Sandiway Primary School Newsletter
Newsletter 30 Wednesday 14th July 2021 Summer Term 2021
www.sandiway.cheshire.sch.uk admin@sandiway.cheshire.sch.uk
What a year…
I don’t want to dwell on what we already know and I have
spoken about before. However, I did want to say a heart-felt
‘thank you’ to all members of our school community for the
part you have played. As a team, we have made it through
the school year, with a potential glimpse of what the future
will look like as an incentive for us in September. I will
update you during the school holidays with procedures that
will be in place, but I am hoping that school life will feel
easier and less restrictive. Guidance is starting to emerge,
but we may need to consider the impact of increasing
infection rates that we are seeing – I will update you when I
can.
A few parents are asking about staggered start/end of the
school day. Whilst I am not fully ready to give the exact
details, it is likely that there will not be the staggered start to
the extent that we have had this year. It is likely that we will
return to a start of 8.45am and a finish time of 3.10pm
(Rec/KS1) and 3.20pm (KS2): more details to follow, but I
hope this helps to start planning for what September will
look like.
As I have previously said, as a school, we have come
through the last 18 months in good shape, however,
inevitably, there have been impacts. I am also aware that
some children and families have been impacted in more
unique ways – we are in conversations with a number of
families, working together to support children through the
summer and into next year. A few targets were included in
school reports, including maintaining readings, number fact
recall, etc – I recommend that children keep practising their
skills through the holiday, so that we minimise the ‘summer
gap’. I will be working with my youngest daughter over the
summer, particularly within the Summer Reading Challenge –
see details later on…
Working with members of the Trust Board, through my
own evaluations and with external support, we have
identified some areas that will be a focus for us from
September and through the next academic year; I would like
to briefly outline these so that we can all work together to
move our school forward and ensure that our children are in
the best possible place.
• We would like to look at the way that PHONICS and
EARLY READING is taught in Reception and Year 1,
including looking at the provision of banded books
that we have in school.
• We would like to review the way that READING is
taught from Year 2 upwards, through KS2.
• We would like to continue to develop our
curriculum, especially GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY and
DESIGN TECHNOLOGY to ensure that what is often
defined as ‘topic’ is clearly progressive and that all
knowledge and skills are taught effectively.
• We also want to ensure that our class TIMETABLES
reflect all the curriculum areas now that we are
coming out of a recovery period following disruption
in school due to the pandemic – a broad and
balanced curriculum is vital for the children to
receive.
• Additionally, we want to continue to focus on the
well-being, mental, emotional and physical health of
all our school community: children, staff and
parents.
PTA
The PTA have been continuing to support the school and
children this term, although it has not been possible to put
on events that we originally planned – let’s hope we can do
some of these from September.
I would like to thank the PTA for supporting classes with
making sure we have fun at the end of term – each class has
been able to have a fun
party with money given
so that the children can
have a few goodies.
The PTA are also
continuing to support the
school with more reading
materials ready for
September. Thanks again
to the parents who have
contributed previously to
allow this to happen.
Please see a letter from the PTA attached to the newsletter
email, also detailing what have been spent this year.
Uniform/PE Kits
Just a quick reminder that children will need their full
uniform when they return in September. This includes school
shoes (no trainers). One of the positive aspects of the
pandemic has been the opportunity for children to come to
school in PE kit. Initially this was to reduce the spread of
infection through getting changed, but actually what it has
done is make PE time far more efficient, children don’t have
to worry about getting changed in front of their peers and
also it means we have more time to teach PE. With this in
mind, I will be asking children to come to school in their PE
kits from September, on PE days – to be confirmed over the
summer. We will keep this under review as the year
progresses (please see school website for details of the kit).
Following some feedback from parents, I would be happy for
the PE t-shirt to be either white or navy blue – this brings the
PE uniform in-line with the school uniform where either
white or navy blue polo t-shirts are acceptable. Trainers can
be worn on PE days. Children could wear their school
sweatshirt in addition to the PE kit.
One of our parents is the owner of the ‘Cheeky Little Soles’
shoe shop based in Hartford – she is offering a 10% discount
on all ‘Back to School’ shoe purchases for our families –
thank you.
Swimming
With lost swimming time in the last year, I am offering all
children in KS2 (Years 3 to 6) 9 weeks swimming each next
school year. This is due to take place at Brio in Northwich and
will be led by 2 trained teachers and will be attended by
lifeguards as well as school staff. School will be funding the
swimming, but I will need to ask for some financial help for
the transport. I hope this will help to get the children back to
the position we would expect. There will be further details
coming out shortly.
Summer Reading Challenge
I have only just received communications about this annual
event – one that I know our children and families have
enjoyed in the past. I have quoted the email I have received:
“The Summer Reading
Challenge starts, Saturday
10 July. Children can join the
challenge online nationally
via the Summer Reading
Challenge website and
locally (so they do not have
to fill in a form at the library) via
the www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/read webpage.
Online events are available to book
via www.ticketsource.co.uk/cwaclibraries with physical
events, such as animal handling, being available soon.
We’re particularly
excited that
BeWilderwood are
offering a prize draw
of three free books
and two tickets per
library to their
adventure park for
everyone who
completes the challenge this year although, personally, the
highlight for me will be seeing what questions children send
in for our Onjali Rauf event.
Finally I’d like to mention that the
Borrowbox app, where children’s
eBooks and eAudio titles are
available to loan for free to anyone
who has got a library card. One
can just install the app and start
borrowing instantly.”
Support for families with children receiving Free School
Meals (FSM)
Cheshire West and Chester are working with other
authorities and organisations to give support to families
whose children receive FSM over the summer holiday; this
includes activities and free meals. Please click this link to find
out more and book:
https://edsential.com/holidayactivityfund2021/
Children in receipt of FSM will also receive some meal
vouchers for the summer holiday – these will be emailed
directly to the families concerned.
School Annual Reports
I hope you enjoyed reading your children’s reports last week
and that the children have had chance to share in their
successes. Can I please remind you that we are able to
receive comments from both parents and children by
following this link. Thank you.
Sports Summer Challenge
I am attaching to the newsletter an activity sheet that has
been prepared for us by the Vale Royal Sports Partnership.
There are a number of activities with clickable links to guide
you through them, please share any activities you get
involved with on social media. Scores can be submitted onto
a virtual scoreboard – I hope lots of children can take part!
UPBEAT
I would like to share this link as a way to celebrate
involvement by some of our children in this project – using
their bodies as percussion! https://youtu.be/lp8ZmKb5rhE
Summer Building Work
For 4 weeks during the summer, the remaining older school
single-glazed windows and doors, including the high-level
windows in the hall, will be replaced. This work has been
funded, in the main, through a Government Grant that
academy schools can access.
Broadband Connection
Also during the school holidays, we will be upgrading our
broadband connection from one that is just 10Mbps (I
cannot believe we have managed with this for so long –
some days, it’s been a challenge) to one that is 330Mbps.
Year 6
It is always a sad time to say goodbye to our Year 6 children,
most of which we have known for 7 years. On behalf of all
staff, we wish them well as they move on to the next exciting
part of their educational journey. We also sadly say goodbye
to a number of our families, some of which have been linked
to the school for many years as their children have passed
through our doors. Please all stay in touch – you are all
welcome back to say ‘hi’ at any time.
And finally…
I am personally looking forward to spending time with my
own family over the holiday, hopefully spending as much of it
as possible outside. It will also be a time for me to plan for
the safe return of all our children and to welcome our new
families into Reception. There is much planned already for
the children to enjoy and to move our school on – exciting
times ahead, hopefully with less disruption than we have
been through.
Thank you for the messages of personal support and
challenge this year, they have all shaped where we are and
the plans in place for next year.
We look forward to welcoming our children back to school
on Thursday 2nd September 2021…please watch out for more
information coming out during the holiday.
…best wishes to all, Chris Priddey