Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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School closure and remote learning information
Thu 07 Jan 2021It has been a whirlwind start to the New Year and it will take a few more days for things to settle into the new normal. I haven’t even really had time to wish you all a Happy New Year and to say I hope you enjoyed some family time at Christmas.
I wanted to take this opportunity firstly to say thank you for responding to the changes so quickly, for sending the information we need to get everything up and running and for your support in what will be another challenging time of the school year. I know you will have been inundated with texts and e-mails over the last few days due to the suddenness and immediacy of the changes announced and you are probably feeling as overwhelmed as we are but together we will get through this period.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to share further information regarding places, free school meals and remote learning.
Clearly, closing schools to large numbers of pupils is not what we wanted to happen but we do understand why we are in this position and safety has to be the key priority. It is really very sobering looking at the increasing number of cases both locally and nationally and deeply saddening the number of people losing their lives to this virus. A statistic yesterday was that more people lost their live in 24 hours in the UK (more than 1000 in just one day) than have lost their lives in the whole of Australia for the whole length of the pandemic so far. That truly evidences how serious the current situation we are in is, so whilst we know these next few weeks are going to be challenging for most people, we have to keep in sight that the reason for these school closures is, when looking at the bigger picture, to save lives.
Key worker and vulnerable places
As you know, schools are now closed to all except vulnerable pupils and those pupils with parents who are key workers in the same way that they were closed last year. This year is different though in that we have significantly more requests- the same is happening in all schools and it is extremely worrying. Clearly, we want to be able to keep everyone in the school community safe which means having fewer pupils in classes to ensure we can keep 2m apart. We also have lower numbers of staffing available to us due to some needing to shield or self-isolate so it is really important that every family, even if they are key workers, only requests their school place if they cannot arrange suitable childcare at home so we can make sure that the provision in school keeps staff, pupils and their wider families as safe as possible. Please bear this in mind if requesting a place or if you already have one.
Free school meals
Pupils who are continuing to attend school will continue to receive free school meals each day. For those at home who are eligible for free school meals for financial reasons (this does not include universal free school meals for KS1), you should have received an e-mail regarding the options and your preferences. At the moment, we can only offer a daily packed lunch which can be collected from school each day. From next week, we will be offering food hampers which will need to be collected from school every two weeks. We know the best support you can receive is the vouchers so you can buy what is right for your household. The Government has promised that this scheme will become available but has not yet said when and has insisted schools use hampers in the mean-time. We will of course continue to chase this up so we can offer these as soon as possible.
Remote learning
All staff at Anthony Bek want to ensure your child has the best learning experience possible whether they are in school or at home and how this is achieved will vary from school to school depending on lots of factors including resources, funding, staff numbers etc. It is extremely challenging for schools, (especially small schools with only one class per year group like ours) to find ways to teach the pupils in school and those at home at the same time. Many larger schools, which have more than one class for each year group, can have for example one Y3 teacher in school teaching the key worker y3 pupils and another Y3 teacher responsible for teaching the Y3 pupils at home. Unfortunately, we only have one teacher per year group so our teachers have to be responsible for teaching those in school and at home so it’s more challenging. However, our staff are always up for a challenge and of course want the very best for every child so will do everything they can to support you. These are a few of the ways they are trying to make the learning at home as easy as possible for you and your child:
- A simple timetable overview which shows learning for the week
- A video introduction (of themselves) to introduce the week’s learning so your child get to ‘see’ their teacher each week and hear the overview directly from them
- Putting all documents in one place (One Drive) with links on the Class website page so you can get to these resources easily
- Providing links to teaching videos to teach them different concepts so you don’t have to teach them yourselves
- Providing paper copies for those with no internet access at all (see below)
- Making sure most activities with a written outcome can be recorded in the exercise book provided so you don’t need to print resources out or collect them from school
- Having staff available on the class e-mail account all day to respond to any questions or difficulties you/your child may have quickly
- Providing feedback to you/your child to reward, motivate and further support your child as well as to monitor their progress
- Staff checking in with you via e-mail if they don’t hear from you to see if there’s anything they can do to help you
- Ringing you/your child once per week to keep in touch, to see how you’re doing and to see what any ways we can help
- Telling you about National programs that will help your child’s education, e.g. Joe Wicks starts his Exercise videos every day from Monday 11th Jan and the BBC are also doing Primary school age teaching programs every morning from Monday 11th Jan.
We don’t want you to feel under pressure- we know many of you will be trying to work from home as well as supporting your child and you may have more than one child to support so we understand you may not be able to complete all tasks on the days/ times given.We hope to provide as much remote support so that your child can do lots of the tasks independently and may just need you to start them off and check on them now and again rather than expect you to sit with your child constantly. The Government suggests Primary School Pupils should engage in 3 hrs of learning per day. We know that some days may be harder than others to achieve this and you may do more on some days than others. All we ask is that you do your best and keep in regular contact with your child’s teacher so they can monitor how your child is getting on and find ways to help you further if needed.
Sharing your child’s learning
Depending on the task set, there will be different ways to share your child’s learning. If the task is on one of our online programs, e.g. TT Rockstars or Purple Mash, teachers will be able to see this without you needing to do anything. For tasks that the children have written/ drawn something, the easiest way to share this is to photograph it. You can then send this by e-mail to your child’s new class e-mail or you can upload this to the ONE DRIVE class folder- your child’s staff will send you the link for this. If your child is working on a computer, you could just save and send the file. If you are more adventurous and have videoed something to share with staff, you will probably find that this is too big to e-mail in most cases so the easiest way would be to upload it to the ONE DRIVE folder. We know not everyone knows how to do these things so if you are struggling, please let us know and we’ll show you how to do this.
If you simply have no way of taking photographs or videos (e.g. you don’t have a phone, laptop, tablet etc) and therefore are relying solely on paper copies, you can return the completed activities once a week (on a Monday morning) when you collect your next pack. Please ensure you keep in contact with staff during the week though so they know you are getting on okay.
IT resources and internet access
I’m sure you will have heard that the Government aims to help disadvantaged pupils who didn’t have any access to a laptop or tablet or have no access to the internet. At the moment, they seem to be concentrating on Secondary schools but we will continue to make applications for these to support pupils at home who need it.
Please e-mail me (headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk) if your child is home learning but does not have access to a laptop, tablet or phone. It may be that we can make an application to the Department for Education to support you. If your child has a PlayStation or Xbox, your child may also be able to use these to access home learning. I have not tried this myself as I do not have these resources but this has been widely shared in social media this week. I’m also aware that SMART tvs can also be used to access the internet so these may also be helpful.
Questions
This happened so quickly that I’m sure there will be many questions. On Monday we were told to open (despite many concerns) and we were assured that Primary schools wouldn’t close and by the end of the same day, the Government had completely changed their minds so I’m sure, like us, you will have lots of questions. We are waiting for the Government to answer many of these but if you have questions about the general situation, please e-mail me. If your questions are about admin issues, e.g. School Money, not receiving e-mails etc, please e-mail the office and if your questions are about your child’s learning, please e-mail your child’s teaching group (you have all been provided with class e-mail addresses).
We know the next few weeks are not going easy- we've been here before, but we do know that together we can do the best for every child in our school. Our staff will do everything they can to support you at home and we know for some of you trying to juggle work commitments and supporting your child or children is not going to be easy.
Please be safe,
Mrs. Donna-Marie Johnson
Headteacher
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Key worker and vulnerable pupils
Tue 05 Jan 2021Pupils who have requested a key worker/ vulnerable pupil place have been sent the e-mail below explaining the details for the groups. All other pupils will be supported with learning at home.
We have split the children by age into 3 key worker groups:
- KS2 (Y3-6)
- Y2 only
- Mixed Reception/Y1.
The numbers in the groups are sufficiently low enough to ensure each child can have a desk of their own instead of having to share as they have done this year so far. This is different in Reception/Y1 however as this style of learning is not appropriate to their needs at all times. We are also fortunate enough to have 3 separate buildings so each group will be in their own building with their own block of toilets to further reduce sharing. We will of course, continue with increased cleaning, hand washing, sanitising and keeping 2m apart within bubbles at all times (the latter clearly more difficult with the youngest pupils but we will still encourage distance at all times)
The new times and gates starting on Wednesday 6th January 2021 are as follows:
Please remember social distancing at all times and face coverings. Please also be prompt and leave the outside area straight away to reduce contacts.
KS2 group- Main reception gate 8:50am-3:15pm
Y2 group- Top/ kitchen gate 8:45am-3:10pm
Y1/FS2 group-Middle/ Nursery gate 8:40-3:05pm Other drop off points
Main reception gate:
Breakfast club (arrivals between 8am and 8:30am only)
Late arrivals 8:55am onwards (social distancing key)
Breakfast club
• Service to be offered to pupils from all groups but limited to a maximum of 15 in total so please ensure you book online and in advance if you need this service.
- Children use the main entrance/Reception gate arriving between 8:00-8:30am.
After school club
• Service to be offered to pupils from all groups but limited to a maximum of 15 in total so please ensure you book online and in advance if you need this service.
• The same procedures and times for collecting will remain in place.
- Please be aware if you use this service and are late collecting the pupils, we will need to charge you the additional costs to staff that our school incurs. I know it’s not always easy to be on time but we are struggling to keep this service open with the lower numbers so we cannot afford to be paying additional hours to staff and not recouping this. Thank you for your understanding.
School Uniform/ PE
- Children will need to come to school in their uniform except on PE days (as per the current arrangements). Your child may still wear their own clothes on their birthday or the day closest to their birthday if it falls on the weekend so they get to feel special.
- NEW PE days- KS2 group Tuesdays
- Y2- Mondays
- Y1/FS- Wednesdays (starting next week)
What do pupils need to bring?
- Like before, the fewer things that are brought into school, the lower the risk so your child should not be bringing anything to school apart from the following items:
- Coat, hat, scarf, gloves as appropriate to the weather
- Lunch box (wipeable) if they are bringing food from home
- Fruit for break time (if needed) wrapped in cling film, foil or in a sandwich bag
- Reading book and diary (in a simple plastic bag or book bag- not big rucksacks please.
- Bag with change of clothes, underwear, wipes (only FS as needed)
Attendance
- For continuity, even though you might not work every day, it is now a requirement that if your child takes a place, they attend every day rather than on certain days in line with work commitments as in the previous lockdown.
- If your child is unwell or cannot attend for any reason, please telephone the school before 9:30am to give the reason so the register can be marked accordingly.
- If your child or anyone in your house has COVID symptoms, please order a test and begin self-isolation immediately.
Positive COVID cases
- If we are informed about a positive case and your child is identified as a close contact, we will ask you to keep them at home for 10 days as per the current guidelines. We would provide work for the pupils to complete at home during this time as we are doing for the children not attending school.
Office hours
- Please be aware that our office won’t be manned continually so you made need to leave a message. Staff will return your call at the earliest opportunity.
If you need any help or assistance at any time, please e-mail me headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk or Mrs Smith- clairesmith@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk
It is expected from the Government announcement that this will be in place until at least February half term. Please ensure you keep us up to date with any changes in your circumstances.
We will do our best to ensure this is as positive and educationally beneficial period whilst keeping safety at the forefront of our minds.
Kind regards,
Mrs Johnson
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School closure
Mon 04 Jan 2021Due to the late announcement made by the Government tonight, Anthony Bek Community Primary School will be closed to all pupils on Tuesday 5th January to enable plans for new key worker and vulnerable pupils to be made. Our school will reopen on Wednesday 6th January to pupils who are vulnerable or whose parents are key workers and have requested a place (headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk). E-mails with details of groups, timings, gates etc will be sent to those parents tomorrow.
Teachers will send electronic work for pupils to complete at home. If any parent struggles to access online resources, please let your child's teacher know straight away.
I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused by not being open to any pupil tomorrow but we need to ensure plans are carefully made to ensure the safety of all and therefore trying to achieve this at 10pm is not appropriate.
Take care,
Mrs. Johnson.
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School reopening update
Sun 03 Jan 2021As you know, the Government have said all Primary Schools (except those they have identified in the South) should reopen to all pupils tomorrow. I'm sure many of you have seen in the news or in the local media that some schools or authorities are making the decision themselves to only open to vulnerable and key worker pupils.
At present, our instruction from the Government and from our local authority is that we remain open to all pupils following our risk assessment as before Christmas unless staffing levels mean that the school cannot reopen safely.
You may have seen in the media that many unions for Teachers and Support staff are advising their members of their right to refuse to work if they feel unsafe particularly as the new strain seems to be spreading much more quickly. Staff in many schools have invoked this right which is why you may have heard about some schools not opening for all children tomorrow.
I have asked our staff to confirm their intentions by 3:30pm today. I will confirm before 4:30pm (I will have to meet with the Chair of Governors first) if we need to have any changes ourselves but for now, please assume we are open to all pupils. (It is possible that we may only be able to open to vulnerable pupils (those with a social worker and those with an Education Health Care Plan) and pupils whose parents are key workers and currently working (there is a list on the Government website of key worker roles but I will send this later if we have to go down that road.)
I have received many e-mails from parents who are worried about their children returning to school especially with the high numbers in the local area and the new strain. If you have particular worries about your child's safety or maybe someone in your household is more vulnerable and you're worried about your child bringing COVID home, please e-mail me (headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk). It may be that we can agree working from home for individual children for a short period of time until the situation is less concerning. I would love to say I can guarantee that no staff or child will test positive for COVID but clearly no-one can guarantee this. What I can guarantee though is that as a school, we are continually assessing risks and making changes to ensure we keep the risks as low as they possibly can. Our risk assessment is on our website but below are some of the key ways we minimise the risks.
- Consistent class bubbles with consistent staff (if any staff are absent and we have to move staff around, staff are asked to support from the front of the class and not engage directly with the pupils and wear face coverings/ visors if they have to get close to them)
- Increased handwashing and hand sanitising
- Increased classroom cleaning
- Different gates and times
- Different play times and dinner times so only one group is on the playground at one time
- Class play resources not shared with other classes
- Shared play resources, e.g. scooters sanitised after use
- Separate toilet times and cleaned before the next bubble or individual
- 2m encouraged at all times
- Desks facing forwards (not appropriate for EYFS/Y1)
- Pupils with own resources- not sharing pens, etc
- No shared activities (only remotely) e.g. assemblies
Please remember, children should isolate and get a test if they have symptoms (please inform school straight away if this is the case for your child). They should also be isolating if anyone else is the household has symptoms or is positive.
Kind regards,
Mrs. Johnson
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Christmas Class Videos
Thu 17 Dec 2020Please follow the links below to view our class Christmas Videos.
The staff and children have worked so hard on these and we hope you enjoy them. They will certainly put a smile on your face and bring you some Christmas cheer!
Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and happy new year!
Nursery AM:
Nursery PM:
Reception:
Year 1 Blue & Yellow group:
Year 1 Green & Red group:
Year 2:
Year 3:
Year 4
Version 1:
Version 2:
Year 5:
Year 5/6 Video 1:
Year 5/6 Video 2:
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Positive case
Thu 17 Dec 2020We have received confirmation of a positive case today and therefore have made the decision to close the school to all pupils today (which should have been our last day before the Christmas holidays began) as a further precaution.
Letters have been sent to all parents of pupils in the Y5 class (Mrs Fish's class only) that need to self-isolate. as well as a letter to the whole school. (Copies of these are on the website in the latest news- letters in date order section)
This is not the ending to the school term that anyone would have wanted but we hope you understand that our main priority is to protect the health and safety of all pupils, staff and their families and doing this precautionary measure is to try to ensure families get to enjoy Christmas Day together (in their Christmas bubbles).
The pantomime has been sorted to be shared when we return for those that didn't get to watch it yesterday and their goody bags will still be there for them then.
You will also receive links today so you can see your child's mini Christmas message/performance. We hope you enjoy these.
You will be sent some activities that your child can do at home today. If you have any questions to do with this, please e-mail your child's teaching staff. If you have any other questions, please e-mail myself (headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk) or Mrs Smith (clairesmith@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk) and we'll do our best to help you.
Please remember if your child develops symptoms, please order them a test and contact me/Mrs Smith at the above addresses to let us know you have ordered a test and to let us know the result so we can contact anyone that is a close contact.
Many thanks- I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
Let's hope 2021 is a better year for all,
Best wishes,
Mrs. Johnson
P
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Christmas reminders
Wed 16 Dec 2020Christmas reminders
Wednesday 16th December 2020
Dear Parents and Carers,
Christmas is almost upon us and I’m sure you are looking forward to spending time with loved ones you may not have been able to spend time with for quite some time.
Keeping safe
We continuously remind pupils about keeping themselves as safe as possible in school, maintaining distance, not having face to face conversations, washing/sanitising hands etc to ensure we keep the risks as low as possible.
It is more important than ever that we all follow these guidelines as any positive cases or close contacts from today onwards, mean all those affected would have to self-isolate all the way up to Christmas and on Christmas day.
I do not want to be giving that message to any class. Please do your part in ensuring the risks are as low as possible by:
- Wearing a face covering outside of school
- Staying 2m away from everyone not in your household bubble (or extended support bubble if you are supporting a single adult household)
- Not mixing with other household in homes and gardens
Our choices affect others so we need to ensure we all remember this at all times but especially now.
Christmas videos
Each class has made a short Christmas video which will be shared with you all via links on e-mails and on the school website tomorrow. We hope you enjoy these.
INSET-Fri 18th December
Remember tomorrow is the last day as Friday is now and INSET day and school will be completely closed so please ensure your child takes everything home they might have in school that you need over the holidays.
Reminder- Contract tracing during the holidays
It is really important that you help with the contract tracing if your child develops symptoms after school has closed for Christmas. You will need to make contact if:
1. Your child develops symptoms on Friday 18th or Saturday 19th December (and they were in school on Wednesday 16th or Thursday 17th December). You will need to organise a test straight away and inform us of the results as soon as you receive them.
2. Your child receives a positive test result on Friday 18th or Saturday 19th December and they were in school 48 hours before the test result (if no symptoms) or in school anytime in the 48 hours before they showed symptoms.
3. Your child receives a positive test result anytime up to Wednesday 23rd December. Please send confirmation of the result as well as the date when symptoms were first noticed and the last date your child was in school.
Please e-mail me in the first instance:
headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk
I will check my e-mails at 10am, 4pm and 8pm each day. I will respond to you so you know I have received your e-mail.
In the unlikely event that I am unavailable and you do not get a response at the times above (closest to the time you sent the e-mail), please e-mail Mrs Smith:
clairesmith@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk
If your child tests positive from 24th December onwards, you do not need to contact school until school reopens after the holidays.
If your child has been a close contact
If I receive confirmation from a parent that a child has tested positive or from a staff member and subsequently then identify your child has been a close contact, I will send an e-mail and text message to alert you about this. It is therefore really important that you ensure the details we hold for you are accurate and you check your messages daily. You will need to ensure your child follows the 14 day isolation as per the government guidelines in this case. Please send a confirmation e-mail to the addresses above to confirm you have received this information if your child is identified as a close contact of a positive case.
I truly hope no Parent/Carer or staff member has to contact me to inform me of a positive case and therefore I don't have to contact any staff family to tell them that their child needs to self-isolate or contact any staff member to tell them that they have to self-isolate over the Christmas period.
Thanking you in advance for your support.
All that leaves me to say is we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Good health to you all,
Take care,
Mrs Johnson
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Lea Green change
Wed 09 Dec 2020As you know from the text sent, the Government have extended the date that residential visits cannot take place to 31st March 2021. This means that our planned residential visit cannot go ahead next year. (Sadly, we only just missed out by 1 day)
Clearly we understand why this is but we are disappointed too as this experience is a wonderful opportunity for pupils.
I have spoken to the Lea Green staff and thankfully there is an alternative offer which doesn’t mean children sleep over (that’s the part that is not allowed) but will still give them an amazing experience.
Lea Green are offering us a full extended day visit instead which will include the same type of activities on the PowerPoint that you watched when you decided to let your child take part, e.g. ropes course, soft play area, treasure hunt, climbing wall, go-karts, obstacle course, team building games etc. They will also be provided with an evening meal.
To give them the fullest day possible, children will leave school at 8:30am (so will need to be in school at 8:10am). They will leave the centre at 6:25pm so will be back approximately 7:15pm.
They will still need to bring a packed lunch for lunchtime as they would have done originally.
The cost of this visit will be £25 per child, including all the activities, transport and evening meal which is still a very fair price.
We are offering this to the children who originally booked Lea Green first.
If you decide you want your child to take part in this extended day visit, the monies you have paid will transfer to this trip and any extra money you may have already paid will be refunded to you as soon as Lea Green return the money to us. This will most likely be in January.
If you decide you no longer want your child to take part, all monies you have paid, will be refunded to you in January when Lea Green refund school.
If we have spaces, we will offer to the other pupils in Y1 and Y2 who didn’t originally book the Lea Green trip.
If there is not enough interest, the whole trip will be cancelled and all monies refunded.
Please e-mail Mrs Grant your decision by Friday 11th December using the following e-mail address:
enquiries@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk
Kind regards,
Mrs D. M. Johnson
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New INSET day and contact over the Christmas holidays
Tue 08 Dec 2020You may have seen in the news today that schools have been given permission from the Government to make Friday 18th December an INSET day. This is to ensure that school staff do not have to work on Christmas Eve. I'm sure you will agree that after the challenges this year has brought, expecting staff to work on Christmas Eve (when they are not paid or contracted to work and when they should be with their families) is not really fair.
Public Health England has agreed a 6 day window after the final day of teaching in which schools are asked to remain contactable so they can assist with contact tracing where necessary. This will allow enough time for positive coronavirus (COVID-19) cases to be identified and confirmed by a test and for relevant contacts in the education setting to be traced. If school was open on Friday 18th December, this would mean that school staff would have to remain contactable and potentially have to contact staff and parents of pupils following the contract tracing procedure on the 24th December (the 6th day). Making Thursday 17th December the last day for pupils and closing the school for INSET would mean the last day staff would be asked to do this would be 23rd December which although is still not ideal for school staff, it is better than having to work on Christmas Eve.
Supporting parents with advice and assisting with contract tracing has led to a huge increase in workload in the evenings, weekends and holidays so it is pleasing that the Government has finally recognised that asking staff to work an additional 6 days of the holidays is a big ask anyway without it impacting Christmas Eve.
This issue has been highlighted to the Government since the beginning of the term (I'm sure you will have seen lots about it in the news) so it is highly frustrating that they have left it this late to make this decision. I appreciate for some of you, this may mean you are now having to look for childcare at this late stage and I'm sorry if this causes you any inconvenience but this decision was out of our control.
Contract tracing during the holidays
It is really important that you help with the contract tracing if your child develops symptoms after school has closed for Christmas. You will need to make contact if:
1. Your child develops symptoms on Friday 18th or Saturday 19th December (and they were in school on Wednesday 16th or Thursday 17th December). You will need to organise a test straight away and inform us of the results as soon as you receive them.
2. Your child receives a positive test result on Friday 18th or Saturday 19th December and they were in school 48 hours before the test result (if no symptoms) or in school anytime in the 48 hours before they showed symptoms.
3. Your child receives a positive test result anytime up to Wednesday 23rd December. Please send confirmation of the result as well as the date when symptoms were first noticed and the last date your child was in school.
Please e-mail me in the first instance:
headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk
I will check my e-mails at 10am, 4pm and 8pm each day. I will respond to you so you know I have received your e-mail.
In the unlikely event that I am unavailable and you do not get a response at the times above (closest to the time you sent the e-mail), please e-mail Mrs Smith:
clairesmith@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk
If your child tests positive from 24th December onwards, you do not need to contact school until school reopens after the holidays.
If your child has been a close contact
If I receive confirmation from a parent that a child has tested positive or from a staff member and subsequently then identify your child has been a close contact, I will send an e-mail and text message to alert you about this. It is therefore really important that you ensure the details we hold for you are accurate and you check your messages daily. You will need to ensure your child follows the 14 day isolation as per the government guidelines in this case. Please send a confirmation e-mail to the addresses above to confirm you have received this information if your child is identified as a close contact of a positive case.
I truly hope no Parent/Carer or staff member has to contact me to inform me of a positive case and therefore I don't have to contact any staff family to tell them that their child needs to self-isolate or contact any staff member to tell them that they have to self-isolate over the Christmas period.
You can all help make the risks of this happening as low as possible by consistently following the rules for our tier. I know we are all fed up with the COVID rules but I'm sure you all want Christmas to be as special as possible. I know I certainly want to spend mine with the family I'm allowed to meet with and I'm sure you feel the same so please, please help us all achieve this.
Thanking you in advance for your support.
Mrs Johnson
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Christmas is coming!
Thu 03 Dec 2020Christmas Decorations
The 'elves' were very busy last night making our school look very festive! Seeing the children's faces this morning was fabulous and just what we all need to keep everyone feeling positive in these challenging times. Usually, most of you would get to see our decorations and lights when attending one of our usual performances but as we can't do that, we've taken some photographs so you can see for yourself. It's definitely 'Beginning to look a lot like Christmas' as the song goes.
Advent window
We have taken part in the community advent event. Our window is today-3rd December. If you haven't already seen it, have a look- it's in the windows to the left of the main Reception. It looks much better when it starts to get dark but obviously for safety reasons we have to turn the lights off when we leave school so please look before 6pm. The display will stay up for the duration of advent so if you don't get to see it today, you'll still have the opportunity. Have a look around the community to see who else is taking part in the advent event.
Christmas Community Challenge
Hopefully you all remember my Community challenges earlier in the year? Well, I thought it was a good time to set another. You may have noticed in front of our advent window is a bare tree (also pictured below). We would love our school community to help decorate this tree to make it a spectacular community tree. Therefore, we are asking each household to make a decoration to hang on our tree. The decoration needs to be made of something that will cope with wind, rain and even snow! You may want to make a decoration to remember someone special to your family. Please add your child's/ family name to the decoration as this will also be a competition with prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
Please send your decoration with your child as soon as possible so we can start to make the tree look festive. The deadline for decorations is Wednesday 16th December and prizes will be awarded on the last day. Hopefully, this will be the best community challenge yet!
Best wishes,
Mrs. Johnson
