Greenhill Primary School
Gallwn Gyda'n Gilydd Together We Can
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Noticeboard
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Letter from Keri Cole 12/02/21
Fri 12 Feb 202112.02.21
Dear Parent/Carer
As you will know, Welsh Government has announced that all pupils in Foundation Phase (3-7years old) will be able to return to school by Friday, 26th February, 2021. I am sure your schools have already been in touch with details of specific dates and times. Arrangements will vary between schools, due to the requirements of individual site risk assessments. This transition week will also mean a possible reduction in the remote learning offer, as staff focus on supporting children to return in the classroom.
Headteachers and school staff will be working very hard to adapt practices and procedures on school site, to further minimise contact between ‘bubbles’ within school. It is now more important than ever that we continue to follow the Public Health Wales guidance, e.g. frequent washing of hands. You will also see school staff wearing face coverings now, as advised.
You can all help too by;
- wearing a face covering at the school gate and on the school site;
- socially distancing;
- only bringing and collecting children to and from school from your own household (unless you are a childminder or part of a support bubble);
- keeping your children at home when they are unwell and taking them for a Covid test if they develop symptoms.
You may also be aware that staff on school sites have been offered the opportunity to participate in twice-weekly testing. This will sometimes mean that classes will be required to self-isolate whilst the test result is confirmed by a formal test.
Catering
Week beginning 22nd February, 2021.
All pupils in school will be required to bring a packed lunch and FSM deliveries will continue.
From 1st March, 2021.
Catering services will resume for all pupils in schools offering foundation phase education. FSM deliveries for all other pupils will continue.
Cont’d ….
Milk and fruit provision will begin as soon as possible for pupils in the foundation phase.
As this return begins, we are all acutely aware of the need to ensure that we do all we can to continue to make the school environment as safe as possible. We all have our part to play.
I am sure that we will work together to achieve a successful return to school. Headteachers and the school community have been working incredibly hard to provide both learning on site for identified groups, and remotely for those at home. They are now also very busy preparing for the wider return.
Finally, thank you for the way in which you have supported your children to engage with their learning and for the many positive comments you have made.
As always, if you have any concerns in regard to your children’s learning, please contact the school in the first instance.
Yours sincerely
Keri Cole
Chief Education Officer, Caerphilly County Borough Council
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Returning to school in the Infants/Foundation Phase after half term.
Thu 11 Feb 2021February 11th 2021
To parents/guardians of Greenhill pupils
The Minister for Education announced last Friday that all Foundation Phase pupils (also known as ‘Infants’, ages 3-7) will return the week after half-term.
We have no information as yet as to when our Junior children will return to face-to-face learning.
We are going to stagger our infant children’s return to school in order to assess the situation in terms of our Risk Assessment. Your child will be in Group A, B, C, D (children of key workers) or E (Nursery rising 3s); the timetable for each group is below. If your child is in one of our Foundation Phase classes (Dosbarth Coch, Dosbarth Enfys, Dosbarth Melyn and Dosbarth Gwyrdd), we will text you to let you know which group they are in, and school times.
Day
Group
Monday February 22nd
Groups A and D
Tuesday February 23rd
Groups B and D
Wednesday February 24th
Groups C and D
Thursday February 25th
Groups A, B, C and D.
Friday February 26th
Groups A, B, C, D and E.
Packed lunch must be provided as school meals aren’t being served at present, and we expect our pupils to be in school uniform.
Due to the new strain of the virus, it is vitally important social distancing is maintained, and that all adults wear facemasks in our school grounds. Only one adult should accompany each child/group of siblings in order to minimise the number of people on site.
Even though the infant children will be returning to school, the Welsh Government is keen to stress that behaviours outside of school should not be relaxed. Children should not be playing with other children, even those in their school contact group, outside of school, and they definitely should not be entering each other’s homes. We know this may be difficult, but please take these steps in order to protect our community. The Local Authority will be sending further guidelines for parents regarding the return of infant children shortly.
Thank you for your understanding and support. If you have any queries, please get in touch.
Take care.
Lisa Jones,
Headteacher
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Important Information Regarding Applying for Nursery Places.
Wed 10 Feb 2021Dear Parent/ Guardian,
Admission to Nursery - September 2021
In September 2021, your child is due to transfer to Nursery. In order to secure a place for your child, you will need to complete an application online.
Please visit the Caerphilly.gov website, search for School Admissions and click to ‘Apply for a place at school’. The actual web address is as follows:-
www.caerphilly.gov.uk/schooladmissions
You must complete the form by the 26th February 2020. Please note, you must include your council tax number on the form. You will find this number on your council tax statement in the top right hand corner.
Your child’s attendance at an Early Years placement does not provide automatic entry into your preferred Nursery class. It is your home address that will determine their catchment school. If your child resides at more than one address (i.e. if there are shared custody arrangements in place), then the address at which the child spends most of the school week should be used.
You can refer to the Authority’s Starting School Booklet for further guidance if required which is available on the following website www.caerphilly.gov.uk/startingschoolbooklet
If you should require any assistance with completing the form, or have any queries, please contact a member of the School Admissions Team at: 01443 864896 / 01443 864897.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Strathdee
Manager Administration, Policy, Admissions and Customer Services
Tel: 01443 864870
E Mail: schooladmissions@caerphilly.gov.uk
Annwyl Riant/Warcheidwad,
Derbyniadau i Ddosbarth meithrin - mis Medi 2021.
Ym mis Medi 2021, mae eich plentyn yn mynd i drosglwyddo i Ddosbarth meithrin. Er mwyn sicrhau lle i'ch plentyn, bydd angen i chi gwblhau cais ar-lein.
Ewch i wefan Caerffili.gov, chwiliwch am Dderbyniadau Ysgol a chliciwch ar 'Apeliadau derbyn i ysgolion'. Mae'r cyfeiriad gwe fel a ganlyn: -
www.caerffili.gov.uk/CeisiadauDerbyn
Rhaid i chi lenwi'r ffurflen erbyn y 26ain Chwefror 2021. Sylwch, rhaid i chi gynnwys eich rhif treth y cyngor ar y ffurflen. Gallwch ddod o hyd i'r rhif hwn ar eich cyfriflen treth y cyngor yn y gornel dde uchaf.
Nodwch nad yw derbyniad i mewn i Ieoliad Blynyddoedd Cynnar naill ai yn nhymor y Gwanwyn neu’r Haf yn sicrhau addysg barhaol o fewn dosbarth meithrin i’ch plantyn yn yr ysgol. Eich cyfeiriad cartref fydd yn penderfynu ar ei ysgol ddalgylch. Os yw'ch plentyn yn preswylio mewn mwy nag un cyfeiriad (h.y. os oes trefniadau cyd-warchodaeth), yna dylid defnyddio'r cyfeiriad lle mae'r plentyn yn treulio'r rhan fwyaf o'r wythnos ysgol.
Ar gyfer arweiniad pellach, os oes angen, gallwch gyfeirio at Lyfryn Dechrau Ysgol yr Awdurdod sydd ar gael ar y wefan ganlynol https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/Services/Schools-and-learning/Admissions-and-appeals/Starting-school-booklet?lang=cy-gb
Os oes angen unrhyw gymorth arnoch i lenwi'r ffurflen, neu os oes gennych unrhyw ymholiadau, cysylltwch ag aelod o'r Tîm Derbyniadau Ysgol ar 01443 864896 / 01443 864897.
Yn gywir,
Emma Strathdee
Rheolwr Gweinyddiaeth, Polisi, Derbyniadau a Gwasanaethau Cwsmeriaid
Ffôn: 01443 864870
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Letter from Ms Jones
Tue 02 Feb 2021February 2nd 2021
To parents/guardians of Greenhill pupils,
Just a quick update regarding the First Minister’s announcement last Friday (January 29th) that some younger learners may start returning to school after the half-term break.
We have had no further information as to what this means in practice, but we do expect the return to be ‘phased’, so not all learners will return at once.
I understand you may be frustrated with not knowing exactly when your child will be returning to school. We expect further direction from the Welsh Government this Friday (February 5th), so hopefully I will be in a position to give you more information next week.
Take care.
Lisa Jones
Headteacher
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A letter from the Children's Commisioner of Wales
Mon 25 Jan 2021People who can make a difference to your life want to hear from you about how life has been like over the last few weeks.
The Children's Commissioner for Wales, the Youth Parliament and Children in Wales have been working with the Welsh Government, to make sure that they hear and listen to what you have to say. All of those people want to make sure they are doing their best for all children and young people in Wales. They want to make sure that they are giving you the information and support you need to feel as happy as possible during this time and afterwards.
The survey should take you around 15 minutes.
The survey closes on 29 January 2021.
Please share your views. The survey is on this link: www.childcomwales.org.uk/coronavirusandme
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Update from Ms Jones
Wed 20 Jan 2021To parents/guardians of Greenhill pupils
I hope you and your families are all well. We are now nearly three weeks into term and I thought I would take this opportunity to update you regarding the current situation.
School remains closed for face-to-face learning for most pupils. This situation will be reviewed on January 29th, but with the current Covid numbers, many people are expecting this to continue until at least half-term. I will, of course, keep you updated.
Communication is key at this time, and we have a number of ways we get in touch with you, and that allow you to contact us. Please make use of these if you have any questions at all.
- The school is open every day Monday-Friday, so call us on 01443 875521. If you wish to speak to the class teacher, Mrs. Davies will be able to arrange this.
- The school mobile is 07572 010246. If you wish to get in touch out-of hours, please text or leave a voicemail on this number.
- MAKE SURE WE HAVE AN UP-TO-DATE CONTACT NUMBER FOR YOU.
- Download OurSchoolsApp and put in CF82 8EU, and you will have access to a number of links. We also put all letters (such as this) on here – and text you to let you know when a new letter has been uploaded.
- Our school website is www.greenhillprm.co.uk. Letters are also placed on here.
- Mrs. Gould, our Family and Community Engagement Officer, makes phone calls to families for a general check-in, and to see if we can help further with online learning.
- An excellent way of communicating directly with your child’s class teacher is via SeeSaw. If you are having difficulty with this, please get in touch and we will be happy to assist. SeeSaw is also a fantastic platform for online learning, and is a lovely way for the class teacher and children to share videos and comments. Please download both the SeeSaw Family app and the SeeSaw Classroom app if you haven’t already done so.
There has been a lot of talk in the media about ‘live-streaming’. We are aware that there are a number of practical issues relating to this, including some siblings needing to share a device, and some children who complete their work on evenings and weekends due to parents’ working patterns. Therefore, we have chosen to upload videos; currently these are relatively short videos explaining the work for the day, and are available on SeeSaw. We will also begin video conferencing in small groups so the children have a chance to chat with their class teacher. The Welsh Government strongly advises we use Hwb/Teams for this; your class teacher will help you set this up, if you wish.
The amount of school time our children have missed since last March is extremely concerning, and we are already working on plans to maximise their learning when they return. I realise home-schooling is very challenging, and I do not want you as parents/guardians to be stressed about this; however, neither do I want learners to fall behind their classmates. Every bit of work they complete at home is beneficial so please encourage them to do their Google Classroom/SeeSaw tasks, MyOn reading, Mathletics, etc. If the children can’t (or won’t!) do every task set, please encourage them to do at least one task every day. If technology is an issue, we will happily arrange for paper tasks to be sent out. I cannot emphasise enough that we are more than happy to help in any way we can – please get in touch.
Take care.
Lisa Jones
Headteacher
Please be aware we have a responsibility to ensure our learners’ well-being even if they are not attending school. If our calls and texts go unanswered for a period, we will refer to the Education Welfare Service, in order to ascertain whether everything is ok. We will send you a text letting you know when we do this.
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Video Conferencing
Mon 18 Jan 2021For parents and carers,
Good morning, bore da. Soon the teachers will be contacting you regarding beginning video conferencing with your children. The vast majority of parents and carers have already signed an online form giving permission for children to participate in this (if you haven't responded yet then Mrs Davies will be contacting you). I thought i would take this opportunity to remind you of the terms of the agreement so we can make sure that all calls go as smoothly as possible.
Please read carefully.
When participating in live lessons and video conferencing:
Learners agree to:
• be punctual for all lessons
• make sure they have all power adaptors and laptops ready before the lesson begins and are logged into the session
• show respect for everyone in the online classroom
• dress appropriately for all classes, thinking about respect for others
• ensure the location they log in from is appropriate, i.e. give consideration to background, camera angle, privacy, etc.
• seek to contribute to the class in a positive manner and not be disruptive at any time
• do not record or take images of any part of the live stream.
Parents agree to:
• encourage their child to come online and participate
• make themselves aware of the policy for distance learning (this is found on our website)
• know the date and time of the agreed meeting with the teachers online
• ensure the location the child logs in from is appropriate, i.e. give consideration to background, camera angle, privacy, etc.
• when the child is set up, move out of view from the screen so that only the child can see the screen and the incoming camera can only see your child.
• promptly report any concerns they have and contact the teacher directly through SeeSaw
• make sure the child is appropriately dressed to go online as you would for school (no need for school uniform)
• turn off the live streaming lesson at the end of the session.
The meetings will take place using Microsoft Teams and will be arranged through the Hwb platform. All children have been provided with their Hwb details previously. If you no longer have the details for your child/children please contact class teachers via SeeSaw and they will help you out.
Thank you all for your cooperation in this matter. Stay safe and well.
Stuart Holloway
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Continued School Closure Letter
Fri 08 Jan 2021January 8th 2021
To parents/guardians of Greenhill pupils
Happy new year to you all - although I’m sure we all had hoped for a better start to 2021!
It was announced earlier today that schools will continue to be closed for face-to-face learning for most pupils this half-term. While this is disappointing for us all, it is understandable considering the rates of Covid-19 infection at present.
As most children will now be learning remotely for six weeks, it is important we offer all the assistance we can to keep your child learning. A huge thanks to all of you who have already completed the Digital Access survey that was sent out today. Please could I encourage all of you to do so as soon as possible as we are sending in numbers to the Welsh Government on Monday.
If your child has no means of accessing learning online, please let the school know, and we will endeavour to make other arrangements next week.
The school continues to be open for the children of critical workers and vulnerable children.
As always, please contact us with any questions.
Take care.
Lisa Jones
Headteacher
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Letter from Keri Cole 04/01/21
Mon 04 Jan 2021Dear Parent,
Happy New Year to you all and I firstly would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing patience and co-operation regarding the situation in our schools.
You will be aware of ongoing discussions at a national level between the government, local authorities and teaching unions about re-opening our schools in the safest way possible in order to protect pupils and staff.
We all agree that the health and wellbeing of the whole school community is paramount and discussions have been taking place this morning between CCBC and Head Teachers across the county borough to agree the best way forward.
We know that the increasing number of new cases, particularly the new variant of coronavirus, is causing significant concern. You may also be aware that new advice on shielding was issued before Christmas which is impacting staffing levels in our schools.
Welsh Government has today confirmed that all schools across Wales will adopt a ‘blended learning’ approach for the next two weeks, until Monday 18th January. This means that most pupils will not physically attend school, but will be provided with learning.
However, schools will open for vulnerable learners and the children of eligible key/essential workers from Wednesday this week (6th January). Please apply via the following link
https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/Services/Coronavirus/Emergency-school-provision-for-keyworkers
We are committed to re-introducing face to face teaching in a phased approach for all pupils after the 18th January, as soon as national and local risk assessments allow and we await further guidance in this respect.
I will continue to keep you updated about any new developments around this issue.
Regards
Keri Cole
Chief Education Officer
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IMPORTANT LETTER - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
Fri 18 Dec 2020December 18th 2020
To parents/guardians of Greenhill pupils
I would like to begin this letter by thanking you all for your understanding, co-operation and patience over the past few months. It has been an unprecedented time for all of us, and while we are all looking forward to Christmas, I know most of us are concerned about what January will bring.
Wales will enter a national lockdown from December 28th. The Education Minister has announced the expectations of the Welsh Government for schools and I have shared an update from Mrs K Cole, CCBC’s Chief Education Officer, regarding the situation.
Monday January 4th and Tuesday January 5th will be Blended Learning for all pupils.
From Wednesday January 6th, Greenhill will open for the children of key workers and vulnerable children. Key workers need to apply to the Local Authority in order for their children to attend school on these days. This is via educationwelfare@caerphilly.gov.uk. Pupils will be expected to bring a packed lunch as lunch will not be provided on-site. Pupils in receipt of Free School Meals will have them delivered.
Blended Learning will continue for the rest of our pupils until Monday January 11th, when we plan to welcome all our pupils back on-site.
However, this is a very fluid and unpredictable situation, and therefore these arrangements are provisional; depending on the prevalence of the virus in the community, they may be subject to change.
As always, please contact us with any questions.
I wish you all an absolutely wonderful Christmas, and a happy, healthy new year.
Take care.
Lisa Jones
Headteacher