Autumn Term 2 Newsletter

Monkton CEP School – “In God’s Eyes, Everyone is Special” Term 2 Newsletter 1 13 November 2020

Dear Parents, Carers and Governors,

A

t long last I have managed to find the time to send you a newsletter with some information and reminders for this term.

emailed and completed. If there is a pod or a whole school closure, live lessons with the class teacher will take place alongside other opportunities for home learning. If the class teacher themselves is unwell, other provision will be put in place.

As almost all correspondence with you has moved online.

Please remember to let us know as soon as you can if you change your email address.

Text Messaging Service We will continue to use the texting service this year, so please ensure you always keep Mrs Webb updated if you change your mobile number at any time.

Term Dates You will find this Academic Years Term Dates on our website.

The dates for future academic years can be found by moving forward through the calendar.

You will find details of your child’s Class activities etc on their termly class newsletter, these are sent to you by email at the start of each term.

Website: www.monkton.kent.sch.uk School Money You can use the School Money App to pay for Breakfast Club and School Events etc. But sadly, not dinner money at this point.

If you haven’t already done so, please sign up our online payment system www.eduspot.co.uk.

Login using the “SchoolMoney Parent Login”.

School Harvest Festival

Our local food bank is based in Birchington and is known as The Birchington Food Bank or Storehouse. If you are struggling to make ends meet and food is in short supply, they will be able to support you for 8 weeks. Please contact either myself of Mrs Webb should you need to use the Food Bank. We will be able to explain how our local foodbank works and make a referral on your behalf (in the strictest confidence).

Siblings Can you please let Mrs Webb know of any younger siblings that you wish to enrol at Monkton CEP School. As you are probably aware siblings come at the top of our list only superseded by Children in Care and those with an EHCP .

If your child was born between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017, they will be starting school in September 2021. You will need to apply for a place online before 15 January 2021.

Apply for a place online at: www.kent.gov.uk/ola Flu Vac Your child’s annual nasal flu spray is now due

The Kent and Medway School Immunisation Team will be visiting our school on 03/12/20.

Our Zoom Harvest Festival took place last term and was a great success. With Reverend Braddy taking part in the service together with all our classes.

Unfortunately, we suffered an IT glitch (power cut) and the festival failed to record, therefore we were unable to share this event with you.

Please can I thank you all for your tremendous generosity in donating tinned and dried good to our local Food Bank which is in Birchington.

Remote Learning Thank you to those of you who have responded so far to my survey regarding your home IT and connectivity arrangements. If you haven’t already done so please complete the survey for me: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/F7VVLJ6 The purpose of the survey was to gain a better insight into the school’s capacity to deliver live lessons from class teachers and the Oak Academy. In the event of a pupil isolating or becoming unwell the class teacher will provide Oak Academy lessons or work that can be

Please complete the online consent form marking whether you consent or decline consent at https://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/forms/imms-consent-form/

before 30/11/20.

Second Hand Uniform As a school we are trying to reduce our School’s impact on the environment, and have been collecting nearly new uniform from you all for quite some time. As a result, we have the most incredible supply of barely worn uniform that we are happy to give to you to save you buying new if you don't have to.

Mrs Osgood has kindly offered to sort and bag clothes for you to collect. Please just email Mrs Webb your child's sizes and uniform requirements and I will pass this on to Mrs Osgood.

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If you would like to give a small donation to our school fund, we'll never say no! However, don't feel obliged to give anything. We would just like to recycle our uniform to you and do our bit to reduce our environmental footprint at the same time.

Covid Cleaning and Ventilation As you know we have a rigorous cleaning regime in place in school (cleaning all “high touch� surfaces at least 4 times during the course of the day). You may also realise if you visit the school, that we keep all doors and windows open throughout the school day. As we move into the cooler months we will still keep the windows open to provide constant background ventilation. At regular intervals throughout the school day i.e. during breaks the doors and windows will be opened fully to flush the air throughout the school.

With this in mind please start to think about purchasing an extra layer of clothing for your child to wear during the winter months. We suggest a warm fleece jacket in either red or black. Warm socks, tights and thermal vests are another possibility.

Parking – reminder Please remember not to park on the zigzags between the hours of 8.00-9.30 in the morning and 2.30-4.30 in the afternoon. There should be no stopping or parking on the bus stops between the hours of 7.00am and 7.00pm.

The zigzags and the lines for both bus stops outside school were redesigned during the modernisation specifically with your children's safety in mind. You are not supposed to park on either. This is to allow the Road Crossing Patrol person a clear view of the road and to keep cars as far away from your children when they are crossing the road as possible.

Christmas Cards Once again, this year we will not be sending Christmas cards to each other. Instead we will be donating the money we would have spent purchasing cards to Crisis at Christmas to reserve a place for a Christmas meal for a homeless person. Please send your donations into school via your child and we will forward your donations to Crisis. Please do not send Christmas cards into school. Thank You. Xmas Lunch This year the school traditional Christmas lunch will take place on Wednesday 16 December and will be served in Class Pods. More details will follow directly from Caterlink.

Christmas Party The school party will take the form of separate Christmas Parties held in Class Pods on Friday 18 December. We will be sending you separate information regarding Covid safe Christmas Party food nearer the time. There will be a Zoom pantomime this year.

This is a non-school uniform day. Warm sensible party clothes to be worn on this day!

As usual the PTA will be providing each child with a Christmas present. These will be wrapped by the PTA elves, these will be delivered to school at least 72 hours before they will be received by the children.

School also finishes on this afternoon –

Friday 18

December from 2pm.

If you are unable to collect your child/children at this time please inform the school office and arrangements will be made for them.

It is never a good idea to park in the area above. This has been the site of many a scraped car or clipped wing mirror, parking here causes traffic to build up and means that pedestrians either have to squeeze between cars or walk in the middle of the road.

Please park safely and considerately in our village and do not park in the school carparkđ&#x;˜‰ PTA As a parent of a child or children at Monkton CEP School you are automatically a member of the Parent Teacher Association. Please remember you do not need to be a committee member to come to meetings (when they re-start_ or to volunteer your help.

For new families, joining the PTA is a valuable way of getting to know everyone and feeling part of the school community. If you would like to be added to the PTA email list, please email: rebeccajamtanner@gmail.com.

The PTA are a fantastic group of people who make life special for your children at Monkton CEP School.

As well as fundraising to purchase extras for the children, they normally provided refreshments after our Class Productions and Carol Service. They on occasions help provide us with extra ‘manpower’ throughout the year. The Staff and Governors truly appreciate their help, support and assistance in making Monkton CEP School welcoming and friendly. I would like to encourage everyone to support their work and volunteer to help at their events in the future.

Problems and Concerns If you have any traumatic events at home (bereavements, family break ups etc) I would be very grateful if you would let your child’s teacher, myself or Mrs Webb know. We care very much about the health and wellbeing of all the children. If we know they are experiencing problems we can give them the due care, consideration and support that they need.

If you have any school or class concerns regarding your child/children, please email your child’s Class Teacher in the first instance. If you would like to speak to me, please email Mrs. Webb and she will make the necessary arrangements.

Punctuality and timekeeping It is important that your child is on time each day for school. Please refer to the Courtyard signs regarding Pod drop off and pick up times.

We thank you all for your continued support in what are proving to be quite challenging times.

Yours sincerely,

K A Wilson (Mrs) Head of School