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Letter from CEO Rebecca Meredith to the school community

Sat 11 Dec 2021

Saturday 11^th December 2021

Dear Parents / Carers,

I promised last week that when I had more information I would update you. I regret to have to tell you the incredibly sad news that after a very sudden and short illness Jon Fordham died Friday 10^th December surrounded by his loved ones. This is devastating news at any time, but at Christmas time, when we’re all meant to be celebrating with family and friends, it feels even more poignant. I am sure you will join me in extending our heartfelt condolences to Helen and his family.

Jon remained a devoted family man and headteacher to the very end, and over the past week he was able to convey to Helen his wishes for the future. For those of you who knew Jon, it will come as no surprise that these wishes focus upon the health and happiness of the children in his family and in his school.

Again, Jon wanted to reiterate the immense pride and love he feels for Allenton Community Primary School and its community. He would like to thank each and every one of you who have helped make this school what it is today. I, in turn, as a friend and colleague, would like to thank Jon, for his devotion to education and his loyalty to his school and the Trust. It is down to his caring and professional leadership, his tireless determination in giving every child, regardless of their background, a good education and equal life chances, and his ability to bring everyone along on this continual journey of improvement, that has driven the success of this school. His passion, knowledge and experience extended throughout the Trust and widely into the community he loved so much and he will be sorely missed.

The moment Jon became aware of his illness, albeit just recently, he was keen to enlist the help and support of Andrew Sharp. Andrew shares Jon’s passion and vision as an educator and facilitator and therefore we are confident that he will continue to lead in the same vein, supporting our Deputy Head Jacqui and the wider school team.

Furthermore, we have also sought guidance from Child Bereavement UK and Winston’s Wishes to help us provide the support needed to our staff and children as they come to terms with this very sudden sad loss. Naturally, we will be sharing details with you via ClassDojo and, with the end of term imminent, we will also provide you with further information should you need to access support for your children over the holiday period.

As I mentioned last week, Jon had two immediate requests. The first being that we look after Helen, which we are doing and will continue to do. The second is that we all carry on as before, that we cherish our families and enjoy the festive season. He doesn’t want us to be miserable.

Details of his funeral will follow. In the meantime, should you wish to extend your own personal messages we will make sure these are passed on to Helen and his family.

Once again, I am so sorry to be the bearer of this news. On behalf of the Trust, I would like to extend our very best wishes to you and your families.

Yours sincerely,

Rebecca Meredith

CEO

Key Information Document for the return to school in September 2021

Thu 15 Jul 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

I know there have been questions developing as announcements come out from Government and the implications for school.

From the 19^th July there will be no changes to school operations for the last 4 days until the end of term.

From September there will be some things that will stay the same and other areas that we will revert back to ‘normal’. I have included these after this letter and are subject to change based on the guidance as it is released.

Thank you to the whole community for your support during these difficult 2 years and hopefully we will have a full year uninterrupted by lockdowns and isolations!

I wish you all a restful break and look forward to finishing off the year positively and welcoming you all back in September.

Kindest regards

Mr JFordham

School times
School is re-open to pupils from Monday 6^th September and as you know school will be returning to our original school times prior to the pandemic.

School will open at 8:45am for all children to enter school and the end of the school day will be at 3:30pm Monday – Friday.

We will be keeping the same systems for drop off in the morning and at the end of the school day. Reception children and Years 1 and 2 should be dropped off at the Key Stage 1 entrance and Years 3-6 should be dropped off at the Key Stage 2 entrance at 8:45 in the morning. At the end of the day please enter school via the Key Stage 2 main gate at 3:30pm. All parents are to follow the school one way system around the school to collect their children from the designated collection points and exit at the Key Stage 1 gate.

For the first week, parents will be able to accompany Reception children to the door but after the first week staff will be on hand to take them if needed.

As with previous years I will post on Dojo videos of these routes to help with children returning to school. Staff will be on both routes around school to ensure supervision and to direct children where necessary.

Uniform and bags
Uniform is still required to be worn in school and full details of these expectations are on the website. On PE days (these will be confirmed with you by your class teachers) children should attend in there PE kits so please consider the weather when sending your children to school on a PE day.

Bags, bottles and books can be brought to and from school; please remember only water and flavoured water are acceptable school drinks. Please note that school will continue to provide a break time snack for all children.

Currently, face masks are not to be worn by pupils or staff in school but we will await further guidance and confirmation of this.

Swimming
Due to the pandemic the current year 4 children have not had the opportunity to complete swimming this year. This will now happen in Year 5 next academic year.

Packed Lunches
Year 1, 2 and reception do not need to bring a packed lunch to school. School dinners will involve a hot option plus a sandwich option for those children who prefer this. Mrs Rayner will share a menu in the new year.

Unlike KS1, Years 3,4,5,6 will have the option of a school dinner either paid or not (if eligible for free school meals) or they can bring in a packed lunch to school.

Breakfast Club
Breakfast club will resume as normal from September at a cost of 50p per day starting at 7:50am in the morning.

What will school 'be' like?
Some things are the same and others are different. I have tried to summarise below:

Children will be in their class groups for all lessons and work with an allocated year group team.

During break and lunch we are still going to have allocated zones and staggered lunches but there will be greater overlap with other year groups rather than strict bubbles like the past 18 months.

There continues to be a one way system around school and hand sanitiser is to be used on entry to the school and is available in every classroom. We have seen the benefit both on behaviour of the one way system and a reduction in other illnesses due to the improved hand hygiene of children.

There are other aspects of the guidance that will change things from September but these are the questions I have been asked the most. I will share a fuller document about what happens when children develop COVID symptoms from next year and implications of school’s managing this.

I hope this helps with your child/ren’s return to school and we sincerely look forward to seeing you on Monday 6^th September.

Kindest regards

Mr J Fordham

Key Information Document for the full re-opening of Allenton Community Primary School

Fri 05 Mar 2021

This information is also available on Class Dojo (school story), the home tab on our website and will have been sent to you via parent mail.

Dear Parents and Carers,

I know many of you and your children will be excited to return to school on Monday! I know the teachers and staff are certainly looking forward to it and we have been working hard to ensure the school is safe and ready for the full re-opening.

I have broken this communication into specific topics I.e. uniform, attendance etc so if you have a question you can find the relevant information quickly and hopefully it answers it! If not please do not hesitate to get in touch (telephone 701144, email admin@allenton.derby.sch.uk or Dojo).

I look forward to seeing you all on Monday!

Kindest regards

Mr JFordham

School times
School is re-open to pupils from Monday 8^th March and as you know school will be re-opening with the four longer days and finishing at 12:30 on Friday.

Monday to Thursday we will be opening school at 8:30 and we will finish at 3:45 for the whole of school. On a Friday we have the same start time (8:30) but the whole school will finish at 12:30.

On Dojo there are videos to show how the children will enter school as done previously but in brief in the morning, at 8:30, KS2 children (not parents) will enter via the main pedestrian gate and follow the one way system to their classrooms. KS1 and Reception children (not parents) will enter school via the pedestrian gate opposite the reception classrooms and enter school through the class fire doors.
Staff will be on both routes around school to ensure supervision and to direct them where necessary.

At home time, like before the break, parents will come onto site and following the one way system collect their children as they walk around the school.

Uniform and bags
Uniform is now required to be worn in school and full details of these expectations are on the website.

Bags, bottles and books can now be brought to and from school please remember only water and certain flavoured water are acceptable school drinks.

Teachers will let you know when PE will happen for your child's class (this will not be the timing for the whole year group) and on this day please can children arrive in their PE kits so they do not need to change in school.

Face masks are not required to be worn by pupils but staff in school will be wearing masks when not teaching in their Year group. I would recommend that parents when dropping off and collecting children wear masks and ensure they follow social distancing guidance.

Packed Lunches
To reduce the number of items coming into school we have decide to utilise the universal free school meal offer so that Year 1, 2 and reception do not need to bring a packed lunch to school. School dinners will involve a hot option plus a sandwich option for those children who prefer this option. Mrs Rayner will share a menu shortly.

Unlike KS1, Years 3,4,5,6 will have the option of a school dinner either paid or not (if eligible for free school meals) or they can bring in a packed lunch to school.

Children with Covid Symptoms
If your child or a member of your household develops a high temperature, a consistent cough or a change in sense of smell/taste then please do not send them to school. If you call us to let us know you are isolating we will support you with reporting and getting tested.

If a child develops symptoms whilst at school, they will be isolated away from other children immediately and parents called to collect as soon as possible. Again we will support with getting families tested.

If a staff member or child tests positive then we will work with the Local Protection team to identify children and staff whom may need to isolate and cooperate with NHS Track and Trace systems. It is unlikely that whole year groups will have to isolate as a result of a positive test.

What will school 'be' like
Children will be in their class groups for all lessons and work with an allocated year group team.

During social times (break and lunch) they will bubble up with their other year group class.

Lessons will resume and we will be teaching all subjects as per 'normal'. There will however be a focus on ensuring children get back to where they were before the lockdown in reading, writing and maths particularly reading.

If you can support in anyway in these 3 subjects it would greatly benefit your child.

There continues to be a one way system around school and children will be encouraged to socially distance unless sat in class. Children are expected to socially distance from adults where ever possible (this is sometimes not the case with younger children or to administer first aid).

Hand sanitiser is to be used on entry to the school and is available in every classroom.

I hope this helps with your child/ren’s return to school and we sincerely look forward to seeing you on Monday 8^th March.

Kindest regards

Mr J Fordham

Return to School

Tue 23 Feb 2021

Good morning everyone,

I am sure many of you will have listened to the Prime minister's announcement last night with a sigh of relief. Yes, all the children return on the 8th March!

We will provide further information over the coming days but for now we are working on the assumption that everything will return as things were in the Autumn term.

So from the 8th March, school will re-open at 8:30 for all year groups and finish at 3:45 Monday - Thursday with an earlier finish of 12:30 on a Friday.

Children will be expected in uniform and lunches will resume as normal (Reception and KS1 do not require a packed lunch as all food will be provided by school).

I hope that is enough information for now to begin your preparations for children's return to school and I will be in contacted soon with further details and reminders about the systems in school.

I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Kindest regards

Mr J Fordham

Food Vouchers

Wed 10 Feb 2021

For those entitled to free school meals and receiving food vouchers:
Food vouchers during February half term will be delivered by Wonde, then for the 2 weeks after half term it will be back to Edenred however the first week back it will not be on the usual Sunday (as Edenred is not available to send then) so they will most likely be sent on the Monday (22nd February). Thank you.

Transform Trust Letter to Parents Jan 2021

Wed 06 Jan 2021

Dear Parents and Carers

I did not expect to be writing to you so soon into this New Year, but events have moved quickly.

My first comments are to thank parents for supporting those Transform schools who opened to children yesterday. You showed your confidence in bringing your children to school, and that would have been my wish today and every day. Eventually this will be the case again.

However, circumstances have now changed.

The key message from me today is to share our singular purpose - to deliver education to your child. I am delighted we will continue to do that through this lockdown, for however long that turns out to be. We have developed an education offer in every school that continues to support children at school AND at home. We are blending paper-based and digital solutions that I am confident will stimulate and enrich your child. If you pop over to www.transform-trust.co.uk you can take a look at our Community Portal with a Home Learning hub and Parents menu option, and I hope you will take a particular interest in your child’s learning as we use the wide range of tools open to your child. These will be directed by your school and by the same teachers who know your children.

Schools of course will remain open for Key Worker and vulnerable children as before, and our ambition is to deliver effective learning to every child in school. This is my expectation.

So, as we embark on a new lockdown, I hope you will actively encourage and take an interest in what your children are learning, and I look forward to seeing them all back in school when that is possible once again.

Best Wishes

Rebecca Meredith

CEO

New Website Launched!

Wed 25 Nov 2020

Welcome to our brand new school website! We have created the website to keep parents up to date with school news and notices, and to showcase some of the great things our pupils are achieving. The website will be updated regularly so check back soon for new updates!

Coronavirus Updates

Fri 11 Sep 2020

Transform Trust CEO – Covid-19 Update to Parents/Carers

Since the late summer resumption in September, School has been prepared for managing Covid-19 cases as they become more commonplace in our local community. In line with Government and Public Health guidance, we will be asking staff and pupil bubbles to isolate whenever symptoms or cases appear. This is designed to minimise the impact on the wider school community. We continue to communicate to all affected parents/carers directly through Class Dojo, ParentMail and telephone. This will ensure children are isolated for the necessary time.

We wish to ensure education continues even when pupil isolations are necessary. Your school has made provision for delivering this to all children at home.

I want to share how proud I am of the school staff who are working tirelessly and courageously to support your children.

Finally let me thank you, our parents/carers, for your continued support to the school during these particularly challenging times.

Stay safe.

Rebecca Meredith

CEO

Parent Questionnaire Results Spring 2019

Thu 20 Jun 2019

See Safeguarding page to download and read the document.

Allenton Book Launch

Mon 10 Jul 2017

Congratulations to the ACPS authors for launching their first book on Evidence Based Teaching in Primary Education.

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