Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
Thank you to everyone who took part in the Alphabet challenge. Please see the Children's tab- Mrs. Johnson's Community Competition for full details and lots of photographs. Lots of pupils chose the letters B, C, S and T.
Well done to all! Special congratulations to:
Grace S Y3 1ST PLACE with 151 items beginning with B
Zack B Y3 2ND PLACE with 102 items beginning with B
Lottie B Y2 3RD PLACE with 84 items beginning with S.
If your child is currently entitled to free school meals (not universal meals) packed lunches are currently being offered to collect each day. You may/may not be using this service.
We were hoping to move to a voucher scheme but this is proving extremely difficult and we are being told that while our kitchen is able to make meals, we should be using this.
With that in mind the kitchen have found a better solution moving forward. Parents will be able to collect a hamper/bag of food (fresh, tinned and dried) for each child eligible for free school meals. These will be available once per fortnight. They expect this to be ready to put in place for the Easter holiday so if you let me know you want this, I will add you to the list and let you know when they are ready to collect. I need to know by Monday 30th March by 12 noon at the latest. I will not be able to add pupils to the list late as the order will have already been placed.
Next week, we will continue to offer packed lunches for those who wish to collect them each day. Please be aware if you order and no not collect (without good reason0, your child will be removed from the list as this is a waste of food.
From the Easter holidays onwards, we will move to the fortnightly hamper (for as long as schools are closed). You won't be able to opt for a daily packed lunch instead- the school can only offer one option and we have decided this will be better for families as it reduces the number of times you have to leave your home.
Please e-mail headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk to confirm you would like to receive the hamper. Please include the names of all eligible children in your family.
Bear in mind, when you collect the hamper/bags, if you have more than one child, you may need to bring a car or something to help you carry them (I haven't seen a pack yet so I've no idea how big they are but they are based on £15 per week of produce per child.
If you are not already receiving daily packed lunches and you would like to get these next week. Please also let me know on the e-mail.
Kind regards,
Mrs Johnson
Please be safe
The latest message from the Government to Stay at Home will certainly be challenging for everyone but please follow the guidance to keep you and your family safe. You are a very close knit community and this will really help over the next few weeks. Support and care for each other and remember we are here for you.
I can't imagine how difficult it must be trying to keep children in the home and garden and keeping them from socialising with others but we all need to do this to keep safe.
Thank you
We were all overwhelmed by the kindness shown today when we received the hamper and flowers. These are challenging times for not just us but you too so to receive this gift today was a really beautiful act of community spirit. From each and every one of us-THANK YOU.
Free School Meals
Many parents have been collecting their Free school meal packed lunches each day. Please remember that if your child is eligible for free school meals (not Universal free school meals that all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 get), you can request this. Please e-mail headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk to order yours. These need to be collected from the school Reception between 10:30 and 11:00am. Please remember if you do not collect your child's lunch and do not ring to give a reason, we will have to remove your child from the list to ensure food is not wasted.
We are aiming to move over to offering weekly vouchers to use in supermarkets very shortly. It is expected that the value of these will be approx. £15 per week per child (this is still to be confirmed). We are currently working to get this in place as soon as possible (hopefully next week) although it is unclear if the Government will be offering these over the Easter holiday period. If your child is currently eligible for free school meals but is not already receiving packed lunches, please e-mail me to request this. If you would rather wait until the vouchers are ready, please also e-mail me and let me know this. I know there are a variety of supermarkets in the area and the school will need to choose one to purchase all the vouchers from so it would be useful to know which supermarket is your preference. I will only be able to choose one so I will go with the majority. Parents who are already receiving free packed lunches will also need to e-mail to confirm their supermarket preference.
Ask for help
I have already received e-mails and telephone calls from many of you asking for help and advice. Please continue to do this. We want to be there for you and help you in any way we can.
Communication
Your child's class teacher will be in contact with you frequently (unless they are unwell of course). This may be by telephone, e-mail or text message so they can check you are okay and see if there's anything you need. We are hoping that most children (not Early Years) will use the Purple Mash e-mail system. They will be able to e-mail their teacher and e-mail their friends. All messages to friends are checked by the teacher first so please be aware they will not get a swift reply from their friend. It would be nice for children to show their teacher and their friends what they are doing. They may give each other some good ideas. I have already received some wonderful e-mails with photographs of the wonderful things children are doing and these are a pleasure to receive. If your child hasn't yet used Purple Mash e-mail yet, please see the help guide on the 'Helping you child at home' page (Parents tab). It is really easy to set up.
Keeping busy
Most children really benefit from having a structure/routine to their day. I have asked staff to put together a suggested timetable for each year group which should be uploaded onto your child's class page. This is just to give you an idea. It would be even better if you could sit with your child and decide what type of activities they would like to do and put together a timetable. It will be far more effective if the children have had a say in it. They could even make a visual timetable so they know what the day will look like. It is really pleasing to see how many different companies are making sure there are plenty of things to keep you and your child engaged and healthy and even more pleasing that they are free. I appreciate many of them require an internet connection but hopefully most of you have this. Our staff will continue to add ideas to the website, either on the class page (Children's tab) or on the 'Helping you child at home' page (Parents tab). Twinkl (a great site for all ages and all subjects) are offering parents a free subscription (Google Twinkl offer), YOU TUBE are showing daily phonics' sessions, David Walliams is doing a story telling daily session and there's loads of virtual exercise sessions. Please share anything you have found that is really good with myself or your child's teacher and we'll pass these ideas on too.
Stationery packs
The order for the resources to make the packs has been placed and is expected to be received on Friday 27th March. I am not quite sure how to get these to you. We could have staggered collection times so not everyone is out together and it could form part of your daily walk/ exercise allowance or I may be able to deliver them to you (I'm not sure if this would be allowed but I will look into it and let you know.)
Work packs
We are aiming to produce and send out another paper pack of activities and ideas next week. More details to follow.
Remember- we are here so please use if whenever you need us.
We are providing stationery packs from pupils who are staying at home while schools are closed. These will include pen, pencil, rubber, sharpener, highlighter, glue stick, scissors, crayons/felt tips and a selection of paper. We wanted to give them for free but School Money doesn't enable anything to be ordered without cost so they are 1p each. You can order 1 for each child that attends our school.
You will need to wait a few days as we will need to order the resources into school. Please order online at School Money by the end of Tuesday 24th March so we can get these ordered.
The Government announced that during school closures, pupils eligible for free school meals (NOT Universal free school meals offered to all Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils) should continue to receive these during the period of school closure to support these families.
Schools have several ways of providing this service:
At present, we have a working kitchen so each day packed lunches will be made for all pupils who have requested this. If you didn't request this and have now changed your mind, please contact: headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk. We will prepare these each day for the families who have requested them unless you inform us you no longer want them. Please ensure you confirm the day before or by 9am if you don't want a packed lunch on any given day.
The Government are currently working on a voucher scheme, which I think will be a more popular option than collecting packed lunches each day. As soon as we receive confirmation about this, I will ask if you would prefer to change to vouchers or continue to receive packed lunches.
Please bear in mind that we can only offer packed lunches while the kitchen is in operation. We would have to look at the voucher options anyway if the kitchen had to close.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Mrs Johnson
I can honestly say this has been the most challenging time of my career and I'm sure it will continue to be so over the weeks to come. I know the decisions passed down to us by the Government in order to keep everyone safe have been/will continue to be very difficult for us all but I must thank each and every one of you for your support in ensuring that we can still open the school to those few who have no other options while at the same time minimising the risk considerably.
I know how difficult this will be for you over the coming weeks but please be assured we are here for you. Staff will still be working either in school or from home and you can contact us whenever you need to. I will send further details next week about what we will be doing to keep in touch with you/your child/ren and how we will keep you stocked up with ideas and activities for the weeks ahead. I've sent my e-mail in several messages just recently but it's here for those who may not have it.(headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk)
I would like to sincerely thank everyone for the wonderful messages relating to me personally and to our fabulous staff (from the Facebook page) and for the letters, messages and cards received showing your appreciation of our staff team. Those few words really do mean the world to staff so thank you for taking the time to share them.
Finally, no-one yet knows exactly what will happen in the next few weeks/months and I know many pupils (and parents) were upset today- fearing that this may be the end of the academic year but I am a firm believer that we will be back in school before that so we can end the year properly. This is particularly important for our wonderful Y6 cohort. Come what may, we will find a way to ensure they have the send off they deserve.
Please keep each other safe and follow all guidance so we can beat this virus and get our country back on its feet.
From a very tired, emotional but extremely thankful Headteacher!
Anthony Bek Community Primary School closure update
Following the most recent scientific advice on how to further limit the spread of Coronvirus, the Government have asked that Parents keep their children at home to limit the chance of the virus spreading.
However, they have identified vulnerable pupils (those who have their own social worker and those who are on an Education and Health Care plan) as still needing to be offered a place. Parents do not have to accept this place if they can offer safe place at home.
They have also identified that during this pandemic/crisis, there are many parents offering critical services in the response to COVID-19. It is expected that many of these parents will still be able to ensure their child is kept at home and EVERY CHILD WHO CAN BE KEPT AT HOME SHOULD BE.
This last part is crucial to the success of this period of the Government strategy. Clearly, many parents will fall into one of the categories below but if every parent said they needed the place for their child rather than finding ways to support them safely at home, we would have two problems:
Therefore, before looking at the list below and deciding whether you meet the criteria, please ask yourself- CAN I LOOK AFTER MY CHILD AT HOME THROUGH ANY OTHER SAFE MEANS? We are a close community and need to do everything we can to support each other and the school during these extremely difficult times.
Critical workers
If you feel you work falls within these categories AND you cannot make arrangements for your child to be looked after safely, you should confirm with your employer that your role is necessary for the continuation of essential public service.
If this is then confirmed, please e-mail ‘headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk before 1pm today including the following information:
Child’s name: Child’s class:
Parent 1 job role:
Parent 2 job role (unless single parent):
Why your role is critical to essential services (following confirmation from your employer):
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I cannot stress enough how concerned I am that by the end of today, I am going to be saying our school is closed to all pupils due to the large number of parents saying they meet the criteria and their child needs a place and me not having the staffing levels to ensure I can safely accommodate this so PLEASE only request a place if there are no other safe options for your child’s care.
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If it is the case that school has to be closed to ALL pupils, Parents/Carers of those children will need to contact the local authority to see if there are other locations in the area that can offer them a place. I firmly believe though that if one school is having difficulties offering this, then the same will apply elsewhere and for some parents getting pupils to these settings will be a challenge until the authority can help to organise transport.
Children at home
A text message will be sent to all by the end of today to let everyone know the outcome of today and whether the school will be open to any pupils and if so, who they are. The school website will be continually updated.
Unfortunately our Walesby visit for Year 3 and 4 children has had to be cancelled. All money paid will be refunded and the children booked on the trip will be given first chance to go next year. The Year 4s (who will be Year 5s next year) can still choose to go to Walesby instead of Wales if they wish.
The residential to Whitehall (Year 5 and 6) has also been cancelled and all money paid will be refunded. The Year 5 children will get first chance to book on the Wales trip next year. Unfortunately there will not be another residential for the Year 6 children to go on whilst they are at our school.
Unfortunately our Walesby visit for Year 3 and 4 children has had to be cancelled. All money paid will be refunded and the children booked on the trip will be given first chance to go next year. The Year 4s (who will be Year 5s next year) can still choose to go to Walesby instead of Wales if they wish.
The residential to Whitehall (Year 5 and 6) has also been cancelled and all money paid will be refunded. The Year 5 children will get first chance to book on the Wales trip next year. Unfortunately there will not be another residential for the Year 6 children to go on whilst they are at our school.
I realise you will all have lots of questions and concerns relating to the news announced today about school closures so here is what we do know at this time.
You will have heard on the news tonight that ALL SCHOOLS in the UK will be closing at the end of Friday 20th March until further notice. This is to slow the spread of Coronavirus.
Therefore as of the end of Friday 20th March, Anthony Bek will be closed to most pupils. The Government have asked schools to help keep key workers in their jobs by allowing pupils of those parents to still attend as long as they have the staffing to facilitate this. The scientific advice shows that our school would be safe for this small number of children to continue attending – but asking others to stay away will help to slow the spread.
Anthony Bek will therefore be open to pupils who fall into the following categories- vulnerable pupils and pupils whose parents are key workers. If staffing concerns mean that we cannot offer these places, this provision will be offered by the local authority elsewhere. To reduce the number of pupils in school, where one parent is not a key worker, it is expected that this non-key worker parent would be able to care for the child. It is not compulsory for the pupils below to attend school, it is being offered as a service to help parents but parents can opt to keep these pupils at home if they choose.
Vulnerable pupils (siblings of these pupils will be expected to remain at home to keep numbers of pupils in school low)
We are already aware of who these pupils are and texts will be sent to confirm your child meets this criteria.
Key workers
We are expecting to receive a more thorough list from the Government on Thursday 19th March. We will then need to collate job roles (from both parents who care for the pupil) to identify which pupils fall into this category.
Children who are currently self-isolating
At the end of their self-isolation period, these pupils can return to school IF they meet one of the criteria above. If they don't they will stay off school until further notice.
Walesby and Whitehall visits
I have contacted both centres to enquire about our bookings and what may happen should schools not be reopened by that time. I will update you with their feedback once this is received. Please be aware that I expect them to be extremely busy at this time so you may not get an immediate answer to this. Please continue to make payments in accordance with the payment plan so we don't lose our booking. If we have no choice but to cancel, you will receive a refund so please don't worry about this.
Free School Meals
The Government has announced that pupils eligible for free school meals will receive vouchers to use in supermarkets to help fund dinners during the period of school closures. I expect to hear more about this tomorrow so will update you once this is received.
Learning at home
Each child will receive a pack tomorrow (Thursday 19th March) which will contain activities to complete over the two weeks before the Easter holidays. Pupils have also been given a login for Purple Mash (an online education website) which is full of activities to do. Their teachers will put activities in their 'to do' folder each week but they are free to do any activity on there. (We do appreciate that not everyone has access to the internet, hence the paper pack too.) There are also links on our website (Parents tab- Helping your child') for other websites offering educational activities. Class teachers may also put activities on their class pages so please look out for these. Of course, you may ask your child to do any activity which would be beneficial to them educationally, such as reading a variety of texts, writing a range of texts or practising number related activities (as appropriate to the age of the child).
Assuming school closures continue after Easter, teachers will continue to create work packs which last 2 weeks for those who cannot access the internet. You will need to let us know if you would like this so we can organise how to get this to you.
Assessments
The Government have announced that there will be no Primary Assessments this year. This includes Phonics for Year 1 pupils, SATs for Y2 pupils and SATS for Y6 pupils.
After school provision and breakfast club
It is not yet clear if these provisions will be offered. If they are offered, it will only be for the pupils who meet the criteria above. More details will be shared before the end of school on Friday 20th March.
We will continue to send texts and keep you updated throughout the period of school closures if anything changes.