Latest News

Difficult Conversations about Ukraine

Mon 28 Feb 2022

With so much in the media about the crisis in Ukraine, it is likely your children are beginning to ask questions about it. The Diocese have sent over some links to support you with this. I do hope you find this helpful.

Supporting your child if they see upsetting content online about what is happening in Ukraine (Childnet)
https://www.childnet.com/blog/supporting-your-child-with-upsetting-content/

We should not hide from children what is happening in Ukraine (Schools Week/Children's Commissioner)
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/we-should-not-hide-from-children-what-is-happening-in-ukraine/

How to talk to children about what’s happening in Ukraine and World War Three anxiety (Metro)
https://metro.co.uk/2022/02/24/how-to-talk-to-children-about-whats-happening-in-ukraine-16163133/

Help for teachers and families to talk to pupils about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how to help them avoid misinformation (Department for Education)
https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2022/02/25/help-for-teachers-and-families-to-talk-to-pupils-about-russias-invasion-of-ukraine-and-how-to-help-them-avoid-misinformation/

Information produced previously about war and international violence

How and when to talk to children about war, according to a parenting expert (Independent)
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/children-war-talk-russia-ukraine-b2023695.html

How to cope with traumatic news - an illustrated guide (ABC News, Australia)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-23/illustrated-guide-coping-traumatic-news/5985104

Talking with Children About War and Violence in the World (Family Education, US)
https://www.familyeducation.com/life/wars/talking-children-about-war-violence-world

Tips for parents and caregivers on media coverage of traumatic events (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, US)
https://www.nctsn.org/resources/tips-parents-and-caregivers-media-coverage-traumatic-events

Safeguarding Updates - Harmful Sexual Behaviour

Mon 28 Feb 2022

As a staff, we are continuously updating our own knowledge and understanding through staff meetings, courses and research. This week we are looking at Harmful Sexual Behaviour - a topic that was highlighted during a recent nationwide OFSTED review.

I thought it would be useful to share some information with you as this can be a very concerning topic for parents.

On 10th June 2021, Ofsted published their highly anticipated review, based on visits to 32 schools and colleges, speaking to over 900 children and young people. The reviewing team also spoke to school leaders, governors, parents and local safeguarding partners.

•Nearly 90% of girls said being sent explicit pictures or videos of things they did not want to see happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers. For boys this was 48%

•Nearly 80% of girls said the pressure to send nude or semi-nude images of themselves happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers. For boys this was 40%

•90% of girls said sexist name calling happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers. For boys this was over 70%

•Professionals can underestimate the scale of these behaviours and children and young people often don’t talk about it to adults

•Importance of a whole school approach that tackles unhealthy cultures and poor behaviours rather than viewing incidents in isolation

•RSHE curriculum planning is variable and the implementation was interrupted by Covid. Children and young people said they want more time to discuss sensitive issues at an earlier age, and teacher said they want more resources and training

•Multi-agency partnership working is variable and engagement across all types of schools is hard to achieve.

These issues were not isolated to secondary schools. As a consequence of the review and having reflected on our own practice, we have implemented the following changes:

A carefully sequenced RSHE curriculum is in place delivered via the Jigsaw scheme
Staff delivering this have all taken part in high quality training
Staff record incidents of sexual behaviours, harassment and sexual violence, including online, and analyse these against the NSPCC HSB Toolkit to identify patterns and intervene early to prevent abuse
Sexual harassment and online sexual abuse are not tolerated and are treated as serious behaviour incidents. These would be treated with the same severity and consequences as other serious behaviour incidents, in line with our behaviour policy.
We belong to the local safeguarding partnership and access their training and updates
All staff and governors are provided with training through an online portal as well as staff meetings and updates and resources are displayed in the staffroom for reference.

Staff understand that, as children grow through their early years and develop into later childhood, they continue to pass through different stages of development. We know that children remain individual and unique throughout their whole childhood and there is a wide range of generally accepted and expected behaviours within this age group. Knowing how to recognise and respond to age appropriate behaviours in children between the ages of 5-11 helps to support the development of healthy sexual behaviour and protect children from harm or abuse.

We feel it is important that you recognise these stages too so that you can respond to things that your child may report to you or behaviours you may observe.

PP_Preschool_Traffic_Lights__Under_5_ENG.pdf (parentsprotect.co.uk)

PP_Primary_Traffic_Lights_5_11_ENG.pdf (parentsprotect.co.uk)

Harmful Sexual Behaviour is only one strand of safeguarding. Please follow the link to find out further information:

Safeguarding | Langar C of E Primary School (secure-primarysite.net)

A Synopsis of the Latest Covid Changes

Fri 25 Feb 2022

As I communicated yesterday, the Government published their updated guidance around the changes they are making to the law for COVID and I shared with you.

I’ve now tried to outline the changes and expected changes . As you’ll have discovered if you read it, the guidance is not as clear as we would hope, and there are still many questions so thank you in advance for your understanding and support – as always.

Masks

These are no longer mandatory. Visitors and parents are not required to wear masks indoors unless they choose to do so.

Testing

Primary age children have only been recommended to test when there is a positive case in their class or if parents needed/chose to. We have always followed this advice, and while ever tests are freely available, we will continue to recommend this approach to protect children, staff and wider families linked to our school. For staff, the guidance changed on Monday afternoon, removing the recommendation for staff to routinely test. In line with the new guidance, I am recommending that staff test if they are unwell.

Isolation

The law changed on 24th February and it is no longer a legal obligation to isolate. Instead, everyone should follow the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) advice.

As we understand it, the UKHSA advice remains to isolate for five full days if an individual is showing symptoms. They should then have two negative tests before ending isolation after day 5 (testing on day 5 and day 6). There is therefore no expected change in the advice, just to the law enforcing that advice.

For schools, this places COVID on the same level as the current policy in place for when children have other infectious or potentially infectious illnesses – such as Chicken Pox or vomiting/diarrhoea. These require children to be clear of symptoms for a fixed period of time before returning to school (for example, for vomiting/diarrhoea this is 48hours clear).

At this point, and until the official UKHSA guidance is confirmed, I am unable to say what this policy will be definitively. However, we anticipate the period of time will be similar or the same as was required by law. School policy will be in line with UKHSA advice.

For the time being, in line with DFE guidance, we will not change our existing procedure for children with COVID symptoms (high temperature, new continuous cough, change of taste/smell) - an LFT should be carried out or, if you are unable to test your child, or testing positive to remain at home for five full days. This is to ensure the continued safety of other pupils, staff and their families. If they test negative, providing they are well, they may return to school.

If your child has no symptoms, but tests positive on a Lateral Flow test, we recommend they remain off school for five full days as well. Although your child may be symptom free, others might not be so lucky and continued attendance while knowingly positive poses a significant risk to others. Several families have household members or children with medical conditions that mean COVID could be life threatening – we’d hope families would make the right choice and keep their child off school if they test positive.

We will also continue to provide remote learning for COVID absence periods, as we have done.

As the guidance is made clearer, we will update our policy to match. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Other illnesses?

As before, children do not learn well if they are unwell in themselves. Please avoid spreading illness to others and keep your child at home if they are unwell. This website may be helpful: Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

What is not changing?

We will continue to ventilate all spaces used by children and staff in school. Hygiene measures (hand washing and cleaning routines) will also remain in place. We will continue to monitor and report cases as required, and offer advice for families with positive cases.

I appreciate that the current changes may bring more questions than answers. Some families will be pleased to see the changes, while others will be extremely worried about what it means for them. As always, we will take a balanced approach, that aims to enable children to have all the opportunities we can provide, while keeping them as safe as we can.

I am proud of the way our school community, children, staff and parents have navigated the difficulties and challenges of the last two years, and I’m confident that whatever comes next, we will continue to show our school values in all we do to get through it all together.

Thank you for your understanding and support. As ever, if you have any specific concerns, please do get in touch and I will do my best to support you with them.

Concern - Planning Permission for a Mast on Muster Road

Thu 24 Feb 2022

There is a proposal to build a high mast and structures on the verge at Langar Crossroads. I think it would impact on safety for pedestrians. This is obviously concerning as we are trying to improve the road safety at that crossing.

There is alao a view that it may be damaging the phone and gas connections to Barnstone (major phone and gas connections run through there.

You can see lots of details on
https://planningon-line.rushcliffe.gov.uk/online-applications/

if you enter
22/00266/GDOTEL
in "Enter a keyword, reference number, postcode or single line of an
address"

The closing date for public objections is 1st March, although
sometimes the deadline is extended and I think it will be for the next Parish Council meeting on 10th March (open to the public).

The Parish Council objected to a previous version, but the concerns have not apparently been addressed. They recommended a better and safer site in the middle of the parish near the bakery (Vale View). The proposed mast is supposed to benefit all of Langar cum Barnstone, but the borough and county councillors for Barnstone are not being consulted.

As a school, we are going to object the construction of the mast and would appreciate you adding your views via the planning portal too as these carry as much weight as any organisation.

New Covid Guidance - A Message from The Government

Thu 24 Feb 2022

On 21 February, the Prime Minister set out the next phase of the government’s COVID-19 response.

COVID-19 continues to be a virus that we learn to live with and the imperative to reduce the disruption to children and young people’s education remains.

Our priority is for schools, colleges, childminders and nurseries to deliver face-to-face, high-quality education and care to all children and young people. The evidence is clear that being out of education causes significant harm to educational attainment, life chances, as well as mental and physical health.

We have worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to revise this guidance.

The main messages from this guidance are:

nationally, education and childcare settings are open, and attendance is mandatory (for schools) and strongly encouraged (at childminders, nurseries and colleges)
the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has made it clear that the overwhelming majority of children and young people still have no symptoms or very mild illness only
removing the advice on bubbles and mixing
update to Tracing close contacts and isolation section to clarify that from 24 February, the guidance in this document will be replaced by UKHSA guidance
update to the Testing section to reflect that from 21 February, twice weekly testing in mainstream schools will no longer be advised
if the number of positive cases substantially increases in your nursery, school, or college, or if your nursery, school, or college is in an enhanced response area, you might be advised that additional measures should be introduced
all children aged 12 and over are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations
children and young people previously considered CEV should attend school and should follow the same COVID-19 guidance as the rest of the population
face coverings are no longer advised for pupils, staff and visitors in classrooms and communal areas
updated advice for if an individual develops COVID-19 symptoms or has a positive test while attending boarding school
update that education recovery programmes will continue to be delivered

To read the full guidance, please follow this link:

What parents and carers need to know about early years providers, schools and colleges - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

World Book Day

Tue 22 Feb 2022

It is World Book Day on Thursday 3rd March. We are using the day to 'share a book' and have lots of activities planned in school to promote this.

We would like to invite children to create a story in a jar to bring in on the day:

Create a scene in a jar based on a book of your choice. You can choose a book you are reading now, a childhood favourite or any other book you like. Use different craft supplies and junk modelling material to create your scene.

We will then set these up as a gallery and view them. Will anyone guess which story they have created?

Please send the book in with your child if possible so that they can share it with their classmates.

Connect and Reflect Afternoon

Fri 11 Feb 2022

It has been a real joy to see the children sharing their work with you with pride and confidence. Feedback has shown that this has enhanced our reporting process and enabled parents a good insight into the strengths and targets talked about during parent/teacher meetings.

Thank you for supporting your child's learning and working in partnership with us.

Revision Books for Year 6

Thu 10 Feb 2022

Learning throughout primary school is a journey and we carefully design our curriculum here to ensure children build on their knowledge and skills each year. We assess children regularly to check understanding and adapt planning to correct misconceptions and fill gaps in learning.

At the end of each key stage, children are assessed and a summary made about their attainment against other children of the same age in the country. These tests measure knowledge and understanding in the core subjects; reading, writing, maths, grammar/punctuation and spelling. This year SATS take place week beginning 9th May.

We continue our rounded and broad curriculum in year 6 and, although we prepare children with test techniques, do not prime or boost them for the tests they will undertake. However, some of the content in the test is from years 3,4 and 5 and so we do support them to do revision of topics that will be covered.

You can help them with this. We have CGP revision guides and work books for them to do as homework. The revision guides will be on loan to you but the workbooks are for your children to keep. Therefore, we ask for a contribution of £5 for them. This is payable via Squid.

Connect and Reflect Catch Up

Tue 08 Feb 2022

Thank you for your replies to book tables for our catch up Connect and Reflect afternoon on Friday, for those parents who missed out due to Covid in January. We now only have three tables left in anyone else was hoping to book in.

Entry to school will be through reception where you will be taken through to the hall. Tables will be set up in there where you will remain seated and your children – even if they are in multiple classes - will then bring their work to you for you to share and enjoy. You do not need to wear a mask to come into the building but are welcome to if you would feel more comfortable. Children will bring their bags and coats into the hall so that you can exit via reception and go straight home.

PE Uniform

Tue 08 Feb 2022

A small number of children are coming in on PE days in non-uniform items of clothing. Can I remind you that the PE uniform consists of dark coloured leggings, shorts or tracksuit bottoms, a yellow or white t-shirt and a school jumper. We discourage overly branded items.

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