Recent letters shared with parents and carers.

• Virtual Book Fair (16 - 27 Nov)

  Tue 17 Nov 2020

   

  Virtual Book Fair Event 16 –  27 November 2020

  This year is little different we know, but here at Galley Hill we want to continue to promote a love of reading with our children both in school and at home.  There is strong evidence that links reading for pleasure with educational outcomes but we know that the benefits of reading for pleasure go beyond education.  Reading for pleasure increases our understanding of our own identity, improves empathy and gives us insight into the world around us from the point of view of others.

   

  What does ‘reading for pleasure’ mean?

  It is simply that a child or indeed an adult, chooses to read something they enjoy.  This may not be the latest chapter book by Liz Pichon (Shoe Wars) or Craig Smith (The Grinny Granny Donkey), it could be a newspaper, a comic book, a quiz book, a recipe or a factual book about a topic you are interested in.  It could also be reading together and sharing the funny part of a story, a bedtime story snuggled on the sofa.  The options and ideas are endless and so are the benefits!

   

  Our Virtual Book Fair Event

  Unfortunately, we cannot hold our usual book fair this year so we are going to go online!  We will be sending home our usual scholastic leaflet by the end of next week.  This year’s one has lots more to choose from!  If you can’t wait until next week, you can look at the online leaflet: https://www6.scholastic.co.uk/3dissue/catalogues/Clubs/November2020/UKPrimary/.  In classes this week, we will look online and talk about the different books on offer, encourage the children to recommend books they have already read to their friends and listen to extracts from new books from the Scholastic website.  You can also listen to these at home by following this link: https://bookfairs.scholastic.co.uk/chapter-one.  There are books for all ages, with an extract read by the author.  It’s the perfect excuse to get a few early Christmas presents too!

  Online orders will be open from the 16 - 27 November

  Our new Scholastic Book Club is up and running!

  Go to https://schools.scholastic.co.uk/galley/digital-book-club  to browse the latest books and order online. For every £1 you spend on this month’s Book Club, our school will earn 20p in Scholastic Rewards.  Please place your order online by 27 November 2020.

   

  If you would prefer to order via the school, please fill out the paper order form in the brochure, send it back into school and make payment on School Coms by 26 November.  All books will be sent to the school and then sent out with the children.  We anticipate that this will be in early December.

   

  Kind Regards

  Mrs Spooner and Mrs Cole

   

   

• New Parent Update - Covid Measures

  Wed 04 Nov 2020

  Dear Parents / Carers,

   

  I am sure that you have all heard the announcement over the weekend from Boris Johnson about the latest restrictions that come into effect from tomorrow. These restrictions do not specifically affect schools but the full guidance can be found here: www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november

   

  So far, we have not received any direct guidance from the Department for Education regarding changes we need to make but I as I am sure you can imagine, we have been reviewing our risk assessments in school. It is our responsibility to keep everyone in our community as safe as possible, including children, parents and staff who are considered vulnerable.

   

  We are therefore requesting that from tomorrow (Thursday 5th November), all adults who enter our school site are wearing a mask or face covering. This is in all areas, including on the playground and pathways. Obviously we are aware that some of you may be exempt and we completely understand that. Please also ensure that you are maintaining a two metre social distance with other people at all times.

   

  You will see that staff out on the playground or at the doors are also wearing masks and we have also asked staff to wear masks in communal areas around the school. They will not be wearing them when teaching the children unless it is their personal choice to do so and we do not expect the children in our care to wear a mask at any time, again unless they choose to do so.

   

  We ask that parents of Nursery children now please leave their child at the top of the slope down to the classroom and remind parents of Reception and Year 1 that they should not be going down the slopes from the playground at any time. Thank you to all parents who continue to follow these requests and ensure they stick to the one way systems we have in place.

   

  We would also like to remind you once again that while waiting on the playground before or after school, children should be standing still with their parents. Please also ensure that you only arrive at school or drop off your child just before their class opens in the morning as we seem to have a lot of people on the playground, including unsupervised children from Years 5 and 6, for a long time before school starts.

   

  We are really sad that we have had to temporarily stop our football and netball clubs that had started for children in Years 5 and 6. Unfortunately the national lockdown guidance (under section 7 about education) clearly states that extra-curricular clubs should not take place. We apologise for any inconvenience.

   

  We know this is an anxious and uncertain time for everybody but we do assure you that we are doing all we possibly can in school to keep the children safe and we very much appreciate your support with this.

   

  Yours sincerely

  Mrs E. Birch

  Headteacher

• Zones of Regulation

  Tue 03 Nov 2020

  Dear Parents and Carers,

  This year we are introducing to all children the Zones of Regulation. This is the next step to the children’s work on understanding emotions and wellbeing. Some children will have learnt about the Zones of Regulation during the last academic year when some teachers were researching this concept.

  The Zones of Regulation are lessons and activities to help us to gain skills in the area of self-regulation. Self-regulation can go by many names, such as self-control and impulse control. The lessons and learning activities are designed to help children recognise when they are in the different zones as well as learn how to use strategies to change or stay in the zone they are in. In addition to addressing self-regulation, the children will gain an increased vocabulary of emotional terms, skills in reading other people’s facial expressions, perspective about how others see and react to their behaviour, insight into events that trigger their behaviour, calming and alerting strategies, and problem solving skills.

   

  We will be using language with the children to support them to understand which zone they are in e.g.

  “This is really frustrating me and making me go into the Yellow Zone. I need to use a tool to calm down. I will take some deep breaths.”

   

  It is important to note that everyone experiences all of the zones—the Red and Yellow Zones are not the “bad” or “naughty” zones. All of the zones are expected at one time or another. The Zones of Regulation is intended to be neutral and not communicate judgment.

  We hope you can support your child when use this language.

  Yours Sincerely

  Miss Elsey

  Deputy Head Teacher & SENCo

  

• Year 5 Puberty Letter

  Tue 03 Nov 2020

  3^rd November

   

  Dear Parents/Carers

   

  As part of the science national curriculum, Year 5 learn about puberty. We will be completing these lessons in the Autumn term.

   

  Children from both year five classes will complete this session during their PSHE lesson on Friday 13^th November within their own class bubbles. We are unable to invite parents to come in to view the DVD this year. This session will only cover puberty. We will watch the video and then take questions from the children. If we feel that a question is too advanced or inappropriate for their age group, we will decline to answer it.

   

  Please be aware your child may wish to talk about their learning at home.

   

  Yours sincerely

   

  Miss Featherstone                           Mr Kain

  Year 5 Teacher                                Year 5 Teacher