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

• Updated advice - coronavirus - Letter

  Tue 17 Mar 2020 Mr J Howe

  17th March 2020

   

  Dear Parents / Carers

   

  Re: Coronavirus Advice

   

  As outlined yesterday and in light of the changing situation around coronavirus, we feel that it is necessary to put in place the following sensible measures over the next 3 weeks and review this when we return after the Easter holidays;

  · No school assemblies will take place. Split school lunchtimes.

  · No before or after school clubs. Breakfast and Tea Club will continue – however we are advising that this be used only if absolutely necessary.

  · All whole school events and sports competitions will be cancelled.

  · Postpone all external educational trips.

   

  Seaburn Dene Primary will only be closed if one or more of the following conditions apply:

  · Confirmed case of coronavirus involving children or staff or immediate families.

  · Government directive from the Department for Education or Public Health England.

   If the decision is made by the Government to close schools, then the following steps will be taken; The decision to close schools will be communicated to parents via;

  · The school website

  · Text message

  · Letter (if during the school week)

  · Class Dojo.

   

  Your child’s education is important and we want to ensure that packs of work/activities/links to websites are given to your child to complete if they are required to stay at home – via Class Dojo or in paper copy, if a family is unable to access Class Dojo.

   

  Please continue to use the up to date information that is provided by the following websites regarding the current COVID-19 situation.

  These official sites are important public websites so you can get the most up to date news, information and guidance to address any concerns you may have.

  https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

  https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england

  https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-ukgovernment-response

   

  Mr John Howe

  Headteacher

• Updated advice on coronavirus - Letter

  Mon 16 Mar 2020 Mr J Howe

  16th March 2020

   

  Dear Parents / Carers

   

  Re: Coronavirus Advice

   

  As I am sure you are aware, the latest Government advice is for schools to remain open. However, the latest update instructs whole household isolation for families of those displaying a ‘new continuous’ cough or high temperature for 14 days. This means that should your child – or anyone else in your house - develop these systems they should be off school for two weeks.

   

  The Government have advised to avoid non-essential travel and increased “social distancing”. As a result, with immediate effect, we have decided to:

   

  • Cancel all before and after school clubs. Breakfast & Tea Club will continue for parents, but pleased be advised to use the facility only if absolutely necessary.

   

  • All sporting competitions and whole-school assemblies/events have been cancelled, until further notice. These include our Easter Coffee afternoon, Poetry Recital etc.

   

  • Review our PE activities, but the Daily Mile and other activities – deemed suitable, will continue.

   

  • Minimise the number of school visitors – can you only visit the school office, again, if absolutely necessary. This will impact on Bikeability for Yr 5 next week, which will postponed until further notice.

   

  • Postpone all external school trips – until further notice.

  We have drawn up a plan for remote learning for children, affected. To enable this to be as effective as possible, please ensure you are registered on Class Dojo, as soon as possible. You do not need the app

   

  We are hoping to continue as much as possible with our planned learning for all children, but I am sure you will understand that some changes (e.g. different teacher, less TAs) may be necessary. This is a rapidly changing situation and I will issue daily updates on the website, Class Dojo on our approach to this national emergency.

   

  Thank you for your continued support.

   

  Yours sincerely

   

  Mr John Howe

  Headteacher

• This Week

  Wed 11 Mar 2020

  POETRY COMPETITIONS

  On World Poetry Day - next Friday -  we will be holding the school's annual poetry recital competition. This is in its sixth year, so we are expecting more entries than ever. The poem to learn is in a pack which was sent home last week, but children have also been encouraged to make their own choices from their favourite poems. Last year Macy (now in Year 7) won, but she had some very close competition. 

  We are also opening entries for The Seaburn Dene Amazing Poem Award. The theme this year is our environment and we are encouraging everyone to enter and have a go. This school has a fantastic track record of poetry writing, with Ruby Jones the winner last year. The poem can be in any format - acrostic, free verse, rhyme etc - but needs to be in to be my office by next Thursday, March 19.

   

  PARENTAL SURVEY

  Your views are a vital part of how we move forward as a school - together. Please take a moment to fill out the online survey (a paper version was distributed on parent's evening.) 

  https://forms.gle/HNSZgRMa6NeZTE2r6

   

  FRIENDS OF THE SCHOOL

  A huge thanks to the Friends of Seaburn Dene Primary School, who, thanks to their and your fundraising has enabled the school to invest £2,000 in new reading books, from Nursery to Yr 6 - closely matched to children's phonic and reading ability It will make a huge difference and thank you to parents and families for supporting our fundraising events.

   

  SPORTS RELIEF

  For Sports Relief on Friday children can bring in £1 and come into school with a red top on (school trousers/skirts/shoes as normal). The Friends Group letter says red spots, but if you haven't managed to sort that out any top with red on will be fine! All money raised will be given to Sports Relief. We are happy to support such a brilliant cause.

   

  Thank you.

   

   

  

• Pupil Voice, Pupil Choice

  Fri 06 Mar 2020 Mr J Howe

  What a week!

   

  World Book Day was unprecedented success. The children looked amazing and the simplicity of the colours made for some wonderful images around school. More than 70 children returned to school for Stories At Bedtime. Thanks to all the staff for making that the fantastic addition to our WBD 20 celebrations. I have been inundated with entries in our Shelfie competition. I will let the children know the winner (by draw) in Monday's assembly and - of course - the winner of the class whose door is the most inspired book jacket (cover.)

  To start our celebration of World Book Day week, we are two weeks into our #storytimeassembly. Talking to all children this week from Yr 6 down, they are united in their love of listening to stories. Whether this is in class, assembly or at home. This week, I chose three very different stories, with different themes: The Princess and the PEa by Hans Christian Anderson, Simon James' Dear Greenpeace and Pie Corbett's collection The Boy and the Tiger. Let me know which is your favourite story to read to your child. Always fascinated to hear.

   

  Coronavirus Advice

  Please see the letter on our letters page for the latest advice on hygiene and preventing the spread of infection. We are continually revising our advice, but have acted on the latest and of course continue to reinforce that message with the children.

   

  Parent's Evening

  We look forward to seeing you next week on Tuesday, 10th March and Thursday, 12th March from 3.45pm to 6.15pm. By appointment only. Often parents ask teachers how they can support their children at home. The support of parents in a child's education is vital. The more you read to them, play with them and talk with them the better they will do in school. This sounds simple and, of course, common sense but in our busy lives children are often spending too much time passively watching screens at the expense of spending quality time with their parents. Talking with our children is not given the status it deserves. Children who frequently verbally and positively interact with their parents develop better social skills and a much wider vocabulary. A wide vocabulary, known as their “academic register”, opens doors for children and allows them to access learning in a more confident way. A child who frequently engages with a parent in quality talk such as discussing a book they have read or a place they have visited will develop a much wider vocabulary than a child who lacks such parental interaction. So I suppose what I am saying is, before you rush out to buy study work books or employ tutors, consider how much time you are spending in quality conversation with your child.

  On both nights, there will be feedback sheets to let us know how you think your children are doing at school.

   

  School Funding

  You will have possibly heard continued reports on the national news concerning school funding recently. The Seaburn Dene budget does present huge challenges to the governing body and every year we aim to set a budget where our staffing structure can be maintained and where resources can be bought to enable the school to run effectively. Every year this gets more difficult. Certainly without support of The Friends fundraising and your support of such events, we would be a much poorer school and the children would not get to enjoy the added extras and, in some cases, essentials which we believe are so important. The Friends are currently looking for further fundraising ideas/ventures in school. All welcome.

   

  Pupil Premium School Funding

  School can claim addition funding to assist pupils if they are adopted or if their parents currently serve in the armed forces. If this applies to your child and you think school is unaware of it we would appreciate it if parents would contact the school office. We understand that this information is sensitive but please be reassured, the conversation will be completely confidential.

  School can also claim pupil premium funding and free school meals for families on a low income. Details of who can claim can be found on the link below: https://www.togetherforchildren.org.uk/families/free-school-meals. This is not the same as the Universal Free School Meals that children in reception to year 2 are automatically entitled to.

   

  Pupil Voice

  We believe, at Seaburn Dene, that is vital children  have a say in our school and everything that happens within it. After some thought, we have added some new groups to engage children in issues that affect either or school or the community around us. I am running a Community Ambassadors programme for children from Yr 3 to 5. To get the ball rolling, the children joined a meeting with the Inn Collection on their plans to involve us in the Seaburn Inn development on the sea front. The children also want to carry out some litter picking, with plans to help tidy up Cut Throat Dene with the Friends of Fulwell later this month and design a new play area, off Dykelands Road, Mr Ashton held his first Woodland Trust Club meeting this week to work on eco issues around school, while Mrs Wilson also launched her lunchtime Science Club too. Later this month, there is training for our new Peer Mentors to carry out their #bekind campaign in school, while our Sports Leaders have been busy across all our break times.