Dear Parents and Carers,

 

I hope you all had a lovely Easter break and enjoyed some of the sunny weather, as well as being able to mix with a few other people following the relaxation of some of the lockdown rules. These rules are now being relaxed even further with effect from Monday – but please be careful, especially when you are around vulnerable people.

 

Retirement

I start this update with the news that, after 20 years at South View Junior School, Mrs Waters, Deputy Head, is retiring at the end of this academic year.

 

Mrs Waters has been a totally dedicated and committed Deputy, and has always put the children first in everything she does. Mrs Waters has seen an incredible number of changes at the school during this time, including the formation of the Federation in 2017, as well as running the junior school while I was on a secondment to a school in Winchester in 2013.

 

Over the years, Mrs Waters has improved the life chances of so many children, as well as whole families, through the work she has done with them. I know many of you still ask for her advice and guidance for many different reasons. Some of the children still come back to visit her and let her know how they are doing. I know she is proud of all of the children and their accomplishments, whether she taught them directly or not.

 

Mrs Waters has instilled a love of French in a great number of children, greeting them in the morning with a few words in French, and now many hold a mini conversation with her before heading off to class. She hasn’t been quite as successful at improving my French!

 

We cannot thank Mrs Waters enough for her dedication, determination, professionalism and hard work. I know she has inspired many teachers over the years and enabled so many staff to grow and develop into outstanding practitioners. She has always been there to guide, advise, support and listen. Mrs Waters will be greatly missed, especially by me. We have worked together for 24 years, previously working at Winklebury Junior School together.  She is going to be an incredibly hard act to follow.

We all wish her a very long, happy and well deserved retirement. If she puts as much effort into enjoying her retirement as she has into working at South View, she is sure to have a great time!

This of course meant that we had to look for a new Deputy Headteacher, and following interview earlier this term, I am delighted to announce that Mrs Kay Young has been appointed as Deputy Head as from September 2021. Many of you already know Mrs Young as a year 6 teacher but also as the current Assistant Headteacher. However, her new role as Deputy Head will mean that she will no longer be class based.

 

Also, sadly, Miss Barrett and Miss Tubb are both leaving. They are moving to jobs nearer to where they live. Again, although they have only been with us a few years, they will be greatly missed. They are both very popular teachers and the children really enjoy being in their classes. We wish them every success in their future careers. Thank you for your hard work and dedication too.

 

Staff absence

As from Friday of this week, Miss Barrett will be absent from school for a number of weeks due to her having some long awaited surgery. Mr Gaunt will be taking the class in the first instance, but I will keep you updated with plans.

 

Miss Mann is also having some remedial surgery on her knee, which has been causing her pain for a long time now. She will be out of school from 18^th May for a few weeks. Mrs Morris will be taking the class during this time, which will be a good opportunity for her to get to know them before they move into year 6, where she supports the children with their writing.

 

Exciting News

As many of you are aware, we already have Speech and Language Specialist Resourced Provision in school from Nursery through to year 6. The children accessing this provision have an EHCP (Education, Health Care Plan) with speech and language identified as a specific need and are offered a place at South View by the Local Authority, to access our specialist provision.

 

Due to the school being so successful with both resourced provision and mainstream children, the Local Authority has now asked that we open 2 new specialist resourced provisions (RP) for children with Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD). This is a great compliment to be asked to do this as it shows that our proven track record of supporting children with specific needs has been recognised by the Local Authority. Again, for children to access a place, they will need an EHCP and placements will be offered through the Local Authority, Special Needs Department. The children will not be integrating into mainstream, as this will be a standalone provision, so will not impact on current class sizes.

 

There will be one MLD RP at the infant school and one at the junior school. We are currently in the process of appointing staff for both of these RPs and I will update you further with staffing for these and the whole federation, after half term.

 

Parents’ evenings

As we have not been able to hold parents’ evenings so far, we are yet again sending out some target sheets which identify what your child is working on in school and how you could support them at home. These will be coming home to you on Friday of this week.

 

If, after reading the target sheet, you would like to speak directly to your child’s class teacher then please do so by phoning in to school to let the office staff know. The class teacher will then ring you when they are available to do so.

 

We are sincerely hoping that some face to face meetings can be held before the end of the school year.

 

Admissions

Following the latest admission rounds, we are yet again full in both Year R and Year 3 for September, with waiting lists for both year groups.

 

Parents of the children who have been offered places will have received, or will be receiving, information from us regarding transition arrangements. Again these have been impacted by Covid restrictions, but we are hoping to be able to have some visits later in the term. In the meantime, if you have any queries then please contact either school office.

 

 

Parking

If you park outside of the school on Baynard Close/Shooters Way, please can you be mindful not to block driveways. Some of the local residents have had trouble getting in or out of their drives due to cars being parked across them. Thank you.

 

Incredibly Important Reminder

If your child is unwell you should keep them at home as you would usually do. If they, or any member of your household, displays Covid like symptoms, children must not come to school and the whole household (bubble) must isolate immediately. You should arrange for the symptomatic person to be tested with a full PCR test (not an LFD test) and all remain in isolation until the results are returned. If they are negative, then isolation can end, but if positive, the whole household must remain in isolation for the full 10 days. If in any doubt – ring school for advice.

If a member of your household is unwell and you are not sure if it is Covid related, I would rather you acted cautiously and rang the school for advice, before sending children to school.

 

Parents should observe social distancing from other adults and children at all times and should not gather together either inside or immediately outside of the school grounds. I know this will be difficult when some of you haven’t met up for some time, but the more people who meet together, the higher the risk of any transmission.

We want to try and avoid any further cases so please do follow the rules for your own safety and the safety of the rest of the school community.

 

With my very best wishes,

Mrs Sheila Pape

Executive Headteacher