BELMONT SCHOOL NEWS 12th February 2021

THOUGHT FOR THE
 WEEK
 Adventure
 BELMONT SCHOOL NEWS

 12th February 2021
Thank you from Mr Day
What a crazy and busy term it has been for everyone at Belmont. Our team of staff have been amazing working
together with parents and pupils to provide an engaging, fun and challenging curriculum, both within bubbles and
for those who are learning at home. Thank you to all our parents and carers who have provided encouragement
and support each Wednesday whilst your child learns at home. We understand how challenging this can be,
particularly if you have more than one child to support. We are really appreciative of everything you are doing.

Hope you have a really restful break, let’s hope for dry and warmer weather and we look forward to seeing you
on Monday 22nd February.

Mr K Day
Headteacher
Testing update
The mass LFD testing at Belmont continues to run very
well and to date we have now successfully conducted
over 600 tests on staff and secondary students. Each and
every test has been registered, processed and reported
and from the 600 we have only had 2 positive cases, both
from individuals who have been asymptomatic. This
proves how beneficial the tests can be in detecting a case
which could have otherwise been missed, helping to keep
our Belmont community safe.

I am also delighted to report that no children or staff
members have been taken seriously ill with Covid-19 and with the staff team having received vaccinations and
weekly testing established, I hope we will continue to move closer and closer to a return to more normal times.

The pupils continue to engage well and we now have pupils who were reluctant at the start coming to be tested
willingly. One bubble even brings their favorite puppets to be tested too! Some of our older pupils have moved on
to supervised self-swabbing, Well done!

One pupil told us "I like coming here, it's better than the doctors because I feel safe at school"

In addition to the student testing, all staff have been
 offered a vaccination which is so reassuring and we
 continue to offer all staff weekly testing.

 We would like to thank all parents and staff who
 continue to support the testing process in order to keep
 ourselves and others safe.

 At the end of this newsletter there is a privacy notice
 for managing the delivery of Covid testing.

 It’s been wonderful to see more children return to
 school each week and we hope we can get to see you
 all next term Many thanks, Kevin & the testing team

Thank you Morrisons!
Jane and Andrea, Morrsion’s community champions, kindly visited school this
afternoon and donated cooking kits for our free school meal families.

 The kits contained ingredients for making cheese
 and tomato pizzas at home – a great treat to start
 the half term holiday!

Joe’s Family Tree
Joe from Llamas class has been busy during lockdown by researching his family
tree. During his investigation Joe found out that his great grandfather was from
Newfoundland, this then inspired Joe to write to the prime minister of Canada
Justin Trudeau.

Joe was delighted to receive a letter back from the Prime Minister’s office
together with some Canadian information.

Celebrate….New Interventions Cabin
 The interventions cabin is up and running and an
 amazing resource for our children. This was largely
 funded by F@B and made possible from significant
 donations received from the Decorative &
 Ornamental Plastering company business in Kent
 which has generously supported us following a visit
 to the school in 2019.

 Both Mr Langton and Mrs Eccles are settling in to
 their new space and were delighted to have a visit
 from Carolyn Jones, acting chair for F@B.

Here’s a little more information about how the
cabins will be used:

On a typical day we will offer up to 8 sessions of
group-based interventions, of around 20 minutes
each. We usually keep our groups small, between 2-
4 students, and offer interventions such as Lego
Communication, Belmont Speech and Language,
Fine motor activities, working memory, THRIVE
sessions, Behaviour mentoring and/ or friendship
and emotions, so on an average day we support
around 32 children.

On a more specific 1-1 based intervention, which
could cover a vast amount of mental health issues such as self-esteem, anxieties and stresses including
bereavements and trauma, we usually meet with around 7 children daily so about 35 children during a full week
at Belmont.

The news story about the special thank you from Belmont Special School is now live on the Decorative &
 Ornamental Plastering website. You can
 view it at:

 https://www.decornplast.com/post/a-
 special-thank-you-from-belmont-
 special-school

OPAL News
 With the weather turning colder and wetter thank you for
 supporting the OPAL by sending your child into school
 with appropriate warm/waterproof clothing and wellies.

We are trying to be outside as much as we can in any
weather. It was great to see children enjoying the snow
lately. It would be helpful if you could encourage the OPAL
ethos by asking your child about their play and accepting
that they may get dirty. The natural world is a playground of
textures, smells and sensations and we would like children
to be able to explore it without worrying about getting muddy.

We are still developing our Outdoor Learning and Play
and we are grateful for donations of any unwanted
materials you have at home such as:
 ➢ Plastic buckets
 ➢ Watering cans, wheel barrows, guttering
 ➢ large pieces of fabric, sheets, blankets
 ➢ outdoor games
 ➢ Unwanted toys
 ➢ Old suitcases
 ➢ toy trucks, diggers, cars
 ➢ Small world creatures e.g. dinosaurs, farm animals etc.
 ➢ Sandpit toys

Thank you for all your support, Mrs Vida (OPAL coordinator)

Laptop Appeal
Belmont is launching the ‘#LaptopsForLearning’ campaign in collaboration with the Cheltenham Borough
Council’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) initiative.

Can you help every child in Cheltenham access digital learning by donating your old laptops, tablets, ipads or by
giving some money to #LaptopsForLearning?

The scheme aims to support all schools in Cheltenham by providing children with additional laptops, tablets or
ipads for their home learning. Current estimates show that local schools need in the region of 500 laptops. Dr
Graham Parton, chair of Cheltenham Education Partnership said: “CEP have worked across secondary schools to
identify need and support the delivery of the project. I’m really pleased that schools within the Cheltenham
Education Partnership have offered their premises as donation points. If you have a laptop, tablet or ipad that you
no longer use, please donate them to the drop off points listed on the NCLB website.’’

Full information can be viewed on the website: https://nclbcheltenham.org.uk/laptops-for-learning

Tributes to Captain Tom Moore
Jaguars class made tributes to Captain Sir Tom Moore, the second world war veteran who raised almost £39m
for NHS charities during the first coronavirus lockdown in spring 2020, who has sadly died aged 100 after testing
positive for coronavirus.

 Captain Sir Thomas Moore (30
 April 1920 – 2 February
 2021),popularly known as
 Captain Tom, was a British
 Army officer and businessman
 known for raising money for
 charity in the run-up to his
 100th birthday during the
 COVID-19 pandemic

New Staff Profiles
 Miss M Macauley, teachers in Busy Bees
 ‘I have wanted always wanted to teach in a special needs school so during my teaching
 degree at Birmingham I completed some of my teacher training at Belmont and loved the
 school then. This then led me to come back in my final year of university as a part- time
 LSW. So, when the teaching job came up to start in September, I was thrilled to have the
 opportunity to come back.
 All of the staff have been so welcoming and supportive, it is such a great team to be a
 part of.’

Mrs K Holliday, HLTA cover supervisor
“Since finishing my PGCE in 2012, I’ve been lucky enough to work with children and
young people in varying roles, and in a range of different environments. I’m sure I will
be able to put this experience to good use in my new role of HLTA at Belmont School.

I have really enjoyed getting to know Belmont and everyone here. There is a real
community spirit, and the strong relationships between staff and students are
particularly inspiring”

New Intervention
 Our newest intervention we are introducing at Belmont is called Clever
 Hands. This is a program of fine motor activities designed to address
 difficulties with fine motor skills affecting play, self-care and school
 related performance. Fine motor skills are the manner in which we use
 our fingers, hands and arms. This includes 3 levels which all showcase a
 variety of activities aimed to aid fine motor development.

Kindness Awards

Congratulations to all the pupils who were awarded a kindness certifcate and a hot chocolate treat this week
with Mr Day and Mrs Hanna.

Adi, George, Abigail, Grace S, Albert, Oliwier, Louis, Jacob P, Callum, Frankie,Ethan M

Ticplus Parent Support
Are you worried about your child’s mental health, emotional well-being or behaviour?
While parenting can be hugely rewarding, it can also be really hard work – especially if your child is unhappy or
you are worried about them.

You’re not alone.
If your child is aged 0-25 and lives in Gloucestershire, drop in to the Ticplus free, anonymous, confidential helpline
during their open hours and talk to one of the trained parent support advisers.

 https://www.ticplus.org.uk/parents-carers/

Snow time at Belmont
 The snow last week didn’t deter our pupils from their daily mile exercise or
 from having fun at breaktimes.

As the sun rises Too cold for work out First steps

 First group testing the ground

Pandas checking snow quality

 Monkeys LSW revenge

 Pandas covid snow man
 Happy Hippos

 Ibexes time out

Term Dates 2021/2022

Autumn Term 2021
Term 1
 Term Begins Monday 6th September

 Term Ends Friday 22nd October

Term 2
 Term Begins Monday 1st November

 Term Ends Thursday 16th December

Spring Term 2022
Term 3
 Term Begins Wednesday 5th January

 Term Ends Friday 18th February

Term 4
 Term Begins Tuesday 1st March

 Term Ends Friday 8th April

Summer Term 2022
Term 5
 Term Begins Monday 25th April

 Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May (Pupils not to attend)

 INSET DAY Tuesday 3rd May (Pupils not to attend)

 Term Ends Friday 27th May

Term 6
 Term Begins Monday 6th June

 Term Ends Friday 22nd July

Update on Fundraising
Christmas cards brought in a total of £475 – thank you to everyone who purchased. After
costs this raised £87, a useful sum and the joy these cards give to so many and the sense
of achievement many of our children feel is immeasurable. We held a Christmas raffle to
use up many of the donations that had been received for our cancelled summer fair, this
raised £249.00. We do hope that those of you who have received prizes have been able to
use them or will be able to in the near future.

Plans for 2021
At our last Friend’s meeting it was sadly agreed that running a Summer Fair this year is not feasible. However, we
are still raising money and requesting donations for a raffle. The raffle will be held in September to enable new
parents to the school to partake and benefit. You can be assured of some fantastic prizes on offer, look out for
more information nearer the time.

We need people with social media skills, marketing, fundraising, and grant application experience to help F@B
continue to make a difference. In addition, if you have links with a company that match funds or is looking to
put something charitable into the local community please do think of us and let us know – we are keen to grow
our corporate links in the community.

Everyone who has a child at the school is automatically a member of the Friends. We need new members, new
ideas and people to share in continuing the fantastic work that F@B do. Our aim is to assist the school in
enhancing the lives and experiences of all our children and it is so rewarding when we see the amazing things
they achieve. Over recent years we have funded pantomime trips, additional playground toys, a stage and class
Christmas gifts. We will also be contributing to the equipment and facilities in the new soft play area. We have
some fantastically well organised folders that provide a wealth of information, templates on how to run events,
these coupled with the relationship we have with the Senior Leadership Team in school make F@B an integral
part of the Belmont Family.

 Please do get in touch either via the Belmont Parents Facebook page or our
 dedicated email: thefabpta@gmail.com

 Carolyn Jones Treasurer and Acting Chair

NOTICE OF F@B Annual General Meeting
 The Friends at Belmont Annual General Meeting will take
 place via Zoom on Friday 12th March 11am
 All parents/ carers are welcome to attend using the link
 below:

 Join Zoom Meeting
 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7259518242?pwd=SzJwakVHMFgrSk44WnhJSjR0ajREUT09
 Meeting ID: 725 951 8242
 Passcode: Belmont

 The Chairs report and Treasurers report is available on the Friends page on the school website. Anybody
 experiencing problems with the link can contact F@B either through our email or the Belmont Facebook
 group. We look forward to seeing as many of you who can make it.

Privacy Notice – Covid-19 testing