**Head on over to our "Sway Newsletters" page for further updates from our Headteacher**

Friday 5th March 2021

Good afternoon everyone. The school staff and children who are in school are buzzing with excitement for the children's return on Monday. We have cleaned everything, replaced signs reminding children and parents to keep their distance and topped up all hand soaps and hand gels. We can not wait to see you all on Monday morning. 

Having the children at home and juggling parenting, home school learning, working from home and the threat of getting Covid, has certainly been a challenge for you all. You are wonderful parents who have done a great job and tried your hardest to ensure your children are safe and tried to support them to do their learning the best you can. I sincerely thank you for this. Your child will certainly benefit from all the learning they have completed.

On return, I ask could you please make sure that you stagger your entry and exit times. Too many parents are coming through directly at 08:30 and 15:00. You have between 08:30 and 08:45 and 15:00 and 15:15. If there are too many parents trying to come on site, I will be forced to ask parents to stay outside school grounds or have clear entry and exit times for classes. It is a concern for other parents and the staff when parents are too close to each other.

A polite reminder that breakfast club is now only for invited children only. If you require this facility then please contact the office.

School windows are always open to allow good ventilation so please make sure your child has warm clothing underneath their school jumper. You have been reminded this week that the expectation is that all children are wearing full school uniform.

A huge thank you to the children who are in school for having their lateral flow tests completed before they returned after half term. We kindly ask all children who are returning on Monday to get their lateral flow test done over the weekend. Teachers and staff are having twice weekly tests so that we can identify quickly any body who has Covid but showing no symptoms. Inform me if your child does test positive immediately headteacher@littleheath.coventry.sch.uk 

As you are aware, the Government are asking that children should take a lateral flow test on a weekly basis. You can order test kits using the following link to take the test at home https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests

I will send a newsletter out to you weekly which will be sent to your email address. Please make sure we have this in school. You will need this to set up your parents evening appointment later this month.

Have a great weekend and see you all Monday

Jo Stanley

Friday 26th February 

Good afternoon all,

I hope you had a lovely half term break and took the opportunity to enjoy time away from the computer and visit the parks. Thank you to all the families who have been scanning their QR code to earn points. We have been 5th on the leader board, I am sure we can push ourselves up further if we all try.

We have had great news this week that all children will be returning to school on Monday 8th March, we are busy getting ready to make sure your children return safely.

We have been incredibly lucky that we have applied for and awarded money to purchase school fleeces, this is because we have to increase ventilation in school to limit the transmission of Covid. These fleeces belong to the school but will be distributed to specific children. The grant did not cover the entire cost of the fleeces, but our guardian angel in the shape of Mrs Tracey Pearson in the school office held a cake sale to raise the remaining money needed, a huge thank you to her. The fleeces have now arrived and look fantastic. Anyone can order one from the school office.

We have decided we did not want children to miss out on World Book Day so we will dress up and celebrate this on Friday 12th March so get planning your book character outfit.

We will also be celebrating Red Nose Day on Friday 19th March with a wacky hair day in exchange for £1 contribution to the charity.

Look out for more information from me next week for the return on 8th March. This will be posted on our Website, Facebook and also sent to your email address. Please make sure we have an email address for you.

Have a great weekend,

Jo Stanley

Friday 12th February

Happy Chinese New Year to you all. The children look fantastic in their red clothing to celebrate and learn about the culture and traditions of Chinese New Year.

We have received great news this week that Veer in year 2 has won a city-wide competition with 'Go Parks' for a fantastic design so huge congratulations to Veer. This was judged by councillors in the city. Miss Brooks chose the school winners and congratulations to Esmae in Reception, Veer in year 2 and Rutva in year 5. A huge well done to these children for taking the time and effort to produce a poster to advertise their local park. Please visit the parks during half term and collect your points so that Little Heath can move up the leader board. You must keep your distance though please.

We are all waiting to hear when all children can return to school and we will let you know as soon as we can. I ask that you continue to stick to the lockdown measures which are currently in place for everyone's safety. Children in school are asked to go for a lateral flow test before returning to school on Monday 22nd February to make sure they do not have Covid-19. A letter has been emailed to you about this. 

If any of our children do test positive for Covid please do inform me immediately. Please email headteacher@littleheath.coventry.sch.uk or telephone the school immediately on Monday 22nd February.

Thank you to everyone for the great work and support you have given your child and the school this half term. We are having more children join the teams meeting in the morning and more children completing the learning at home.

Please try to give your children time and activities away from their screens this half term. We really do hope we will be seeing you soon.

Enjoy your half term break

Jo Stanley

Friday 5th February

The children at home and at school have this week been thinking about their mental health. They have focussed on their feelings and expressing their feelings. please remember that if your child is suffering emotionally then please ring us and we can offer you support.

The children have been thoroughly enjoying joining the Teams meetings in the mornings this week. This will continue on a daily basis to support the children with their learning for the day. Some teachers may set up live lessons next week too. Sometimes Teams works well and sometimes it likes to be difficult. Apologies if there are some meetings which are difficult to see or hear other children.

Please remember to get you daily exercise to visit the parks and scan the QR code to earn the school points. It all helps us.

Next week the children will be studying Chinese New Year. Please wear red on Friday 12th February.

This week we sent a link to complete our survey about the home learning. A huge thank you to those who have already completed this. Please take the time to complete this as we want to hear what we are doing right and what we can do to improve.

Thank you for your support again this week. Have a great weekend.

Jo Stanley

Head Teacher

------------------------------

Friday 29th January 2021

I can’t begin to tell you the great buzz in school with the children and staff during the virtual meetings. It was so lovely to see the happy faces of the children as they got to see their friends who they miss dearly. Thank you for supporting this and being patient with some technical difficulties. We will continue with these meetings every day. Your child’s class teacher will let you know the time. Please continue to support your child to attend the meeting so the teacher can set out the learning for the day. 

You may be aware that school WILL BE CLOSED FOR HALF TERM and it was announced that schools will not be fully open until 8th March. We will keep you updated. We are sad but we do need to make sure it’s safe for everyone. 

We know many families are struggling with home learning as they do not have a device. Thank you to those families who continue to ensure children do the work by using a mobile phone. We continue to apply for my devices to support you. We have been very lucky as we have received donations to the school. We will get these out as quickly as possible. 

Today is the final day for Sue Thatcher in the school office. She has served the school well and we wish her well. 

Have a great weekend everyone. More snow may be on the way.

Jo Stanley

Headteacher

------------------------------

Friday 22nd January 2021

I want to say a big thank you to the few parents who have contacted me to say how pleased and grateful they are for the hard work our teachers are putting into the learning for the children. Your comments have been invaluable and really lifted our spirits. I have also had the pleasure of telephoning some parents to say how pleased I am with the efforts being made with learning at home. Some children are clearly working very hard. This is nowhere near as many children as we would like but with encouragement more children are doing more learning which is great. I will be sending letters next week where children are not completing the required amount of learning on a daily basis.

Teachers are now able to provide longer video clips for our children at home and you may see a link to YouTube to see these. This is a private account so that we can get longer videos to you. Hopefully, we will be able to start having meetings with children at home joining children in school via TEAMS. It would be great for all children to join so they can say hello to each other and have their teacher see them and explain their learning tasks for the day. Watch out for more information via your email address, text message and Seesaw. 

Have a great weekend everyone. remember we are all here to help support you. Please continue to let us know if you or any of our children test positive for Covid.

Keep safe.

Jo Stanley

Headteacher

------------------------------

Friday 15th January 2021

I am glad to say I am very proud of how quickly the learning has been made available by the teachers and how quickly they are responding to the children at home learning. If at home you are having difficulty completing work directly on seesaw, then please complete on paper and take a photo and upload it. We must see evidence of the children's learning. At the moment, I am disappointed in the number of families and children who are showing little or no evidence of the learning taking place at home. There are some children working their socks off and I am very proud of them. Completing the learning is crucial to keeping your child's education going and I also believe it supports their mental health. I need your support with ensuring the home learning is completed.

I hope you all managed to have a conversation with a member of staff this week who works with your child when they are in school. I have had lots of 'Thank you's' from parents as they are impressed with the communication. During phone calls next week, staff will be discussing the amount of work the children are completing.

We are sending letters out to Year 2 parents with the phonic screening test results. We are delighted to say we have seen the best results the school has seen with a 78% pass rate. Great news. Well done children, staff and parents.

If you are worried about the well-being or safety of yourself or someone else in your family or community, then please contact the Coventry MASH team and report your concerns. Their number is 02476 788555.

Jo Stanley

Headteacher

Little Heath Primary School

02476 688006

------------------------------

Friday 8th January 2021

Well with the sudden announcement of schools only being open to critical workers and vulnerable children, we have certainly had a different week. We have our bubbles of children working in school and we are setting daily on-line learning which I expect all children to complete. We have provided an empty book for children to write some of their homework tasks in.

Your child's class teacher or support staff will be telephoning you each week to see how they are. They may send you a text to let you know when this will be. They will want to say hello to children and parents. 

If you need a place in school and meet the criteria, then please do telephone the school or email me your request.

At the moment, we are giving food parcels to families who qualify for meals. Once we have news from the government, we may be able to give vouchers for Aldi instead.

Please if you have any comments about the on-line learning then email them to me as I would love to hear feedback as the staff are all working very hard to keep learning going for all children.

Keep safe everyone.

Jo Stanley

Headteacher

Little Heath Primary School

02476 688006

------------------------------