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

• Teachers textiles training

  Wed 09 Mar 2022 Anna Cvijetic

  Our teachers were busy in staff meeting tonight doing some training on how best to teach textiles in art with our children.  They created some lovely work which Mrs Sleight is going to make some bunting with.  Well done everyone.

  

• Thank you from Iryna

  Tue 08 Mar 2022 Anna Cvijetic

  Just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone involved in gathering donations for Ukrainian refugees. They have all been collected today and will be on the way to Poland at the end of this week. 

   

  The amount of donations is really overwhelming. It took 3 cars and a van to deliver everything. People in our school community have the most generous hearts. 

   

  Thanks 

  Iryna Fowles

  

• Amazing collection to help people in Ukraine

  Mon 07 Mar 2022 Anna Cvijetic

  Many thanks to those of you who have donated so many things for us to send to help people in Ukraine.  Mrs Fowles is coming in tomorrow to collect everything to ensure it is taken to those that need it.  

  

• Good attendance and punctuality

  Mon 07 Mar 2022 Anna Cvijetic

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  As you know, we monitor attendance very carefully so that we can support families.  We did an attendance review last week, and though the vast majority of children's attendance and punctuality was good, our levels have dropped to 93.19% attendance.  118 (about 20%) of our children are currently classed as 'persistently absent' (those whose attendance is less than 90%).  The Government and Local Authority are keen that attendance levels rise back to pre-pandemic levels and that children are punctual to school.  

   

  We are striving to improve our attendance – we want every child to be 100%. Good attendance and punctuality is essential for a successful future for your child. Research shows that some young people who regularly miss school can be drawn into anti-social behaviour or crime. We want all our children to be happy and achieve, we want them to have a good education so they have choices and opportunities in adult life.

   

  Mrs Smith, in the office, will be sending letters in the next week to all the carers whose children's attendance is classed as 'Persistently Absent' (less than 90%) or are regularly late to school.  Attached will be your child's attendance details for this academic year.  I ask that you read the letter and strive to improve the attendance and punctuality.  We open the classroom doors at 8.45am, school officially starts at 9.00am. We start teaching immediately on a child's arrival.

   

  If you have any questions about the school attendance procedures, please do not hesitate to contact the school. If you would like further support to improve attendance or punctuality, please make an appointment to speak to the family workers, Mrs Neall and Mrs Allen. 

   

  Please accept my thanks for your full support in attendance and punctuality matters.

   

  Best wishes

   

  Anna Cvijetic

  Headteacher

  

• World Book Day - celebrating 25 years of Harry Potter

  Thu 03 Mar 2022 Anna Cvijetic

  We love books at our school and had a really great day celebrating World Book Day today.  Our Harry Potter theme meant the children and adults looked brilliant - we had lots of Hogwarts pupils and teachers, Hagrid, Voldemort, muggles and even a Hedwig.  Many thanks to the carers for taking the time to help our children dress up.  

   

  We started the day in an assembly with Sarah Tipler, a reading advocate for the Local Authority, leading our assemblies and bringing a little magic into the children's day.  

   

  The teachers had excelled themselves, planning a carousel of Harry Potter themed activities.  The activities included wand making, playing Quidditch, parchment writing, potion making, computer code making and even making talking portraits on the computer with a little wizardry from Mr Dalgliesh.  

   

  It was brilliant to walk around the school seeing the children getting really stuck in and having a go at some different activities.  Well done everyone for making this happen.

  

• Big Talk - Relationship Education

  Tue 01 Mar 2022

  To keep children as safe as possible Relationship Education is now statutory in all Primary Schools, we are engaging the support of the specialist organisation BigTalk Education, who are a Social Enterprise recognised by national lead bodies and Government.

  They work with 3yr olds upwards and have been involved in delivering age-appropriate education of this type for over 20 years.

  Below is some information on the Growing Up Safe programme that will be delivered to the Children in the coming term.

   

  * Age 3 (Nursery). A fun learning environment where the children are taught: the differences between boys and girls, naming body parts, correct scientific words, private areas of the body, good touches and bad touches.

  • Ages 4 to 8 (Reception School Years 1, 2 & 3) Re-enforces and checks what was covered in Nursery.  Using specially designed child friendly resources at the end of this session they will be able to identify happy situations within relationships, and those which may be risky (e.g., other children or adults taking improper photographs of them, inappropriate touches, exposure to unsuitable media etc.) Plus, whom they can talk to if they are worried.
  • Ages 8 to 9 (School Year 4) We cover different kinds of families, similarities and differences between boys and girls, the emotional and physical changes of growing up (puberty) how babies are made, then develop in the womb etc. (reproduction). Also discussed is, how to look after our bodies and be safe and healthy.
  • Ages 9 to 11 (School Years 5 & 6) Reproduction and puberty are re-capped, the children are given the opportunity to ask questions. As well as additional clarification on puberty, they will often want more details on how babies develop and are born. It is important that they know there is someone in school as well as at home if they want help, advice or more information etc. (Information at this stage is vital to protect them as they move onto Secondary School and to provide an alternative to Google etc)

  All the resources BigTalk Education use are age appropriate and help keep children protected from unwanted touches, abuse, and exposure to unsuitable images etc.

  
  Further information on the above can be found on: www.bigtalkeducation.co.uk/parents

  The new video Parent presentations https://www.bigtalkeducation.co.uk/year-by-year/  are on our website – the School will circulate the password one week prior to our visit.

  
  In addition, “Bodies, Babies and Bellybuttons” is the BigTalk book which accompanies the Growing Up Safe programme. This is a great resource for parents and can be ordered online from www.bigtalkeducation.co.uk on our Resources page.

  
  Should you require any further information BigTalk Education can be contacted on admin@bigtalkeducation.co.uk.

   

  If you have any queries regarding the above information or would like to discuss this with someone from school, please do not hesitate to contact me via email on admin.berkeleyprimary@northlincs.gov.uk

          

        Best wishes

        Faye Marshall

        PSHE Leader

   

  

• COVID-19 cases and our procedures to ensure safety

  Mon 28 Feb 2022 Anna Cvijetic

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  As you will know, from Thursday 24 February the government removed remaining domestic restrictions in England. This includes changes for schools, such as no longer recommending regular testing for pupils and staff without symptoms and removing the legal requirement for people to isolate following a positive test - this includes school pupils and all staff in mainstream education.

   

  Although there is no longer the legal requirement to self-isolate, a child or member of staff with any of the main COVID-19 symptoms should order a PCR test and will not be allowed to attend school while awaiting the result or if the subsequent result is positive. Children with symptoms who do not obtain a PCR test must remain away from school.

  Parents/carers will be asked to collect their child if they develop symptoms whilst at school. In these cases, children (and staff) must stay away from school for 5 full days and may return after if they obtain 2 negative lateral flow test results on consecutive days, or after a total of 10 full days after the symptoms started if they feel well.

   

  The three main symptoms remain: • a high temperature • a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot, for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours • a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – this means they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

   

  Children should continue to attend school if they have not tested positive for COVID-19 and are well enough to do so. Children who are at home should access remote learning.

  Furthermore, it is no longer advised that pupil or staff with positive close contacts need to test daily for 7 days. However, the school may be advised by our local public health team to recommend lateral flow device (LFD) tests to manage an outbreak.  You are still currently able to order LFD tests from the NHS website.

   

  Please be reassured that for most children, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness. However, the school will continue to observe good hand hygiene, cleaning regimes, ventilation requirements and other measures to manage the risk of transmission.

   

  I have updated our risk assessment and this is on the school website (in Letters).  

   

  Best wishes

   

  Anna Cvijetic

  Headteacher

• A beautiful rainbow

  Thu 24 Feb 2022 Anna Cvijetic

  A beautiful rainbow captured over our infant building.

  

• World Book Day 2022

  Thu 10 Feb 2022

   

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  World Book Day takes place on Thursday 3^rd March, and we would like to invite you to join us in helping your child to make the most of this special occasion. World Book Day celebrates the joy and value of books and reading. We would also like to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, on the same day. Throughout the day, we have a range of Harry Potter themed activities for the children to take part in and enjoy.

   

  For Reception – Y6, this will take place on Thursday 3^rd March and we are inviting the children to dress up as a Harry Potter character. Please don’t feel the need to go out and buy an outfit for this – your child could come into school wearing a red, blue, yellow or green tie and/or a black piece of material or even a bin bag as a cape! They could also wear a Halloween costume if they already have one at home.

   

  Nursery will celebrate World Book Day by holding a witches/wizards themed day on Monday 28^th February. They may dress up as witches or wizards if they wish.

   

  Nurseries, schools and libraries across the UK celebrate World Book Day with a huge range of events and activities. Your child will also receive a £1 book token – sponsored by National Book Tokens. You can join us in building your child’s enthusiasm for books well beyond World Book Day by reading together regularly and joining your local library if you are not yet members. For more information about World Book Day and ideas on sharing books at home, visit worldbookday.com. Children are never too young to start their journey with books, and the benefits of reading are enormous - so we hope, like us, you will use World Book Day to celebrate it with your child.

   

  Best wishes

   

  Anna Cvijetic

  Headteacher

  

• Defibrillator on site at Berkeley Primary School

  Wed 26 Jan 2022

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  We wanted to make you aware that we now have a Defibrillator on site here at Berkeley Primary School.

   

  If needed, this is available by the General Public during the opening hours of 6.30am – 6.00pm (not including school holidays)

   

  It is located in the Junior Reception Office, which is the building on the right.

   

  Many thanks