, we are committed to making learning as engaging and fun as possible so will find other ways to make our Victorian topic exciting. Mrs Fiddes will be refunding in full all parents who have made their donation, thank you for your continued support and understanding during these challenging times.

Best wishes,

The Y5 and Y6 team

 

4.11.20

Dear Y5 Parents,

We are very sad to say that due to the lockdown measures, Mrs Wise continues to be categorised as extremely critically vulnerable, we have just had confirmation from the Doctors.  Mrs Wise will continue working from home but will not be in school teaching the class.  We are going to organise regular contact through TEAMS. 

I am currently sorting cover for the class and to reassure you all that the known adults Mrs Brinkley, Mrs Wood and Mrs McAleavy will continue to support the class too.

We will inform you as soon as we know who the teacher is, we wanted you to know as Mrs Wise is explaining to the children before home time.

Thank you for your support

Stay safe 

Mrs Hurding

 

4.11.20

Good Morning Parents / Carers of Children in Y4.

Firstly a huge thank you to all of you that have embraced the home learning platform See-Saw. I have had some lovely work sent over the holidays and quite a few children are using it this morning. If you or your child are having difficulty accessing it please contact school. 

I have attached some ideas for this half term’s home learning on our Stone Age topic. Please feel free to use and adapt these, you do not need to complete all of them. Remember, we always love to see the ideas your children have come up with and the work they have completed. YEAR 4 Home learning Autumn 2 Stone Age

Enjoy your learning, keep safe and I will see you all soon.

Mrs Jaques

 

2.11.20

Dear Parent/Carer,

We have noticed that your child has not completed their online learning. We really want to support your child while blended learning is necessary so please let us know if there is a technical issue that means you have been unable to access the Seesaw platform and we will try to find a solution.

Many thanks for your support.

 

2.11.20

Dear Parents,

It will be lovely to see all of the children again tomorrow morning, I hope you have all managed to stay safe.

Please find attached our newsletter for this half term along with some home learning project suggestions.

Victorians newsletter Y6

Thank you again for supporting their learning at home.

As promised, please find attached the homework schedule for this half term. I have been really impressed with the way the children have taken to doing homework. Thank you for encouraging and supporting them.  Y6 HOMEWORK SCHEDULE 2020 AUTUMN 2

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Miss Saunders

 

2.11.20

Dear Parents and Carers,

Y5 have amazed us with their engagement and excitement during their Tudor topic and we are hoping that they enjoy our new topic of Victorians just as much. We are so proud of their hard work and the way they have engaged in their learning and we hope that you will continue supporting them with this in and outside school. We know that blended learning and pod closures adds a different dimension to the experiences that our pupils have but endeavour to ensure their learning is as similar as possible when they cannot be in school. We appreciate your help and support in getting your children to engage in online learning during these difficult times. Do not hesitate to ask for help if you are having any difficulties with our online platforms.

I have attached the newsletter for this half term and as promised below is the table for this half term’s homework.

Victorians newsletter

I have been really impressed with the way the children have taken to doing homework. Thank you for encouraging and supporting them.

If you have any questions or require support then please let me know.

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

 

Date homework is due	Maths	Reading
13th November	P10 Rounding	The Great Fire of London
20th November	P11 Roman Numerals	The Iron Man
27th November	P12 &13 Written adding and subtracting	Pompeii
4th December	P14 Mental adding and subtracting	From the Railway Carriage
11th December	P15 Rounding and checking	Tracking Basking Sharks
18th December	P16 Square and cube numbers	A letter from E.B. White

The Y5 team

 

27.10.20

To all Parents

CV-19

As you are aware we have had to shut Yellow Pod  (Y3/Y4) on Sunday due to a pupil testing positive.  We have been informed that there is another pupil in the Yellow Pod that has also tested positive, this pupil had no symptoms and was being tested as part of a study.   This also shows the importance of self-isolating.

As we now have two cases in the same pod that are highly likely to be related, public health are now describing this as an ‘outbreak’.  There are no further actions at this stage, as we have already closed Yellow pod and the timings of the results are similar.  

Please let us know if there is anyone else with symptoms and inform us of test results over the half term.  Everything has to be logged with Public Health.  

A Reminder

Orange Pod are isolating until the 3rd November – return to school 3rd November

Green Pod are isolating until the 3rd November – return to school 3rd November

Yellow Pod are isolating until the 7th November – return to school 9th November, however self isolation can finish on the 7th November.  The last day of contact was the 23rd October.  

Please let us know if anyone gets symptoms and/or tests positive.

 

SEESAW

We are impressed how many of you have already accessed SEESAW – a huge well-done to all!

We are trialling it over half term, but please look out for daily activities when your pod is self-isolating during term time.

Please continue to be safe and look after each other.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards,

Mrs H

 

26.10.20

Advice to All Parents – Single case

Dear Parents,

We have been advised by Public Health England that there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19 within the school.

We know that you may find this concerning but are continuing to monitor the situation and are working closely with Public Health England. This letter is to inform you of the current situation and provide advice on how to support your child. Please be reassured that for most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

The small number of children who have been in direct prolonged contact with the confirmed case will have received an individual letter and will be staying at home for 14 days.

The school remains open and your child should continue to attend if they remain well.

What to do if your child develops symptoms of COVID 19

If your child develops symptoms of COVID-19, they must not come to school and should remain at home for at least 10 days from the date when their symptoms appeared. Anyone with symptoms will be eligible for testing and this can be arranged via https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test or by calling 119. 

All other household members who remain well, must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. This includes anyone in your Support Bubble.

Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.

Household members should not go to work, school or public areas and exercise should be taken within the home.

If you require help with buying groceries, other shopping or picking up medication, or walking a dog, you should ask friends or family. Alternatively, you can order your shopping online and medication by phone or online.

Household members staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community

If you are able, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:

• a new continuous cough
• a high temperature
• a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

If your child or anyone in the household does develop symptoms, you can seek advice from NHS 111 at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/check-if-you-have-coronavirus-symptoms/ or by phoning 111.

How to stop COVID-19 spreading

There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with COVID-19

Do

• wash your hands with soap and water often do this for at least 20 seconds
• use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
• wash your hands as soon as you get home
• cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
• put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards

Further Information

Further information is available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Yours sincerely

Mrs Rachel Hurding

Headteacher

 

23.10.20

Dear Parents, 

We are so pleased that many of you are managing to log onto Seesaw and are starting to explore what it has to offer. It is going to play a crucial role in our blended learning.

Whilst we love to receive little video messages from your children and it is no problem sending these to their teacher please can you ensure that you are aware of what they are sending. We ask that you speak to your child and ensure that any videos which are sent are NOT videoed in their bedroom and that they are fully clothed. Please encourage them to use Seesaw as a learning tool.

Thank you for your support in this matter. 

 

23.10.20

Morning everyone!

Well we nearly made it!

POD CLOSURE

We have sadly had to close Orange Pod and Green Pod due to two separate staff cases.

The Pods have to isolate for 14 days from the last contact they had with the member of staff and from when the staff member started with systems.

I have now spoken in depth with Public Health and both pods can return to school on Tuesday 3rd November (I know I originally put the 2nd November for Green pod on Facebook).

Thank you for all the concerned comments regarding staff, they are of course unwell but ok and everyone is resting up.

Half term is well timed for us all.

SEESAW 

Hopefully everyone has received log-ins for SEESAW so we hope your child will get opportunity to look over half term.

FACE COVERINGS

We will all wear face coverings outside during pick up and drop off times from the first day back, Monday the 2nd November, unless your child is in a pod that has closed, then it will be the Tuesday.

We cannot thank you enough for all your support.

We hope you manage to have a restful half term.

Stay Safe

Mrs Hurding

 

22.10.20

Dear Parents,

We have been made aware of a member of our school community who has tested positive for COVID 19.

We know that you may find this concerning but we are continuing to monitor the situation and are working closely with Public Health England. This letter is to inform you of the current situation and provide advice on how to support your child. Please be reassured that for most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

The small number of children who have been in close contact with the individual who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) have received a letter informing them that their child must stay at home for 14 days.

The school remains open and your child should continue to attend as normal if they remain well.

What to do if your child develops symptoms of COVID 19

If your child develops symptoms of COVID-19, they must not come to school and should remain at home for at least 10 days from the date when their symptoms appeared. Anyone with symptoms will be eligible for testing and this can be arranged via https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test or by calling 119. 

All other household members who remain well, must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. This includes anyone in your Support Bubble.

Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.

Household members should not go to work, school or public areas and exercise should be taken within the home.

If you require help with buying groceries, other shopping or picking up medication, or walking a dog, you should ask friends or family. Alternatively, you can order your shopping online and medication by phone or online.

Household members staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community

If you are able, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:

• a new continuous cough
• a high temperature
• a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

If your child does develop symptoms, you can seek advice from the nhs.uk website at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/check-if-you-have-coronavirus-symptoms/. If you are concerned about your childs symptoms, or they are worsening you can seek advice from NHS 111 at https://111.nhs.uk/ or by phoning 111.

How to stop COVID-19 spreading

There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with COVID-19

Do

• wash your hands with soap and water often do this for at least 20 seconds
• use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
• wash your hands as soon as you get home
• cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
• put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards

Further Information

Further information is available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Yours sincerely

Mrs Rachel Hurding

Headteacher

 

22.10.20

Dear Parents, 

As per the guidance below from Barnsley Council we will all wear face coverings whilst waiting outside school, dropping off and collecting children from school.  This will start the first day back after half term, the 2nd November.

Thank you for your support,

Regards

Mrs Hurding

 

Sent On Behalf of Barnsley Alliance

Dear Colleagues,

We are asking  for support from all academies and maintained schools in the borough to encourage all parents to wear face coverings when dropping off and collecting their children from their setting.  Given Barnsley will enter into Tier 3 category  from Saturday we need to ensure that we continue to protect all members of the public and our NHS service given the rise and transmission in cases we have seen recently.  We are therefore asking that we take a blanket approach across our borough and encourage all parents to wear face coverings when undertaking the school run.  Please ensure that you share this message with all parents so people are clear from the start of the new term.

Attached is a Social Media message that you can use to help re-enforce the message.  It is important to remember that Coronavirus usually spreads by droplets from coughs, sneezes and speaking. These droplets can also be picked up from surfaces. This is why wearing a face covering, along with social distancing and regular hand washing is so important.

Thank you for your continued support in the matter.

 

21.10.20

Dear Parents (Y5/6 children),

We are currently in the process of sorting out remote home learning incase of a pod closure.

We will be using Seesaw throughout school and will be sending the Y5/6 children home with LBQ tablets that they are familiar with to enable home learning. 

Children’s logins will be sent home this week.

Please could you acknowledge that you accept responsibility of the device by replying to this email or direct to h.fiddes@theellis.org.

We will not be able to issue your child with a device until we receive your response.

Upon receipt of your acknowledgement of this email a loan agreement form will be completed and signed by your child and a device will be issued to them.

Mrs Wise and Miss Saunders

 

21.10.20

Dear Parents, 

SEESAW

We are delighted to be back in school and are so proud of the way the children have readjusted to school life after such a long period of remote learning and Rainbow school. We are hopeful that full school can continue, however we are living in challenging times and need to prepare for all eventualities. It is possible that Covid 19 will lead to individual families, whole pods or the whole school having to go into isolation for a period. In these circumstances, we need to be prepared and to find new and better ways to deliver the curriculum remotely. 

With this in mind, we are planning to trial using an online platform called SEESAW as a way to set learning to be done at home and to open up communication between learners at home and their teachers. As a staff team, we are still learning how to work the technology but would like to have it up and running as soon as possible so hope you will learn alongside us by completing and sharing some home learning on the platform. This will help you and your children become confident in accessing the platform and help teachers understand which activities and learning work well on the platform. Please let us know if you have any problems accessing SEESAW as your feedback will be key to us getting the home learning platform up and running. 

Please see the log in document that will be brought home tonight with details of how to log into your childs account. There will be a task for your child to access over half term. Please try to follow the instructions to complete a few tasks. Do not worry if you have trouble accessing the resources. Remember this is a trial period so if you have any glitches or problems communicate them with school and we will work out a solution together. 

If you are accessing Seesaw on a tablet or mobile device you may need to download the free app. It is also possible to access it on a computer or laptop. If you do not have technology to access SEESAW please let your childs class teacher know and we will find other ways to help you access the learning that is uploaded onto the platform. 

 

PHONE CALLS

Teachers have continued to be busy making parents evening phone calls, if you do not have a call before half term, we will continue the first week back, thank you for your patience. If teachers are using their mobiles it will come up on your phone as caller ID withheld.

 

CHILDREN IN NEED – Friday 13th November

🌈Children in need will come round quickly after half term, it’s on Friday the 13th November.

This year we thought it would be nice to dress up in rainbow colours. 🌈 You can wear one colour from the rainbow, wear something with rainbows on or even wear every colour from the rainbow. If you have Pudsey T-shirts etc then wear these too! 

We are delighted that Children in Need is acknowledging the importance of mental health and we cant wait to see school filled with colour during a very grey time.

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

We will not be collecting money, please contribute as a family online if you feel you can. 

This video is really good, it links to all the work we have been doing on looking after mental health. 

 

https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/changing-lives/goodbye-rainclouds/

 

SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS

We are fortunate to still be able to have children’s individual photographs taken during this tricky time. The photographer will be coming into school on Friday, 6th November. There will be no sibling photographs taken to avoid mixing pods. You are under no obligation to purchase the photographs but we will have them available to buy in time for Christmas.

Thank you for your continued support.  

We really hope you all manage to have a great half term during this tricky time.

Best wishes, 

The Ellis Staff Team   

 

15.10.20

Dear All Parents

Safety

Can we remind everyone that you cannot drop children off in a car by the main entrance. There are zigzags there to show it is illegal to park there.  As this is where parents and children wait before their time to come into school it has become even more dangerous. 

Can you please make sure you have passed this message onto grandparents too.

Race for Life

Thank you to who everyone who supported us in our Race for Life, the children thoroughly enjoyed participating on the school grounds. Please can all sponsorship money be brought in to school by Monday 19th October when we will be able to let you know the grand total.

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Hurding 

 

13.10.20

Dear All Parents,

Government Announcement

I hope everyone is ok after the Government announcement last night.  

Now we are in a Tier 2 situation it will impact on all our lives. 

I am delighted that school will be able to continue as this is what all our children need. I am hoping that working parents are still ok for childcare as it was mentioned that childcare bubbles are allowed to continue.  

Tier 2 puts us all in a hard situation, we can all be together at school but children and families cannot visit each other now as households can no longer mix. 

This impacts greatly on staff, again, as we are allowed to spend each day with your wonderful children but not visit our families. I know we will continue to do what we do best at The Ellis and that is to support each other.  We want everyone to continue to be as safe as possible, please help school to stay open by not mixing together out of school. 

We need to continue to work in our pods – this I imagine will be for a long time now. 

Can we remind everyone to only have one adult dropping off and collecting children, please move on as quickly as possible once you have collected your child as we cannot have social gatherings at school.  

Please do everything you can to socially distance from other families.  

Thank you for your continued support. All our children have settled back into school life brilliantly and all our children new to school have been amazing.

Phone calls home

All our teachers are aiming to phone all parents before half term, we know this is going to take a while so please be patient.  We only have three phone lines, so it is possible this will impact if you are trying to phone school.  If you cannot get through please email Mrs Fiddes on h.fiddes@theellis.org 

Home learning 

In the event of a pod closure or a child needing to self- isolate we will provide home learning.  

We are currently learning how to use the learning platform SEESAW as this will give us opportunity to respond and feedback to learning happening at home.  

We are very aware that in the event of closure parents are also working at home so with this in mind we will continue to enable home learning to be done at the best time for the family.  It will be vital for your child’s learning that they continue to engage with learning at home.  

We will be sending more information out regarding SEESAW before half term as we would like all to have an experiment with it over half term.   

Our aim is to provide Y5 and Y6 with their learning device that they use in school , contracts will be going out to Y5 and Y6 for this.  

If your child has no access to a device (computer, laptop, tablet) can you please let us know, we are not expecting children to have their own device but to have one available at some point in the day for their learning.  Can you please inform school if you have no device that your child can use at home.  

We will do everything we can to continue learning.

Stay safe everyone and continue to contact us if you have any concerns.

Please read the message below which we have been asked to share by the Local Authority.

Mrs H

 

Message from Cllr Sir Steve Houghton CBE, Leader of Barnsley Council and Chair of the Barnsley Outbreak Control Engagement Board

 This message is not one that I ever wanted to share, but were now in a position where Barnsley, along with our other South Yorkshire councils, has been placed in the governments high covid alert level due to our rising Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection rates.

Our most recent 7-day rate of new COVID-19 infections in Barnsley is 190.4 per 100,000 people in the population (7 days ending 6 October). This is serious; Coronavirus (COVID-19) and, more importantly, its transmission, are a genuine threat in our borough. If the rates continue to rise, theres no doubt that the government will impose more, extreme measures on our borough, and we all want to avoid this at all costs.

Being in the high-level means that from Wednesday 14 October, we all need to adhere to the additional measures to reduce the transmission of the virus. The government will provide more information on this shortly, but it includes:

• People must not meet with anybody outside their household or support bubble in any indoor setting, whether at home or in a public place.
• People must not meet in a group of more than six outside, including in a garden or other space.
• People should aim to reduce the number of journeys they make where possible. If they need to travel, they should walk or cycle where possible, or to plan ahead and avoid busy times and routes on public transport.

Our local approach

We continue to work closely with Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield councils as well as partners from health, Sheffield City Region and South Yorkshire Police to make local decisions that support our residents, communities and businesses, and protect lives.

Its important, though, that we recognise that we are all distinctive communities with different infection drivers and that we need to have our local action plans that complement other South Yorkshire authorities.

Our Barnsley Outbreak Control Plan (OCP) is driving our approach to prevent, detect, respond to, and reduce the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) among our communities. Well not be complacent in our approach; our focus is on:

• using our local knowledge and expertise to boost the national NHS Test and Trace programme at a local level. Were developing our COVID-19 support service to provide advice and guidance to residents, schools and businesses on self-isolation. The service is also following up the contact tracing of confirmed COVID-19 cases that have not successfully been contacted by the national programme
• building on the financial support and advice that weve already provided to our local businesses by making plans to further support those who are most affected by the governments new additional measures
• prioritising support for Barnsleys care homes and their residents, working with them to ensure they can continue to deliver safe and effective care. Well do this through financial support, help with guidance and advice from local NHS and social care teams, support with training and help to minimise the risks of increased infections. Well also do whatever we can to support families to keep in touch with loved ones living in care homes
• making sure that residents that need our support the most get it through a range of support via our hardship funds and community assistance
• supporting schools, colleges and early years settings to make sure they robust control measures in places, with updated risk assessments and outbreak control plans to keep children and young people safe. We continue to support them to deal with any positive cases and potential outbreaks quickly
• developing a process to support people to self-isolate properly when they have symptoms, test positive or are told to by test and trace. Well be looking at how we can ensure compliance and work with South Yorkshire Police to enforce this when people are repeatedly not following the legislation
• supporting our local businesses to operate safely, providing advice on how to follow the governments legislation. Well be responding to concerns about businesses who are not following the legislation, working with colleagues at South Yorkshire Police to take enforcement action on those that are repeatedly putting people at risk
• provide information, so people understand their role in protecting themselves, their families and their communities by adhering to social distancing measures, washing their hands, wearing a face covering and getting a test and self-isolating if they have symptoms
• work closely with Public Health England and our local health partners to share information, resource and best practice so our response is the best it can be
• pay very close attention to what the data is telling us about the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19); continuously reviewing our action plan so we can identify high-risk areas, target our support and respond to any changes, trends or potential outbreaks.

Dont stop with the basics

I want to thank you all for your efforts so far, and I appreciate it has been challenging, but we need to pull together and double our efforts to get us through this pandemic. We all need to do the right thing. Make sure youre following the new additional measure as well as the basics:

• Dont be a contact follow social distancing guidance at home, work and when youre out and about.
• Wear a face covering and wear it correctly.
• Wash your hands regularly.
• Only travel if it is essential or for work.
• If you have symptoms such as a new continuous cough, a fever or loss of taste or smell isolate straight away and book a test.
• Isolate immediately if you are told to do so.

Watch the video message from the council Leader, Cllr Sir Steve Houghton CBE here.

Issued by Barnsley Councils Communications and Marketing team.

 

09.10.20

Dear Parents (Of full time nursery children)

After Christmas, full time nursery children will have the opportunity to stay all day on a Friday if you would like them to.  As this is in addition to their 30 hour entitlement there will be a charge of 15 payable via Parentpay each week.

If you would like to take advantage of the additional childcare please let us know.

 

09.10.20

Dear Parents,

Y5 will be taking part in an outdoor learning lesson with Miss Batley next week so will need appropriate clothing on Tuesday (13.10.20) instead of Monday. The children love learning outdoors and Miss Batley is planning a fabulous lesson for them to enjoy. The children should arrive in their normal school uniform and bring the clothes with them in a bag.

Thank you for your continued support.

Best wishes,

Mrs Wise

 

07.10.20

Dear All Parents, 

We continue to be amazed and delighted by the excited way our children are coming into school, thank you for everyone’s support in getting everyone to school.  The fact our attendance is 98% is credit to everybody getting everyone to school during this tricky time.  A huge thank you to everyone.

CV-19

We do not know what is around the corner regarding CV-19 and the increased cases are causing concerns nationally.  I want to reassure you we will continue to do everything we can to make school a safe as possible environment.  Children and staff and all our parents have adapted so well to our new routines.  

Staff are currently undergoing some training to help us improve our home learning offer, if and when the need may arise.  At least we may have a bit more warning than two days, which is what we were given for the last lockdown.  

Harvest

We plan to make a video to celebrate Harvest as a community this year. This will be shared at the end of this half term.  We are supporting the local foodbank again and will be accepting donations on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th to be placed in boxes at drop off and pick up collection times.  We hope this will give you opportunity to share our Harvest festival with your family.

Staffing 

Mrs Broadhurst, one of our Lunchtime supervisors and support TA has decided to leave school for personal reasons, we thank Mrs Broadhurst for her contribution to life at the Ellis and wish her all the best.  Miss Rigby and Miss Batley have been covering this position in Y3 since September.

The supply we had organised for Y1 TA Mrs Davies has decided to leave school for personal reasons, we have recruited a new supply Mrs Street.  We will be interviewing before half term to recruit another TA to join our team.  The children have continued to be very settled.

Outdoors 

As you know we have increased our outdoor learning in school not just due to CV-19 but also because we know it is a great way to learn.  A huge thank you to all our parents for supporting this by sending children in with coats and wellies.  

We are also doing PE outside as much as possible as the hall is used for groups to learn.  The tables are set up for breakfast club, then group learning and for F2 lunches (they are cleaned in between use).

We apologise for wet children going home yesterday in Y4 after PE.  The children had an amazing lesson and were wearing coats but as they got warm some children had taken them off. 

However, going forwards we will continue to not change for PE but if the children have a change of clothes in their PE kit bags- e.g joggers and t-shirts, we will make sure we change if children are wet through or covered in mud!  So we will reverse the changing.  

We do not want to stop this wonderful learning but we do want to keep everyone comfortable and safe.  

SAFETY out of school

We all know how important it is for children to have time playing outside when not in school, please ensure they are following the rule of 6.  We know it is really hard as they are allowed to see each other at school, but school is a controlled environment.  

It has also been mentioned by members of the community that children in the village have been standing in the road filming.  This has the potential to be so dangerous, please check that this has not been your children.

I will also be reminding all our children to respect the environment and not to deliberately drop litter both inside and outside of school.

Thank you for your continued support and please keep in contact if you have any concerns.

We can get through this together.

Mrs Hurding

 

06.10.20

Dear Parents/Carers,  

Our next topic is Victorians and we would like to give the children the opportunity to have an engaging and exciting experience, with opportunities to handle real Victorian artefacts.

School trips are challenging in the current circumstances, but we have identified a workshop by the company Real History Alive as a safe way to give our Y5 and Y6 children an immersive historical event in school. The workshop has been booked for the 10^th of November.

In order to cover the cost of the visitor we are asking for 4.50. This is payable via ParentPay and has been created in such a way as to allow the balance to be paid in four weekly instalments, you can of course pay in full if you prefer. Unfortunately, if insufficient funds are raised then we may not be able to go ahead with the visitors.  We would be really grateful for your support in making this event happen for Y5 and Y6. 

Many thanks, 

Miss Saunders and Mrs Wise 

 

05.10.20

Dear Parents,

Your children have had a wonderful time in our rainbow garden learning about Tudor houses and having the hands on experience of making wattle and daub. In the process, they have all become gloriously muddy! Please accept my apologies for their dirtiness. I hope you all believe the saying that a dirty child is a happy child!

Monday is always our outdoor learning day so feel free to send your child with a change of clothes in the future in case our learning leads to this again. 

Thank you for your support.

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise 

 

05.10.20

Dear Y5 Parents,

Please could your child bring a clean empty jam jar (with a lid if possible) to school by Friday.

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

 

05.10.20

Please see below the email we have received from Wakefield Girls’ School.

A warm Wakefield Girls’ welcome awaits 

I hope my email finds you well.

I am writing to offer a warm welcome to your female pupils and their families who may be interested in considering Wakefield Girls’ for a High School place.  Due to COVID-19, our Open Evenings  will run virtually on 13th and 14th October from 4 – 7pm. 

We hope to share an interactive flavour of life at Wakefield Girls’ and our teachers are available for calls and Google Meetings with interested families throughout our event.  There are also lots of opportunities to listen to some of our students,  see what our alumnae go on to do and have some fun with our online activities.

I’d be most grateful if you could mention our Open Evenings in your school communications and direct any interested families to register their interest or book a Google Meeting with us now at our website  wakefieldgirls.org.uk.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like any further details or if I can be of further help.

With thanks and best wishes,

Jo Blignaut
Admissions Secretary | Wakefield Girls High School
Wentworth Street, Wakefield, WF1 2QS
T: 01924 372490  Ext: 236
E: jblignaut@wgsf.net

 

01.10.20

Dear FS2 Parents, 

It is so lovely to see lots of eager children wanting to come to school and we look forward to seeing their smiley faces each morning. Please can we ask however that you do not come onto the path leading up from School Street until the allocated time of 8.55am. This is because we have Y2 at 8.40am, FS1 at 8.45am and Y1 at 8.50am. The FS1 numbers are starting to increase and therefore we will have more children and parents arriving for the 8.45am slot over the coming weeks. We will then let the children into FS2 at 8.55am. We do understand that parents who have dropped off siblings in a different class (at an earlier time) may be waiting at the top gate. 

The end of the day is running very smoothly, so thank you for your help with this. 

Thank you for your support in this matter. 

Mrs Hurding

 

01.10.20

Dear Y1 Parents, 

It is so lovely to see lots of eager children wanting to come to school and we look forward to seeing their smiley faces each morning. Please can we ask however that you do not come onto the path leading up from School Street until the allocated time of 8.50am. This is because we have Y2 at 8.40am and FS1 at 8.45am. The FS1 numbers are starting to increase and therefore we will have more children and parents arriving for the 8.45am slot over the coming weeks. We will then let the children into Y1 at 8.50am. We do understand that parents who have dropped off siblings in a different class (at an earlier time) may be waiting at the top gate. 

The end of the day is running very smoothly, so thank you for your help with this. 

Thank you for your support in this matter. 

Mrs Hurding

 

30.09.20

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your continued support during this very challenging time.

SAFETY

As you will be aware CV-19 is still very much with us and we have to continue to do everything we can to keep each other safe.

Social distancing continues to be vital for everyone’s safety.  

We are delighted that schools continue to be open, that is what our children need and we will continue to do everything we can to keep school as safe as possible.  

Please help us by continuing to social distance and to move on quickly when you have collected your child so that groups do not congregate.  

We continue to remind you to PLEASE park safely around school, ideally to park 5 minutes away and walk as this enables everyone to be able to walk on the pavements both for road safety as well as CV-19 safety.

Thank you for everyone’s support with drop off and pick up, we have got a lot quicker.

CURRICULUM EVENING

We normally have a curriculum evening this time of year to help parents with the learning expectations in each year group.  Due to current circumstances we cannot run this event.  We are organising information that will come home to support learning at school.  We know this is not as good as a face to face meeting but we hope it helps.

PARENTS EVENING

After half term we usually have parents evening, sadly this cannot happen due to CV-19 continuing to be a high risk. As it is so important for you to know how your child is doing at school, your child’s class teacher will give you a phone call before half term.  

These phone calls are scheduled from the 12th October.  We will not make appointments but we will always check when we phone that it is a convenient time to talk.

HELLO YELLOW

We are going to be taking part in the ‘Hello Yellow’ mental health day next Friday 9th October.  Where possible wear something ‘Yellow’ but please do not worry if you do not have anything, you could always make a nice accessory to wear. We are very mindful that I am not giving you much notice which I apologise for, it seems to be earlier than last year, but please do not go out and buy anything special for the occasion.  The most important part of the day is to focus on the importance of looking after our mental health, children will be involved in an activity to share the importance at some point in the day.  Mental health needs to be a focus now more than ever!

FLOCK at WENTWORTH

We are delighted that the whole school has taken part in decorating a bird for the ‘Flock at Wentworth’. You are able to book a visit so if you do manage to get to do this we would love to see your photos.

HOT MEALS

We are very happy that we will be offering more variety of food again.

CELEBRATIONS

We are placing the Friday celebration photographs on Facebook. If we do not have your permission to post on Facebook we will send your photograph by email (I’ll try really hard to remember).  Our newsletter is mainly around key dates in school alongside photographs hence our reasons for not doing this at the moment.

FLU IMMUNISATIONS – 22nd October

The nurses will be coming into school on the 22nd October to deliver the nasal flu spray programme for F2 – Y6 children. 

All consent forms will be sent out electronically (no paper consent forms will be distributed or collected this year).

www.southwestyorkshire.nhs.uk/flu 

When you have completed the link , the consent form will go back directly to the flu nurses.

 

Thank you all again for your continued support in these tricky times,

Mrs Hurding

 

29.09.20

Dear Parents,

Commencement of Hot Meals  Census Day Hot Meal Menu Menus October 20

On Thursday (1^st October) we will be offering hot dog or pizza to encourage children to try the new hot meal system. We really hope the children will enjoy their hot meal served in their pods in individual cartons with cutlery.  Please see the attached full Census day menu. As we receive funding based on the uptake of universal free school meals on this day and FS2 and KS1 children are all entitled to a free school meal every day if you could please allow your child to have a school dinner on this day you would be greatly supporting our school. Thank you.  

 

I have attached the menus from Monday 5^th October up to Christmas when children will be able to choose either the hot traditional meal option, the vegetarian choice or a jacket potato with the existing choice of 3 fillings.  Please note that the cold pasta pots and sandwiches will no longer be an option.

The menus will be read out in class to the children each morning and they can make their choice daily. Payment is made via ParentPay (accounts must be in credit) and each lunch costs 2.

Thank you,

Hayley Fiddes

28.09.20

Dear All Parents,

We have received the following guidance from GOV.UK asking us to share the link with you all. Thank you.

Letter to parents and guardians: when you should book a coronavirus test for your child – GOV.UK

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-parents-and-guardians-when-you-should-book-a-coronavirus-test-for-your-child/letter-to-parents-and-guardians-when-you-should-book-a-coronavirus-test-for-your-child

 

25.09.20

Dear Nursery Parents/Carers,

Nursery Rhymes

During number time we are learning counting nursery rhymes and we would like you to sing them together at home too. Below is a list of the rhymes we are singing in class (you can also find them on YouTube if you do not know the lyrics).

1,2 buckle my shoe

1,2,3,4,5 once I caught a fish alive

Peter hammers with 1 hammer

1 potato, 2 potato 3 potato more

Zac and Reggie count to 10

Spare Uniform

In nursery we would be grateful for girl’s school socks or tights, also fleeces, jackets or raincoats of any sex to use as spares.

Thank you,

Mrs Pollard

 

22.09.20

Dear Parents,

YAY! HOT DINNERS ARE COMING BACK!Census Day Hot Meal Menu

From Monday 5^th October children will be able to choose either the new hot meal option, a vegetarian choice or a jacket potato with the existing choice of 3 fillings. New menus will be issued soon. Please note that the cold pasta pots and sandwiches will no longer be an option.

On Thursday 1^st October we will also be offering hot dog or pizza to encourage children to try the new system, we really hope the children will enjoy their hot meal served in their pods in individual cartons with cutlery.  Please see the attached full Census day and we receive funding based on the uptake of universal free school meals on this day. FS2 and KS1 children are all entitled to a free school meal every day so if you could please allow your child to have a school dinner on this day you would be greatly supporting our school. Thank you.  

Mrs Edwards 

It came to my attention during VIP tea last week that some of you may not realise that Mrs Edwards had a gorgeous baby boy back in July. As Austin Edwards was born during the Summer holidays, the announcement and  congratulations were placed on Facebook and we know not everyone has access to that. 

Annual Consents now on ParentPay

During a normal school year, The Ellis organises a number of local visits and journeys away from the school site as part of your childs learning experiences. Older children may also have the opportunity to take part in sporting activities which may involve travel to another school.

These activities are always approved by the headteacher and present no significant risk to the health and safety of the pupils and follow the Local Authoritys guidance. Participation in the trip is always dependent on good behaviour.

Currently, due to the current situation we have NO such trips arranged.

The purpose of the consent form is to enable parents to give their permission for their child to participate in these trips without the need to sign a separate consent each time.

FULL details of each trip will be explained prior to the visit, including information relating to where the pupils will be going, the activities to be undertaken, what they will need and the expected time back at school.

Examples of such trips would be a local walk around the area (Hemingfield, jump Cenotaph, Wombwell Church, Elsecar Park), Inter school Sports competitions, (Kirk Balk, Netherwood, Shafton, English Institute of Sport) or trips to other schools for transition or inter-school competitions.

We would be grateful if you could log onto your ParentPay account and sign the annual consent form for use later in the year reassured in the knowledge that there are no upcoming trips planned and that full details will be issued of any such trips prior to them taking place.

Race For Life

A reminder about our Race for Life day this Friday, 25th September. We would like every child and adult in school to wear something Pink. It doesnt have to be all pink, a pink t-shirt or socks or hair band or even a tutu! If you havent got anything pink then red / orange will be fine. Please no football kits. We are not asking for donations for non-uniform on this day but if you would like to add an extra donation, Im sure Cancer Research would really appreciate that. Please send in your sponsorship money or use the link to donate online https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/the-ellis-church-of-england-school-1 

There is no expectation to run, unless children would like to, and a drink will be given afterwards.

Uniform Orders

The turnaround for uniform orders placed in school is now fortnightly starting from tomorrow, 23^rd September.  The Vortex Schoolwear Website is now live and although you are still welcome to collect an order form from the office it may be preferable to order online from now on. You will be able to choose between free school delivery, home delivery or collection from Vortex. An email will be sent once an order has been placed and you will receive frequent updates on the status of your order. 

The website link directing you to the homepage is:

www.vortexschoolwear.co.uk

The website link directing you to our School’s page is:

www.vortexschoolwear.co.uk/Primary-Schools/The-Ellis-CE-Primary-School

Foundation Stage 2 Book Bags

We are sorry for the confusion on our part regarding homework. Please can book bags be returned to school every Tuesday, (Wednesday at the latest), in time for them to be sent home on Thursday. Thank you.

ParentPay Accounts

Please remember to keep these topped up as we still have a few accounts in arrears. We will unfortunately be unable to keep providing lunches to those children who have arrears on their accounts.

ParentPay usernames, passwords and information will be sent home shortly for new parents.

Foundation Stage Mud Kitchen

Foundation Stage would like to develop their mud kitchen on the field and need your help! If you have any of the following METAL items that you can donate to us, please give them to either Mrs. Pollard, Mr. Grayhurst or to Mrs. Fiddes in the office: pans, frying pans, bun tins, cups, plates, dishes, whisks, spoons, sieves, jugs and ladles.

Thank you for your help.

Make the most of this lovely sunny day as rain and colder weather has been forecast for the end of this week.

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

18.09.20

Dear Parents,

Another busy week at The Ellis.

One- way system

Thank you for everyone’s support with dropping children off and collecting at the end of the day, we are getting quicker!  It really does help us and other parents arriving if you come for your allocated time.  We do understand that some parents have to wait due to siblings also needing to be dropped off.  

We encourage families to continue to social distance to keep everyone as safe as possible.

Ready to learn!

The children continue to be settled and are keen to learn.  We have noticed we are needing to develop concentration and listening skills alongside increasing stamina when working.  We will continue to remind our children to make the right choices and issue consequences to children who have broken the hands and feet rule and have been rude to teaching staff.  Staff are working hard to support and remind our amazing children how we learn whilst at school.  Thank you for your support in this matter.  If your child does receive a red card we will phone to let you know and explain the situation rather than inform you on the gate.  Likewise, if you need more information on a situation please do phone school.  We thank you for your support in helping your children get back into the school routines.

Healthy Lunch boxes

What children eat at lunch makes a huge difference to how they learn in an afternoon.

A reminder that we encourage healthy packed lunches.  As a school we say no to fizzy drinks, sweets or large amounts of chocolate in lunch boxes.  It is important to try and reduce sugar content as much as possible.  

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/school-packed-lunch-inspiration

Media Permissions

If you have given us media permissions for Twitter and Facebook this will automatically continue over to the next year.  If you do change your mind about permissions please let us know and we will change it for you straightaway.

RE FACEBOOK – Mrs H does not get Facebook messages whilst at school, so if you have an urgent query during the day an email or a phone call is better.

Outdoor Learning

We are continuing to develop our outdoor areas so if anyone has anything they think could be useful that they would like to donate, please let us know. We are currently needing artificial plants and a bird box if anyone has anything. 

 All donations are gratefully received.

Staffing 

Miss Batley has been supporting transition in Y3 over the last three weeks.  Miss Batley is off to University and will continue to support us one afternoon a week (maybe more) to develop Rainbow Garden and Forest School.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Hurding

 

18.09.20

Dear Parent/Carer,

Wath Academy have delivered information packs for each child in Y6, these will be sent home with your child today.

We will be sure to pass on any information from other secondary schools when we receive it.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards,

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

18.09.20

Dear Parents,

We have everything crossed that our PGL trip will be able to go ahead. We know that things are uncertain at the moment and that it is subject to safety. If for any reason the trip is unable to go ahead, please be reassured that any payments made will be refunded. Currently, we need to continue with the payment schedule on the optimistic assumption that we will be able to go, this will avoid ending up in a position where we don’t have the funds to make the trip viable.

You should currently all have paid 45 and the next payment of 65 is due by 6th November 2020.

Please make sure that at least 110 has been paid by this date.

If you have any questions please get in touch or if you are having difficulties with your ParentPay account please let Mrs Fiddes know.

Kind regards

Mrs Wise

 

17.09.20

Dear Parents, as you can see below we have been asked to circulate the following email and information.

Thank you, Hayley Fiddes.

SENT ON BEHALF OF HELEN GODDARD, PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER, BARNSLEY MBC

Dear Partners please could I ask you to circulate the below either with partners and stakeholders who work with children and young people in Barnsley, or if you work directly with children and young people and parents please circulate the survey link to them directly by copying and pasting the pre-drafted email below.

Could I also ask that you share the survey via your social media channels I have provided a suggested post for you to use.

Social Media Post:

Calling all children and young people in Barnsley! Your emotional wellbeing is important to us. Help us to develop services to support your needs through this difficult time by completing our short survey: https://surveys.barnsley.gov.uk/s/YFEZGV/

Email Draft:

The Public Health team want to know how children and young people of Barnsley have been feeling during the COVID-19 pandemic and we have developed a very short survey (only 14 questions) to help us gather that information

To go to the survey click the link below:

Take me to the survey 

 If you would like to find out about what emotional wellbeing support there is available locally please visit our new hub pages:

Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing Hub – Children & Young People

Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing Hub – Adults, Parents & Carers

 

Who can complete the survey?

We want to hear from all children and young people living in Barnsley (up to age 19 or age 25 for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND))

If you are under 13 years of age you will need a parent or carer to give their permission to complete the survey.

Parents and carers, you may want help your child to answer the questions in the survey if they are younger or need any extra support.

Those who are 13 years or older can complete the survey alone.

 

Why do you want to know how Im feeling?

Our emotional health and wellbeing is more important than ever and we want to help you to take care of it.

The information we get from this survey will help us to decide how to support children and young people as best we can through this difficult time.

 

Who will see my answers?

The survey will be completely anonymous and the questions have been worded so that there will be no personal information that may identify you.

A link to the full privacy notice is included at the top of the survey which offers more detail on how we will use the data.

 

I have already done this survey before

Day by day different things are happening and situations keep on changing, which is why we would like it if you can do this survey ideally every month so we can see how your feelings change over time.

Thank you for taking the time to be involved, we hope that with this information we can support your emotional health and wellbeing through these difficult times.

Many Thanks

Helen

Helen Goddard

Public Health Officer

Childrens Services – Education, Early Start and Prevention

Barnsley Council

 

15.09.20

Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope you are well and enjoying the sunny weather. 

Just to confirm, the new homework books will be sent home on Friday (18^th September). 

Your child will come home with four new books, your child will also be set homework (later in the year) from the Key Stage Two Maths SATS Question Book that Mrs Edwards sent during the school closure.

Please find attached the Y6 homework schedule.  Y6 HOMEWORK SCHEDULE 2020 AUTUMN

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Thank you for your support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

15.09.20

Dear Parents and Carers,

I am emailing regarding the safe use of the internet and the online platforms that children are accessing at home. Keeping pupils safe online is very much a partnership between us in school and yourselves at home. The internet is a forever growing and changing resource and we want our pupils to benefit from the positives the online world can offer but we also want to help them use it safely and respectfully.

It has come to our attention that some children are accessing online platforms that are not age appropriate or that they may be communicating inappropriately with others online. Please ensure you are aware of the age ratings as many games and platforms are over 12 or 13 (this includes Tiktok, Facebook, Fortnite and Instagram). We strongly encourage you to adhere to the guidelines suggested when deciding what is appropriate for your child at home. Please also monitor your child’s interactions with others online, including checking that they are not at risk of cyberbullying (either as a victim or perpetrator) and ensuring that they are not sharing personal information with anyone online.

Here are some internet safety resources that you can access:

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/ 

Online safety | NSPCC

Call our O2 NSPCC Advice Line on 0808 800 5002 for advice on apps, sites, games and online safety. If you’re worried about something a child or young person may have experienced online, you can contact the NSPCC helpline for free support and advice.

www.nspcc.org.uk

https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/young-people/resources-3-11s

Resources for 3-11s | Safer Internet Centre

SMART Rules! S. Safe: Keep safe by being careful not to give out personal information when you’re chatting or posting online. Personal information includes your email address, phone number and password. M. Meet: Meeting someone you have only been in touch with online can be dangerous. Only do so with your parents’ or carers’ permission and even then only when they can be present.

www.saferinternet.org.uk

If you have any specific concerns please contact Mrs Hurding, Mrs Gay or your child’s class teacher.

Many thanks,

Mrs Hurding, Mrs Wise and Mrs Trotter

 

14.09.20

Dear Parents, 

Thank you all for the amazing support you have shown over these first couple of weeks of school. I would like to reiterate how brilliantly the children have come back and how lovely it is to be with them. Thank you for the wonderful response with sending book bags back into school each day as it makes it so much easier to change books on a Monday and make sure everyone has what they need. 

I realise that everybody is juggling things at the minute and I know that the children are reading with you at home as they have all been telling me about the books they have been sharing. I have popped the school reading letter into some book bags, as school policy, as a reminder to ask parents to fill in reading diaries please. Even if this is just the title, pages read and signature that would be really helpful please. I recognise that this first few weeks will take some adjusting to and that in this current climate, everything is very strange and life is busy. Please do not worry if you have not yet established a routine with reading, but please try over the coming weeks to encourage your child to read with you as much as they can. I can see how much you have been doing with them over the last few months in their reading, so again thank you. 

Thank you for your continued support. 

Kind Regards

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

The Ellis C E Primary School

 

11.09.20

Dear Parents, 

As we had thought might happen, Young Voices 2021 has been postponed until later in the year. We now have a date of Tuesday 8th June 2021. 

If you had previously emailed Mrs Fiddes for a place, then your child still has one and will be able to attend the concert on Tuesday 8th June (fingers crossed this new date can go ahead). 

I am expecting some more information about the things which are being planned for 2021 as it is Young Voices’ 25th Anniversary and as soon as I receive this, I will send it out to parents. 

Presently, I am unable to practise the songs with the children in school but your child is welcome to start learning the songs which can be found at https://www.youngvoices.co.uk/music-room    (Password – YV2021). As soon as we are able to, I will start practising the songs with the children in school. 

So for now, please note the new date and when I have more to tell, I will be sure to email. It is disappointing that we have to wait a little bit longer, but I know that Young Voices 2021 will be phenomenal whenever it takes place!

Kind Regards 

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

The Ellis C E Primary School

 

11.09.20

Dear Parent/Carer,

We are really pleased with how well the children have settled back into school and would like to update you with more information about life in Y6.

PE: Our PE days are Tuesdays and Fridays.  

Trips and visits (so far):
PGL Residential: 26^th 28^th May 2021 (fingers crossed!)

Home Learning Expectations:

In response to feedback and in a bid to prepare the children for the future. Children will be issued homework every Friday and will need to bring it back to school on the following Friday. This will give them a full week to complete their homework giving them plenty of time for out of school sporting and enrichment activities (which as a school we are passionate about encouraging). During the week if the children have any issues or questions they also have plenty of time to come and ask for any support that they may need.

Children will be given weekly spellings via Spelling Shed (if you do require a paper copy, please do let me know). Children will record their weekly spellings in their spelling records, please ensure that these are in school on Mondays and Fridays. Children should also use these to practise their spellings. I will also record the childs spelling score in them.

I will set homework from the CGP Key Stage Two Maths SATS question book that Mrs Edwards sent during the school closure period (please note if you did not pick this up from school it will be sent home with your child). Children will also receive a new CGP reading bundle (fiction, non-fiction and poetry) and a maths arithmetic workbook. I will explain to the children which pages to do at home (children will only be expected to do a couple of pages from either one of the maths books and a couple of pages from one of the three reading books Ill send a schedule out over the next week). These books must be returned to school every Friday, I have explained to the class that it is their responsibility to remember to bring in their homework.   This should promote the childrens independence and improve their organisation skills (ready for secondary but were not wanting to think about that just yet). School have purchased the books, however if the children misplace their books, there will be a charge of 2 for the Maths book and 1.85 for each of the Reading books.  Homework from the CGP books will  be set from Friday 18^th September.

We expect children to read at least three times per week, children need to bring their reading records to school every day. I have plenty of books that the children can borrow.  

Secondary School Applications

A secondary school application pack has been sent home with your child, the deadline for the application is 31^st October 2020.

 Consent forms

Please ensure that you return the consent form for walking home unaccompanied.

SATS: 

SATS week will be 10^th 14^th May 2021.  After school boosters will begin after Christmas.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

The Ellis CE Primary School

 

11.09.20

Dear Parents,

Snacks

The fruit Government Scheme has now recommenced. A free piece of fruit will be available daily for all Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 children to have as their healthy snack if they so wish. We do not receive details of the type of fruit it will be but examples are carrots, pears, apples, bananas and satsumas.

We are aware that some children are getting hungry before lunchtime, especially Key Stage 2 children, please send your child to school with a healthy snack to eat at breaktime if you feel they would benefit from this.

Thermometers

Due to the importance of temperature checking we are recommending that all families have a thermometer to use at home if your child feels unwell. Strip thermometers can be purchased online for just a couple of pounds.

Thank you

 

11.09.20

Dear Y3 Parents, 

Firstly, it has been lovely to see our wonderful Y3 children return to school and I keep popping my head around the corner to wave at them! Their teachers have said how well they are settling in, so please tell them I am very proud of them. 

I know that at the moment, there are lots of uncertainties and things are continuing to change but we have rebooked Whirlow Farm for the Y3 children and I have everything crossed that it will go ahead. If we are unable to go due to government restrictions on these dates, we will rebook it again. I am determined to take them at some point!

The dates we have are 22-26th March 2021​. This is the week before the Easter holidays and I have no doubt that Easter and Spring on the farm will be lots of fun! This time we have managed to book both the barn and the hall (accommodation) at the same time. Both of these can sleep up to 12 children and 2 adults. Therefore the dates will work as follows:-

Mon 22nd March – Wednesday 24th March (mid morning)

2 groups of children will go plus 4 staff. (Half of the children will stay in the barn with 2 staff and half will stay in the hall with 2 other staff). I will be 1 of the staff accompanying the children and even though we are in two different accommodations, they are literally a 10 minute walk along a farm path and we will see each other during the day and will spend the evenings as one large group. All the children will take part in the activities as they are timetabled at different times so each group has their own slot. 

Wednesday 24th March (mid-morning) – Friday 26th March

​We will return to school with group 1 and group 2 and will immediately collect group 3 and these children will go with 2 members of staff (of which I will be one) and will stay in the hall. Again, all children will take part in all activities. 

Payments

I am fully aware that some people have paid the whole 98 and others have paid various instalments. Please be reassured that all this money is safe in parentpay and even if we have to move the dates again, your money is safe. 

As we are hoping to go in March which is classed as ‘mid-season’ rather than ‘high-season’, the price now works out at 80 rather than 98. Therefore if you have not paid all of it yet and want to begin paying small instalments again, you only need to pay up to 80 rather than 98. If you have already paid the full amount, once we are sure that the visit is going ahead and are confident that these will be the dates, Mrs Fiddes will then refund 18 back to you. If we did have to move the dates again and ended up going in ‘high season’, there is a chance the amount could go back up to 98. School has to pay Whirlow the full amount beforehand, therefore we ask that the 80 be paid to school by Friday 22nd January 2021. 

When we are sure that we can go, I will hold a parent’s meeting to explain in detail what will happen, what your child needs to take and to answer any questions you may have. 

Thank you for your understanding and patience in this matter. I was so disappointed to not be able to go this year, but I am desperately hoping that we can take the children in March. 

Kind Regards

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

The Ellis C E Primary School

 

11.09.20

Dear Y2 Parents, 

Just before the summer holidays, I enquired what uptake there would be for a Y2 residential trip to Whirlow Farm in 2021 and it was a resoundingly positive response, meaning that we have enough to run the trip. We are fully aware that this year is not as straight-forward as previous years and that things are changing all the time. We have provisionally booked in the residential for 28th June – 2nd July 2021  (if we have 24 or less children going) but have also booked in 5-7th July 2021 (if we have over 24 children going and need to take a 3rd group).  Should the trip not be able to go ahead, we would rebook the residential for them to go in Y3 (which is what we have had to do for our current Y3 children who missed going this year). Any monies paid towards the trip would be safe and would roll over onto the new dates. 

As a reminder, the children go in groups of up to 12 children accompanied by 2 staff members. They are transported there by coach / minibus and sleep in the hall which consists of 2 rooms of 6 (3 x 2 bunk beds) and two staff bedrooms. They will take part in lots of activities run by both school staff and Whirlow staff including a farm tour, farm jobs, pony ride, den building and a walk to Forge Dam to name but a few! All this, as well as the food, is included in the price (other than an optional small amount of spending money for souvenirs and an ice cream at the park!) We are unable to give a precise cost until we have exact numbers as the price of the accommodation and mini bus is a set price even if there is under-occupancy. Having looked at costings and previous year prices, I envisage it will be no more than about 95 and could be slightly less. As soon as I have definite numbers, I can divide the cost of the accommodation and coach between the number of children going and give you a set price. 

All I need now please is a reply to say that (providing all goes to plan and the trip goes ahead on these dates), your child would definitely like to attend and needs a space reserving. Once I have these numbers in, I will inform you of the total cost and send a payment plan of what has to be paid when, as we have to pay Whirlow upfront some weeks before we go. We would therefore be asking for the full amount to be paid by 23rd April 2021.  Nearer the time, I will hold a parents meeting about arrangements and what they need. 

It is a magical experience and by the time the first group go, I will have done this 9 times before and the magic never wears off! 

Please can I ask that you respond to this email stating whether your child will or not be attending. 

Kind Regards

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

The Ellis C E Primary School

 

11.09.20

Dear Y2 Parents, 

Firstly, can I praise all the children for a brilliant first full week. I am thoroughly enjoying teaching them and it is lovely to get to know them all. They are a delightful class and a pleasure to be with. Thank you to all the parents and grandparents for their patience at the end of the day. I have nearly learnt all the grown ups faces and matched them to the right child, but thank you for being patient with me, I will get there!

Spelling Books

Today I have sent home a spelling book in your child’s book bag. This will have a new spelling list each Friday (which is also on Spelling Shed). Please practise these spellings with your child ready for the new list the week after. We will regularly test your child on their spellings to see how they are getting on. 

Reading Books

Just a reminder that I will send home a new Read Write Inc Phonics books each Monday for the week ahead, but your child is welcome to change their other book any time they want to. We do remind the children every morning to change their reading book if they need to. We are currently benchmarking all the children to ensure they are reading the right colour. We hope to have this completed by the end of next week. Thank you for your patience. 

TT Rock Stars

School sent all the logins home for this last week to enable children to practise their times tables. In Y2 we learn the 2x, 5x and 10x tables. We do not formally teach multiplication until later on this term as we are currently working on place value and then need to cover addition and subtraction before we come onto multiplication. I will show the children how to use TT Rock stars in the coming days, but please do not worry yet if they do not fully understand the multiplication symbol. They will do once I have covered it in class. 

Phonics Screening Test    Mock Screening Check 2020 Answer Sheet      Phonics Sounds Set 1 2 and 3              Set 4 sounds

The Y2 children would ordinarily have undertaken the statutory Y1 phonics screening test in June, but due to COVID, this was cancelled. We have just received the information to say that all current Y2 children will now take the phonics screening test in Autumn 2. Please do not worry about this, I know it all sounds very formal. The screening consists of your child sitting with me to read 40 phonetically decodable words (20 of which are real words and 20 of which are alien words). This will be done in a quiet room where they can really focus. If they need a break we can stop and have a little rest. We are currently going over all the phonics which we taught in Y1 and I know Mrs Broadbent sent home flashcards with each child over lockdown. I have attached a sample screening sheet for you to see what it entails and also 2 other sheets with the sounds on which we are working on. Please keep going over these with your child to support what we are doing in school. Can I also say at this point that whilst the screening is statutory, I do not even mention it to the children, as far as they are aware, they are just showing Mrs Trotter what superstars they are at their phonics and will be made a fuss of afterwards! No child should feel worried or pressured at the age of 6 or 7 and so it will be very low key and we treat it as just a normal day and a chance to show off what they can do! 

I think that is all for now.

Have a lovely weekend and thank you again for your amazing support over the last two weeks. 

Kind Regards

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

The Ellis C E Primary School

 

10.09.20

Latest Local Authority Illness Guidelines

FROM BARNSLEY COUNCIL

Coughs:

We have had a very large number of children being reported over the last two days that have a cough. There are lots of minor coughs and colds going around at this time of year. In line with the NHS guidance schools are looking for a new, continuous cough this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual). It is not going to be sustainable for all children with minor symptoms to be sent home from school and asked to get a test. Firstly this will be detrimental to their learning and secondly, the Test and Trace services will only be testing based on the three main symptoms outlined by the NHS COVID Symptoms.  

 

Testing:

Were seeing some testing capacity issues at a national level, which may impact on our local offer.

The NHS is scaling up its Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing capacity to 500,000 tests a day nationally by the end of October. Its also expanding the network of testing sites and labs and investing in new testing technologies. While this scaling up is happening, the service is currently very busy and we ask only those people with symptoms to book a test. We are being assured by national colleagues that the current constraints in testing capacity are being urgently addressed. 

 

10.09.20

Dear Parents,

Arriving and Collecting

Thank you for your patience with dropping off and pick up times, it is really helping that you are coming for the correct time.  We have organised both gates now so that we let the parents in depending on the order of pick up.  So on the main gate the order it is Y4 first then Y5/6 and then Y3.  

The gate on school street is Y2/Y1/F2 at the start of the day and Y2/F2 and Y1 at the end of the day.  Please note the different order in the morning and the end of the day for the younger children.

PLEASE CAN EVERYONE USE THE ONE WAY SYSTEM TO REDUCE PARENTS CROSSING EACH OTHER. Thank you.
We also understand that several parents are needing to drop off at different Pods and hopefully the one-way system will help this, I know you will work out the order that is best for your family.

We respectfully remind you to continue to Social distance as you are waiting for drop off and collection.  If you arrive earlier than your time please stay as safe as possible and wait away from others or in your cars until the allocated time.

We are beyond impressed with how quickly our children are organising themselves in the cloakrooms and getting ready for learning quickly in the mornings.  We know it can be hard to say good-bye at the gates but our children are showing they can do it.  We are proud of everyone.

Contacting school

We are also aware that as you are dropping off at the gates you are not seeing your child’s teacher, therefore, Mrs Hurding, Mrs Gay and Mrs Trotter will pass messages on.  However, if you have a query about school please phone or email Mrs Fiddes and she will pass on the information to our teachers.  We had to use teacher’s emails during lockdown and we will do this again if we need to close a pod down.  But while school is open can you not email teachers directly please.  Mrs Fiddes is amazing at passing on all emails and messages and we will phone you or organise a socially distance meeting if you need to talk through a concern.   Mrs Hurding and Mrs Gay are also available to talk to during the day.  We understand we have lots of CV-19 queries too that we will continue to respond to as quickly as we can.

ILLNESS

We are aware that children will be ill and not have CV-19 symptoms.  

If a child has any of the CV-19 symptoms they will be sent home.

A reminder:

The main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:

a high temperature this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)

a new, continuous cough this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)

a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

If a child says they are not feeling well we are checking temperatures regularly.  We will continue to keep you informed and thank you to everyone who is telling us why children are not in school, as you can imagine we are having to record every piece of information at the moment.

Collective Worship

As we are not allowed to gather as a whole school we are not having our daily Collective Worship altogether for Y1 to Y6 or our Gold awards in the hall for F2 to Y6.

However, Mrs Hurding will be visiting each class to do an assembly as follows:  

Monday – Y1/Y2

Tuesday – Y3/Y4

Wednesday- Y5/Y6

On Thursday we usually have Rev Armstrong coming to take Collective Worship and he has kindly agreed to video an assembly so we can still hear his words of wisdom.

AWARDS

On a Friday Mrs Hurding will visit F2 to Y6 individually to give the Gold awards for the week.

Each week every teacher gives two Gold Awards out per class for exceptional learning and or behaviour in school.  We will also be giving a writing award – ‘Royalty of the Jungle’ and a maths award – ‘Maths Magician’.

 

We will continue VIP tea – this will be in the hall and the children will sit on their POD table.

We will be doing this for Y1 to Y6 in the Autumn term.

Each week we focus on a different learning behaviour:

Concentrate

Imagine

Push yourself

Understand others

Try new things

Improve

Work hard

Don’t give up

One child from each class will be chosen to join Mrs H for a cuppa on Friday afternoon if they have displayed the specific learning behaviour all week.

DOJOS

At The Ellis we love using dojos in school to celebrate the achievements of the children and they each receive a certificate when they reach each new 50 dojo mark. The children can earn them for showing positive learning behaviours and good behaviour. We do not currently use it for parents as we already communicate, share and celebrate learning through email, Twitter and Facebook and do not want to have too many platforms for staff to manage or parents to feel they need to check.

The children are proud when they receive their certificates and look forward to taking them home and sharing their achievements with you.

PARENTPAY

A reminder that we do not permit ParentPay accounts to go into arrears so please keep your accounts topped up. Accounts that are in arrears need to be cleared please before further school lunches can be ordered. 

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Hurding

 

09.09.20

Parent Statements – Tik Tok 

As a parent/carer, you may have heard that a disturbing video has been posted on the social media apps Tik Tok and Snapchat. This is not the first time that harmful videos have been posted onto social media sites. Whilst the platforms have tried to remove the video, it has been shared by many other users and in some cases, users have encouraged others to view it. Some users have also disguised the video with pictures of cute animals. 

Tik Tok is a very popular app with children as it includes viral videos of dancers, celebrities etc. The videos are limited to less than 60 seconds and users scroll through different videos. In the UK it had a minimum age of 13.

Advice for parents is to monitor their children’s use of social media apps such as Instagram, Snapchat and Tok Tok. All these have a minimum age restriction of 13 years old. Remember that all social media apps have risks and if you allow your child to use these apps, they must have adult supervision.

Look at privacy controls for devices and ensure that you know what they are downloading. All devices have built in restrictions to give you more control. A useful site for this is https://www.internetmatters.org/

It is also important that you regularly talk to your child about what they are doing online. 

Tik Tok also has a safety centre, available here: https://www.tiktok.com/safety/resources/for-parents?lang=en 

Tim Pinto – The E-Safety Office

Tim Pinto BA(Hons) MA PGCE

 

09.09.20

Dear Parents,

Please find attached details about our Race for Life event on Friday 25th September. We are aiming as a school to raise 3,000 for this extremely worthwhile cause. Race for Life Information Sponsorship Form

If you have any further questions regarding this event please ask.

 

Mrs Raques

 

04.09.20

Dear Parents,

A huge thank you to everyone for your support this week.  It has been fantastic to see all our children return to school and they have settled into our new routines brilliantly.  

We are happy with how the morning drop off is working but we are aware we still need to speed up the process at the end of the day.  Thank you so much for your patience and for respecting social distancing while you are waiting (I know sometimes it can be for a while!)

A few reminders that will help us all.

Can you please park safely outside school- we continue to encourage you to park 5 minutes walk away from school rather than park and block the flow of traffic on Garden Grove.  We are always trying to improve parking around school but at the moment with the CV-19 arrangements there are a lot of parents needing to wait at the main entrance and a lot of children coming out of that gate.  Please respect each other. Thank you.

Please remember to use the one -way system and if you are waiting at the main entrance PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK the small gate as this is our one- way exit.

It does help if everyone can try and come for their allocated time as this is designed to ease the flow of traffic.  Can we remind you for just one adult to drop off as well.  As we said each family will get used to their time allocations and we have said it is fine to drop off earlier to help you get all your children safely to their pods.

All of these reminders are to enable everyone to be as safe as possible.

We are beyond proud of how our children are coping with the new normal, they are all settling into class quickly and are responding well to the teachers reminding them of our learning behaviours at school.

We are wanting to encourage our older children to exit school by themselves when you feel they are ready for it.  With this in mind we know you may want them to have a mobile phone for their walk to meet you.  Children must leave their phone with Mrs Gay/Mrs Fiddes on the gate and collect from the office as they are walking out of school. CHILDREN ARE NOT ALLOWED MOBILE PHONES IN SCHOOL. 

We understand that the new system makes it harder to talk to teachers, staff on the gates therefore will pass messages on and please do not hesitate to phone or email if you have any queries and concerns, we are aware this is an anxious time for everyone and staff are working incredible hard to get this right for all our wonderful children.

INHALER

If your child needs an inhaler please make sure we have an up to date one at school that can be kept at school.

OUTSIDE PE

It is fine for your child to bring joggers and a hoody for outdoor PE.

CLASSROOM VENTILATION

As we need to keep the windows in the classrooms openfor ventilation purposes, your child may find it a little chilly as the weather turns, if so they are welcome to wear a fleece in class. 

PHONE NUMBERS 

Please let us know if you have changed your phone number as it is imperative that we can contact you if your child becomes ill.  We have to edge on the side of caution with any illness at the moment.

Thank you for your support and co-operation.

The Ellis is as it should be – filled with laughter and learning.

Stay safe

Mrs Hurding

 

04.09.20

Dear Parent/Carer,

Please can you ensure that your child has a pair of wellies in school every Monday as we will be in the gardens.

We hope that you have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards,

The UKS2 (Upper Key Stage 2) team.

 

04.09.20

Dear Y2 Parents,

Please check your child’s book bag for a letter with important information on along with your child’s new reading diary. We ask that your child brings their book bag to school every day with their reading diary, reading books and spelling book (which will be issued next week) in it as we change things on different days. 

Thank you for this week. 

The children have been superstars!

Kind Regards

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

The Ellis C E Primary School

 

03.09.20

Dear Y1 Parents,

It has been lovely seeing the children today and they have all settled in exceptionally well.  Welcome back Y1 newsletter

Attached is our welcome back newsletter that contains lots of useful information regarding their new class.

Kind regards,

Mrs Broadbent

 

27.08.20

Dear Y4 Parents,  Ancient Egyptians Home learning Sept 20     Topic Map Ancient Egypt Sept 20                                        Welcome back Y4 newsletter Sept 20

I hope you and your children are all well and have had a lovely Summer, albeit it a very different one. Attached is our Welcome back newsletter that contains lots of useful information regarding returning to school.

I look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday, 2nd September.

Mrs Jaques

 

27.08.20

Dear Y2 Parents,  Welcome back Y2 newsletter Sept 20

I hope you and your children are all well and have had a lovely Summer, albeit it a very different one. Attached is our Welcome back newsletter that contains lots of useful information regarding returning to school.

Thank you to everyone who kindly returned any reading books or Read Write Inc books to school during the last week of school. Please could we ask that if anyone was unable to do so and have school reading books at home, that they return these to school on the first day back and we can then send home a new reading book. 

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

The Ellis C E Primary School

 

25.08.20

Dear Y6 Parents,

I hope you and your children are all well and have had a lovely Summer, albeit it a very different one.

Please find attached a newsletter from Miss Saunders containing useful information regarding returning to school.  Welcome Back Y6 Newsletter 2020

Thank you,

Hayley Fiddes 

 

25.08.20

Dear Parents,

Clarification that school re-opens for children on Wednesday, 2nd September UNLESS your child is in Foundation Stage and you have received a staggered start time on an alternative day.

School Milk

Milk is ordered by parents direct from the dairy. If you would like your child to be offered a carton of semi-skimmed milk each day, please go to the website ‘School Milk’ to register your details. Milk is free until the term your child turns 5.

Thank you

Hayley Fiddes 

 

24.08.20

Dear Y5 Parents,

I hope you and your children are all well and have had a lovely Summer, albeit it a very different one.

Please find attached a newsletter from Mrs Wise containing useful information regarding returning to school.  Welcome Back Y5 Newsletter

Thank you,

Hayley Fiddes 

 

24.08.20

Dear All Parents,

Please find attached a letter from the Council along with a more detailed Covid-19 Question and Answer letter from The Ellis, which is more relevant to our school. BMBC Letter for Parents Sept 2020    The Ellis Covid Q and A Sept 2020 For Parents

We are looking forward to welcoming all children back on Wednesday, 2nd September.

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

17.07.20

Dear Parents, (See names below)

Exciting news…your child has a place at Young Voices 2021!

At the moment we have a date of Wednesday 13th January but if this date can’t go ahead, we will be notified in the middle of October and be given a new date for May or June. As soon as I hear anything, I will of course let you know.  

To access the songs, lyrics, dance videos and music on spotify just click on this link: https://www.youngvoices.co.uk/for-children    Then click on MUSIC ROOM and when it asks you for a code, type in YV2021. You will then be able to access everything to start learning the songs at home. As we are still finding out what September will look like, I am unable to say how rehearsals will run. There is a chance that this year, children will need to do more practise at home if we initially are unable to meet together and sing. Fortunately you have access to everything which I have (lyrics, tracks and dance videos) so actually your child can learn it all at home and still take part in the concert, although I am hoping that we will be able to practise at school as well, we are just awaiting more guidance on these sorts of things. 

Just a piece of advanced information! It will not cost anything for your child to attend the event as school always pay the entry cost and the PTFA kindly fund our coach which is amazing and a big help. There are tickets available for parents / family to come and watch which we as a school order on your behalf if you would like any. The ticket prices are set by the arena and as it is a huge event (and AMAZING) the ticket price last year was 20. (Tickets are of course optional, but I know many parents order them every year). If we do go ahead in January, it may be that in October when this is confirmed, we don’t have long to get the orders and money in as the time scale will be shorter than normal. So in effect, I could be telling you that it is going ahead and only giving a week or so for ticket orders and money to be in and with the tickets in the region of 20 each (if the same as last year), I wanted to give you plenty of notice so that it wasn’t a shock! If we end up with a May/June date, then obviously there will be a bit more time for us to sort forms and payment. 

The t-shirts and DVDs are optional (children can just wear a white t-shirt) but last year they were priced at 12.50 (t-shirt) and 19.99 (DVD). Again this is just to give you notice if you haven’t done YV before. Please do not send any order in until we know what is happening. 

So for now, rest assured your child has a place! As soon as I get any updated information, I will of course relay this to you. The songs and medleys are amazing this year and whenever it takes place, I know it will be brilliant and you won’t be disappointed! 

Thank you for allowing you child this opportunity. I hope it brings them as much pleasure as it does me year on year!

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

The Ellis C E Primary School

 

17.07.20

Dear Parents,

I hope that you are all well.

Its that time of year again where we usually promote the Summer Reading Challenge. However, due to Covid-19 the challenge is running differently this year. The Reading Agency have developed a new model to allow Summer Reading Challenge activity to still take place this year. This will include a high-quality digital package for libraries. We will continue with our previously announced creative theme of ‘Silly Squad’: a celebration of funny books, happiness and laughter, featuring artwork from award-winning children’s author and illustrator, Laura Ellen Anderson. For more details please visit https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/.  Please note that this is in no way compulsory, it is an initiative to promote the use of local libraries and reading throughout the Summer holidays.

 

Alternatively, as we love promoting reading at The Ellis,  I have also attached a link to a book recommendation list for each age group.  https://www.booksfortopics.com/key-stage-book-lists

I hope you have a lovely summer.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

13.07.20

Dear Parents, 

Thank you for your patience in waiting for us to clarify September plans.

We are beyond delighted that all our children will be able to be back with us.

The 1st September is a school inset day.

The 2nd September is the first day of school for our children.

If your child is in Nursery or about to start you will have received either a start date or a transition date and more detailed information will follow.  We are aware we are needing more time for transition, our Easter starters will need to start first and then we the September starters. We also want to allow time for parents to see the Nursery learning environment.

F2 Children 

Will have received lots of transition information which we normally give out when we have our curriculum evening.  You will also hopefully have received a start date and time over the first three days of term to enable children to start school in a smaller group and to give parents the opportunity to see the Foundation 2 learning environment.  

F2 will all be full time from the 7th September.

We will be operating school similarly to Rainbow school to enable everyone to be as safe as possible.

The Government has recognised that younger children cannot socially distance but are recommending we continue to use the POD/Bubble system in school.

We have made the decision to continue to have sister classes together as they share the cloakroom and toilets, this will enable us to continue to have separate outdoor areas for each POD.  Each class will be separate inside their classrooms for learning.  This year each class is the name of an author to celebrate our love of books and reading at The Ellis.

F1 Nursery      PINK POD

F2 Delightful Donaldsons     RED POD

Y1 Wise Woollvins          ORANGE POD

Y2 Perfect Potters

Y3 Fantastic Fletchers       YELLOW POD

Y4 Wonderful Walliams

Y5 Creative Cowells         GREEN POD

Y6 Determined Dahls

We will continue with our one way system around school and parents will say goodbye at the drop-off gates. There will be a member of staff on the main gate and the gate near F2 to support the children saying goodbye and remind everyone of the one way system.  

F1, F2, Y1 and Y2  enter school from School Street and drop off at the red gate near F2.  F1 go to the Nursery gate.  All parents leave following the Foundation field and walking up to the main gate.  If you need to drop a KS2 child off second you leave them in the drive area to walk around the Y5/Y6 side of school and leave via the main gate.   If you are just dropping off a KS2 child please leave at the main gate, when there is a staff member there. 

This is a great opportunity for everyone to start the park and walk for 5 minutes scheme.  It enables everyone to come to school for their allocated time and will ease congestion and therefore help the safety of everyone at drop off and collecting time. 

No cars are allowed to drive into school or turn near the main gate during drop off and pick up times.  

 

To ease congestion most classes have a separate start and end time.

 

Timings are  F1     8.45  – 3.30                   PINK POD
                    F2     8.55 – 3.10                    RED POD
                   
Y1   8.50-3.15          Y2  8.40-3.05       ORANGE POD
Y3   8.50-3.15          Y4  8.40-3.05       YELLOW POD
Y5/Y6  8.45 -3.10                                    GREEN POD

 

If you are dropping off more than one child we suggest you drop the youngest/earliest time first.  It will take a bit of getting used to, but each family will get used to their new routine.

Can we ask that you continue to reduce the amount of adults (ideally one per family) coming to school and respect social distancing as you wait.  

For those parents who have been to Rainbow school you will be able to help guide parents that have not been.  It will also be a lot busier as we are going from 65 children to 220 so please be patient.

 

BREAKFAST CLUB

Please only book into breakfast club if it is absolutely essential as we are trying to reduce numbers as much as possible.  Initially breakfast club will be in the hall and we will have a separate area in the hall for each pod.  We will use the front door for breakfast club starting at 8am.  To help us organise can you please let us know what time you will be arriving.

 

AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS

We will not have any clubs after school during Autumn 1 and we will review for Autumn 2, after October half term.

 

SCHOOL LUNCH

Lunches will continue to be served in the classrooms except for F2 who will be having lunch in the hall.

We will continue to offer either a sandwich (cheese, tuna or egg), a cold pasta pot or a jacket potato option (cheese, beans or tuna). All of these options come with a piece of fruit, a yogurt or jelly and a homemade bake.  We will inform you if this changes.

 

BOOK BAGS

We are able to use book bags again but ask that you still limit what is brought from home please so no personal pencil cases and toys etc.

 

WATER BOTTLES

We have new school water bottles for all children to use in school.  We will ensure they are kept clean as part of our daily routines.

 

PE KIT

We will have PE kits back in school, but please be mindful that the children will not always change. PE is encouraged to be outside and we will limit the need to change as much as possible.

your child’s every day shoe to be a trainer as we encourage time outdoors.  Please try and have the trainers as plain as possible to fit in with the school uniform.

We will continue to provide lots of opportunities to learn outside so please ensure all children have the clothes appropriate for the days weather and have wellies in school too.

 

PLIMSOLLS

Will be needed to change into inside, when outdoor shoes are dirty.

 

STAFFING

Mrs Hurding and Mrs Trotter interviewed on Tuesday and we have a lovely Y1 supply starting with us in September called Mrs Davies.

 

MERIT AWARDS

The Merit Award Assembly is now on Facebook.

Thank you for your amazing support this year.

Regards,

Mrs Hurding

 

 

10.07.20

Good Afternoon,

As you will know, next week should have been our class transition time. This is usually an opportunity for your child to have a chance to meet and get to know their new teachers in their new classroom, however, this year we are having to do things a little differently.

We have asked the teachers to create a video for you to share with your child to hopefully ease any anxieties about September; this can found on our school Facebook page and class twitter accounts. If you have any problems accessing them please email Mrs Edwards and she will try and support you.

We want you and your child to feel confident about returning to school in September so if you do have any questions, please get in touch via Mrs Fiddes in the office on h.fiddes@theellis.org

Kind Regards,

Mrs Hurding and Mrs Edwards

 

 

Mrs Emily Edwards

07.07.20  Football Activity Guidance for Parents and Carers

Dear Parents,

Please find some information from the FA and ESFA who, as an association, intend to run football activities and a summer camp for girls following strict guidelines through July and August to ensure girls keep active and included through the summer break.

The information is for any year 3, 4 and 5 girls who may like to become involved in football and keep active.

Please contact the following teachers who are in the association and they will make the necessary arrangements for parents and girls to join in.

Scott Clarke on 07921 069649 (sclarke@southeygreen.sheffield.sch.uk)

Thank you

 

07.07.20

Dear Parents, (Y1-Y5 children)

We are very busy in school at the moment, not only ensuring that everything is completed for this academic year, but also getting ready for September. All the new exercise books have arrived and as we want to ensure that we have space in classes for the deep clean over the summer holidays we need to send home children’s books from this academic year. Please could we ask that parents in Y1-Y5 pop up to school on Tuesday or Wednesday next week (14th / 15th July) to collect their child’s books. If you are unable to do this, please let us know. If your child is in school at the moment, we will send their books home with them. If you child has an inhaler, this will be in their bag. Please check the date on them and send back to school in September. 

We are sending up your child’s current English, maths and handwriting book so that they can celebrate what they achieved this year with their new teacher over the first couple of weeks and we will then send these home. 

Thank you for your help in this matter. By making space in school we can ensure that we can do a thorough deep clean in preparation for all children returning in September. 

Kind Regards

Mrs C Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

 

07.07.20  Barnsley Summer Challenge

In the absence of ‘Beat the Street’ taking place this year, we have created the Beat the Street Summer Challenge to help keep children and families stay active and positive during the summer period. This is to be launched on the 13^th July.

Please see the attached copy. Have some fun and remember to stay safe!

 Stuart Rogers

Senior Public Health Officer

(Sport and Physical Activity) 

 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council

Westgate Plaza One, PO Box 597, BARNSLEY S70 9FH

 

06.07.20The Rainbow School Sports Day

Dear Parents / Carers,  

Next week would have seen our annual sports day event in school. Unfortunately due to the current situation we are unable to hold our usual sports day events. As a bit of light relief and fun I have compiled and put together a virtual sports day. Please feel free to hold the event in your garden or house. If you can give your household team a name it will make it all the more fun. You can upload your photographs or videos to Twitter or you can just email them to me:

r.jaques@theellis.org or you can email them to your child’s own class teacher.

It would be a fabulous end to the year if we could all try and take part. I haven’t set a specific day as from my experience it has always rained on sports day! Feel free to hold your event on any dry day. I’ve tried to design events that you can do using equipment you’ve probably got at home.

Have fun, enjoy and remember to send me your photographs or videos.

The children in school will be holding sports events in their own Pods.

Kindest regards

Rachel Jaques

Mrs Rachel Jaques

Year 4 Teacher

 

06.07.20

Dear parents and pupils,

The Public Health team want to know how you have been feeling during lockdown.

Why do you want to know how Im feeling?

Our emotional health and wellbeing is more important than ever and we want to help you to take care of it. We have created a very short survey (only 14 questions)  to help us listen to the children and young people of Barnsley.

The information we get from this survey will help us to meet your needs properly and support you all as best we can through this difficult time. To go to the survey click the button below:

https://surveys.barnsley.gov.uk/s/YFEZGV/

Who can complete the survey?

We want to hear from all children and young people living in Barnsley.

Those of you who are 13 years or above you can complete the survey on your own.

If you are under 13 you will need a parent or carer to give their permission to complete the survey.

Parents and carers: you may want help your child to answer the questions in the survey if they are younger or need any extra support.

Who will see my answers?

The survey will be completely anonymous and the questions have been worded so that there will be no personal information that may identify you. A link to the full privacy notice is included at the top of the survey which offers more detail on how we will use the data.

But my feelings keep changing as different things in my life keep changing

We are aware that day by day different things are happening and the government restrictions keep on changing which is why we would like it if you can do this survey more than once. We would like it if you can try and complete this survey every four weeks as it will help us to see how your emotional needs change over time. We will send the link to the survey out to you every four weeks to help to remind you to complete it.

Thank you for taking the time to be involved, we hope that with this information we can support your emotional health and well-being through these difficult times.

Kind Regards

Helen Goddard

Public Health Officer

Childrens Services – Education, Early Start and Prevention

Barnsley Council

 

03.07.20

Dear Parents,

We are pleased to let you know that we have rebooked PGL for 26^th May to Friday 28^th May 2021 (we just couldnt let them miss out on such a fantastic experience).  Both Y5 and Y6 will be attending PGL together, however, children will be in rooms and groups with others from their own year group.

The other good news is that PGL have agreed to price match this years cost for all children, there will be no additional payments needed for those of you who have already booked and paid for the trip.

If you did not originally book PGL but you would like your child to now attend the residential please could you contact h.fiddes@theellis.org. The cost of the trip, including transport will be no more than 223.91.

An initial deposit of:

 25 will be due by Friday, 10^th July 2020.

 

Further payments of:

20 by Friday, 4th September 2020

65 by Friday, 6^th November 2020

The remaining balance will be due by Friday, 12^th March 2021.

 

As always, there is the option to pay small, regular amounts if you prefer to spread the cost of the visit.

If you would like your child to attend this trip please ensure you contact Mrs Fiddes as soon as possible by email. She will then add you to ParentPay so can pay the 25 deposit which is to be paid by next Friday, 10^th July 2020.

We do hope that this good news has made our Y5 (almost Y6) pupils at home very happy.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Kind regards,

Miss A Saunders

Y6 Class Teacher/English Lead

 

03.07.20

Dear Parents, (Current Y4 children)

We would like to let you know that we have provisionally booked our Y5 residential trip for next year, at PGL Caythorpe Court, for 26^th May to Friday 28^th May 2021.

We have been offered the trip (including transport) at a discounted price of approximately 220 (depending on the number of children going) instead of the 289 that it should be. This is highly competitive and much cheaper than other residential rivals such as Robinwood at Todmorden where the average cost, including transport, would work out to be around 295 per child.

As soon as I have exact numbers I will be able to give an exact cost based on the number of children going but the maximum it will be is 220 per child.  

To secure the heavily discounted price, an initial deposit of:

25 will be due by Friday, 10^th July 2020.

 

Further payments of:

20 by Friday, 4th September 2020

65 by Friday, 6^th November 2020

The remaining balance will be due by Friday, 12^th March 2021.

 

 As always, there is the option to pay small, regular amounts if you prefer to spread the cost of the visit.

If you would like your child to attend this trip please ensure the 25 deposit is paid by next Friday, 10^th July 2020.

Please note participation in this trip will be dependent on consistent good behaviour in school.

We must stress that cancellation charges will be issued by PGL and that deposits are non-refundable.

 

For more information about this trip and the types of activities on offer please visit:

http://www.pgl.co.uk/PGLWeb/Schools/Primary-schools/adventure/centres/CaythorpeCourt_activities

Yours faithfully

Mrs B Wise

 

02.07.20

To Parents,

SEPTEMBER/Transition 

 We are still awaiting detailed information regarding September, however, all the press coverage is saying all children will be back in September and it implies each class will be their own pod.  We will update you as soon as we can.  

The first day back for our children is the 2nd September, 2020.  

We will ensure that all our children will be involved in transition activities to support the change of year and to support being back in school as we are aware this will need lots of support.

We plan to send the transition letters and videos by the 13th July, so everyone has a chance to look at these before the Summer.

 

Illness

Following current Government guidelines we are sending home children who are poorly straight away.  When we are sending a child home this does not mean they have CV-19.    We have had to send children home over the last few weeks and parents are supporting us by getting a CV-19 test, if needed.  If a test comes back positive we will be closing that pod down, the guidelines are very clear – we are not to close down until that point. 

Please help us by not speculating that there is a case of CV-19 in school.  We will inform you if there is!

 

Returning equipment to school

We are aware that due to the quickness of lockdown and the fact that we said nothing can come from home to school you will have reading books at home.

Can we please ask that you return any reading books and any Y6 SATS books to school by the 10th July so we can quarantine them and prepare the books ready for September. 

We will leave a box outside the main entrance from Monday 6th July, but do feel like you can buzz if you would like to say ‘hi’ as we do love to see your faces. 

 If you are not in school please come between 9.30am and 2.30pm.

 

RESIDENTIALS

Team Ellis have been working hard to ensure that those Y5 and Y2 children who missed out on residentials this year will have the opportunity in Y3 to go to Whirlow and Y6 to go to PGL.  We will also be going to PGL with the new Y5 class and Whirlow with the new Y2 class. Keep a look out by email for more information on the PGL trips.  

 

As a result of needing to get both Y5 and Y6 into PGL we have had to change our inset day from 28th May to 7th June 2021. An updated calendar for the next school year has been attached.

 

CLIMBING FRAME

The climbing frame that we won as second prize is arriving in school today!  

We could not have had this if it wasn’t for everyone’s support in getting behind the campaign. 

 I am so pleased. We will have so much we will be able to share with our children when they return.  

Team Ellis has certainly turned a very hard situation into a positive and our outside area is an amazing reminder of this with our new seating, launch of Rainbow Garden, Tranquility Garden, Tadpole Cove, our new reading shed and now the climbing frame, we should all be extremely proud.  

But in true Ellis style we don’t stop there!  

The Y6s have started the fundraising campaign to raise money for a slide in the banking and as a school we will continue this fundraising to achieve our dream slide.  

Please do everything you can to support us and let us know if you have any ideas for raising money.  The support of our community continues to overwhelm me.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/yr6-does-6-mile-challenge-for-the-ellis?member=4715906&utm_medium=email&utm_source=product&utm_campaign=p_email%2Binviteacceptedemailtoteammember

Thank you again for all your support and please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards, 

Mrs Hurding

 

01.07.20

SENT ON BEHALF OF BARNSLEY ALLIANCE

 PLEASE SHARE Barnsley is not currently at risk of going into a further lockdown.

We have been mentioned in the news for the amount of positive Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and we know that this might cause concern. There are a number of reasons for the numbers – outlined below.

 Numbers of Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Barnsley –  Statement from Director for Public Health, Julia Burrows and Barnsley Council Leader, Cllr Sir Steve Houghton CBE, Chair of Barnsley Outbreak Control Engagement Board:

 The number of cases is Barnsley is higher than the national average. We are seeing transmission in the community across the borough, and like many places across the country, have had clusters and outbreaks in a handful of care homes, schools and workplaces, as we expected would happen.

Since the beginning of the outbreak in March, Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Barnsley peaked through April and began to gradually reduce in May. Initially, this was being most closely monitored in hospital and care home settings (through Pillar One testing).

During May and June, we have also been able to monitor testing and spread out in the community (through Pillar Two testing). However, throughout this there have been two key issues in Barnsley that we are watching very closely and incorporating into our local control.

Firstly, throughout the course of the outbreak we have seen higher rates of Coronavirus (COVID-19) locally than the national average. This is related to some natural variation in the disease; our proactive and targeted testing; our higher density of care homes; and our local population which is older than the national average and has higher rates of underlying diseases and other COVID-19 risk factors such as smoking.

Secondly, we have seen a much slower reduction than the national average, such that daily cases levelled off through May and June, instead of continuing to reduce. This has been largely due to local clusters of cases including in a few care homes and workplaces.

The good news is that now these clusters have started to ease thanks to local control measures, and we are seeing the early signs of a return to the reduction in daily cases across Barnsley.

According to our most up to date data, we have seen a reduction in the number of daily new cases and in the average number of new cases for four consecutive days. We are continuing to monitor this and other data very closely, and to proactively manage the disease locally and in line with national guidance.   

 This is why we do not believe at this stage any further measures will need to be implemented such as the ones seen in Leicester.  

However, it is always important to be aware that the nature of this disease means things can change quickly and the fact our rate has been high does mean that we ask for extra caution and vigilance by everyone in Barnsley.  

This is especially important in light of the further lifting of restrictions at the weekend.  

Its so important to keep following the guidance: maintain social distance: wash your hands and wear a face covering in enclosed public spaces. Stay at home and self-isolate if you have any symptoms or have been a contact and asked to do so by NHS Test and Trace.

It is worth noting that, along with everywhere else in the country, we will also see the reporting of a lot of extra positive cases this week, which may seem concerning. Please be aware this is a result of the wider reporting of all positive tests from a wider variety of sources (Pillar Two) than was previously available. It is not about the actual number of cases increasing.

Once this information is published, we will make sure that a link is available so Barnsley residents can access this publicly available data.

Issued by Barnsley Councils Communications and Marketing service.

 

01.07.20

Dear Year 1 Parents,

Three years ago we launched our first ever Y2 residential and what a success it has proved to be! In summer 2019 we took 28 children on a 2-night residential trip and we should have been taking 30 children this week and next week (but they are now going in March next year). We would like to give our next cohort of Year 2s the same amazing opportunity!

We are hoping (if there is enough uptake) to run a 2 night residential to Whirlow Farm in Sheffield in June/July 2021. (We have provisionally booked 28.06.21 – 03.07.21 and 05.07.21 – 07.07.21 which allows us to take 3 groups for 2 nights each if all the children decide to go and have these dates held for a couple of weeks until I confirm how many groups will be attending). It is a very popular place for Key Stage 1 children to visit and they run residential trips for children all year round (although the summer term books up very early as it is a lovely end of year experience). Their most popular age group is indeed Year 2 as if provides a welcoming, age-appropriate programme for children of this age. Many schools in Barnsley and other local authorities visit year after year and it becomes an annual favourite for Key Stage 1 children!

Whirlow Farm is a working farm with many animals, beautiful woodland, farm walks and space for children to play in the safety of enclosed gardens. It is set in acres of farmland and the views are spectacular! The farm staff are very experienced at working with primary school children and there is an onsite education team who will work alongside the teachers and children during the day.

Whilst there, the children will have the opportunity to undertake a farm tour where they will have the chance to meet lots of farm animals, hold some cute rabbits and guinea pigs, help out with the farm jobs (e.g; feeding the animals, collecting and grading eggs, grooming the ponies), enjoy early morning and evening walks in the surrounding woodlands, play outdoor games and have a pony ride (led by an experienced member of the Whirlow team). The school staff who will be taking the children on the residential will also walk the children to Forge Dam (a 25 minute walk away) to take part in activities there and to Whirlow Brook Park (a 10 minute walk from the farm) to explore the woodland and do some den building. They will also work together (alongside the school teaching staff) to prepare meals and wash up!

With regards to sleeping arrangements; the farm can cater for 12 children and 2 teachers at a time, which would mean that one group would visit whilst the others are at school and on their return the other group would then visit. (Any child who does not wish to take part in the residential will attend school as normal that week). The children will sleep in a hall which has two rooms of 6 bunk beds. (The two teachers will have their own rooms within the barn and will look after the children overnight).

As a parent myself with two children, I realise that it is hard to ever imagine that your own child will be ready for an overnight stay but this residential is a lovely way to let them experience an overnight stay with their friends and teachers they know well in a small, homely and calm environment. Having taught Year 2 for many years now, it still staggers me how much the children grow up and change between the end of Year 1 and the end of Year 2. They really do grow in confidence, independence and resilience over the year.

Having taken two classes on this particular residential, I was astounded at what they achieved and how much they gained from such an experience. I am sure that it will have provided them with memories which will last a life-time.

With regards cost, we are unable to give an exact figure until we know how many children will be going (as the hall is a set price regardless of whether it is at full capacity of 12 children or not). As a guide, children this year paid 98 and it is therefore estimated that the trip will cost between 80 and 100.  This will include 2 nights accommodation, food, return travel by minibus and all the activities children undertake whilst they are there. Payments can be spread throughout the year and once we have numbers, we will be able to send out a final price before you finally commit to the trip.

Lots more information can be found on the farm website below, along with some testimonies from teachers and children who have been. https://www.whirlowhallfarm.org/education/day-and-residential-visits/

   If you have any initial enquiries, Mrs Trotter can be contacted via email at c.trotter@theellis.org and we will try our best to answer any questions you might have.  

As dates fill up very quickly, I would like to secure our provisional booking by the end of this school year to ensure we have the dates we would like. Therefore please could email Mrs Fiddes by Friday 10^th July to say whether or not you would be interested in your child going. Please do reply even if you dont want your child to go as we then know.

Once I have collated numbers, I will be able to see if it is viable and can then send out further details. Also just a reminder we are looking at June/early July 2021 (end of Year 2).

Kind regards

Mrs Trotter (Y2 teacher and KS1 leader)

 

30.06.20 Young Voices

Dear Parents,  First letter

I am just writing to see which of our amazing KS2 children (current Y2-Y5) would like to take part in Young Voices 2021! This year will be the 25^th Anniversary concert and we currently have a date of Wednesday January 13^th 2021 at Sheffield Arena. As both school and Young Voices are aware, with the situation as it is, we are unable to say whether this will go ahead but I have been informed that they HAVE A PLAN!

This is the email I received from Young Voices.

Plan A

• Your choir has a place at our 25th Anniversary concert on 13^th January 2021 and will take part in the concert on that day.Plan BIf we are unable to put our concerts on in Jan/Feb then we will let you know (no later than the middle of October) and then things can only get better because the following celebration plan kicks in:

• Your choir will have a place at our *re-scheduled 25th Anniversary Concerts for May/June 2021. We are in talks at the moment to secure potential postponement dates – well let you know once we have them.
• Virtual Concert – you have a special invitation to a virtual concert at the end of January 2021. This concert will be streamed LIVE and your choir will take part in the safety of your school, making this the perfect mini school concert for parents and family. A few select songs from the Music Pack will be chosen and identified for you.
• YV Celebratory 25th Anniversary Music Pack which includes: An amazing repertoire of 25th Anniversary songs, sheet music, song lyrics, conductors notes plus CDs with full songs and backing tracks and a DVD containing all the dance moves.
• YVs Biggest Sing, to be sung during the virtual concert your children will be part of an attempt to break the record for the largest number of people singing simultaneously to celebrate 25 years of Young Voices, (we are currently in the process of selecting THE song from our short-list of amazing songs).
• YVatHome, full access to the online YVatHome experience (only available to registered schools and their choirs as of September 2020).So as I am sure most of you are aware we have a limited number of spaces (48 at the moment) and will allocate them on a first come, first served basis. Therefore if your child would like to take part, please respond to this email ASAP. If the concert cannot go ahead in January, then I will send out the revised date as soon as I have it. 
• I am also aware at the moment, that I cannot say what practises will look like as I need to await Government advice on whether we can sing and what school will look like (in terms of if children can mix) so this really is just an initial enquiry letter and when we know more about September I will be able to update you of this. Thank you for your understanding.
• For those of you who may not be aware what Young Voices is or for our current Y2 children who have not taken part before, please see the attached standard letter I send out each year with more information. 
  If I can help in anyway, please just let me know.Kind RegardsMrs C Trotter
•  

29.06.20

To Parents,

 We know that we are awaiting further details for school in September but the guidance from the 4th July for schools is saying that even though the social distancing is 1M+ (but 2M where possible), they are asking pods to remain at 15.  See below.  

Therefore the numbers in school will be staying as they have been for Rainbow School until the Summer.

This does mean that Rainbow school is full.

 

Re school – information from the Government

Looking ahead to September

Our intention is that all pupils will go back to school in September, and we will be releasing further guidance next week to assist schools to prepare for a full return. 

Primary schools should continue to operate in groups of no more than 15.

 

SOCIAL DISTANCING

Please note we continue to ask you that families who attend school are following the Social distancing rules outside of school. As a school we continue to follow these rules to keep everyone safe however it has come to our attention that this has not been happening out of school and children/families have been socializing without social distancing.  

As you are aware this puts the whole school at risk and is understandably raising staff anxieties.  

We are all following the social distancing rules rigidly as a staff team, to ensure school is as safe as possible for everyone including our families. 

Please note there are many frustrated parents who cannot have their children at school at the moment.

 

Here are the current Social distancing rules:

 

Current Government policy re social distancing (until 4th July)

At this stage of our recovery strategy:

• You can spend time outdoors, including private gardens and other outdoor spaces, in groups of up to six people from different households, following social distancing guidelines

From 13 June, you will now also be able to:

• Form a support bubble with one other household if you live alone or are a single parent with dependent children – in other words, you are in a household where there is only one adult

That is why you should stay alert and follow social distancing guidelines. You must not:

• gather outdoors in groups of more than six people with people you do not live with (except for limited circumstances) or, from 13 June, people that are not in your support bubble (if applicable)
• visit friends or family inside their home or any other indoor place, except for the limited set of circumstances set out in law or from 13 June if they are in your support bubble
• stay away from your home or your support bubble household overnight – including holidays – except for in a limited set of circumstances, such as for work purposesFrom the 4th July – it is updated to:

• you can meet in groups of up to two households (your support bubble counts as one household) in any location – public or private, indoors or outdoors. You do not always have to meet with the same household – you can meet with different households at different times. However, it remains the case – even inside someones home – that you should socially distance from anyone not in your household or bubble. This change also does not affect the support you receive from your carers
• when you are outside you can continue to meet in groups of up to six people from different households, following social distancing guidelines

those who have been able to form a support bubble (i.e. those in single adult households) can continue to have close contact as if they live with the other people in the bubble, but you should not change who you have formed a support bubble with

 
Thank you for your support in this matter 

Please help us all to  stay safe

Mrs Hurding

 

24.06.20

Dear Parents,

 Staff update

I am delighted to say that we have organised the supply teacher, Michelle kaskiewicz to work with Miss Beresford  in Y3 until Miss Cook returns from maternity leave.  Mrs Kaskiewicz has done long term supply in school before and knows school well, she is delighted to be returning to The Ellis and we are delighted to have her back.

 The Y6 6 Mile

The resilience and the commitment of our Y6s to The Ellis is overwhelming.

They have missed out on so much this year due to CV-19, yet they have turned the situation around into a positive and are raising money for school.  They want to leave a legacy that the rest of school can enjoy and remember them by.  

They are raising money to go towards a slide in the banking, a dream we have had for many years at The Ellis.

Please help them – see the ‘gofundme’ link for payments.  Please share with anyone who you feel would like to support our school.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/yr6-does-6-mile-challenge-for-the-ellis?member=4715906&utm_medium=email&utm_source=product&utm_campaign=p_email%2Binviteacceptedemailtoteammember

 1m+ Rule 

We have had a few enquiries wondering if the Pod sizes will increase with the 1m+ ruling that is due to start on the 4th July.  It was my understanding watching the briefing last night that the 2M rule where possible was still being encouraged.

As yet no new guidelines about this distancing rule and school have come through.  

As a school we will continue to make decisions that we feel are the safest possible ones for children and staff.  

The systems of Rainbow school are working well and it is unlikely we will change this system as it is working so well. 

 I know this is causing frustration for parents who are now wanting places for their children in school.

We do have a reserve list of parents who have requested places( or more days) if available and this will be used if the situation does change before the Summer.

I continue to re-iterate none of this situation is ideal for any of us and we are all desperate to have all our children safely back in school.

 Transition

We are organising a transition letter and short video from your new teachers that you will be able to share with your children before the Summer.  There will be some ideas of Summer activities that you can do alongside exploring the great outdoors and getting lost in a good book.

 Merits

We will be doing the Merits assembly this year and will film it and send it out to you.  The aim is that we will share it on the 16th July – the day we would have done the assembly at school.

 Y6 Farewell day

Remember the 17th July is only for our Y6 children to be able to come back to say good-bye.

So the 16th July is the last day of term.

  The Pond

Being outside and exploring nature has kept many of us grounded during this CV-19 crisis.

We have so enjoyed seeing photos of you exploring and learning outside while at home.

We are beyond happy that the dream of the pond has become a reality this week, thanks to Mrs Trotter’s determination, ability to find freebies and the incredible  generosity of our parents both financially and by giving time, we now have the most wonderful learning space that we cannot wait to share with you all.

The Rainbow garden and the pond really are symbols of hope for us all.  Hope that we can stop and reflect, hope that we can be grateful for what we have and hope for taking care of our wonderful planet.

 Thank you TEAM ELLIS for making dreams happen.

 Stay safe,

 Stay in touch,

 Mrs Hurding

23.06.20

 

Good Morning,

Please see below details of how to get involved in this year’s Mayor’s Parade.

Mrs Edwards

 

This year marks the 50^th Anniversary of Barnsleys famous Mayors Parade.  Sadly, due to the current Coronavirus pandemic and the Governments restrictions on mass gatherings, we are this year taking the parade online for the first time in its 50 year history!

We are asking people from across the borough to send us their light-hearted and fun video entries which will be combined to form a final parade film that will be shown on Saturday 11 July as part of the wider Big Bank weekend. 

To enter, all we ask is that you get creative in preparing a short parade video (no longer than 60 seconds long) that celebrates the very Best of Barnsley. Further information and ideas to help with your entry can be found at:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rij6tQy4vlg

Prizes will be up for grabs and winners will be chosen by the Mayor, Cllr Pauline Markham for the following categories:

1	Mayor’s Outstanding Contribution	50 voucher for Market Kitchen/ Barnsley Markets
2	Best family / household entry	25.00 voucher for Market Kitchen / Barnsley Markets (each category)
3	Most creative entry
4	Best business entry
5	Best charity / school / community entry

The closing date for entries is Sunday 5^th July. The entry videos will then be pulled together and streamed on Facebook and YouTube on Saturday the 11^th July at 1pm.

Should you have any queries or wish to discuss further, please contact our Events team on:-  eventplanning@barnsley.gov.uk

Thank you, take care and keep safe.

Vicky

Vicky Warboys

Mayoral and Civic Support Officer

Town Hall

Barnsley

 

22.06.20

Dear Parents,

Just to update you on our pond situation. We were slightly concerned about getting a digger into the area so sent photos to Fletchers Waste Management, Sheffield. The man came out today and unfortunately he can’t get a digger in but has still kindly offered to donate the skip free of charge. His generosity however hasn’t stopped there! As he can’t help with the digger, he has kindly offered to buy the oxygenating plants which is ABSOUTELY AMAZING! 

We have also now received lots of stones which someone in the village has donated along with another kind parent in FS2. So we think we may have enough now without having to buy any. These donations really have blown we away.

Therefore, instead of having to spend the ‘Sponsor a stone’ money on stones, we hope that parents would be happy if we spent that money on pond dipping equipment such as trays, collecting tubs etc and also some new clipboards for the area and if funds allow, a welcome sign and plaque.

This really has turned into a community project and thank you to everyone including Fletchers Waste management for what they have done. 

We also have some parents coming to help dig it out….fingers crossed we don’t have to battle too many tree roots and foundations!

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

 

22.06.20

Dear Parents,

Firstly, thank you so much for offering to help with our project. I was very relieved when Mrs Fiddes gave me four volunteer names as it would have taken rather a long time by myself! I really do appreciate your kindness.

A slight change in arrangements since the times we sorted on Friday has occurred. Freddie from Fletchers Management Waste company have been in touch and asked if rather than delivering the skip and mini digger on Monday, he could come to school himself on Monday morning and just check the access arrangements (e.g what he will need to lift the skip over the wall and get the mini digger in) to ensure he sends the correct size and then he will send out first thing Tuesday (23^rd June) to dig out.

He doesnt anticipate it will take more than about 45 minutes to dig out, so I was wondering if you might be available at about 1pm 2.30pm  instead of 11.00am as I dont think we will be able to do anything until it is dug out. I have two people coming to help in the morning then we could see where we are by the end of the day and if not finished see if anyone is available Wed to finish off. If you cant do this time now it has changed, please just let me know.

It is a little bit of guess work as to how it will work as I have no idea how long each step will take and with the added complication of social distancing, I think we will just have to see how best to run the day. I am out of class all day Mon, Tues and Wed so I will be around and help as well and of course can provide drinks and refreshments (but unfortunately not toilets sorry we cant let people on site). The patch is well away from school and is certainly big enough for 2 or 3 people to maintain social distancing.

Once dug out these are the jobs I think need doing!

• Shape the pond
• Line with the carpet (to prevent punctures to the pond lining)
• Line with pond liner and weigh down with a few stones
• Fill with water (we have two outdoor taps and long hose pipes)
• Dig trench around the edge to sink the overlay of pond lining in and place the rocks all around
• Cut back the trees as they are overhanging the pond and we need to make access all around]
• Move the logs around the edge
• Possible painting of gate or gates (if anyone doesnt mind doing this)
• Moving picnic bench into area
• Tidying rubbish and any left of unused carpet into the skip
• Possibly moving left over rocks into the Rainbow Garden to create a rockery!

I have never built a pond before but have tried to read as much as I can on the internet. If whilst doing it, you feel there is a better way, please do shout up. You certainly wont offend me as Ill be honest, I have lots of DIY ideas, but little DIY knowledge! The only things we have to abide by to ensure we are adhering to the school risk assessment, is that the centre of the pond should be the deepest point and CANNOT be more than 1m but 80cm is perfect to ensure that wildlife have somewhere to go if the water freezes in winter and that the edges are sloping (sort of shelved) so that wildlife can get in and out (and it is also a crucial part of keeping children safe near a school pond).

If you have any tools which you feel might help (spade, barrow, paint brush, hedge/tree trimmers) then it would be brilliant if you could bring them please.

I am so excited as this has been on the wish list for about 12 years! After the pond has been filled it has to rest for a week for the chlorine to settle and then we will purchase the needed oxygenating plants and are going to ask our Y5/Y6 pod to help us put them in and then will should look amazing. I will be taking lots of photos to share on Twitter. If you dont want to be in any, please just let me know and I will ensure that I dont get you in the photos.

So for now, thank you not only from me, but all the staff and all the children at The Ellis now and if future years to come. Just imagine if one day, you come to this school to collect a grandchild (!) and can say I helped to dig that out!)

Kindest Regards and Thanks

Mrs C Trotter

 

19.06.20

Dear Parents,

Our Foundation Stage are making their very own large bug hotel and are asking for donations of broken terracotta pots, bricks with holes in, ridge tiles (complete or broken), small logs or wood and anything else that will make good hidey holes for insects, bugs, spiders and all other creepy crawlies.

Please pop to the office on Monday if you have anything suitable.

Many thanks,

Foundation Stage 

 

17.06.20

Dear Parents / Carers,

On the 19th June school was going to hold  a “Race for Life”. This would have been the first time school had held one of these events but unfortunately due to the current global situation we can not participate or hold the event.

However the organisers of Race for Life have sent ideas for your own at home event. Please see attached flyer from the organisers of Race for Life with ideas to hold your own Race for life either outdoors in the garden weather permitting or indoors. So why not dress in pink, have fun and hold your own event at home. Race for Life Schools Sports Day Guide

Please remember to send photos and we will put them on Twitter. If we get enough photos I might be able to persuade Mrs Edwards to do one of her wonderful videos.

Kindest Regards

Rachel Jaques

Year 4 Teacher

 

17.06.20

Dear Parents and Carers,

We hope you are all keeping well.

RAINBOW SCHOOL

Rainbow school continues to be a great success and can we thank you again for supporting us by reminding your children to socially distance in and out of school helping to keep everyone safe, to keep your children home if ill and for everyone for using our one-way system at the start and the end of the day.  The children have settled into the new routines well.

Once again we apologise that we are now having to turn children away from school, no part of this feels right but we are at capacity in school.  If you are still requiring a place as a key worker, please let us know as soon as possible, but I am sorry to say we cannot now guarantee you a place.  We will need at least 48 hours notice too.

We continue to greatly miss our staff and children who are not with us and thank you for everyone who continues to communicate via email, Facebook and Twitter.  It really does help us all to connect with each other.

POND and RAINBOW garden/OUTDOORS

As you know life outside has helped us all during COVID-19 and we want to continue to develop our wonderful outside areas at The Ellis.  Thank you for everyone’s generosity of support with helping us to pay for the pond, many parents are wanting to donate gifts to school as a thank you.  We gladly accept gifts, especially when we know our children will benefit from them. 

We are hoping our climbing frame we won will be installed the week of 7th July, we are very grateful for the support we had to make this happen. 

I am also in the process of getting a quote for a slide in the banking, another Ellis dream that I know parents are on board with helping us with.

Y6 -FAREWELL DAY 17th July

One of the hardest parts of this lockdown for us all has been not being able to celebrate our Y6s achievements together.  We have been beyond proud of our Y6s attitude in school this year and we know they will continue to shine at Secondary.  We need to say well done and thank you and to enable our Y6s to say good bye to The Ellis.  

With this in mind we are going to invite all our Y6s for an extended 2 metres apart lunch on the 17th July.  (Details of our plans will be coming soon).  But Y6s save the date!

However to make this as SAFE as possible for our Y6s we are CLOSING SCHOOL TO ALL CHILDREN except for our Y6s on the 17th July.

This means the last day of school will be the 16th July.

I know this is a change of plan that may inconvenience some of you but I am sure you will agree we have to give our Y6s a proper send off.

SEPTEMBER AND TRANSITION

REPORTS

I am so pleased we sorted the interim reports for you all – these will be the reports this year.  

We are doing the full reports for Y6 as they did not have the interim reports and it is their final year with us.

As ever if you have any concerns please email your child’s teacher for support.

We will be planning lots of transition to support your children back into school as we know how hard this will be for many children after a long period at home.

Property -Cloakrooms

There are still quite a few things in the cloakroom that you may want back if you are not in school, can you let us know if you need anything back, otherwise we will be clearing out pumps etc before the Summer.

Sponsored Koala

Thank you for all your support we now have our sponsored Koala and have received a lovely message from the organisation! We have attached a photograph of Maryanne and hopefully more to follow soon.

The Ellis C of E Primary School, thank you for joining us as a Koala Protector and supporting WWFs vital koala conservation work in Australia.
The fires in Australia which started at the end of 2019 were devastating, with more than 12 million hectares burnt  thats the equivalent of over 40% of the entire UK.
But your support meant that WWF Australia, along with local organisations, could help care for injured koalas like Maryanne.

Thanks for everyone’s continued support,

Kind regards,

Mrs Hurding

16.06.20

Dear Parents,

In our latest government guidelines we have been asked to code absence for the following:

Shielding

Self-isolating

Covid-19 related illness

Could you please inform school if you fall into any of the above categories by emailing t.gay@theellis.org to ensure our records are kept up to date.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Mrs Gay

 

15.06.20

Dear Parents,

As I am sure many of you have seen, we are very excited to let you know we are ready to start building our wild pond in the school grounds. This is a project which 13 years ago, when the new school was built, I desperately wanted to do but is something which we have never manage to get off the ground.

One thing which we already strongly believe at The Ellis, and which over the past few months has proven ever more crucial, is the positive impact the outdoors has on mental well-being. We have seen so many amazing photos of children embracing the outdoors and learning so much. A pond is a wonderful educational resource and has so much to offer in the way of covering the science curriculum and enabling children to learn about the world around them. The pond will go in the already fenced area opposite Rainbow Garden (right hand side of the path as you enter school from School Street). It now has a lockable gate on it making it secure and when it is fully made and being used by children, they will of course be fully supervised by adults at all times.

So here comes the exciting part creating the pond! We are very excited to inform you that following on from a kind parents enquiries, Fletchers Waste Management, Sheffield are now not only providing a skip, they have also offered to send a mini digger and driver to dig out the pond free of charge! Thank you to both the parent for contacting the company and Fletchers for their kind offer. They will both be arriving at school next Monday (22^nd June) after school drop off.

Once the bulk of the digging out has been done by the company, we are then going to need adults to assist with the shaping, laying carpet and pond lining and moving large stones. We have looked at the area and carefully measured it all and are happy that two people could comfortably work in this area at a time, whilst also maintaining 2m social distancing. We are therefore asking if anyone would be happy to volunteer for a slot to help us complete the pond. Unfortunately, we cannot let the adults into school for any facilities (including toilets), but can certainly bring you drinks and biscuits out to the area to keep you refreshed!

Therefore, if anyone could offer a slot on one of the following times, please contact Mrs Fiddes in the office so that we can arrange a rota. If you are available for various slots please let us know which ones so that we can juggle people round and put people into a slot.

 Tues 22^nd June  9:15 10:45           11:00 12:30        1:00 2:30

We are unsure how long it will take so if you are also free on Wednesday 23^rd June and would be happy to be called on if necessary, please let us know. If you have a spade and a wheelbarrow which you could bring that would be a help, but if you can offer time and not the tools, please let us know and we can sort some out.

 Our second plea is one which does not involve digging! As I am sure you can imagine, school have recently incurred many unexpected costs due to buying cleaning products, extra stationary for each child to have a pack etc. Therefore, we wondered whether any parents would be happy to Sponsor a Stone for our pond area to help with school funds. We have already bought the pond lining and will have to purchase oxygenating plants, but one of the largest costs is to purchase the large rockery stones needed around the edge to hold down the lining. To have a ton delivered to school (which is about 70 stones) will cost approximately 3 per stone. Therefore we would like to ask any family who feels like they could and would like to, to sponsor one stone at 3 (payable on Parent Pay). The cost will appear on every childs account, but is optional and once the project has been completed, the amount will be removed from Parent Pay. You are welcome to sponsor one stone per family, or if you feel that you would like to of course you are welcome to sponsor one stone per Ellis child! Please could we ask that any donations be made by Friday 26th June so that we can get everything ordered before the end of the academic year. 

If we raise any more than the amount needed for the stones, this will then be spent on pond dipping equipment such as nets and trays.  

We are desperate to complete this project ready for the hopeful return of children in the new academic year. One of the things which ponds encourage is new life and we felt that if ever there was a time to see the positives and embrace and appreciate the world around us, now is the time.

 Thank you as always for your continued support.

Kind Regards,

Mrs C Trotter

 

 

11.06.20

Dear Parents,

Vortex, our uniform supplier, will be fully open from next week so I thought I would send you their latest email again (see below) to remind you of their services.

Hayley Fiddes

 

Good afternoon,

Our Vortex Schoolwear Website is now live!

Our website link is the following, which will direct you to the homepage:

www.vortexschoolwear.co.uk

Below is the link that will take you directly to your School’s page:

www.vortexschoolwear.co.uk/Primary-Schools/The-Ellis-CE-Primary-School

• Parents/guardians will now be able to place an order directly through our website by making an account, as well as placing orders through school (as done currently).
• It will give them the choice between free school delivery, home delivery or collection at Vortex. The online orders will be processed through us, we will do all the admin our end, any orders placed for school delivery will be added to the usual ticksheets we use.
• Emails will be sent to the customers once they have placed an order, giving them frequent updates on the status of their order. We will be working towards the same one-week lead times that we currently work to.
• There will be no changes to your weekly delivery and your delivery date will stay the same.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact myself or the rest of the Sales Team.

Thank you,

Nicole Roughley

School Uniform Administrator

Vortex Clothing Co Ltd

Unit 2&3 Grange Lane Ind Est

Carrwood Road

Barnsley

S71 5AS

Tel: 01226 202329

 

10.06.20

Dear Parents,

SCHOOL OPENING

I am sure that you are all aware it was announced last night that schools will not be fully back until September, although there was no clarity as to what September will look like yet!

I can imagine, that like me, this comes with a mixed reaction. I am relieved because under the current guidelines I was struggling to see how we could physically fit any more children into school.  The numbers in the PODS are working and school is feeling as safe as it can.  

However, I also feel very sad that we will not be seeing many of our children until September and that all our Y6s are not in school to celebrate an amazing year.  

I understand that those of you who have been, and continue to home school, may be feeling a little mixed right now, it is such along time not to be in school.  As we have said, and will continue to say, take each day at a time and if you all need a day to hide under a duvet that is fine.  Our hope is that after this lockdown time our children will be more creative, have a new knowledge about outdoors, have become gardeners and cooks and appreciate time and nature.  The children that came back last and this week have certainly shown amazing resilience.

Those parents, of which there are many, that are working and home schooling, we know you have gone above and beyond to support your families throughout this hard time and at times it is so hard to juggle.

We want to continue to connect and work with you and we love it when you can share photos of home learning, it helps us all to see each others faces.   The social media contact is a lifeline for lots of us at the moment and helps us to feel connected when we can’t see everyone so please keep sending in your photos.

RAINBOW SCHOOL

As of yet, no definite guidance has come out from the Government regarding the next few weeks. 

 My thinking at the moment is that Rainbow school will continue until the Summer Holidays.  We will continue to do everything we can to accommodate the communities needs for keyworker children to be in school, however, as you know, school is increasingly full and the Red and Green Pod are now full to bursting.

Please continue to keep in contact and let us know how we can continue to help and support you all through this highly anxious time.

RE SAFETY

If your child is coming to school they are doing amazingly at trying to keep a safe distance from each other, all the children are responding to reminders and the new school rules around hygiene and safe physical distance are in place and are being followed well.

We ask again that your families follow the lockdown guidelines out of school. If not, you are increasing the risk of infection in school and school closure. 

SUMMER HOLIDAYS

Again, nothing has been said about schools being open in the Summer, but you need to know that as Head of school I will be firmly supporting the closure of school. Many of us have been working throughout the lockdown and need time to stop, recover and be ready for whatever September brings. 

STAFFING NEWS

Mrs Green has made the life decision not to return to school, this is a huge loss to The Ellis but we wish Mrs Green every success and happiness in supporting her husband with his business ‘Music Matters.’

As you all know, Mrs Edwards will be starting maternity leave after the Summer holidays too.

I am delighted to say during Mrs Edwards’ maternity leave we will have two assistant heads to support the leadership of school.  

Mrs Trotter will be the Assistant Head for Foundation and KS1.

Mrs Wise will be the Assistant Head for KS2.

I am looking forward to working with both in this new leadership role.

I know I have not informed you of next years staffing yet. I have been waiting on some unknowns and also the right time to talk about September.  We do have a plan but I still have a few gaps to fill, so bear with me.

We will ensure that whatever September brings, the children are given the space and time they need to settle back into school life and readjust back into school.

STAFFING FOR NEXT YEAR

Foundation 1 –  Mrs Pollard/Mrs Andrews and Mrs Kelly

Foundation 2 – Mr Grayhurst/Mrs Beevers

Year 1 –             Mrs Broadbent/ ? 

Year 2 –             Mrs Trotter/Mrs Freeman  

Year 3 –             Miss Beresford/Miss Cook/Mrs Law  (Miss Cook will return just before Christmas so we will have a supply to cover) 

Year 4 –              Mrs Jaques/Mrs Connelly/Miss Turton

                           Mrs Broadhurst will also support Y3 and Y4

Year 5 –              Mrs Wise

Year 6 –              Miss Saunders

                           Mrs Brinkley/Mrs Wood and Mrs McAleavy will also be supporting Y5/Y6

I cannot thank team Ellis enough for their huge commitment to school, there is no doubt that in a crisis we really notice how caring and committed our team is.  The support of parents is amazing and I hope we can all hold on to the positives and be grateful for the things we have, as we have all learnt many lessons throughout this lockdown.

We will continue to support everyone, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Stay safe, 

Mrs Hurding (Mrs H)

 

04.06.20

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for everyone’s support in helping Rainbow school to run smoothly.

Rainbow School 

Some reminders – 

Can we remind everyone that the lock down distancing rules are still in place and we are doing everything we can to follow these at school, this needs to be the case out of school too.  If your child has returned to school you are increasing everyone’s risk if  you and your children are not following these rules out of school.  

Can you come to school for your PODS allocated time please to help with the flow of people.

If you are dropping off two children, it is ok to arrive at the earlier time. It is difficult in the Green and Yellow pod as we do not have a waiting area.  We ideally require children to come straight into the building, therefore if your children are coming to school independently please can you ask them not to come too early. We love that they are keen to come to school, but there is no waiting area and the Yellow Pod children arrive earlier than the Green Pod to enable no passing of people.

Thank you for your support, I know we are needing to iron out details and we really do appreciate everyone’s support.

Regards

Mrs Hurding

 

03.06.20

Dear Parents,

We continue to be amazed by the support of The Ellis community and it is times like these when we really know how lucky we are to work here.

The start of Rainbow school has been a great success. This is down to the commitment from our staff, determination to make it work, your children’s attitude and ability to listen and follow the new school rules of safe distancing, constant hand washing and also of course, your support, so thank you.

We will continue to support all parents. I think this is harder now in some ways, more children are back and you may be questioning your decision to keep your children at home.  We do not want any parents, whether sending children or not sending them, to feel guilty!  You need to make the decision for your family.

We are following the guidelines set out for schools by the Government and this means we can only operate a small school.

Rainbow school is very different from our usual school, the classrooms have been stripped and there are very few open ended resources available.  Each child has their own work station and work pack. We use outside as much as we can.  We do have an advantage as our school building lends itself to being able to set up as separate pods, each with their own outdoor learning space.  The children are working on the same learning, where possible, both at home and at school, so please keep in touch through TWITTER.

We have calculated our school capacity following Government guidelines and are able to accommodate 65 children.  This number is based on the number of children that can fit into the classrooms. As a new build our classrooms are not very big! This means that we are now nearly full. 

The hard news is that your parent choice may be taken away due to us being almost full at school.  

Green and Red pod are now full.

I am now going to have to begin to say ‘no’ to requests to return unless you are keyworkers who need a place and unfortunately these places have almost gone too. 

What we are doing at the moment to slightly increase capacity, is to work out how two children can share a place by coming on different days.  

As a headteacher I have never wanted to say no to a child coming to school and I am really struggling that I am beginning to have to do this.

If you are a keyworker who NEEDS a place due  to having to go back to work, let us know and I have everything crossed that we will be able to fit you in.  If not, there may come a time – which I really do not want to happen – where the children that have already returned to school may not be able to have a space.  I will not do this lightly.

Please continue to keep in touch and we will continue to monitor and keep you informed.  

All requests regarding places in school must come to Mrs Hurding at the moment as it is taking a lot of time to sort and the teachers are busy teaching in the pods.

Thank you again for your support.

Stay safe,

Mrs Hurding

 

02.06.20

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope you are well.

Can I begin by saying thank you to everyone who replied to my email regarding workbooks for your children. From your responses I could see that a lot of you had already purchased a range of Y5 books. With that in mind, I have made the decision to purchase a set of Y6 CGP books as I feel that these will be most effective in helping me prepare your child fully for their transition to Y6. The pack I have purchased includes 6 books.

Whilst I am mindful not to increase pressure, I will be setting daily work from these as it will give those of you who would like it, a little more structure and enable the children in school, with Mrs Brinkley, to work on the same learning. It also allows me to create any supporting materials that I think the children may need such as tutorial videos- particularly for new concepts- which I will email to you/post on Twitter. If you would prefer your child to simply work through the books at their own pace, that is fine- the books have answers for when you need them however you may want to take these out before giving your child the book. I am happy to provide feedback for any work sent to me via email.

The books will be ready to be collected from Mrs Fiddes from tomorrow- THURSDAY 4^th JUNE.

 Please note, any pages not completed in the books during home learning may be used by Miss Saunders in Y6 so please keep hold of them.

 In addition to these books, I have also made the decision to include some weekly writing tasks (old Y6 SATs writing papers) that I would appreciate completing. They can be timed but it is not a necessity as writing in Y6 is not tested like this anymore- it is based on teacher assessment ratified through a moderation process. In order to fully support your childs transition to Y6, I would like to request that you email this to me so that I can provide feedback. It can be a typed response (which I can add comments to) or a photograph of the handwritten work.

I will also continue to send ideas for other subjects (topic, science etc.) but, as always, please use what you feel is appropriate- I am aware that you all have different circumstances and do not want you to be overwhelmed by the work expectations. If you have any problems, please contact me directly and I will help if I can.

Thank you again for your support during these unprecedented times.

Mrs Edwards

 

01.06.20

Dear Parents, 

 Can I thank you again for your support.

 We have been busy today getting school ready for the return of some children tomorrow.  Please can you remind all children that school will look different and everyone will have their own learning packs and space to sit as well as a new water bottle.

PLEASE READ IF YOUR CHILD IS ATTENDING TOMORROW 

 RAINBOW SCHOOL  

 ‘Rainbow school’ from the 2nd June.

Those of you who have told us your children are coming back after half term are part of the risk assessment and at this moment in time we have enough space and staff to have all the children in that have said they are coming back.  We will need continue to monitor this and will continue to update you with changes that may have to happen to ensure safety.  We are getting very close to the numbers that we are able to have with the current guidelines.  If you are key workers can you let us know the patterns of when you want children in school ASAP each week as we may be able to share a place with another Key worker. 

YOU CANNOT JUST TURN UP WITH YOUR CHILD AS WE NEED TO PLAN OUR NUMBERS.

 There will be five pods in school and these will operate as separate units.  We are very lucky with our design of school as each pod will have access to their own outdoor space that they will be able to use throughout the day.  Please note we now have a separate Nursery Pod.

 Please note the staff in the different pods will not be teaching all the time as we will continue with our home learning offer, changing it to accommodate now most staff will be in school – as Mrs Edwards has already  communicated.  

Mrs Edwards now with the assistance of Mrs Wise will continue to oversee home learning.

 PINK POD  Nursery

Lead by Mrs Pollard  

Mrs Kelley  

START TIME   8:40am 

FINISH TIME  3.00pm 

Drop off at the Nursery door – wait along side the Foundation field

PLEASE NOTE   Friday    PICK UP AT 11.45am

 

RED POD     Foundation 2 Children 

Lead by Mrs Pollard

Mr Grayhurst

Mrs Beevers

Lunchtime – Mrs Remington

START TIME   8:40am 

FINISH TIME  3.00pm 

PLEASE NOTE   Friday    PICK UP AT 12 noon

ENTRANCE for drop off and collecting is the gate from the main road -School Street – walk up the path, parallel to ‘Rainbow garden’

Drop at the top gate by the F2s and a member of staff will be outside to greet you and guide your children in safely.

At the end of the day please wait 2 Metres apart alongside the F2 class. 

 

ORANGE POD​  Y1 children and Y2 keyworkers

Lead by Mrs Trotter

Mrs Beever

Mrs Freeman

Lunchtime -Miss Batley

START TIME  8.50am

FINISH TIME 3.10pm

ENTRANCE for drop off and collecting is the gate from the main road School Street – path parallel to ‘Rainbow garden’.

Drop at the top gate by the F2s and a member of staff will be outside to greet you and guide your children in safely to the Y1/Y2 entrance.

At the end of the day please wait outside,  2 Metres apart alongside the Y2 class from the cloakroom door.

 

 YELLOW POD​ ​     Y3 and Y4  Keyworkers

Lead by Mrs Jaques

Mrs Law

Miss Turton

Mrs Broadhurst

Lunchtime – Mrs Broadhurst

Entrance for drop off and pick up – come in the main gate from Garden Grove and into school through the gate near Y6. Please can parents ideally leave at this gate? There will be a member of staff in the KS1/KS2 playground to greet the Y3/Y4s into class.

START TIME   8:40am 

FINISH TIME  3.00pm 

 

GREEN POD ​    Y5 Keyworkers/Y6

Lead by Miss Saunders

Mrs Brinkley

Mrs Wood

Mrs McAleavy

Lunchtime – Mrs Brennan

Entrance for drop off and pick up – come in the main gate from Garden Grove and into school through the gate near Y6 into the Y6 class.

START TIME  8.50am

FINISH TIME 3.10pm

 

To make everything as safe as possible:

• We have completed a detailed risk assessment available on the website.
• We have to be strict with the start times and end times alongside the entrances you use, obviously if you are dropping off siblings we suggest you go for the earlier times or the younger one’s times, as we need to limit waiting time.  Please note the earlier pick ups are to enable time to clean all areas after school with the opening times we currently have to keep our maintenance staff safe.
• The different timings are to reduce the passing of each other as much as possible, please follow the 2M rules as you enter and exit school. 
• We strongly suggest that you walk from home if you can or you park a 5 minute walk away (I know we encourage this anyway and this will be a good time to develop good habits) this will greatly ease bottlenecks and congestion.  Also please can only one parent drop off, again to reduce adults as much as possible.
• We have bought all the children in school a new water bottle that will stay in school and be sterilised, so please do not bring a bottle from home.
• We are reducing as much as possible things coming into school and the same in reverse, so no book bags and it is with great pain at this stage we have to say no reading books to and from school. Ideally just bring your child!
• We recommend comfy clothing joggers and leggings and ideally school tops but we totally understand children would have grown and we do not expect you to buy more clothes at the moment, we will be outside as part of our learning as much as possible so wear clothes depending on the weather.  
• We have several painting projects for the Green pod (Y5/Y6) to help us improve our outdoor environment so please can they bring old clothes that may get paint on that may not come off.
• We are making a learning pack for every child in school with a new clipboard etc and the equipment they will need whilst in school.
• LUNCHES – the kitchen will be open to offer grab bag cold lunches and a jacket potato option each day.  Again as all prepared in school, the children will be eating in their pods, we recommend your child has a school lunch, but if you need to bring a pack lunch from home that is fine. Nursery children can order too. Each lunch is 2 and payable via ParentPay.
• MENU  –  PLEASE NOTE TOMORROW 2nd June WE ONLY HAVE THE SANDWICHES AVAILBLE.

‘Choice of cheese, tuna or egg sandwich, veg crudits bag, piece of fruit, home baked item, jelly or yoghurt.

 Jacket potato with one topping of cheese, tuna or beans plus a choice of a home baked item or piece of fruit.’

• If any staff or child displays the CV-19 symptoms – they will be sent home. We can now be tested and we would recommend this. If the virus is found in a POD we will have to close the whole pod down and send everyone home for the 14 day period.  Staff will need to wear PPE equipment if a child has symptoms and they cannot be 2 metres away, to take care of them.
• The washing of hands regularly has become a major part of our daily routine and all the keyworker children have got used to it.  Hand gel will be available in every Pod alongside soap and water.  We will continue with regular hand washing and we will supervise the younger children
• Our stance re the 2 metre rule is as it has been for the last 9 weeks, it is ‘best endeavours’, children do not have to be 2M apart the DFE guidelines says:  ‘Early years and primary children cannot be expected  to remain 2m apart from each other and staff. In deciding to bring children back to early years and schools, we are taking this into account.’   However we encourage safe distancing alongside continuing our nurturing environment.
• We have reduced what is available in each class to limit the amount of equipment children touch, cleaning equipment will be used when needed to ensure the environment is kept as clean as possible

We are mindful that if we reach capacity of numbers, Keyworkers will continue to be the priority and it may mean that children who have been at school may no longer be able to have a place, we know this is not ideal for anyone and we are doing everything we can to accommodate all children.

Can I thank you again for your support.

Stay safe,

 Mrs Hurding

22.05.20

Dear Parents, 

Can I thank you again for your support, I think we can all agree this has been a half term at school like no other!

First of all, apologies, my aim was to get this email out to you yesterday but there was a lot to double check with Senior Leaders and the Governors.

We have decided to make JUNE 1st an inset day (we should have had one today 22.5.20, but obviously this has not happened), this enables us to get school and staff ready for more children to return to school.  We understand that this may be a frustration if you have already planned your return to work but after much thought it it the safest option.  We need our environment to be ready and I need my staff to feel ready.  Many staff, rightly so, have been safe at home and we all need opportunity to re-adjust to the new school normal. So this means school will open on  2nd June.

SPRING BANK: SCHOOL IS CLOSED NEXT Monday and Tuesday but a member of SLT (Senior Leadership Team) will be in school Wednesday/Thursday and Friday if you have any queries.  Email will still be the best way to communicate from Wednesday as we do not have office staff back in until the 1st June.

RAINBOW SCHOOL  

Our plan is to operate ‘Rainbow school’ from the 2nd June.

Those of you who have told us your children will be coming back after half term are included as part of the risk assessment. At this moment in time we have enough space and staff to have all the children in who have said they will be coming back.  We will continue to monitor this and will continue to update you with any changes that may have to happen to ensure safety.

There will be four pods in school and these will operate as separate units.  We are very lucky with our design of school as each pod will have access to their own outdoor space that they will be able to use throughout the day.

Mrs Edwards now with the assistance of Mrs Wise will continue to oversee home learning.

 

RED POD     Foundation Children (Nursery and Foundation 2)

Lead by Mrs Pollard

Mr Grayhurst

Mrs Beevers

Lunchtime – Mrs Remington

START TIME   8:40am 

FINISH TIME  3.00pm 

 

ENTRANCE for drop off and collecting is the gate from the main road -School street – walk up the path, parallel to ‘Rainbow garden’.

Drop at the top gate by the F2 class and a member of staff will be outside to greet you and guide your children in safely.

At the end of the day please wait 2 Metres apart alongside the F2 class. 

 

ORANGE POD​  Y1 children and Y2 keyworkers

Lead by Mrs Trotter

Mrs Beever

Mrs Freeman

Lunchtime -Miss Batley

START TIME  8.50am

FINISH TIME 3.10pm

ENTRANCE for drop off and collecting is the gate from the main road School Street – path parallel to ‘Rainbow garden’.

Drop at the top gate by the F2 class and a member of staff will be outside to greet you and guide your children in safely to the Y1/Y2 entrance.

At the end of the day please wait outside, 2 Metres apart alongside the Y2 class from the cloakroom door.

 

YELLOW POD​ ​     Y3 and Y4  Keyworkers

Lead by Mrs Jaques

Mrs Law

Miss Turton

Mrs Broadhurst

Lunchtime – Mrs Broadhurst

The start and end times for the Yellow Pod are: 8.40am to 3.00pm. 

Entrance for drop off and pick up – come in the main gate from Garden Grove and into school through the gate near Y6. Can parents please ideally leave at this gate? There will be a member of staff in the KS1/KS2 playground to greet the Y3/Y4s into class.

 

GREEN POD ​    Y5 Keyworkers/Y6

Lead by Miss Saunders

Mrs Brinkley

Mrs Wood

Mrs McAleavy

Lunchtime – Mrs Brennan

The start and end times for the Green Pod are:  8.50am to 3.10pm.

Entrance for drop off and pick up – come in the main gate from Garden Grove and into school through the gate near Y6 into the Y6 class.

Please can children come to school in clean clothes everyday.

To make everything as safe as possible:

• We have completed a detailed risk assessment which is available on the website.
• We will have to be strict with the start times and end times alongside the entrances you use. Obviously if you are dropping off siblings, we suggest you go for the earlier times, or the younger ones times, as we need to limit waiting time.  Please note the earlier pick ups are to enable time to clean all areas after school with the opening times we currently have to keep our maintenance staff safe.
• The different timings are to reduce the passing of each other as much as possible, so please follow the 2M rules as you enter and exit school. 
• We strongly suggest that you walk from home if you can, or park a 5 minute walk away (I know we encourage this anyway and this will be a good time to develop good habits), this will greatly ease bottlenecks and congestion.  Also, please can only one parent drop off, again to reduce adults as much as possible.
• We are buying all the children in school a new water bottle that will remain in school to be sterilized, so please do not bring a bottle from home.
• As much as possible we are reducing the number of items that come into school and the same in reverse, so no book bags and it is with great pain at this stage we have to say no reading books to and from school. Ideally just bring your child!
• We recommend comfy clothing joggers and leggings and ideally school tops but we totally understand children will have grown and we do not expect you to buy more clothes at the moment. As we will be outside as much as possible as part of our learning, please wear clothes depending on the weather.  
• We have several painting projects for the Green pod (Y5/Y6) to help us improve our outdoor environment so please can they bring old clothes that can get paint on that may not come off.
• We are making a learning pack for every child in school containing a new clipboard and the equipment they will need whilst in school.
• LUNCHES – the kitchen will be open to offer grab bag cold lunches or a jacket potato option each day.  Again, as it is all prepared in school, and children will be eating in their pods, we recommend your child has a school lunch, however, if you need to bring a packed lunch from home that is fine. Nursery children can also order too from school. All school lunches can be ordered on the day.
• MENU

Choice of cheese, tuna or egg sandwich, veg crudits bag, piece of fruit, home baked item, jelly or yoghurt.

 Jacket potato with one topping of cheese, tuna or beans plus a choice of a home baked item or piece of fruit.

• If any staff or child displays the CV-19 symptoms, they will be sent home. We can now  be tested and we would recommend this. If the virus is found in a POD we will have to close the whole pod down and send everyone home for the 14 day period.  Staff will need to wear PPE equipment if a child has symptoms and they cannot be 2 metres away, to take care of them.
• The washing of hands regularly has become a major part of our daily routine and all the keyworker children have got used to this.  Hand gel will be available in every Pod alongside soap and water.  We will continue with regular hand washing and we will supervise the younger children.
• Our stance regarding the 2 metre rule is as it has been for the last 9 weeks, it is ‘best endeavours’. Children do not have to be 2M apart as per the DFE guidelines which say:  ‘Early years and primary children cannot be expected  to remain 2m apart from each other and staff. In deciding to bring children back to early years and schools, we are taking this into account.’   However, we will encourage safe distancing alongside continuing our nurturing environment.
• We have reduced the items available in each class to limit the amount of the equipment children touch. Cleaning equipment will be used when needed to ensure the environment is kept as clean as possible.

We are aware that the start date may be changed by the Government as it was a conditional statement but to be prepared we will ensure everything is ready.

Keep a look out for a video over the bank holiday to give us all some cheer – it will be posted on Facebook and Twitter.

We hope you all manage to have a wonderful bank holiday weekend, 

Stay safe, 

Mrs Hurding

 

21.05.20

Dear Parents,

I hope this email finds you well we are missing you all, but it is lovely to see your faces on your class tweet photos.

I just wanted to update you on a few things which we have begun or are planning and wanting to do over the coming weeks. As you know, the Rainbow Garden is looking amazing and is a beautiful place to spend time in. One of the things which I have wanted to do for some time now is to add a wild pond to our grounds as this opens up so many science opportunities. The plan is that the patch of grass (which is currently fenced in) on the right as you enter the path up to school from School Street will have a pond in. We are going to get a gate which can be locked to ensure the safety of our children (thus ensuring the area is fully fenced in) and obviously when it is in place and children are using it, they will be fully supervised and staff will follow the safe practise of working with children near water. I am currently getting quotes for pond lining and oxygenating plants and Mrs Laws husband is kindly donating logs which we can use around the edge and as seating. I know it will be an amazing addition to our school grounds. Once we are through the situation we are currently in, my hope is that I can rally enough parent / grandparents helpers to come one weekend or school holiday to help me dig out the pond as it might take rather a long time by myself! I will send out more information once we are able to work out the logistics of having volunteers on site.

 Secondly, another exciting addition will be a fence around the grassed area outside the Year 1 classroom. The path will still be clear for parents to collect their children from but it will mean we can utilise the outdoor area for the KS1 children so much more. With this in mind, we are going to be working in school on making things for the area and this leads me to my plea of donations! If anyone has any of the following things which they would be happy to donate to school, then the Key Stage 1 team and children would be very grateful. We have lots of ideas and are busy sourcing things to really make it an exciting place for children to learn outside the classroom.

• Tins (full or partly used) of coloured outdoor paint
• Metal pans (for mud kitchen)
• Metal utensils (such as ladles, sieves, spoons etc for mud kitchen)
• Metal cups, plates, bowls (for mud kitchen)
• Pieces of guttering (for our water investigation area)
• Old plastic jugs, watering cans, buckets (for the water area)
• Left over boards of wood (maybe from DIY projects) suitable for outdoor use, which we can blackboard paint.

 Any donations can either be passed over the fence into Rainbow Garden (please just email the office or myself to let me know they are there and we can collect) or left outside the office door or handed to a member of staff if they are in the office area. We really appreciate donations and we are also amazed at the generosity and support we receive from our parents.

One further piece of information is that we have just ordered a DT woodwork bench and tools to have in the KS1 classrooms (a large investment which we have wanted for several years) and lots of other resources for the outdoor area using the money we raised at the last nativity. So thank you to everyone who bought a ticket or raffle ticket, you have enabled us to provide our children with some lovely new resources. (Dont worry Y2, I will make sure you come down and use the outdoor area and borrow the DT bench when you are in Y3!)

 Thank you for your ongoing support and we look forward to showing off our new area when it has been done!

Kind Regards

Mrs C Trotter

(KS1 lead and Y2 teacher)

 

20.05.20

Testing now available to anyone with symptoms of coronavirus

The government has announced that anyone with symptoms of coronavirus is now eligible to book a test, ahead of the rollout of the test and trace service. Anyone experiencing a new, continuous cough; high temperature; or a loss of, or change, in their normal sense of smell or taste (anosmia) can book a test.

A coronavirus test can be booked here:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Essential workers in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland, can apply for priority testing through GOV.​UK. A coronavirus test can be booked here:

https://www.gov.uk/apply-coronavirus-test-essential-workers

 

19.05.20

Contact Details

Please can I remind you all to keep us up to date with your contact details, this includes mobile telephone numbers.

Mrs Gay has tried to make several phone calls today and been unable to reach people as the numbers we have on record are incorrect.

Thank you

Hayley Fiddes

 

19.05.20

Dear Parents,

 

As we reach the end of another half term, Id like to take this opportunity once again to thank you for your ongoing support.

 

It is clear to see, from your interaction via email and social media, that the children have all worked tremendously hard for the last half term and so we have made the decision that we will not be sending any home learning packs for the break. The resources we have been directing you to- White Rose Maths and BBC Bitesize, are also taking a well-earned break. We hope that this gives you and your children time for a well-deserved rest and crucially, it will allow our teachers to recharge as well. This time will also allow us to fully prepare to welcome more children back into school safely.

 

After the holiday, the format for home learning will remain unchanged. We will still be sending  a work pack weekly, which will also be what the children in school access, and we hope you will continue to share your childs learning with us. As Im sure you understand, having more children in school requires more staff, therefore if you require any support with home learning when we return, please direct Y1, Y2 and Y3 queries to Mrs Wise (b.wise@theellis.org) and Y4, Y5 and Y6 queries to Mrs Edwards (e.edwards@theellis.org). Early years queries can still be sent to Mrs Pollard or Mr Grayhurst. This will enable us to respond more promptly and provide the support you need.

 

We will still use Twitter to promote additional resources and activities however these will mainly come from our main school account @theellisprimary so please make sure you are following us. Teachers will still be tweeting from their class accounts, so please continue to send pictures of learning as it is wonderful to see the children looking  so proud of their achievements. The weekly celebration video will also continue.

 

On behalf of all of the staff at The Ellis, we hope you have a relaxing break.

 

Take care,

 

Mrs Edwards and Mrs Hurding

 

15.05.20

WE CAME SECOND BUT STILL RECEIVED A FANTASTIC PRIZE!

Thank you to everyone who voted for us, you made this possible. 

Dear Mrs Hurding,

 I hope youre well.

 Thank you so much for taking part in our playground competition. Unfortunately your school came in second place in the public vote.

 We have been so impressed however with the publicity you have generated and the entry you submitted. In particular we have been really impressed with Jude and his passion!

 In Judes video he discusses how he would like a slide, we would like to offer you, free of charge, one of our activity centres  The Windermere. Whilst not quite as large as the play tower for first prize, it has much of the same play features and we think would be a great addition to your school. We will deliver and install this without charge, we just ask to hold a marketing event (photos etc) once it is installed. This product is worth over 5,000 installed. The product is designed specifically to promote physical and social play in schools. (Please see the attachment to view this).

 I hope that that would be acceptable to you, let me know if there are any problems. We will be in touch shortly to arrange installation, please bear with us as we will need to manufacture and arrange installation.

 Well done in conducting such a great publicity campaign and raising the profile of outdoor play within schools.

 Kind regards

 David

 David Esser

Director

 

14.05.20

Dear Parents and Carers,

As you are aware the Government made its announcement on Sunday evening to the nation, including their plan for a phased school return. These are extraordinary times and it is vital that we have a clear procedural approach to maintain the health and wellbeing of both children and staff. At the present time, school returning on the 1^st of June 2020 is not yet definitive and as advised by the Prime Minister, is dependent on scientific evidence.

 My responsibility is to the children, as well as staff and parents; my goal is to secure an arrangement that makes all parties feel as safe and as happy as practicable. This does pose challenges for us all, and in order to facilitate this I will be implementing measures which require a different daily approach to school life.

Staff are looking forward to seeing our children return to school. However, they are understandably concerned for their own health and need to be assured that the return to school will be done in a safe and sensible manner. As in any service at the present time, we will have some reduced staffing capacity due to shielding guidelines and for personal health reasons.

Therefore, with this is mind, the proposed reopening for the 1^st June 2020 will be for Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children, alongside continuing support for the children of key workers. In order to achieve this, the following measures will be implemented:

• The school will be adhering to the social distancing guidelines of 2 metres with adults and children (as much as possible)*
• Each year group will be split across two classrooms.
• Each year group will have an allocated zone within school.
• Teaching staff will be allocated to a zone, meaning that children may not be with their current class teacher.
• Some children may not be returning to their current classrooms.
• Children will not be able to mix with children allocated to other zones.
• The children will be divided into groups meaning that they may not be with all of their friends.
• Breaks and lunches will be staggered and will take place at different times, in different outdoor locations around the school.
• Each zone will have an allocated outdoor space which will be used regularly – outdoor learning will increase
• Start and finish times will be staggered to reduced parental contact and mixing -parents will need to socially distance
• If the numbers of children exceeds our daily limit, a rota system may have to be implemented.
• Some staff will be wearing PPE including aprons, gloves when needed – which is when children display symptoms
• Children will be sent home if they have any CV-19 symptoms
• Handwash stations and hand sanitizer will be made available at key points.

Further details regarding allocated zones, drop off and pick up points will be shared in due course.

In preparation for the return to school, we would be very grateful if you can discuss with your child about social distancing, what this means and how to do it. I know that many of you will have already done this, which is greatly appreciated.

 *The DFE guidance states ‘early years and primary age children cannot be expected to remain 2m apart from each other and staff.  In deciding to bring more children back to early years and schools we are taking this into account’

I am aware that there are lots of questions to help you make safe decisions regarding your children’s return to school. The situation is changing daily and if your child is in Foundation, Y1 and Y6 and initially you are saying no to the return to school, you will be able to change your mind later, but we need to keep an eye on numbers as the maximum per class is 15.  

We will get through this together, but I do need your understanding and support that we are doing the best we can in a stressful and challenging situation, which changes daily. Should you wish, you do have the right to keep your child at home, if you feel this is the safest thing for your family. The educational aspect delivered in school will be a mixture of light touch formal, informal and loosely based around the curriculum and topics.

 I will use my best endeavours to make our return to school as safe as is practicable to do so for the children, staff and parents, whilst following Government guidelines.

I will continue to update you as I have further details.

Take care and stay safe.

Mrs Hurding

 

13.05.20

Dear Parents of Y1 children,

 We are interested to know your thoughts on schools possibly reopening to Y1 from the 1st June. 

Furthermore, how is your child feeling about the current news?

 We are desperate to see you all however our priority is to keep you all safe and school is a very different place at the moment.

 We are currently looking through the Government guidelines to ensure we are as safe as we can be, but there is no doubt that the increase of children and parents on site increases risk. 

 As you know, we have kept school open and we have run it as safely as we can, however children are not always kept two metres apart as we need to teach them and they need to play and socially interact with each other  for their learning and well being.

As you know the Y1 curriculum is all about hands on learning and play both inside and outside.  We want this to continue as this is what our children need. We plan to limit what is available in the classes  and clean as much as we can, but we cannot guarantee we will wash everything a child touches through learning everyday while in school. We will continue to be vigilant regarding hand washing and keeping the environment clean.

One of the things we pride ourselves on the most at The Ellis is our nurturing environment, now more than ever our children need to feel safe and we will nurture and look after your children if they are in school.

 Please note that feedback you give today or this week is not your final decision, we are wanting to find out parent and pupil voice to help with the decision making process.

 Please can we have a definite decision by next Monday 18th May, if your child will be returning to school so we can prepare and plan for their return.  We will send a reminder of this on Friday 15th May.

When we know numbers of children attending we will make a plan that works with the numbers. We are only able to have 15 children at a time to give more safe space.

 I am sure you will also be aware that all our teaching unions are under-confident about the governments decisions re the safety of schools at the moment.  

The school plan has not changed this week, I want parents to make their decisions around the safety of their situation.  

We have just had confirmation re attendance from the DFE:

‘Parents will not be fined for non-attendance at this time, and schools and colleges will not be held to account for attendance levels’.

We will keep you posted of further developments and thank you for your support and honesty.

 Our plan as always is to do everything we can to keep everyone safe

 Regards,

 Mrs Hurding and Mrs Broadbent

 

13.05.20

Dear Parents of F1 and F2 children,

 We are interested to know your thoughts on schools possibly reopening to F1/F2 from the 1st June. 

Furthermore, how is your child feeling about the current news?

 We are desperate to see you all however our priority is to keep you all safe and school is a very different place at the moment.

 We are currently looking through the Government guidelines to ensure we are as safe as we can be, but there is no doubt that the increase of children and parents on site increases risk. 

 As you know we have kept school open and we have run it as safely as we can but children are not always kept two metres apart as we need to teach them and they need to play and socially interact with each other  for their learning and well being.

As you know the Foundation curriculum is all about hands on learning and play both inside and outside.  We want this to continue as this is what our children need, we plan to limit what is available in the classes  and clean as much as we can, however we cannot guarantee we will wash everything a child touches through learning everyday whilst in school. We will continue to be vigilant regarding hand washing and keeping the environment clean.

One of the things we pride ourselves on the most at The Ellis is our nurturing environment, now more than ever our children need to feel safe and we will nurture and look after your children if they are in school.

 Please note that feedback you give today or this week is not your final decision, we are wanting to find out parent and pupil voice to help with the decision making process.

 Please can we have a definite decision by next Monday 18th May, if your child will be returning to school so we can prepare and plan for their return.  We will send a reminder of this on Friday 15th May.

When we know numbers of children attending we will make a plan that works with the numbers. We are only able to have 15 children at a time to give more safe space.

 I am sure you will also be aware that all our teaching unions are under-confident about the governments decisions re the safety of schools at the moment.  

 The school plan has not changed this week, I want parents to make their decisions around the safety of their situation.  

We have just had confirmation regarding attendance from the DFE:

‘Parents will not be fined for non-attendance at this time, and schools and colleges will not be held to account for attendance levels’.:

We will keep you posted of further developments and we thank you for your support and honesty.

 Our plan as always is to do everything we can to keep everyone safe

 Regards,

 Mrs Hurding,  Mrs Pollard and  Mr Grayhurst

 

13.05.20

Dear Parents, 

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your support of school. We are amazed everyday by your wonderful children, they are a credit to you.

We know there is a lot of uncertainty about the return to school at the moment. What we do know is school will not be as we know it from the 1st June, whatever decisions are made. With this in mind it is likely that many of you will continue with home learning. Further to this, we thought it might be useful to go over our home learning expectations.  ​

We completely understand that  balancing working from home and home schooling is very challenging and is different for everyone. Because of this, we have tried to make our system flexible so our families can access a variety of resources and make appropriate selections that meet their unique needs, whilst still being in line with the provision we are providing the children of key workers who are attending school. We understand that this is a period of uncertainty and, for our children, this can have a huge impact on their mental health. Our main aim is to provide a balance between learning and time to be creative in order to minimise any trauma, both at school and at home.

In terms of our home learning provision, we chose to utilise the video learning from White Rose Maths and BBC Bitesize as these are endorsed by the Government and are being used by many schools and are safe sites. However we have sent additional, non web-based learning as we are mindful that we didnt want to add undue stress to families who dont have internet or technology access. We have asked staff to be available online each day, via twitter and email, to answer any queries and respond to work sent. Can we also remind you that if you do not have a Twitter account you can access the information on our school website.  We also know it is really important that children see school, staff and their friends which is why we make the videos every week.

We absolutely love to see the learning the children are doing and although we arent formally marking it, we are providing feedback when we receive it. If your child is struggling with any of the work sent, teachers are happy to provide additional explanations and resources via a variety of means, for example via email, short tutorial clips or links to various videos online which so far, has worked well.​

As we currently do not know how long this situation will continue for, we will continue to provide you with as much support as you need however we would like to reemphasise that these are unprecedented times and we are constantly adapting to the new information. We want to get it right and appreciate any feedback.  We will continue to look into ways to help, improve and ‘be the best we can be’. None of this is what we really want, ideally we want all children back in school but it can only happen when it is safe to do so. We all know the  best teaching relies on face to face interactions with immediate feedback as this helps to motivate and drive improvements, Im sure youll agree this is tricky to provide remotely.  

Please hold onto all the fantastic learning that is taking place every day- the time as a family to play, explore, bake, garden and be outside is invaluable and supports well-being alongside learning.

Please be reassured we will support all children when we eventually return to school to ensure that they achieve their full potential.  It is our role to take your children on their learning journey wherever they may be on it.

Many thanks for your support and feedback.

Stay safe, 

Mrs Edwards and Mrs Hurding

 

11.05.20

Dear Parent/Carers,

Im sure like myself, many of you will have watched the Prime Ministers address to the nation yesterday evening.

You will have heard the Prime Minister indicating that the government believes it may be in a position to implement a phased re-opening of schools from 1st June, starting with pupils in Foundation 2, year one and year six.  This is part of the governments conditional plan which it says will remain under regular review.

We are all keen for our children to return to school to continue with their learning as soon as it is safe to do so. As always, our primary concern, particularly during the current COVID-19 situation, is the health and safety of our children and staff, together with all parents and carers. With this in mind I will be keeping a very close eye on the governments plan and will be in contact with you again once further guidance has been received.

Any plan to increase the number of pupils in schools has to be practicable and manageable given the need for everybody to observe social distancing, which is even more difficult for a small school like ours and for young children.

Like you, I have only just seen the announcement and at this stage cannot answer all the questions you may have. I am waiting to receive more information from government about what this means for our school.  In the short-term, nothing has changed and I will provide further information in the coming days and weeks once I am able to do so.  If the national guidance (once known) cannot be safely applied to our school, I may, along with our governing body, have to make decisions regarding the safety of pupils and staff based on our own individual risk assessments. This may ultimately mean that the school is not in a position to expand pupil numbers in the way the government has indicated on the 1st June.    

Kind regards

Please stay safe

Mrs Hurding

 

06.05.20

Dear Parents,

We hope you are all keeping well?

Thank you to those of you who have already collected the home learning pack for your children for this week.

Please can I remind you that due to the increased number we have asked you to collect from school on Tuesdays only. There are only ever two members of staff in school and this way we can ensure one remains close to the office for collections at all times.

We still have a lot of packs that have not been collected this week. If they are not collected today we will save them to be collected next Tuesday. Further packs will not be issued for your child until these are collected.

Some names have only been added to our ever increasing list this week so your collections will start from next week.

Thank you for your support in these trying times. We are doing everything we can to support children’s learning at home and also keep everyone safe.

Mrs Hurding  

 

Dear Parents,

Hope you are all keeping well.

A link to Archbishop Justin’s Live Stream assembly is below. This is part of the launch of Oak Academy and the aim is to get as many people as possible watching the live stream.

There is still time. It will be available after streaming – but 10.00 is when they hope to set a record for the biggest school assembly ever!

It starts in one hour at 10:00am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgdhOstV6iI

 

Mrs Hurding

Dear Parents/Carers,

At The Ellis, we are passionate about the importance of reading and work hard to promote a love of reading. We always have a fantastic turn-out at our reading events and would love as many of you as possible to get involved with Pyjamarama this Friday (1^st May).

What is Pyjamarama?

To celebrate the bedtime story and reading together, this year’s Pyjamarama will be a day when families across the country can join in a festival of story-filled fun at home. With most children now at home, Booktrust are bringing Pyjamarama forward to Friday 1 May 2020 to help keep families entertained and keep children reading.

What do I need to do?

Promote reading at home by sharing books with your children.  Children can stay in their pyjamas and enjoy sharing stories with you. The activities on the website do require use of a printer. Instead to make life easier, children could make their own bookmarks, draw their favourite characters and/or design their own front covers. Please do send your photos via email, Facebook or Twitter.

You can also share pictures or stories about your day using #Pyjamarama. Whether its the books youre enjoying together, your childrens drawings of their favourite characters (in pyjamas, of course) or the PJ-related activities youve been taking part in we want everyone in their PJs and shouting about it!

There is a full festival line-up throughout the day where authors and illustrators will be hosting live tutorials and read aloud sessions (please see the attached image).

For more information please visit: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/have-some-fun/pyjamarama/

We hope that you enjoy the event and cannot wait to see your photos!

Take care and stay safe,

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

01.05.20

Stay Safe Get Active Flyer

SENT ON BEHALF OF BARNSLEY ALLIANCE

The STARS South Yorkshire team are looking for creative kids. Got a story to tell in words or pictures? 

Please find attached details of the competition.  Once it is ready, please email your entry to StaySafeGetActive@pwlcprojects.com by Friday 22nd May 2020. Including your name, age and school in the email.

The best entries will be published in a book to inspire others to Stay Safe and Get Active now, and in the future. Further details can also be obtained clicking the weblink: https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/StaySafeGetActive/

Kind Regards

Anna

Anna Turner MSc Chartered MCIPD

 

30.04.20

Dear All Parents,

Tomorrow morning the Archbishop will be holding what may be the biggest school assembly on record.

It will be for all schools, as part of the launch of the new Oak Academy, and will be streamed through the TES website https://www.tes.com at 10:00am.

 please click here for more info:

 https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/news/archbishop-canterbury-lead-first-assembly-national-online-academy

Mrs Hurding

 

29.04.20

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope you’re all keeping well.

I am emailing today as I would like to set you all a challenge to help cheer us all up.

The task:

I need a variety of short video clips (no more than 15 seconds) of you dancing please however, there’s a twist! As the theme of the our current time seems to be rainbows, could I ask that everyone in the video (bonus points if you can get the whole family involved) dresses in ONE colour from the rainbow– no matter how silly you look- in fact the sillier, the better! 

If you have any further questions or need ideas please ask.

Please email your videos to e.edwards@theellis.org before 13th May.

I look forward to watching your contributions.

Thanks in advance

Mrs Edwards

 

28.04.20

Hello everyone,

I hope everyone is well and safe and doing the best they can in the current situation.

We are doing everything we can to keep in touch with everyone and we love to hear from you and see your wonderful photos of what you are learning at home.

School is open but running for a few children whose parents are key workers and cannot get childcare at home. 

 I only have two staff in each day as my priority is to keep everyone safe.  Teachers and office staff are working at home. 

 If you need to contact school a reminder that the best way to communicate is through email as we do not have the office staff in to answer the phones. You should have your child’s teacher’s email.

 If you need to find out something about school or you are worried about anything please don’t hesitate to contact Mrs Hurding or Mrs Gay on: r.hurding@theellis.org     t.gay@theeellis.org 

Our plan is to phone some families once a week and all families once a half term to check everyone is ok.

We are also communicating through our Facebook page – The Ellis CE Primary School and Twitter, it is worth following these even if it is just for this CV-19 time, while we are not in school.

We have a whole school Twitter account and each class has one and it makes our day seeing all your wonderful faces on here.

@TheEllisPrimary    

@F1Ellis

@theellisF2

@TheEllisY1

@TheEllisY2

@TheElllisY3

@y4theellis

@EllisYearFive

@Y6TheEllis

You can also see the Twitter feed if you go onto our school website The Ellis C E Primary School.

Mrs H has been putting on regular VLOGS to support the children and families on Facebook and Twitter, these were daily but are now twice a week(ish).

If you are struggling with accessing the home learning please let us know.

We totally understand that you have to adapt to your own family situation and many of you are working at home.

We want to support you as much as we can so please stay in touch.

We think all the parents deserve a GOLD AWARD at the moment too.

Thank you for your continued support. 

Take care and stay safe,

Mrs Hurding

 

28.04.20

Dear Parents,

RE LEARNING PACKS – PRINTED

We hope you are all keeping well and safe.  

The need for learning packs to be printed at school has increased, with this in mind  can we ask that you now collect the learning packs on Tuesday from school. 

 If you are in the car you can drive into the school ground, at the moment as we are quiet.  There are only two staff in school but we do try to have one of us in Mrs Hurding’s office, so please be patient with us if someone is not there.  You could make collecting the learning pack part of your daily walk.  We will obviously respect the need to keep 2 metres apart. 

We want to do everything we can to support learning at home.

Thank you for your continued support.

Take care and keep safe,

Mrs Hurding

 

27.04.20

Good Morning Everybody,

I hope that you have all had a good weekend and that you are keeping safe and well.

I am emailing you all this morning to let you know about the SEN support plans that your class teacher will be emailing out to you later this week. Since the Lock Down, we have been sending you general learning updates for each class on a weekly basis. However, as a staff we realise that there are a number of children in all our classes who have particular needs and we want to continue to provide effective support, advice and resources to help them at home. If you know that your child is on the SEN register, your class teacher will be emailing you a simple help sheet along with some useful resources on Wednesday 29^th April.

I understand that you have a lot on at the moment so please do what you can when you can. The help sheet will contain three or four activities but these will be ongoing for the next few weeks. Should you need any further support or you have any questions then please get in touch with your class teacher who will seek further advice from myself if needed.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support and we hope to see you all really soon.

Please take care and keep safe.

Kind regards,

Mr D Grayhurst

SENCO

 

21.04.20

The Ellis Summer Term French Activities 2020

Mrs McAleavy has planned some activities to keep our KS2 children ticking over with their language learning which I have attached to the email. There are some interactive games on an education website and some PowerPoints to watch on the Rachel Hawkes website.

Shes also found something she feels may be useful on BBC Radio for KS2 language learners. It can be found in BBC Teach school radio MFL KS2 French _ Radio Labo.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/french-ks2-radio-labo-index/z46ghbk

The content includes songs, stories and games focused on grammar, vocabulary and punctuation.

The series is based on an imaginary French radio station hosted by Jean-Baptiste and Juliet. There are ten topics that each feature a song, a story, conversations, games, rhymes, quizzes and sometimes voxpops. There is also a resident expert for listeners who phone in with their grammar or pronunciation queries. Each of the ten topics is split into four clips, each numbered from 1-40. Topic 1 = Clips 1-4, Topic 2 = Clips 5-8 and Topic 3 = Clips 9-12, etc.

Mrs McAleavy suggest that our children focus on Topic 1 animals and colours, Topic 2 –  numbers and dates and Topic 6 sports and days of the week.

Please do share with us any photos/videos of your children having a go at the activities via email, Facebook or Twitter.

Stay Safe,

Mrs E

 

17.04.20

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope you managed to have a Happy Easter despite the current situation.

First of all, I would like to send you my sincerest thanks for your continuing support of school during this challenging time. I would like to say a huge thank you again for all the communication we have had on social media and via email- we have realised how vital this has been to keep in touch with you all. Please do continue to use it to share any highlights or ask any questions you may have. 

My email today is intended to keep you informed about how we will continue to support you through the coming weeks in light of the extension to the lockdown announced yesterday.

Work packs:

Each class teacher will email you a sheet with a range of links/activity ideas on each week (to be ready to use on Monday morning). These will include creative ideas, printable worksheets and online links to a variety of resources.

As we keep saying, please dont feel this all has to be completed- do what you can, when you can. Remember family time is equally important, although we are very aware that this may be difficult alongside working from home commitments.

If you have children who are in different year groups, please feel free to merge the activities/ use the ideas from one year group to make things a little simpler. If you require more work or support with any of this please contact the appropriate teacher via their email.

We are continuously sharing additional links/ ideas for activities via the school Twitter and Facebook feeds, so please do keep checking, but if you find one we havent spotted please forward it to us.

Please continue sharing photos of the work your children are doing and engaging with us all on social media, it really is putting a smile on our faces.

If you do tweet, please tag @theellisprimary and your childs class to ensure we see it (Ive added a list below).

@F1Ellis

@theellisF2

@TheEllisY1

@TheEllisY2

@TheEllisY3

@y4theellis

@EllisYearFive

@Y6TheEllis

As always, if you have any queries or concerns please dont hesitate to get in touch; these are challenging and ever-changing times and we want to make sure we are getting things right.

Thanks again for your support.

Mrs E J and Mrs Hurding.

 

7.4.20

Dear Parents/Carers

The Government has confirmed it will extend financial support to children eligible for benefits-related free school meals who are not attending school during the Easter holidays. 

You will soon receive an email from Edenred containing access to a 15.00 supermarket voucher for each child for this week commencing 6/4/20 and then a further email and voucher next week commencing 13/4/20 to cover the Easter holiday weeks.

If you have any problems accessing the vouchers, please dont hesitate to contact us.

Again, if any families believe they may now be entitled to free school meals because of a change in circumstances, please apply online at www.barnsley.gov.uk/services/children-families-and-education/schools-and-learning/free-school-meals/   

Or if you are unable to go on line please call 01226 787787 opt 3 and you will be able to complete the form over the phone.

Many thanks

Joanne Rodgers

 

7.4.20

Dear All Parents,  20200104 Childrens resource pack COVID19    employment support poster

Please find attached some information you might find useful and also a link below.

20200331 Parents and professionals COVID19 public health resource pack.docx

Thank you

Mrs Hurding

 

5.4.20

Good afternoon,

I hope you are all well.

As promised, here is a link to a selection of Easter work. As the file is quite large, I have had to share it via Hightail (a file sharing platform) however I ask that you please do not upload any completed work onto the platform, instead email it to teachers as you have been doing. To assist you, I’ve tried to ensure that the work is labelled with year groups to make it easier for you to select which activities are suitable. Please be aware, some of the activities include multiple difficulty levels- these don’t all need to be completed. I would advise you to discuss with your child, which they think they can access best. I have also tried to include activities with answers where possible. You can download the whole file or just the ones you would like to do. However, please note the link will expire after 7 days.

To download ALL items, simply click on the underlined arrow icon (next to the magnifying glass icon) at the right of the page, then follow the on screen prompts.

To download individual items, click view on the item you require, then click the underlined arrow icon which is at the right hand side of the screen (next to the like icon), then follow the on screen prompts.

https://spaces.hightail.com/space/pcZged1G63

If you experience any technical difficulties, please email me on e.edwards@theellis.org and I will try and support you.

Thanks again for your continued support.

I hope that even in these challenging times you manage to have a very Happy Easter!

Mrs Edwards

 

2.4.20

Dear Parents/Carers  DfE Free School Meals Parent Carer FAQs

During these challenging times, we want to ensure that pupils eligible for free school meals can continue to access support when they are not in school.  The Department for Education (DfE) has developed a centrally-funded national voucher scheme with Edenred to support schools with this process.   

If you are already registered with the school as eligible for free school meals you will soon receive an email from Edenred giving you access to vouchers of 15.00 per week per child (term time only) to spend in local supermarkets.  Unfortunately, this does not apply to children in F2, Y1 and Y2 who receive Universal Free School Meals, as that is a different service, unless they are registered for benefit based free school meals.

If you require support to buy food over the Easter holidays, please let us know so that we can make alternative arrangements with you.

Please be aware of email scams, the official email will not ask for your bank details.

We also understand that some family circumstances may have changed therefore we would encourage you to apply for Free School Meals so that you can be included in the national voucher scheme.

Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided youre not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than 16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit – if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than 7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

 

Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.

To apply please follow this link:

www.barnsley.gov.uk/services/children-families-and-education/schools-and-learning/free-school-meals/ 

 

Or if you are unable to go on line please call 01226 787787 opt 3 and you will be able to complete the form over the phone.

Please see the attached FAQs which gives more information about how the voucher scheme will work. 

If you require any support or have any queries, please dont hesitate to contact us.  Also, if you are successful in your application for Free School Meals, please let us know so that we can add you to the voucher system.

Kind regards

Joanne Rodgers

School Business Manager

 

j.rodgers@theellis.org

h.fiddes@theellis.org

t.gay@theellis.org

 

2.4.20

Dear Parents/Carers,

As you know, on Friday we would have been finishing for our Easter holidays however, as things are a little different at the moment, I wanted to reach out and explain our plan for the next two weeks.

We can see from your emails and social media that the children have all worked tremendously hard for the last two weeks and so have made the decision that we will not be sending specific learning packs for the Easter break. We are however, going to send one generic activity pack that is suitable for all age groups that can be used if you choose to. This will be sent out on Monday to you all. We do hope that this gives you and your children time for a well-deserved rest and allow our teachers to recharge as well. The emailed work packs will restart on April 20^th.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you again for your continued support and, on behalf of all of the staff at The Ellis, wish you a very Happy Easter!

Mrs Emily Edwards

Deputy Headteacher

 

27.3.20

Dear Parents,

Further to our last email, please note Y6 will not be receiving interim reports as Miss Saunders has already held parents conferences. Apologies if this caused any confusion.

Mrs Emily Edwards

Deputy Headteacher

 

27.3.20

Dear Parents/Carers,

First of all, I would like to send you my sincerest thanks for supporting our school during this challenging time. The communication we have had on social media and via email has been overwhelming and so positive, it really does highlight how wonderful our school community is and how well we pull together in times of adversity.

With this in mind, we wanted to keep you informed about how we intend to continue supporting you through the coming weeks.

Work packs:

Each class teacher will be emailing you a sheet with a range of links/activity ideas on each week (to be ready to use on Monday morning). As we keep saying, please dont feel this all has to be completed- do what you can, when you can. Remember family time is equally important. If you have children who are in different year groups, please feel free to merge the activities/ use the ideas from one year group to make things a little simpler. If you require more work or support with any of this please contact the appropriate teacher. We are sharing additional links/good ideas for activities via the school Twitter and Facebook feeds but if you find one we havent spotted please do forward it to us.

Please continue sharing photos of the work your children are doing and engaging with us all on social media, it really is putting a smile on our faces.

Reports:

As most of you are aware, it should have been our parents evening this week so I have asked teachers to write a short, interim report that we will be emailing to you the week beginning 6^th April. If you would rather NOT receive this please opt out by sending me an email before April 3^rd. 

If you have any queries or concerns please dont hesitate to get in touch; these are challenging and ever-changing times and we want to make sure we are getting things right.

Thanks again for your support

 Mrs Emily Edwards

Deputy Headteacher

 

24.3.20

Dear Parents,

We hope you are all doing ok in this very challenging time and we cannot thank you enough for all your support during this very tricky time for everyone.

Our normal has now changed for everyone and we thank you all for doing everything you can to support your children with learning at home, we are loving seeing all your photos and comments.

As a school the teachers will continue to be in touch and set work for your children to complete around your new family routines.

School continues to be open and numbers have reduced over the week.  I cannot thank you enough, each time you make arrangements for your child to be at home it enables me to send my staff home to be safe with their families.  I really appreciate those of you who are both key workers working out how to keep your children at home.  In the ever changing climate until we are told otherwise, school will be open for absolute emergencies.  If one of you is working at home please help us and your children by keeping them at home.

I am reducing staff in school daily – as my aim is to keep everyone safe.  

Please follow the rule STAY AT HOME as much as we can.

With this in mind the office staff and Mrs Gay will now be working at home. 

This means that phone contact is not available so please email all queries to:

SECRETARY:  Mrs Fiddes  h.fiddes@theellis.org

PARENT SUPPORT WORKER: Tracey Gay t.gay@theellis.org

Mrs Edwards continues to work at home and is organising home learning and media whilst I organise the running of a shrinking school. 

I am going to keep as many staff at home as possible and ensure staff also get rest time at home.

With that in mind, we are open at Easter but I want to be able to give as many staff as possible a much needed break at this stressful time.  

We are hoping that you have already arranged provision for your children at Easter, but we also understand that some of you are now working more.  

Please let us know ASAP if you need us at Easter and when, so I can continue to sort out staffing.  

We are still currently offering lunches but I really do not know how long for.

We will continue to keep in touch and I feel very blessed to work for such a wonderful supportive community, at times like this you really see the true kindness and support of people.

Take care,

Keep safe,

Stay at home and keep reading,

Mrs Hurding

 

24.3.20

Hello Everyone,

Following on from Mrs Hs Vlog yesterday I just wanted to check in with you all and remind you about a few things. The next few weeks will be very different and, as Mrs H reminded us that it was so we could keep you all safe. After watching the news yesterday, I think Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, had the clearest message life shouldnt feel normal right now so if your life still feels normal ask yourself am I doing the right things?  So a huge, heartfelt thank you to everyone for following the guidelines from the government, making what Im sure are difficult decisions and helping us all to be safer.

First of all- on the issue of safety- I wanted to remind you about e safety. A lot of you will be accessing learning online and then want to share it on social media but take a moment to think about what you are sharing- is it safe? Remember to never share any personal information. If, when you are researching something, you come across a site/images that make you feel uncomfortable always tell a grown up.

I know we all love technology and, although its very tempting, remember to not spend too long using screens, there are plenty of other things you can do and Im sure your teachers have shared some great, creative ideas with you already.

We do look forward to seeing the work youve been doing and would love you to stay in touch so please ask your grown-ups to share some of it with your class teachers via Twitter, either publicly if  thats safe or through the message option. Please ask them to confirm if its ok for us to share it on other platforms (such as facebook) as we hope to post at least a weekly collage of your learning on a Friday as a celebration of all your hard work.

In terms of the work that has been sent, I want to remind you simply to try your best. You may find some of the things tricky but all that we ask is that you try as hard as you can and do what you can, when you can.

Finally, and this bit is really important, remember listen to your grown-ups and help them out- they are keeping you safe. Youre all so amazing and have dealt with the changes so brilliantly I know its not easy but if we all follow the advice weve been given well get through this together and be back at school before you know it.

PARENTS- thank you all so much for the links to learning sites and ideas youve been sharing. There are plenty of options available from Twinkl, White Rose Maths, RWI, British Sign Language, Joe Wickes and many more. Im trying to co-ordinate what were publishing as to not bombard you with too much information as I know many of you will still have work commitments. Please check our facebook page/individual twitter pages for recommendations of activities/links to resources. If you come across one you think would be useful to a range of parents, please send it via a direct message to the school facebook page. Ill take a look and share as appropriate. Thanks again for all your support in these challenging times. We really are very lucky at The Ellis to have such a wonderful school community.

Take care everyone

Stay safe 

Mrs E J

Mrs Emily Edwards

Deputy Headteacher

 

23.3.20

Hello Everyone,

Following on from Mrs Hs Vlog yesterday I just wanted to check in with you all and remind you about a few things. The next few weeks will be very different and, as Mrs H reminded us that it was so we could keep you all safe. After watching the news yesterday, I think Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, had the clearest message life shouldnt feel normal right now so if your life still feels normal ask yourself am I doing the right things?  So a huge, heartfelt thank you to everyone for following the guidelines from the government, making what Im sure are difficult decisions and helping us all to be safer.

First of all- on the issue of safety- I wanted to remind you about e safety. A lot of you will be accessing learning online and then want to share it on social media but take a moment to think about what you are sharing- is it safe? Remember to never share any personal information. If, when you are researching something, you come across a site/images that make you feel uncomfortable always tell a grown up.

I know we all love technology and, although its very tempting, remember to not spend too long using screens, there are plenty of other things you can do and Im sure your teachers have shared some great, creative ideas with you already.

We do look forward to seeing the work youve been doing and would love you to stay in touch so please ask your grown-ups to share some of it with your class teachers via Twitter, either publicly if  thats safe or through the message option. Please ask them to confirm if its ok for us to share it on other platforms (such as facebook) as we hope to post at least a weekly collage of your learning on a Friday as a celebration of all your hard work.

In terms of the work that has been sent, I want to remind you simply to try your best. You may find some of the things tricky but all that we ask is that you try as hard as you can and do what you can, when you can.

Finally, and this bit is really important, remember listen to your grown-ups and help them out- they are keeping you safe. Youre all so amazing and have dealt with the changes so brilliantly I know its not easy but if we all follow the advice weve been given well get through this together and be back at school before you know it.

PARENTS- thank you all so much for the links to learning sites and ideas youve been sharing. There are plenty of options available from Twinkl, White Rose Maths, RWI, British Sign Language, Joe Wickes and many more. Im trying to co-ordinate what were publishing as to not bombard you with too much information as I know many of you will still have work commitments. Please check our facebook page/individual twitter pages for recommendations of activities/links to resources. If you come across one you think would be useful to a range of parents, please send it via a direct message to the school facebook page. Ill take a look and share as appropriate. Thanks again for all your support in these challenging times. We really are very lucky at The Ellis to have such a wonderful school community.

Take care everyone

Stay safe 

Mrs E J

Mrs Emily Edwards

Deputy Headteacher

 

23.3.20

FOR KEY WORKERS THAT CHILDREN MAY ATTEND SCHOOL

Dear Parents,

We really appreciate that parents are following the Government guidelines and only bringing their children to school if it is an emergency situation as a key worker.  

The best and safest place for your children is to be at home.  

We do need to know when your child is attending so we can organise staffing,  thank you to those of you who have already let us know.  We are already increasing the number of staff that need to self-isolate.

I need to keep my staff safe too therefore if they can be at home they will be.  

We are open for school hours – if your child is coming to school we need to know what time they are coming if it is later than the start of school.  Ideally if they are coming they should be here for the start of the day to help our organising of the day.

Also if your child shows signs of coughing and or high temperature they will be sent home so can you make sure we always have a contact number to phone.

We need to reduce adults in school as much as possible so when you drop off and collect can you please wait outside.

Can you please email Mrs Fiddes or Mrs Gay re attendance at school ASAP so we can plan the rest of the week.

We are still offering lunch at the moment but the options will be limited .

 

BREAKFAST CLUB will not be available from TOMORROW

We are sorry if this is an inconvenience but I need to keep as many staff at possible home too.

 

We know we are not running ‘normal’ school, as you know nothing is ‘normal’ at the moment.  

We are still expecting children to wear school sweatshirts but we are happy for the rest of the uniform to be joggers etc as we will be ensuring our children get outside as much as possible.

I cannot thank parents enough for your support and co-operation during this really tricky time.

Kind regards

Mrs Rachel Hurding

 

20.3.20

Dear All Parents,

We will continue to update you on any updates, thank you for your patience and understanding.

Official government guidance says:

If only one parent or carer is a critical worker, can I send my children in to school?

Children with at least one parent or carer who are identified as critical workers by the government can send their children to school if required.

Mrs Hurding

 

20.3.20

Dear Parents, 

Thank you for your huge support during these tricky times.

Please follow the advice to stay at home with your children if you can (see previous email with new Government update)

FREE SCHOOL MEALS 

If you are eligible for a free school meal and you are not at school please let us know if you require a meal – it will be a pack up like we make for trips.  This will need collecting if safe to do so. 

Please note this is for low income free school meals not for the Y1/Y2 universal free school meals.

Volunteers 

Due to the current climate we can no longer have volunteers in school, we continue to be so grateful for all the commitment you give to The Ellis.

As we are still unsure exactly who is coming to school we are sending this message out to all parents.

For those children that HAVE to be at school on Monday the curriculum will be different and we will be doing more learning outside, can children please dress in comfy bottoms e.g leggings or joggers but continue to wear our school uniform top, can they still bring reading bags and bring a pair of wellies or an older pair of shoes that you do not mind getting muddy.

 School is open the usual hours:  8.55am to 3.20pm

Breakfast club will run but this may change due to capacity

School lunch will be provided – the menu will be limited

Can F1 and F2 children please use the Nursery door

Can Y1 and Y2 children please wait at the Y1/Y2 door   no need to line up in the morning

Can Y3 and Y4 children wait at the Y3/Y4 door no need to line up in the morning

Can Y5 and Y6 children wait at the Y5/Y6 door no need to line up in the morning

These doors will be the same for collection at the end of the day.

THERE WILL BE NO AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS

We will continue to update you when anything changes.

Please keep safe and look after each other,

Mrs Hurding

 

20.3.20

The Government advice has arrived and it has a very clear message – the safest place for the majority of children at the moment is going to be at home. 

 PLEASE READ THE MESSAGE BELOW

We know that everyone is feeling anxious and vulnerable at the moment and at The Ellis we will continue to do what we can to support our community and country but please help us by keeping your children at home if you can.  This is a really hard time for us all and we need to keep everyone safe.

The list of workers is on this information and ‘Vulnerable’ children are defined as children having an EHCP or a Social worker.

Please let school know in light of this new information if your child has to attend school next week.       Thank you for your support   Mrs Hurding

GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

As a country, we all need to do what we can to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

That is why the government has given clear guidance on self-isolation, household isolation and social distancing.

And the most recent scientific advice on how to further limit the spread of COVID-19 is clear. If children can stay safely at home, they should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading.

That is why the government has asked parents to keep their children at home, wherever possible, and asked schools to remain open only for those children who absolutely need to attend.

It is important to underline that schools, colleges and other educational establishments remain safe places for children. But the fewer children making the journey to school, and the fewer children in educational settings, the lower the risk that the virus can spread and infect vulnerable individuals in wider society.

Schools are, therefore, being asked to continue to provide care for a limited number of children – children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the Covid-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home.

Vulnerable children include children who are supported by social care, those with safeguarding and welfare needs, including child in need plans, on child protection plans, looked after children, young carers, disabled children and those with education, health and care (EHC) plans.

We know that schools will also want to support other children facing social difficulties and we will support head teachers to do so.

Parents whose work is critical to the COVID-19 response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors outlined below. Many parents working in these sectors may be able to ensure their child is kept at home. And every child who can be safely cared for at home should be.

Please, therefore, follow these key principles:

1. If it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should be.
2. If a child needs specialist support, is vulnerable or has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be available for them.
3. Parents should not rely for childcare upon those who are advised to be in the stringent social distancing category such as grandparents, friends, or family members with underlying conditions.
4. Parents should also do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus. They should observe the same social distancing principles as adults.
5. Residential special schools, boarding schools and special settings continue to care for children wherever possible.

If your work is critical to the COVID-19 response, or you work in one of the critical sectors listed below, and you cannot keep your child safe at home then your children will be prioritised for education provision:

Health and social care

This includes but is not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UKs health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare

This includes nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach.

Key public services

This includes those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting.

Local and national government

This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms length bodies.

Food and other necessary goods

This includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines).

Public safety and national security

This includes police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.

Transport

This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.

Utilities, communication and financial services

This includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure), the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors.

If workers think they fall within the critical categories above they should confirm with their employer that, based on their business continuity arrangements, their specific role is necessary for the continuation of this essential public service.

If your school is closed then please contact your local authority, who will seek to redirect you to a local school in your area that your child, or children, can attend.

We are grateful for the work of teachers and workers in educational settings for continuing to provide for the children of the other critical workers of our country. It is an essential part of our national effort to combat this disease.

 

19.3.20

Dear Parents, 

With school closures happening very soon, Id just like to keep you updated. 

SATS will not be happening this year and Im sure your children will be feeling all kinds of emotions about this news. I know that Y6 have worked incredibly hard and should feel proud of all that they have achieved.   We dont know how long school will be closed for, but I know that we still want them to be learning and be secondary ready. Therefore, we will be utilising our Learning By Questions subscription. Every day I will be sending via email a (new) code, children can use this code to access their learning. They will need to visit https://www.lbq.org/Login  then click connect as pupil. Dont worry if this isnt clear at first, the children have been using LBQ since July and know what theyre doing.

In terms of writing, there are some amazing videos and resources on   https://www.literacyshed.com/home.html . Y6 are wonderful writers and can use this time to be as creative as they would like.  Please do send in photos  (or electronic copies if they have typed it up) of the childrens writing, I always love reading it.  Ill send a link to a video or writing prompt daily so that children can let their imaginations run free. Children can write stories, raps, poems, songs etc.

Ill be updating the spelling assignments on Spelling Shed (www.spellingshed.com) weekly your child should know his/her username and password but please do get in touch if it has been misplaced.

White Rose Maths have been working extremely hard recently and have been creating videos so that children can complete their maths at home. Ill be sending a link once these are published.

Topic:  As mentioned in an earlier email. Our topic up until Easter is The Americas. I would like the children to complete projects these can be power points, leaflets, posters, videos whatever they will enjoy creating. Here are some questions for children to base their projects around:

• Can you compare a place in North America to a place in South America e.g. Alaska vs Arizona, Rio vs Peru.
• How many US states can you learn?
• What is the weather and climate like in the Americas? How does it differ from state to state and country to country?
• Can you find out about the different natural wonders located in the Americas?

Ill send home a few exercise books so that children have somewhere to record their learning for those of you who are self-isolating, please dont worry they will be posted.  

There is so much uncertainty surrounding when school will reopen, this obviously has a profound impact on Y6 and I have tried my best to calm them.

Unsurprisingly, the IKIC events have all been cancelled. We still have the money and when the time is right again, Y6 will be able to reap the benefits of all their hard work.  I plan on double checking IKIC money tonight.

Please keep in touch, were all in this together, my email is a.saunders@theellis.org

I think the world of your children and will genuinely miss them while School is closed. 

Please do take care and keep safe.

Abbey Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

19.3.20

Dear Parents,

Following the announcement from the government yesterday evening, all schools across England will close their doors to most pupils from Friday 20th March at the end of the school day.

We have only heard this news at the same time as you, so I am sure you will appreciate there is a lot to sort out in a very short space of time. The government stated that schools should remain open for vulnerable children and those children whose parents are key workers. In order for us to plan for this, it is imperative that if you are a key worker (e.g. work for the NHS, Police or are a key delivery driver) or your child has an EHCP, or a social worker and you need the support of the school in the next 2 weeks, that you please contact school as soon as possible by phoning school or by email so plans can be made. If we havent heard from you by 3.30 pm today (Thursday) then we will assume you do not need the support of the school.

It is vital that we know this information as soon as possible to ensure that we have sufficient staff to run the school safely as some of our staff may also need to self-isolate or be off with their children or parents.  This is a completely unprecedented situation for everyone; we appreciate your support and understanding during this extremely difficult time.

For those families who will be at home with their children from next Monday, teachers will be providing appropriate home learning. Some teachers have sent out home learning packs for you to work on with your children over the time that we are closed.

The government has also stated their intention to cancel all exams in May and June, which may include the SATS tests. I must admit as a head I always thought I would be delighted if SATS got cancelled but I am not as our children have been working so hard and deserve success.  As of yet we do not know what will happen about the results so please dont give up the learning.  We want all our wonderful Y6s to be secondary ready.

There has been no date suggested when schools can reopen so we cannot currently confirm the status of any events for the remainder of the school year.

We continue to be responsible for the welfare and safety of all our children. If you have safeguarding concerns or anxieties please contact:

 PSA   Mrs Gay email   t.gay@theellis.org

Headteacher   Mrs Hurding email   r.hurding@theellis.org

Deputy head    Mrs Edwards   email   e.edwards@theellis.org 

School will update you with plans for return when this information becomes available but in the meantime we wish you all well and look forward to welcoming your children back into our school community soon.

These are anxious times for all of us, please look after each other.

Please take care and stay safe,

Mrs Hurding

 

18.3.20

Dear Y1 Parent/Carer,

In the case that more families need to self-isolate, we will be sending home-learning packs with the children.

In the event of a potential school closure, the work in the packs should help the children to consolidate their learning. 

Children can also practise their spellings on The Spelling Shed:

  https://www.spellingshed.com/en-gb

Our topic this half term is Transport we encourage pupils to create a home learning project of their choosing, some ideas include: presentations, leaflets, fact-files, artwork (feel free to be creative!).

Thank you for your continued support and understanding.

Please do get in touch if you have any questions. 

Mrs D Broadbent

Year 1

 

18.3.20

Dear Y6 Parent/Carer,

In the case that more families need to self-isolate, I sent home-learning packs with the children yesterday.

In the event of a potential school closure, the work in the packs should help the children to consolidate their learning.  As well as this, we will be utilising our Learning By Questions (LBQ) subscription, I will be in touch with more details.

Children can also practise their spellings on Spelling Shed  https://www.spellingshed.com/en-gb .  Please see previous emails for spelling, punctuation and grammar revision websites.

Our topic this half term is The Americas (including North, Central and South America) we encourage pupils to create a home learning project of their choosing, some ideas include: presentations, leaflets, fact-files, artwork (feel free to be creative!).

Thank you for your continued support and understanding.

Please do get in touch if you have any questions.  

Take care,

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

18.3.20

Dear KS2 Parent/Carer,

Please find attached some French activities that Madame McAleavy has put together so that children can learn from home.

Thank you for your continued support.

The KS2 Team

 

18.3.20

Dear Y3 Parent/Carer,

 In the case that more families need to self-isolate, we will be sending home-learning packs with the children this week.  In the event of a potential school closure, the work in the packs should help the children to consolidate their learning.  

Children can also practise their spellings on Spelling Shed  https://www.spellingshed.com/en-gb  and times tables on TT Rockstars https://ttrockstars.com/ .

Our topic this half term is Pirates we encourage pupils to create a home learning project of their choosing, some ideas include: presentations, leaflets, fact-files, artwork (feel free to be creative!). Our science learning this half term is all about the human body, the skeleton and healthy diets and exercise if your child would like to continue to explore this at home.

Some parents have asked for a rough outline of the school timetable so that they can replicate as closely as possible at home. Please see the outline below:

8.55-9.15- Morning work- mental maths practise/times table practise

9.15-10.15- English- Writing focus

10.15-10.30- Playtime

10.30-11.30- Maths

11.30-12.15- VIPERS (reading with a comprehension focus) or RWInc (spelling and phonics focus)

12.15-1.00- Lunch

1.00-1.20- Handwriting or spellings

1.20- 2.00- Art/Music/RE/DT/ICT (depending on day and focus)

2.00-2.55- Topic/Science/PE (depending on day and focus)

3.00-3.20- Class story or assembly 

 

 Thank you for your continued support and understanding.

 Please do get in touch if you have any questions.  

 Take care,

Mrs Wise

 

18.3.20

Dear Y2 Parents,

Your child will be coming home with a pack of Y2 extra work in the event of more families needing to self-isolate or closure of school.

Please look out for the letter that will be sent home in their pack containing more information.

Regards,

Mrs Trotter

 

17.3.20

School Response to Corona virus (COVID19) Situation

Dear Parent/Carers,

As you may be aware we have already posted some information about our response to the Corona virus outbreak.  In light of further advice we have reviewed the situation and concluded that, for the welfare of members of the wider community, it would be prudent at this stage to limit those events to which parents and carers are invited.

With this in mind we would like to make changes to the following events, and ask that parent/carers do NOT now attend:

17.3.20 Handball competition CANCELLED

SPORT Any future sporting events CANCELLED until further notice

24.3.20 Y1/2 Crich Trip postponed to a later date

24.3.20 – FS writing workshop CANCELLED

25.3.20 – Y2 assembly still to take place but for children only

26.3.20 F1 Parent Consultations and F2-Y5 Parents Evening – CANCELLED

25.3.20 – Pirate Workshop in school for children only STILL GOING AHEAD

Ready Steady Play sessions for new F1 children CANCELLED

Family Thrive sessions CANCELLED

31.3.20 – FS Coffee morning CANCELLED

30.3.20 Monday to Friday Bikeability for Y5 STILL GOING AHEAD

1.4.20 – Easter Service at St Marys CANCELLED children only will sing their Easter songs in school

7.5.20 Elections CANCELLED so nursery open as normal

After school clubs with Daz, Adrian, Dan and Craft Club are still going ahead as normal.

Volunteers in school, please follow all Government guidelines to keep safe.

We appreciate that this may be disappointing for many of you, but feel that we have to take steps to safeguard those vulnerable members of our community and mitigate risks wherever possible.  In this way we can ensure that our core business of teaching and learning can go on uninterrupted and our essential services maintained.

Please see the key elements of the latest advice outlined below:

• Anyone with a new continuous cough and/or a temperature should stay at home for 14 days.
• Anyone who lives with someone who has a new continuous cough and/or a temperature should stay at home for 14 days.

We will continue to monitor Government advice, and inform you directly should the situation change.  In the meantime we will continue to reiterate the message of hand washing and good hygiene amongst pupils throughout the school day.

Home Learning as a school we want to do everything we can to keep learning going, the priority is to keep reading, using our learning platforms TT Rockstars and Spelling Shed.  Teachers are organising some work to come home especially Y2 and Y6 but we recommend that you all read, write and do some maths everyday as well as stay healthy.

Please contact the school office if you need further clarification and thank you for your support.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Hurding

 

17.3.20

Dear Parents,  The Ellis News 22 (March 2020)

Corona Virus

We understand everyone has concerns at the moment. As a school we are continuing to follow the guidelines given below and we will let you know if anything changes.  

Regarding attendance, if children need to be in self isolation for 7 days we have been given a new code to use for the registers.

Public Health ADVICE for schools:

To support the delay of the spread of the virus, the Department for Health and Social Care has asked anyone who shows certain symptoms to stay at home for 7 days, regardless of whether they have travelled to affected areas. This means people should stay at home and avoid all but essential contact with others for 7 days from the point of displaying mild symptoms, to slow the spread of infection.

The symptoms are:

A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)          A new, continuous cough

You do not need to call NHS 111 to stay at home. If your symptoms worsen during your stay at home period or are no better after 7 days contact NHS 111 online at 111.nhs.uk. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111. For a medical emergency dial 999.

Current advice remains in place: no education or childrens social care setting should close in response to a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case unless advised to do so by Public Health England.

The Chief Medical Officer has advised that the impact of closing schools on both childrens education and on the workforce will be substantial, but the benefit to public health may not be. Decisions on future advice to schools will be taken based on the latest and best scientific evidence, which at this stage suggests children are a lower risk group.

Our Hemingfield Group

The community are keen to ensure everybody has everything that they need and are therefore organising a leaflet to be delivered to local residents to make contact if they are in self-isolation.  Have a look at the page on Facebook called ‘Our Hemingfield’.  The group is also trying to set up a WhatsApp group to support the village needs.

School News

Mrs Tindle who has been our Nursery Nurse in school for 18 years is going to be leaving school, retiring for her health. Mrs Tindle has given our school so much time and commitment over the years and as a member of the Hemingfield community we wish Mrs Tindle every happiness.  As a school we would like to make a collection to say thank you, if you would like to make a donation please can you hand in your contribution to the school office.

Mrs Edwards 

We are absolutely delighted to announce that Mrs Edwards is expecting. Her baby is due at the end of July and she is planning to be with us until the Summer break.  Congratulations Mrs Edwards! We are so happy for you.

Healthy Snacks

Can we remind everyone that fizzy drinks and sweets should not be in school, we always encourage our children to make healthy choices.  

Water Bottles

Plastic cups will no longer be available in classes for children to use for a drink of water. Please make sure your child has their OWN clearly labelled water bottle in school. Thank you.

If you have any concerns please contact school during these difficult times. It is important to stick with the facts and offer our support for each other.

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

16.3.20

Dear Parents,

I have received an email from the organisers of the IKIC Big Challenge, they have stated that As a precaution we are going to bring forward the application date for teams to register for Dragons Den to the 25^th March. This is to aid us in planning how we can see the competition through to its conclusion should the advice change in the coming weeks and after the Easter recess.

 In light of this, children will now be completing their application to Dragons Den this Friday (20^th March 2020). Therefore, please can you send in any profits and receipts/invoices into school. We still have a few teams who have not yet declared how much they have spent on materials please also confirm if you would like any of these costs paid back. It is important that finances have been sorted as this is part of the Dragons Den application process, without this information pupils will not be able to complete their application forms.  

A couple of parents have enquired about the IKIC Big Challenge Barnsley Market Trading day, as we are taking extra precautions in the current uncertain climate, we will not be attending this event.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

13.3.20

Dear F2 Parent/Carers,  50 Things to do before you are 5

We have been talking to the children over the last few weeks about 50 things that they can do before they are 5.

This list has been designed by Early Years Specialists who have identified a range of age appropriate experiences that your child will really benefit from. Please see the attached list which is also displayed in our F2 cloakroom. We hope that you find this list useful and we would really appreciate it if you could please bring in any photographs of your children engaged in any of these activities so we can add them to our display as a celebration of all the wonderful experiences they are having outside of school.  

Please also remember to write a short comment in your child’s home learning book. It is useful for us to have an overall picture of how your child is learning and developing at home and at school. Thank you to those who are already doing this.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Mr Grayhurst and Mrs Beevers 

 

13.3.20

Vacancy – please see the attached flyer SMSA Advert Easter 2020

 School Meals Supervisory Assistant – Permanent

 5 hours 25 minutes over 5 days term time only

Grade 1 2322.00 per annum

 Required after Easter 2020

Closing date 27.3.20

We currently have a vacancy for a lunchtime supervisor to work as part of our team.

You will help supervise children in the dining room and provide stimulating activities in the playground.

You will have a caring manner and a good sense of humour.

For an application pack, please contact the school office on 01226 753383 or email j.rodgers@theellis.org

 

The Ellis CE Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This post involves working with children and therefore if successful you will be required to apply for a disclosure of criminal records at an enhanced level.

The Ellis CE Primary School is an equal opportunities employer.

 

13.3.20

Dear F1 Parents,

A few weeks ago we sent home a list of ’50 things to do before you are 5′. Please remember to bring or e-mail us your photographs so we can display them in class.

Also, we have a new ‘WOW’ wall in nursery for you to display your child’s home learning. Please bring any pictures, writing, photos etc. your child has done at home and we will proudly display them in class.

Many thanks,

Mrs Pollard

 

10.3.20

Dear All Parents,  Sustrans Big Pedal 2020

Sustrans Big Pedal is the UKs largest inter-school cycling, walking and scooting challenge.

The challenge runs from Wednesday 22 April to Tuesday 5 May, is free and we would love everyone to be involved.

Please see the attached information leaflet for more details and how to get involved.

Regards,

Mrs Jaques  

 

10.3.20

Dear Y6 Parent/Carer,

Your child has been selected to represent the school in a football league game against Joseph Locke Primary School on Friday, 20^th March. The match will kick off at 1:30pm and the children are expected to be home at normal time.

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue at 1pm. Children will travel to and from the venue via Beewise coaches. Parents are invited to spectate but must meet their child at the event.     

Your child will be given a school top to wear but will still need to bring their PE kit, suitable football boots, football socks, a drink of water and a bag for their belongings.  Your child must wear shin pads. The match will be played on grass. If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. 

The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this event no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Jaques

 

10.3.20

Dear Y5 Parent/Carer,

                     Your child has been selected to represent the school in a Handball Competition at Horizon Community College (Shaw Lane car park) on Tuesday, 17th March.  The event will start at 1pm and will finish for 3:00pm so children should arrive back at school around 3:30pm. 

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue at 12:30pm via Beewise Coaches.  Unfortunately due to space restraints, parents are unable to attend the event. 

Your child will need to bring suitable trainers, their PE kit, a drink of water, a bag for their belongings and suitable clothing to wear when not participating.  The event will be held indoors.  If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Jaques

 

10.3.20

Dear All Parents,  The Ellis News 21 (March 2020)

St. Marys Family Quiz Night

St Mary’s Church are holding their Family Quiz Night on Saturday, 14th March, 6pm. Questions are aimed at all the family, even the kids, so please come along and join us!  Pastie and peas or hotdogs will be served at 6pm.  Adults 3, Children 2 and tickets are available from Mrs Kelly in Nursery. 

Science Assembly

The Science assembly today was a huge success and the children thoroughly enjoyed it. We are still accepting 1 towards the cost, if your child did not bring one in, there is still time. Thank you for your support.

Parents Evening

Sheets will be put up in classes this week ready for Parents Evening on Thursday 26^th March. Please sign up or arrange an alternative date with your childs class teacher if you cannot make that day.

Football Cancelled

Daz’s football tomorrow has been cancelled.

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

10.3.20

Dear Parents,

Our final IKIC pop up shop is on Friday 13^th March in the hall from 3:20 4pm.

Children will need to bring in their stock and marketing materials.

Children are encouraged to sell outside of school, the organisers of The IKIC Challenge will need to know profits by 2^nd April. The prizes for profit will be based upon the data gathered up to 2^rd April. Therefore, please can you send in any profits and receipts/invoices into school. We still have a few teams who have not yet declared how much they have spent on materials please also confirm if you would like any of these costs paid back. It is important that finances have been sorted as this is part of the Dragons Den application process, without this information pupils will not be able to complete their application forms.  

The final stages:

• Over the next month, children will be completing their applications to Dragons Den.
• Dragons Den will be in May after SATS (I will send details as soon I have confirmation).
• The celebration event will be on the evening of Thursday 4^th June (I will send details as soon I have confirmation).

Im sure youll all agree that the children have excelled themselves so far throughout the project. Were all very proud of them.

Kind regards,

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

9.3.20

Dear Parents,

Thank you for helping to make World Book Day 2020 a huge success at The Ellis Primary. The children looked fantastic and all enjoyed sharing stories with their parents, teachers and peers.

Many of you have helped in so many ways, from attending our workshops and caf, to visiting our book shop, spending up at the reading tombola, buying raffle tickets and donating baking.  It was lovely to see so many of our wonderful children diving into books.  A big thank you also to our amazing volunteers who make days like today happen.

We raised a total of 400! This money will go towards making reading the best it can be at The Ellis.

As you know, World Book Day isnt a one off for us, we strive each and every day to create lifelong readers, therefore thank you for encouraging and supporting reading at home.

We look forward to seeing you at our next event.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

5.3.20

Dear Parent/Carer,

Ive searched online to find some games and interactive quizzes that children can access at home to improve their knowledge of grammar, punctuation and spelling. This should make revising for the upcoming GPS SATS in May a bit more exciting. Please see the links below:  

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/7-11-years/spelling-and-grammar

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zhrrd2p

http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/literacy/

https://www.mowmacrehill.org.uk/pupil-zone/year-6-revision-area

https://www.educationquizzes.com/ks2/english/

Kind regards,

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

5.3.20

Sponsored Walk

We have our final total – A MASSIVE 5070!! We are staggered by the generosity of our community! This has been sent today to WWF (World Wildlife Fund) for the school to become a koala protector and we will receive a certificate. 

World Book Day

It has been fantastic to see so many children and adults enjoying World Book Day today. Thank you for everybody’s support. We will let you know how much has been raised towards purchasing new books for school in due course. 

Y3 Go Wild Trip tomorrow (Friday)

Year 3, please come in your PE kits tomorrow ready for morning PE and the afternoon adventures at Locke Park. Remember your tracksuits, trainers and water bottles.

The Ellis has Talent

Thank you for everybody’s contributions, we have raised a brilliant 370 for school funds. We certainly have talent at The Ellis!

Fun Science Assembly

Our Science week begins on Monday with our fun science assembly. Please bring 1.

Staff Bracelet

A staff member has lost a gold bracelet, please keep a look out. Thank you.

ParentPay

A reminder that after Easter we will no longer be accepting minus balances so please ensure that any debts are cleared.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher   

 

5.3.20

Dear Parents,

Our Key Stage 1 topic this half term is Zoom and we will be learning all about transport and journeys. We would like to take the Year 1 and Year 2 children on a school trip to Crich Tramway Village (Matlock) on Tuesday 24^th March.

The visit will provide the children with lots of opportunities to develop their knowledge of transport from the past and how it has changed and evolved over the years. Whilst there, children will have the chance to see what villages and streets were like many years ago as the street has been recreated to reflect life in the past. They will be given an old penny and the chance to take a ride on an old tram (all within the complex itself). They will be able to ask the Crich staff lots of questions and really delve into life years ago! In the museum part, there are many old trams which children can see and touch and it will enable us to really bring history to life.

The fun doesnt stop there as the village has a woodland walk with lots of learning opportunities to support both our science plants and growing topic and amazing sculptures made out of natural materials.

There is a lot more information on their website, should you wish to read more about Crich (www. tramway.co.uk/).

The coach company we will be using is Beewise which will leave school at 9:15am and is expected to return to school by 3:30pm. If your child suffers from travel sickness we would suggest that appropriate travel sickness tablets are taken before school.

The cost will be 12 per pupil. Payment will be via Parent Pay and can be paid in three weekly amounts of 4.  If you are experiencing any financial difficulties covering the cost of the trip, please contact Mrs Hurding. 

Please ensure school uniform is worn on the day with suitable footwear for a mixture of outdoor and indoor activities along with a warm coat and a bottle of water. A packed lunch will be required. Cheese or tuna sandwiches can be provided by school but must be ordered with Mrs Fiddes prior to the trip or alternatively brought from home.

No spending money will be needed for the trip.

We are looking forward to a fantastic day out!

Mrs Trotter

 

2.3.20

Dear Parents,  The Ellis News 20 (March 2020)

School Evaluation Officer

On Wednesday 4th March our School Evaluation Officer, Linda Singleton is coming into school to observe the teaching of Phonics and Reading in the Foundation stage (F1 and F2) and KS1 (Y1 and Y2). 

You may see her in the playground first thing and she may ask you questions about reading in school.  

Reading continues to be priority at The Ellis. We have all been very excited about our new RWInc home reading books, we hope you have been enjoying them too.

 

World Book day 5th March

We are looking forward to seeing you (if you are available) Thursday morning for joint reading in class, then workshops at 9.15am then our seaside cafe open at 10.15am.

All cake and biscuit donations for the cafe are greatly received.

The school bookshop will be open in the hall, we have lots of very reasonably priced books on offer for you.

 

Science Assembly

On Monday 9^th March there will be a school assembly (Year 1-6) led by a Science expert who will thrill the children with amazing science experiments and other fantastic activities.

The purpose of the assembly is to engage children in the fun aspect of Science. There will be experiments to intrigue the children and to get them to think about how experiments work. This is to support work from the national curriculum.

We are hoping this will be the first of many more Science days in the future and should be an exciting opportunity for the children. We are asking for a 1 donation from all children towards the cost of this fun assembly.

 

Inset Days 2020/21

Our inset days for next year are as follows:

 

Tuesday 1st September 2020

Monday 4th January 2021

Friday 28th May 2021

Monday 19th July 2021

Tuesday 20th July 2021

 

Parent Pay Auto Top-up and Bank Transfer

It has been brought to our attention that it is a little difficult to find the section explaining how to set up auto top ups and bank transfers on ParentPay. If you go to the help and support section and then scroll all the way down to the very bottom of the page there is a subheading for them.

If anybody would like some help setting these up, please pop in and see Mrs Fiddes.

 

Coronavirus  – Department for Education Coronavirus helpline

Today the Department for Education has launched a new helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:

Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)

 

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Rachel Hurding

Headteacher

 

28.2.20

Menu Change 2.3.20

The menu on Monday will be:

All day breakfast for main dinner, sausage for the vegetarian option, a jacket potato or a breakfast muffin with an assortment of desserts.

On Thursday there will be another menu change, themed for World Book Day, we will be sending details of this next week.

Thank you,

Hayley Fiddes

 

28.2.20

Dear Y3 Parent,

                     Your childs class has been invited to take part in a team building Go Wild activity at Locke Park on Friday, 6^th March. The event will consist of a series of creative games following the Go Wild Programme, starting at 1:30pm and finishing around 3pm, with the children expected to arrive back at school around 3:30pm. 

Your child will have their lunch before leaving at 12:45pm via Beewise coaches. Parents are unfortunately unable to attend the event. 

As your child has PE that morning, please can they arrive at school in their PE kit with a tracksuit or jogging bottoms and a fleece over the top. They will then be able to travel to Locke Park in these same clothes. Please also remember to bring suitable trainers, water, and a bag for any belongings.

If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Jaques

 

28.2.20

Dear Parents,

We would like to update you on the governments response to COVID-19 (Coronavirus). Public Health England advises that the risk to individuals in the UK remains low. Please see the link below.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

27.2.20

Dear All Parents,

We have been informed that we have to close this years finances by 19th March, therefore any debit balances on ParentPay will need to be paid by then please.

After Easter, we will no longer be accepting minus balances. Please make arrangements to pay a little more each week to clear any arrears to allow future payments to be made in advance.

Music tuition will need to be paid in advance and lunch and breakfast club accounts will need to be kept topped up. As ParentPay now offer an auto top up option and also a direct debit option there is no longer any reason for accounts to drop below zero.

If accounts do drop below zero your child will be unable to attend breakfast club and we will ask that a packed lunch is brought into school for lunch until your account has been topped up.  

Thank you for your support. 

I’m sure you can appreciate that with the number of children in our school the amount of debts can quickly mount up.

Mrs Hurding,

Headteacher

 

26.2.20

Dear Foundation Stage 2 Parents,

On Fridays our F2 doors will now open 5 minutes earlier to allow us extra time to get ready for our Story Swap (Storytime read by a teacher from another class each week).

You are still very welcome to come in to class with your child, however, there will be no sentence writing and parents will be asked to leave a little earlier.

Thank you for your co-operation,

Mr Grayhurst

 

26.2.20

Dear Y4 Parents,

Please find attached Home Learning ideas for this half term.  Y4 Home Learning

Thank you,

Mrs Jaques

 

25.2.20

Dear Parent/Carer,

The Y6 after school maths booster has been cancelled this week (27.02.2020). We are aware that some of our pupils will need time to get ready for The Ellis has Talent Competition (that evening), staff also need time to set up for the event.

It has been assessment week and Y6 have been working incredibly hard, we are very proud of them all.

I will be able to discuss your childs progress at the Y6 Parents Consultation day (11^th March). If you havent signed up and would like an appointment, please sign up by contacting Mrs Fiddes or using the sign-up sheet on the classroom door.  Please note that this date is instead of the parents evening date on 26^th March.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

25.2.20

Dear Parents,

Please see the attached for more World Book Day information.  World Book Day 5.3.20

Hope to see you there,

Miss Saunders

 

25.2.20

Dear Y3 Parents, 

Please find attached our newsletter and home learning for the next half term. Pirate Home Learning    Pirates Newsletter

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Wise

 

24.2.20 

Dear Parents,  The Ellis News 19 (Feb 2020)

Welcome back everyone.  We hope everyone has had a restful half term.

Y2 CLASSROOM

The Y2 classroom has been damp proofed and decorated over half term.  Mrs Trotter is getting the classroom ready for learning today and the classroom will be ready tomorrow.  The Y2 children have been superstars working in the hall today.  

SPORTS RELIEF

We know it is a fantastic cause but as a school this year we organised the Koala sponsored walk and we are also going to be supporting ‘RACE FOR LIFE’ later in the year so have therefore decided not to take part this year.   As a school we fully support the need and enjoyment of sport.

WORLD BOOK DAY    5th March

based on the theme under the sea for inspiration. We would love our children at The Ellis to dress up as anything related to our theme, some examples include:

• sea creatures
• Pirates (why not reuse the clothes from our Pirate Maths day)
• mermaids
• deep sea divers

 First of all, we would like to invite you to come into school from 8:55 and share a story with your child, no sign up is required, please just pop into your childs classroom in the morning.

 We would also like to invite you to come into school and attend a workshop with your child(ren). Each class will have a different focus and a sign up form will be available on each class door from Monday 24^th February. Please note that for safety reasons we will only have a set number of spaces in each workshop, therefore, places are on a first come first served basis. For safety reasons, children and adults will need to stay in that workshop.

To solve the issue of parents trying to be in two (or more) places at once, as a staff we decided that siblings can select the same workshop. Children can select any workshop it does not have to be the one that their class teacher is running. 

 The workshops will begin at 9:10am and will end at 10:15am.

 We will then be opening our Underwater Reading Caf, where you will be able to treat yourself to tea and cake whilst diving into a book with your child. All proceeds will go towards school funds. The caf will close at 11:30.

 We would appreciate any baking and donations. We will also be holding a raffle and our brilliant book shop will also be open.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

14.2.20

New After School Clubs  

Our new after school clubs on returning back to school in February will be:

Monday KS1 Multisports with Dan, 24.2.20 – 30.3.20, 3:20-4:20pm. No charge.

Tuesday Y1-Y4 Football outside with Daz, 3:20-4:20pm. 2.50 per session payable   to Daz.

Tuesday FS2/Y1 Footie Stars with Adrian, 2.50 per session payable to Adrian. Parents must stay.

Wednesday KS2 Tag Rugby with Dan, 26.2.20 – 1.4.20, 3:20-4:20pm. No charge.

Thursday Y1-Y6 Craft Club, 27.2.20-2.4.20, 3:20-4:20pm, 15 block payment on ParentPay.

Thank you

 

Dear Parent,

The revision guides have arrived, I have numbered them and will be sending them home with children today.

There is no obligation to buy the books, all I ask is that they are returned in a good condition (with no pen/pencil marks inside) after SATs so that they can be used again next year. However if you would like to keep them, so your children can write in them, please could you let Mrs Fiddes know and she will set up the payment on ParentPay.

If for any reason the books are not returned to school by the 29^th May, you will be charged the 5.00 (for both books) via ParentPay as we will need to buy additional copies for the following year.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact school or see me before or after school.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Family Maths Workshop Y1-Y6

Tomorrow, Wednesday 12th February 2020

We are really looking forward to welcoming As Creatives and their fun approach to mathematical learning to school tomorrow.

As there are still places available at our after school Family Workshop, please feel free to just turn up if you do not have to rush off. The children will have opportunity to play games, complete challenges and have fun with shapes and numbers.

As Creatives have designed their Family Workshop specially to offer challenge and fun to children at all stages of Maths learning and will also give you lots of ideas for continuing the learning at home.

Please come along and join in the pirate fun!

 

Dear All Parents,  The Ellis News 18 (Feb 2020)

Foundation Stage (FS) Writing Workshop – 11.2.20

Apologies for the short notice, this workshop has been cancelled and moved to 24th March, 9:15-10:15am and repeated again 4:30-5:30pm.

               

Piano Tuition

The piano tutor will not be in school this Tuesday as she is on dependent leave. She sends her sincere apologies for any inconvenience this causes.

 

The Ellis has Talent – 27.2.20

Tickets are on sale at 2 each and the date is definitely the 27th February, 6-8pm! Sorry for any confusion.

 

Menu Change – Shrove Tuesday – 25.2.20

Tuesday 25th February – roast gammon instead of meat pie. All other options will remain the same with the addition of assorted sweet pancakes for dessert.

 

Menu Change – Ash Wednesday – 26.2.20

Wednesday 26th February – mince and dumplings instead of roast gammon. All other options will remain the same.

 

New After School Clubs  

Our new after school clubs on returning back to school in February will be:

 

Monday –        KS1 Multisports with Dan, 3:20-4:20pm. No charge.

Tuesday –        Y1-Y4 Football outside with Daz, 3:20-4:20pm. 2.50 per session payable to Daz.

FS2/Y1 Footie Stars with Adrian, 2.50 per session payable to Adrian. Parents must stay.

Wednesday –   KS2 Tag Rugby with Dan, 3:20-4:20pm. No charge.

Thursday –       Y1-Y6 Craft Club, 3:20-4:20pm, 2.50 per week, payable on ParentPay on confirmation of a place.

 

Please email Mrs Fiddes to put your childs name down for any of the above clubs. An email will be sent out on Friday confirming if your child has received a place. Thank you.

 

Free February Half Term Activities for Pupils    Fit and Fed Feb 2020

Reds in the Community have a fantastic opportunity for pupils during February half term. The sessions are aimed at tackling holiday hunger whilst engaging young people in physical activity.

 If you feel these sessions might be of benefit to you please sign up via their website to secure a place for your child. www.barnsleyfccommunity.co.uk

Their flyer is also attached to this email for further information.

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

Dear Parent,

 As you know, SATs are getting closer. With this in mind I have ordered some revision guides to help your child. The books are normally 5.95 each however as a school we can buy them at a discounted price of 2.50 per book.

There is no obligation to buy the books, all I ask is that they are returned in a good condition (with no pen/pencil marks inside) after SATs so that they can be used again next year. However if you would like to keep them, so your children can write in them, please could you let Mrs Fiddes know and she will set up the payment on ParentPay.

If for any reason the books are not returned to school by the 29^th May, you will be charged the 5.00 (for both books) via ParentPay as we will need to buy additional copies for the following year.

The books will be sent home with your child by next Friday (14^th February).

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards

Abbey Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear All Parents,

You are invited to St. Mary’s church, Wombwell, this Sunday for their monthly Breakfast and Family Service.

Breakfast is from 9.15am and the service is for all ages at 10am with Bible story, songs and crafts.

All are welcome.

Thank you

 

World Book Day 5^th March 2020

We are getting quite excited now for this years World Book Day and would like to provide more information. As you may know, from Foundation Stage to Year 6 we will be using a variety of books based on the theme under the sea for inspiration. We would love our children at The Ellis to dress up as anything related to our theme, some examples include:

• sea creatures
• Pirates (why not reuse the clothes from our Pirate Maths day?)
• mermaids
• deep sea divers

First of all, we would like to invite you to come into school from 8:55 and share a story with your child, no sign up is required, please just pop into your childs classroom in the morning.

We would also like to invite you to come into school and attend a workshop with your child(ren). Each class will have a different focus and a sign up form will be available on each class door from Monday 24^th February. Please note that for safety reasons we will only have a set number of spaces in each workshop, therefore, places are on a first come first serve basis. For safety reasons, children and adults will need to stay in that workshop.

To solve the issue of parents trying to be in two (or more) places at once, as a staff we decided that siblings can select the same workshop. Children can select any workshop it does not have to be the one that their class teacher is running. 

The workshops will begin at 9:10am and will end at 10:15am.

We will then be opening our Underwater Reading Caf, where you will be able to treat yourself to tea and cake whilst diving into a book with your child. All proceeds will go towards school funds. The caf will close at 11:30.

We would appreciate any baking and donations. We will also be holding a raffle and our brilliant book shop will be open.

Thank you for your continued support, we look forward to seeing you there.

Abbey Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear All Parents,  The Ellis News 17 (Feb 2020)

Sponsored Walk

We are really excited for our sponsored koala walk on Wednesday! Please ensure you have given consent on ParentPay for your child to join in and remember to bring some loose change for well-earned refreshments in the hall and a visit to the bookshop once we arrive back in school.

Sponsorship money is to be brought into school by Wednesday, 12th February please.

 

Vortex School Uniform Website is now live!

We are delighted to let you know that school uniform can now be purchased online.

The following website link will direct you to their homepage:

www.vortexschoolwear.co.uk

 

 The following link will take you directly to our School’s page:

www.vortexschoolwear.co.uk/Primary-Schools/The-Ellis-CE-Primary-School

 

ParentPay

Thank you for keeping your ParentPay accounts up to date, we will shortly be contacting only those few parents who still have balances above our debt policy.

Ellis has Talent

Tickets are now selling fast for this event. 2 each from the office.

Playground Supervision

Please remember that children in the playground need to be supervised by a known adult before school. Parents are responsible for their children until the start of school. Thank you. 

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

Y3/4 Pirate History Workshop

Our next topic after the holidays is Pirates and as part of this we are delighted to have booked a visitor from the company ‘Real Life History’ to come into school to work with our Y3 and 4 children on Wednesday, 25th March.

The children will take on the role of real life pirates from the past and take part in two 1 hour workshops. The visitors will also give a presentation to all the children. It is a company we have used several times before and we know the children really benefit from the hands on experiences they provide. It certainly brings history to life for our children and gives them the chance to handle artefacts from the day, ask questions and to act out the life of pirates on the ocean.

In order to cover the cost of the visit we are asking for a contribution of 4.50 per child, which will be payable via ParentPay. If insufficient funds are raised, then unfortunately we will have to cancel the visit.  

We know how much the children enjoyed and learned from their Roman day at the start of this academic year so we know they’ll be in for another wonderful time!

As all the children will have pirate outfits from our Maths day we thought we would get into the spirit of the pirate workshop by inviting the children to wear these outfits again.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Wise

 

Our Vortex Schoolwear Website is now live!

Our website link is the following, which will direct you to the

homepage:

www.vortexschoolwear.co.uk

Below is the link that will take you directly to your School’s page:

www.vortexschoolwear.co.uk/Primary-Schools/The-Ellis-CE-Primary-School

 

Dear Parents,

We are proud to announce that we will be running The Ellis has Talent competition on Thursday 27^th February (6:00-8:00pm). Auditions have already been taking place in school. We have an amazing line up of acts showcasing a variety of talents. It should be an amazing evening for all.

Everyone is welcome to attend and show their support for the children who have worked hard on their acts. It should be a really good night out for all the family. Tickets are available from the office at a cost of 2 per ticket. There will be refreshments available to purchase on the night along with a raffle. All money raised from the event will go towards school funds and further exciting opportunities in the future.

Please come and show your support, you will not be disappointed.

Kind Regards,

Mrs D Broadbent

 

Dear All Parents,  The Ellis News 16 (Jan 2020)

ParentPay

It is frustrating having to keep chasing parents for payments on ParentPay for outstanding dinner money and other debts as well as consent for trips. Children cannot attend trips without permission which is now given via ParentPay. If permission is not given your child will be supervised in a different class for the duration of the trip. It is your responsibility to keep debts clear. Please be considerate with keeping on top of your payments. Our outstanding balances are regularly looked at and we already have children who are unable to have a school lunch until their balance has been cleared. If you would like a copy of our debt policy please ask at the office. Thank you.

After School Club Wednesday 12th February

The above after school club will be cancelled due to our Y3/4 Family Maths Workshop taking place in the hall that evening.

Sponsored Walk

Sponsorship forms have been sent home for this extremely worthwhile cause so please keep a look out for them. There are sign up sheets on classroom doors to confirm if an adult will be accompanying your child on the walk. There will be plenty of staff available to walk with those children who will not have an adult with them. As above, if you do not give consent via ParentPay your child will remain in school.

As always, if you have any concerns or issues regarding school, please contact me,

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

Dear Y3/4 Parents,

As per the email correspondence below, we currently only have 9 families wishing to attend the workshop. If you would like to attend and have not yet let Mrs Fiddes know, the deadline for doing so is Friday morning. We will confirm names of the families attending by email on Friday afternoon and possibly open up the workshop to other classes if there are still spaces available. Thank you.

 

Dear Y3/4 Parents,

Attached is the flyer for our Family Maths workshop running on Wednesday, 12th February, 15:20 – 16:20.

It will be led by As Creatives, who are also running workshops for pupils during the day, and hopefully will give us all the chance to remember how much fun maths can be, how important maths is – and also how easy it is for adults and children to work together on exciting maths challenges.

It would be helpful to know numbers for the workshop, so please email Mrs Fiddes to confirm if you will be joining us.

 To refresh your memory a reminder of the email that was sent previously about our Maths day is below.

 

Dear All Parents and Carers,

We are excited to let you know that ‪on Wednesday the 12th of February, here at The Ellis we will be hosting a whole school maths day facilitated by a company called As Creatives, along with our wonderful teaching staff.  

The theme of the day is a Captains Conundrum and the children will be taking part in lots of pirate related maths throughout the day. (Nursery childrens activities will be in-house and not run by the external company).

We would love all the children to get into the spirit of the day by dressing up in pirate costumes, this can be as little or as much as they so wish. As Y6 will be leaving after lunch for their Barnsley Market Trading event please can they come to school in their uniform with easily removable accessories such as an eye patch, bandana or a hat.

A family maths workshop will take place after school on the same day with further information following soon.

Mrs Wise

Maths Lead and Y3 Teacher

 

Dear Y6 Parents, A reminder of the email that was sent on the 18.12.19 is below.

On Tuesday 4^th February, we will be taking our Year 6 children on a trip to Oakwell Stadium for a trip run by Barnsley FC called Show Racism the Red Card.

We will be using Beewise coaches and leaving school at 11:30am. Children who normally order a school lunch will still have the opportunity to do so, however, this will be a packed lunch rather than a hot school meal so it can be eaten before we leave. We will be arriving back at home for normal home time.

As we are able to use the annual Sporting and Extra-Curricular Activity form for this trip no additional consent will be required.

Thank you,

Miss Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Y6 Parents,

To give parents a little more time to discuss any issues, particularly regarding SATs, I will be available on Wednesday 11^th March between 9am and 4pm for parental consultations. Please note this date is instead of the parents evening date on 26^th March.

The sign-up sheet is in the usual place (on the door in the cloakroom). Alternatively, please email Mrs Fiddes with three convenient appointment times and she will do her best to accommodate you. If it is necessary to make an evening appointment please request this in your email.

The time slots between 9-4pm are every 10 minutes.

Thank you,

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Parents/Carers,

Our Year 5 children have organised a sponsored walk to raise money for the injured Koalas in Australia.  As ambassadors for the Archbishop of Yorks Youth Trust Scheme, the children feel that they could help our global community and hold a whole school event ALL monies will be donated to the WWFs Koala Protector appeal.

Year 1 Year 6: The walk will take us to Jump, then down through Elsecar, along the canal path and back up Tingle Bridge to school.

FS2: The children will be walking to the cemetery at Jump and then back to school.

FS1: The children will be completing laps of the nursery field.

The walk will take place on Wednesday, 5^th February, straight after registration.  Parents, grandparents and carers are invited on the external walk with their children, so please sign up on the sheet on your childs classroom door so that the class teacher knows which of their children will need supervision.  Children who do not have an adult accompanying but who have permission to attend will walk with their teachers.

When we get back to school there will be refreshments available to purchase in the school hall. F1 children can bring money and staff will take them into the hall to purchase these.

Sponsor forms will be coming home with the children this week, thank you for any support to this very worthwhile cause – no matter how big or small, all donations are welcome.

In addition, any buns or cakes that you would like to donate for our refreshments would be greatly appreciated. The money raised from the sales will also go to the WWFs Koala Protector appeal.

Due to the scale of this event and the volume of children taking part, consent will need to be given on ParentPay even if you will be walking with your child. (This excludes F1 who will not be leaving the school).

Any children who do not have permission to walk will remain in school supervised.

Thank you,

Mrs Brinkley & The Year 5 Sensational Seahorses

 

Dear Parent,

We have noticed an increase in the number of mobile phones being brought into school.  At The Ellis CE Primary we are more than happy for children to bring in their phone,  as we want to promote independence and know that they may need it when walking to and from school.  

However, mobile phones must be handed in at the beginning of the day so that they can be stored safely. A number of our children are using them on the playground (before school) and are leaving them in their pockets, this could potentially lead to data protection and safeguarding issues.  

Please can you remind your child to ensure that they switch off their phones before they enter the playground and that they hand them in so that they do not get damaged or stolen. The school cannot take responsibility for items that are lost or stolen.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Y5/6 Parent/Carer,

Your child has been selected to represent the school in a Year 5/6 Boys Football Competition against Holyrood on Thursday, 23rd January 2020.  The match will be played at Horizon and will start at 2:15pm. The children will be transported there and back via Beewise coaches.

We will confirm if parents are able to spectate, along with the expected return time as soon as we have this information.     

The game will be played on grass. Children will be given a full football kit to wear on the day but will need to bring football boots, shin pads, a tracksuit, a drink of water and a bag for their belongings.

If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them.  The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs R Jaques

 

Dear Y5/6 Parent/Carer,

Your child has been selected to represent the school in a Year 5/6 Girls Football Competition against Holyrood on Thursday, 23rd January 2020.  The match will be played at Horizon and will start at 1:30pm. The children will be transported there and back via Beewise coaches.

We will confirm if parents are able to spectate, along with the expected return time as soon as we have this information.      

The game will be played on grass. Children will be given a full football kit to wear on the day but will need to bring football boots, shin pads, a tracksuit, a drink of water and a bag for their belongings.

If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them.  The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs R Jaques

 

Dear Parents,  The Ellis News 15 (Jan 2020)

Sad News

Mrs Jaques’ mum (maternity cover in Y4) sadly passed away at the end of last week. She is back in school and feeling well-supported by pupils and staff. We offer our condolences and support to Mrs Jaques at this hard time. 

Topics 

F1/F2    Growing

Y1/Y2   Superheroes

Y3/Y4   Vicious Vikings 

Y5/Y6   Ancient Greece – Who let the Gods out?

Lunchtime Menus

Some of the children have been choosing meals that they don’t like. As much as we want to encourage children to try new foods, please can you double check that your children are choosing a dish that they will eat, as we do not want anyone going hungry.  Just to reassure you all, we always make sure everyone has eaten something.

If you would like a copy of the menus emailing, please let Mrs Fiddes know, or ask your child to collect a paper copy from the office to take home.

Golden Banquet

 We now have two children from each year group F2 to Y6 every week for the Golden Banquet.

Theatre Production for F1-Y6 

We are looking forward to the theatre company coming into school on Wednesday to perform their pantomime ‘A Christmas Carol.’ Please bring 2 to dress up in your smartest outfit or fancy dress. Please be mindful of outdoor play.

 

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

Dear Y3/4 Parents,  Family Maths Invitation 12.2.20

Attached is the flyer for our Family Maths workshop running on Wednesday, 12th February, 15:20 – 16:20.

It will be led by As Creatives, who are also running workshops for pupils during the day, and hopefully will give us all the chance to remember how much fun maths can be, how important maths is – and also how easy it is for adults and children to work together on exciting maths challenges.

It would be helpful to know numbers for the workshop, so please email Mrs Fiddes to confirm if you will be joining us.

 To refresh your memory a reminder of the email that was sent previously about our Maths day is below.

 

Dear All Parents and Carers,

We are excited to let you know that ‪on Wednesday the 12th of February, here at The Ellis we will be hosting a whole school maths day facilitated by a company called As Creatives, along with our wonderful teaching staff.  

The theme of the day is a Captains Conundrum and the children will be taking part in lots of pirate related maths throughout the day. (Nursery childrens activities will be in-house and not run by the external company).

We would love all the children to get into the spirit of the day by dressing up in pirate costumes, this can be as little or as much as they so wish. As Y6 will be leaving after lunch for their Barnsley Market Trading event please can they come to school in their uniform with easily removable accessories such as an eye patch, bandana or a hat.

A family maths workshop will take place after school on the same day with further information following soon.

Mrs Wise

Maths Lead and Y3 Teacher

 

Dear Parents,

Your child may have already mentioned that as part of the IKIC Big Challenge they have been given another opportunity to take part in a marketing event, in Barnsley town centre, on the 12^th  February between 12:15-3pm. This will form part of the competition and children will have the opportunity to win prizes on the day for their stall design, marketing campaigns and customer service.

Please note that it is not compulsory for your child to attend this event.

As it is during the school day, the plan is to walk to Wombwell train station and get the train into Barnsley town centre.  Parents are not expected to attend this event,  instead we will treat this like a school trip. I am available to chaperone, and depending on numbers another adult from school may also attend. Children will need to think carefully about which stock and marketing materials to bring, I would recommend bringing a suitcase or bag that they can carry.  We will get the train back to school and will be back by 4pm. Please could you send your child with a packed lunch and a drink, we will eat before we leave school.

I would be grateful if you could let Mrs Fiddes  know if your child would like to take part in this element of the competition and feel that they will have enough stock to create an enticing stall by that date. The stock can be previous stock i.e. unsold Christmas items.

Permission and payment for transportation will be via Parent Pay.

I need to get final numbers to the organisers as soon as possible, so if you could let me know by Friday 24^th  JANUARY that would be very helpful so that I can book the correct number of train tickets and ensure that we have sufficient staff.

On another note, our next pop-up shop will be on Friday 13^th March 2020 in the hall from 3:20-4:20.

Kind Regards,

Miss A Saunders

 

 

Dear F2 Parents,

We are pleased to inform you that Mr Grayhurst will be holding his Parents Day on Tuesday, 28th January.

You will find a sign up sheet in class for you to choose a convenient time and place your name against it to book your slot.

If that particular day or the times remaining are inconvenient, please speak to Mr Grayhurst to arrange a mutually convenient alternative.

Thank you

Hayley Fiddes

 

 

Dear Y1 Parent/Carer,

                     Your childs class has been selected to represent the school in a Multi Skills Event at Kirkbalk Community College, on Thursday 23rd January.  The event will start at 1pm and will finish for 3:00pm and children should arrive back at school around 3:30pm. 

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue at 12:30pm.

      Children will travel to and from the venue via Beewise Coaches.  Unfortunately due to space constraints, parents are not allowed to attend the event. 

Your child will need to bring suitable trainers, their PE kit, a drink of water, a bag for their belongings and suitable clothing to wear when not participating.  The event will be held indoors.  If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Jaques

 

 

Dear Y3/4 Parent/Carer,

                     Your childs class has been selected to represent the school in a Year 3 and 4 Multi Skills Event at Kirkbalk Community College, Tuesday 21st January.  The event will start at 1pm and will finish for 3:00pm and children should arrive back at school around 3:30pm. 

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue at 12:30pm.

      Children will travel to and from the venue via Beewise Coaches.  Unfortunately due to space constraints, parents are not allowed to attend the event. 

Your child will need to bring suitable trainers, their PE kit, a drink of water, a bag for their belongings and suitable clothing to wear when not participating.  The event will be held indoors.  If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Jaques

 

 

Dear All Parents and Carers,

We are excited to let you know that ‪on Wednesday the 12th of February, here at The Ellis we will be hosting a whole school maths day facilitated by a company called As Creatives, along with our wonderful teaching staff.  

The theme of the day is a Captains Conundrum and the children will be taking part in lots of pirate related maths throughout the day. (Nursery childrens activities will be in-house and not run by the external company).

We would love all the children to get into the spirit of the day by dressing up in pirate costumes, this can be as little or as much as they so wish. As Y6 will be leaving after lunch for their Barnsley Market Trading event please can they come to school in their uniform with easily removable accessories such as an eye patch, bandana or a hat.

A family maths workshop will take place after school on the same day with further information following soon.

Mrs Wise

Maths Lead and Y3 Teacher

 

Dear Nursery Parents,

Our topic this term is ‘growing’.

For the next few weeks we will be talking about ourselves and how we have grown and changed from when we were a baby.

As part of this activity could you please send a baby photo into nursery of your child for them to talk about.

The photo will be returned when we have finished the activity.

Thank you

Mrs Pollard

 

Dear Parents,

I will be running a free workshop for all parents/carers and grandparents of children within our Foundation Stage (F1 and F2).

The workshop will focus on Developing childrens language and understanding through stories and will offer you a valuable insight into how to support your childs learning and development while they are in the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will take place on Thursday 23^rd  January at 4.30pm and again on Friday 24^th January at 9.15am and will last for approximately half an hour.

Refreshments will be available free of charge.

If you would like to attend please let the class teacher know which session you would like to come to.

Unfortunately children are unable to attend this event.

I look forward to seeing you all there.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs. T. Pollard

 

Dear Parents,  The Ellis News 14 (Jan 2020)

Welcome back everyone, the children have made a fantastic start to 2020 with their attitude to learning and behaviour in school.

Congratulations

We are delighted to announce the arrival of Miss Cook’s baby girl, Olivia Mae, born on the 8th January, all are well and very happy.

The Garden

We are lucky at The Ellis to have such an amazing garden that has been maintained by kind volunteers and Mr Tucker, our caretaker. This year we are wanting to increase the opportunity for children to use this wonderful learning resource and Miss Grace Batley, who now works at breakfast club, is going to help to set up the garden.

If you have or know of anyone that may have resources or time to help please let us know. At the moment we are looking for wood that we can use for the borders, scaffolding pallets, plant pots and any seedlings. We would also like to purchase a non glass green house. (I don’t suppose anyone has a spare green house!)

Y6 Boosters

Thank you to everyone who is attending the reading and maths boosters.  We know our Y6s work incredibly hard in school and these boosters really do help the children to ‘be the best they can be’ in their SATS.   At the end of year feedback last year, the Y6s were very positive about the boosters. As a school we are very passionate about the curriculum not all being about SATS, which is why we also do the IKIC business alongside. 

The Combined Score

One of the key scores that schools are judged on by the SATS scoring system is the COMBINED score, this combines the Reading/Writing and Maths score. To achieve the combined score a child needs to reach WA (Working At) in all three areas of learning.   

As a school this is our key score to improve.

We want all our children to achieve their best in reading, writing and maths, whilst also enjoying learning and school.

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

Dear Y1/2/3 Parents,

If you have any unwanted school trousers (for girls or boys), tights or skirts please send them to Y2 as they are in desperate need of them.

Thank you

 

Dear All Parents,

You are invited to St. Mary’s church, Wombwell, this Sunday for their monthly Breakfast and Family Service.

Breakfast is from 9.15am and the service is for all ages at 10am with Bible story, songs and crafts.

All are welcome.

Thank you

 

Dear Y5/6 Parent/Carer,

Your child has been selected to represent the school in a Year 5/6 Girls Football Competition event at Kings Oak on Friday, 17th January 2020.  The event will start at 2:30pm and aim to finish for 3:30pm.       

Parents are invited to spectate. If this is something you would like to do, please let Mrs Fiddes know that you will be transporting your child to and from the event and that transport is not required.      

The game will be played on grass. Children will be given a school top but will need to bring shorts, football socks, boots, a drink of water and a bag for their belongings. It is recommended that shin pads are worn but are not compulsory.

If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them.  The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs R Jaques

 

Dear Y5 / Y6 Parent/Carer,     

I cant believe its January already- it seems to have crept up on me rather quickly. Apologies for the delay in getting this letter to you before now, it was all rather busy before Christmas.                                                                                            

Visit to Weston Park Museum

In support of the childrens topic, The Ancient Greeks, we would like to take Years 5 and 6 to Weston Park Museum in Sheffield on Friday 24^th January.  The children will take part in a workshop about the Greeks and look at the artefacts on display. 

The coach company we will be using is Beewise. The coach will leave school at 9:20am and is expected to return to school by 3:20pm.  If your child suffers from travel sickness we would suggest that appropriate travel sickness tablets are taken before school.

The cost will be 10  per pupil and includes the workshop and coach cost.  We must point out that if insufficient money is collected, the trip will have to be cancelled. Payment will be via Parent Pay and will need to be paid by Monday, 20th January 2020.  If you are experiencing any financial difficulties covering the cost of the trip, please contact Mrs Hurding. 

Please ensure school uniform is worn on the day with suitable footwear and an appropriate coat. A packed lunch will be required and can be provided by school for children who are entitled to Scheme of Aid.  Please let us know if your child requires a school packed lunch prior to the trip. 

We may have time to visit the gift shop on the day, so if you would like to send your child with up to 5 to spend you may, however this is not compulsory.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Edwards and Miss Saunders

 

Dear Y6 Parents,

Please find correspondence attached from Miss Saunders regarding Y6 homework. Spring Homework Letter

Thank you 

 

Dear Nursery Parents,

Our topic this term is ‘growing’.

For the next few weeks we will be talking about ourselves, our friends and our families. As part of this activity could you please send a photo into nursery of your child with family members for them to talk about.

The photo will be returned when we have finished the activity.

Thank you

Mrs Pollard

 

Dear Parents,

Foundation Stage 2

No homework has been set for the holidays but please continue reading stories to your children and talking about them. Thank you for your support and we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Foundation Stage 2 Milk

If your child turns 5 in this next half term they will no longer be offered milk free of charge.

Please contact school milk at admin@schoolmilk.co.uk or register at www.schoolmilk.co.uk or ring 0845 3402100 to order milk if you would like your child to continue to drink this at school. Thank you.

Key Stage 1

Our next topic after the holidays is “What a Hero!” and as part of this we are delighted to have booked a visitor from the company ‘Real Life History’ to come into school to work with our KS1 children on Friday, 17th January. They will take on the role of Florence Nightingale and her assistant. The visitors will give a 40 minute presentation to all KS1 and then the children will take part in two 1 hour workshops with them. It is a company we have used several times and we know the children will really benefit from the hands on experiences they provide. It certainly brings history to life for our children and gives them the chance to handle artefacts from the day, ask questions and to act out the life of soldiers in  the war and nurses on the front line.  In order to cover the cost of the visit we are asking for a contribution of 4.50 per child, which will be payable via ParentPay when we return to school in January. If insufficient funds are raised, then unfortunately we will have to cancel the visit.  

Having taken part in the exact same workshop with our KS1 children two years ago, I know from experience that they are in for wonderful time!

Thank you for your continued support.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Hayley Fiddes

 

Dear Foundation Stage Parents,

Your child is welcome to bring a toy to school on Friday. Nothing too precious and no electronics please.

Thank you

 

Dear Y6 Parents,

On Tuesday 4^th February, we will be taking our Year 6 children on a trip to Oakwell Stadium for a trip run by Barnsley FC called Show Racism the Red Card.

We will be using Beewise coaches and leaving school at 11:30am. Children who normally order a school lunch will still have the opportunity to do so, however, this will be a packed lunch rather than a hot school meal so it can be eaten before we leave. We will be arriving back at home for normal home time.

As we are able to use the annual Sporting and Extra-Curricular Activity form for this trip no additional consent will be required.

Thank you,

Miss Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Young Voices Tickets

We are aware that the Young Voices tickets have not arrived yet.

We have informed The Arena of our school closure dates over Christmas and will continue our contact with them to ensure the tickets and t-shirts arrive.

Thank you,

Mrs Trotter  

 

Dear Y3 Parents, Viking Home Learning Y3

Please find attached our newsletter for next half term along with some home learning ideas.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Wise

Y3 Teacher and Mathematics Lead

 

Dear All Parents,  The Ellis News 13 (December 2019)

May we take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support to all that we do at The Ellis. We hope you and your family have a peaceful Christmas time.

Staffing

Miss Cook has decided that this Friday, 20th December, will be her last day with the children. We wish Miss Cook every happiness during this exciting time.

After School Clubs

After School Clubs are cancelled for this week.

After School Clubs from January

Dan Wall will again be running our regular clubs on Mondays and Wednesdays. He taught at Park Street for a number of years and after launching his own business is happy to continue working with The Ellis.

Monday 13th January – 10th February

KS1 Multi Sports including Dodge ball until 4:20pm.

Please email if your child is interested in joining this club.

Wednesday 8th January – 12th February

KS2 Dodge ball / Bench ball until 4:20pm.

Please email if your child is interested in joining this club.

The following are our ongoing clubs:

Tuesday

F2 & Y1 Footy Stars until 3:50pm. 2.50 per week payable to the coach, Adrian.

Parents must remain with their child.

Daz’s Football ongoing weekly until 4:20pm, Y1-Y4 children, 2.50 payable to Daz each week.

Thursday

Craft Club until 4:20pm. (15 places available).

Payment for this club is 2.50 per week and will go onto ParentPay on Friday if your child receives a place. Thank you.

Barnsley Football Club Football Skills

This has now finished.

Mrs Hurding

 

Headteacher

Dear Foundation Stage,

We will be holding a Christmas coffee morning on Friday, 13th December, 9:15-10:30am to which all family members are invited.

If you would like to attend please make your way into the school hall via the main school entrance after you have dropped your child off in class. Doors will open at approximately 9am.This will give you ample opportunity to get your tea, coffee and cakes and purchase the gifts your child has made in class before the children come in to sing (Approximately 9:20am). Raffle tickets will also be on sale.

Please remember to bring an unwanted childrens book on the day to exchange at our book swap free of charge. Take your book to the table and swap it for a different one to take home and keep.  

The children will be brought into the hall by staff at approximately 9:20am to sing some songs on stage. You will be able to video and take photographs of your child but please remember not to upload any to social media if they contain images of other children.

Nursery children can be picked up from outside nursery after the event if parents wish, however, nursery is still open as usual.

F2 children will remain in school for the remainder of the day.

All proceeds from this coffee morning will be spent purchasing new equipment to enhance our outdoor learning environment.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher.

We look forward to seeing you there,

Foundation Stage Team

 

Dear Parents,

We have been invited at The Ellis to go to the town hall to be filmed for the Tour de Yorkshire. They are asking for the children to talk about the Tour (but we will be told what to say.)

The visit has been arranged for Thursday morning, 12th December. The children will be back for lunch and it will be a great opportunity for them to represent The Ellis.

If you consent to this trip you are giving permission for your child to be driven to Barnsley with either Mrs Hurding or Mrs Dixon (George’s mum in Y6) and also consenting for your child to be filmed for public use.

Please log on to ParentPay to give your consent.

Thank you,

Mrs Hurding

 

Dear Parent,

Before Christmas, I would like to calculate the profits that the IKIC teams have made so far. To do this I will need to know how much your child has spent, please could you send in any receipts or invoices before Friday 20^th December.

If you have already sent in your receipts and invoices then please ignore this email.

Feel free to pop in and see me or email h.fiddes@theellis.org if you have any questions.

The teams are doing a fantastic job and we are all very proud of them at The Ellis.

Thanks,

Abbey Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear All Parents,

Christmas Fun

Please see the attached flyer for information on St. Mary’s Church Christmas Fun day this Saturday, 10:30am-12pm.

 Family Service

You are invited to St. Mary’s church, Wombwell, this Sunday for their monthly Breakfast and Family Service.

Breakfast is from 9.15am and the service is for all ages at 10am with Bible story, songs and crafts.

All are welcome.

Thank you

Dear Parent,

Thank you for your support in getting the children in a routine of completing formal homework, the children have commented today that they think this has helped their learning.

The homework that is due on Friday 13^th will be:

Maths page 30 (Number Sequences)

Reading Poetry pages 26-31 (Welcome to York).

Over Christmas I will not be sending any formal homework, however please could you encourage your child to read regularly.

Our next topic will be The Ancient Greeks, we would love to see some home learning from Year Six. Children can present their work in any way that they may wish to do so, e.g. PowerPoint, posters, videos, Lego buildings, artwork, the list is endless.  

We now have some new homework books (as the children have almost completed their reading booklets) these will be issued in January.

Thank you as always for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Parent,  Marketsfirstfloor

I have been asked by the organisers of the IKIC challenge to forward the following information to parents and pupils who are attending the Christmas trading event on 14^th December.

Please remind all those attending that:

 The market is a place of business and they are generously allowing us to use space. Teams do need to be on best behaviour and observe that other traders are operating their businesses from there. This includes noise levels.

1. Teams need to stay behind their tables and cant become wandering salesmen around the market.
2. Think about how you want to display your products.
3. Please remind them they need to bring table cloths.
4. There will not be chairs provided, and there probably wont be room for teams to bring their own so comfy shoes are a must.
5. If teams are selling either edible items or body items they need to be displaying preferably on their packaging, but at least on the table what ingredients are in the products.
6. Any candles being sold need to do so with a flammable label attached.

 

Reminders from school:

• Children will need a packed lunch and a drink.
• Set up begins at 8am, teams need to arrive by 8:30am.
• Trading ends at 4pm.
• Transport is not provided
• Children will need to bring any medication that they may need
• We will be on the first floor (please see the attached map).

 

If you have any questions, please contact school.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Y2 Parents,

Thank you for practising the nativity song with your child, they are singing with much more confidence. Unfortunately, the track would not send to the whole class via email, apologies for this.

There is no formal homework this week as we know children have a busy week coming up with the two nativities, however, please continue practising spellings, TT Rock Stars and reading regularly with your child. Reading can include books from school, home, magazines, comics or anything else that ignites your child’s interest. Please complete all reading in the diaries and ensure that your child has their reading diaries in school daily so that staff can check them.

Thank you for your support in this,

Mrs Trotter

 

Dear All Parents,

Congratulations

We are delighted to announce the arrival of Miss Beresford’s baby, Riley Jack, who was born on the 29th November 2019. Congratulations to all the family.

 Miss Cook will be starting her maternity from the 13th January, so her last day at work will be the 10th January. Mrs Rachel Jaques will be covering the class and has had lots of opportunities to get to know the children and Miss Cook’s systems for learning.

Y5 Class Assembly – Wednesday 4th

This is going to be a good one and therefore we need to bring the time forward a little to 2:30pm! Sorry for this short notice.

PTFA Disco Tickets

Sales for this event have now ended as we are up to our maximum numbers. Thank you.

 KS1 Nativity

Our Key Stage 1 Nativity Play is on Tuesday, 10th and Wednesday, 11th December. We still have a few tickets left so please come along and support this event if possible. The children love to see familiar faces in the audience when they are performing on the stage. Raffle tickets and refreshments will be available to buy on the night from 5:30pm. Children performing need to be back at school no earlier than 5:30pm please.

Christmas Dinner Day

On Wednesday, 11th December, we are having our combined Christmas Dinner Day and Wear your Christmas Jumper / non uniform Day. There will be no alternative food on this day so if your child would not like a school Christmas dinner please send them to school with a packed lunch. There has been no requirement to pre-order this year.

Nursery are also invited to join in the Christmas jumper / non uniform day.

 Christmas Party Day

This will be on Wednesday, 18th December and all children, including nursery, are welcome to come in their party clothes but please be mindful of outdoor play.

Party food costs 1.90 and is paid via ParentPay. Please remember, if your child would not like party food they will need to bring a packed lunch as there will be no alternative food on this day. This includes both full-time and part-time nursery children.

Christingle F2 – Y6

You are invited to join us in the school hall on Friday, 20th December at 2pm.

PTFA Design a Christmas Bauble Competition

The attached template can be printed or paper copies collected from Mrs Fiddes in the office and completed using any materials, either online or as a paper copy. The competition is 1 to enter and open to all Ellis children. There will be 3 first prizes – one each for Foundation Stage, KS1 and KS2.

Entries with your child’s name and year group need to be in by Tuesday, December 17^th for judging. If you would like to return your online copy please email Mrs J Beever on j.beever@theellis.org and hand in your entry fee. Winning entries will be displayed in school on Party Day, Wednesday 18^th December. Thank you.

Bookshop

The school bookshop will be open Friday lunchtimes. We are selling new books for 1 and second hand books are around 50p.  

Santa

If you would like to take your child to visit Santa at Hemingfield tea room on Wednesday, 18th December 3:30pm-6pm, please message or ring 07552 390130.

APPS

It has come to our attention that the ‘Jurassic Park’ game on IPADS can take real money out of your account so be really mindful of your security settings. This APP does not require thumb print recognition.

We have also had the following information to pass on to parents from Tim Pinto, our data protection officer regarding Christmas gifts for your children:

•     When you purchase a device, take it out of the box before you give it to your child. Go onto the settings section where you can restrict or disable features so your children cannot download unsuitable applications or content e.g. videos.

A good site to support you with setting controls is: http://www.internetmatters.org/ 

      Make sure that the account on the tablet/phone is set up by a parent or carer so they can authorise content that is downloaded. This is important if they need to download any additional content called In App Purchases (IAP).

      Look at the age ratings for applications as some might not be suitable for your child. The same goes for access to popular sites such as You Tube, Snapchat and Tik Tok.

      Talk to your children about using cameras and video chat facilities. If someone acts inappropriately, then make sure they tell you immediately. Also, ensure they use these features sensibly and do not take unsuitable images and share them with people they dont know.

      If you are buying a smartphone for your child, talk to the mobile provider about parental controls. These might not be automatically switched on, so you may need to look at the providers website for support.

      Games consoles such as Xboxes and Playstations are very popular with primary aged children. The key issue with video games is the suitability of a number of titles as they are rated in the same way as films. Therefore, major releases before Christmas such as Call of Duty: Modern Welfare (rated 18), Star Wars Jedi (rated 16), NFS Heat (rated 16) all have 16+ ratings.

A useful site to find about the content of games can be found here: https://www.askaboutgames.com/

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

Dear Y6 Parent,

After Christmas we will starting our Year Six after school boosters.

The boosters will run from 3:20 4:20 and there will be some light refreshments to keep their energy levels up. 

The boosters arent compulsory, but they are advised, as we will be ensuring that your child is fully ready for their tests – if your child cannot attend, I will send home the work the group is doing to be done as homework for the following week.

The children will be split into smaller groups and will revise key concepts and extend their problem solving skills.   

On Tuesdays we will focus on reading and Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) during the hour and on Thursdays we will be focusing at maths.

Please could you let Mrs Fiddes (h.fiddes@theellis.org) know before Friday 20^th December if you would like your child to attend.  

If you have any questions, please get in contact.

Thank you for your support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Parents,

It is that time of year again when KS1 are working very hard on their nativity Im Gonna Shine. Each year we try hard to put on the best performance we can and we know the children are all working very hard to learn everything in time. This is our main KS1 fundraiser each year and the money we raise from tickets and the raffle goes straight back to our children. In previous years we have spent the money on resourcing our outside classroom which has changed from a patch of grass to an area which children love to access and where lots of exciting learning opportunities are available to them. We have also bought resources for our topics as well as new nativities and costumes.

This year we are raising money to purchase the final sets of phonic reading books we need and are aiming to buy a DT workbench which will allow the children the chance to practise important DT skills using the correct tools and workstation.

If anyone is able to kindly donate a raffle prize for the evening performances we would be very grateful. Every year we are overwhelmed by the generosity of parents and grandparents, so thank you. Please can any donations can be given to the office or any KS1 member of staff by Friday 6^th December.

 Thank for your continued support.

Charlotte Trotter

Class Teacher / KS1 Leader

 

Dear Y3 Parents,

In Y3, we are continuing to make art out of recycled objects as we explore the work of the artist Nek Chand.

Please can children bring any unwanted magazines or newspapers that we can use for papiermache.

Many thanks for your continuing support,

The Y3 Team

 

Dear Parents,  The Ellis News 10 (November 2019 )

Barnsley Schoolgirl’s Football Partnership

Barnsley Women FC are in the 2nd round of the FA Cup on the Astroturf at Oakwell this Sunday, kick off at 2pm. Steve Gates, Strategic Lead of Barnsley Schoolgirls Football Partnership is offering a free ticket for school pupils to gain entry to the game. Please email Mrs Fiddes if you would like a ticket emailing for you to print off. For adults it is a 3 entry fee.

School Milk Recall

Just to reassure you our school milk is not affected by the current recall. Our supplier is School Milk, provided by Fresh Pastures.

Book Fair

Our Book Fair is still on until Friday. All of the books really are half of the lowest price displayed on the book – come and grab yourselves a half price bargain!

PTFA Christmas Disco

Tickets are currently on sale priced at 3.50 each.

Y1/2 Nativity

Tickets will be on sale from Monday. 2 per adult. 1 per child. Children in the performance should return to school at 5:30pm – no earlier please. Our PTFA will be selling refreshments from 5:30pm so please remain in school and take your seat to wait for the performance to begin with a cuppa if you wish. 

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

Dear Y1 Parents,

We have welcomed Mrs Broadbent back to school today and have therefore decided that parents evening for Y1 children will be going ahead this Wednesday evening using the same time slots that were originally booked.

If you cannot remember your time slot Mrs Broadbent has placed the sign up sheet back in the cloakroom for you to look at. Alternatively, if your original time slot is now inconvenient please pop and see Mrs Broadbent before school tomorrow to rearrange.

Thank you

 

Dear Parents,

Our next IKIC Pop-up shop is on Friday 29^th December 3:20-4pm.  Following feedback from parents, we have changed the location from the Y6 classroom to the hall.

Our Year Six pupils will be selling a wide range of items such as: Lego keyrings, coasters, woodwork items, plastic free wrapping and candles (just to name a few!).  Some of the products are bespoke and many would make great stocking fillers.

Come and show your support and grab yourselves a bargain.

We hope to see you there.

Miss A Saunders

 

Dear Parents,

 

Please find this week’s newsletter attached. The Ellis News 9 (November 2019)

 

Illness

 

We are very aware of the current illnesses that are in school at the moment and we have been reminding all children to wash their hands, use tissues and cover their mouths when coughing. We have been sending children home when necessary.  We know we are always encouraging your children to attend but please ensure they are well and ready for learning before they return to school. In the event of sickness and diarrhoea, children need to have been clear for 48 hours before returning to school.

 

Headlice

 

We have several classes with headlice at the moment. Please remember to regularly check not only your child’s hair but also other family members. Thank you.

 

Photograph Proofs

We are expecting the photograph proofs in school on Monday, 25th November. We will ensure they are sent home as soon as we receive them.

 

Children in Need

Due to your generosity we have been able to raise a brilliant 180 which has already been sent off to Children in Need. Thank you.

 

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

Dear Y3 / Y4 Parent/Carer,                                                                                           

Visit to Jorvik Viking Centre

In support of the childrens topic, The Vikings, we would like to take Years 3 and 4 to the Jorvik Viking Centre in York on Monday, 10^th February 2020 to experience what life was like during Viking times.  The children will take part in a tour of the Jorvik and a Viking battle tactics workshop. 

The coach company we will be using is Beewise. The coach will leave school at 9.00am and is expected to return to school by 3:30pm. Children will need to be at school for no later than 8:45am.  If your child suffers from travel sickness we would suggest that appropriate travel sickness tablets are taken before school.

The cost will be 14.20 per pupil to include the tour, workshop and also the coach.  We must point out that if insufficient money is collected, the trip will have to be cancelled. Payment will be via Parent Pay and will need to be paid by Monday, 27th January 2020.  If you are experiencing any financial difficulties covering the cost of the trip, please contact Mrs Hurding. 

Please ensure school uniform is worn on the day with suitable footwear and an appropriate coat. A packed lunch will be required and can be provided by school for children who are entitled to Scheme of Aid.  Please let us know if your child requires a school packed lunch prior to the trip. 

Due to time constraints we will not be visiting the gift shop on the day, but if you would like your child to have a souvenir from their day at Jorvik, a Jorvik coin pack can be pre-ordered for 4.00. In the pack, your child will receive a replica Viking coin and a necklace. If you wish to purchase a souvenir coin pack, you will need to pay the 4 for this on ParentPay by Monday, 27th January 2020.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Wise and Mrs Jacques

 

Dear Parents,

One of the key ways that you can support your child’s learning is by reading regularly at home and engaging them in discussions about their reading. Reading diaries should be used to record any reading your child has done at home as this gives us a clear view of what reading they are being exposed to and also demonstrates to the children the importance of regular reading.

Book bags with reading books and reading diaries should be in school every day. Older pupils do not have a book bag but must bring in their reading diary daily.

We understand that book bags are occasionally forgotten but some children routinely do not have their reading book and diary in school. Please could you support your child to ensure that they read at home at least three times a week and that their book bag is in school.

We have a variety of high-quality texts in school that your child can borrow (if they wish to do so). Staff are more than happy to make age-appropriate  recommendations based on your childs interests. Additionally, I have  attached our 100 Books to Read Before You Leave The Ellis document, We wanted to share this with you as we are often asked by parents to recommend books that can be shared at home. We are challenging children at The Ellis to read as many of these books as possible. Children will have the opportunity to access these texts in school and teachers will use these in class to inspire our learning. Please note that this list is by no means exhaustive, reading can be personal and we encourage children to independently select books.

Our half-price book fair is on the following dates:

Friday 22^nd  November: 3:20 -4pm

Monday 25^th November: 8:20 -8:50am

Tuesday 26th November: 8:20 -8:50am

Wednesday 27^th November: 8:20 -8:50am

Thursday 28^th November: 3:20 -4pm

In addition to these times, children who would like to purchase a book can bring in money and purchase a book at break times.

Many Thanks,

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Parents, 

Please find attached the home learning sheet and topic overview for our Year 2 Topic ‘Toys’. We look forward to seeing your wonderful home learning creations.  Y2 Home Learning Ideas     Y2 Class Newsletter

Kind Regards,

Mrs C Trotter

 

Year 1 / Year 2 Christmas Book Afternoon 2.12.19

This is a lovely festive opportunity for you to come along and spend time with your child taking part in Christmas activities linked to a Christmas book.

Pop along to the school hall at 1:30pm. If you cannot attend, please don’t worry, just let us know as there will be lots of other adults and helpers around who we can ensure are able to assist your child.

Thank you,

Mrs Trotter and Mrs Broadbent  

 

Dear All Parents,

You are invited to St. Mary’s church, Wombwell, this Sunday for their monthly Breakfast and Family Service.

Breakfast is from 9.15am and the service is for all ages at 10am with Bible story, songs and crafts.

All are welcome.

Thank you

 

Dear Parents,

This morning, we received a call from one of the immunisation nurses requesting to re-instate the previously cancelled flu spray sessions.  I was informed that this was because they are now able to order further supplies of Fluenz tetra (flu sprays) which is much earlier than they anticipated.

They have thanked us for accommodating us and are very relieved that they can offer this timely vaccine to our children and have asked me to pass on their sincere apologies for any disruption caused.

They are aiming for the sessions to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible to cause minimal disruption to learning and have assured me that they have processes in place to identify any children who have since had their flu spray at a GP surgery or a clinic. 

Hayley Fiddes 

 

Dear Parents,

Please see the attached letter confirming the reasons for the postponing of our Flu vaccination session on 26th November.    

PHE letter to headteachers

Many thanks for your understanding as this is totally out of school’s control. We have been promised a new booking as soon as one becomes available to them to offer us.

Hayley Fiddes

 

Dear Parents,

Footy Stars

If your child attends Footy Stars on a Tuesday after school, Adrian has asked me to let you know it will be cancelled next week (one week only) to allow him to jet off on holiday!

Any after school clubs running on the PTFA movie nights will be UNAFFECTED.

Thank you

Hayley Fiddes

 

World Nursery Rhyme Week Nov 18th – Nov 22nd

‘If children know 8 nursery rhymes by heart by the time they are 4 years old, they are usually among the best readers and spellers in their class by the time they are 8.’ 

As the above quote highlights the importance of nursery rhymes in the Early Years we will be spending the whole week practising our nursery rhymes together.

If you would like to support your child in this activity please log on to https://www.worldnurseryrhymeweek.com/

Mrs Pollard

Foundation Stage Lead

 

Dear Parents/Carers,

Celebrate reading at our half-price book fair!

The Scholastic Half-Price Book Fair will be arriving in school soon, with hundreds of new childrens books to browse and buy, and as an added bonus, everything will be half-price. The lowest price on each book can be halved and this will be the purchase price. If you are unable to come to our book fair but would still like your child to buy a book, you are welcome to send the money into school and a staff member will help your child choose a book.

Numbers of each book are limited, however, orders can be placed and will be delivered at the end of the book fair week.

Where?

Our book fair will be held in the hall.

When?

Friday 22^nd  November: 3:20 -4pm

Monday 25^th November: 8:20 -8:50am

Tuesday 26th November: 8:20 -8:50am

Wednesday 27^th November: 8:20 -8:50am

Thursday 28^th November: 3:20 -4pm

 

The book fair will be open at break times for our KS1 & KS2 pupils.

 

Whats on offer?

Hundreds of half price books starting from 2.99 including:

Supertato: Carnival Catastro-pea by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet

The Worlds Worst Teachers by David Walliams.

Tom Gates, Mega Make and Do and Stories Too by Liz Pichon.

 

Books will be suitable from aged 2+

If you have any questions please feel free to come and see me before or after school.

We hope to see you at our book fair.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher

 

Dear Y5 Parents,

Please find an information letter attached relating to the ABYYT scheme.  ABYYT Planning

Thank you

 

Dear All Parents,

Illness

We have an unusually high number of children absent from school this week. The illness isn’t anything specific but the symptoms to look out for are a high temperature, sore throat and generally feeling lethargic and unwell. Please look after yourselves and wrap up warm.

PTFA Movie Night        Movie Night

Please see the attached poster for the PTFA movie night. Tickets will be on sale at pick up tonight, 3 to include a drink and snacks. Children are invited to come in their onesie, grab a blanket and settle down for a night at the movies with their friends. 

Anti-Bullying Week

Please wear blue to school tomorrow (Wednesday) in support of our anti-bullying week.

Children In Need

Please wear spots or pyjamas and bring 1 donation. All of the money received will be sent to Children in Need.

Snow isn’t forecast yet but it certainly seems cold enough to do so. We do encourage children to go outside in all weathers so please send them to school with appropriate footwear, hats and gloves to make their playtimes more enjoyable.

Thank you for your continued support, I will be sending out the newsletter later in the week.

Mrs Hurding

 

Due to Parent’s evening our KS2 Handball after school club will be cancelled this week.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

 

The IKIC Big Challenge Christmas Trading Event is on 14^th December from 9am 4pm.

The plan is to fill the units with tables from where young people can trade so every team will have a table. It is expected that teams will be there for the full day, and will have the opportunity to set up from 08:00am on the day. As with all events, this isnt mandatory for teams taking part in the competition, but gives them a great opportunity to experience working a day running their businesses, interacting with the public and make some sales.

If children are available on that date, they will need stock to sell for the full day. They will need to arrive by 8:30am to start selling between 9:00am-4:00pm. Transport to and from the event is NOT provided by school. A packed lunch will be required. If your child has any medical needs, they will need to bring medication from home as I will not have access to their medication from school with it being a Saturday. Myself and Mrs Edwards will be there to supervise, however if we have a lot of interest from pupils (who wish to attend the trading event) then it will be great if one parent from each team could also attend.

I would be grateful if you could let Mrs Fiddes know if your child would like to attend and whether an adult will be accompanying with their group on the day the 14^th of December. Please note there will be no power supply available at the event.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Y3 Parents,

Please find attached home learning and curriculum information for Y3.  Y3 India Home Learning  Y3 Indian Newsletter

Thank you,

Mrs Wise

 

Dear Y4 Parents,

Please find attached home learning and curriculum information for Y4. Y4 India Home Learning Letter      Y4 Topic Mind Map

Thank you

Miss Cook

 

Dear Parent/Carer,

            In keeping with our topic on India, Year 3 and 4 will be having an Indian afternoon on Monday 25^th November 2019.  We will be completing lots of creative activities and trying out a selection of typical Indian foods.  The selection will include cooking sauces, breads, starters and sides. 

All food sampled will be vegetarian, however we are aware that some children may have food allergies and would be grateful if you would make school aware of this prior to the day. 

No money or dress up is required for the day.  

Yours sincerely

Miss N Cook and Mrs Wise

Class Teachers

 

Dear Parent/Carer,

Some of you may be aware that our Y6 pupils are part of the I Know I Can Big Challenge (IKIC). This is an enterprise competition where children create and make their own products to sell.

As part of this challenge, we will be holding two pop-up shops in the Y6 classroom on the following dates:

 Friday (8^th November) at 3:25 -4pm in the Y6 classroom.

Friday 29^th November at 3:25 -4pm in the Y6 classroom.

Our pupils will be selling a wide range of items such as: Lego keyrings, coasters, woodwork items, plastic free wrapping and candles (just to name a few!).  Some of the products are bespoke and many would make great stocking fillers.

Come and show your support and grab yourselves a bargain.

We hope to see you there.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Parent/Carer,

On Friday we will be holding our first pop up shop this Friday (8^th November) at 3:25 -4pm in the Y6 classroom.

This will be a great opportunity for pupils to take orders, promote their products and start selling. Pupils will need to make sure that they have brought in any of their products and promotional materials by Friday.  I have sorted a small float out for each group.

The expectation is that children stay and put the classroom back to normal before they leave.

We will holding our next pop-up shop on Friday 29^th November.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

The Ellis CE Primary School

 

Dear Parent/Carer, Y6 Homework

I understand that there has been some confusion over the past few weeks about homework.

Please see the attached homework for the next couple of weeks.

New spellings are set up on Spelling Shed weekly (every Friday) the statutory Y5/6 spellings are always on there.

Reading Records should be in daily, we expect pupils to read at least three times per week.

Apologies for any confusion.

As always, thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Y2 Parent/Carer,

                     Your childs class has been selected to represent the school in a Key Stage 1 All Stars Cricket event at Barnsley College on Tuesday 12th November 2019.  The event will start at 1:30pm and will finish for 3:15pm.  Children should arrive back at school around 3:45pm. 

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue at 12:50pm. 

Children will travel to and from the venue via Beewise Coaches.  Unfortunately due to space constraints, parents are not allowed to attend the event. 

Your child will need to a drink of water along with their trainers and tracksuit/warm clothing as the event will be held outdoors. If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Cook

 

Bonfire Menu

Tomorrow’s menu (Tuesday 5th) is meat and potato pie, chips peas and gravy OR vegetarian burger and chips OR jacket potato.

Toffee apple crumble and custard.

Yum!

 

Dear Parents, The Ellis News 7 (November 2019)

A warm welcome back, we hope you are all ready for a busy half term ahead.

Mr Grayhurst

We are very sad to inform you that Mr Grayhurst has suffered a family bereavement over half term, his father has passed away and he is needing time to be with his family for a few weeks.

We have employed a very experienced Early Years supply, Mrs Michelle Kaskiewicz. 

We will be cancelling the Foundation 2 parents evening next week and apologise for the inconvenience, however, if you need to speak to a member of staff, Mrs Beevers (F2 Teaching Assistant), Mrs Pollard (Foundation Lead) and Mrs Hurding (Headteacher) will all be able to help.

We are delighted how well all our Foundation 2 children have settled into the routines of school.

REVIEW

On Monday, 11th November the LA (Local Authority) are coming in to review school. Mrs Linda Singleton and Mrs Jo Bentley are from the LA, Mr Jim Dugmore is a Headteacher from Sheffield and a National Leader of Education and Mrs K Falconer is the Headteacher at Jump school.  They may well come to speak to parents at the start and the end of the school day.

We are very proud of our school and all we offer our children at The Ellis.

ELECTION DAY

As a general election is to take place on the 12th DECEMBER, Nursery will be closed to be used as the local POLLING STATION.

POPPIES

Poppies and poppy related items will be on sale and taken round to each class this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoon. 

NURSERY (Foundation Stage 1) PARENT CONSULTATIONS

These will be taking place in the Headteacher’s office, not in Nursery, so please come to the main office area.

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

Dear Parents, Guinea Pig letter

Please find attached a letter which we would appreciate your feedback on. You are welcome to reply by email if that is preferable to completing the slip.

Many thanks

 

Dear Y3/4 Parent/Carer,

                     Your childs class has been selected to represent the school in a Year 3 and 4 Sportshall Athletics Competition at Kirk Balk on Wednesday 6th November 2019.  The event will start at 1:15pm and will finish for 3:00pm.  Children should arrive back at school for normal home time. 

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue just before 1pm. 

     Children will travel to and from the venue via Beewise Coaches.  Unfortunately due to space constraints, parents are not allowed to attend the event. 

Your child will need to bring suitable trainers, their PE kit, a drink of water, a bag for their belongings and suitable clothing to wear when not participating.  The event will be held indoors.  If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Cook

 

Dear All Parents,

This week’s newsletter is attached. The Ellis News 6 (October 19) 

Tidy Team Junior Environment Wardens

The Tidy Team Junior Environment Wardens is a scheme designed to encourage children aged 7-12 to engage in community environmental activities. Children will be given support to develop a sense of pride and respect promoting a positive image of children in their community. Through their participation individuals will make new friends and grow in confidence whilst learning what to do in an emergency, the importance of recycling and how to look after their environment. To find out further information please contact volunteerwithtidyteam@gmail.com or ring 01226 749119 or ask your child to pop and see Mrs Fiddes and ask for a leaflet.

 

Menu Change

On 5th November the menu will be as follows:

Pie and peas OR southern fried burger in a bread bun OR jacket potato.

Toffee apple crumble and custard. Please see the attached menu. Bonfire Menu

 

After School Clubs next half term up to Christmas

 

As usual our clubs are free of charge and run for one hour after school (3:20-4:20pm) unless otherwise stated.

Please email Mrs Fiddes to put your child’s name down.

 

Monday Sportshall Athletics for KS1 with Mr Wall.

 

Tuesday Daz’s Football continuing / Footy Stars continuing. New children are welcome to join.

 

Wednesday Handball for KS2 with Mr Wall.

 

Thursday Craft Club (Please see below).

We are pleased to offer a new KS2 after school Craft Club running from 3:20-4:20pm every Thursday. The club will run for 6 weeks from 7th November 2019 until 12th December 2019 with a maximum of 20 places available. 

The club will be organised and run by school staff with all resources being made available on the night. Children will be able to take home items they make.

The club will cost 2.50 per child per session and is paid for termly in advance. Please email Mrs Fiddes to express your childs interest and once we have an idea of numbers we will decide how to proceed with allocating spaces.

 

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

Dear Y5 Parents,

In our R.E. learning we are thinking about others and how Christians put their beliefs into practise by helping others.

I thought it would be a lovely idea to participate in the Operation Christmas Child scheme and complete two shoeboxes to send to children who are much less fortunate than us. 

If you would like your child to participate, I will put a list of items on the classroom door for you to choose from.  Alternatively, you may just wish to donate 1.00 towards the cost of postage (5.00 per box).  There is absolutely no obligation for your child to take part.

For additional information about the scheme, please visit Samaritans-purse.org.uk/occ.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

Mrs Brinkley

 

Individual School Photographs

A reminder that the photographers will be coming into school on Monday, 21st October to take the childrens individual photographs.

Brothers and sisters who attend school and either nursery session will also be photographed together for a sibling photograph and this will be organised in school.

 If you have a pre-school baby or toddler that you would like to bring for a family photograph please come to the school hall at 8.15am. You are, of course, under no obligation to purchase any of the photographs if you do not wish to do so.

Thank you,

Hayley Fiddes

 

Dear Parent/Carer,

Your child has been selected to represent the school in a Year 5/6 Football League.

Our first game is against Burton Road Primary School and will be played at Barnsley College, Honeywell Site on Monday 21^st October 2019.  The match will kick off at 2.00pm and will finish for 3.00pm.

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue at 1:30pm.

Children will travel to and from the venue via Wyatts coaches and parents are invited to spectate but must meet their child at the event.    

Your child will be given a school top to wear but will still need to bring their PE kit, suitable football boots, football socks, a drink of water and a bag for their belongings.  Your child must wear shin pads.  Games will be played on 3G astroturf so please DO NOT wear boots with metal/plastic studs rubber moulded studs and blades are fine.  If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. 

The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this event no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Cook

 

Dear All Parents, The Ellis News 5 (October 19)

Here is this week’s newsletter.

Guttering Donations

Our Foundation Stage are asking for donations of any unwanted guttering for their outside water area please.

Barnsley Home Library Service Information

Barnsley library run a home library service for members who are unable to visit their local library because of a disability or ill-health. Once a month the service can bring a range of resources straight to your door, from traditional books as well as large print and audio books. Brand new to the service is also a tablet which you can loan pre-loaded with games, magazines and audio books.

To find out more please visit www.barnsley.gov.uk/libraries or email barnsleylibraryenquiries@barnsley.gov.uk

Mrs Hurdling

Head teacher

 

Dear Parent,

                     Your child has been selected to represent the school in a non competitive inclusive boccia event at Joseph Locke Primary School on Monday, 21st October 2019.  The event will start at 1:30pm and will finish for 3:00pm.  Children should arrive back at school around 3:30pm. 

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue at 12:50pm.

 Children will travel to and from the venue via Beewise Coaches.  Unfortunately due to space constraints, parents are not allowed to attend the event. 

Your child will be given a sports top but will still need to bring suitable trainers, their PE kit, a drink of water, a bag for their belongings and suitable clothing to wear when not participating.  The event will be held indoors.  If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Cook

 

Dear All Parents, Harvest Parent Letter

Please see attached a letter regarding our Harvest Appeal and how Barnsley foodbank Partnership has contributed by feeding local people who find themselves in crisis. 

If you would like to donate to our Harvest collection, however small, the Barnsley Foodbank Partnership really appreciate your generosity and have even kindly arranged to pick up any donations we receive in school. 

We have been notified today by the foodbank that they are desperately in need of uht milk, the following tinned items: potatoes /fish / spaghetti / tomatoes / and also oxos.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you either at the Foundation Stage Harvest coffee morning on Tuesday at 9:15am or the Harvest in the hall at 2:15pm on Wednesday.

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

 

Dear Parents, 

We are delighted to say that Mrs Jaques will be taking Miss Cook’s maternity cover.

Mrs Jaques is an experienced teacher who has recently been at The Ellis on supply and she is really looking forward to joining our team.    

We will ensure that Mrs Jaques has opportunity to work alongside Miss Cook and meet all the class before Miss Cook leaves us.

Thank you for your support

Mrs Hurding

 

Dear Y3/4 Parents and Carers,

Next half term we are going to be creating art out of recycled items as part of our India topic.

Our focus artist will be Nek Chand.

Please could you collect and donate any unwanted metal household items, these could be bottle tops, old keys, unwanted cutlery, nuts and bolts, springs or other similar items. We will also be needing newspapers and magazines that can be recycled to make beautiful items of art.

We can’t wait to see the beautiful creations your children creates out of unwanted items!

Thank you for your continued support.

The Y3 and Y4 Teams

 

Dear Parents,

We would like to provide the parents of children attending Young Voices this year a website and login code so that they can access the song lyrics, dance videos and Spotify playlist. This will enable your children to access everything at home. A quick reminder that all orders for t-shirts, DVDs and tickets must be in by Friday 19th October as the final order will then be sent off.

www.youngvoices.co.uk/childrens-music-room

Code.  YV2020

Thank you
Mrs C Trotter

 

Dear Parents, 

We are delighted to say that Mrs Jaques will be taking Miss Cook’s maternity cover.

Mrs Jaques is an experienced teacher who has been recently covering at The Ellis on supply.  

 We will ensure that Mrs Jaques has opportunity to work alongside Miss Cook and meet all the class before Miss Cook leaves us.

Thank you for your support

Mrs Hurding

 

Dear All Parents, The Ellis News 4 (October 19)

WANTED – READING VOLUNTEERS

We are always trying to increase opportunities for our children to have time to read.  At the Ellis we have several committed adults that come in every week to hear children read. If you know of anyone, or if you have a spare few hours, please pop in and we can explain the application process.   

 

WELLBEING WEDNESDAY – The Ellis Garden

We would like to continue to develop our garden as a learning opportunity and for the children to use it more.

We already have fantastic volunteers and Mr Tucker, our caretaker, who maintain the garden.

If anyone can commit to supporting us to set up a regular gardening club on a Wednesday afternoon we would be delighted to hear from you.

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

Girls Football Event

A quick email to say that the venue has been changed from Holy Trinity and will now be at Shoot 5, the indoor soccer centre at Silkstone Common.

I hope this is still ok for those of you who have said they can do lifts – please let me know if this is now inconvenient.

Many thanks,

Hayley Fiddes

 

Dear Foundation Stage,

We will be holding a Harvest coffee morning on Tuesday, 15th October, 9:15-10:30am to which all family members are invited.

If you would like to attend please make your way into the school hall via the main school entrance after you have dropped your child off in class. Doors will open at approximately 9am. Tea, coffee and cakes will be on sale along with gifts that your child has made in  their class. Raffle tickets will also be on sale.

Our book swap will be available. Please bring a book from home that your child no longer reads to swap with another free of charge. 

The children will be brought into the hall by staff at approximately 9:30am to sing some songs on stage. You will be able to video and take photographs of your child but please remember not to upload any to social media if they contain images of other children.

Nursery children can be picked up from outside nursery after the event if parents wish, however, nursery is still open as usual.

F2 children will remain in school for the remainder of the day.

All proceeds from this coffee morning will be spent purchasing new equipment to enhance our outdoor learning environment.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher.

We look forward to seeing you there,

Foundation Stage Team

 

Dear All Parents, The Ellis News 3 (September 19)

Please find our latest newsletter attached.

Individual School Photographs

Photographers will be coming into school on Monday, 21st October to take the childrens individual photographs.

Brothers and sisters who attend school and either nursery session will also be photographed together for a sibling photograph and this will be organised in school.

 If you have a pre-school baby or toddler that you would like to bring for a family photograph please come to the school hall at 8.15am. You are, of course, under no obligation to purchase any of the photographs if you do not wish to do so.

 Harvest Festival  16.10.19

This is for Years 1-6 only. Foundation Stage will be holding their own Harvest Festival Coffee Morning, the day before on the 15th October. 

It would be fantastic if you could bring your donations of tinned, dried or packet food / items on the day of your Harvest please.

Please note, on the list of important dates the Easter service in April 2020 is also only for Y1-Y6 children. Again, foundation stage hold their own Easter coffee morning.

School Uniform

We have a parent who is missing both of their child’s cardigans in Foundation Stage. Please check your child’s clothing and return any if they have been picked up in error. Thank you.

Request for watches or clocks

We would appreciate unused donations of clocks and watches ( working or not) please to use in nursery.

Illegal Parking

Wereceived photopraphic evidence last week of a royal blue Volkswagon car parked illegally on the yellow zig zags. We will be taking matters further with vehicles if they continue to park irresponsibly.  

ParentPay

Please ensure you keep your ParentPay accounts topped up. Mrs Fiddes will be looking at any amounts outstanding and asking for payment to clear them. This is to protect you from debts accruing too high.

Let’s hope this gloomy weather improves for the weekend,

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

Good morning,

I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who came to our Reading Breakfast on Friday morning.

It was wonderful to see children enjoying reading with their loved ones. We hope that you enjoyed the event as much as we did.

Thank you for all of your support encouraging reading at home, it really does make a difference.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Y5/6 Parent/Carer,

                     Your child has been selected to represent the school in a Year 5/6 Boys Football Competition event at Dorothy Hyman on Friday 4^th October 2019.  The event will start at 1:30pm and will finish for 3:30pm.

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue at 12:45pm.

    Children will travel to and from the venue via Beewise Coaches.  Parents are invited to spectate but must meet their child at the event.    

Children will be given a school top but will need to bring shorts, suitable football boots, football socks, a drink of water and a bag for their belongings. Your child must wear shin pads.  Games will be played on 3G astroturf so please DO NOT wear boots with metal/plastic studs rubber moulded studs and blades are fine.  If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. Please indicate this on the slip below. The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Cook

 

Dear Y2 Parent/Carer,

                     Your childs class has been selected to represent the school in a KS1 Multi Skills Competition at Athersley South on Monday 7th October 2019.  The event will start at 1:15pm and will finish for 3:00pm.  Children should arrive back at school around 3:30pm. 

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue at 12:45pm.

     Children will travel to and from the venue via Beewise Coaches.  Unfortunately due to space constraints, parents are not allowed to attend the event. 

Your child will need to bring suitable trainers, their PE kit, a drink of water, a bag for their belongings and suitable clothing to wear when not participating.  The event will be held indoors.  If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Cook

 

Dear Y5/6 Parent/Carer,

                     Your child has been selected to represent the school in a Year 5/6 Girls Football Competition event at Holy Trinity, Calton on Tuesday 8^th October 2019.  The event will start at 1:00pm and will finish for 3:30pm.

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue at 12:30pm.

     We would be very grateful if parents would drive their children to the events. Children will be able to travel straight home with parents after the game and therefore will not need to return to school. Please let us know if you are unable to take your child to the game and whether you are happy for your child to travel with another parent and their child.

Children will be given a school top but will need to bring shorts, suitable football boots, football socks, a drink of water and a bag for their belongings.  Your child must wear shin pads.  Games will be played on 3G astroturf so please DO NOT wear boots with metal/plastic studs rubber moulded studs and blades are fine.  If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. Please indicate this on the slip below. The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Cook

 

Dear Y3/4 Parent/Carer,

                     Your childs class has been selected to represent the school in a Year 3 and 4 Multi Skills Competition at Barnsley College Sports Academy, (Honeywell Site) on Thursday 3rd October 2019.  The event will start at 1:30pm and will finish for 3:00pm.  Children should arrive back at school around 3:30pm. 

Your child will have their lunch before leaving for the venue at 12:45pm.

      Children will travel to and from the venue via Beewise Coaches.  Unfortunately due to space constraints, parents are not allowed to attend the event. 

Your child will need to bring suitable trainers, their PE kit, a drink of water, a bag for their belongings and suitable clothing to wear when not participating.  The event will be held indoors.  If your child requires an inhaler they will need to bring this along with them. The cost of the trip will be funded using the Sports Premium Grant and therefore your child requires no money for the event.

As we are able to use the annual extra-curricular consent form for this type of trip no additional consent is required.

If you have any questions or queries please contact me at school.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Cook

 

Dear All Parents,

Please will you save any plastic milk carton lids (any colour) for us to use in nursery.

Also, if anyone buys coffee in a tin (e.g. the azera tins) we would really appreciate both the tin and the plastic lid.

Thank you  

Nursery Staff

 

Dear Y2 Parents,

Firstly, as part of our science topic and learning about health and growth, we would like to take the Y2 children on a walk to Morrisons, Corton Wood to look round the store. This is a free visit and a store member who works as the Schools Champion will show us round the different sections. The children will have the chance to visit each department; finding out about the foods available, how it is stored and a chance to ask questions. They will then go upstairs and complete an activity before coming back to school.

The trip will take place on the morning of Friday 4th Oct and children will be back in time for lunch. We will be using the annual consent form so no further consent will be needed for this trip. Staff accompanying the children will be Mrs Trotter, Mrs Freeman, Miss Beresford and Mrs King.

 Secondly, we have been reading the book ‘The Jolly Postman’ as part of our literacy work and using maps and geographical language to describe his route. The children were very interested about what happens to a letter when we post it in a post box, so we have also looked at the journey of a letter. Following on from this, the children have addressed their own envelopes and are going to post them at Morrisons to see how long they take to arrive at their house. As part of your home learning this week, please could you take your child  to a post office or a shop to buy a First Class stamp and bring it into school by Wednesday 2nd October so that they can put it onto their envelope. When they receive their letter, there will be a quick sheet to fill in and then please could these be returned to school. Let’s hope they all arrive!

Finally, at tonight’s curriculum meeting we are handing out a pack with lots of information in it. There is a login slip for both TT Rock Stars and Spelling Shed. Today there has been a problem with the Y2 logins and a few names are not yet showing the list of spellings. We have emailed the company asking for them to look into it and sort it out for us, so please check back over the next two days and the spelling lists should become available. We apologise about this. We have put a paper copy of the spellings into your child’s book bag today so at least they can start practising them!

Thank you for your ongoing support and help.
Kind Regards

 

Dear Y6 Parent/Carer,

Today your child will be bringing home a letter containing details about the Wath Academy Open Evening.

Please keep a look out for it.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear All Parents, The Ellis News 2 (September 19)

We are very proud of our work in school over the last few years around learning behaviours. 

We explain to the children that all of these behaviours help us to learn and also to ‘be the best we can be’. 

All of the learning behaviours are important, however each week we focus on a different one in school from Y1 to Y6. 

As a September reminder to all, this week is ‘Push yourself’ and next week will be ‘Understand and help others’.

Diary Dates Important Dates 2019-2020

We have attached our list of important dates for 2019/20. This list is not exhaustive and new trips and events will inevitably crop up but we hope having some advance notice will be useful.

Returning to school after an illness When can my child return to school information

It can be very confusing for both parents and school deciding when to allow a child to return to school after an illness. Making the right decisions will help reduce the spread of common childhood illnesses, we have therefore attached a handy guide based on health protection guidance from Public Health England (August 2019) which we hope you will find informative.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher 

 

Dear F2 Parents,

A letter has been sent home about the trial reception baseline assessment that is going to be carried out over the next few weeks.

The video link below can help provide information to help parents understand what the assessment is, how it will be carried out and why it is being introduced.

information video for parents
Thank you

Hayley Fiddes

 

Dear Y3 Parents,

As part of our Roman topic and DT learning we would like to give the children the opportunity to design and make Roman shields. In order to be able to do this we need to collect some large pieces of cardboard.

Please could you send your child a piece of large card (cardboard boxes are a great source, but this does need to be larger than a cereal box). 

Many thanks,

Mrs Wise

 

Dear Y6 Parent/Carer,

Today your child will be bringing home a letter containing details about the Kirk Balk Open Evening.

Please keep a look out for it.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Y6 Parents/Carers,

Your child may have already mentioned that as part of their learning we will be taking part in the Barnsley IKIC (I Know I Can) Big Challenge for the next couple of terms. This is an enterprise based learning opportunity where the children create and run a business in small groups or independently. There are several prizes and awards on offer from IKIC to recognise the hard work of the children; in the past the overall competition winner had an all expenses day out in Manchester at SnoZone and iFly!

Yesterday, Mr Parker came and introduced the project to the children and they began to consider potential business ideas. The children have some great ideas and cannot wait to get started. We will be officially starting the Big Challenge next week.

The children can choose to run their business outside of school if they wish, however, there will be selling opportunities in school and as part of the IKIC project during the school day, so this is not a requirement of the project. Your child does not have to take part in these if they do not wish to.

The Barnsley Market Trading day for the Autumn term is Saturday 14^th December. I will be in touch nearer the time with more details, please note that children do need to be accompanied by an adult.

We will have an IKIC pop-up shop (in the Y6 classroom) 3:20-4:20pm on the following dates:

Friday 8^th November

Friday 29^th November

There will also be more selling opportunities during the Spring term.

We will run our project workshops every Thursday afternoon – so if your child has chosen an item that can be made here- please make sure the equipment needed is in school on that day. If your child cannot make their item here, this time will be used for marketing and promotion.

The products the children make have to be in line with trading standards – as they could be sold to members of the general public- so there are restrictions on what can be made, for example:

No childrens toys, no slime and no food. Candles must come with a warning and any products such as bath bombs must come with an ingredients list.

To get the businesses started, school will provide a start-up loan of 20 for each team.  School can order resources or alternatively if teams would like to purchase the materials themselves, then it is important that receipts/invoices are kept and brought into school. Any money made must also be accounted for, and brought into school. Your child will need to keep a record of what has been spent so that it can be paid back from any earnings. One of the key aims of the project is to help children handle real life situations and problem solving such as budgeting and making decisions around money.

Mrs Edwards has had some very successful teams in the past where pupils have raised a significant amount of money for the class to spend on making some amazing end of Y6 memories.

If, at any time during the project, you have any questions please dont hesitate to pop in and see me or email school.

Kind Regards,

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear FS (Foundation Stage) Parents,

I will be running a free workshop for all parents/carers and grandparents of children within our Foundation Stage (F1 and F2).

The workshop will focus on What to expect, when? and will offer you a valuable insight into how to support your childs learning and development while they are in the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will take place on Thursday 26^th September at 4.30pm and will be repeated again at 9.15am on Friday 27^th September. The workshop will last for approximately half an hour.

Refreshments will be available free of charge.

If you would like to attend please either email Mrs Fiddes to confirm which session you would like to come to or return the form back to your class teacher.

Unfortunately children are unable to attend this event.

I look forward to seeing you all there.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs. T. Pollard

 

Dear All Parents,

TIK TOK

E – Safety – PLEASE READ
It has been bought to our attention that some of our children our using TIK TOK even though the age restriction is 13.

If an app requires a date of birth, chances are it is not suitable for Primary school children.
The main concern is how public the videos are that are shared and that anyone can see them.
We understand how tricky it can be to police current technology, especially if your children have their own phones, but please take the time to check that the apps your children are using are age appropriate and also check the PRIVACY settings on all the apps.
We strongly recommend that children do not have phones in their bedrooms at night as this impacts on sleep and learning as well as well-being and if you have any concerns about the apps your children are using or privacy settings, please come and talk to us.

I have attached some further information.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

Dear All Parents,

Our PTFA will be holding their next meeting on Thursday 3rd October, straight after school in the library if anyone would like to attend.

We look forward to seeing you there,

The Ellis PTFA

 

Dear All Parents, The Ellis News 1 (September 19)

Please find attached our first newsletter for this term. Keep a look out for our longer list of important dates which we will be sending out this week.

Beat the Street

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Beat The Street Competition 2019.

We achieved third place on the Leader Board and second place on the Average Points for South Barnsley Schools and will therefore receive 150 in Decathlon vouchers! We are delighted!

Mrs Hurding

Headteacher

 

 

Dear Parent/Carer,

Today your child will be bringing home information about the following:

 

Saint Pius X Catholic High School

Open Evening 24^th September 5:30 -7:30pm

 

Netherwood Academy  

Open morning  Thursday 19^th September 8:45am 10:30am

Open evening  Thursday 19^th September 6pm-8pm

 

Kirk Balk

A representative will be coming into School on Thursday 19^th September (PM) to talk to our Y6 pupils about Kirk Balk and hand out flyers.

 

We have not yet had any correspondence from any other Secondary Schools. As soon as we receive any information we will pass it on.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Y6 TRIP TO GRIMM & CO 5^TH NOVEMBER 2019

Dear Y6 Parent/Carer,

On Tuesday 5^th November, we will be taking our Year 6 children on a trip to Grimm & Co in Rotherham where the children will enter through the secret door and experience the thrill of letting their imaginations go wild, and leave as published authors of their own story book from Grimms Story Shop. If the mysterious Graham or Grizelda Grimm like their story they might even let them go down the curly beanstalk as a special reward.

We will then be spending the afternoon at the newly refurbished Rotherham Central Library, here we will have our packed lunches followed by a short introduction to the library and an activity linked to library skills. There is also an opportunity to browse the books and relax in the welcoming surroundings. We will arrive back at school for the usual pickup time.

We will be using Beewise coaches and will be leaving school at 9am prompt. Children will need to be in their school uniform and will also need a packed lunch. If you would like to order a school packed lunch, please order this at the office prior to the trip.  As Grimm & Co are a charity, they have a policy of not charging the children or their families directly for their workshops, therefore, our fantastic PTFA have very kindly offered to fund this.  The only payment we will require is for transportation, the coach cost for this trip is 6.20 and can be paid using Parent Pay.  Please could you also sign the consent form on Parent Pay.

Children can bring spending money up to the value of 5.

 If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Y5 Parents, Y5 Home Learning Ideas

Welcome back after the summer, I hope you had an enjoyable one.

Below is some information you may find useful.

Reading

We ask that reading diaries are in your childs book bag every day so that we can fill them in when they have taken part in reading in school. If reading diaries are filled then we will send home a second diary free of charge, however if it is lost then we ask that a new one is bought from the office at the cost of 1. Your child is welcome to change their book any day of the week when they have completed it but it is their responsibility to ensure books are changed regularly.   Children should aim to read at home at least 3 times per week and dojos will be awarded for reading. 

Spelling books

The children are once again receiving spelling books.  They will write in their new spellings on a Wednesday and bring their book home to practise.  Please support your child in learning their spellings as they will be regularly assessed.  Their spelling books need to be in school every Wednesday.

PE

Your childs PE days are now Thursdays and Friday (due to swimming), however once swimming is finished they will be on Monday and Thursday. Throughout the term, this is subject to change so it would be useful for your child to have their PE kits in school all week. I will remind them to bring them home for washing on a Friday.

Home Learning

I have attached a sheet of a few ideas linked to our topic but feel free to create your own home learning ideas! We are always impressed by your amazing creations! Please send any completed projects into school so we can share the learning as a class.

TT Rockstars and Spelling Shed

Children are encouraged to regularly practise spellings, time tables.  As a school we have subscribed to websites to support the children with their learning in these areas.  The children have been given their individual logins for TT Rockstars and Spelling Shed.

The Sensational Seahorses on Twitter @EllisYearFive. We will regularly use Twitter to share learning and celebrate achievements. We will also use it to give you information and reminders. Whole school reminders can be found on @theellisprimary.

As always, if you have any questions, please dont hesitate to pop in and see me.

Thank you for your continued support,

Kind Regards,

Mrs E & The Y5 team

 

Lego Club

As we still have places available at our lego club we are now opening it up to Years 2 and 3, as well as the original Years 4-6.

The club will run for 7 weeks, from 12th September (tomorrow), until 24th October, 3:20-4:20pm and costs 2.50 per week.

The total cost of 17.50 will need to be paid upfront, via ParentPay.

If your child would like a place please email me and I will place them onto ParentPay straightaway allowing them to start tomorrow. The children who have already received a place are on the system now.

Thank you

Hayley Fiddes

 

Dear Y3 Parents and Carers, Romans Y3 home learning 

We are very excited to welcome you and your children to Y3. The children are settling in beautifully and working really hard. They truly are Key Stage 2 ready!

I am sending the overview of this half terms learning and some brief information and reminders.

Below is some further information regarding home learning for your children in Y3.

• Home learning projects (suggestions for our Romans topic attached previously). We love to see the creative and amazing learning our children do at home!
• Reading- Please read regularly with your child and record in their reading diary. Reading folders need to be in school everyday. We have a reading volunteer who comes on Fridays so it will be especially important that your child brings their book bag on those days.
• Spellings- Your child will have a new spelling list uploaded to Spelling Shed each week. These need to be practiced regularly. Spelling Shed login and password reminders will be sent home ASAP.
• Times tables- Times tables are a key mathematical skill. Your child needs to be practicing them regularly. Please give them opportunities to access TTRockstars (again login reminders will be given ASAP). Your child will also be given a times table booklet to bring home.

You can find the Wonderful Whales on Twitter @TheEllisY3. We use Twitter to share the learning we are doing at school, celebrate achievements and give information.

The Y3 and Y4 Curriculum Evening will be at 4pm on the 25th of September. This will be an opportunity to find out about the Y3 curriculum and how your child will be learning this year. We look forward to seeing you there.

As ever, if you have any questions or concerns please come and speak to a member of staff. 

Many thanks,

The Y3 Team

Mrs Wise, Miss Turton and Mrs Connelly 

 

Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope that you have all had a lovely summer.

Here is some updated information about life in Year Six.

PE: Our PE days are Wednesdays and Fridays.

Trips and important dates (so far):
Curriculum Evening: Wednesday 25^th September at 4:30pm in the Y6 classroom.

Crucial Crew: Tuesday 22^nd October

Our Class Assembly: Wednesday 23^rd October 2:50pm

Grimm & Co : Tuesday 5^th November

(more information to follow via email)

Parents Evening: 13^th November 2:30pm onwards.

Home Learning Expectations:

In response to feedback and in order to prepare the children for the future, pupils will be issued homework every Friday and will need to bring it back to school on the following Friday. This will give them a full week to complete their homework giving them plenty of time for out of school sporting and enrichment activities (which as a school we are passionate about encouraging). During the week if the children have any issues or questions they also have plenty of time to come and ask for any support that they may need.

Children will be given weekly spellings via Spelling Shed (if you do require a paper copy, please do let me know) Spelling Records will be issued, children can use these to practise their spellings. I will also record the childs spelling score in them.

Children will also receive  a CGP Maths book and a CGP reading bundle (fiction, non-fiction and poetry). I will explain to the children which pages to do at home (children will only be expected to do a couple of pages from the Maths book and a couple of pages from one of the three reading books). These books must be returned to school every Friday, I have explained to the class that it is their responsibility to remember to bring in their homework.   This should promote the childrens independence and improve their organisation skills (ready for secondary but were not wanting to think about that just yet). School have purchased the books, however if the children misplace their books, there will be a charge of 2 for the Maths book and 1.85 for each of the Reading books.

We expect children to read at least three times per week, children need to bring their reading records to school every day. I have plenty of books that the children can borrow.

Home learning projects: Just like previous years, we would love to see your childs home learning projects. Our topic this term is Time Machine (Through the Decades), we will be looking at social history from 1950s- 1990s. Children can present their work in any way that they like, last year we had some amazing projects and we cannot wait to see what the children create this year.

Secondary School Applications

Please look out for the secondary school application pack which will be sent home with your child today. The deadline for the application is 31^st October 2019.

 Consent forms

Consent forms for walking home unaccompanied will also be sent home today.

SATS: 

SATS week will be 11^th 15^th May.  After school boosters will begin after Christmas.

IKIC:

Y6 will be part of the I Know I Can enterprise challenge this year, more information to follow.

Im really looking forward to another year with a fantastic class, we will make this year one to remember.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss A Saunders

Class Teacher/English Lead

 

Dear Y4 Parents, Romans Y4 home learning Y4 Topic Mind Map

It has been lovely to welcome all the children into Year 4.  I hope you have all had a lovely summer. They have shown how much they have matured over the summer and are definitely ready for the challenge of Year 4!  In class will be myself, Mrs Law and Mrs McAleavy.  Mrs Beever will cover PPA time on Tuesday afternoons.

Here is a little updated information.

Reading Books

Your child will have already brought home a reading book to share with you at home. Please record in their reading diary when they have read to an adult or maybe an older sibling. We ask that reading diaries are in your childs book bag every day so that we can fill them in when they have taken part in reading in school. If reading diaries are filled then we will send home a second diary free of charge, however if it is lost then we ask that a new one is bought from the office at the cost of 1. Your child is welcome to change their book any day of the week when they have completed it but it is their responsibility to ensure books are changed regularly.   Children should aim to read at home at least 3 times per week and dojos will be awarded for reading. 

PE

Your childs PE days are now Tuesdays and Thursdays, however this sometimes changes and is therefore advisable for your child to have their PE kits in school all week.

Spelling books

The children are once again receiving spelling books.  They will write in their new spellings on a Monday and bring their book home to practise.  Please support your child in learning their spellings as they will be regularly assessed.  Their spelling books need to be in school every Monday.

Home Learning

Each half term, children are expected to complete a home learning project linked to our topic.  I have attached a sheet of a few ideas linked to our topic but feel free to create your own ideas! We are always intrigued to see what our superstars have been up to! Once they have completed their project or projects (as some children prefer to do a few shorter projects, whilst others like to complete one long one), please send them into school so we can share their learning with the class. (Photos or PowerPoints can be emailed to Mrs Fiddes and will be passed onto Year 4 staff to share). Please encourage your child to take pride in their home learning and aim for a quality piece that may have taken a few sessions to complete.

Online learning

Children are encouraged to be regularly practising spellings, time tables and areas of the curriculum online.  As a school we have subscribed to websites to support the children with their learning.  The children will be given their individual logins for TT Rockstars and Spelling Shed. Please support your child with their learning on these platforms.  If logins have been misplaced I can issue new ones. 

Topmarks maths is also a fantastic website for the children to be practising all areas of the maths curriculum using interactive games.    Children in Year 4 will be the first year group to sit the multiplication test at the end of the year so practising these regularly is vital. 

You can find the Joyful Jellyfish on Twitter @y4theellis. We use Twitter to share the learning we are doing in school, to celebrate achievements and also to give information.

The Y3 and Y4 Curriculum Evening will be at 4pm on the 25th of September. This will be an opportunity to find out about the Y4 curriculum and how your child will be learning this year. We look forward to seeing you there.

Finally, as always, if you have any questions, please dont hesitate to pop in and see me. I am more than happy to explain things further.

Thank you for your continued support,

Kind Regards,

The Y4 team

Miss Cook, Mrs McAleavy and Mrs Law

 

Dear Y2 Parents,

It has been lovely to meet all the children in Year 2 last week. They have settled in beautifully and are already working extremely hard! Here is a little information with regards home learning in Year 2. Please could you ensure your child has their book bag in school every day so that we can see reading diaries and put things inside. 

Reading Books

Please could you record in their reading diary when they have read to an adult, to themselves or maybe an older sibling. This can include reading books from home, magazines / comics or ebooks. We ask that reading diaries are in your childs book bag every day. If reading diaries are filled then we will send home a second diary free of charge, however if it is lost then we ask that a new one is bought from the office at the cost of 1. Your child is welcome to change their book any day of the week when they have completed it.

Home Learning

We will send home a Home Learning sheet each half term so that you know what our topic is. There will be ideas on the sheet for home learning projects, but feel free to create your own ideas! We are always intrigued to see what our superstars have been up to!

Weekly Challenge 10

Starting this week your child will bring home an exercise book every Wednesday with a Challenge 10 maths activity in it. The Challenge 10 questions are really important as they help children become much faster and more confident with the arithmetic questions and mental recall of number facts. To begin with your child may be slower at answering these 10 questions, but we hope as the weeks go by, they become much quicker with them and begin to recall the facts from memory rather than having to work each one out using apparatus or counting on! We do repeat facts (eg; times tables, divisions and fractions) so that they can build up speed when answering them. Children in previous years have always enjoyed completing the Challenge 10 and it has certainly had a positive impact on their maths in school. Please could the exercise books be returned by the following Monday.

Spelling Shed

We are going to be using Spelling Shed to set spellings for the children to practise. Spellings need regular practise to ensure children are confident using them in their writing, so please encourage your children to use Spelling Shed regularly. (If you do not have access to the internet, please let us know and we can sort paper based copies). Logins will be sent ASAP.

TT Rock Stars

This is another internet based programme we have access to which allows them to practise times tables in a fun way. Again, we will introduce the children to it over the coming weeks and will let you know when they can start using it. We will be having TT Rock Star assemblies in school and will be setting the children challenges over the coming year. Logins will be sent ASAP.

Twitter

You can find the Clever Clownfish on Twitter @TheEllisY2. We use Twitter to share the learning we are doing at school, celebrate achievements and give information.

Trips and Important Dates

We will send out information regarding dates and trips shortly, however please note that this half term we have our Y1 and Y2 Curriculum Evening at 3.30pm on the 25th of September. This will be an opportunity to find out about the Y2 curriculum and how your child will be learning this year. We look forward to seeing you there. We are also arranging a free trip to Morrisons, Cortonwood for the Y2 children to support our science topic. Details will be sent out shortly.

Whirlow Farm

A quick reminder that the initial deposit of 10 to secure your childs place was due on 17^th July 2019, therefore if you have not paid this yet, we kindly ask that you do. The next payment of 28 is due by 27^th September 2019. 

Finally, as always, if you have any questions, please dont hesitate to pop in and see one of us. We are more than happy to explain things further.

Kind Regards

Miss Beresford, Mrs Trotter and Mrs Freeman

 

 Attendance and Punctuality

Dear Parents and Carers,

These are the procedures in place to deal with attendance and punctuality.

Punctuality

In the morning doors open at 8.55am to enable children to get to their classrooms ready for a 9.00 am start.

Doors will close at 9.00 am and anyone arriving after this time must come in to school through the main entrance. The reason for the late arrival at school will be entered into the electronic registration system which the Education Welfare Officer sees at regular intervals throughout the year.

If your child is late 3 times in a half term you will receive a phone call from Mrs Gay. If your child is late more than 3 times then you will be invited to work with Mrs Gay to find a solution to enable your child to arrive at school on time.

School finishes at 3.20 pm. Parents should ensure that they are at school at 3.20 pm to collect their children. If parents are not able to collect their children at 3.20 pm then alternative arrangements must be made by the parents so that the children are picked up on time.

Please ensure that school are aware who will be collecting your children from school.

Parents are also asked that they ensure that their children are picked up on time from their after school activities.

In the interest of safeguarding your children, written consent is required if you are allowing your child to walk home unsupervised. A form will be sent out for you to sign at the start of each academic year. (Years 4, 5 and 6 only).

We accept that there are odd occasions when parents will be unavoidably delayed in picking up their children. If this happens you must telephone the school office as soon as you are aware that you will be delayed so that arrangements can be made to keep your child at school until you arrive. As pupils are of primary school age it is the parents/carers responsibility to ensure that their children arrive at and are collected from school on time.

If your child is ill the school should be contacted as soon as possible, preferably on the first day of absence, to give the reason for your childs absence and a possible return to school date.

If school have not received a phone call to give a reason for the absence by 10.15 am, you will be contacted by the Attendance Officer

Medical/Dental Appointments

Wherever possible, medical/dental appointments must be made out of school hours.

It is important that children are present at registration to get their attendance mark.  If your child arrives at school after 9.15am following a doctor or dental appointment they are marked in the register as out for the whole morning.  

Please note. Children should be collected and returned to school by a parent/carer.  This is for safeguarding and health and safety reasons.  A telephone call, email or note should be sent in to school to inform the teacher that a child is to be collected for an appointment.

Absence from School

From September the 1^st 2013 the DfES Statutory requirements states that parents do not have the right to take their child out of school for holidays during term time.  Amendments to the Education(Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 make clear that headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. If you wish to take your child out of school under these circumstances the Leave of Absence in Term Time due to Exceptional circumstances form should be collected from Mrs Gay, completed and handed in to the office.

 Attendance and punctuality will be taken into account prior to a decision being made with regards to exceptional circumstances.

Please note that attendance and punctuality are monitored rigorously both by school and the Education Welfare Service.  When a childs attendance level drops below 96.7% parents will receive a phone call and may be asked for evidence of a doctors appointment regarding any further absences.  Mrs Gay will work with parents to improve attendance as

poor attendance at school can result in fines for the parents.

 If your childs attendance drops below 90% it is classed as persistent absence and a letter will be sent home.

From September 2019 there is a revised code of conduct for issuing penalty notices please read the following:

Revised Code of Conduct for the issuing of Penalty Notices to parents for unauthorised pupil absence or leave of absence from school September 2019.

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC) has now received Council Cabinet approval for changes to the Code of Conduct regarding the issuing of Penalty Notices which are to be implemented from the 2^nd September 2019. (see appendix 1). The proposed changes to the Code of Conduct were circulated to Schools, Academies, Governing Bodies, Chief Executives of Academy Trusts and the Chief of Police for Barnsley as part of the consultation period which commenced on the 18^th January 2019 and concluded on the 15^th February 2019.

The changes to the Code of Conduct are:

The removal of the following criteria which Headteachers were required to consider under the current Code of Conduct when assessing the merits of a leave of absence request during term time: 

• previous periods of leave of absence
• leave of absences taken in the first term
• exams and assessments
• employers letter(s)
• removal of school attendance target

Under the new Code, Penalty Notices can be issued if any of following three conditions applies:

• A pupil has accrued five or more consecutive days of unauthorised leave of absence (holiday in term time)
• If due to sporadic unauthorised absences, then, other than in specific circumstances, the liable parent/carer will receive a formal warning of the possibility of a Penalty Notice being issued and given a maximum of 15 school days to effect an improvement. If there are further absences within the 15 day monitoring period then a Penalty Notice may be issued
• An excluded pupil present in a public place without justification, during the school hours of the school day where the pupil is on roll, during the first five days of each fixed period or permanent exclusion

Legal Context

 The Education Welfare Service issues Penalty Notices on behalf of all schools and academies across Barnsley as part of the Councils statutory duties. Penalty Notices are issued by the Local Authority at the request of Headteachers (or designated Deputy).  Prior to any request, the school must ensure that they can evidence that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the parent/carer has committed an offence under Section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996.  The offence relates to the unauthorised absence during the period in question and not the non-payment of the fine, therefore, schools must consider each case on its own merits to ensure it passes the evidential test.

 Section 444(1) Offence: failure to secure regular attendance at school of registered pupil.

(1)If a child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at the school, his parent is guilty of an offence

Impact on Attendance

 The changes will provide clarity across the system which has been lacking since the Supreme Court hearing in April 2017 and the continued delay in the issuing of revised guidance from the DfE. The proposal will ensure that Barnsley is aligned with other Local Authorities across the country that have amended their respective Codes.  The proposal will further promote to families the importance of consistent attendance and this will support the ongoing efforts of schools and the Council in raising awareness of children, young people and families of the impact that attendance has on their education and longer term outcomes.  The proposal is part of a strategy across the Council and the Barnsley Alliance to improve attendance.

Please remember all holidays in term time are classed as unauthorised absences unless there are exceptional circumstances that have been discussed with school, and failure to inform school of a reason for any absence is also classed as an unauthorised absence.

Attendance statistics are collected regularly throughout the y