Newsletter - September 2020
10th September 2020
Thursday 10th September 2020
WELCOME BACK!
Dear Parents, Carers and the Community of Lemington,
It is my absolute pleasure to say ‘welcome back’ to all of our children and families after what has been an incredibly challenging few months for all of us. I would particularly like to extend a very warm welcome to any new families who are joining our school community from this week – you and your child are very welcome!
The support and community spirit across Lemington has been nothing short of incredible during the months of lock-down and I am so proud of how everybody has pulled together.
This week we have welcomed back all of our children – it has been a huge logistical effort to make the building as safe and secure as we possibly can, but we are confident that school can now operate as close to ‘normal’ as we can, whilst making sure we are following all the guidelines set out by the UK Government and Newcastle City Council.
Here are a few bits of key information for you all as we start the new term:
- To allow for a socially-distanced start to the school day you can drop your child off any-time between 8:45 and 9:15am every day. Children in Nursery and Reception should enter school via the Early Years garden (through the blue gate at the bottom of Sugley Street opposite the corner shop). Children in Years 1 through to Year 6 should enter via the Main Entrance on Sugley Street. Between 8:45am and 9:15am daily we will provide a free breakfast to all children in their classroom. The children will be able to sit and eat their breakfast whilst reading their book in class! Please help to keep everyone safe by entering the playground at drop off and pick up times and keeping a social distance from others. Please don’t congregate in crowds on the pavements surrounding the school. Thanks for your help with this.
- When your child enters school they will be given hand sanitiser and should go straight to their classroom where they will have their own designated work space where they can store their coats, bags, etc.
- Any lunch money should be sent into school with your child and they should hand this to their teacher. Unfortunately, at present no parents/carers are allowed into the school building without an appointment.
- At home time children should be collected from the following places at the following times:
|
Class |
Pick-up point |
Pick-up time |
|
Nursery (Mrs. Corr)
|
Early Years Garden |
2:45pm (1:45pm Friday) |
|
Reception (Miss Jeffcock)
|
Early Years Garden |
3:00pm (2:00pm Friday) |
|
Year 1 (Miss Harland) |
Top Playground (please enter/exit via the big vehicle gate at the top of Sugley Street) |
3:15pm (2:15pm Friday) |
|
Year 2 (Ms Turner) |
Top Playground (please enter/exit via the big vehicle gate at the top of Sugley Street) |
3:15pm (2:15pm Friday) |
|
Year 3 (Mrs. Jamieson) |
Top Playground (please enter/exit via the big vehicle gate at the top of Sugley Street) |
3:15pm (2:15pm Friday) |
|
Year 4 (Mr. Sayers) |
Bottom Playground (please enter/exit via the small gates on either Rokeby or Sugley Streets) |
3:15pm (2:15pm Friday) |
|
Year 5 and 6 (Mr. Murphy) |
Bottom Playground (please enter/exit via the small gates on either Rokeby or Sugley Streets) |
3:15pm (2:15pm Friday) |
|
We will continue to offer free child-care on a Friday between home-time and 3:15pm – this provision will be led by two qualified sports coaches. If your child is attending after school club on a Friday, please complete the form below, or complete the electronic form on our Facebook page and website. |
||
- PE lessons will now be taking place on the following days – Wednesday for Year 3 and Year 5 and Friday for Nursery, Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6. On the day that your child has PE children should come to school in their PE kit to avoid having to change in school. Depending on the weather our PE kit is a plain white t-shirt or plain hoodie, plain black or blue shorts/leggings/plain joggers/tracksuit bottoms, trainers or plimsolls.
- The Outer West Swimming Pool at West Denton unfortunately remains closed and there will be no swimming lessons until further notice.
- There will be no out of school visits planned until at least after the October half term holiday.
- We have three pupil bubble groups in school (Bubble 1 – Early Years, Bubble 2 – Years 1, 2 and 3, Bubble 3 – Years 4, 5 and 6). Throughout the day children will have break-times, lunch sittings and lunch play-times only with children in their bubble. They will remain in their classroom throughout the school day. Whole-school assemblies will not take place until further notice.
CURRICULUM AND LEARNING:
Our team have been busy planning a very exciting year of learning for your children and we are aware that a significant amount of teaching time was lost during the lock-down. We have devised our very own ‘catch up curriculum’ which means your child will take part in intensive catch up programmes for all subjects, in particular English and Maths.
Our new topic theme for the first half of the Autumn term is ‘We Are Lemington’ where children will be learning about our local community and how they can be a great local citizen!
We are passionate about reading at our school and during the summer months we have worked hard to create two amazing new library spaces in the school. They are located on the two landing areas in the main building. One library is called ‘Imagine’ and is our fiction library containing hundreds of wonderful story books. Our other library is called ‘Discover’ – it is our non-fiction library where we have hundreds of fact and information books to choose from.
Your child’s class teacher will ensure your child receives a new reading book and reading record. Your child’s book will be closely matched to their reading ability. We strongly encourage all parents/carers to spend at least 10-15 minutes per night reading with your child.
We also have a number of online packages and apps that children can access on mobile devices, tablets and laptops at home. Again, your child’s teacher will inform you what these are and how you can log-on.
COMMUNICATION:
We know that you may have questions and queries as we return to school. We are always here to support your child and your family in any way we can. In a morning, there will always be members of staff available to speak to at the entrances (please remember to socially distance!). At the end of the school day you can also speak with your child’s class teacher – again, remembering to social distance. You can call the school office at any time between 7:30am and 5pm Monday-Friday – alternatively you can email us admin@lemingtonriverside.newcastle.sch.uk and we will respond to your query as soon as possible.
We will be arranging parent/carer meetings with your child’s class teacher later this term – more details of this to follow in due course.
In the mean-time, take care and once again, it’s great to have you all back!
Mr. Heeley and the staff team at Lemington Riverside