Happy Friday everyone! I hope everyone had a great week! What a week it has been in school! Beautiful weather and everyone took part in the Race for Life and raised an astonishing amount of money, well done and a massive thank you! You should all be very proud!  Truly amazing!

Remember: COVID-19 has not gone away and we all need to stay alert with the new variants circulating. We continue to have children going for tests so we all need to remain alert. For the moment we ALL need to follow the rules, continue to create space, wear masks and wash hands as much as possible, let’s keep our school COVID free. I am sure over the coming months restrictions will begin to lift in school but for now we can’t let our guard down. Please do not gather at the school gates and please do not stop for a chat with friends, keep moving and keep your distance. We need to work together to ensure we do not see a rise in cases.

Sunscreen and Water Bottles

Don’t forget, please apply sunscreen before coming to school and ensure children bring water bottles.

IDP Reviews

IDP reviews are happening this week and next! Staff have already telephoned or messaged those concerned or will do so shortly.

Sports Days and House Colours

It’s our Sports Days next week. Unfortunately, under current restrictions we still cannot mix classes and we cannot have mass gatherings on site but we will be photographing and videoing the class sports events and will place them on SeeSaw. Classes will take part at set times throughout the day using their own equipment and will follow all COVID guidance. Please apply sunscreen and send in a water bottle.

Monday  - Rising 3 and Nursery Sports

Tuesday – Reception, Year 1 and Year 2P and Year 2L Sports

Wednesday – Reserve day (just in case it rains)

Thursday – Year 3, Year 4, Year 5/6P, Year 5/6T and Year 5/6Y Sports Days

Friday – Reserve day (just in case it rains)

Children can wear their house colour to school on their day! House colours can be found on our website at www.teams.abercarnprimary.com    

Cancer Research – Schools Race for Life

Wow! Just WOW! We raised an astonishing amount of money, over £5500 including Gift Aid – Absolutely amazing! I’m speechless! All the children did amazingly well! I am very proud of everyone! A big thank you to Miss Jones for organising this amazing event! Well done everyone, thank you everyone and thank you Miss Jones! Thank you to Caerphilly Sport for their support too #CaerphillySport    

Staff

Mr Lumby and Mr Yamamoto will sadly be leaving us at the end of this academic year. Miss Davies will also be leaving us as Mrs Harry will be returning from her maternity leave at the end of term. Everyone here at school wishes them all the very best for the future and we send our big thanks for their dedication and contribution to our school!

Miss Hodges and Miss Jones were successful at securing permanent positions following a very rigorous interview and selection process with the Governing Body earlier this week and we also have a new member of staff (Mr Sam Watkins) joining us in September too! Big congratulations to Miss Jones and Miss Hodges and welcome to Mr Watkins.

Our Chicks

As part of our Health and Well Being theme Reception Class were hatching chicks last week. The chicks were delivered to us in an incubator on Monday and started to hatch on Tuesday evening. Nine chicks have hatched! They will be cared for by staff and Reception children until the end of term.

Nursery staying for Lunch

Nursery continue their transition into school next week and will be staying for lunch on Monday 21^st June 2021. Pick up on Wednesday is at 11.45am instead of 11.30am.

PTA Bad Hair Day

Thank you for the contributions for Bad Hair Day! Very much appreciated!

School Dinners and Fruit

Hot food next week is WEEK 1. 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. 

There are still children, parents and family members going for tests and therefore there is always the possibility of the need to isolate a class etc. School staff also undertake tests twice weekly and could potentially receive a positive result causing a class needing to isolate, Covid has not gone away!

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

Please do not report absence / illness using SeeSaw as it may not be picked up in time and we need to ensure everyone is safe. Please either:
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.

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a great half term! The weather was certainly much better and I am sure the sunshine makes everyone feel a little happier! We have a very busy half term here at school with our Health and Wellbeing topic continuing, sports days, Year 6 leavers and end of year reports coming home! Let’s have a great half term everyone!  

Remember: COVID-19 has not gone away and we all need to stay alert with the new variants circulating. We continue to have children going for tests so we all need to remain alert. For the moment we ALL need to follow the rules, continue to create space, wear masks and wash hands as much as possible, let’s keep our school COVID free. I am sure over the coming months restrictions will begin to lift in school but for now we can’t let our guard down. Please do not gather at the school gates and please do not stop for a chat with friends, keep moving and keep your distance. We need to work together to ensure we do not see a rise in cases.

Sunscreen and Water Bottles

Now that the weather is much better and we are having many more sunny days, please apply sunscreen before coming to school and ensure children bring water bottles.

Allotments and Chickens

A few parents have asked about how they can sign up to look after our chickens for the holiday periods. We will begin to plan this soon and will send out further information. Thank you so much to those that have volunteered so far, your support is really appreciated.  Here are some photos of the items we have received so far in school (Thank you to Mr and Mrs Watson for putting them all together). We are still waiting for a giant chicken enclosure to protect our chickens from birds and foxes etc. They will be able to roam freely in the fenced area for a good proportion of the day too.

IDP Reviews

If your child has an IDP, staff will be reviewing targets next week and possibly the week after next. The class teacher may telephone you for a quick chat regarding progress and any new targets etc. IDPs will be sent home in the next few weeks.

Cancer Research – Schools Race for Life

Our Cancer Research Race for Life is on Monday. Children can wear sports clothing to school on Monday and will take part in the Race for Life at some point during the day. Children can take part at their own level. Details have been sent on Seesaw. Thank you for raising money for this worthwhile cause. Please remember water bottles, sun hats and sunscreen!

Nursery staying for Lunch

Nursery start their transition into school next week and will be staying for lunch on Wednesday 16^th June 2021. Pick up on Wednesday is at 11.45am instead of 11.30am.

Year 6 Transition to Secondary

Year 6 transition visits to Newbridge School on Tuesday 15^th June 2021. A member of our staff will accompany the children for the duration of the visit. Children will leave school at 9.10am and will return before 11am. Please let us know if you do not give consent for your child to attend by Monday. If we do not hear from you, we will assume consent is provided. Only those that are attending Newbridge will go, the others will remain here in school. Alternative arrangements have been made for those going to different Secondary Schools.  As it is PE day in school, they can wear polo shirt and jumper / hoodie on top and sports joggers / shorts on bottom. Children must wear a face covering as this is in line with current Secondary School guidance, we are happy to provide a disposable face covering if required.

PTA Bad Hair Day

It is bad hair day on Friday 18^th June 2021. There will be donation buckets at the school gate for any loose change / donations to be thrown into on your way into / out of school. The money will be quarantined before going to the PTA. Thank you!

School Dinners and Fruit

Hot food next week is WEEK 1. 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.

There are still children, parents and family members going for tests and therefore there is always the possibility of the need to isolate a class etc. School staff also undertake tests twice weekly and could potentially receive a positive result causing a class needing to isolate, Covid has not gone away!

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

Please do not report absence / illness using SeeSaw as it may not be picked up in time and we need to ensure everyone is safe. Please either:
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.