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We've had a brilliant half term in school and have been working in ways that look a little bit more normal.
The children have worked really hard across all subjects and are enjoying the wider aspects of school life again, such as our activity clubs, educational visits and visitors and enhancement activities.
We are looking forward to springtime in school when we can enjoy our outdoor spaces just a little bit more.
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COVID Risk Assessment
We will await updates from the DfE over the half term but we do expect to further relax some of our current restrictions. We may move away from sitting in rows and will re-introduce year group assemblies, which we have really missed. Children will hopefully be able to mix together across yeargroups when outside and additional spaces - such as the hall - may re-open during lunch.
Our approach remains cautious. We will continue to monitor COVID cases and would always reinstate some protective practices should case numbers rise.
Thanks for your support in relation to this across this half term.
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The Booking Window for BC/ASC is now open for the first week back (W/C 28/2/22). The window will close on Thursday 24th February at 5pm.
With numbers for both BC and ASC steadily rising to pre-pandemic levels, we cannot stress enough how important it is to book and pay in advance for your child's place.
We may not be able to accommodate late requests due to strict staffing ratios.
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Arbor app
We now have 95% of families registered on the Arbor app. Whilst this is brilliant, we are still aiming for 100%!
The Arbor app allows you to make payments on the go, make bookings for clubs and check on your child's attendance. It's quick, simple and transparent.
Why not take some time this half term to sign in?
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It's been another busy, fun-filled term in EYFS. We found a dragon in our nursery garden and the children had to look after him. Thankfully he was very well-behaved and the children enjoyed telling him the stories of 'Puff the Magic Dragon' and 'Dragon Post'. The children in Reception had a PJ party to celebrate the end of their topic on 'Night and Day'. They have learnt lots of information about nocturnal and diurnal animals, about the night sky and healthy routines regarding sleep and rest.
We welcomed more children and families into our afternoon nursery this term and they have settled in brilliantly. We do have some afternoon places for our next intake after Easter, please email admin@prescotprimary.org.uk with your child’s name, date of birth, address and contact number. It is never too nearly to register your child, we are already looking ahead to our September starters and have children on our waiting list who were only born in 2021!
Put your child’s name down and please do let any friends or family know that they can add their child’s name as well.
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There is one Parent Governor vacancy at Prescot Primary and the nomination letters will be sent home with your child on Monday 28th February. Details of the election process will be included in the paperwork and the deadline to return your nomination will be midday on 14th March.
Read more about the role of a governor here:
National Governance Association
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School attendance has been good overall this half term. Thank you for your support in getting your children to school with a smile.
Having access to good quality education is the right of every child. It is our duty, as teachers and parents/carers, to ensure that children attend school and make the most of every learning opportunity.
Here are some reminders that we feel are important:
- Please contact school by email or phone as soon as you know that your child is unwell and will not be attending school. This will reduce the calls our 'first response' team make each morning.
- Remember that the gates are opened at 8.30am - please do not arrive before then as this is a busy time when staff arrive. Gates will close at 8.50am every day. If you arrive after this time, you must report to the main office where your child will be marked as late. Lates are checked and patterns identified. You may receive a support phone call if your child is continually late during which we will inform you of their lost learning minutes. Obviously, we are all aiming for children to participate in every learning minute during the school day.
- Please avoid picking up your child early, unless for unavoidable medical appointments. We have seen an increase in occurrence of this, and it does, again, impact negatively on your child's day. Obviously, we would like to pick up your children promptly at the end of the day.
- Check your child's attendance on the Arbor app.
- #rightsrespectingschool
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Science Project
As part of our Future Food Heroes project we have now set up our produce pods in the main corridor. A produce pod is a small ecosystem where living things are connected to help each other grow. The fish take care of the plants and the plants take care of the fish. This is a way to grow food in small urban spaces in a sustainable way. There are no plants or fish in our pods yet. We are waiting until after half term to add the fish (the water needs to cycle through the biofilters first) and the plants have just started to germinate on our classroom windowsill! We’re very excited about what we might grow. We also have a wormery in the library with 200 tiger worms which are eating our lunchtime leftovers and turning them into compost to grow food. We have learnt about the part that fungi plays in a food chain and this week we are going to start growing our own mushrooms!
#globalgoals2030
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Data taken from our Accelerated reader programme show that their are 119 children from Y2 to Y6 who have reached their reading target for this half term. All targets are individual and within reach of every reader - as long as they dedicate some time to read daily. These children will be rewarded with an invitation to wear their own clothes for a day. Well done everyone!
Our school library is going from strength to strength, with lots of book donations and our new digital library system that keeps track of our titles. We have just listed our 3000th book onto the system! However, if a book is lost for any reason, please tell your child not to worry. We know that our children look after their books but sometimes they will go astray - just let us know.
We have a selection of books which are aimed at teenage readers. If we see that a reading age is high enough and if parents would like their children to access those books please let us know by letter. We would never allocate these titles to younger children as they may include themes that are not age-appropriate.
As you all know, we love celebrating our Word Millionaires. This half term we'd like to congratulate: Aiden Jenions and Leah Garvey (Y6) Kalli-Jo Stott, Maisie Carville-Ambrose and Frankie Owen-Taylor (Y5) and Harry Lee (Y4). And we mustn't forget our first DOUBLE Word Millionaire, Tejaswi Ganjam in Y5!
What an amazing achievement! Who will be next?
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Book Donations
Thank you to everyone who donates their pre-loved books to our library. We love the thought of reusing them all over again, many times over. This system supports our ethos of protecting our planet. #globalgoals2030
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This year marks the 25th anniversary of World Book Day and it falls on Thursday 3rd March.
Last year, we were unable to celebrate together so this year we are inviting children to come to school dressed as a book character, theme or author. Please ensure safe shoes and a warm coat too. The children always get excited about each other's costumes and there is a book-buzz in the air all day!
Our WBD competition:
WOODEN SPOON BOOK CHARACTER
This year we will be holding a competition for our children to design and/or make a book character from a wooden spoon. If you are unable to find a spare wooden spoon, a labelled coloured design will be great too. Don't forget to add a name and class.
There will be winners in each of the four key stages: EYFS/KS1/LKS2/UKS2.
Closing date: Thurs 3 March.
Children will also receive a WBD voucher which they can spend on any of these books:
https://www.worldbookday.com/books/
We are looking forward to this event as we move a little bit closer to normality!
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RIGHTS RESPECTING SCHOOL NEWS
We are currently working towards our Rights Respecting School (RRS) Silver Award.
https://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/the-rrsa/about-the-rrsa/
This award recognises ways in which we create safe and inspiring places to learn, where children are respected, their talents are nurtured and they are able to thrive. Our Rights Respecting Schools Award embeds these values in daily school life and gives children the best chance to lead happy, healthy lives and to be responsible, active citizens.
As part of our work to promote children's rights across school, staff and pupils have completed surveys that pose important questions. We were able to collect the views of 217 KS2 pupils.
Some of the results can be seen below. We can use the pupil answers to plan our next steps in supporting our children to be happiest, healthiest and safest they can be.
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The Rights Respecting School programme has supported our work on behaviour, showing our children how to grow into kind, respectful adults who are bothered about the people and world around them. Our classes have developed Class Charters which are based on the articles from the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
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New School Values
Our staff and children have recently discussed and chosen our new school values. 'Botheredness' is a term we have used for a while in school, a word that captures that PCP spirit of having a go, doing your best, putting in the effort, doing what others may not. We have chosen five main ways of showing 'botheredness' (see below) and will promote these values in everything we do.
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Y6 News
Children across Y6 have been successfully learning to ride their bikes safely in our Bikeability class this month. Well done to all of our proficient cyclists - the weather certainly wasn't kind to you!
Thank you to those Y6 parents who attended our Y6 Zoom with Mr Dobson and Mrs Scott this week. Our support programmes will be up and running after half term, including an 8am 'early doors' session with Mr Dobson every Wednesday.
Y6 children have been provided with access to an app called 'SATs Companion'. The children are used to using this in class and we feel it would be of real benefit for our Unicorns to complete daily practice over the half term break.
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Kangaroos become soldiers!
Y4 were so excited to get on the road to Chester to further explore the world of Roman Britain.
The Grosvenor Museum is packed full of interesting artefacts that the children could handle and discuss. They were able to build, dress - up and play games in the Roman style.
Most children would probably say that the best part of the day was the Roman march from the museum to the amphitheatre. The children were able to practise battle formations and their chanting, shouting 'Sin, sin, sin, dec, sin' throughout the streets.
This was the first outing that Y4 have had in a long time and we were so impressed with their behaviour, confidence and knowledge of the Romans. Well done Kangaroos!
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As always, when a school holiday is imminent, we would like to remind you of the importance of online safety, especially when your children may spend more time on-screen during their holiday.
Whilst we cover many aspects of online safety in school, we would like to point you in the direction of some quality websites where you can find useful information and guidance. Our own website now has a stock of online newsletters that could prove useful too:
http://www.prescotprimary.org.uk/information/online-safety
https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/
https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/
https://beinternetlegends.withgoogle.com/en_uk/buildyourlegend/
Please do get in touch if you have any worries about your child's online activity. We must work in teams to protect our children from any dangers that the online world may present.
This year's Safer Internet Day theme was 'All fun and games?' The children learned about the risks of online gaming, including stranger danger and over-spending. This was balanced with the positives of playing virtually, especially during lockdown. Children could see that it is possible to have fun providing that clear rules are in place to keep them safe.
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We hope you are all able to make the most of the week away from the classroom. Enjoy the fresh air and freedom.
Thanks for your continued support.
TEAMPCP
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