Please read today’s important letter from Mrs Ashton in light of Durham County Council’s update today. Re-Opening Update 27.05.20

Click this link to read the letter from Mrs Ashton about our proposed re-opening dates.
Re-opening Letter 24.05.20

Please click to open the letter to let you know when you can collect your child’s book.

Timetable for collection

Use the link to watch Miss Cowey show you how to sign along to We’ll Meet Again using Makaton – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81J2d192Qp8&t=111s

Online Safety advice for parents and carers during Covid 19

Many families will be encouraging their children to make good use of technology during lockdown with no opportunities to see their classmates “in real life”.  Technology can help us all stay in touch safely but parents and carers will want to make sure that their children are as safe as possible.

Parental Controls

Almost all devices allow parental controls to be set.  These can be adjusted depending on the ages of the children.  They can :-

• Stop children putting new apps on a device until the parents approve them
• Reduce the chance of a child accidentally spending money on virtual goods
• Limit the time that children use a device without having a break

A good starting point is the internet matters website https://www.internetmatters.org/ , go to the SETTING CONTROLS section at the top!

Talking

Probably the best thing you can do to help your son or daughter is to talk to them regularly about how they use technology, which apps and sites they use and who their online friends are.  Some children struggle with online relationships perhaps either sending or receiving hurtful messages.  Parents and carers will be able to help guide youngsters through this difficult area.  If children receive unpleasant messages these can  usually be reported and each app or site will have a different way of doing this.

Apps and Sites

The list of apps and websites children are using grows by the minute so printed advice is likely to be out of date.  In the UK the NSPCC have a site called Net-Aware https://www.net-aware.org.uk/ which explains many current apps , the risks and the benefits of their use.  More apps are listed on the American site Common Sense Media https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

Activities for Children

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ is the website aimed at children and their parents from the National Crime Agency.  It has lots of useful suggestions and advice on how to report issues.  It also has games and activities including Jessie and Friends for the younger children and Band Runner for the older ones.

For the youngest children being tricked into sharing pictures can be an issue.  LGfL have produced a lovely free video https://undressed.lgfl.net/ which has some great advice and a very catchy song!

More Help?

The NSPCC have teamed up with O2 https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/about-us/partners/nspcc-o2-online-safety-partnership/  to provide advice to parents and have a free helpline on 0808 800 5002.  They will also give support in any O2 shop – you do not have to be an O2 customer.

Children can call Childline on 0800 1111  for advice on anything that is worrying them.

Finally since 2015 is has been a criminal offence for an adult to send a message with sexual content to a child (This is Section  67  of  the  Serious  Crime  Act  2015).   If you are concerned that this might have happened please contact The Police without further using the device.  This will help ensure that evidence can be preserved.  The Police can be contacted by phone or from the Thinkuknow website.  https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

Welcome back to our first remote summer term! We hope that you have enjoyed some happy and relaxing days over the holidays.

As you are aware, over Easter, we have developed our new ‘home learning’ provision which can be found on the school website. Hopefully, you have found it useful and easy to access. Our intention is to change the English and maths weekly and the other activities every 3 weeks.

Please remember that while we are setting these tasks to support children’s learning and help maintain routine, we recognise, as mentioned previously, that many of you are also working from home or are facing other challenges. Please just do what you can and allow the children to do what they can without worrying.

While we can’t say yet when we’ll be able to open the school fully, rest assured that we are here for you and your children over the coming days and weeks. You are doing an amazing job to support your children’s well-being and learning.

To the children-we love seeing examples of your learning at home-keep sending them in as we miss you in school and they make us smile! Remember to show respect, friendship, excellence and care in all you do and say!

We have updated our Safeguarding Policy in response to the current situation. This can be found in the policy section of this website.

As part of the children’s Home Learning packs we included a project for the whole family to get involved with and show off their artistic talents. The ‘Holy Week Crucifix’ is to be completed with the key events of Holy Week – shown however you wanted them to be i.e. pictures, symbols, words, etc.

Below is a gallery of the Holy Week Family Projects which have been returned and right at the bottom of this page is a link to print off the template to create your own or another one!

🙂

Thank you to Charlotte S in Little J’s for this beautiful crucifix.

Well done Joseph! 🙂

Holy Week Crucifix template