Dear parents and carers,
Lavender Sale – Saturday 12th December
Stuck for ideas for Christmas presents? There will be a sale of lavender products from The Jacobs’ Field from 11.00am to 3.00pm on Saturday 12th December up at the field. Do try to support this – all the money raised from the sale of these products comes back to the school through the Lin Cooper Teaching Bursaries which pay for the staffing for Forest School and cookery. We are immensely grateful to the trustees for this funding and it would be good to support this venture in return.
Christmas Trees Thank you!
A huge thank you to everyone who bought a Christmas tree from the Friends of Dr South’s this year, or recommended our trees to friends and family. We sold an amazing 164 trees and raised £2000 for the Sparkle Fund, which is fantastic!
Friends of Dr South’s Meeting
All are warmly invited to join the (very belated!) Autumn meeting of the Friends of Dr South’s on Monday 13th December at 8pm. Due to Covid restrictions, we will be holding the meeting by Zoom. We would much prefer to have held the meeting in person in order to welcome new parents properly but hopefully that can happen next year! We will be making tentative plans for next year and choosing new members for the committee so it would be great to see lots of people there. If you are able to attend the meeting, please email us at drsouthsfriends@gmail.com and we will send you the Zoom link.
Ash Class Nativity – Tuesday 15th December
Parents of children in Ash Class have been informed separately about this. We will film the nativity on this day, and this will be spliced with songs ready to go on the school website (password protected) for the end of term.
Children’s Bazaar – Wednesday 16th December
A separate letter has been sent regarding this, and gifts need to be in school by the end of today (Friday 11th) to enable them to be put into quarantine. Please send your child in with change up to £2 on Wednesday, as the items will cost 20p each. If you wish to use Parent Pay instead, you may donate £2 under “Bazaar” by the end of Tuesday. Your child will then be issued with tokens to exchange for a gift. Please note that any left-over money from paying in this way will be donated to Save the Children. If you have any questions, please ask at the office.
Christmas Dinner – Wednesday 16th December
We will hold the traditional Christmas dinner on this date in the two bubbles. All children are able to have a cooked dinner that day; you do not need to book in advance. The cost (£2.30) will be added to ParentPay on the day. We are also using the day as a Christmas jumper day in aid of Save the Children. If your child wishes to take part, they are invited to bring £1 (£2 per family) to donate. Please do not buy a jumper just for the occasion, but, if necessary, decorate one you already have with something suitably festive.
End of term – Thursday 17th December
We finish for Christmas at the usual time on Thursday 17th December (i.e. no early closure). The carol service will have been recorded during the final week, and we hope to release it in time for you to watch over the holidays. We restart on Tuesday 5th January. There are no changes to INSET days.
Raffle
Thank you for your support of this. The list of prize winners is attached. Please collect your prize from Willow Class on Monday, before or after school.
Staffing
We offer many congratulations to Mrs Cornish on her pregnancy. She is expecting to take maternity leave around Easter time, so in January we will begin the process of recruiting cover for Oak Class. The restrictions around COVID-19 mean that they may be some alterations we need to make to ensure Mrs Cornish can teach safely, and we will communicate these in the new year.
COVID-19 Contact Tracing
The Department for Education has informed schools they need to assist with contact tracing during the holidays, and has asked us to alert parents to the following:
- Where a pupil or staff member tests positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), having developed symptoms more than 48 hours since being in school, the school should not be contacted. Parents and carers should follow contact tracing instructions provided by NHS Test and Trace.
- For the first 6 days after teaching ends, if a pupil or staff member tests positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), having developed symptoms within 48 hours of being in school, the school is asked to assist in identifying close contacts and advising self-isolation, as the individual may have been infectious whilst in school.
This means it is possible that you will receive an e-mail from school, acting on behalf of Test and Trace, up until Christmas Eve advising you to self-isolate. We will try not to bother you after this date!
Christingle Collection
Thank you for your support of this. We raised £333.52 which has been sent to The Children’s Society for their work supporting vulnerable youngsters.
This week we congratulated:
Willow Class: George, for great effort with cursive writing;
Ash Class: Eleanor, for brilliant work in her maths test; Jenson, for hard work with handwriting;
Oak Class: Ruby, for a fantastic attitude to her learning; Sammy, for excellent instructional writing about making a cup of tea;
Beech Class: Lily G, for brilliant work in sewing; Lily T, for a fantastic attitude towards her assessment tasks;
Cookery : Kane, for increased confidence in the kitchen.
Our Christian Value this term is Thankfulness. Ask your child about the parable of the Prodigal Son. What can we learn from hearing about people who are jealous of the good fortune of others?
Future events (w/b 14th December)
Monday 14th Year 5 Forest School
Tuesday 15th Oak Class Group B Forest School
Wednesday 16th Children’s Bazaar, Christmas dinner, Christmas jumper day
Thursday 17th End of term
Friday 18th INSET Day – school closed
Dates for the year
04/01/2021 INSET Day – school closed
05/01/2021 Start of term
12/02/2021 Soup Lunch and Talent Show – provisional
15/02/2021 Half term week
10/03/2021 Reception and Year 6 Heights and Weights measurement
31/03/2021 Stations of the Cross service – provisional
End of term
19/04/2021 Start of term
03/05/2021 Bank Holiday – school closed
10/05/2021 Year 6 SATS
28/05/2021 May Day – provisional
31/05/2021 Half term week
07/06/2021 Beech Class residential – provisional
01/07/2021 Sports Day – provisional
07/07/2021 Ash/Willow production (afternoon) – provisional
15/07/2021 Oak/Beech production (evening) – provisional
21/07/2021 Leavers’ Service
End of term
22/07/2021 INSET Day – school closed
01/09/2021 INSET Day – school closed
02/09/2021 Start of term