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Headteacher Newsletter - Friday 9th July 2021
And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Zechariah 8:5
Contents
1. Class updates;
2. Weekly Tweets...;
3. PEW news;
4. Parking Outside School;
5. Crawford's Workforce Summer Days;
6. Arbor accounts;
7. Lunchtime menus from September;
8. Summer holiday Free School Meals;
9. Term-dates Reminder;
10. Free family cycling sessions - information from SCC;
11. Suffolk SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service) - information;
12. School Nursing Update;
13. Suffolk Libraries launches Summer Reading Challenge and appeals for volunteers;
14. Step 4 of the Roadmap;
15. Free Solihull parenting programme - new module;
16. PACT - local support for families;
17. Museum of East Anglian Life - ‘Thrills and Grills’ Summer programme;
18. Raring2Go;
19. Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) Response to Parent/Carer Feedback;
20. Dates for the rest of term;
21. Safeguarding & Wellbeing.
1. Class Updates...
This week, Class 2 children have been busy thinking about their transition to the next year. They enjoyed a wildflower walk with Class 1 and a front garden map-making challenge with Class 3. In RE, they have started to learn about the prayer and blessings used by Jewish families. They especially enjoyed learning the song: 'This is the way we build the Sukkah at Sukkot'. It helped them to remember the important points about how a Sukkah is built and used by Jewish families. The children were really interested to learn about religion beyond Christianity and have used their inquisitive cog, asking lots of questions.
This wee,k Class 3 have been continuing to focus on the Tudors and writing our non-chronological reports. I have been amazed by the ability of the children to absorb and retain so many important dates and facts from this period of history. Their engagement and curiosity have been truly aspirational! In RE, we enjoyed refreshing our memories, by dipping into the ‘postcards’ from Ely Cathedral, in preparation for our trip, on the 14th of July. We even discovered there was a link with Henry V111, which was exciting. The highlight of the week though had to be sports day - thank you to Mr. Hurkett and all the Sports Captains, for organizing such a fantastic event.
In Class 4, our Suffolk Young Ambassadors attended the virtual Awards Ceremony, and they came away with the certificate for having the most impactful social action project! Well done to six amazing children. If you haven’t heard the interview on BBC Radio Suffolk, catch up on BBC Sounds. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we’re really enjoying reading Wonder by R J Palacio, in small groups, and as a whole class, continuing to explore how one extraordinary child finds his own way to fit into an ordinary world and the different ways his friends and family are impacted.
2. Weekly Tweets...
3. PEW News
Please click on the link, below to see our children's involvement with the PEW news.
4. Parking Outside School
Having campaigned for nearly 4 years now, I am delighted to confirm that during the Summer holidays, speed humps and some form of a pedestrian crossing will be built and located outside the front of the school. This should, hopefully, slow down the traffic and considerable speed of many along our school road. The pedestrian crossing will also enable us and our children to safely cross the road.
Can I politely remind all parents and visitors that you are not to park on the main road - this is a hazard for the children and it is illegal!
Many thanks.
5. Crawford's Workforce Summer Days
A huge thank you to those who have responded and are ready and able to help. We've got 8 helpers thus far. Please just turn up on the day - we'll be here and raring to go!
There is still time to commit a day or two, therefore, please click on the Google Form below and fill it in for us.
Huge thanks!
6. Arbor accounts
Please ensure that you clear any outstanding balances on Arbor before the summer holiday. Thank you.
7. Lunch menus from September
Please see our new lunch menus (below), which will be on a two-week rotation from September.
The school’s cook will trial these for 2 full rotations at the start of term, then they will make amendments if any dishes don’t prove to be popular. Please note that, at Bardwell, the first lunch listed is our main course served to all children except those listed as vegetarian/vegan who will receive an alternative. On a Friday your child can have sausages instead of the fish option - please let the office staff know if you’d like this listed as a dietary preference. We always have jacket potatoes (with cheese/beans) or a School Packed lunch available as well.
8. Summer holiday Free School Meals
If you are in receipt of income-related Free School Meals please be advised that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced a £160 million extension to the Covid Local Support Grant for the period to Thursday 30 September 2021. Suffolk County Council’s (SCC) Free School Meals Team will receive a significant share of Suffolk’s £1.955 million Covid Local Support Grant to support families who are eligible for income-based free school meals, during the summer holidays. They have asked all schools to upload information to Edenred, which we have done. You should receive an electronic voucher on or after 21st July, to the value of £90 per eligible child (£15 per week for the 6 week holiday period).
SCC has asked us to remind all recipients of May half term vouchers to use these before their expiry date of 29/08/21.
9. Term Dates Reminder
10. Free family cycling sessions - information from SCC
We are now delivering sessions for families who want to cycle more regularly, whether to keep fit, to commute to work or school, or to go and visit friends! We can work with you to support your efforts by making sure that your riding skills are refreshed, and you have strategies for dealing with road situations that might concern you.
The session will be about 3 hours long and free of charge. We will come to you, chat about what you are trying to achieve, and then work on your route or specific challenges that you have.
Based on the National Standards for Cycling, and appropriate content from the Bikeability scheme, our fully qualified National Standard Cyclist Trainers will:
show you how to ride with your children so that you can help them gain confidence;
teach you a simple system for remembering how to deal with different road scenarios;
work with you to improve your safety at any junctions you use;
guide you in using your road position to control other road users and enhance your safety.
Priority will initially be given to families who want to cycle with their children, but whatever you require we will endeavour to make it happen!
Please note: To ensure maximum safety during the sessions, we have had to limit the age at which we can allow youngsters to be on the road. If you have children of 8 years old and above, we can ride with you and them on the roads. For children 7 and below, we will ride with parents and tell you how to ride correctly and how to protect the children as they cycle.
To book your free session, please email CyclistTraining@suffolkhighways.org, and John Showell - Road Safety Officer (Bikeability) - will arrange for a trainer to contact you.
For more information please visit - Family cycling sessions
Please also see the flyer, below.
11. Suffolk SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service) - information
Our recent training survey shows families want more information and help around their child’s transition from primary to secondary school. We want to make sure that the training and information we put together matches what families want to find out, to help them feel more confident.
We are therefore offering two informal online sessions to gather the questions parents and carers have around transition to secondary school so they can tell us what kind of information would help them most, and in what form.
They can just pop in to one of the sessions for ten or fifteen minutes to share their thoughts or stay for the whole session.
Practitioners who work with families are welcome too.
15th July 2021 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Click here to register for the evening session
Or
19th July 2021 10am – 11am
Click here to register for the morning session
We would be pleased to hear from you with any further development ideas.
Please continue to guide families to use our impartial service. We have lots of information on our website and we can talk through any specific questions or concerns about SEND. Our friendly team are here to advise and support families in Suffolk.
We are a self-referral service. Parents, carers, children and young people can contact us directly by phone, email or text. Here are our various publicity leaflets as PDF’s, which explain our service and how to reach us:
Helpline: 01473 265210
Email: enquiries@suffolksendiass.co.uk
Text: ADVICE4ME to 87007
Suffolk SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service)
12. School Nursing Update
Following the COVID 19 lockdowns, the School Nursing service has seen a significant increase in referrals to support the needs of children and young people. A robust action plan is in place to manage this increase in demand, and we remain committed to supporting children and young people to access our service. However, it is important to advise you that we are currently unable to see the children and young people who have been referred to our service as swiftly as we would like and the service operates during term time only. We will be in contact with the children, young people and their families that are on our waiting list as soon as possible, to provide a holistic assessment and support as appropriate. However, in the meantime, if interim support is needed, please access the following sources of assistance below:
ChatHealth is a confidential texting services for parents, carers, children and young people living in Suffolk. Messages sent to the service’s dedicated number are delivered to a secure website and text messages are responded to by a member of the school nursing team between 9am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). This service operates during school holidays. You can text ChatHealth on 07507 333356.
If you would like to find out more about our school nursing service, please visit School nursing | Suffolk County Council. If you would like any further information, advice or support, please contact us at our Health Business Centre on 0345 6078866 or email childrenshealth@suffolk.gov.uk.
The NHS First Response Helpline is available for people of all ages in Norfolk and Suffolk who need urgent mental health support. If families or young people feel unsafe, distressed, or worried regarding a child, young person or their own mental health, please telephone 0808 196 3494. A trained mental health professional will answer the call and listen to the concerns and help get the caller the support that they need. This helpline is available all day, every day.
The Mental Health Support Team are available to support children and young people in a number of schools. Please contact the East Suffolk Team via MHST.East@nsft.nhs.uk or the West Suffolk Team via MHST.West@nsft.nhs.uk
We recommend visiting The Source for young people in Suffolk which provides information and advice for young people in Suffolk.
We also suggest visiting The Parent Hub | Suffolk County Council which is a website for Suffolk’s parents or carers to find evidence based parenting advice and support.
Kooth offers emotional and mental health support for children and young people aged between 11 – 24 years and this service is available until 10 pm everyday Home - Kooth.
The Suffolk Local Offer website gives information and guidance about local services to families with children who have special educational needs and disabilities Suffolk SEND Local Offer | Community Directory.
We look forward to continuing to work with you, from the Suffolk School Nursing Service.
13. Suffolk Libraries launches Summer Reading Challenge and appeals for volunteers
Suffolk Libraries has launched this year’s Summer Reading Challenge which is a fantastic and fun way of encouraging children to keep up their reading over the holidays. It’s also a great volunteering opportunity for high school students!
The Summer Reading Challenge is back in 2021!
More important than ever, it gets children reading over the long summer holidays while also having fun. It’s been proven to help maintain literacy levels.
This year’s theme is Wild World Heroes – a group of friends making their town even better for the people and animals that live there.
Wild World Heroes will feature amazing books, awesome rewards, and plenty of ideas for taking care of our environment.
The challenge is aimed at children aged 4-11. You sign up, read six books over the summer holidays and collect a prize for each one from the library. If you complete the challenge, you’ll also get a certificate. The challenge opens on 17 July and you can then sign up for free at your library.
All primary schools have been sent posters and bookmarks to give to pupils.
You can also sign up for a special children’s newsletter and Suffolk Libraries will keep you posted on events and reading ideas over the summer, as well as send Summer Reading Challenge reminders.
We’ll also enter you into a draw for an annual family pass at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary!
Every year hundreds of volunteers also help children complete the challenge. It’s open to any young people over 12. It’s fun, rewarding, and looks good on your CV!
You can find out more about the reading challenge on the Suffolk Libraries website and also apply to be a volunteer.
14. Step 4 of the Roadmap
New evidence summary for Step 4 of the roadmap in education and childcare settings (from the UK Government)
As part of the Step 4 guidance updates, we have published an
Evidence Summary: Coronavirus (COVID-19) – children, young people, and education settings.
This summary sets out the evidence relevant to and in support of, the government’s decision to revise the guidance on the COVID-19 safe working and protective measures that have been used within schools, colleges, and early years settings in England during the pandemic.
In making this decision, the government has balanced education and public health considerations – weighing the impact of these measures on teaching, educational attainment, the health and wellbeing of children, pupils, students, and staff, and the functioning of schools, colleges and early years settings, against the COVID-19 risks in a context that has now fundamentally changed due to the success of the vaccination programme.
15. Free Solihull parenting programme - new module
It’s been an anxious year for many adults, children, and young people alike. We know many of you are worried about the impact of the pandemic on your children.
BRAND NEW!! Online course ‘Understanding your child’s mental health and wellbeing' from the Solihull Approach (NHS).
Access for free:
Did you know Suffolk County Council has PRE-PAID for every parent and carer in Suffolk to access a course for parents/carers (access now for life-long access)? FREE (with access code: WOLSEY at: www.inourplace.co.uk) for residents in our area. There are courses for parents, carers and grandparents about children from bump to 19+ years.
16. PACT - local support for families
PACT is a local community interest company that was founded in 2013 in Suffolk to provide support for parents and carers of children and young people with a mental health issue (diagnosed or undiagnosed). They have no referral system and there is no cost for parents as they are funded by local grants and The National Lottery.
We offer group support, online group drop-in sessions, 1:1 support, local training with facilitation, and national guest speakers on many subjects around mental health and well-being.
Please see their flyer, below, to learn more about their service.
Bec Jasper
Co-Director PACT Parents and Carers Together CIC
17. Museum of East Anglian Life - ‘Thrills and Grills’ Summer programme
The Museum of East Anglian Life has an incredible summer holiday HAF programme for 7-12-year-olds. Each day, they have 30 free places for children who are in receipt of free school meals and 10 paid places at £35 per day. They have made a short video (see below) where you can find out more. Also, please see their website, below, for further information.
Free places are available for recipients of free school meals, for more details email education@eastanglianlife.org.uk
The children will make full use of the facilities we have at the museum. This will include using our new wood-fired oven, open-fire cooking area and the open spaces available. Instructor to children ratio of 1:10.
Chris Macfarlane
Food Learning Officer
Museum of East Anglian Life
Main Museum: 01449 612229
18. Raring2Go
Please follow the digital link, below, for the Raring2go! Summer Magazine.
The magazine is full of great ideas for the summer holidays, featuring holiday camps, days outs, and activities for all the family to enjoy.
Emily Parker, Editor, Raring2Go
19. Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) Response to Parent/Carer Feedback
I'd like to say a huge thank you to those who have been able to respond to our recent survey and policy regarding the RSE curriculum. We've had some invaluable feedback and would like to address a few key points referenced by yourselves:
- I would be interested to know what is going to be taught at what age. It would be good to have an outline of what each year group will be taught. - Great suggestion - we will be sending out a curriculum breakdown, specifically pertaining to the relationships and sex aspects of each curriculum phase;
- It might be worth considering adding something along the lines of understanding consent - Great suggestion - yes, considerations around the understanding of consent as well as the behaviours that go alongside this, will be carefully considered and approached - this will, of course, be based upon age-appropriate understandings so considering issues like wanting to hold someone’s hand, hugging, understanding personal space etc.
- Will, you still be able to impart the Christian Values? - Our Crawford's Cogs underpin our Christian values and everything we do. They specifically relate to 6 key biblical characters and these characters are integral to our daily collective worship, faith offer, and RE curriculum.
20. Dates for the rest of term
Wednesday 14th July: Ely Cathedral Whole-school visit;
Thursday 15th July: Class 4 Young Ambassadors Christchurch Mansion MARVEL visit;
Friday 16th July: Year 6 Leavers' Pleasurewood Hills visit;
Monday 19th July: Year 6 Leavers' Assembly/Last day for pupils in school
Tuesday 20th July: PD Day, admin team in school;
Thursday 29th, 30th & 31st July & Tuesday 10th & 11th August - School Workforce Summer Days.
21. Safeguarding & Wellbeing
About Us
Email: admin@crawfordsprimary.suffolk.sch.uk
Website: https://www.crawfordsprimaryschool.com/
Location: Haughley, Stowmarket IP14 3QZ, UK
Phone: 01449 673253
Twitter: @CrawfordsPSchl