Dear parents and carers,
Can I first take this opportunity to thank you all for your unwavering support during the school closure. You have no idea just how valuable a short message can boost morale for the team.

I have been a teacher for over 20 years and this is my 4th Year as Headteacher, and never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that our profession would be dealing with something like this. I did not receive any training and there is not a handy book entitled, “What to do in a global pandemic: a guide for headteachers.” If I’m perfectly honest, I’m doing my very best, taking guidance from the Department of Education, The Local Authority and the Unions. I am considering the health and safety of our staff and children and consulting with you, the parents and carers, where I can. I thank you for your patience, whilst I have collected all the information, so I could present it to you today.
As you know, the Government announced that schools should reopen to children from Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 (then later added Nursery aged children too) from the 1st June. This came as quite a shock to the profession and parents nationally. We were not expecting this decision and are still not clear as to why these year groups have been chosen. However, we must make some plans to accommodate this decision.
We have decided not to put any solid plans in place, until we know exactly how many children will be attending if we open on the 1st June. Please see the attached guidance, which answers questions which we thought you may need in order to make an informed decision about bringing your child back to school. I make no apologies for the length of the document. There is just so much to consider and I may not have covered it all. If there is something I have not answered, please do not hesitate to message me on Dojo. I suggest you find a quiet place, make a cup of tea and take some time to digest its contents.
I am asking parents and carers to make a decision by the end of Wednesday 20th May. Parents of critical workers, vulnerable pupils, years Nursery, Reception, One and Six must send their decision via Class Dojo to Miss Howe. Please include your decision, whether you are a critical worker and an up-to-date contact number, which we will test later in the week. If you have decided not to send your child, it is still helpful to let us know this too.
Once we have an idea of numbers, I will let parents know about groups, who their teacher will be, drop offs and pick ups, and any other information you may need by the end of the week.
To conclude:
*Reopening on 1st June may still not go ahead if the 5 tests, set by the Government, aren’t met

*School will not return to “normal” it will be very different

*We respect your decision whether or not you decide to bring your child to school

*The health and safety of staff and children will come first, no matter what

*We want our children back to school more than anyone but will only do so if it is safe.

Thank you once again for taking the time to read this and the document attached.
Stay Safe
Mrs James.
Headteacher

Parent Information For School Re-Opening

A lot of you have been learning new skills during lock-down. This included learning how to ride a bike. You sent us some great clips and photos of you either learning to ride a bike, or showing us how you already enjoy riding your bike. See if you can spot yourself in the video.

Earlier in the year, we held our annual whole school dance assembly for parents. Each class chose a country and created a dance to some music from that area of the world. As always, our talented children entertained us with a variety of styles of dance and parents played a game to guess which country the music came from.

We had a fantastic day at Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle. In class we have been learning about the Stone Age. During the trip we looked at different artifacts, fossils and models from this age. We learnt about how bronze was found and made and even held a 10,000 year old axe! On the afternoon we made our own pottery pots from clay in the style of the Stone Age. It was amazing!

Sports day at our school, is always a big event. Parents, carers and family members come in their droves to encourage the children, from the little rising 3’s in Nursery, up to the Year 6 pupils.

Children ran in races against pupils in their class and everyone tried their very best in each race.

The overall winning team this year was Auckland, who were wearing green. Well done to everyone who took part.

At St. Andrew’s Primary School, we like to reward pupils for good behaviour and attendance. This year, our Summer term treat was a trip to the beach at Seaton Carew.

The children had a fantastic time, playing in the sand, splashing in the sea and eating ice-creams.

Staff say their behaviour was excellent, especially on the bus, where they had to sit for three hours in traffic! The bus drivers said the children were a credit to our school!

At St. Andrew’s Primary School, one of our key curriculum drivers is “Aspirations and Possibilities” and we feel it is our role to help inspire our pupils to be whoever they want to be when they grow up. At the end of careers week, children dressed in the role of their dream job. We had quite a range of jobs come though our gates! From police officers to dogs trust carers, from video gamer to nurses and from teachers to business managers. Children talked lots about their future selves and what journey they would need to take in order to secure their dream job. Overall, the message to our pupils was – “Dream big – be whoever you want to be!”

We invited parents and carers to school and work with their children to create Easter bonnets.
We just managed to get you all in the school hall! What a fantastic turn out.
It was great to see everyone using their craft skills to create some amazing bonnets which some of the children wore to the Easter Service at St. Andrew’s Church the following day.
Mrs James had a very difficult task to pick some winners which were announced after the service.
Please watch this short video to remind you of the day.

Class 2 were invited to a local house building site not far from our school. The builders, Linden Homes, are building a new estate called Bishops Park and wanted to tell our children about the dangers of playing on a building site. As the local schools have broken up for Easter, the company thought it was very important to get the message across.
The children were shown lots of equipment and materials needed on a building site and a lot of safety signs were pointed out.