Christmas at White Hall 2020 2nd Edition - White Hall Academy

Christmas at White Hall 2020
                                       2nd Edition
                                                                                4th December 2020
Dear Parents and Carers,

As we draw closer to the end of term I thought I would remind you of the upcoming events as
well as additional information. It is an incredibly busy time, but we are extremely grateful for
the continued support from all of our school community.

      Admissions into Reception for September 2021.
       As you may be aware, the primary school (Reception) admission round opened on 9
       November 2020, for parents/carers to apply for a Reception school place for the
       academic year that starts in September 2021. From 9 November 2020, applications can
       be made online via www.essex.gov.uk/admissions. 99% of Essex resident families
       applied online last year. The website www.essex.gov.uk/admissions also has a copy of
       the Primary Education in Essex 2021-22 booklet, and the Schools Admissions Policies
       Directories contain details of all admission policies. The statutory national closing date
       for applications is 15 January 2021.
       As we are unable to carry out tours of the school at the moment, there will be a virtual
       Meeting on 14th December at 10am for anyone wishing to attend. We confirm tha at
       this meeting there will be an opportunity to ask any questions. The link is available on
       our School Facebook page or via email.

      Risk Assessment Update
       Although we are no longer in a National lockdown we find ourselves in Tier 2 restrictions
       in the run up to Christmas. As such we are not lessening any of our risk assessment. All
       adults are still required to wear face coverings on the school site; as well as a reminder
       that conversations cannot take place at the classroom door – please either email school
       or message the class teacher on ClassDojo.
       Could parents and carers please be mindful of other pedestrians around the perimeter
       of the school site especially at the start and end of the school day, and allow enough
       room for others to pass. Please remember to keep 2m apart. Thank you.

      Late Arrivals
       We have noticed an increasing amount of children arriving late to school each day.
       Please ensure your child arrives to school on time as late arrival impacts upon your
       child’s learning and is very disruptive to the class.

   PE KIT CHANGE
    From January we are making a small change to our PE Kit during COVID Restrictions. We
    have listened to feedback from our children, staff and Parents & Carers and from
    January we ask that on PE days; children continue to come to school in PE kit but with a
    school jumper.

   Winter Reading Challenge – From 5th December
    Clacton Library is running a Winter Reading Challenge for the children from the
    5th December until the end of February.
    To start, all they have to do is pop into a local library and pick up a giant bookmark (no
    signing up procedure involved), using their library card choose up to 6 books to read
    throughout the challenge. After each book is read, children may bring their bookmark
    back to their local library to be stamped with a woodland creature and once they have
    collected all 6 stamps to get to the top of their tree, they get a large gold star for the top
    of their bookmark.

   National Online Safety App – please download this! Available in the Apple App Store
    and Google Play.
    On the app you will find:
       o Hundreds of online safety guides on the topics you need to know about – from
           screen addiction, fake news and trolling to hacking, social media influencers and
           sexting;
       o An online safety training course for parents – developed by our experts and
           delivered by online safety ambassador Myleene Klass;
       o A user-friendly interface with increased functionality – find exactly what you
           need, when you need it;
       o The option to get notifications to your phone as soon as new content becomes
           available – so you can stay up-to-date with the latest online crazes (and risks);
       o An in-app voting system so you can help determine the subjects you’d like us to
           cover in future;
       o The facility to personalise your content by favouriting key resources.

   Christmas Cards
    We know how important sending Christmas cards to each other is to our children. We
    will be able to share cards but with the following protocols. (There will be class lists on
    ClassDojo)
         o Christmas cards to be brought into school between Monday 30th November and
             Wednesday 9th December.
         o We ask that when you are sealing your cards you do not lick them. Please use
             sticky tape, glue or tuck the envelope in. Please include the Class name as well
             as the child’s name on the envelope.
         o Christmas cards to be posted into the class postbox located outside the
             classroom door. These will not be touched until all the cards are collected.
         o The class postboxes will be quarantined from Friday 11th December until Monday
             14th December
         o Our staff will sort all the cards into bundles for each child.
         o The cards will be quarantined again until Thursday 17th December.
         o The children will bring their cards home with them on 17th December.
         o If you wish to give your child’s teacher a gift, please follow the same protocol
             as the cards and place them in the box outside the classroom before
             Wednesday 16th December. Thank you

   Christmas Window Displays – Week beginning 14th December
    As we can’t enjoy our Christmas carol concert we hope this will be a suitable replacement.
    We are asking every class to decorate an outward facing window of their classroom, in the
    theme of ‘Christmas Carols and Songs’. During the last week of term, the children will have
    an opportunity to walk around school guessing the Carols / Songs. There will be prizes for
    the most correct answers. We will post photos of the windows online so parents and carers
    can join in just for fun!

   Christmas Dinner – 16th December
    Our Christmas dinner will be on Wednesday 16th December. The children will have their
    Christmas lunch in their classrooms with Christmas table cloths and crackers – they will have
    decorated their classrooms too. Christmas Dinner needs to be prebooked and costs £2,
    unless your child receives a free school meal, then the meal will be free.
    If your child would like a Christmas Dinner and you haven't returned the completed form
    yet, could you please ensure you return it by Monday 7th December at the very latest, as
    the kitchen need to place the food order then.

   Pantomime: Cinderella – 17th December
    The whole school will watch the pantomime ‘Cinderella’online by the Mercury Theatre, on
    Thursday 17th December. They will watch the pantomime in classes with treats provided by
    school.

   Christmas Jumper Day – 18th December
    Everybody can wear a Christmas Jumper to school on Friday 18th December – we ask for a
    donation to the charity ‘Save the Children’. The suggested donation is £1 – this will be
    collected on the gates, the morning of Friday 18th December.

   Christmas Holiday Camp – 21st, 22nd & 23rd December
       We are extremely fortunate to be chosen to host a Free Holiday Camp on 21st, 22nd & 23rd
       December. This is funded by the disadvantaged money from the Government. If you are in
       receipt of Free School Meals or qualify for Pupil Premium and this would be of benefit please
       contact Mr Bradley, Mrs Eames or Miss Watts for further information.

      Spring Term 2021 – we return to school on Tuesday 5th January 2021.

If you have any questions regarding the above arrangements, please email the office directly.

Kind regards

Mrs Ellie Eames
Deputy Headteacher