End of term message

I recently described this as being the second strangest term of my teaching career. With children and staff working in bubbles, everyone wearing face coverings and no clubs or performances, this term has been very unusual indeed.

But that’s not to say we haven’t enjoyed it. The children have adapted without complaint to the new systems, we’ve been able to concentrate on learning with few distractions and our new curriculum has provided some exciting and interesting lessons. Children are generally making good progress and are catching-up after the school closure last term.

Christmas has been unusual too, with no nativities or other performances. The children have had a good time though, and we’ve all enjoyed the daily advent posts from different groups across the school.

So, in summary, it’s been different, but everyone’s made the most of it. I would particularly like to thank the staff for their hard work in keeping the school going and keeping children happy, engaged and, above all else, safe.

I am also very grateful to all our parents. You have remained patient and supportive throughout a very difficult time when your normal levels of involvement with the school have been much more limited. Thank you for everything you are doing to support your child and our school.

I hope you all have a restful and enjoyable Christmas – however you end up spending it.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

(Don’t forget, we’re back to school on Monday 4th January 8.40 – 9.00am)

Christmas Covid

Arrangements regarding any positive cases in the holidays:

• If your child tests positive for coronavirus up to and including Saturday 19th December, please contact me immediately on p.mason@southill.dorset.sch.uk. I will monitor this email address between 8am and 6pm.
• If your child tests positive for coronavirus from Sunday 20th December, please follow the contact tracing instructions that will be provided by the NHS. There is no requirement to contact the school after this date. NHS will be in touch with us separately to support the tracing of contacts should they need to.
• If your child tests positive after Wednesday 23rd December, please follow the contact tracing instructions that will be provided by the NHS and send an email to let me know.

Thank you

Cosy at Christmas – Winter coats and pyjamas appeal

Dorset County are running an appeal asking for new or nearly new children’s winter coats and pyjamas to be donated. We have already pinged this information to parents but it’s such a good cause, I thought I’d recap it here. They are asking for new and nearly new winter coats and pyjamas for children aged from three to 12 so they can provide these items to help families in need. Details of the appeal and of some of the other support available to Dorset residents is also available on this website page.

Weymouth Panto

Two members of the latest Weymouth panto – Rapunzel – have visited the school to entertain some of our classes this week. They would love to see you at their panto – and we all know how difficult theatres are finding things at the moment – so they have offered us all a discount. Please use the special code of GOTHEL6 to get one £6 ticket with a full price adult at any 6pm show.

Updated guidance for parents and carers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

The government have updated their guidance for parents and carers to reflect the end of National Restrictions on 2 December and how these settings should operate under the local restriction tiers.

They have updated their guidance on what parents and carers need to know about early years providers, schools and colleges to clarify the position under the local restriction tiers for:

• clinically extremely vulnerable children
• face coverings
• music, dance and drama performances
• educational visits and trips
• extra-curricular activities

TikTok Update Parental Controls with Family Pairing Feature
You may know that we do have a few problems at school with children’s use of TikTok. This new feature may help parents manage the app at home.

TikTok is used by many teenagers and sometimes children younger than that 13 despite its terms and conditions. Using the new Family Pairing feature can allow parents to guide their child’s TikTok experience in a safer way. Features include:

• Search: Decide what can be searched for. This includes content, users, hashtags, or sounds
• Screen Time Management: Sets how long your child spends on TikTok each day
• Discoverability: Decide on the account being private (you decide who can see their content) or public (anyone can search and view content)

To find out more information about TikTok’s Family Pairing feature and to download a helpful poster to share with pupils and parents, go to: https://swgfl.org.uk/magazine/tiktok-update-parental-controls-with-family-pairing-feature/

From Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

We are delighted to have our Christmas Safety Story “It Was The Lights Before Christmas” read by Firefighter Paul (with a very special guest making an appearance at the beginning and end) for younger children to listen to.  We would be very grateful if you were able to send the attached link to the website home to parents/ carers of your younger children. As well as the story you will also find a Christmas Glue and Make with ideas for art and crafts to do at home or in school, along with some colouring activity sheets.