Latest News

Events, news and reminders

Fri 23 Oct 2020

Please see the latest newsletter e-mailed to all Parents/Carers for all the latest news, events and reminders. You can also find the letter in the letters folder in the Parents' section of this website.

Happy holidays,

Mrs. Johnson

Halloween themed Day

Fri 23 Oct 2020

We may not be able to have our usual Halloween themed disco but that hasn't stopped us! Staff and children look incredible (in a very horrifying way) as you can see from the images below. Many people are simply not recognisable. All learning today has a link to the theme of Halloween and the children are loving the theme. Even some of our pupils who are currently self-isolating have joined in at home and sent us their photographs!

Please have a look at class pages too for individual photographs and examples of their work.

Positive COVID case

Tue 06 Oct 2020

I have been advised by Public Health England that there has been a second confirmed case of COVID-19 within the school in the Year 1 bubble. We have identified a link between the two cases so this is not being treated as a school or community outbreak but we know this will cause anxiety amongst our school community.

We have liaised fully with Public Health England and they have confirmed that we have identified and isolated all the relevant staff and pupils and confirmed that our processes in school are robust.

Children in Miss Walker's class have been asked to self-isolate (remaining at home until Wednesday 14th October). The school remains open to everyone else and your child should continue to attend as normal if they remain well. This includes any brothers and sisters of the children in Miss Walker's class as per the Government guidelines.

I can confirm within school we ensure bubbles/class groups are kept separate, including separate times and gates for arriving and leaving school, separate times and zones for playgrounds and fields, children remaining in their own classrooms and having their own individual resources, areas that are shared, such as toilets being cleaned after every group or individual visit etc and these processes are consistent and understood by all so you can rest assured we are doing absolutely everything possible to ensure the risk to everyone is a low as possible.

You all play a vital role in this. Public Health's clear message is about the importance of social distancing of 2m for everyone (with the exception of household bubbles). Please ensure you are following this guidance and promoting it with your wider friends and family.

Many thanks,

Mrs Johnson

Positive Covid Case

Thu 01 Oct 2020

Due to a positive COVID test result, our mixed Reception/Year 1 class (Miss. Harrison's class only) now has to self-isolate. Letters have been sent to all Parents by e-mail. Copies of these letters can also be found in the News and Events tab- letters section.

Please remember:

Only those who have been contacted by the school (the above class only) need to self-isolate.
No child or family member should order a test unless they have symptoms themselves
School is open to all other classes so brothers and sisters of the children affected by this can still attend school as normal
School will continue to have very strict measures on social distancing, handwashing, additional cleaning, not sharing resources etc to do everything we can to ensure everyone is kept safe.
You can help by ensuring that you/ your household follow the guidelines consistently.

I realise that having a positive case in our school community has caused some panic this morning but please be assured as a school, we are doing absolutely everything we can to ensure we reduce the risks as much as is humanly possible.

Please e-mail me (headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk) if you have any questions or concerns.

Many thanks for your ongoing support,

Mrs. Johnson

Halloween dress up day

Mon 28 Sep 2020

Dear Parents/Carers

Due to Covid 19, we will not be able to hold our usual Halloween discos this year. The children love dressing up and it is such a shame that these cannot go ahead.

It is for this reason that we have decided to let the children come to school in Halloween costumes on the last day of term. (Friday October 23^rd)

It is important to stress that their costume needs to be one that they can move about freely in and is not going to be too cold for them when it is play time. Please ensure that they have sensible footwear and also leave any props (Grim reaper’s sythe, big spiders, skulls etc) at home so they do not get lost, broken or fiddled with!

They do not have to wear a full costume, a hat, Halloween t-shirt or face paint will be just fine. If your child does not want to wear Halloween clothes then they need to be in their full school uniform please.

There will be no cost for dressing up.

Please be aware that there will be no PE lessons on this day – they will be re-arranged for earlier in the week.

During the day we will put a distinct Halloween slant on the learning so the children will not be missing out on the curriculum but will feel that we have marked Halloween in some way.

If you have any questions, please ring or email school.

Mrs C. Smith

Residential visits and reminders

Tue 22 Sep 2020

News and reminders

Tuesday 22^nd September 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

Despite the clear differences in school life, we have had a very positive start to the term. The pupils are keen to learn and they are really adapting well to the new processes. Staff are busy assessing them to ensure any gaps are identified quickly. Thank you again for your support. If we continue working together, we can ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible.

Weather

So far we have been lucky with the weather but we know this will change. Rain is currently forecasted for most of the day tomorrow. Please ensure your child has a waterproof coat and please bring an umbrella so you and your child don’t get soaking wet whilst waiting in the queues.

Barriers

I was expecting the barriers to create much more of a queuing system than they have (they were not cheap!) but I still believe they have helped the parents using the middle and kitchen gates.

Pathways

You will notice there is now a sign where the path splits from New Houghton to school to direct Y1 and 2 parents one way and other parents the other way. This is to ensure Y1 and Y2 parents have enough space to queue without people needing to walk through them. Please help us to keep bubbles separate by following these signs.

If you walk down the path from school towards Pleasley, please be aware that on the grass just before the bus stop on the dual carriageway there is a drain which is uncovered. It looks like it had cones around it but these are now inside. It is a large hole and quite deep so please be careful if you are near there. It has been reported to the council.

Residential visits

The venues which we use for our residential visits are still all hoping to be open and fully running for visits next year which means we have to book our places now and pay our deposits. Normally, we would have Parent meetings to share a presentation about these but this is not possible at this time. However, the presentations for each visit are on the school website. Parents tab- Residential visits and select the relevant visit.

If you need to ask any questions before making your decision or you have any concerns you wish to discuss, please e-mail me (headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk)

All payments need to be paid via School Money. If you have not yet set up your account or need any help using School Money, please contact our school office during school hours (01623 810355). Monies paid at each instalment date are non-refundable. However, the venues have all confirmed that if they have to cancel our booking due to COVID, all monies (like this year) would be refunded.

Y1 and Y2 to Lea Green

This one night/two day visit takes place on Weds 31^st March to Thursday 1^st April 2021. It costs £50 in total (food, activities, board, transport all included) which can be spread in payment instalments as per the presentation on the website. To secure your child’s place, a deposit of £10 is needed by Monday 5^th October 2020.

Y3 and Y4 to Walesby

This two night/three day visit takes place on Weds 9^th June to Friday 11^th June 2021. It costs £85 in total (food, activities, board, transport all included) which can be spread in payment instalments as per the presentation on the website. To secure your child’s place, a deposit of £10 is needed by Monday 5^th October 2020. Some parents carried over their funds from the cancelled trip this year so these should be visible when you log into School Money so you know when/if you need to make any further payments.

Y5 and Y6 to CMC Adventure Wales (Pensarn nr Harlech)

Brand new! See there website for full details (https://www.cmcadventure.org.uk/)

This four night/five day visit takes place on Monday 3^rd May (please be aware this is a bank holiday) to Friday 7^th May 2021. It costs £150 in total (food, activities, board, transport all included) which can be spread in payment instalments as per the presentation on the website. To secure your child’s place, a deposit of £25 is needed by Monday 12^th October 2020. Some parents carried over their funds from the cancelled Whitehall trip this year so these should be visible when you log into School Money so you know when/if you need to make any further payments.

COVID - Back to School & Learning Grant

Families that are in financial crisis following COVID, e.g. through redundancy may be able to apply for a grant of up to £100 per child, to fund clothing or equipment for children 4 – 18 years old to return to school : e.g.

School uniform, sports kit
Stationary, homework desk
School shoes, sports shoes

If you feel you are in financial crisis and feel you may benefit from this grant, please contact me via e-mail (headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk). We would have to complete the form together so you would need to share with me an overview of your financial hardship. The authority would make their checks and confirm the decision. This is completely new so I am not aware of any criteria other than being in financial crisis and therefore not able to afford to provide the required equipment/clothing for school. It is only for school clothing and equipment though- not for anything else.

As always, please contact the school by telephone or e-mail if you need anything.

Kind regards,

Mrs Donna-Marie Johnson

Gate reminders

Fri 18 Sep 2020

Dear Parents,

Overall, I think the dropping off and collecting routines are going quite well. We've had a few teething problems, but these are being ironed out each day so hopefully next week, we;ll have it all running perfectly.

Our barriers have now all arrived so on Monday, we should have some better queuing systems for the gates used by Nursery, Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3. (Gates near Nursery and kitchen).

Timings are crucial (on our part and on yours) so please ensure you join the queue at your time slot and listen for the staff calling for the last children before they leave. We've had several children miss their gate slots this week which means they then have to wait until other groups have gone in so they are kept separate.

Staff will remain on the gate for 5 minutes only (see times below) so they can be out of the way ready for the next group as it is important that these groups don't mix. If your child misses this slot, you will need to go to the Reception gate at 8:55am or 9:05am onwards.

See below for a reminder of the gates and the windows for you to drop off. On the first week, we made the Nursery and Reception times slightly earlier- this is working well so we are going to keep to these times.

Kitchen gate:

Y1 8:50-8:55am drop off and 3:15pm collect

Y2 8:40-8:45an drop off and 3:05pm collect

Middle/Nursery gate:

FS2 (Reception) 8:35-8:40 drop off and 3:00pm collect

FS1 ( Nursery) am 8:25-8:30 drop off and 11:30 collect

FS 1 (Nursery) pm 12:30-12:35 drop off and 3:30pm collect

Y3: 8:45-8:50 drop off and 3:10pm

Main reception gate:

Breakfast club (arrivals between 8am and 8:30am only)

FS1 (Nursery) 30hrs 9:00-3:00pm

Y4/5 8:50-8:55 drop off and 3:15pm collection

Y5 8:40-8:45 drop off and 3:05pm collection

Late arrivals 8:55am (social distancing key)

Car park gate: (no access to and from car park during these times- please do not turn your car around at the bottom of the road when Y5/6 are leaving for the safety of our pupils, staff and collecting parents)

Y5/6 8:45-8:50am drop off and 3:10pm collection

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs. Johnson

Symptoms, testing and self-isolation protocol

Mon 14 Sep 2020

Symptoms and testing protocol

Monday 14^th September 2020

Dear Parents,

You will be aware that the number of positive cases of COVID 19 are increasing, nationally and locally and you may have heard that one of our local schools has had to send one of the classes home for 14 days to self-isolate. This caused many parents of that school to raise lots of questions so I thought it would be helpful to clearly explain the processes regarding symptoms, testing and self-isolating. I have written them as scenarios which I hope you find helpful.

At home- your child starts to display symptoms
At home-someone else in the household starts to display symptoms
In school- your child starts to display symptoms
In school- we receive information that a staff member or child has tested positive.

Symptoms

The following symptoms are those recognised by the NHS as the symptoms to look out for.

a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

Most people with coronavirus have at least 1 of these symptoms.

If anyone has any of these symptoms, they must stay at home and organise a COVID test for them as soon as possible. The following link will take you to the test ordering site.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/get-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus/

AT HOME- You notice your child that attends our school has one or more of the symptoms above

Your child and the whole household must self-isolate immediately. Visit the site above to organise a test for your child. Only the person with the symptoms should take a test- not the whole household.
Contact school (headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk) or telephone 01623 810355 if in school hours to inform us of the symptoms and that you have arranged a test.
You may wish to alert the people who you do not live with and that your child has had close contact with over the last 48 hours to let them know that your child might have COVID-19 but are waiting for a test result. At this stage, those people should not self-isolate. Alerting those that your child has been in contact with means they can take extra care in practising social distancing and good hand and respiratory hygiene. They can also be more alert to any symptoms they might develop.
Once the test result is received, send confirmation of the result for your child to the above e-mail address.
If the school has received confirmation that the test result is negative, your child can return to school straight away- even if this is part way through a day.
If the result is positive, your child needs to remain in self-isolation for 10 days from the first day of the symptoms AND the rest of your household has to remain in self-isolation for 14 days from the first day of the child’s symptoms. You will need to take part in track and trace to help eliminate the spread- this will be communicated in your results.
If anyone else in the household begins to show symptoms during the self-isolation period, organise a test as above.

AT HOME- A member of the household (not the child who attends our school) displays one or more of the above symtoms.

The whole household must self-isolate immediately. Visit the site above to organise a test for the person displaying symptoms. Only the person with the symptoms should take a test- not the whole household.
Contact school (headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk) or telephone 01623 810355 if in school hours to inform us that your child needs to self-isolate because they live with someone who has symptoms.
You may wish to alert the people who you do not live with and that the member of your household has had close contact with over the last 48 hours to let them know that your child might have COVID-19 but are waiting for a test result. At this stage, those people should not self-isolate. Alerting those that your household member has been in contact with means they can take extra care in practising social distancing and good hand and respiratory hygiene. They can also be more alert to any symptoms they might develop.
If the test result is negative, please contact the school to confirm. Your child can then return to school straight away.
If the test result is positive, the rest of the household (including the child who attends our school) has to continue to self-isolate until 14 days from the 1^st day of symptoms of the person who tested positive. The positive person needs to self-isolate for 10 days. You will need to take part in track and trace to help eliminate the spread- this will be communicated in your results.

IN SCHOOL – Your child displays one or more of the symptoms above.

Your child will be taken to a designated area by a staff member wearing full personal protective equipment and isolated with the door closed and window open until the parent arrives.
School will contact parents/emergency contacts to arrange for the child (and any siblings who live in the same household) to be collected immediately.
If the child is seriously ill and therefore it is an emergency, staff will call 999.
The whole household must self-isolate immediately. Visit the site above to organise a test for the child displaying symptoms. Only the person with the symptoms should take a test- not the whole household.
Send confirmation of the result for your child to: headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk.
You may wish to alert the people who you do not live with and that the member of your household has had close contact with over the last 48 hours to let them know that your child might have COVID-19 but are waiting for a test result. At this stage, those people should not self-isolate. Alerting those that your household member has been in contact with means they can take extra care in practising social distancing and good hand and respiratory hygiene. They can also be more alert to any symptoms they might develop.
If the school has received confirmation that the test result is negative, your child can return to school straight away- even if this is part way through a day.
If the result is positive, your child needs to remain in self-isolation for 10 days from the first day of the symptoms AND the rest of your household has to remain in self-isolation for 14 days from the first day of the child’s symptoms.
If anyone else in the household begins to show symptoms during the self-isolation period, organise a test as above (Only for the person showing symptoms)

IN SCHOOL – We receive confirmation that a child or staff member has tested positive

We will immediately contact the Health Protection Team.
All staff and children in the same ‘bubble’/class as the child or staff member who has tested positive will be sent home due to being classed as close contacts. In school, we are ensuring wherever possible, pupils stay 2m apart from each other, wash hands regularly and have their own equipment but they are still in the same classroom so they are still classed as close contacts.
Parents will be contacted and asked to collect their child as soon as possible and keep the child in self-isolation for 14 days (this is from the first day of the symptoms of the person who has tested positive so it will be less than 14 days away from school by the time we know the result is positive.
Brothers and sisters in different classes within the school can remain in school as normal as they haven’t had close contact in school with the person who has tested positive.
Other household members do not have to self-isolate as they haven’t been in direct/close contact with the person in school who has tested positive.
Work will be provided for the whole class to complete during this self-isolation to ensure their educational needs are met during this time.
If your child begins to display symptoms themselves, please refer to scenario 1.

If, at any time, your child needs to self-isolate, work will be provided by school (electronically/paper format as appropriate). Please ensure your child tries to keep to a normal school working pattern if possible so they keep in the routine and don’t fall behind. Clearly, if it is the child that is positive themselves, they may not feel well enough to complete work in the same way.

Whilst I really hope we can avoid having to send whole class groups home to self-isolate, it is a realistic possibility so I hope this letter makes each situation clear to you so in the event of any scenario happening, you know what to do and therefore feel prepared.

PLEASE REMEMBER:

The Government’s latest guidance is no more than 6 people meeting indoor or outdoor and always keeping 2m apart from anyone not in your household. This includes children. Please help them to understand the guidance. This is crucial to stop the spread of this virus.

Further safety reminders

Wed 09 Sep 2020

Further Safety Reminders

Wednesday 9^th September 2020

I realise I am sending daily reminders and updates at this time but it is crucial we make our processes as safe as they can be to minimise the risks to our pupils, staff, parents and wider families.

You will no doubt have heard over the last few days that many, many schools in the country (and in our local counties) have already had to close in part or fully due to positive tests of both staff and children- this includes Primary Schools. We want to do everything we can to avoid this at our school. Many people seem to have stopped social distancing but this is crucial if we want to stop the spread of this virus.

There is an obvious concern about the severity of the illness that COVID 19 can cause and we know that many people have died from this, even those without medical conditions, so it is crucial we try to keep the risks as small as possible wherever we can.

There is also the inconvenience side that will have an impact to those affected. If anyone (staff or pupil tests positive) we have to send everyone in that ‘bubble/class group’ home to self-isolate for 2 weeks. Clearly, this will impact on the education of the pupils (we will send work home but it is not the same as being in the class) and it will also impact all the parents in that class in terms of finding childcare, maybe not being able to go to work so I’m sure you’ll all agree it is really important that we reduce risks as much as we can.

I have received much feedback from staff and parents regarding aspects that could be improved. I don’t want to have to spread the start and end times of the school day out any further but I may have no choice if we can’t maintain safe social distancing at the gate.

I know we are limited with space outside and we are in discussions with the highways to see if we can use the top end of the slip road for a better queueing system but we need to wait for permission to set this up so in the meantime, please ensure you help to keep everyone safe.

Staff visors

Staff will be wearing visors at the gate as protection for when talking to different parents. This keeps both you and them safe. They do remove them for teaching unless working very closely with a child such as dealing with any health needs.

Please do your part every day by:

Ensuring only one adult is in the queue with the child outside school.
Please use the spots to ensure you keep 2m distance from those in front and behind you.
If there are no spots left, please wait on the opposite side of the road still spaced out until spots are available.
Please respect and be kind to each other. There are many vulnerable people out there and we want everyone to feel safe.
Please walk to school if you live locally- there is not enough room for cars and social distancing outside school.
Please park on the main road not the slip road wherever possible. If there are no spaces and you have to bring your car into the slip road- please only park against the pavement furthest away from the school. Please leave the whole road clear on the school railings side of the road so people can use this space to maintain distance.
Our Y5/6 group use the bottom gate (car park). Many people turn their cars near this gate, getting really close to the pupils. Please wait until pupils have left before trying to turn cars around to ensure we don’t have any preventable accidents.
For those walking from New Houghton, please keep to the road side path when the path splits near the kitchen gate rather than walking down the path at the side of the school so you don’t have to walk through parents already queueing for different classes. I will ensure a staff member is wearing a Hi Vis vest and positioned on the road to help pupils cross over the slip road if cars are present.
Please ensure you don’t push in to the front of a queue, even if you see someone you want to talk to- this is unfair to others who are already in the queue.
Use the paths on the opposite side of the road (not the railing side) to go back home so you aren’t walking through parents queueing.
Please leave as soon as you have dropped off or collected your child so we don’t have too many people outside of school to maintain safe distances.

We know the next few months are going to be a challenge but I would love for our school to be one that manages to escape any positive COVID cases amongst staff and pupils so we can remain open throughout. PLEASE help us to achieve this by remembering social distance measures both at school and in your daily lives.

With much appreciation for your ongoing support,

Mrs. Johnson

After School club changes

Tue 08 Sep 2020

To ensure the caretaker has enough time to deep clean the school for the safety and well-being of all, after school club pupils need to be collected at one of the following times:

4:30pm

5:00pm

5:15pm

Please choose the time most convenient for you and wait outside the main Reception at this time. Staff will come to the door at these times only.

Thank you for your understanding.

Mrs. Johnson

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