Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment...
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Updates following government announcement
Mon 29 Nov 2021Following the government announcement on Saturday, please find below a general update of our risk assessment and plans moving forward.
As an Infant School, the changes brought in do not affect how we are working in school greatly, but some small changes will be made over the next few weeks to try and minimise risks. All staff have been asked to wear a face mask within communal areas of school from tomorrow. Staff may also choose to wear a face mask when collecting the children from the playground. Parents can also choose to wear a mask in the playground but this is not something being enforced by the government. We have also made the decision to not hold any whole school assemblies until after Christmas. The KS1 Special Mentions assembly tomorrow will be the final one of the year.
As shared in our letter last week, we had already made the decision not to have live performances for parents. A recording of the plays will be shared with parents once they have been completed, and we will try our best to ensure this comes to you before the start of the holidays.
As case rates are not concerning in school at present, we want to honour the final three stay and learn sessions for Class 3, Class 2 and Class 1. We know many of you are looking forward to coming into school to see your child's classroom and their learning. If you do want to join us for these events, please ensure you wear a mask inside the school building and sanitise your hands before coming into the classroom. Class 3 will be welcoming parents in on Thursday 2nd December, Class 2 will be welcoming parents in on Thursday 9th December and Class 1 will be welcoming parents in on Monday 13th December.
We are working very hard in school to ensure our children receive as much normality as possible during the school day.
As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
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Christmas performances - update
Thu 25 Nov 2021Over the past few weeks we have been considering the current situation with COVID-19 and as a Senior Leadership Team, we have had to make a decision as to whether we will be able to welcome parents into school to watch the performances. Sadly, due to the consistent high rates of COVID-19 in our area, and our concerns about the risk of a potential outbreak within our school community at Christmas time, we have decided that parents will not be able to come into school.
As explained in my earlier email, we have made the decision for classes to work together to create a full performance and this will be recorded by Mr Bernard, one of our school governors. Mr Bernard is a professional videographer and only charges school for his time. To try and cover the costs for this, we will ask parents to make a small donation of £2 through their School Money account. We will then share the digital download of the shows with parents via email.
All children will be included in the performances. If you do not want your child to be on the recording of the shows, please speak to Mrs Peart by Friday 26th November so that this can be organised.
This has been a very difficult decision to make, but we have to prioritise the health and safety of our school community. We hope you understand.
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Christmas performances
Mon 15 Nov 2021As Christmas is fast approaching, we are currently planning for our annual performance. Sadly, last year we were working in class bubbles so the children were unable to mix together to perform a collaborative show as we would have normally in the past. As we have now moved back to the children mixing more freely, we are planning for the children to work together across classes to create a full performance.
Children in Classes 6, 7 & 8 will be performing Shine Star Shine!
Children in Classes 4 & 5 will be performing The Inn Crowd.
Children in Classes 1, 2 & 3 will be performing Santa's Setbacks.
As usual, we will be practising the songs and talking with the children about who would like to have a speaking or non-speaking role within each play. Our aim is that all children, regardless of whether they have a speaking or non-speaking part, will take part in the performance and be on the stage at some point during the show.
With regards to sharing the performance with parents, we are still deliberating how this will happen. As I am sure many of you are already aware, the COVID infection rates are still very high within Rotherham and this is something that we will need to consider carefully before making our final decision. If we are unable to invite parents in to watch the performance in the hall, we will record the shows and make this available to all parents. Mr Bernard, one of our school governors, is a professional videographer and very kindly records our performances each year so that parents can purchase these. If we make the decision this year that parents are unable to come into school for the show, we will only ask for a minimal donation for a recording of the show so that everyone can order this and enjoy watching it with their children.
We hope you understand the difficult circumstances that we are facing at the moment. Once a decision has been made, we will be in touch immediately to let you know.
Thank you for your continued support.
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Google Classroom - information meeting for parents
Mon 15 Nov 2021We are holding an information meeting for parents about Google Classroom on Wednesday 17th November at 2.30pm. This is primarily for parents of children in Classes 6, 7 & 8 as we have just set the children up; however, if your child is in Classes 1-5 and you would like to attend you will be more than welcome.
It is a government requirement this year that all children are logged onto a remote learning platform in case of a school closure. Therefore ALL families have to sign in and access this. Please let us know if you would like to attend the meeting so we know how many parents to expect.
Thank you for your continued support.
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Anti-Bullying Week
Mon 15 Nov 2021Tomorrow launches the start of Anti-Bullying Week and we will be showing our support by wearing odd socks! We would love it if all children could come to school tomorrow in their odd socks!! If they really want to they can wear them all week!! Lots of us will be.
Our work for Anti-Bullying Week supports the learning we are doing in PSHE about celebrating difference. We are learning that we are all different in lots of ways but that we can work and play together whilst respecting each other's differences. Please talk to the children at home about their learning in school; we would be grateful if you can reinforce these important messages.
Thank you for your support.
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App Calendar
Mon 15 Nov 2021Please take some time to look at the Calendar section of the school app so you are aware of key events that are happening in school. We try wherever possible to send messages to remind parents of these, but all events happening in school are added to the calendar so you can have an overview of these at the click of a button.
On the app home page, click on the calendar icon at the bottom and that will take you through what is happening on different dates in the coming weeks.
Thank you.
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Caretaker recruitment
Thu 04 Nov 2021Following the departure of Mr Green, we are currently recruiting a Caretaker to support the day to day running of our school. Please click on the link below for more information:
https://www.sitwellinfantschool.co.uk/caretaker/
Please share with the wider community or get in touch if you are interested.
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Christmas Picture Competition
Tue 02 Nov 2021Please find attached information about the Christmas picture competition being run by our caterers, Dolce, this year. Children are invited to create a snowman picture and hand in to the school office by 12th November to be in with a chance of winning a special prize.
Have fun!