Parent Survey

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https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HNX6G9Z

Further to the email yesterday regarding the parents survey, if you have not already completed the survey please use this link above.

With plans for September 2020 and the foreseeable future uncertain at the moment, we are keen to hear your feedback on your experiences with home-learning during the recent school closure. We would be grateful if you could take 2 minutes to complete this survey to help us ensure we continue to support you and the children to the best of our ability. The survey will remain live until midday Wednesday 8th July 2020.

PDG Access Grant – 2020/21 Update Note for Families accessing Free School Meals

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Applications for September 2020 will NOT be received by our Schools but will be received and administered by the Local Authority.  Due to the current circumstances a new on-line application process has been developed for 2020. It is anticipated that the on-line application will be available for families to access from Monday 27th July 2020. Support will also be provided by the Local Authority where families do not have on-line access to apply. Details and updates will be available on the Caerphilly website. To reassure families applications and payments will be on-going through the summer holiday period, into September and onwards.

The Purpose of the Scheme is to provide grant assistance to families on low income. It  is aimed at supporting pupils who are eligible for free school meals because of the benefits or support payments their parents / guardians currently receive [Note – pupils in receipt of FSM’s through transitional protection linked to the roll out of Universal Credit are not eligible to access the PDG Access Grant in 2020/21].

The PDG Access grant provides assistance for the purchase of:

  • School uniform including coats and shoes;
  • School sports kit including footwear;
  • Uniform for enrichment activities, including but not limited to, scouts, guides, cadets, martial arts; sports; performing arts or dance;
  • Equipment e.g. school bags and stationery;
  • Specialist equipment where new curriculum activities begin such as design and technology; and
  • Equipment for out of hours trips such as outdoor learning e.g. waterproofs.

This Funding is available to pupils who are eligible for free school meals (as detailed above) entering:

  • Reception class of maintained primary schools in September 2020;
  • Year 3 class of maintained primary schools in September 2020;
  • Year 7 of maintained secondary schools in September 2020;
  • Year 10 of maintained secondary schools in September 2020;
  • Pupils in special schools, special needs resource bases; pupil referral units and alternative provision (arranged by the Local Authority) who are entering Reception, Year 3, Year 7 and Year 10 in September 2020.

The Funding is available to ALL looked after children of compulsory school age, irrespective of FSM entitlement.  Applications for LAC pupils will need to be made to the Local Authority in which the pupil attends school.

 Families with pupils under a Special Guardianship Order would only be eligible to claim if the guardians / carers meet the eligibility criteria (relevant year group / in receipt of FSM’s due to benefit or support payments received).

 Pupils with no recourse to public funds entering reception; Year 3; Year 7; and Year 10 in the 2020-21 school year are entitled to assistance under this Funding.

 Funding of up to £125 is available for each learner with the exception of those in Year 7. Eligible learners in Year 7 will be entitled to a maximum of £200. This recognises the additional costs associated with starting Secondary School.

 To reassure families, the guidance is quite clear that if a uniform has already been purchased for a learner and they meet the criteria, a retrospective claim can be made.

Parental Survey

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With plans for September 2020 and the foreseeable future uncertain at the moment, we are keen to hear your feedback on your experiences with home-learning during the recent school closure. We would be very grateful if you could take 2 minutes to complete this survey to help us ensure we continue to support you and the children to the best of our ability. The survey will remain live until midday Wednesday 8th July.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/233LBGD

 

CCBC confirms return to school arrangements

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The Leader of Caerphilly county borough council has confirmed that schools across the area will reopen to pupils on Monday 29th June for a period of three weeks before the start of the main summer holidays on Friday 17th July.

Cllr Philippa Marsden said, “The original proposal was for pupils to return for a period of four weeks, however, after extended discussions we have concluded that our schools will now open for 3 weeks and close for the summer holidays on 17th July.”

“We are taking a consistent approach across Gwent and I very much welcome this opportunity for pupils to check in and catch up before the summer break. Our priority is to safeguard the health and wellbeing of pupils and staff, as well as ensuring learning can resume as quickly and safely as possible.”

Schools across the county borough will open their doors on Monday 29th June for pupils to return on a phased basis. Year groups will be split into cohorts with staggered starts, lessons and breaks. This means that, at most, around a third of pupils will be present in the classroom at any one time, although individual schools may need time to reach this level of operation.

CCBC has been successfully running a number of childcare hubs in many of its schools throughout the outbreak, so staff have significant experience of working within these new conditions and limitations and are well placed to provide safe, well managed learning environments.

Cllr Barbara Jones, CCBC Cabinet Member for Education added, “We would like to assure the whole community that all appropriate steps will be taken to safeguard pupils and this will remain our key priority.”

“Everyone involved in reopening schools has been working extremely hard and we are sure that the children attending school for the 3 weeks will have an enjoyable, productive and worthwhile experience that will help as many as possible to check in, catch up and prepare for September.”

The Welsh Government has published guidance to support schools, as well as further and higher education institutions. This includes information on managing their facilities and logistical arrangements, including buildings, resources, cleaning and transport.

Cardiff City Resources for Years 3 & 4

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Next week, for Years 3 and 4 there will be ‘Cardiff City’ resources provided as well as an alternative themed series of activities for children who might not choose the CCFC activities.

Both of these sets of activities will be shared via Teams but if any parents are not able to access Teams, they can email teachers for the alternative pack. Staff will continue to set a small number of tasks on My Maths and Purple Mash through the week.

School Re-opening Plan

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Dear Parents / Carers

Our reopening plan is now available. The last two pages contain a ‘quick check’ section that will hopefully contain answers to most questions about the reopening. I’ve put key words or important information in bold type in that section.

Unfortunately, some of the information that we were expecting from CCBC has not yet been forthcoming, therefore the plan contains as much as we know and details our current plans as they stand but could be subject to change if any of the expected support on which we have based our ideas is not confirmed in the next week. Also, in the last day there have been suggestions that the last week of term (week beginning 20th July) might not take place. We are expecting a Local Authority decision on this that they are co-ordinating with the other Authorities in Wales. At the moment there seem to be changes on an almost daily basis and this makes any kind of forward planning very challenging. I will try to keep you as informed as possible.

The plan is based on advice and guidance we have received from the Welsh Government and specific departments in CCBC such as Health and Safety and Education. This is a time of great uncertainty for everyone and these last few months have been entirely uncharted territory for all of us and the months to come will be the same. The bottom line for the plan is that we will try to keep everyone- children, parents and staff, as safe as we possibly can.

As teachers work towards the preparation for the reopening their time available to interact online will be restricted.

In order to help any children who might be nervous about returning to school, we will be filming a video walk through of the schools next week when they should look more or less as they will on the first day back. We will put this video on the school blogs so that anyone worried can see what our schools look like now with the new signage and classroom organisation.

As detailed in the plan, teachers will be contacting you in the coming week.

Reopening Plan V6 Parents

I hope that you are all well and keeping safe.

Mr R Cook

Message from NHS regarding Diabetes

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Dear Parents,

The NHS has asked for this message to be sent out to you.

Undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes in children requires urgent medical attention

If your child has ANY of the main symptoms of Type 1 diabetes please make an urgent GP appointment or contact the Out of Hours service. The main symptoms are known as the 4 Ts – Thirst, Toilet, Tiredness, Thinner. If you notice your child is thirsty or using the toilet more frequently, is always feeling tired, or has lost weight recently, seek immediate medical advice.

NHS services are very well equipped to look after children safely if they are unwell. Please do not delay seeking medical advice because of Covid-19.

There is more information available here:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/in_your_area/wales/campaigning/know-type-1—wales

Manor Adventure – New dates!

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FAO: Parents of next years Year 6 / Current Year 5

NEW DATES: Wednesday 21st – Friday 23rd April 2021

The children’s trip to Manor Adventure has now been rearranged for the Spring Term 2021.

The total cost of this trip will remain at £188.00 which includes the stay and transport to and from the venue. Any previous payments made towards the trip will still stand against your child’s final balance.

We have set up payment cards that you should have received earlier this year.
These should make it easier for parents to pay in small installments. We will be in contact later this year with further updates.

We hope you are keeping well and staying safe!

Yours faithfully

Miss E Lewis and Miss F Lewis
School Clerks
The Federation of Bedwas Junior and Rhydri Primary Schools

Update 12.6.20

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Following a meeting that took place yesterday, schools that have yet to publish their reopening plans have been asked not to do so at the moment.
Significant areas of support that CCBC are intending to provide for schools were expected to have had their details finalised this week, this however has not been achievable. One of the key areas is the plan for additional cleaning support that CCBC will be providing for schools both during and at the end of the school day. Many elements of our plan depend on a certain level of support which, should it not be forthcoming in the expected way, will mean that plans have to change quite significantly. There are also additional areas where clarity in terms of the guidance that has been given to schools is being sought. Issues such as the days on which certain groups of children can be on site and the areas utilised very much depend on information that has not yet been given. I met with the Head Teachers of the other schools in our cluster today and they are also in the same position.
I will share the reopening plan with staff today in order for them to check the arrangements and give them the opportunity to make amendments. This should allow us to issue our plan to you as quickly as possible once these unknowns are resolved.
Mr R Cook

Update 10.6.20

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Dear Parents / Carers
Now that we have received the Welsh Government guidance we will be checking our school reopening plan against its requirements. All staff will be involved with checking our plan against the WG document to ensure that we are complying in the best way we are able. Once this has been discussed and any amendments made or organisational adjustments finalised, the plan will be shared with you via the school blog. With the current situation, processes such as cross-checking with all staff are understandably taking a little longer than they were before but I am planning for this to be published on Monday 15th June.
For those of you whose children have been accessing hub places these will continue but will now be provided by us. CCBC will be providing schools with a list of all children who have accessed their provision to date. The children who access the school-provided hub will only interact with that group as a ‘bubble’ and will not have any significant contact with other groups in the school. If you have not previously utilised this offer but now wish to apply for a hub place for your child due to your identified status as a ‘key worker’, then the application must be made via CCBC as has been the case since the hubs first opened.
For the parents of next year’s Y6 children I would also like to update you on the situation regarding our residential trip that was due to take place in October. We have arranged with Manor Adventure for the trip to be rescheduled for later in the year (March / April) and are currently waiting for them to confirm that the dates we have requested from the list they supplied are still available. This of course means that the date for final payment will move forward accordingly and we will provide more details about this once we have received a response from Manor Adventure.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and questions with the teachers who have phoned this week, it has been very helpful.  In many cases we were already considering some of the identified queries and were just waiting for the Welsh Government guidance for clarity. Some of the questions that you asked have now informed the detail of our school reopening plan, so once again; thank you!
Look after yourselves!
Mr R Cook

School Return Update

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The Health and Safety site visits for both schools took place on Friday and we are currently working to adapt the sites for re-opening on June 29th in the light of recommendations that were made.
Your child’s teacher will be contacting you by phone in the next few days to find out your current thoughts about your child(ren) returning to school.
Initial plans have been made but we are still waiting for the publication of the Welsh Government guidance on re-opening for schools in order to check our plans for compliance. Each school’s response to this will be different depending on the demands of varied sites and staff availability and are made in order to provide the safest possible solution to this challenge. We are having to consider factors such as the need to provide two isolation rooms, social distancing of the children and staff, the management of access to the site such as holding areas and one-way systems, restrictions on resources that must not be shared, cleaning requirements, staggered break and lunch times building through-flow, toileting arrangements as well as the need for each group of children to be in a ‘bubble’ in order to minimise and hopefully remove any contact with other ‘bubbles’.
I must stress that any plans we put in place will purely be for the pre-summer period and will be designed to meet the Welsh Government’s requirement for the access to schools to be for the purposes of ‘checking in, catching up and preparing for summer’. We will be preparing a completely different response for September in order to meet a different set of needs. Indeed, the organisation of the first week (29th June) could very well be different to the subsequent three weeks as our response will have to be dynamic and regularly reviewed. At all times the safety and wellbeing of all stakeholders is the driving force.
I will update you further when we have received the expected guidance.
This is a frustrating, uncertain and challenging time for everyone so I thank you in anticipation of your patience and support.
Mr R Cook