Headteacher Message

Happy Christmas to all,

What a Year! What a school and what lovely children you have. This week has been quite magical and that is due to the Christmas performances that have taken place. It has been lovely to see your children performing again and they did exceptionally well. Standing proud and singing loud!

We very nearly made it to the end of term without any staff absences due to coronavirus but today two members of staff were missing from Nursery due to positive Lateral Flow tests. The show must go on and we managed to staff the nursery with adults that were known to the children. The landscape has changed since the beginning of the crisis and we were able to inform other staff that had been in close contact with these members of staff so they could test and come into school knowing they did not have the virus. It looks like as a nation we could be facing a difficult few weeks and I think it is important to recognise that we are better prepared to combat the virus than we have been previously. As a school, and until we are advised to do otherwise, we will do all we can do to ensure that we continue to operate as we have this term. I thought our previous remote learning offer was excellent but the best teaching occurs when we are in a shared space and the quality of the relationships that our staff have built with your children drives the learning.

We will be continuing to run our after school provision internally. It has worked really well and that is thanks to Julie Kelville and Laura Cook who have staffed it with the expected Darell warmth. I have also run a session and apart from my cooking which was described by the children as a ‘pasta disaster’ I had a lovely time. Please book your child for a session using Arbor. If you have any queries, then please contact our logistical expert Laura Gavin.

I am really looking forward to the Christmas break knowing that I can spend time with my family and walk /chase after the dog. It is fair to say that Blue is still in the process of being trained! Please take extra care of those close to you, stay warm, stay safe and enjoy every moment of the holiday. We will see you in the New Year.

Joe Porter

Office Updates

FUEL - Holiday Activities and Food Programme

FUEL is Achieving for Children's holiday activity and food programme funded by the Department for Education.

Off the back of a great summer, the scheme returns this winter. Children who receive benefits-related free school meals have the opportunity to attend free activities over the Christmas period, with a hot meal also being provided.

Achieving for Children are partnering once again with different holiday clubs, youth centres, sport groups and more to bring you a programme of activities to meet everyone's interest.

All of our providers offer spaces for children with additional needs/SEND. In certain circumstances we also have specialist support available where required.

For further information and how to book follow the link:

Clubs Spring Term

All clubs for the spring term are now bookable through either Arbor or the external club provider. Please have a look through the clubs list attached.

Outstanding Balances

Please can you clear any outstanding meal, trip and club balances before the end of term. To make a payment please log into your Arbor account. If you are having any difficulties please contact the school office.

Communications Sent Home

Year 5 - Covid letter
Year 1 - Covid letter
Clubs list spring term
Nursery - Covid Letter

Diary Dates

Autumn Term Ends

9:00am – 5:00pm

December

Christmas Break

9:00am – 5:00pm

From 20 Dec until 03 Jan

December

Inset Day

9:00am – 5:00pm

January

Spring Term Starts

9:00am – 5:00pm

January

Half Term

All Day

From 14 Feb until 18 Feb

February

Wellbeing

The Reading Corner

Welcome to our weekly section of the newsletter all about reading. Every week, we will share a question (or two) with you about the book your child is reading in school. Please use these questions to help you find out a little more about what your child has been reading in school and continue to develop their love of reading.

Wonder - If The Snowman could speak, what would he say?

Peake - Can you tell the story of 'Major Glad, Major Dizzy' to a grown-up in your own words?

Weir - How do you think the Real Boat felt at the end of the story? Why?

Walker - What would you use Stickman for?

Newton - How did the tiny snail save the big whale?

Thunberg - What is your favourite Christmas story or poem and why?

Darwin - Would you like to go to the West Indies like Gregory Cool did? If no, why not. If yes, what would you like to do there?

Attenborough - Who would you rather be, Will Montague or Henry VIII ?

Parks - Why do you think Esther Jenkins comes across as such an angry girl?

Can you explain why Ephraim might be expecting lots of visitors?

KS1 Star of the Week

Wonder Class

Qays - for working so hard and trying his best in phonics lessons

Peake Class

Johannes - for producing an exceptional piece of writing in role as Major Dizzy. Well done, Johannes!

Weir Class

All of Weir Class- for their fantastic Nativity performances! Well done, Weir Class!

Walker Class

All of Walker Class - for A great term at school, full of learning, laughter and lots of fun. Well done!

Rashford

Max - for being a wonderful role model and helping others feel comfortable in the group. Your kindness goes above and beyond. Well done!

KS2 Star of the Week

Newton Class

Tipene - for working very hard in Maths, Handwriting and Literacy and continuing to improve

Thunberg Class

Ibrahim - for Learning and remembering the 3 and 4 x tables. Learning the words for all the Christmas songs

Darwin Class

Oya - for Improving in projecting her voice and for the super focus she puts into her work

Attenborough Class

Tyler - for his fantastic singing in our Christmas performance

Parks class

Sam - for his outstanding poem and its eye-catching artwork

E - Safety

Gaming: what parents and carers need to know

3 ways to make gaming safer for your child

1. Talk with your child about gaming. Talk with your child to learn the games they like and the content and features of these. This will help you to understand more about how your child plays games and how appropriate different games are. You can use NSPCC's online safety hub to find out more information on safer gaming.

2. Learn together. Use our resources to teach your child about safer gaming at all ages. For primary age children you can use our Jessie & Friends (ages 4-7) and Play, Like, Share (ages 8-10) resources. Secondary age children can access advice about gaming through our website.

3. Set boundaries and safety settings. Internet Matters provides step-by-step guides for putting safety settings in place for each console or device. Spend time setting these up with your child and make sure they know how to block and report on the games they are playing. You should also talk with your child to create an agreement for gaming; think about how much time they can spend, which games they can access, if you will allow in-app purchases and what spaces they can play in. For primary aged children it is advisable to have them play in shared spaces or in the same room as you.

Foe more information please follow the link:

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/gaming/

Darell Primary & Nursery School Follow

It may be the end of term but Year 3 are still hard at work! They have been playing times tables game 'HooHa' to learn their 3, 4 & 6x times table. #maths #learning https://t.co/uMUuzLNmZb

4 hours ago

Attendance

Overall school attendance this week was 91.3% our target is 96.8%.

Well done to Mozart Class with the highest attendance of 100% this week.

Best for punctuality was Mozart class with 0 late!

Let's do our best for next week!

Useful Links

Arbor Parent Portal - darell-primary.uk.arbor

Follow us on twitter - twitter.com/darellschool

School Uniform Shop - The Shoe Station

Newsletters

Newsletter 14 – Friday,17th December 2021