Picking up pace with painting, podcasts, and pat-a-cake making!

Update on the Zambezi Sunrise Trust

On Thursday in assembly we welcomed John Gillette from the Zambezi Sunrise Trust – a charity that we have supported and sponsored which has resulted in a fantastic new classroom fully funded by CVPS in Zambia, known as the Cramlington Classroom. John updated us on the recent developments in the school. We were excited to hear that
they have added two year groups onto their primary so that it now serves secondary aged pupils.

Beccy Owen our musician in residence this half term continued her work, this time with Y1 and Y2 and this will continue every Wednesday as she works across this term with all classes. We loved seeing the children’s joy when she sang with them.

And governor ‘face to face’ visits have restarted after lockdown restrictions eased with an opportunity for governors to see the children in classes and talk to staff about their plans and challenges. The governors then complete written reports that feed back to the staff and the governing body about their findings. This time around they commented positively on our key activities that link to our school development plans.

The post Covid challenges we face as a school align very closely to national scenarios which is reassuring. A regular dialogue this year (and last) also reflects on general staff wellbeing which is highlighted regularly as part of our school discussions and we commit a lot of time to this in our annual plan for staff meetings.

Nursery children have been baking and painting and even our teachers were training this week in school as you can see from our photos.

Virtual visits continue!

We are still making use of virtual support when we can and Y4 learned from a real live podcaster and local
journalist, Ian Wylie via a virtual platform. Ian shared what he does in his professional role and talked to the pupils about key insights into what makes a great podcast. He particularly liked the question that asked him whether there was anything you shouldn’t put into a podcast!

COVID Update

It’s been great to see the Covid rates in Cramlington reducing although still very high. Thankfully we have had no live cases reported in school this week or last which suggests that it’s on the wane – thankfully. We are still vigilant though so apologies if your child has the usual coughs and colds from this time of year and we have requested that they seek a PCR.

We are applying the criteria for PCR testing uniformly across school with the consideration that one day off to check a PCR by one child is preferable to a large number of children being impacted with a ten day
isolation period as a result of having allowed attendance by pupils with unconfirmed Covid.

The school nurse and the local health protection teams have advised us about the following symptoms being present with the predominant variant in school. This includes : headaches, runny noses and sore throats, as well as the standard cough, high temperature and loss of taste/smell. Thankfully PCRs results currently are returned within 9-10 hours.

Christmas is around the corner

We have been so pleased to hear the sound of school singing as the children practise for the Carol services. It was sorely missed last year when we weren’t meant to sing together in the hall! Remember to check the diary dates at the bottom of this newsletter to confirm times for each class going up to the church for their Christmas Carol Service.

Nursery Nativity

Our nursery children will be video-recording their version of the nativity in-house this year to share with families as a keepsake. Previous years tell us that they find the scrutiny of proud family at the church really overwhelming which has led to tears and tiredness! The children will have pride of place in our reception class next year when they become the heroes of the nativity!

Parent governor vacancy

A final reminder for our parent governor vacancy for anyone interested in being involved in the running of the school. This involves being available to meet two or three evenings every half term and pop into school once a term to review an area linked to the school development plan. Meetings are generally timetabled a year in advance and last around 60-90 minutes. At the moment they are on Tuesdays and
are online. If you are interested in contributing to the smooth running of the school in this way please let me know and I can share a bit more about the requirements of the role. We are especially keen to attract people who have an interest in finance and education at the moment. If there is more than one person interested we will hold a vote. The closing date is Friday the 26th November at 5pm. Please email the info
account on info@villageprimary.org for more information or to arrange a chat. Thank you to those who have expressed interest already.

School Council

School council has met again this week and Lyla Ives has shared her highlights of why she’s enjoying being the school council representative this year: ‘In the meeting today it was suggested that we ask children their favourite school lunch so we can check if everyone likes a lot things on the menu. Jess and Miah were finishing (painting the letters) the Buddy Stop sign for outside. I’m most excited about having everyone back together. Also making sure the litter pickers are being used and my cake idea for lunchtime!!’

This week we’ve been excited to hear that Katie Russell has been chosen to play a part in the pantomime. She recently auditioned to be a dancer in the Tynemouth Priory Theatre panto Sleeping Beauty and was successfully chosen to be 1 of the 10 dancers. She will be performing in 11 shows starting on 7th January 2022. She is super excited as this will be her first time performing in a pantomime. Well Done Katie! We are super proud of you!

Family Support Worker Amy’s Update

Hope Centre Services – The Hope Centre have been in touch to give us an update on the services they can provide to families. The Hope Centre is able to help with food parcels, school uniform and baby equipment. Over the Christmas period they are also helping families with gifts for children. All of their services are completely confidential, free of charge and available to families who have been referred by school. If you would like some more information about this service or feel that you would benefit from a referral, then please get in touch. You can contact me
confidentially via email – amybiggins@villageprimary.org

Paul’s outdoor idea

This week I would like you to make a mud face, a nice thick consistency is best so don’t add too much water. Mix the mud and water with a stick or spoon, then use your hands to squash the mud ‘dough’ together. Stick to a tree, wall or the floor and use stones, sticks, leaves or petals for the eyes, mouth, nose and hair. Don’t forget to upload your pictures of your creations
onto the class Facebook pages.

Achievement Awards

Children achieving gold this week
Y2 – Anabelle Lister, Y3 – Elliott Hopkinson,
Y5 – AJ Jefferson, Jacob Roper and Zara Wallace
Swimmer of the week – Katherine Doris
Kindness champion – Jack Mitchinson