Latest News

• Return to school and more!

  Fri 12 Mar 2021 C Swann

  Dear Families,

  Hooray! KS2 can now join us back in school!

  KS2 children return to school on Monday 15^th March 2021

  Here are some reminders of how we can optimise safety in and around the school through our timings and organisation:

  Drop Off and Collection Times.

  We will continue with the same routines to drop off in the bottom car park as usual.

  The times are staggered in order that we minimise spread of the virus, so please do keep to these timings

  Drop off:

  Year Group	Drop off time	Additional notes
  Reception and Year 1	9.10 a.m.	Families can drop their children to school at the earliest time. e.g. a family with a child in year 6 and year 2 can drop both their children at 8.50 a.m.
  Year 2	9:00 am
  Year 3	9.00 am
  Year 4	8.50 am
  Year 5	8.55 am
  Year 6	8.50 am

   

  Collection:

  Year Group	Collection time	Additional notes
  Reception and Year 1	3.10 p.m.	Families can collect their children from school at the earliest time. e.g. a family with a child in year 6 and year 2 can collect both of their children at 2.50 p.m.
  Year 2	3:00 p.m.
  Year 3	3:00 p.m.
  Year 4	2.50 p.m
  Year 5	2.55 p.m.
  Year 6	2.50 p.m

  One Way System.

  Please continue to use the one-way system at the end of the day when collecting your children - walking up the drive, around the back of the school, and leaving through the ‘curvy gate’, down the path towards the bottom car park. Please wear your face covering.

  Please maintain social distancing when dropping off or waiting for pupils and keep impromptu conversations with teachers at the door brief, so that we don’t get a ‘log jam’! If you need a meeting with the teacher, get in touch and we can organise a telephone or Teams style meeting. If possible, walk to and from school as this will limit the traffic at the school entrance, and though this feels totally harsh to say, please do not linger to chat to friends, as adult to adult is the main area of virus transmission.

  Entering and exiting classrooms:  All pupils will be asked to wash/gel their hands on arrival into the school and encouraged to clean them regularly throughout the day. Hand sanitiser is available in all key areas. Pupils will need to bring a labelled water bottle to school (this is important). Children do not need to bring in pencil cases.

  Catering: The school kitchen will be open and any pupils requiring a meal can purchase through Parent Pay. Pupils are still able to bring their own packed lunch and children can bring a healthy snack or fresh fruit/ vegetables for break time. Breaks and lunchtimes will be staggered to ensure safety and reduce contact between groups.

  Breakfast Club and ASC: The Breakfast Club will resume after the Easter holidays, and as before, is limited to those families who have no other alternative for childcare. This is because we still maintain class bubbles and we have limited space in the hall. This restriction will be lifted as soon as Welsh Government inform us that it is safe to do so. Pupils can be dropped to Breakfast Club from 8:15 a.m. Further information will be shared shortly. After School Club is also starting after Easter and details regarding its return will be shared directly from the After School Club Team.

  School Uniform: School uniform will continue to be our dress code.

  Attendance: Excellent attendance will be promoted as per usual but we understand the current challenges that we all face. If you have any concerns or queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch.  If your child is unwell, please contact the office on the first morning that your child is unable to attend.  However, under no circumstance should learners or staff attend school if they:

  • Feel unwell, have any of the identified COVID-19 symptoms (a new continuous cough, or a high temperature, or loss of or change to their sense of taste or smell) or they have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 7 days.
  • Live in a household with someone who has symptoms of COVID-19 or had tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days.

  Contingency planning: It is our intention for all learners to return to school however, there may be occasions where home learning is required if we experience localised outbreaks of COVID-19.  Information will be communicated on the school website and via email if this becomes necessary.

  Additional Safety Measures:

  TAC and PHW advise that the existing control measures remain essential in responding to the possibility of new variants and helping to reduce transmission of the virus.

  Any staff member or learner who has possible symptoms of COVID-19 must not attend the school setting.

  • Lateral Flow Testing – all staff have testing kits to self-administer twice weekly.
  • Pupils to only bring ESSENTIAL items to school – water bottle, snack and lunchbox.
  • All adults on site will wear ‘high quality three layered masks’ and have the personal choice as to whether they wear their mask whilst teaching. It is recommended that staff do wear their mask if they are in close proximity to pupils. PPE is provided for intimate care. 
  • Hand hygiene is now embedded into school life and regular and thorough handwashing takes place regularly.
  • Exclusive contact groups – where possible pupils will remain in cohort groups and staff will not move between groups if possible.
  • Cleaning guns- we have purchased two cleaning guns which spray rooms and surfaces with a fine mist of cleaning product. We use this frequently to provide additional cleaning and we sanitise toilet areas during the school day.

  Red Nose Day

  To finish on an absolute high, we are excited to say that children and adults can feel free to dress up for Red Nose Day on the 19^th March 2021. We are having the theme of Super Heroes. Superheroes are very different to each and every one of us… a person may feel, that for them, it’s a nurse, their Dad, Batman or a person from history etc. It is personal choice, and children may want to come as themselves, as they are super heroes to both you and us, and therefore would also be a perfect response to Red Nose Day.

  Any donations will be collected through Parent Pay, and we will send further details shortly.

   

  Thank you for your patience and support during these very unusual times and we are looking forward to welcoming everyone back,

   

  Very kind regards,

   

  Caroline Swann

   

  Headteacher

• Key Stage 2 return to school

  Mon 08 Mar 2021 C Swann

  I am delighted to finally confirm that from Monday 15^th March 2021, Key Stage 2 pupils will be ‘back in the building!’, and able to attend school along with Foundation Phase pupils.

  This has been confirmed in today’s Welsh Government lunchtime briefing.

  I will send out reminders of the organisation for each year group over the next few days, along with safety information.

  We are thrilled to be welcoming the children back and being a ‘whole school’ again.

   

  Take care and stay safe,

   

  Cofion cynnes/Warmest regards,

   

  Caroline Swann

   

  Caroline Swann

   

• Urgent safeguarding information

  Wed 24 Feb 2021 C Swann

  Dear Families,

   

  A local school has shared that one of their parents today has been contacted by a man on a mobile number . The caller claimed to be providing a lesson from school and asked for the child to go online. The caller asked for the childs' details and what device they were using. Luckily the parent realised this was a scam and did not provide any information and then contacted school 

   

  Please be alert and know that:

  • You or your child would only be contacted by a member of the schools teaching staff (if you are unsure if this person is part of the school community, contact the school for further advice)
  • Nobody will ever ask you to disclose any information or your child’s details
  • The only platforms that we use as a school for home learning are Google Classroom, Google Meets. We may also use email or telephone calls but again, this will only be from a known member of the school community.

   

  If you have any queries or concerns, please contact us and if you do experience a call, please ring 101 to report the incident,

   

  Kind regards,

   

  Caroline Swann

   

   

   

• Consultation Process

  Wed 24 Feb 2021 C Swann
  Please see the information regarding a meeting this evening in the 'Community' section of the webpage.

• Covid 19 Update

  Fri 29 Jan 2021 C Swann
  Please look at the Covid 19 Update page as I have added some information

• Guidance from the Education Achievement Service and ARW CiW Primary School

  Fri 22 Jan 2021

  Guidance

  to parents and

  carers to support learners to stay safe and stay learning (January 2021)

   

  This year’s changing circumstances have required great flexibility and resilience as learning moves from home to school and back again. We are grateful to you for supporting your child’s learning offline or online at this difficult time. We will continue to provide work for your child to do, maintain contact and provide you with help along the way. Any encouragement and support you offer will be very helpful, but you are not being asked to be a teacher. We hope that this leaflet will provide you with some useful information about the way in which your child is currently being asked to learn.

   

   

  Definitions

  Online learning: Is education that takes place over the Internet. It is often referred to as “e- learning” among other terms. However, online learning is just one type of ‘distance learning’.

  Synchronous Learning: Teachers and learners attend a session/lesson at the same time. This can take place face to face or online.

  Remote Learning: This means the same as Distance Learning.

  Blended Learning: An approach that combines face to face and distance learning experiences. Face to face learning and distance learning should complement each other and should be driven by a single curriculum.

  		Face to Face Learning: Refers to the learning your child(ren) will receive when they are inside an educational setting.
  				Asynchronous Learning: Teachers provide learning materials (may include online videos, audio clips and presentations) which can be accessed by the learner in their own time.

   

   

   

  Different approaches to delivering learning

  It is important to note that schools and settings will take different approaches to delivering learning during this period. One model of delivery will not suit all schools or all learners and there are many forms of learning that will be undertaken during this period. It is not helpful to compare how one school approaches distance learning to another as the contexts will vary.

  Your child(ren) will be in receipt of a variety of methods to engage them in their learning. This may include:

  • Pre-recorded material from staff to explain and set the scene for learning (asynchronous).
  • Some lessons may be delivered via live streaming (synchronous).
  • Learning tasks which may need completing online, in books, reading books or creatively (building models etc).
  • Shared learning where learners may be able to learn with their peers.
  • Teachers may engage with your child(ren) through a messaging function within their learning platform, for example, Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams to support them with their learning.
  • Independent activities, for example: researching a subject or topic, completing a practice test or assessment, watching a TV programme for example, BBC have a range of programmes on offer to assist our teachers deliver learning.
  • Your child(ren) may be asked to attend an online check in session which may referred to as an Assembly, Wellbeing Session, Circle-time, Story-time, for example.
  • Engage in physical activities, for example: Joe Wicks fitness sessions, going for a local walk, outdoor play (in line with Government Guidance).

   

  What can you expect from us?

   

  1. Your children's teacher will set work on a daily/weekly basis with clear guidance and where appropriate support, for your child(ren) to complete and return their completed work to school for marking/feedback.
  2. Your child may receive work directly from their school, again on a daily/weekly basis and indicate when your child needs to engage in learning and when to complete learning tasks independently.
  3. We will provide work in paper format where there is no access to internet, hardware, revision textbooks or regular stationary (paper, pens etc.).
  4. Our communication about distance learning to parents/carers will be simple and accessible to all.
  5. We will continue to communicate with you using text messages, newsletters, school website and Google Classrooms,  
  6. We will continue to ask you as parents/carers to provide views on our learning provision and will refine the learning giving consideration to your feedback.

   

   

  How you can help us

  1. It is important that you contact us if you have any questions, queries or concerns. 
  2. Try to avoid comparing the approaches to learning that other children are receiving within other classes or within other schools. As a school we are trying hard to ensure that we provide the most appropriate approaches to learning that meet the needs of your child and the learning objectives of each activity. It is likely that these will be varied, as there is no ‘best way’ or ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to teaching in this way.

   

• Ambassadors

  Fri 22 Jan 2021 C Swann

  This weeks Ambassadors are published on the 'Ambassadors' page, and there is also a recording on each child's class page.

  As always, our children have made us so very proud!

• Consultation Document

  Fri 22 Jan 2021 C Swann

  Dear Families,

  I’m writing to share the information sent from MCC advising us that the statutory process regarding the review of school places in Caldicot Town is now open. The full consultation document is available for you to view via https://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/schoolreorganisation/

   

  Please note that the consultation closing date is 2^nd March 2021. 

  There is a survey that you can complete. We are discussing the proposals at Governors in brief on Monday, and I am sure that we will be organising further  meetings so that you can ask questions. https://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/schoolreorganisation/

   

  Do take care and have a lovely weekend,

   

  Kind regards,

   

  Caroline Swann

• Ambassadors

  Fri 15 Jan 2021 C Swann

  Please see the names of our wonderful Ambassadors for this week on the dedicated Ambassadors page.

  As ever, we are so proud of all of our children, and staff have particularly noticed the actions and efforts of individuals who have caught their eye this week.

  Enjoy!

• Letter from Welsh Government regarding school closures

  Mon 04 Jan 2021 C Swann

   

  Please see below the information received this evening.

  I will respond to these changes tomorrow, and share subsequent plans with you via email and on our COVID 19 Update page. 

   

   

  WRITTEN STATEMENT 

  BY

  THE WELSH GOVERNMENT

   

   

  TITLE	Return to school and college arrangements
  DATE	04 January 2021
  BY	Kirsty Williams MS, Minister for Education

   

  The situation in Wales and across the UK remains very serious. Today, the four UK Chief Medical Officers have agreed that the UK is now at the highest level of risk, Joint Biosecurity Council level 5.

   

  In the light of that decision the Welsh Government, in consultation with the WLGA and Colegau Cymru, has agreed that all schools, colleges and independent schools should move to online learning until January 18th.

   

  As a government we will use the next two weeks to continue to work with local authorities, schools and colleges to plan for the rest of term.

   

  This is the best way to ensure that parents, staff and learners can be confident in the return to face to face learning, based on the latest evidence and information.

   

  Schools and colleges will remain open for children of critical workers and vulnerable learners, as well as for learners who need to complete essential exams or assessments. On this basis Special Schools and PRU’s should remain open if possible.

   

  We had initially given schools flexibility in the first two weeks of term to decide when to reopen based on local circumstances.

   

  But it is now clear that a national approach of online learning for the first fortnight of term is the best way forward.

   

  We know that schools and colleges have been safe and secure environments throughout the pandemic.

   

  However, we also know that education settings being open can contribute to wider social mixing outside the school and college environment.

   

  We are confident that schools and colleges have online learning provision in place for this immediate period.

   

  Universities in Wales have already agreed a staggered start to term. Students should not return to universities for face to face learning until they are notified that they can do so. 

   

  Wales remains in the highest level of restrictions. Everyone must stay at home. 

   

  I will continue to update members.