Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
We have shared two letters today regarding the residential trips planned for summer 2021.
They can both be read on the school letters page.
Year 5's - CLICK HERE
Year 6's - CLICK HERE
Looking for support and guidance for a range of issues or worries?
Need help with mental health and well-being, e-safety, behaviour concerns, positive parenting, young carers and more for you and/or your family?
Take a look at our Safeguarding page where you will find more than just safeguarding.
There are many links on this page to support you in a variety of ways.
Click the link below to find out more:
https://www.stjohnsbelper.co.uk/safeguarding/
Many thanks to all the parents who made arrangements today to keep children at home today. I am aware of key worker parents who were able to swap shifts and/or make arrangements to work at home after our request on Sunday evening.
We did have several staff that were unable to travel to school safely and therefore the reduced number of pupils at school made planning COVID secure, safe staffing easier.
We have limited staff in the kitchen.
If you need your child to attend school as you are a key worker who needs to leave your house today and are able to send them with a pack lunch this would be appreciated.
Thank you
Good morning.
We will be open today, with the reduced pupil numbers that we are expecting. Only the nursery will be closed.
Staff are at present making difficult journeys to school to ensure that essential key worker parents that need to leave their house to go to work today are able to do.
Due to the weather, there are staff who will not be in school, therefore, it is essential that if you are able to keep your child at home with you today that you do so. Remote learning will be provided.
Please keep checking this page regularly during the morning as we are able to share more information about the journeys that staff are trying to make at present.
Weather update – Sunday 24th January – 5.45pm
Given the weather at present and the forecast for the next 16 hours we are making an extra request for all parents, including parents working in key industries, parents of invited children and parents of nursery children to begin making plans to keep their children at home on Monday 25th January.
We have teachers and staff that need to travel significant distances to get to St. John’s and at time of writing it is apparent that some of these journeys may not be able to be made safely. To open safely we require teachers, cleaning, catering, administration, midday and support staff to ensure that your children are safe at school.
Due to COVID regulations in schools we will not be able to mix year groups and have children from different year groups working in the same classroom. This will make staffing St. John’s safely tomorrow an extra challenge.
Due to COVID regulations at home we are aware that finding child care is very difficult due to the national lock down laws that still need to be followed, even in extreme weather.
With this in mind we hope to have the support of the community in asking parents to make plans now to keep as many children as possible at home tomorrow and use google classrooms and remote learning, rather than coming into school and putting an added pressure on safe staffing and safe pupil bubble structures. For example if you are a parent working in a key industry but are able to work from home tomorrow we are asking you to make plans to do so now and to have your child at home with you.
As always, we hope to be open tomorrow, to see children learning in school and to allow key workers to go to work knowing their children are safe at St. John’s.
A formal decision on the safe opening of St. John’s for any children will be made by 7.30am in the morning.
A copy of our winter opening procedures are available on our website. CLICK HERE.
Thank you
Mr. R. Averis
We have published a letter today for all parents today sent from the Executive Director of children's services and the Service Director of Schools and Learning at Derbyshire County Council.
This important letter clearly recognises the important role parents play in keeping us all safe by ensuring that if you are able to keep your child at home then you must, even if you are a key worker. I am sure that our community all appreciate Derbyshire County Council's support in this important matter.
We all want St. John's to stay open, we all want our children and staff to be safe and we all want to help each other as much as possible by following the government and local authority guidelines.
Thank you for your continued support in this matter.
To read the letter - CLICK HERE.
Unfortunately we are not able to welcome new families to have a look around St. John's at the moment.
New parents are invited to explore all our web site to help fins out about our school, however we have some pages that we hope are especially useful.
From Monday 11th January we will be using our new front door.
All parents and visitors that come to school will need to come to the front of the school and not to the metal gates at the side, by the kitchen. We all look forward to using this much nicer, friendlier and safer entrance.
To ensure that all visitors are as safe as possible only one visitor is allowed in our lobby at once. Please wait outside if someone is already in there.
Children still come to school and normal around the side of the school as they always have done.