Friday 13th November

Highlights of the week

It’s the end of our 10th week back in school and both children and staff continue to give their all to ensure our school is a positive and happy learning environment. More pupil highlights from this week include some wonderful onomatopoeia poetry in Year 2 who also enjoyed working on their fitness with Joe Wicks. Year 1 have loved learning about Diwali with the story of Rama and Sita, while learning about nocturnal animals and exploring shapes outdoors was also a big hit. Light & dark and night & day has been a focus in Reception this week and they have also written some brilliant Autumn poems and completed hedgehog number problems. Our Nursery children were very excited to discover dinosaur footprints that led to finding 3 frozen dinosaur eggs. They used their science skills to hatch the eggs and find the baby dinosaurs!

Class highlights in Mrs Leyshon-Breeze’s class have been using different strategies to become masters of multiplication, while Mr Jenkins’ class have enjoyed applying checking strategies to their work on division. There have also been some wonderful Winston Churchill fact files and really creative and skillful painting in Year 3 and 4. The quality of poetry writing in year 5 and 6 has been a stand out feature of this week. Haiku, Cinquain, Tanka and Kenning poetry has been completed on the theme of Blackout and Remembrance with the high standard of writing shining through. A highlight across the school was the respect shown towards Remembrance Day with our poppy stones a fitting way to pay tribute.

Children in Need

A big thank you for your generous donations towards ‘Children in Need.’ The school has been a sea of colour and happy faces with some wonderful costumes and Pudsey clothing. The children have enjoyed the day with their teachers and class and there was tension in the air as we all watched the annual duck race. Congratulations to ‘Quackman and Robin.’ We’ll count up all donations and let you know how much we have raised next week.

Fence panel project

The children thoroughly enjoyed designing our new fence panels, which provide a colourful outline of the learning journey at our school. Thanks to Mr Trowbridge for attaching the designs. 

Drop off and pick up

We’ve had 10 great weeks back at school and one of the reasons for our successful return has been the ongoing support of parents and family members in ensuring health and safety guidelines are followed in the best possible way. Please take individual responsibility for social distancing. As the wearing of face masks becomes normalised in society, the Swansea  Education Directorate supports all schools in asking parents to consider wearing masks when in closer proximity to others such as drop off and pick up time. This provides clear benefits, with regards to reducing virus spread and risk of school closure. Many thanks for your consideration of this matter as we strive to ensure the health and safety of our whole school community.

Influenza Immunisations

These will take place on November 25th. You should all have received a letter of consent for your child(ren). If you haven’t already done so, please can you return your letter, indicating ‘yes’ or ‘no’ NEXT WEEK. Please remember that if you have any queries, you should contact the school nurse (contact details on form).

Digital Exclusion

During the first lockdown, schools looked to identify those pupils that were digitally excluded and with the support of Swansea Council and Welsh Government, provided connectivity and devices to learners. City and County of Swansea are currently trying to ascertain any further barriers to home/blended learning, especially those caused by digital exclusion. We have been asked to share this survey (digitally or hard copy) with parents to enable City and County of Swansea to find what these barriers are and so that they can continue to provide appropriate strategies that support the continuation of learning. If you feel that digital exclusion is an issue for your child please complete:   Digital exclusion Survey

Can my child come to school?

Does your child or anyone in your home have one of the following symptoms?

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

If the answer is YES to ANY ONE of the above symptoms, for anyone in your household, your child CANNOT be in school, no matter how mild the symptoms are.

to arrange for a test contact https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/ 

As always, if you have any concerns, queries or feedback please don’t hesitate in contacting the school or Mr Evans directly evansj737@hwbcymru.net

Thanks for your continued support! Have a great weekend!  

Mr Jamie Evans (Acting Headteacher)

Friday 6th November

We certainly hit the ground running this week and all the children have enjoyed laughing and learning together. The virtual MAD SCIENCE assembly in KS2 certainly inspired both the staff and children. It has been a tricky task for the children to decide on a learning highlight this week because there were so many to choose from. Mr Jenkins’ class particularly enjoyed investigating shadows, light and the seasons while in Mrs Leyshon-Breeze’s class their newspaper reports and electric circuit work stood out. Mr Reid’s class described their rocket experiments as ‘awesome’ and also gained a lot from their diary writing this week. Remembrance pebble art and number work were highlights in Mrs Wallace’s class with the ‘skittles maths’ challenge a favourite for many. Haiku, tanka and kennings poetry was a big hit in Ms Williams’ class but the highlight has been their work on the fire triangle.

Our younger superstars have also had a great week, with firework poetry, doubling and Diva lamps in Year 2. Firework art was enjoyed by all in year 1 whilst the children also thoroughly enjoyed applying their money skills in the class shop. Our reception children had a fantastic time creating firework glitter names and using their number skills to complete challenges, while our nursery pupils have really settled in to school life with their forest school sessions a real high point.

Drop off and pick up

We greatly appreciate your ongoing support in ensuring health and safety guidelines are followed in the best possible way. Please take individual responsibility for social distancing. As the wearing of face masks becomes normalised in society, the Swansea  Education Directorate supports all schools in asking parents to consider wearing masks when in closer proximity to others such as drop off and pick up time. This provides clear benefits, with regards to reducing virus spread and risk of school closure. Many thanks for your consideration of this matter as we strive to ensure the health and safety of our whole school community.

Parent / teacher phone calls 

Those parents that have requested phone calls from class teachers should expect a call during the chosen time period. Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity at present to give specific times. We appreciate your patience.

Influenza Immunisations

You should all have received a letter of consent for you child(ren). Please can you return your letter, indicating yes or no at your earliest convenience. Please remember that if you have any queries, you should contact the school nurse (contact details on form).

What’s on next week?

Wednesday 11th November – Remembrance Day

Friday 13th November – Children in Need

 

Can my child come to school?

Does your child or anyone in your home have one of the following symptoms?

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

If the answer is YES to ANY ONE of the above symptoms, for anyone in your household, your child CANNOT be in school, no matter how mild the symptoms are.

to arrange for a test contact https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/ 

As always, if you have any concerns, queries or feedback please don’t hesitate in contacting the school or Mr Evans directly evansj737@hwbcymru.net

Thanks for your continued support! Have a great weekend!  

Mr Jamie Evans (Acting Headteacher)

Teacher to parent phone calls – Week beginning 9.11.2020

During the week of 9th November, you will have the opportunity to discuss your child’s progress with the class teacher. The current circumstances prevent face to face meetings but we are offering the opportunity to receive a phone call from your child’s teacher. Please click on the correct link for your child’s class below if you’d like to receive a call. Those wishing to receive a phone call should expect a call during the window chosen.

Reception – Mrs Melen

Year 1 – Miss Tyrrell

Year 2 – Mrs Evans / Mrs Thomas

Year 3 and 4 – Mr Jenkins

Year 3 and 4 – Mrs Leyshon-Breeze

Year 5 and 6 – Mrs Wallace

Year 5 and 6 – Ms Williams

Year 5 and 6 – Mr Reid

Friday October 23rd

As we reach the end of our first half term, I’d like to offer huge thanks to the whole school community. Children, staff, families and governors have pulled together to make the best of a challenging period. To all the staff, huge thanks for going above and beyond and putting the needs of the children first at all times. Enjoy a well-deserved break! To families, many thanks for your ongoing support and appreciation of the need to work together! The biggest thankyou needs to go to the most important people – the children. Your attitude and resilience is incredible. We are all immensely proud of you! Put simply – YOU ARE AWESOME!

The current COVID-19 and lockdown situation will affect families differently within our community. As a school, we’d like to wish everyone the very best! Just to remind you, we are back in school on Monday November 2^nd.

Remembrance Day – Poppy stones

As part of our Remembrance Day activities, we will be decorating pebbles with poppies to create a whole school display ready for Remembrance Day on Wednesday 11th November.

Children in Need

We will be supporting Children in Need on Friday 13^th of November. The theme this year is spots and stripes. Children in Need themed activities will be completed throughout the day. More information to follow.

Teacher to parent phone calls (week beginning 9^th November)

On Monday 2^nd November, you will be sent a link to complete a form indicating if or when you wish to receive a phone call from your child’s teacher to discuss progress.

Can my child come to school?

Does your child or anyone in your home have one of the following symptoms?

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

If the answer is YES to ANY ONE of the above symptoms, for anyone in your household, your child CANNOT be in school, no matter how mild the symptoms are.

to arrange for a test contact https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/ 

As always, if you have any concerns, queries or feedback please don’t hesitate in contacting the school or Mr Evans directly evansj737@hwbcymru.net

Thanks again for your continued support! Stay safe and we’ll see you on Monday 2nd November !  

Mr Jamie Evans (Acting Headteacher)

Letter to parents from the Interim Director of Education

Friday 16th October

Another week has passed full of learning and laughing. A highlight in Nursery has been looking for colours and patterns to change the colour of their chameleon. The Gingerbread Man has been a focus in Reception this week with lots of word sorting to describe characters. Year 1 have really enjoyed making number crowns to help with their counting skills. Year 2’s highlight has been giving the Bee bot instructions to stop the magic porridge pot. Mrs Leyshon-Breeze’s class have been writing wonderful poetry linked to the Blitz. Awesome Tennis skills have been the highlight in Mr Jenkins’ class and sporting skills have also stood out in Mr Reid’s class with some phenomenal football.   In Ms Williams’ class, children narrated and directed their battle scenes to support their incredible writing while Mrs Wallace’s class have produced some wonderful artwork inspired by nature.

 

Parent / teacher phone calls 

Teachers will be making phone calls to parents during the week beginning Monday 9th November. These calls will take the place of our usual face to face meetings. The aim of the calls will be to discuss your child’s well-being and progress. If you wish to receive a call, you will be able to book a time through Squid (booking is unavailable at present). More details will follow next week. On the topic of phone calls, please can we remind you of the importance of providing a reason for your child’s absence from school when leaving a telephone message.

Pick up time

Please remember that the window for pick up is between 15.10 and 15.25. Please take individual responsibility for social distancing. It is your personal choice which time you collect your child during this window but, if crowds are causing any anxiety, we suggest waiting until closer to 15.25 before collecting your child.

Can my child come to school?

Does your child or anyone in your home have one of the following symptoms?

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

If the answer is YES to ANY ONE of the above symptoms, for anyone in your household, your child CANNOT be in school, no matter how mild the symptoms are.

to arrange for a test contact https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/ 

As always, if you have any concerns, queries or feedback please don’t hesitate in contacting the school or Mr Evans directly evansj737@hwbcymru.net

Thanks for your continued support! Have a great weekend!  

Mr Jamie Evans (Acting Headteacher)

Friday 9th October

It’s been another superb week at school. Highlights have included the Great Balloon Mystery in Nursery, making maps of Little Red Riding Hood’s woods in Reception and learning about the Princess and the Pea in Year 1. Year 2’s highlight has been the rewriting of the Billy Goat’s Gruff including new and improved characters. Mr Jenkins’ class loved making WWII maps in the woodland, while Mrs Leyshon-Breeze’s class have particularly enjoyed building Anderson Shelters. Mr Reid’s class completed their Bug Hotel in style, Mrs Wallace’s class thoroughly enjoyed using bug viewers outdoors and Ms Williams’ class are making great progress with their Myth writing. All Year 5 and 6 classes learnt so much from their virtual Roman workshop and all the classes have been busy designing panels for our whole-school fence project.

Parent meetings 

This is the time of year that we would normally be welcoming parents into school to discuss their child’s progress. Due to current circumstances, we are unable to offer face to face meetings. However, following half term, every parent will have the opportunity to discuss their child’s progress over the phone. Teachers will be phoning parents at a pre-arranged time. Details on how to book an appointment will follow next week. As always, if you have any immediate concerns regarding your child, please don’t hesitate in contacting the school or Mr Evans directly.

INSET DAYS

Monday 21st and Tuesday 22nd December will be INSET Days. The last day of the Autumn term for children will be Friday 18th December.

Can my child come to school?

Does your child or anyone in your home have one of the following symptoms?

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

If the answer is YES to ANY ONE of the above symptoms, for anyone in your household, your child CANNOT be in school, no matter how mild the symptoms are.

to arrange for a test contact https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/ 

As always, if you have any concerns, queries or feedback please don’t hesitate in contacting the school or Mr Evans directly evansj737@hwbcymru.net

Have a great weekend!  

Mr Jamie Evans (Acting Headteacher)

 Friday October 2nd

It is hard to believe September has passed us by, but the attitude of all the children has continued to make us proud everyday. As always, a big thank you to staff for your unquestionable commitment and to families for your support.

‘Rainy day pick up’

We will be trialing a new ‘rainy day’ pick up system at the end of the day in order to avoid children waiting in the wet and cold. The pick up window will remain between 15.10 and 15.25 and we appreciate your patience if we need to iron out any creases.

 

Blended learning updates

As previously mentioned,  we are doing everything possible to manage the risk of COVID-19 at school (COVID-Compliance report is on the website). However, it continues to be well documented that cases are rising in the wider community. In addition to the lines of communication and home learning platforms already in place, staff have been developing their understanding of ‘SEESAW’ as an online learning platform where they can set work and communicate with pupils. Pupils are beginning to use seesaw in school before they bring home unique passwords and instructions for use at home. These avenues for home learning will be used in the event of a class or zone needing to self-isolate for 2 weeks.

Can my child come to school?

Does your child or anyone in your home have one of the following symptoms?

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

If the answer is YES to ANY ONE of the above symptoms, for anyone in your household, your child CANNOT be in school, no matter how mild the symptoms are.

to arrange for a test contact https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/ 

As always, if you have any concerns, queries or feedback please don’t hesitate in contacting the school or Mr Evans directly evansj737@hwbcymru.net

Have a great weekend!  

Mr Jamie Evans (Acting Headteacher)

Letter from the Interim Director_25 September 2020

Friday September 25th 

It’s been another great week in school with staff and pupils continuing to learn and laugh together. Topics are well underway and the enthusiasm towards learning is clear. Autumn has definitely arrived, along with a drop in temperature and the inevitable rain. On that note, please ensure your child(ren) attend school with suitable clothing. To avoid children lining up for a long period in the cold or rain, we have adjusted our routine in the morning so that pupils will now be supervised entering their class on arrival. Drop off will remain between 8.40 and 8.55 other than Nursery (9.00). A big thanks to nursery parents for moving to the car park after dropping off siblings. This helps the morning run as smoothly as possible.

COVID Compliance Audit

The City and County of Swansea’s Health and Safety Officer has visited our school this week to conduct a COVID Compliance Audit. A full report will be compiled but in short, the findings are that, as a school, we have ‘excellent procedures in place’ and that ‘Waunarlwydd Primary school should be seen as an example of Best Practice.’ This is testament to the attitude, effort and team ethic amongst staff, pupils and families. One observation made was the need to remind parents to remain socially distanced, wherever possible, on the school grounds. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Blended learning updates

Whilst we are doing everything possible to manage the risk of COVID-19 at school, it is well documented that cases are rising in the wider community. In the event of a class or zone needing to self-isolate, we will have a Home Learning programme in place. Staff are working hard to further develop platforms for children to access work at home. More details will be sent next week!

Can my child come to school?

Does your child or anyone in your home have one of the following symptoms?

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

If the answer is YES to ANY ONE of the above symptoms, for anyone in your household, your child CANNOT be in school, no matter how mild the symptoms are.

to arrange for a test contact https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/ 

As always, if you have any concerns, queries or feedback please don’t hesitate in contacting the school or Mr Evans directly. 

Have a great weekend!  

Mr Jamie Evans (Acting Headteacher)