This half term’s value is:
RESPECT
Brawddeg yr Wythnos (Welsh Phrase of the Week)
Dim siarad.
No talking.
Hero of the Week
We held our certificate assembly virtually today to celebrate all of this week’s certificate winners.
This week’s heroes are:
Dosbarth Coch (N/R): Sophia. G and Glyn. R
Dosbarth Oren (R/Y1): Jessica. H and Tahlia. A
Dosbarth Melyn (Y1/2): Erin. P and Isabella. M
Dosbarth Gwyrdd (Y3): Krystal. A and Ashley. M-P
Dosbarth Glas (Y4): Lohan. W and Seth. S
Dosbarth Porffor (Y5): Blake. M and Milly. J
Dosbarth Enfys (Y6): Kai. S and Kaydi. W
Well done to all of our heroes, we are very proud of you all!
Covid-19
As you will be aware from the letter posted on Class Dojo this morning, unfortunately we were informed of a positive case of Covid-19 for a member of staff within the school this morning. As a result, we have had to follow strict public health protocols to ensure the health and wellbeing of the whole school community and a class of children were asked to self-isolate for 14 days. I know this will be worrying for you all, but I want to reassure you that we have a range of safety measures in place in the school that are being followed diligently.
I understand there’s been some speculation over which member of staff it is. We are not able to name the member of staff and I would like to politely request that no members of staff are named on social media. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your patience and understanding and for your kind messages of wellbeing for the member of staff
Parents Evenings
We will be holding our parent consultations the week commencing Monday 19th October. Understandably, due to current restrictions we are unable to hold them in the usual way so the meetings will be held via telephone. You will be allocated an appointment by your child’s class teacher and they will ring you at the given time. Please be prepared about 5 -10 minutes before your appointment. Each appointment will last no longer than 10 minutes to ensure staff have enough time to talk to all parents.
Packed Lunches and Catering Provision
Please ensure there are no foods that could become a choking hazard in your child’s lunch box (e.g. grapes should always be cut in half).
Hot meals will resume after half term on the 2nd of November. This will be in the form of box meals delivered to classrooms. You can see the menu at the link below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HsGVAWKOZB9wYap0QB3jFDFQqmp_fQs4/view?usp=sharing
The children will be able to order in the usual way in their classes in the morning. All dinner money needs to be paid in a labelled envelope. No loose money will be accepted because of the risk of cross contamination of covid-19
Online Safety
We are having an increasing number of issues with some of our older children around the use of social media, in particular TikTok. Most social media platforms have an age rating of 13. This age rating is there to protect the children because these sites aren’t designed for children of such a young age and they often display inappropriate content. Social media can have a huge influence over a child’s wellbeing and mental health and can expose them to mature subject matter that can be viewed as a child protection concern. Please ensure you are monitoring your child’s use of the internet and protecting them from potential harm. Below is a link to a thought provoking report from the Children’s Commissioner called ‘A Life in Likes.’
https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/report/life-in-likes/
Big Talk (Please discuss with your children):
This week’s topic is ……How can we respect our environment?
Upcoming Dates
Week beginning 19th October – Parents Evenings (see above for details)
Thursday, 22nd October – Break up for half term
Friday, 23rd October – INSET Day (School closed to pupils)
Monday, 2nd November – Pupils return to school
Please see letter below from Caerphilly County Council:
An open letter to residents, businesses and partners across the Caerphilly county borough:
Last week we advised you that the number Coronavirus cases across the county borough had fallen from over 100 cases per 100,000 population to approximately 50 cases per 100,000.
This was encouraging news and was the result of the collective action of our residents, businesses and partners. In response to this positive position, you will recall that we agreed to develop our exit strategy with Welsh Government.
We can only implement these plans once we have absolute confidence that the virus is under control and it is safe for us to begin to relax the restrictions. This is a fast-moving situation and over the past few days we have seen a shift in the data.
Unfortunately it is a shift in the wrong direction with the latest data showing an increase in our infection rate – today it is 60.2 cases per 100,000 population.
Last week, we were quietly confident that we were beginning to see ‘light at the end of the tunnel’, however, this week has been quite different. We have experienced an increased number of local incidents across all parts of the county borough, including a number of issues linked to private clubs.
The number of Coronavirus hospital admissions has also risen and we have seen an overall increased number of positive cases. Furthermore, our colleagues in Gwent Police have experienced an increase in the number of complaints relating to people gathering within households and outside groups.
Given the current situation, we do not have absolute confidence at this time that the virus is under control. Therefore, the current restrictions are going to remain in place for at least another 7 days.
We fully appreciate how challenging this is for you. Many are desperate to see family members and friends. Business is also being affected but we ask that you stick with us. We can only do this if each and every one of us continue to play our part. None of us want to be in this position over Christmas, so we ask that you continue to think about what you do and how you do it.
The Council and our partner agency response remain absolutely resolute. We have increased testing capacity in place, so if you are symptomatic please go and get a test and self-isolate until the test result is known – and continue to self-isolate if the result is positive. Also, if you are a confirmed contact of someone who has tested positive for coronavirus then you must self-isolate for 14 days – even if you have had a negative test result.
It is so important to know where and how this virus is spreading across the county borough and testing, along with Track and Trace is absolutely pivotal to us understanding and responding to this.
We are using our enforcement powers to address the small number of non-compliant establishments we have identified and over the last week alone, a number of locations have been closed down and will remain closed until they can adhere to the regulations that are in place for everyone’s safety.
Using our enforcement powers to address this situation is not the answer. The answer to this lies with each and every one of us and it is back to the basic behaviours:
- Socially distance yourself from others
- Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly
- Wear a face mask whenever required
- Get a test if you are symptomatic and self- isolate until you receive the test results and thereafter if the test is positive.
We know these basic actions work to limit the spread of the virus. Our schools are a great example of this.
Please don’t underestimate how quickly this virus spreads. It only needs a few people to not comply with the basic preventative measures for it to spread rapidly amongst us.
In summary, we have made great progress so far, but we continue to be in a very precarious position.
We must continue to think carefully about our actions and the impact it has upon the safety of ourselves and others.
You can rely on us to continue to throw everything we’ve got to keep our people and place safe, but we can’t do this alone, we need each and every one of you to continue to work with us to get control of this virus.
We have come so far, but we still have some way to go! Thank you so much for your continued vigilance and patience – let’s hang on in there – we will get this over the line together!
Philippa Marsden
Leader of Council
Christina Harrhy
Chief Executive