Newsletters

Newsletters 2021-22 Friday 14th Januray No.10

Deanshanger Primary School (@DeanshangerS) | Twitter

Happy New Year!

I hope that you all had a healthy and happy Christmas

It was great to welcome everyone back last Thursday and some new children too.

As a staff, we enjoyed two days of training before the children returned; this was a great opportunity to plan ahead, focus on subject development and enjoy Little Wandle phonics training (more information is shared in the article below).

We are keen to have a very strong and uninterrupted term ahead, although unavoidable staff absence has already made the start tricky. Thank you very much for your kind understanding when plans need to change somewhat. We will continue to try our hardest to keep school life as 'normal' as possible.

We are very proud of our school lunches and the quality of the food on offer from the Fresh Start team. Hopefully, you are aware that these lunches are free for all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 whist available at a cost of £2.50 for Y3, 4,5 and 6. For this reason, combined with the delicious food on offer, we strongly encourage you to sign up for these to save money and time and offer your children a great selection.

If you want to know more about our Fresh Start lunches, check out their website. Please also feel free to contact the school office.

Miss Malone has joined us in Year 1 from the University of Northampton. Miss Malone is in her third year of her degree and this will be her final placement! She has made a fantastic start in Year 1 and already begun taking some responsibility of Toucan Class. As her time progresses through her placement Miss Malone will undertake a lot more responsibility of the class and spend time delivering most of the teaching! We are extremely lucky to have such a wonderful addition to the team!

We hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and new year. With the weather becoming a lot colder this term, BNTO will now be on the last Thursday of each month at 4pm on Zoom. The link will be shared via Arbor.

We hope to see you all there!

Miss Stanley and Mr Aaronson

Chair of Governor Updates

St Begh's Catholic Junior School - Governors

I hope you all had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year and are all looking forward to 2022 and the new challenges ahead.

Governors are already gearing up for a new series of meetings and are particularly excited about the prospect of consulting with you amongst other groups re becoming part of the Grand Union Partnership (GUP) Multi-Academy Trust

Governors met with a small group of Trustees from GUP on Monday to ask a number of questions about the makeup of the MAT and hear their experiences of being part of MAT and its impact on staff, children and parents.

You will be aware of the meeting being held on Thursday 20^th January at 6.30 pm. It will be on Zoom and I look forward to sharing with as many of you as possible the presentation we have put together. A link will be sent out before the meeting.

There will be a consultation process running from January 17^th to February 28^th, so please get involved and share your views and any questions you may have.

I have had a catch-up meeting with Mrs. Rice and joined a Virtual Assembly on Wednesday.

Together we look forward to an exciting year ahead and the governors will continue to work to ensure that every effort is made to provide your children with the opportunities and experiences they fully deserve.

Mr. David Aaronson

ChairofGovernors@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk

This afternoon we had our first celebration assembly with a fabulous presentation by Year 6 Peacock class. They showed real confidence, knowledge and skill presenting in less than easy circumstances. As the first class to present an assembly this school year in this way, they ventured into unchartered waters extremely well.

Thank you very much to those of you that joined us from home or work.

With the upcoming celebration assemblies in mind, there are some protocols that we need to put in place in order to ensure maximum enjoyment for everyone:

The assemblies start promptly at 2.30 pm and, to allow this, please log on at 2.25 pm. We will not be letting in any guests after 2.30 pm.
You must mute yourself on entry. Please familiarise yourself with Zoom ready to do this.
We very much hope we will not need to do this, but we reserve the right to remove anyone from the Zoom assembly that is talking and making it hard for us all to hear the full assembly. The children (and staff) work so hard and deserve our full attention.

We are fully aware of the limitations of Zoom assemblies, but these balance (we hope) with the excitement of seeing your children presenting live and showcasing their learning with excitement and passion.

COVID Updates

Our attendance figures today show that we have 6 confirmed pupil cases of COVID and one positive staff case.

Thank you for keeping in close contact with us regarding all illnesses and absences. Thank you for continuing to exercise caution when waiting outside the school around other adults - we appreciate the use of masks when passing on messages etc at this time.

Whilst we are aware that new guidance will be out again soon, the flow chart below shows the current procedures for positive covid cases.

You will have received a letter this week regarding our proposed conversion to be part of the Grand Union Partnership and an invitation to join a Zoom meeting on Thursday 20th January at 6.30pm. As this is a significant decision for the school, you are warmly encouraged to attend wherever possible.

Any questions about this can be shared with Mr Aaronson, or the school before Thursday and after.

On the school website you will see a new page dedicated to MAT information

13 Jan 2022

Phonics at DPS

In our relentless drive to improve outcomes for all our children, we have chosen Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised as our systematic, synthetic phonics (SSP) programme to teach early reading and spelling in Reception, Year One, Two and beyond... On Wednesday 5th January, our staff, f...

Year 6 Peacock class assembly

All Day

January

Year 6 Puffin class assembly

All Day

January

Dress in Blue in support of Shay's Smiles Charity

All Day

January

Year 4 Flamingo class assembly

All Day

January

Chinese New Year acknowledged

All Day

February

School value of the month - Communicator

All Day

February

We have been asked if we could support a Milton Keynes based brain tumour charity with a Blue Day to raise funds and awareness in memory of a very special young boy, Shay Patel - Shay has cousins at our school.

In memory of Mrs Robson too, we feel that this is a very special charity with real relevance for our community.

On Friday 21st January, the children are invited to wear either a little bit of blue (with their school uniform) or be dressed in blue from head to toe (without their regular school uniform) - whatever they would like and feel comfortable with!

https://www.braintumourresearch.org/stories/in-our-hearts/in-our-hearts-stories/shay-patel

https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/health/how-milton-keynes-family-fulfilled-final-wish-of-teenage-son-who-died-from-brain-tumour-3367738

All donations collected will go to the charity 'Shay's Smiles' to help children and their families access specialist doctors and healthcare facilities and fund vital research to help find a cure for brain tumours.

Before we head off for the weekend, please be reminded to drive, park and drop off very carefully in the vicinity of the school. It is often congested and real care is needed from the early drop off time (for Wrap Club) until the end of the day. Thank you

Wishing you all a safe and happy weekend,

Rachel Rice

head@deanshanger.northants-ecl.gov.uk