Mrs Sheila Pape

Executive Headteacher

Dear Parents,

I hope you are all keeping safe and feeling well.

I just wanted to clarify that should you qualify as a critical worker or a vulnerable family, you can ring us at any time to book your child into school should you need to. Conversely, if you feel they would be safer at home, you can keep them at home. The latest guidance from the DfE states:

Parents and carers who are critical workers should keep their children at home if they can.

A quote from Dr William Welfare, Covid response director at PHE on Friday:  

 'approximately one in three people who have coronavirus have no symptoms and could be spreading it without realising it. To protect our loved ones it is essential we all stay at home where possible. This will reduce new infections and ease the pressure on the NHS and save lives.' 

Schools have already had positive cases with their bubbles of vulnerable children and children of critical workers so you do need to be aware that having your children in school may mean they will have to isolate for 10 days should a case be reported. Obviously if this did happen I would let you know immediately. Even if your child is not in school, but you have a positive case within your household, please do let us know as it helps us build a picture of what is happening in our school community although these cases are not officially reported. 

We have rising numbers of children attending in year R and year 3. We can accommodate anyone who needs a place in these year groups but you do need to be aware that these numbers do increase the likelihood of a case being reported in those year groups.  

However, on the positive side, yet again the children are adhering to the expectations within school very well.

The staff have been organised so that in each year group, one teacher is teaching in school, whilst the other sets and marks the home learning. The work in school and the home learning are following the same curriculum so the children are accessing new learning whether at home or in school.

If there is no work posted on line by a child, or there has been no communication with the family, we will be ringing to check you are all well. If no contact is made within a week, our Parent Support Advisor will make a house call to check all is well and see if there is any further support needed. Please do not hesitate to ring in if you need help or guidance. When staff ring you regarding home learning, or for a welfare call, it may be from their own phone and show as 'No caller ID' so please answer!

Once again we will be providing supermarket vouchers to those pupils who are eligible for free school meals.  We will be ordering the vouchers through Wonde, the same company we used to distribute vouchers for the Christmas holiday.  We select those eligible for vouchers through our Management Information System (SIMs) and once a voucher is assigned, parents will instantly get a text and /or email message asking them to select their supermarket of choice.  As the school is paying for these vouchers there may be a delay of a few days while the order and payments are processed, but once this is done the vouchers will be sent directly to parents.  It is therefore very important that we have your latest mobile and email details on our system.

If you are not sure if we have your most up-to-date details please go to the email update form on our website:

https://www.southview-jun.hants.sch.uk/infant-and-nursery-school/

https://www.southview-jun.hants.sch.uk/junior-school-2/

Each voucher will be worth £15 per week per child. They will be sent out every 2 weeks.  These are only for children who are registered as eligible for FSM and not currently in school. If your child is only attending part time we will look at these cases individually to decide on the value of the voucher to which you are entitled.

If your circumstances have recently changed and you feel you may now be eligible to claim FSM please visit our FSM page to check the criteria and apply:

https://www.southview-jun.hants.sch.uk/apply-for-free-school-meals/

Once this is done please use the ‘Notification of entitlement to Free School Meals’ online form to update us.

For further guidance on Wonde vouchers please visit the FAQs on their website.

http://help.wonde.com/en/articles/3843162-faqs-for-parents-supermarket-voucher

And finally…..

Coming soon …….. The South View Federation School App !!!

We are excited to announce that, to improve communication with our entire school community, we will be launching a smartphone app which is free to download and works with iPhones and Android phones.

As a school, we believe it is essential to work in partnership with parents and carers and part of this is achieved by ensuring that you receive clear, relevant and regular communications. 

Benefits of the app for Parents and Carers will be: 

• The app is secure; you set up a PIN/ Touch ID to access on your phone
• The app is powered by our school website which means that when you download it, you will have a single place to receive and access important messages along with calendar events, newsletters, latest news and all information pages within the school website. 
• It will reduce need to go searching for letters at the bottom of school bags
• Messages appear in your inbox; you will receive secure individual and group messages as well as whole school notices 
• We can be certain that you have received the message
• And …..there are no character limits!!!

The main benefits of the app for the school will be that we will be able to reduce costs, as unlike texts, messages we send are free of charge, and it will reduce our admin time by keeping all communication tools within one place.

As you can see there is lots to be excited about!!

As always, stay safe and if you need advice or support - just call us.

With my very best wishes,

Mrs Sheila Pape

Executive Headteacher

Mrs Sheila Pape

Executive Headteacher

For further information on critical workers please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision

For information regarding how you can get informal childcare for anyone under 14 from friends and family you do not live with by making a childcare bubble with another household please visit:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/making-a-childcare-bubble-with-another-household

Mrs Sheila Pape

Executive Headteacher

If you are calling in to the school office please ensure you are wearing a face covering and only one adult at a time please in reception areas. The office reception windows will be kept closed to reduce any possible transmission, I am sure you will understand why this is necessary.

Please click on the links below to view some ideas of Christmas decorations and treats to make with your child.

Infant School Christmas Craft Ideas

Junior School Christmas Craft Ideas

Dear Parents,

Many of you will have seen on the news that the Department for Education has offered for schools to take the last of term, Friday 18th December, as an INSET day. Each school is able to make their own decision on this.

I have decided that we will not be changing our current arrangements as I do not feel it will benefit anyone from a last minute change. Staff will not benefit from training at the end of a long and demanding term and it would mean I then had to lose one of the INSET days already planned for next year, as this is not an extra day that is being given to us. Furthermore, it would mean many working parents having to make last minute arrangements for childcare which could mean children mixing with other children outside of their bubbles and so increasing the transmission risk very near to Christmas - which I am sure we all want to avoid. So, the last day of term will remain Friday 18th December, but with a collection window of 12.25-12.45p.m. for both schools. This will allow all of the children to have their lunch before they are collected. If children have not been collected by 12.45p.m. they will be allowed to walk home (junior children only) as they would at the end of a usual school day.

Nursery will be open for the morning session only on the Friday, with those who usually stay for lunch still able to do so, and then be collected in the 12.25 -12.45p.m. window, in line with the rest of the federation.

You may remember that over the half term break, I asked anyone who displayed symptoms, or who had a positive text result, to inform the school via the school website contact form. This was to enable us to inform other contacts that they would need to isolate. The DfE have asked for a similar arrangement over the Christmas period which is as follows:

Where a pupil or staff member tests positive for Covid, having developed symptoms more than 48 hours since being in school, the school should not be contacted. Parents and Carers should follow contact tracing instructions provided by NHS test and Trace.

If a child develops symptoms up to and including Sunday 20th December and subsequently tests positive, parents are asked to inform the school so that we can identify close contacts and advise on self-isolation, as the pupil may well have been infectious whilst in school

Where a pupil is required to self-isolate due to contact with a positive case after the first 6 days following the end of term (Thursday 24th), we do not need to be informed until the first day of term to explain the absence of the pupil if they are still isolating.

Please use the contact form on the website to notify the school of any test results or symptoms, or to ask for advice, as this will be checked daily.(except for Bank Holidays). I will then contact you if necessary, as soon as I can. Please include a contact number in your message.

Obviously, I sincerely hope that I do not need to contact any of you to ask you to isolate over Christmas, but you can be assured that I will contact you if I do need to so that you are fully aware of what is happening and to keep you all safe.

Don't forget tomorrow is Christmas Jumper Day!!

With my very best wishes,

Mrs Sheila Pape

Keep washing your hands and stay safe!