LAMPS Head

Young Voices – KS2

Last week KS2 parents were sent a form to gauge interest in the possibility of the junior classes attending the Young Voices event in Manchester.  Schools are required to pay a significant fee to participate with additional cost of staff training, the coach and releasing enough staff to attend and support on the day.  Sadly, we do not have enough interest to make participation this year viable however, Mrs. Lawson will continue to learn the songs with choir and we hope to perform them in the Summer Concert.

Extra-Curricular Clubs

We have had parents requesting a number of changes to the extra-curricular clubs that their child attends each week.  Although we appreciate that the extra-curricular clubs serve as after school childcare, when we send the forms and payment items at the start of the term, it is with the assumption that your child will attend the club every week unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as being absent from school, that prevent them from attending.  Registers are drawn up based on your chosen activities and the adults delivering those club plan for the registered children attending each week. 

In future, if you only require your child to attend an extra-curricular club on an adhoc basis, do not sign them up for it at the start of term.  Instead, on the occasions you require them to attend, email the office and a £1 payment can be made through the DONATIONS section of the Parent Mail app or you can request that Mrs. Bolton send you a payment item.  Alternatively, you can send £1 into school.  This will avoid staff not knowing how many children to plan for each week and also avoid unnecessary notifications to you from the Parent Mail app asking you to pay for clubs that your child has not attended.

Class Trips

Our Cat Bells had a fantastic trip to the Safari Zoo last Thursday.  I would like to say a huge thank you to our Class 1 parents for dropping them off at the zoo and collecting again at the end of the day.  We love taking our pupil to see the animals and, although the zoo is only round the corner, it would be a long walk for little legs!

Mrs. Lawson and Mr. Wilson are planning an exciting trip to Liverpool this term for a museum visit to experience workshops linked to their current class topic.  Myself and Mrs. Jarvis are hoping to plan a visit to The Dock Museum as the children are studying the work of different artists such as Van Gogh and Lowry.  We are hoping to view an exhibition from a local artist and also make some Lowry inspired sketches of the industrial buildings that can be seen in that area.

Football

Our Year 3/4 boys’ football team had a fantastic time competing in the Ulverston football tournament this week.  It is great to be back playing competitive sport and this is only made possible by the support of our parents helping with transport.  Thank you so much to Mrs. Morgan for helping on the day and also to the other parents who offered.  We hope the girls enjoy their tournament as much next Thursday!

KS2 Residential

Thank you to all the parents who responded to the Parent Mail form asking about your preferences for the KS2 residential in summer. I apologize for the difficulties experienced selecting your preferred choice but I am pleased you could still share your choices in the comments section of the form.  The most popular choice was a visit to York so I am working with Fussells to organise a trip there and to agree the activities that the children will experience.

Certificates

Week Commencing 20^th September

This week’s winning team was: BLUE

	Cat Bells N/R	Blencathra Y1/2	Helvellyn Y3/4	Scafell Pike Y5/6
Reading raffle	Ruby Heywood	Layla Payne	Oliver Payne	Ethan Bravery Matheson
Kindness Award	Ebony Bowes	Daisy Lee	Alma Aubrey Goodall	Mia Wall
Team Player	Benjamin Baines	Olivia Hornby	Tommy Helm	Archie Slater
Hard worker	Sophie Leigh	George Gough	Keisha McCall	Poppy Bailey

Week Commencing 27^th September

This week’s winning team was: GREEN

	Cat Bells N/R	Blencathra Y1/2	Helvellyn Y3/4	Scafell Pike Y5/6
Reading raffle	Rosie Long	Eva Wilson	Thomas Long	Ben Rixom
Kindness Award	Bow Yates	Lottie Roberts	Archie Appleby	Darcie Fittes MacDonald
Team Player	Hope Collins	Eva Wilson	Freddie Ashburner	Ashton Wood
Hard worker	Travis Athersmith	Erin Sharp	Alma Aubrey Goodall	Joey Coates

Diary Dates

These are useful dates for your diary that will be added to each week.  More information about each event will be provided nearer the time. New dates are highlighted, changes to any date/time are in red.

Date	Event
01-10-21	Dowdales staff visiting Year 6
07-10-21	Year 3/4 Girls Football Tournament, Ulverston
22-10-21	Break up for half term
01-11-21	Return to school
02-11-21	Parents’ Evening
03-11-21	Parents’ Evening
25-11-21	Nasal Flu Vaccines
14-12-21	Whole school trip to Forum 28 – Beauty and the Beast

Welcome to our new families

I would like to give a huge welcome to all our new families.  Some of you may not have had the opportunity to visit school and meet all the staff due to the Covid restrictions in place last year.  If that was the case and you would like pop in for a tour and to meet everyone, please feel free to let me know and we will arrange a time.

I have been so impressed with how quickly our new children have settled and equally how all pupils in school have adapted to their new classes and new routines.  We have had a very successful start to the term and are keeping our fingers crossed that there will be no disruptions this year.

Communication

I will continue to write this fortnightly newsletter that will communicate any news and provide information on upcoming events.  You may also receive emails if there are any important messages that need passing on in between each newsletter.  Class teachers will send a termly newsletter to provide information specific to their class, such as PE days, homework arrangements and what topic they will be learning about.  All correspondence will come through the Parent Mail app so it is vital that you have this installed on your main device and have notifications switched on.  If you know of any parents who are unable to access Parent Mail so would not see this letter, please let us know so we can send paper copies or provide help accessing the app.

We use the school’s Facebook and Twitter accounts to celebrate the children’s achievements and share photos of events and certain activities.  Our new parents will soon receive a form to give permission allowing us to share pictures as long as this is something you are happy with.  The children are rarely named when pictures are posted and, if there was ever a need to publish a name, it would be first name only and permission would be sought.

The school website is also a valuable source of information and this will also be updated over the next few weeks.  Newsletters will also be published to the website which provide an easy method of searching through previous letters for specific information.

Seesaw

Seesaw continues to be our main digital platform for providing activities in lessons and evidencing their children’s learning.  As mentioned in my last letter, last year’s Seesaw classes have now been archived and your children have been added to a new class.  This means they will need to connect the device they use at home to that class. All children will soon be sent home with a Homework Book and instructions to connect their device will be in the book along with their new code.  For all our new families, the SEESAW CLASS app can be downloaded for free on all iOS, android and Kindle Fire devices.  It can also be accessed on a laptop or PC via the webpage.

Parents also have the option of downloading the SEESAW PARENT & FAMILY app which will enable you to connect to view your child’s work and keep up to date with everything they are learning.  Please look out for an invite which will be sent to you over the coming weeks.

Extra-Curricular Clubs

Thank you to all of those parents who have already completed the Parent Mail form to select which extra-curricular clubs you would like your child to do.  If you have not already selected, then please do so by Wednesday 8^th September.  After Wednesday, we will send payment items to all parents who have selected clubs.  In your app, if you click on payments, you will see all clubs selected and that you have the option to play for each club on a weekly basis or the total amount.  If you do make advance payments and your child does not attend, we will refund you.  We recognise that this is a new system for many of you so please feel free to ask for clarification if you have any difficulties.

Gymnastics – Key Steps 2 & 3

I am very happy to tell you that Mrs Smith has volunteered to coach the Key Step 2 and Key Step 3 gym teams.  Practice will take place on Friday after school.  If your child attended gymnastics last year, or has expressed an interest this year, please look out for the permission form that will come via Parent Mail.

Key Steps 1 will begin practicing their skills and routines later on in the term.

Diary Dates

These are useful dates for your diary that will be added to each week.  More information about each event will be provided nearer the time. New dates are highlighted, changes to any date/time are in red.

Date	Event
13/09/21	Year 3/4 Swimming
10/09/21	Gym Teams’ first practice session
22-10-21	Break up for half term
01-11-21	Return to school
02-11-21	Parents’ Evening
03-11-21	Parents’ Evening
25-11-21	Nasal Flu Vaccines

Foodbank Donations

Can I just say a huge thank you for the many generous food donations which were sent in for the ‘Barrow United’ appeal.  It is so heartening to be part of such a thoughtful and considerate community. 

School Council

I would also like to send a huge thank you to Tyler Fisher and his parents.  Tyler was elected as a School Council member this year and you may have seen on the Friends of LAMPS Facebook group he has been selling Christmas wreaths at Tythe Barn to raise money for some football goals for school.  This is incredibly generous.  I absolutely love my wreath and at the bargain price of £12, I can’t imagine they will have many left.

Christmas Cards

Giving Christmas cards is a tradition which most children enjoy (as well as being an excellent opportunity to practice their handwriting).  If your child would like to give cards, please send them in on Thursday or Friday next week.  They will then remain in our post box until the following Monday when they’ll be sorted (by clean hands) and delivered to their recipients.

Santa Dash – Friday 11^th December

Just a reminder that on December 11^th, the whole school will be taking part in a Santa Dash.  Depending on the weather (and the condition of the pavements regarding wet leaves and dog dirt) KS2 will be making a slow run, down to Ulverston Road, round The Green and then back up to school.  KS1 will walk/jog down to the The Green.  The children are more than welcome to dress up in Santa outfits or wear a Christmas jumper with a Santa hat.  All children who take part will receive a certificate and medal.

Roxy Cinema Visit – Whole School – Monday 14^th December

We are in the process of arranging a whole school visit to the Roxy Cinema on Monday 14^th December, 9am, to see Arthur Christmas.  Staff at the cinema have assured us that our 3 bubbles can be seated at a distance from each other and hand hygiene and sanitization procedures will also be in place. As we will need three separate coaches (1 for each bubble) we are hoping to reduce the cost by asking you to bring your child so that the coaches will only be required for the return journey back to school.  I recognize that this may cause some difficulties for our working parents as car sharing is not as easy a solution as it once was so please let us know if this wouldn’t be an option for you. Please look out on Parentmail for further details next week and a payment item for £7.  This subsidized cost includes a ticket, tub of ice-cream and travel back to school.

Virtual Pantomime – Whole School – Wednesday 16^th December

On Wednesday 16th December 2020, we will be joining schools across the UK to tune in to a livestream and a sing along performance of Rapunzel. Our children have been practicing the songs so they can join in with the festive fun.

Christmas Party – Thursday 17^th December

Thank you for your £2.50 donations for the Children’s Christmas Party.  This will take place on Thursday 17^th December.  The children will have party snacks and play party games within their bubbles.  The children can come to school in non-uniform.  Party wear is absolutely fine as long as the children have sensible footwear on (or something to change into) for any outdoor play.

Last day of term – Friday Non Uniform Day – 18^th December

We will be celebrating the last day of term with another non-uniform day.

Swimming

Swimming will resume in the Spring term for years 2, 3 and 4. You will receive more information about this in January.

Extra-Curricular Clubs

Extra-curricular clubs will continue as normal until the end of term, as will the Breakfast and After-School Childcare Clubs.  Please ensure your children are booked on and paid for in advance of sending them.  The extra-curricular club timetable will change next term and details of what clubs are available will be sent home before Christmas. The booking form will then be available on Parentmail, ready for the extra-curricular clubs to recommence on Tuesday 5^th January.

Social Distancing

The Local Authority have asked schools to remind parents of Tier 2 restrictions so I have attached a graphic giving details and, for further information, please click the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-2-high-alert

I will be continuing to reinforce the importance of our social distancing and hygiene routines over the next two weeks.  I am determined that we will all get through the next two weeks with no Covid cases and no cause to isolate over Christmas. Every one of us should be able to spend our well-deserved break with our families and enjoy the all the festivities.

Diary Dates

These are useful dates for your diary that will be added to each week.  More information about each event will be provided nearer the time. New dates are highlighted, changes to any date/time are in red.

Date	Event
11-12-20	Santa Dash /Christmas Jumper Day
14-12-20	Roxy Cinema Visit
16-12-20	Rapunzel, The Lockdown Pantomime
17-12-20	Children’s Christmas Party Afternoon
18-12-20	Last day of term – non uniform day

Foodbank Donations

You should have received an email this week from Mrs Brettle giving details regarding the support of Barrow Foodbank as part of the ‘Barrow United’ initiative.  Newbarns Primary School pupil, Joshua Hewson (8 years old) has been inspired by both Marcus Rashford and Boxes of Hope Cumbria, to support his local community and as a result he came up with the idea of ‘Barrow United’ to support Barrow Foodbank.

Joshua is asking local schools to donate items to support the Foodbank in delivering hampers to local families during the Christmas period. This will happen with the help of Barrow AFC Community Trust, who will pick up the items collected by local schools and prepare the hampers to be delivered.  We thought this was an amazing idea, even more so because it had come from a primary pupil.

We have already received some very generous donations from our families but, if you haven’t yet sent some food into school and would like to, the final date is Wednesday 25^th November.  Class 1 have been asked to bring in cakes or selection boxes, Class 2 – mince pies, Class 3 – tinned meat or biscuits and Class 4 – stuffing or savoury crackers.

Flu Vaccinations

Just a reminder that the children’s flu nasal vaccinations will take place next week on Friday 27^th November. If for any reason your child should miss the vaccination due to being absent, there are vaccination catch up clinics where they will be able have the vaccine at a later date.  Mrs Brettle can provide information on these clinics if required.

Class Dojo/Seesaw

From January next year, we will no longer be using the Dojo app in school.  We initially set up Class Dojo because of the facility to communicate with parents and for parents to be able to see children’s rewards and sanctions.  Like many initiatives in school, they are time limited and our pupils have become less and less motivated by dojo points.  Therefore, we will be revising our rewards and sanctions scheme and moving to just using Seesaw as our platform for communication between home and school.  I will update you with more information towards the end of term.

Christmas – Santa Dash

On December 11^th, the whole school will be taking part in a Santa Dash.  Every child in school who completes the dash will receive a medal and certificate.  We are very much looking forward to spreading some Christmas cheer around the village as well as getting outside and being active.

Next week I will be asking teachers to spread some Christmas cheer around school by decorating their classrooms and the communal areas.  If you have any old decorations that you no longer want or need, please feel free to send them in.

The children’s Christmas party afternoon will take place on the Thursday of the final week.  We will be asking parents for a payment of £2.50 per child to pay for food and prizes.  More information will be given nearer the time.

Diary Dates

These are useful dates for your diary that will be added to each week.  More information about each event will be provided nearer the time. New dates are highlighted, changes to any date/time are in red.

Date	Event
25-11-20	Last day for food donations
27-11-20	Flu Immunisations
11-12-20	Santa Dash /Christmas Jumper Day
16-12-20	Rapunzel, The Lockdown Pantomime
17-12-20	Children’s Christmas Party Afternoon
18-12-20	Last day of term – non uniform day

Parents’ Evenings / Written reports

In light of the current restrictions, we will not be holding our usual Autumn term Parents’ Evenings.  Instead, the class teachers will write a brief report for each child that will provide information regarding their attainment prior to school closures and their most recent assessment outcomes.  We intend to give parents an honest account of where the children are in their learning; it would be senseless to think school closure would not impact on progress.  However, we are fully confident that with our interventions, increased support and the continued effort you give to working with your child on their homework and home learning, we will close any gaps in their development. 

If we do have any particular concerns about an individual pupil, we will be inviting parents in to school for a meeting.  In most cases, children should catch up lost learning but, where we anticipate any exception to this, we will contact you.

When we return from the half term break, you will receive a communication via Parent Mail which will provide information about our assessment system and a form that will enable you to feedback any comments or concerns regarding your child’s learning and progress.  You will then receive your child’s report from their class teacher.  After reading the report, you should complete the form with your comments.

Nursery

We have now completed our first half term with a Nursery class and we absolutely love having these younger children in school.  Their curiosity, boundless energy and gorgeous smiles make school a brighter place.  We now have 9 nursery pupils on roll, with another 2 registered to start in January.  If you know any families with children approaching 3 years of age and they are looking for a Nursery place, we are happy to conduct socially distanced visits to the school when the building is less populated.

Curriculum Enrichment

I would like to thank the staff for their efforts in planning and delivering some exciting activities this term.  Helvellyn Class (Y3/4) enjoyed an amazing Anglo-Saxon Day which including forging swords, crafting jewelry and loom weaving.  Blencathra Class (Y2) baked their own Anglo Saxon feast with Mrs Brettle and Cat Bells (N/R/1) have been learning about Harvest and making scarecrows.  They have also recorded their own Harvest assembly which has been shared with parents.  Yesterday and today I have worked with Scafell Class (Y5/6) on a STEM project provided by BAE Systems.  We used special pens with conductive ink to draw circuits and investigate different materials and whether they were insulators or conductors.  This morning we built our own drones and then attempted to program and fly them in the hall!  We have definitely developed our ability to problem solve, some more successfully than others! More importantly, it has been wonderful to watch the children working as a team, helping and supporting each other and enjoying their learning.  We are very grateful to BAE Systems for providing this opportunity, together with the Fairy Tales STEM project that KS1 have completed.  The children (and adults) have thoroughly enjoyed their activities. 

Halloween Hampers

For the last two weeks, the children have been working doubly hard to try and earn raffle tickets to increase their chances of winning a Halloween hamper.  A hamper of sweets for each class has been donated by Mr and Mrs Brettle (Lexie’s grandparents) and, unsurprisingly, they have been a great motivator!  It is a shame every child cannot be a winner because they have all worked so hard over the half term and all deserve a treat!

The winners are as follows:

Cat Bells:         Bow Yates

Blencathra:      Milo Morgan

Helvellyn:         Joel Ashburner

Scafell Pike:    Kara Lingard

Covid-19

It has been wonderful to have the Key Stage 1 children back in school after their two week isolation period.  I would like to thank their parents for how quickly they responded to our message asking for the children to be collected and also for the fantastic support they have given the children with their home learning activities.  We are very thankful that no other staff members or children contracted Covid and, although having to isolate is far from ideal, it is the right thing to do and is a necessary precaution to keep each other safe.

Friends of LAMPS

The LAMPS Lottery has now been drawn for the months of April, May, June, July, August and September.  Please see below for the list of winners.  If you are able to collect your winnings from school, then please do so from Weds 14^th October.  You may remember from my last newsletter that I announced that the Friends of LAMPS would be ceasing this term.  The LAMPS lottery has also now ended, as of October 1st.  Any advanced payments made will be refunded as soon as possible.  If you pay by standing order, please cancel this and if you know of any neighbours or extended family members that may not see this newsletter, please pass the message on.

Curriculum Enrichment

The staff have been working hard to think of various ways in which we can enrich our curriculum within the current restrictions. We have a variety of events and activities that will hopefully give the children something in their school day to look forward to.  Please see the diary dates for when different things will be happening.  Class teachers will communicate anything specific to their class and parents through Dojo,

Week beginning the 19^th October, we are having a STEM themed week using resources and activities provided by BAE Systems.  In KS1 the children will be designing and making items linked to traditional tales, such as making a chair to hold all three bears and Goldilocks!  In Key Stage 2, the children will be completing Lego challenges and designing circuits.

Something that the children are all excited for is ‘Frightful Friday’ which is a Halloween themed day we will be having on October 23^rd.  The children can come into school in non-uniform or fancy dress and they will be completing Halloween themed activities throughout the day.  We will also be drawing a raffle in each class to win a Halloween Hamper.  Mr and Mrs Brettle, Lexie Brettle’s grandparents, have very kindly donated the sweets for each hamper and, in addition to giving dojo points, class teachers will also be awarding pupils with a raffle ticket.  The more tickets they earn, the greater their chance of winning.

Extra-Curricular Clubs

Children are continually being added to Extra-Curricular club registers and whilst this is a great thing; we want to encourage as many children as possible to attend them, the current Parent Mail payment system is not set up to allow parents to pay for attending clubs on an adhoc basis.  Therefore, any parents who would like their child to attend part way through this term, or as a one off, should make Mrs Brettle aware and a new payment item will be set up for them.

Lunches

We have noticed that a number of children are not eating as much of their lunch as they perhaps should due to wanting to race and play with their friends.  Over the following weeks, instead of having an option to eat outside, all pupils will remain in their classrooms to eat and will not be taken out until at least 12:20pm. 

Diary Dates

These are useful dates for your diary that will be added to each week.  More information about each event will be provided nearer the time. New dates are highlighted, changes to any date/time are in red.

Date	Event
10-10-20	Anglo Saxons Feast – Class 2
13-10-20	Gary, Tennis Coach working with Class 1 then Class 2
14-10-20	Virtual Parliament Workshop – Class 4
15-10-20	Anglo Saxons theme day – Class 3
19-10-20	BAE STEM project – whole school themed week
22-10-20	Class 1 virtual Harvest presentation – video to be sent to parents
23-10-20	Frightful Friday theme day– Non Uniform – Whole school
23-10-20	Break up for half term
02-11-20	Return to school
05-11-20	Bonkers for Bonfires – forest schools themed day
27-11-20	Flu Immunisations

Lottery Winners

April	Prize	May	Prize	June	Prize
J Dalziel D Rawlinson S Mills B Hughes C Crowe	£50 £30 £20 £15 £10	S Howell L Barr S Simpson K Brettle H Clough	£50 £30 £20 £15 £10	C D’Eath E Copley C D’Eath H Clough J Copley	£50 £30 £20 £15 £10
July	Prize	August	Prize	September	Prize
L Satterthwaite K Brettle C Crowe C Hill I Smith	£50 £30 £20 £15 £10	S Marshall K Brettle L Mayou Satterthwaite Satterthwaite	£50 £30 £20 £15 £10	S Procter S Simpson S Mills S Thompson R Simpson	£50 £30 £20 £15 £10

In recent weeks we have received a wealth of information from various sources that offers support and advice to schools and parents during the current Covid-19 crisis.  I have collated all that information to provide you with a single point of reference.  However, I recommend that you visit and subscribe to the following web pages to keep up to date with this rapidly changing situation.

Home learning advice

DFE guidance for home learning during school closures

10 top tips for remote learning – parents

Helping your child learn during school closures

Top tips for creating a home learning environment

Health advice

What to do when your child is unwell

Understanding the coronavirus

Helping SEND children understand pandemics and the coronavirus

Hand washing guidelines

Mental health

Reference to all mental health agencies

Helping children cope with stress

Well-being and mental health – a guide to looking after yourself and others

Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse – victim support

Parenting

Advice for dealing with behaviour at home

Advice for talking about Covid-19 with your child

Advice for managing stress

Advice for providing structure

Advice for managing one to one time

Financial

If your circumstances have changed due to the current Covid-19 crisis which has resulted in the unavoidable need to claim Universal Credit, your child will likely be entitled to free school meals and vouchers to support uniform costs.  Check here to see if you meet the criteria.

Apply for free school meals

Online Safety

Digital Safety and well-being kit

NSPCC Online safety advice

WhatsApp guide

Zoom guide

I hope this letter finds you all healthy and coping with the constraints of the current lockdown.  I know I am missing my long walks in the Lake District but I am keeping busy planning routes for when I can finally return.  If you are struggling in any way, whether it be emotionally, financially or practically because you are isolating and unable to get out for food or medicine, then please reach out.  I have a full staff team who are happy to help in any way. Mrs Jarvis provides emotional resilience support to pupils in school and has arranged to speak to some of the children she sees more often but, if your child is particularly struggling to understand the current situation or is feeling upset and anxious by it, please let me know and Mrs Jarvis can provide some support.

Home Learning

Myself and the teachers are very happy that home learning resumes again today.  It is not only important for keeping the children on track with their school work and maintaining their positive attitudes to learning but it gives us that precious contact with them which we are missing.  When we see their uploads and know they’re engaging with the material set, we know they are healthy and well.  Teachers will continue to set English and Maths activities and there is a wealth of content online so if you could encourage the children to adopt some structure and routine into their daily learning, they will benefit enormously.

Each child has been given a Home Learning book with an access code that will allow them to interact with Seesaw in the same way they would if they were in school.  This allows them to upload their own pictures or edit the pictures and documents that we upload.  If anyone is having difficulties, then please let me know as this is the main method we are using for home learning.  I have asked class teachers to make contact with any families that are not engaging with Seesaw so that they can help problem solve, but primarily, to check everyone is okay.

Free School Meals

You may have seen in the media that schools are obliged to continue providing free school meals to those entitled to them even when schools are shut.  These are the school meals that are free for those on low incomes and an application must be made to Cumbria County Council.  This is not the same as the school meals that are free to children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.  If your circumstances have changed due to the current Covid-19 crisis and you think you may be eligible then you can apply by clicking on the link below:

https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/childrensservices/schoolsandlearning/freeschoolmeals.asp

Residential

To those parents who had children booked onto this year’s residential, we are currently in discussions with Fussells Travel company regarding refunds for the residential trip as they are determined to keep the deposit and second payment. We will be seeking legal advice regarding the terms and conditions of the booking and if they are entitled to keep the payment and, if this is the case, we will have to claim through the school’s travel insurance.

I am sure you will appreciate that this is not a quick process, especially with many businesses working less hours and having less staff, however we will keep you updated and you can be assured we will be aiming to refund parents as soon as possible.

School Games Sports challenge

Up until the Covid-19 crisis, we were seeing some fantastic achievements in sport this year and I have no doubt that we would have secured a place in the county competitions for more than one team.  However, just because all competitions have been cancelled it does not mean we can’t complete.  Oliver Carswell, the School Games Co-ordinator for Furness, has organised a virtual competition.  He is uploading a challenge a day to his Facebook page and if you post a comment/photo/video of your child completing the challenge and name our school, we will gain points.  You can see Oliver’s Facebook page by clicking the link below.  Even if you do not want to enter the competition, the challenges are fun and simple and will keep the children busy.

https://www.facebook.com/SGO.Furness/

Critical worker childcare

Just a reminder that we are open for emergency childcare for key workers.  Any parents requiring childcare will need to provide evidence of critical roles and shift patterns for all adults who live in the household and verification of this from your employer.  As long as we have enough staff willing to volunteer and those staff remain in good health, we can continue to open.  However, should this situation change, our pupils requiring childcare will be directed to Dowdales or Dalton St Mary’s.  If you are a keyworker and require childcare, please email me on head@lindalmarton.cumbria.sch.uk to register and discuss shift patterns.  All childcare should be confirmed by 6:00pm on Friday for the following week which will allow me to ensure we have adequate staff in place.

Barrow Raiders

Your child should have brought home a season ticket for Barrow Raiders Rugby.  This will give them free entry into every home match.  The list of fixtures was printed on the back of each ticket.  If you have an interest in rugby, it would be great to attend a match and support the team. 

We have a free rugby taster session happening on Friday next week for children aged 6 to 9 years, however there are only 20 places available as, if the weather is wet, it will need to take place in our school hall and space is very limited.

Online Learning

Reminder: If you haven’t already, please connect to your child’s Seesaw account so you can view some of their work and the activities we set for them. 

Also, please don’t forget that your child has access to Education City which is our online learning platform.  There are a wealth of activities from all of the core curriculum subjects so please utilize this facility and have a browse. 

Absence through illness

You may have seen in the news that current guidance asks people to stay at home and self-isolate if they have a high temperature or continuous cough.  We have had a small number of children off school today for various ailments, some of which have included a cough and slight fever.  However, as yet, we have NO confirmed cases of Covid-19 so please do not be alarmed.  We have consulted our Health and Safety team to seek advice about whether these ailments require our pupils to remain at home for 7 days or not. 

In summary, if your child is too unwell to be in school for whatever reason, they should remain off for 7 days to ensure that they are not passing on any kind of illness that may cause others to be unwell and ultimately add to the already pressured healthcare service.  However, if you are concerned, unsure or require more information, please contact NHS 111 who will be able to provide you with specific advice for your child’s individual circumstances, information which you can then share with school which will inform our response.

Achievements

	Maths	English	Dojo
Class 1	Hallie Heywood	Erin Sharp	Evan Wood
Class 2	Leighton James Thomason	Eve Graham	Tommy Helm
Class 3	Alfie Munro	Poppy Bailey	Amelie Ward
Class 4	Seth Turner	Courtney Crowe	Esmee Pybis

Diary Dates

These are useful dates for your diary that will be added to each week.  More information about each event will be provided nearer the time. New dates are highlighted, changes to any date/time are in red.

Date	Event
16-03-2020	Well-Being Week
16-03-2020	Year 3/4 Tennis Comp
16-03-2020	Year 5/6 Netball League @ Hoops, 3:30pm
17-03-2020	Year 5 Language session @ Dowdales
18-03-2020	Science Morning
20-03-2020	Rugby Taster session, 3:30pm (6-9 yr olds)
23-03-2020	Year 5/6 Netball League @ Hoops, 3:30pm
25-03-2020	Jester For Jesus
26-03-2020	County Gymnastics Finals @ Penrith
27-03-2020	Last day of term
13-04-2020	EASTER MONDAY
14-04-2020	Return to school – Anthony Wright Photos
14-04-2020	Parents’ Evening
16-04-2020	Parents’ Evening
27-04-2020	KS2 Ulverston Voices @ Coro Hall
06-05-2020	Jester for Jesus