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Dear Parents and Carers,
Firstly, I hope that you have all had an amazing Christmas and made plans that were right for you and yours! I thought of you all and despite Christmas being very different this year, I genuinely hope that you made memories for the 'Covid-19 year' and enjoyed yourselves (whilst also keeping safe and well!)
No doubt many of you will have watched the PM's briefing this evening and have questions about the opening of primary schools. I have read the Contingency Framework and Implementation Guidance, and I am pleased to say that we can open as planned on Monday.
We are now in Tier 4 and obviously life will continue to feel different, but school resumes as normal. We will return with the same staggered times and arrangements and continue to work and teach safely.
On a brighter note, I wish you a safe New Year! 2021 will no doubt throw some challenges at us. However, with strength and a smile we will continue to get through it!!
Happy New Year, Greasley community! As ever, I will keep you updated if there are any changes.
All the best and see you all soon,
Mrs Bates : )
Dear Parents and Carers,
What a tough year 2020 has been – one like never before! There have been so many challenges for everyone this year and, sadly, some suffering. However, we have all coped so far throughout this pandemic, and we are determined to continue the fight and work hard throughout 2021…whatever that may bring!
Normally, I would be writing about all of the sporting achievements, accomplishments across the ‘Create term’ and all of the trips and special events this term. However, we have had to abandon some plans and very much shift to working virtually wherever we could. This has included Parents’ evenings, workshops and visits with external providers and training events. We had our first virtual pantomime ever and today we have had a virtual party with Captain Chris.
The country and the world have never been through anything like this before, and I can honestly say we have done everything we could to keep your children safe. The necessary measures and restrictions in place have meant that the school day, assembly times, break and lunch arrangements have been a little different, but the children have done us proud and understood why it was needed (and will still be needed when we come back in January).
We have had some Covid-19 cases this year, and I know how hard that is as a parent (as well as a leader). We have dealt with this well as a school, and I have been very proud of our families and children during home learning. When things are out of your control, all you can do is your best with what you are faced with. Every day we continue to do our best for those who are in school or are working online from home. This is a value and belief that was instilled in me as a child and I still believe in this today. We cannot control the uncontrollable, but we try to manage day-by-day, with what we are faced with.
By reinforcing our values, promoting the importance of education and adjusting to the new systems and policies, you as parents and carers have played your part in a difficult year and should be very proud as well. This will no doubt be required into the New Year, especially if we see an increase in cases after Christmas. The government is giving signs that they intend to bring in testing for primary schools later in the spring term and more about this will be explained as we get further details throughout the new year. It is thought that this will reduce the number of children isolating, due to a positive case, as they could be tested and have a result back very quickly. More details to follow in the new year.
I wanted to end the year by saying that, although we have had a difficult year, I would like to thank all of our parents and wider community who have continued to support Greasley Beauvale Primary School every step of the way. Some of the positive and encouraging emails have been heart-warming and have really supported staff. Whatever you have decided to do this Christmas, I hope you manage to have a peaceful and safe time. We are being told that the consequences of our actions over Christmas will be seen in the New Year, but we are being given the freedom to make difficult choices. It is appropriate to reflect on the importance of family at Christmas, whilst keeping you and yours safe! I genuinely hope that you have a wonderful time and make different memories this year (ones that we are likely never to forget!)
Sadly today, we say goodbye to Mrs Jamson as she takes her first post as Head Teacher. Mrs Jamson joined us in June 2018 and her two and a half years here has brought so much to the school. She has developed a curriculum that we are incredibly proud. She has developed middle leaders across school and been exceptionally pro-active about teaching and learning. She is a phenomenal teacher and leader, and we will miss her incredibly. We are delighted for her though as she enters into Headship and wish her well in her new post. Goodbye and good luck, Mrs Jamson.
Merry Christmas everyone from all of us at Greasley Beauvale primary School
Yours sincerely,
Mrs Bates
Week Ending 17th December 2020
Current attendance results are as follows:
Whole School Percentage is consistent at 97%
1st place goes to Green 2 for 98.22% attendance.
2nd place goes to Yellow 2 for 98.06% attendance.
3rd place goes to Indigo 2 for 98.02% attendance.
This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
Riley – Blue 2 – For working really hard to produce an accurately labelled diagram of the water cycle in science and for always trying his hardest with his presentation – it looks amazing! Well done!
Rylan – Green 2 – For producing a very complicated and creative box mechanism for a pop-up Christmas card. It was very intricate for a child in year 3 and the outcome of the final Christmas card design will be amazing!
A brilliantly festive week in school so far. We saw the Key stage 1 and reception children have their Christmas lunch today, and I have seen many festive preparations towards Christmas videos, virtual shows, rhymes and readings etc… it has been amazing.
Thanks for the support with the film nights across school. They raised over £600 and the raffle was another success. There was over £900 raised and as we start the new year, we will begin to consider the start of a new school library. Thank you so much!
Thank you to those of you who booked in for a virtual parents meeting with teachers this week. For those who joined, I have had positive feedback and the teachers also said how successful the use of TEAMS was for such discussions. Thank you again to those of you who join in. We are pleased that the first virtual experience of a term’s review was effective and timely. Thank you again for the support.
Tomorrow is Christmas jumper day and we cannot wait for more surprises.
Warmest festive wishes,
Mrs Bates
Head Teacher
Week Ending 11th December 2020
Current attendance results are as follows:
Whole School Percentage has increased to 97.05%
1st place goes to Indigo 2 for 98.61% attendance.
2nd place goes to Green 1 for 98.07% attendance.
3rd place goes to Green 2 for 98.02% attendance.
This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
Noah – Violet 1 – For excellent progress in his TTRSs. He has moved 3 levels in just one week and his time has shifted from 7.50s to 2.96s! Phenomenal effort and we’re very proud
Hector – Yellow 1 – For showing the Rainbow Value, ‘Nurture, Develop and Grow’ in art. After studying an artist’s work, Hector carefully designed his own T-shirt, and improved the design with each practise in his sketchbook to create a brilliant final piece!
Haydn and Oliver - Indigo 2 - For showing 'Random Acts of Kindness' and respect to me personally as their Head Teacher. The boys knew I had a very important meeting with a Local Authority advisor as I explained why I might be missing Christmas lunch. On separate days, they wished me good luck and then on the following day, they asked how the meeting had gone. I shared the good news and thanked them for caring! Very kind, boys and I am very proud of you. Thank you!
Miss Schofield - Art and Design lead and year 1 teacher - For leading on her subject so expertly this term. The sketchbooks are the best they have ever looked in school and the outcomes of the art and design work this term is of a great standard! Thank you, Miss Schofield! I know that the children and the staff have learnt a lot from you this year
Another festive week in school as we count down towards Christmas. The film nights in class bubbles have been a huge success so far, and all the children have enjoyed themselves with a fun filled evening. A Christmas movie and hot-dog… what more could a child (or teacher) ask for? Thanks to everyone who has supported the events so far. Over £600 has been raised for school fund and all goes towards our plans for the future…a new school library hopefully! The next evening will take place on Monday. Thanks to Mrs Barrowcliffe for organising so many hot dogs and making so many arrangements (with support from the parental engagement team and Mrs Kew). Thank you.
The raffle continues to go well, as does the food bank collections. Thanks again for the donations and contributions. Every little helps! The raffle prizes are truly super and well worth a go! In addition, the food bank collections can go on until Tuesday morning now due to the collection date. Thanks for the support.
Yesterday was Christmas dinner day for the Key stage 2 children! Like every other year, Steph and the kitchen ladies did us proud and provided a Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings, to a high standard. Unfortunately, this year, we have not been able to have the Christmas dinner for the whole school on the same day at the same time, but we made the most of it and the children loved the celebrations. I am pleased to announce that Steph has also agreed to do another Christmas dinner for Violet 2 and the other year 6 children when they return on the last day! What a star and thank you.
As you are aware, the children completed their autumn term assessments last week and they did their very best after so many months of missed education. Over the last week, the teachers have been completing the marking of the papers and making judgements of the children’s abilities. In addition, they have written the autumn term reports, which should be with you today. We hope that you find the information useful and you manage to take up the opportunity of discussing your child’s term with us next week at the school’s very first virtual parents’ evenings.
We are nearly there now and we have just one week to go until the Christmas break. A reminder that the last day will be Christmas jumper and bubble party day (with NO INSET day as discussed in the media).
Keep safe, keep smiling and thanks for all the support in advance.
Warmest festive wishes,
Mrs Bates
Head Teacher
Week Ending 4th December 2020
Current attendance results are as follows:
Whole School Percentage has increased to 96.95%
1st place goes to Indigo 2 for 98.52% attendance.
2nd place goes to Green 1 for 98.03% attendance.
3rd place goes to Green 2 for 97.97% attendance.
Wow, this week has been super busy as children (and teachers) have been working through assessments for the autumn term. As explained before, these will help us to unpick where the children currently are academically; what gaps they may have due to the time missed in school and what we need to do next in order to help them ‘catch up’. Naturally, due to the pandemic, children may have fallen slightly behind the national expectation or where they should be (based on last years attainment). However, we are hopeful that over time, the children at Greasley Beauvale Primary School will catch up and continue to develop into life-long learners with determination and drive. The teachers will be working hard on the marking of the assessments and completing the gap analysis to consider what needs to be taught over the coming weeks and into the spring term.
Autumn term reports will come out towards the end of the term and in the final week, the teachers look forward to talking to you about the progress your child/ren are making and what they may need to work on next. We also look forward to our first virtual parent evenings’ via Microsoft Teams. However, if this is something you cannot engage with then please let us know and we will call you instead throughout the final week of term. We have been using Teams for meetings, conferences and reviews since the start of lockdown and we have had to move with this pandemic technically. However, this is the first time we have tried a parents’ evening using online platforms. Please bear with us in advance. We will do our best to make it run smoothly, but there may be glitches and hurdles…we will endeavour to overcome our obstacles in the process if anything starts to go wrong J
Despite having assessments this week, we have all started to feel a little more Christmassy. The trees have started to go up and lights have begun to twinkle. I have heard Christmas music beginning to be played and we had ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ virtual pantomime into school yesterday and today. It was a huge success and the children really did enjoy the show. We will not let this pandemic beat us!! Thank you to everyone who made the contribution (and more in some cases!) We really are grateful and very pleased that the show go on!
HAPPY DECEMBER EVERYONE!
A reminder that we will have a food bank collection over the next two weeks. As shared this week, the children can bring in any food parcels or packets over the next few weeks (on any day) and you may send more than one parcel on different days if, or when, you can. We are aiming to collect more food for the families of Eastwood than EVER before and we intend to make our deliveries (or have food collected by the food bank) in the last few days of term. A reminder that food should not go to the office, but be sent with the child into individual classes and then we will do the rest. Thanks in advance for all your help and support. Our community needs this more than ever before, especially over Christmas time! THANK YOU!
I hear that most families now have their Christmas trees up and houses are starting to look and feel festive. If not, then this is the weekend for it! Enjoy and have a good, safe weekend with your families…the first one in a while with a little more to do!
Keep safe, keep smiling and thanks for all the support in advance.
Warmest festive wishes,
Mrs Bates
Head Teacher