Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome back to our second Spring term. I had a meeting with the teachers on Wednesday and there are lots of exciting things planned between now and Easter - keep an eye on ClassDojo and your emails for the most up to date messages to help you keep on top of what’s going on!
Mothers’ Day Lunch
We will be celebrating those special ladies in our lives who care for us next Wednesday 6th March with a Mothers’ Day Lunch. The booking form is now live - please contact Mrs Dean if you have any questions.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfPSNrB1m1vGifxlDwquKfbsFU569ik7HLDSswAWINPnfySQg/viewform
Mothers' Day Gift
The PTA will be sending order forms out on Monday 26th Feb if you would like to order a Mothers' Day gift. There will be 2 options - Option 1) Afternoon Tea for 1 box priced at £4.50. Option 2) Plant and plant pot £2.50. If you would like to order please send the order form back before Thursday 29th February.
World Book Day
We will be celebrating World Book Day on Friday 8th March and this year’s theme is Bedtime Stories. Everyone can come to school in their PJs and bring their favourite bedtime storybook - either from now or when they were younger, I’m going to have a look for my Enid Blyton bedtime stories!
Easter Celebration
We will be celebrating the end of the Spring Term with some Easter related activities in school. We will be holding our traditional decorated egg competition for the children in KS2 and an Easter Bonnet competition for the children in KS1 and Early Years. If your child would like to bring in an egg or bonnet please send them into school on Friday 22nd March
Bags to School
The Bags to School are being collected next week - if you require any more bags please let your child’s teacher know or you can collect one from the school office. You can also use ordinary bin bags. They can be brought in any day and we will store them until the collection day.
Chickenpox
We have had some cases of chickenpox so please keep an eye out for symptoms. If your child has chickenpox, keep them off school until all the spots have crusted over. This is usually about 5 days after the spots first appeared. Once they have crusted over they can come into school and we can administer calpol if needed. Please contact Mrs Dean to arrange a medicines permission form.
Attendance
Our attendance this week has been 94.4%, let’s hope the various bugs making the rounds at the moment clear up soon and we can get back above 96%!
Upcoming Dates
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Mothers’ Day Lunch |
6.3.24 |
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World Book Day - Bedtime Stories |
8.3.24 |
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Non-uniform for chocolate bingo/ RedNose Day |
15.3.24 |
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Celebration of Learning |
18.3.24 |
2.15pm |
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Chocolate Bingo |
20.3.24 |
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Easter Celebration Day |
22.3.24 |
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Easter Holidays |
25.3.24 - 5.4.24 |
Ms Hartley
Dear Parents and Carers
Another successful half term completed - it may have been short but it’s been packed with lots of learning, trips, visitors and fun. Reading back through the newsletters made me realise what a fabulous time we have here at Friarswood! Have a great half term week everyone.
Football
This week the Year 5 and 6 football team played 2 league matches. They won the first 3-0 and drew the second in a close 1-1 match. We are currently 2nd in the league with a game in hand - everything to play for in an exciting run up to the end of season! Well done to Stanley, William, Seb, Albert, Teddy, Sam, Henry, Leo and Jack.
Valentine Disco
Great fun was had at the end of term disco on Wednesday - it was lovely to see so many children enjoying time with their friends dressed in their best disco outfits! Thanks to your support and the hard work of the PTA we raised an amazing £471 towards the funds which help us to pay for those nice extras and subsidise trips for the children. Our next event will be the Easter Chocolate Bingo on the 20th March - I look forward to seeing you there!
Police Visit
Yesterday KS1 had a surprise visit from two firearms officers.
The children learnt about becoming a police officer, they looked at all of the equipment, tried out the handcuffs and shields and then got to see an unmarked police car. The children had lots of fun, asked really thoughtful questions. Thank you to Mrs Harris for organising the visit for us.
Children’s Mental Health Week
Redan publishing (creators of magazines like Hey Duggee) have collaborated with Co-op on creative mental health wellbeing workshops for Foundation Stage children to coincide with Children's mental health week. On Tuesday, staff from Redan came into school to work with our Nursery and Reception children using the materials they have developed. The children had an amazing time and the visitors have emailed me to comment on what a lovely atmosphere the school had, how warm and welcoming the staff were, and how bright, happy, and engaged the children are. It’s always so lovely to hear other people confirming what I already know : )
Safer Internet Day - Inspiring Change
Tuesday was safer internet day. On Monday I delivered an assembly about how to handle changes online - things that look different than normal. The children had some very mature outlooks on change and recognised that change can be a good thing but sometimes it’s not. They all used the phrase trusted adult without prompting which was great to hear as we do lots of work on this throughout the year.
Attendance
Our attendance this week has been 95.9%. A strong end to the term - well done!.
Upcoming events
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February Half Term |
12.2.24 -16.2.24 |
Back to school on Monday 19th February |
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Mother's Day Lunch |
6.3.24 |
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World Book Day |
8.3.24 |
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Non-uniform for chocolate bingo |
15.3.24 |
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Celebration of Learning |
18.3.24 |
2.15pm |
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Chocolate Bingo |
20.3.24 |
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Easter Holidays |
25.3.24 - 5.4.24 |
Ms Hartley
Dear Parents and Carers
A much calmer week (weather-wise) in school this week - the storm damage has been cleared and we are back to using all of our wonderful grounds again. Thank you to Mr Gidman and Mrs Bithell’s husband for working hard to get everything safe again.
GoIT
Four of our Year 6 children went to the Co-op head office in Manchester on Tuesday to make a presentation in the finals of a competition to design an app to help the environment. Although they didn’t win the final they did an amazing job pitching their product which earned them a special mention from the Trust’s Director of Primary Curriculum on X. If any parents follow the school on X you may have seen this.
Thank you for your hard work Albert, Ayva-Lilly, Isla and Jack you did a great job!
Valentine Disco
Next Wednesday is our Valentine disco. If you would prefer to stay in from the wet and cold but your disco days are behind you, the PTA will be setting up a parents cafe in The Hub. A child free area to sit and relax with a drink while the children enjoy their dancing! The EYs and KS1 disco starts at 5:30 and the KS2 disco starts at 6:30
Card or cash payment for the entrance fee and parent cafe, cash for the children’s refreshment stand.
Time to Talk Day
On Wednesday we held a drop in before the end of school for parents to grab a hot drink, a biscuit and have a chat. We hope that you enjoyed the opportunity to catch up in the warmth and remember your chat might have been just the thing somebody needed to help them through that day, it’s always good to talk. Thank you to Mrs Hughes, Mr Linley-Simon and Mrs Bebbington for helping to run the session. An extra thank you to Mrs Hughes for organising something for the staff today too - in a busy school it’s often surprisingly lonely and we don’t always make the time to talk to each other.
Places for September
Our places for new children in September are filling up and although the applications have been submitted it’s not too late for prospective families to come and have a look around. If you know anyone who has a child due to start nursery or reception in September please let them know that they are always welcome to come and see our school. They just need to contact Mrs Dean to make an appointment and either myself, Mrs Wilmer or Mrs Williams will be happy to meet them.
PTA
Dates for your diary:
If you haven’t done so already please could you fill in the PTA Feedback questionnaire. This gives the PTA an overall idea of what events you would like to see and events that are going well.
Attendance
Our attendance this week has been 95.7%. We are still doing well but coughs and upset tummies have taken their toll this week. Remember that we are happy to give medicine during the day for coughs, colds and sore throats. Just contact Mrs Dean beforehand who will get the appropriate permissions from you.
Upcoming Dates
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Valentine's Disco |
7.2.24 |
See attached poster |
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Inset Day |
9.2.24 |
School and Small & Tall Closed |
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February Half Term |
12.2.24 -16.2.24 |
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Mother's Day Lunch |
6.3.24 |
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World Book Day |
8.3.24 |
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Non-uniform for chocolate bingo |
15.3.24 |
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Celebration of Learning |
18.3.24 |
2.15pm |
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Chocolate Bingo |
20.3.24 |
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Easter Holidays |
25.3.24 - 5.4.24 |
Dear Parents and Carers,
Another week has flown by - quite literally with the help of Storm Jocelyn who left her mark on our playground! Luckily we are fortunate to have all of our beautiful (albeit muddy) grounds at the front of school to use as an alternative while Mr Gidman works on the playground. We are hoping to be able to use it again next week but having wellies in school would be useful to avoid the inside of school becoming a mud trail!
Big Garden Watch Weekend
Today is the start of the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch weekend. It is the world's largest garden wildlife survey. Every year lots of people take part and it helps the RSPB to build a picture of how garden birds are faring.
If you would like to take part below is a short video. There are also bags of birdseed and a guide to the top 10 garden birds at reception.
Happy Birdwatching!
https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatch
Forest Schools
Congratulations to Mrs Williams who has completed her Forest Schools training meaning that we are now an accredited Forest School provider. Research shows that the benefits of this type of outdoor learning are numerous and far reaching - benefiting mental health, resilience, problem solving and academic performance. We are very excited to start incorporating this into our curriculum after half term. We will start a rolling programme where each class has half a term of Forest Schools as part of their PE curriculum.
Young Musician of the Year A message from Mrs Elkin, our music lead:
Just before Christmas we entered 4 of our Year 6 Musicians into the new Co-op Musician of the Year Competition: Millie - flute, Florence - guitar, Imogen and Gini - clarinet. They were recorded playing a chosen piece. These pieces were then submitted to be judged. Well done to all 4 musicians. It's quite nerve racking being filmed playing a solo!
There were 186 entries and only 41 musicians have been chosen to go through to the semi-finals. Gini is one of these semi-finalists! Our region's semi-final will take place at the Mitchell Arts Centre in Hanley during March. We are delighted to have someone representing Co-op Academy Friarswood.
We are so proud of all of our musicians who have lessons at school on clarinet, flute, guitar, violin, guitar or piano. If you have private lessons outside of school, please let me know so we can celebrate your success too!
Next year, we're hoping to open the competition up to all players. Watch this space.
Good luck Gini!
On Tuesday 39 members of our school choir went to Birmingham to take part in the Young Voices Concert at The Resort Arena. It was a long day (the coach left school at 10AM and didn’t return until just before 11PM!) but an amazing time was had by all and the children represented our school beautifully. Thank you to Mrs Elkin, Mrs Dickens, Miss Smith, Mrs Master and Mrs Bebbington for volunteering their time to allow the children to be part of such a fabulous opportunity to perform.
You can see photographs of the day on our website
Year 6 Choir Members Anna-Frieda, Gini, Florence and Amelia have written this report of their exciting day.
"39 of our choir members went to the Young Voices Concert on Tuesday. As we entered Birmingham Resorts World Arena, full of excitement and bursting to sing, we realised it was a much bigger venue than we had imagined!
We rehearsed from 2 - 5pm. The rehearsal started with 'The Moment' Young Voices 2024 official song. From the moment we opened our mouths the connection between not only us a Co-op Academy Friarswood Choir, but the other 5,832 pupils was more than clear. A huge amount of children and their accompanying staff, singing together was beautiful and such fun!
We sang with an amazing live band and 3 backing singers Otto, Maddy and Jane. We also had 3 stars: Natalaie Williams a talented singer, Nandi Bushell an amazing drummer who is only 13 and MC Grammar who is actually a teacher! We also loved dancing along with Urban Strides, the dance group.
There were lots of surprises during the actual concert. At 7pm the arena sky filled with stars and we all went mad! We sang and danced and the parents even joined in too. We created the biggest Mexican wave and had buckets of fun!
Thank you to Mrs Elkin for organising everything, to Mrs Dickens and Miss Smith who are also part of Co-op Academy Friarswood Choir and Mrs Bebbington and Mrs Master who enjoyed fabulous singing and dancing with us too."
PTA
Our wonderful PTA have been busy organising our first events of the year. Here are some dates for your diary:
If you haven’t done so already please could you fill in the PTA Feedback questionnaire. This gives the PTA an overall idea of what events you would like to see and events that are going well.
Attendance
Our attendance this week has been 97.1% putting us in the top 2% of schools nationwide - congratulations everyone for working hard to keep our children learning!
Upcoming Dates
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Valentine's Disco |
7.2.24 |
See attached poster |
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Inset Day |
9.2.24 |
School and Small & Tall Closed |
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February Half Term |
12.2.24 -16.2.24 |
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Mother's Day Lunch |
6.3.24 |
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World Book Day |
8.3.24 |
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Non-uniform for chocolate bingo |
15.3.24 |
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Celebration of Learning |
18.3.24 |
2.15pm |
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Chocolate Bingo |
20.3.24 |
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Easter Holidays |
25.3.24 - 5.4.24 |
Ms Hartley
Dear Parents and Carers
We may have only had a dusting of snow this week but my goodness the children have made best use of what they had! It has been wonderful to watch their determination and imagination to make something and use the snow creatively. Almost everyone has been well dressed for the weather - even if the temperatures rise slightly next week please ensure everyone is still wrapped up warm so that we can stay outside safely at playtimes.
Year 6 Standon Bowers
A class certainly making use of the great outdoors this week has been Year 6 who have spent the week at Standon Bowers. They have had a fabulous time learning new skills and developing their teamwork. When I visited on Wednesday I was very impressed with their have a go attitude, resilience and kindness. They have represented Friarswood to the highest standard possible - thank you and well done Year 6.
Of course the week has only been possible because of the staff who have volunteered their time in the evenings and overnight. A huge thank you to Mrs Sharman and Mrs Hughes for taking the children and to Miss Coleman for being part of the midweek relief squad who stopped over on Wednesday evening to allow the other staff to have a night off!
KS2 Children
In the absence of Year 6 the other children in KS2 have done a marvellous job stepping into the caring and leadership roles they usually take on the playground. It was lovely to see them proactively helping the KS1 and Early Years children - a real Friarswood Family moment.
Attendance
Despite the cold snap and the associated illnesses that will come with it our attendance is still 94.6% this week. Thank you to everyone for still making the best effort to get the children into school as much as possible. Every moment really does count.
Academy Community Pioneer
This week we have welcomed Matt Linley-Simon to Friarswood as our Community Pioneer. This is a part time Central Trust role to strengthen links between academies and the communities we serve. Watch out for projects and initiatives that Matt will be developing with us soon.
Small and Tall Dojo
A dojo group has been set up for Small and Tall parents. This is to allow parents to communicate any last minute messages directly to the Small and Tall staff rather than via teachers. Teachers are frequently unable to check Dojo during the school day due to teaching commitments so occasionally messages are missed. Using this group will ensure that messages go directly to the people who need to know! If you use Small and Tall, please check that you have been added to the group and if not let Mrs Dean know.
Upcoming Dates
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Young Voices - Choir |
23.1.24 |
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Valentine's Disco |
7.2.24 |
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Inset Day |
9.2.24 |
School closed Small & Tall Closed |
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February Half Term |
12.2.24 -16.2.24 |
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Mother's Day Lunch |
6.3.24 |
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World Book Day |
8.3.24 |
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Non-uniform for chocolate bingo |
15.3.24 |
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Celebration of Learning |
18.3.24 |
2.15pm |
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Chocolate Bingo |
20.3.24 |
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Easter Holidays |
25.3.24 - 5.4.24 |
Ms Hartley
Welcome back!
I hope that you all enjoyed the holidays. We have started the new year as busy and purposeful as always with lots of learning in and outside of the classroom.
Nutcracker at The New Vic Theatre
KS2 started the year with a trip to the theatre on Tuesday. On their return the children’s faces were full of joy and excitement. I heard many tales of giant gingerbread men and teddy bears over playtime! As always the children represented our school brilliantly and the staff at the theatre passed on their admiration of their behaviour and their attentiveness - well done Friarswood! Thank you also to the parent volunteers who went on the trip, I hope you enjoyed it too.
Mrs Wilmer
Mrs Wilmer is continuing her recovery at home. She is making good progress but still needs a little more time to get back on her feet fully. We all wish her well and a full recovery. In the meantime I will continue to spread my time between Year 2 and Acting Head.
Go IT Competition
The children in Year 6 have been working hard developing app ideas in their computing lessons that could help to improve our environment. This is part of a Co-op Academy Trust competition, the finals of which are being held in Manchester later this month. We could only send 1 team to the finals so this morning Mrs Sharman and I had the incredibly difficult job of choosing 1 out of the 5 fantastic presentations. We had an official judging rubric from the competition organisers and the team with the most points were The 4Rs - Ayva-Lilly, Isla, Albert, Jack and Thomas. Well done to all of the teams and good luck to The 4Rs in the finals!
Attendance
You may have already noticed that school attendance has been in the news much more recently. This is because of a Government campaign - Moments Matter, Attendance Counts launched this month. January to March are months particularly fraught with minor childhood ailments, the NHS Is my child too ill for school guidance and the Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty’s letter on mild illness and school attendance might help you to decide if a day off school is actually required. None of us want to bring an ill child into school but we’ve all seen the amazing recovery a child often makes an hour or so after waking!
Message from Mrs Elkin:
On Tuesday I received a super day's training with Read Write Inc trainer Jilly. I have become Friarwood's Reader Leader as I am passionate about making sure every child at Co-op Academy Friarswood becomes a confident and efficient reader! Our super team of teachers and teaching assistants also share this ethos.
Parents and carers of Reception, Year 1 and 2 children, who have daily phonics lessons, look out for regular videos being sent by myself or your child's class teacher via Class Dojo to support you and your child at home with their reading!
We would love to hear about some of the success your child is having with reading at home as the Read Write Inc programme that we follow really does ensure your child makes the best start possible with reading. Message your child's class teacher on Dojo and we will share these successes! If you need any help or support with your child's reading, get in touch.
Happy reading!
On a similar note a reminder that we have an INSET day on Friday 9th February when all of the staff will be receiving further reading training from Read Write Inc. There will be no Small and Tall as the staff are required to attend the training.
Upcoming Events
| Year 6 Standon Bowers | 15.1.24 | All week |
| Young Voices - Choir | 23.1.24 | |
| Valentine's Disco | 7.2.24 | |
| Inset Day | 9.2.24 | |
| February Half Term | 12.2.24 -16.2.24 | |
| Mother's Day Lunch | 6.3.24 | |
| World Book Day | 8.3.24 | |
| Non-uniform for chocolate bingo | 15.3.24 | |
| Celebration of Learning | 18.3.24 | 2.15pm |
| Chocolate Bingo | 20.3.24 | |
| Easter Holidays | 25.3.24 - 5.4.24 |
Ms Hartley
Merry Christmas!
This final newsletter of 2023 is a chance to reflect on all that has happened over the past 15 weeks.
Our new children have settled well into school and adapted to the school routine amazingly well. All of the children, from Nursery to Year 6, have had a fabulous term of learning supported by their teachers and yourselves. Thank you for the support that you give to us in helping your child’s learning.
I hope that you are as pleased as I am with the progress they are making - a well deserved (and much needed) rest over the holidays is certainly in order!
The PTA have run a number of events to raise money for the school and provide much enjoyed social events at the same time. I will be tallying up all of the money over the next couple of days and let you know how much your generosity has raised. A huge thank you to the PTA team for running these events so smoothly.
Yesterday and today we topped off the festive season with the KS1 Christmas Show - they brought the house down with their singing and dancing! Congratulations KS1, we were all very proud of you. Everyone has worked very hard and overcome nerves - you were fabulous.
A final thank you to the Friarswood team who make everything happen - the teaching staff, office staff, lunchtime team, premises staff and leadership team. All are important parts of the jigsaw that make Friarswood a great place to be.
In other news …
Attendance - despite many coughs and colds going around this last term thankyou for supporting the school with your child's attendance. Our overall attendance so far this year is 96.7% and even today’s attendance is 96.4% - Friarswood is made of tough stuff!
Finally we will return to school on Monday 8th January. A reminder that the doors open at 8:40 each morning (8:45 Nursery and Reception) and close at 8:50 after which you will need to sign your child in at the front office.
However you choose to spend these holidays I wish you peace and happiness with your families and friends.
Merry Christmas
Ms Hartley
Dear Parents and Carers,
After a very pretty and snowy weekend we settled in for a rather more dull and damp week in school! The week was however cheered considerably by seeing so many of you in school this week.
Christmas Lunches
It was fantastic to see so many happy grandparents and children at our Grandparent Christmas lunches on Wednesday and Thursday. Thank you for the wonderful feedback about the lunches which wouldn't have been possible without the outstanding organisational skills and team work of the staff - Thank you to everyone involved.
Celebration of Learning
The celebration of learning was another lovely opportunity to bring our community together and see what we get up to during the school day. We hope that those of you able to come enjoyed revisiting school life and comparing it to your school days!
Mrs Wilmer
I’m pleased to report that Mrs Wilmer is now at home recovering from her successful operation. She has asked me to pass on her thanks for your good wishes.
Icy mornings
We have started to experience some rather slippery conditions on the paths. I have asked the caretaker to grit the main path and the path around from the main entrance to reception on frosty mornings but please be mindful that he may not have caught all of the patches.
Upcoming December Dates
Early Years Nativity Monday 11th
Chocolate Bingo Tuesday 12th (6pm)
Chester Zoo Trip Thursday 14th
Church visit for carols Monday 18th December
Early Years / KS1 Theatre Trip Tuesday 19th
KS1 Christmas Production Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st
Thank you to the staff, PTA and parents who work hard and volunteer their time to allow these exciting events to take place.
Ms Hartley
Dear Parents and Carers
Goodness me - December has certainly arrived with a bang. The weather has made its presence felt this week and there is a definite elf-like buzz around school today!
We are very lucky to have the large fields to play on whilst the weather is icy. They are much safer than the playground but we do need the children to have a change of footwear so that they can enjoy the outside and still have warm dry feet in the afternoon.
Most parents find it helpful to have a pair of school wellies which are left in school to save you having to remember them each day. If you do send some to stay in school please remember to put names inside - you’d be amazed by how many unicorn / rainbow / spiderman etc wellies we have around the school!
This week we have had a very busy week of activities outside of regular lessons
Year 5 Gymnastics
On Thursday afternoon some Year 5s went to Co-op Academy Stoke to start their training for an inter academy competition in January. They worked on a routine using a variety of skills. Good luck to our gymnasts Polly, Rejoice, Lexi, Georgia, Arthur, Kara, Sam, Nora and Ava in their preparations. We are looking forward to hearing how you get on! Thank you to Mrs Shaw for accompanying the children.
Year 5/6 Footballers
Congratulations to the Year 5/6 football team who had an outstanding start to their season winning 3 and drawing 1 match on Monday evening. The scores were 2-0, 5-0, 6-0 and 0-0 - amazing! Well done to Enes, Albert, Teddy, Seb, Jack, Leo, Henry and Stanley.
Thank you to Mrs Sharman for organising, Mr Flemming for being head coach on the day and parents for helping to get the children to the fixtures.
Year 6 Musicians
This week 4 of our Year 6 musicians were entered into the Co-op Academies Trust Young Musician of the Year competition. They will be competing against musicians from all schools across the trust. Good luck Millie, Gini, Imogen and Florence - we are very proud of you.
Thank you Mrs Elkin for organising the entries and recording their performances.
Christmas Market
It was lovely to see so many of you at the Christmas market last week. It was very busy and everyone seemed to be enjoying their evenings. Thank you to the PTA members who have worked hard to organise everything and to the staff who stopped to set up and help run some of the stalls. Once we have had the Chocolate Bingo we will be able to let you know a grand total that our Christmas fundraising activities have made.
December Dates
Continuing into December we have some dates for your diaries over the next few weeks:
Grandparents Lunches Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th
Non Uniform Day (Chocolate donation) Friday 8th
Early Years Nativity Monday 11th
Chocolate Bingo Tuesday 12th
Chester Zoo Trip Thursday 14th
Early Years / KS1 Theatre Trip Tuesday 19th
KS1 Christmas Production Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st
Thank you to the staff, PTA and parents who work hard and volunteer their time to allow these exciting events to take place.
Parking
We are still experiencing some issues with inconsiderate parking - blocking pavements and drives. I understand that the roads surrounding our school are not designed for large volumes of traffic, however it is important that parents dropping off or collecting park considerately leaving enough room for pedestrians with prams etc to walk along the pavement - even if it means parking a little further away.
The safety of all of our children is always our top priority.
We look forward to seeing many of you over the next few weeks and wish you a warm and relaxing weekend enjoying your family time.
Ms Hartley
Dear Parents and Carers,
There’s a lot of excitement about the Christmas market later. We hope to see as many of you here as possible.
INSET day
Friday February 9th is an INSET day due to staff training. Small & Tall will be closed too.
Online safety advice
Parents - Xmas devices
As Xmas is approaching many children and young people will be asking for new devices. It's important that parents think carefully about these devices and the parental features that are available. It's equally important parents think about what the device will be used for, e.g. an all-singing-all-dancing smartphone when it will only be used for messaging and the odd phone call, would a lesser phone be better?
Internet Matters has put together a couple of really good guides for parents:
How to choose the right phone for your child - HERE and
Children's tech guide 2023 - which has guides on a huge range of tech from laptops to gaming consoles, smart TV's and much more. The guides can be found HERE.
Safeguarding Audit
On Wednesday, we had a Trust safeguarding audit. The team was very thorough and asked the children and staff lots of questions. I believe that some parents met some of the team too. I’m thrilled to tell you that the day was a success. It is very evident in school that safeguarding is important to everyone. Every child they spoke to, knew what to do if something happened. They knew that any adult in school was a trusted adult. Many knew the childline number and all of them knew that it was better to talk to a trusted adult than keep something bottled up inside of them.
On a personal note, I’m so pleased that the information I send about online safety helps at home along with the various other updates that I send you.
Don’t forget that from Monday, I’ll be ‘out of action’. For any problems please contact your class teacher. For more urgent issues please contact Mrs Dean or Mrs Hartley. As I won’t be in school, if you have any safeguarding worries about a child, please contact Mrs Hartley or the Staffordshire Safeguarding Board on 0300 111 8007.
Thank you for your continued support and especially your kind words this week.
Take care and stay safe.
Mrs Wilmer
