It was lovely to see all the children back in school today. Please let them know how proud the teachers are of them for coming back to school safely and helping us all enjoy ourselves. It was fantastic to speak to so many of them and see how happy they were to be back with friends.
We are aware that the queue to get into school today was longer than anyone would want. We are sorry that this happened. Please look at the FAQ's with information about how we hope to prevent this. We won't change any start or finish times yet, but ask parents to ensure that they come to school at the start time for their children and not earlier.
All children got into school today within the 20 minutes that we had allowed. Therefore we really hope that after the first day excitement and teething problems settle that we don't have to reduce entry to single year groups at a time or further widen the opening window.
To read the FAQ's CLICK HERE.
Year 1 - Eyam Class
Mrs. Heer has been advised by her medical team not to return to school in September. This means that she will not be able to teach the year 1 Eyam class as we had planned.
I am pleased that Miss Lemon is going to teach Eyam class from Wednesday 2nd September. Miss Lemon was going to cover Mrs. Heer's maternity leave when this was due to start in October but will now be teaching from the beginning of the year instead.
Miss Lemon has written an introduction to the children on the virtual introduction class pages. CLICK HERE. You can also write any messages to Miss Lemon on the contact page. CLICK HERE.
Miss Lemon was working in our nursery last year when she covered Mrs. Gallen's maternity leave so she is a familiar face to many at St. John's already.
Reception - Castleton Class
We shared last week that Mrs. Smith's medical team have advised her not to return to work in September. Mrs. Badhan will continue to teach Castleton class in her absence.
Mrs. Smith hopes to return to work during the autumn term.
Both Mrs. Badhan and Mrs. Smith have written introductions for the children on their virtual introduction pages. CLICK HERE.
Children will bring home a copy of the school calendar in September. You can download the easy to print calendar for the fridge door online.
The online calendar for 2020/2021 has also been updated and parents can sync this calendar to their own tablets and phones.
We have published term dates for school year 2021-2022
To find the latest information regarding our plans for September 2020 and our plans for opening up for all children please use the links below
FAQ's - CLICK HERE.
Which teacher is in which year group - CLICK HERE
Meet the teachers - Virtual class introductions - CLICK HERE.
Classroom and class teacher locations - CLICK HERE
Information booklet for parents for September 2020 - CLICK HERE
We have been asked to highlight this survey that the local authority would like parents to complete by the 31st July. Please see the message below from the LA and the link to the survey.
The county council is looking at what can be realistically done to get students to and from school. To help plan for the September return the council need every parent and carer to complete a short survey. The survey asks about how your children got from home to school before the coronavirus pandemic, and how you think they will get to school in September. It also asks how your children could be encouraged to walk, cycle or scoot to school.
Updated - Friday 10th July 4.50pm
We are aware that Primarysite, the company that hosts our website, are experiencing some technical difficulties.
The 'Class Pages' site is currently password protected and some pictures are not displaying properly.
Primarysite have apologised and are working hard to address these problems and hope to have them solved as soon as possible.
I am sorry that the class pages are not available when many parents want to access the virtual introductions that teachers have published today. I look forward to when the technical gremlin is solved and the class pages are back to normal.
Mr. Averis
Price Change
From the 2nd September 2020 parents that pay for a school meal will have to pay £2.20 a meal. This is an increase in price of 10p a day.
Half termly charge
For parents that pay for the half term school dinners for the first autumn term will cost £79.20 for a child that has a school meal every day.
Children joining year 3
Families with children joining year 3 in September 2020 need to be aware that their children no longer qualify for universal free school meals. Parents of children in year three that don't qualify for free school meals will have to pay £2.20 per day for a school meal.
If you are unsure about how this affects you please ring the office and speak to Mrs. Howis.
One of the unfortunate impacts of the partial school closure and COVID-19 has been that our year four pupils did not get to enjoy a full year of music tuition.
Parents do however have an option of allowing their child to continue with music lessons at St. John's at a small cost as they continue into year 5.
At. St. John's we work closely with the music partnership who come and provide private 1:1 and small group music lessons to junior children across a range of instruments throughout the year. Normally many of our year 4 pupils opt to continue their music tuition into year 5 and beyond through these private lessons. There is a cost to parents for these lessons starting at £1.50 a week. Children can continue with the instrument they were learning in year 4 or can learn one of many other instruments.
More information is available on the Year 4 class page. CLICK HERE.
Nursery will be closed all day on Friday 19th June due to staff illness. This is not a COVID-19 illness. Mrs. Howis has rung all parents and carers to let them know.
We are very sorry that we have had to do this today and would like to thank parents for their understanding in this difficult position.
As parents are aware under the current guidelines to ensure the safety of children we are not using supply teachers to cover staff illness. Doing so would greatly increase the risk of transmission between schools and would 'burst the bubble'.
We will share information about nursery opening on Monday (22nd June) and next week as soon as we are able to.