Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Residential visits

  Thu 19 Mar 2020

  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.

• SCHOOL CLOSURE

  Wed 18 Mar 2020

  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)

  • Children who have an Education Health and Care Plan
  • Children who are currently being supported by a social worker (on Child Protection)
  • Children who are in Care (foster care)

  We are already aware of who these pupils are and texts will be sent to confirm your child meets this criteria.

  Key workers

  • Parents who currently work for the NHS
  • Parents who currently work for the Police
  • Parents who are currently supermarket delivery drivers
  • Parents who are currently working in Social care

  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.

   

   

   

   

   

• NURSERY CLOSURE

  Wed 18 Mar 2020
  Please be aware that our Nursery (both morning and afternoon sessions) will be closed from Thursday 19th March and should re-open on Monday 20th April.

• Swimming gala

  Thu 27 Feb 2020

  Yesterday we took 8 of our older children to Clowne swimming baths to take part in a gala. We were expecting to be out swum by the other schools who seem to have a lot of children who swim for the County but that was not the case!

  Each race was 25 metres and every child completed 2 individual races and 3 relays so that was 250 metres at break neck speed.

  To say we were proud of our children was an understatement - their determination, stamina and teamwork was a pleasure to see. We actually came joint third out of 10 schools which we were over the moon about. The children were fabulous and it was a lovely morning.

  

• Spring Disco

  Wed 26 Feb 2020

  Great fun was had by all at the  end of term Spring disco, which raised a fantastic £270 for the school!

  The children danced their socks off and particularly enjoyed the musical statues game where they had to hold their partner off the ground, resulting in some hilarious positions!

  Thank you to all parents who brought their children to the disco, baked cakes or stayed to supervise, your support is very much appreciated.

   

• Rewards Day

  Tue 25 Feb 2020

  On the last day of term we held our twice yearly Rewards Day. This is when the children can choose to spend their hard-earned Beks on an 'experience'. This time we had children going to a Play Zone, ice-skating, bowling, watching a film or making cup cakes. this year, for the first time we included a cream tea in Pleasley.

  A lot of children chose to save their Beks until the Summer when they might be able to afford a more expensive day out. This is a really good financial lesson for the children when they are learning whether to spend or save. 

  Once again all the children were a credit to you and their behaviour was excellent.

  

• Photos from the Dance Festival

  Wed 12 Feb 2020

  The Dance club took part in a festival at Chesterfield's Winding Wheel last week. They performed a dance to "This is the Greatest Show." They performed brilliantly and thanks must go to Miss Rushin and Mrs Thurman who choreographed the dance and helped the children practise.

  Thanks also to the parents who supplied the wonderful costumes.

  Hopefully we can get the video on the web-site in the Sports section.

  

• Internet safety

  Mon 03 Feb 2020

  Last Thursday we had a theatre company come into school and they performed in front of Year 2 right up to Year 6. The performance was called 'The Dark Wood' and it was all based around the idea of being safe on the Internet.

  What was really good was that after the performance they held a workshop exploring the types of games and APPS that are not suitable for children.

  It clearly highlighted that a lot of our children are playing games and going on APPS that have an age restriction of 15 and above.

  Please ensure that your children are not accessing things that they are too young for.

• Young Voices 2020

  Tue 14 Jan 2020

  Last Thursday the choir set off at lunchtime to go to The Arena in Sheffield for Young Voices. The afternoon was spent practising the songs and getting the actions correct. Mrs Johnson got us moved closer to the stage so there was no chance to have a breather!

  Once we had had our tea, the parents started to arrive and it was amazing to see the arena slowly fill up with so many people.

  There were over 4000 children, all with the same white shirts on so from a staff point of view it could have been a nightmare!

  Our children were so well behaved and sensible that it made the whole experience so much better.

  The actual concert was amazing and it was wonderful to be part of it. We sung and danced until we could sing no more. From a personal point of view - it was wonderful to see Tony Hadley perform (he used to be a poster on my bedroom wall!)

  Thanks must go to Mrs Johnson and Mrs Bonsall for all the time they have put in to get the choir to such a high standard and to Mrs Swain and Mrs Shepherd who accompanied us and sung and danced with us.

  It was lovely to see so many parents supporting us - even if you were sitting miles away from the children.

  What a wonderful experience it was for all concerned.

  

• Key Stage One play

  Thu 19 Dec 2019

  KS1 Nativity.

  KS1 wowed us all with their stunning performance of Little Angel Gets Her Wings. The children worked so hard to learn their lines and all of the songs.

  Well done KS1, you were fantastic!