Welcome back everyone! I really hope you had a lovely Easter break and I hope you’ve taken some time to rest, play in the garden and spend time together as a family.  I hope everyone is refreshed and looking forward to the term ahead. This term the focus is Health and Well Being and there will be lots of exciting activities happening throughout the term. We are still limited with what we can do as a “whole school” as classes still need to be in their bubbles and we need to restrict visitors into the building  but we will do our best!

As society starts to slowly begin to release from lockdown we must be aware that COVID-19 has not gone away. We ALL need to follow the rules, continue to create space, wear masks and wash hands as much as possible. Please do not gather at the school gates and please do not stop for a chat with friends keep moving and keep your distance. By now, we all probably know people who have been affected by COVID and understand that it can affect people in different ways – some may not show any symptoms while others are severely affected  We do need to work together to ensure we do not see a rise in cases.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

• Topic Overviews – Sent home by 23^rd April 2021 – This will provide an overview of what we will be learning in school and how you can support at home.
• Year 6 Photograph – Year 6 will have a beautiful Year 6 Leavers photo taken on 26^th May 2021.
• IDP Reviews – IDP reviews will take place on 16^th, 17^th and 18^th June 2021 – These will be virtual and either take palce via video or telephone.
• Sports Days – We have planned sports days for Week Beginning 21^st June 2021. Rising 3 and Nursery will be on 21^st June 2021, Foundation Phase will be on 22^nd June and Key Stage 2 will be on 24^th June 2021. The 23^rd and 25^th are reserve days. We will post videos via Seesaw.
• May Day – School will be closed on Monday 3^rd May 2021 as it is May Day Bank Holiday.
• Half term – Week beginning 31^st May 2021 – School reopens after half term on Monday 7^th June 2021.
• Parent Evenings – We will hold virtual appointments from 8^th July 2021 – Further information will follow closer to the time.
• End of Year Reports – End of Year reports will be sent home from 30^th June 2021
• National Tests  – The Welsh Government have told schools to undertake the National Tests. We will undertake the tests throughout the week beginning 28^th June 2021.
• End of Term / INSET Days – School will finish for the Summer holidays on Wednesday 14^th July 2021. We have 4 remaining INSET Days that will be taken on the 15^th, 16^th, 19^th and 20^th July 2021.
• Classes and Structure for September – We will inform every one of our class structure and plans for September from the beginning of July 2021.
• Meet your new Teacher – Thursday 8^th July 2021. Childen will spend some time in their new class and meet their new teacher. Nursery and Year 2 children will start transition in early June and visit their new class regularly. There will also be time for Nursery to stay and have dinner with us.
• Year 6 Leavers and Prom – 12^th to 14^th July – Further details will follow when confirmed.
• Year 6 Transition – 25^th June 2021 – Visit to Secondary School. Several visits from staff and pupils will take palce in Summer term following all relevant guidance for COVID.

Year 3 and Year 4 Smaller Class

We have received extra funding recently from the Welsh Government and have decided to help all children in Year 3 and Year 4 by creating a smaller “boaster” class. This will also mean smaller class sizes for everyone. Smaller classes mean we can provide more support to all children. We have needed to put this together very quickly and we are focussing on providing support for Year 3 and Year 4 as a result of the lockdowns. Miss Hodges will be the class teacher Miss Hodges is fantastic and the children know her as she has carried out supply here at school. The new class starts on Monday for the remainder of the year. All parents / children that it includes have now been telephoned. If you haven’t heard from us do not stress! We telephoned individuals because we wanted you to have the opportunity to ask questions etc. The children will still have play and have lunch with their regular class and start / finish times will be the same. PE day is Monday.  The only difference will be learning time as we can now provide even more support / challenge to all pupils. I know this is short notice but we have done our best in a short amount of time to use the funding wisely and support as many children as possible. 

School Dinners and Fruit

Hot food next week is WEEK 2. Parents need to ensure Upay accounts are topped up. Hot food is available for all children. Fruit will be available free to all children. Children can bring in a healthy snack too. Lunch menus can be found at https://lunchmenus.abercarnprimary.com  

A message from Mrs Watson – On the menu it states pork bites on a Tuesday. Pork bites are actually meatballs. Loads of children love meatballs but we think lots have thought pork bites are different   they’re not different they are meatballs!

Reminders: Positive Cases and Test Results

Please continue to use the covid@abercarnprimary.org email address to alert me to any positive test results out of school hours. Please only use this email for positive results out of school hours only. Use the school email address for any other information you wish to share. If you use the out of hours email address please expect a call from me using a withheld number.

If we have a case in school, classes may need to isolate for 10 days. Please be alert and ensure the number we have on file for text messages is up to date as we will use a text to alert you to case and any isolation required it maybe late at night or early in the morning please be alert. 

ILLNESS

Please do not send your child to school if he or she is:

• Unwell in any way – please make sure your child is 100% - we need to be as safe as possible.
• Has COVID symptoms and / or
• A family member is waiting for test results. Wait until you have received the result and your child is better before sending your child to school!

Reporting an absence
Just a little reminder about reporting an absence. Our phone lines are much busier at the moment. There are three ways to report an absence:
1: Use the report an absence feature on MySchoolApp
2: Complete the form at https://absence.abercarnprimary.com/
3: Report an absence on our telephone line by pressing 1 and leaving a message.

Happy Friday everyone! Well… that’s it for this term. It’s been another challenging term as you all know but I am so proud of everyone in our school community, well done everyone! The children here are amazing, each and every one of them, we are very proud and a big thank you to all of you for continuing to work with us, it is really appreciated! 

It is now time to take a couple of weeks as a family and enjoy the break. Enjoy some time together and have a lovely rest! Have a lovely Easter everyone! It has been over a year now since the first lockdown and in that time we have all achieved so much. Everyone should be proud. When we come back after Easter we will start our Health and Well Being theme and will keep parents and the community involved as much as possible. For the foreseeable future we will need to continue with virtual events using videos and information through Seesaw and hold any parent meetings via telephone / video conferencing etc. We will continue to do our best and follow the latest advice and guidance.   

Please remember COVID-19 has not gone away. We ALL need to follow the rules, continue to create space, wear masks and wash hands as much as possible. Please do not gather at the school gates and please do not stop for a chat with friends, keep moving and keep your distance. By now, we all probably know people who have been affected by COVID and understand that it can affect people in different ways, some may not show any symptoms while others are severely affected We do need to work together to ensure we do not see a rise in cases.

End of Term

Spring Term finishes today at the usual staggered times. School will reopen for all children on Monday 12^th April 2021.

PTA

I’d like to say a big THANK YOU to the PTA on behalf of everyone here at school. All children were thrilled to receive an Easter Egg 7 from the PTA this week and they continue to work tirelessly behind the scenes to help our school as much as possible. We are all really grateful and you are all fantastic, THANK YOU. A special mention to a new member of the PTA who donated some of his own money to help purchase the eggs, thank you! If anyone is interested in helping out with the PTA, please get in touch!

Red Nose Day 2021

We raised over £135 for Red Nose day, Thank you so much for the contributions via our Just Giving page. Thank you! https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rndabercarn2021

School Dinners and Fruit

Hot food continues after Easter – IT IS WEEK 1 on the first week back. Parents need to ensure Upay accounts are topped up. Hot food is available for all children. Fruit will be available free to all children. Children can bring in a healthy snack too. Lunch menus can be found at https://lunchmenus.abercarnprimary.com  

Reminders: Positive Cases and Test Results

Please continue to use the covid@abercarnprimary.org email address to alert me to any positive test results out of school hours. Please only use this email for positive results out of school hours only. Use the school email address for any other information you wish to share. If you use the out of hours email address, please expect a call from me using a withheld number.

Do not send your child to school if he or she is:

• Unwell
• Symptomatic and / or
• A family member is waiting for test results. Wait until you have received the result and your child is better before sending your child to school!

If we have a case in school, classes may need to isolate for 10 days. Please be alert and ensure the phone number we have for text messages is up to date as we will use a text to alert you to case and any isolation required, it maybe late at night or early in the morning, please be alert.