Supporting your child to stay safe
We continue to try and keep you updated as much as possible with how you can keep your child safe in many situations.
The posts and information about Fortnite and screen time have proved popular for parents – it seems online safety is an area that parents would like lots of support.
Here is our next factsheet with some hints and tips about how you can support your child stay safe during using WhatsApp. The guidance around WhatsApp recommends that users should be 16 years old. We know that a lot of our children use WhatsApp so decided it would be helpful to support you in monitoring your child’s use of the app.
As always, if you’ve any questions, comments or concerns, please chat to someone in school.
Coronavirus – an update
Today, the Department for Education has sent another email to schools with updated advice to support schools in dealing with coronavirus and any concerns around this.
They have set up a helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:
- Phone: 0800 046 8687
- Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
- Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)
The advice remains that no school should close in response to a suspected (or confirmed) COVID-19 case unless directed to do so by Public Health England. We will continue to follow this advice.
The email also stresses the importance of hygiene: personal hygiene is the most important way we can tackle COVID-19. We’ve done lots in school to promote this message – please do the same at home. For example, before you eat this evening, make sure your child washes their hands for at least 20 seconds.
COVID-19 Update
Latest advice from the NHS is that you should call 111 if you’ve been to the following countries recently. If this applies to your child, please do also contact school to tell us.
Call 111 now if you’ve been:
- to Hubei province in China in the last 14 days
- to Iran, areas of northern Italy in lockdown or “special care zone” areas in South Korea since 19 February
- to other parts of mainland China or South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Macau in the last 14 days and have a cough, high temperature or shortness of breath
- to other parts of northern Italy (anywhere north of Pisa, Florence and Rimini), Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos or Myanmar since 19 February and have a cough, high temperature or shortness of breath
- in close contact with someone with confirmed coronavirus
Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. Call 111, stay indoors and avoid close contact with other people.
The link to the NHS page is:
Living and Learning: manners
Our manners focus this week, in Living and Learning, is all about covering our mouth to prevent the spread of germs.
You’re just about to sneeze or cough but, oh dear, you don’t have a tissue. What should you do? Cover your mouth and nose with your hands? Surely that’s what polite people do.
But hold it! If you sneeze or cough into your hands (and then fail to wash your hands straight away), you’ll only be spreading colds and flu germs on everything you touch.
And that’s because germs (as long as they stay moist) can live for HOURS on hard surfaces such as tables, phones and door handles. And not just on objects – everybody you touch will be contaminated, too.
And of course, vice versa – if somebody else has sneezed or coughed on their hands, they’re leaving a germ-trail for you to pick up.
So what’s it best to do?
Here it is in action.
Are you interested in losing weight? Would you like to improve your family’s health?
If so, and you feel that you and your child would benefit from becoming a healthier weight, you might be eligible to take part in an interesting study.
World Book Day themed menu
Catering Agency, our school meal provider, will be running a special themed menu on Thursday 5th March. Please contact the office, in the next few days, if your child would like a school dinner on this day (no action needed if your child normally has a school meal on this day).
Attendance matters
Our whole-school attendance figure up until February half-term is just short of 96.8%.
Here are the figures for each year group:
- Reception: 96.86% That’s brilliant – keep it up!
- Year 1: 96.61%
- Year 2: 97.52% The best in school – well done!
- Year 3: 97.45% A close second – good stuff!
- Year 4: 96.13%
- Year 5: 96.15%
- Year 6: 96.79% Good stuff
Let’s aim for the whole-school average to be even higher by Easter!
If you’d like to know the up-to-date score for your child, please ask at the office.
School will be open
School will be open today as normal.
The roads are currently bad, so take your time travelling to school safely.
The forecast shows an improving picture, with rain later, and dry this afternoon; temperatures are above freezing.
Is your child in Year 4?
The government is introducing a new assessment for Year 4 pupils. In June, each child in Year 4 is set to complete an online multiplication tables check (MTC). Read more about this new assessment.
There will be 25 questions covering the full range of facts children are expected to know, which means questions going up to 12 x 12. However, there’s slightly more weighting towards multiplication facts involving 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 due to these being the most difficult to learn. For example, there will be between 2 and 4 questions involving multiplying by 6.
For each question, children are presented with a multiplication fact and an empty box. This may be written as __ x 6 or as 6 x __ .
If you’d like to practise at home, our own website has lots of spreadsheets you can download.
There are also lots of websites that you can use. This one is very similar to the MTC. It’s possible to alter the settings on this website to focus on particular times tables.
Another exciting way to practise times tables is through the ‘Times Tables Rockstars’ website. Every child has their own individual login details that enables them to access their account at school and at home. Feedback so far is that this is proving an enjoyable way to practise times tables facts at home!
PE and Sport Premium
We are required to publish details of how we invest our PE and Sport Premium funding.
What is the Primary PE and Sport Premium?
The government provides funding to improve provision of physical education and sport in primary schools. This funding is ring-fenced and therefore can only be spent on provision of PE and sport in school.
For 2019/20, our grant allocation is £17,800.
How will we invest this at Moortown Primary School?
At Moortown we have developed a provision plan to ensure this funding is invested (rather than ‘spent’) to maximise the long term impact of our PE provision for pupils and staff. The funding is invested in various ways and the impact of these initiatives is closely monitored through assessment of children’s skills, staff and pupil feedback, uptake of clubs etc. At Moortown Primary, we pride ourselves on being a happy and healthy place to learn.
Our 2018/19 PE provision plan is fully evaluated with impact from last year’s investment.
Our 2019/20 PE provision plan detailing proposed investment is also published.