Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Mindfulness Morning

  Mon 25 Sep 2023

   

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  Please see the attached picture regarding a Mindfulness Morning at Ashby Community Hub on Thursday 26th October 10am.

   

  The event is free and includes many activities, refreshments, raffle and many services will be attending for you to speak with including CAMHS, School Nurses and MIND.

   

  Many thanks

   

  

• Eco-Schools Green Flag has been awarded to Berkeley Primary

  Fri 22 Sep 2023 Anna Cvijetic

  We are delighted to inform you that the children and staff at Berkeley Primary School have earned an international accreditation in July 2023, recognising their amazing work in making their school more environmentally friendly and raising eco-awareness in fellow pupils.

   

  The Eco-Schools programme was established in 1994 and is now delivered in more than 70 countries across the globe. More than 1 million pupils attended an Eco-School in England in 2022-23.

   

  Children at Berkeley Primary School first formed an Eco-Committee, then collaborated with Mrs Burnett to conduct an environmental review, assessing how eco-friendly our school is. They reviewed everything from biodiversity within their school grounds to how pupils and staff members travel to school. Building on their findings, Mrs Burnett and the children then planned a year of action designed to advance our school’s green credentials, improve our local environment and protect our planet.

   

  The Eco-Committee connected their work to three Eco-School topics: energy, biodiversity and litter. They planned a variety of projects including the installation of solar panels on the infant school building roof, litter picking in the local community, hanging up bird feeders, bird houses and minibeast hotels around our school grounds and creating a wild flower area in our junior school garden.

   

  Eco-Schools England Manager, Adam Flint, said: “The Eco-Schools Green Flag award is an internationally recognised symbol of high environmental standards. The pupils and school staff that earn the award deserve immense credit for their hard work, determination and creativity. Their passion for protecting our planet is an inspiration to us all.”

   

  Thank you to the eco-team and Mrs Burnett - we are delighted to receive this award and we fly our new flag with pride.

  To learn more about Eco-Schools head to www.eco-schools.org.uk 

  

• Phonics & Reading Workshop for Reception and Year 1 Parents

  Thu 21 Sep 2023

   

  Dear Year 1 and Reception Parents and Carers,

   

  We would like to invite Year 1 and Reception Parents in for a Phonics and Reading Workshop on Wednesday 4th October at 14.00 to 15.00 in the KS1 hall (Come to the KS1 main entrance).

   

  You will learn about our Phonics Scheme – Bug Club and how to support your children at home. Additionally, Sarah Tipler from the Local Authority will join us to talk about sharing books with your children.

   

  We hope to see you there.

   

  Jayne Elsagood

  Phonics Lead

  

• Flu Vaccinations

  Mon 18 Sep 2023

   

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  Vaccination UK are coming into school to deliver the Flu immunisation programme to children in Reception to Year 6 on:

   

  4th October 2023 and 23rd November 2023

   

  To give consent for your child to have the flu vaccine, please click here:

  https://humber.schoolvaccination.uk/flu/2023/Lincolnshire

   

  Please complete the e-consent form as soon as possible (even if you do not wish for your child to receive the vaccination).”

   

  Please note, consent is now via this online form and not via paper copy like previous years.

• After School Clubs Autumn Term 2023

  Tue 12 Sep 2023

   

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  We have been organising our extra curricular activities for this term. We are offering a variety of enrichment activities for the children, trying to cater for a range of interests and age groups. I am sure that you will join me in thanking our great team for giving up their own time to volunteer to run these clubs for our children. The list of clubs available this term are on the reverse of this letter.

   

  If your child would like to join a club then please log on to your ParentPay account where the clubs available for this term will be listed for you to select. To make this process fair you MUST ONLY select ONE club for your child. If you select more than one your child will be cancelled from all clubs selected.

   

  Booking opens from Wednesday 13^th September at 4.00pm where you will then be able to view and book your child onto a club. As there are limited places at each club, places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If a club is full then the ParentPay system will not let you book onto a club. If you have yet to use ParentPay and need your login details, then please call in at the school office.

   

  All clubs will start from Monday 25^th September apart from the Y2 Dodgeball Club, which will start from Wednesday 4^th October. All clubs will run until Friday 1^st December. There will be no after school clubs on:

  Monday 16^th & Wednesday 18^th October- Parents Evening

  Monday 30^th October- Training Day- Children not in school

  Thursday 30^th November- Whole School Staff Meeting

   

  Gooch Judo will continue their sessions on a Wednesday in the Junior Hall. There is a £3 charge for this per week. There will also be a charge for some of the other clubs to run, please see the reverse of the letter for the cost per term for each club. Payment for the full term must be made via ParentPay at the point of booking. Please note, once payment is made, this is non-refundable so should your child be absent from school or no longer wants to go to the club, we are unable to refund this back.

   

  Once a child has signed up for a session, we do ask that children stay committed to their activity for a term and attend each week.  If for any reason they are not able to attend, please can you ensure that the activity leader is made aware.

   

  As always, Infant children will need to be collected at the end of their after school activity. We recommend that Junior children are also picked up from their activity, but this is parental choice. Please indicate whether your Junior child will be collected or allowed to walk home on the ParentPay system when booking onto a club. Please ensure you are punctual when collecting your child at the end of the club.  Should you be late on more than one occasion then your child will unfortunately not be able to attend the club.

   

  Best wishes

  Anna Cvijetic

  Headteacher

   

   

  CLUB	YEAR	DAY AND TIME	WHO	Cost
  Dance	Y1/2/3/4/5/6	Monday 3.15-4.15pm	Mrs Wilks	£14.00 for the term (7 weeks)
  Football	Y3	Monday 3.15-4.15pm	Mr Jones	£14.00 for the term (7 weeks)
  Peaceful Pals *Invitees only	Y1/2/3/4/5/6	Tuesday 3.30-4.30pm	Miss King & Mrs Suddaby
  American Football	Y3/4/5/6	Tuesday 3.15-4.15pm	Mr Fell
  Football	Y5/6	Tuesday 3.15-4.15pm	Mr Spencer
  Dodgeball	Y2	Wednesday 3.15-4.15pm	Mr Jones	£14.00 for the term (7 weeks)
  Judo	Y1/2/3/4/5/6	Wednesday 3.15-4.30pm	Gooch Judo	£24.00 for the term (8 weeks)
  Football	Y4	Thursday 3.15-4.15pm	Mr Jones	£16.00 for the term (8 weeks)
  Reading for Pleasure *Lunchtime club	Y3/4/5/6	Thursday 12.00-12.30pm	Mrs Marsh

   

   

• Letter to school leaders on mild illness and school attendance

  Mon 11 Sep 2023 Anna Cvijetic

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  Headteachers were sent the letter below about school attendance last week from the Department for Education.  Please read the information - the DFE and LA are really monitoring school attendance and we are all wanting attendance to return back to pre-Covid levels.

   

  Dear headteachers and trust leaders,

   

  As you begin to welcome children and young people back for a new school year, we have been asked by the Department for Education (DfE) to provide you with a clinical and public health perspective on mild illnesses and school attendance.

   

  We are aware that the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused some parents to feel less confident with assessing whether their child is well enough to be in school so we have laid out some information which we hope you will find helpful.

   

  There is wide agreement among health professionals and educational professionals that school attendance is vital to the life chances of children and young people. Being in school improves health, wellbeing and socialisation throughout the life course. The greatest benefits come from children and young people attending school regularly.

   

  It is usually appropriate for parents and carers to send their children to school with mild respiratory illnesses. This would include general cold symptoms: a minor cough, runny nose or sore throat. However, children should not be sent to school if they have a temperature of 38°C or above. We would encourage you to share the NHS ‘Is my child too ill for school?’ guidance with parents and carers in your schools and communities which has further information.

   

  In addition to respiratory illnesses, we are aware that more children may be absent from school due to symptoms of anxiety than before the pandemic. Worry and mild or moderate anxiety, whilst sometimes difficult emotions, can be a normal part of growing up for many children and young people. Being in school can often help alleviate the underlying issues. A prolonged period of absence is likely to heighten a child’s anxiety about attending in the future, rather than reduce it. DfE has published useful guidance on mental health issues affecting a pupil’s attendance and those who are experiencing persistent symptoms can be encouraged to access additional support.

   

  Thank you for your efforts so far to facilitate immunisation sessions within schools. As we head into winter, encouraging high uptake of seasonal flu vaccination and routine immunisations for eligible children and young people will help to reduce absences and the disruption they cause.

   

  You, and the teachers you lead, are already supporting families to build up children’s confidence to attend school regularly. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) recently approved 5 principles to promote school attendance. We hope this guidance will support GPs in having sensitive and reassuring conversations with parents, carers and pupils.

   

  Thank you and your colleagues for your continued commitment to supporting the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

   

  Yours sincerely,

  Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer, England

  Pat Cullen, General Secretary, Royal College of Nursing

  Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair, Royal College of General Practitioners

  Dr Camilla Kingdon, President, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

  William Roberts, Chief Executive, Royal Society for Public Health

  Dr Lade Smith, President, Royal College of Psychiatrists

• Changes to KS1 (end of Year 2) assessments

  Wed 06 Sep 2023 Anna Cvijetic

  I am writing to inform you about changes the DfE have made to KS1 assessments following consultation on primary assessment.  From this academic year, end of KS1 (end of Year 2) assessments will no longer be statutory.  There is no requirement for schools to report KS1 teacher assessment back to the Government or to report results from end of KS1 assessments to parents. 

   

  The reception baseline assessment (RBA) will replace the end of KS1 assessment as the baseline for primary progress measures.  Our current Year 2 children did the RBA when they were in Reception in October 2021, and therefore this will be the progress measure when our Year 2 children are in Year 6 in 2028.  Each year our reception children complete this assessment in their first 6 weeks of starting school.

  We will of course still be using effective assessment throughout our teaching and learning, so we know what the children have learnt and what they need to learn next.  Year 2 children will still receive their annual report (the same as Year 1 to 6) at the beginning of the summer term informing parents about their child's general progress.  

   

  If you have any queries, please speak to your child's class teacher.

• Welcome back

  Tue 05 Sep 2023 Anna Cvijetic

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  Welcome back to school - I hope you all had a good summer.  I've had a 'tour of the school' and visited all the classrooms and the children have settled in really well - so many smiley faces.  I can tell we're going to have a excellent year.

   

  The teachers and I had a great training day yesterday, working on how we teach Oracy, Maths, Reading, Writing and how we manage behaviour.  It was a busy day and we have lots of plans in place.

   

  We've had a busy summer too with lots of work happening.  The cleaners have done a thorough deep clean.The final stage of the roof being re-laid is now completed so fingers crossed for no more leaks.  We've got new signs and art work up inside and outside of school with the new motto 'Every Child, Every Chance, Every Day'.  We've had two walls blocked up and new doors put in the infant hall, which look really lovely and help with the acoustics in there.  Finally, the external lower UPVC on the windows have been painted and look much smarter.  Our caretaker, Stewart Mackay, has been sorting the grounds out too and I hope you agree there is a big improvement. A big thank you to all involved for their hard work.

   

  Class Dojo

  Class Dojo is up and running and you should now be able to operate it as normal and be with the new class teacher.  Year 1 children have been entered on the system and shortly Year 1 carers will receive a letter to let you know how to log in and get signed up.

   

  A reminder that Class Dojo messaging should only be used for minor messages.  If you have any matters that need to be responded to with more urgency or that are more important, you should either come in or telephone school to make an appointment to discuss this properly.  We've sometimes had parents message something and teachers are busy teaching during the day and don't see it until the end of the day when it is too late.  

   

  Book Journals

  Each child in Year 3 to 6, and eventually Year 2s, have got a new Book Journal to record Book Club.  We have designed these books ourselves and we would like the children to take care with them and look after them - we are looking for beautiful presentation this year.  They should bring them between school and home each day.  If a child loses their Book Journal or really damages it, parents will be charged £3 to replace it.  The Book Journal is designed to last all year with a double page per week.

   

  Don't forget to join in with our Inspire afternoons, the dates have been resent to you today and they are also on the website.  As we book events in for the year they will be added to the website, so please keep checking the calendar on here.

   

  Best wishes

   

  Anna Cvijetic - Headteacher 

• No confirmed RAAC concrete at Berkeley Primary School

  Tue 05 Sep 2023 Anna Cvijetic

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  You may have seen recent media coverage regarding Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and its use in educational settings. RAAC is a lightweight form of concrete; because it is weaker than regular concrete, concerns have been raised about its long-term durability. Department for Education (DfE) has recently changed its guidance to education settings on the management of RAAC to take a more precautionary approach and as a result areas in affected spaces will be vacated.

  The DfE has been helping education settings and the local authority (LA) to identify and manage the potential risks of RAAC since 2018. You can find more in the Education Hub article published by DfE.

   

  We appreciate the concern this may raise, and we will always prioritise the safety of your children and our staff.

   

  We do not have any confirmed RAAC in our buildings and have not been asked to close any areas. In February 2023 we had a visual inspection undertaken by building experts from the LA in which no RAAC was identified.  However, we want to take care and to be sure, and with the LA are currently working with the DfE to see if further checks are required to see whether RAAC has been used in the construction of any part of our buildings. If RAAC is identified, we will let you know straight away, and we have contingencies in place. 

   

  Rest assured that the safety of children and staff is of paramount importance to all concerned.  Thank you for your understanding.

   

  Best wishes

   

  Anna Cvijetic

  Headteacher