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Dear parents and carers

 

As previously communicated, Gatehouse will remain open tomorrow, 1^st February, during the forthcoming strike action. 

 

It is a requirement that parents/carers send their child to school as the Department for Education expects all school-registered children of compulsory school age to be in attendance on school opening days. Measures have been taken to assure the safety of pupils both in class and during break periods. Classes affected will be supervised by members of the school leadership team or cover supervisors; these staff are fulfilling roles they would usually occupy during staff absence.

 

We ask that during the day, if you have any queries that you please contact the school office on the first instance via the usual methods. The leadership team and teachers might not be able to return phone calls during the day, as they will be fulfilling roles in class. 

 

Yours sincerely

Mr Jason Stephens

Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 9th February 2023

- Parents Evening

Our Preloved uniform shop will be open during parents evening, these items are free!

A donation box will be available but this is not compulsory.

Please come have a look, we have shoes, trainers, jumpers, trousers, skirts - BARGAINS! AND IN GOOD CONDITION !

Dear parents and carers

 

On Tuesday 31st January at 5.30pm. Mr Stephens is holding a presentation to parents in Years 1 - 6 regarding the progressive wider curriculum. 

 

In order to plan sufficiently, we would appreciate if you could please sign up to the presentation via this short form. 

 

https://forms.office.com/e/Deuc1QKziL

 

Many thanks 

School Office 

Dear Parent/ Carer,

You are probably aware from media coverage that the National Education Union (NEU) has announced national and regional strike action on the following dates:

Wednesday 1st February 2023: all eligible members in England and Wales

Thursday 2nd March 2023: all eligible members in the South West

Wednesday 15th March 2023: all eligible members in England and Wales

Thursday 16th March 2023: all eligible members in England and Wales.

The strike is happening because of a national dispute between the union and the government over teachers' pay. I am writing to you today to give you as much notice as possible that learning might be disrupted on those dates, although at this stage I do not know to what extent. Your child's school will keep you informed and make any decisions relating to potential disruption, as soon as possible, once we have adequately risk assessed the impact on each school in the Trust. In the event of a strike, the Department for Education expects the Headteacher to take all reasonable steps to keep the school open for as many pupils as possible. However, so that you are aware, the options that we may need to consider are:

• No closure: the school remains open for all, and we deliver the normal curriculum in lessons.

• No closure: the school remains open for all, but we provide alternative activities and supervision.

• Partial closure: the school remains open for some pupils but not all.

• Full closure: the school is closed for all pupils.

I am making you aware of these options so that you can start to consider alternative childcare arrangements for these dates, in the event that we have to close the school to your child. Whilst I am sorry for the potential disruption to you and your child's education and understand that this situation might be frustrating, I hope that all members of our school communities will continue to treat each other with respect and to remember that all of our staff do their job because they are committed to providing a safe and secure environment and the highest quality of education for the children in their care. As stated above, individual schools will write to you again to inform you of the arrangements that are in place within the school, in the near future.

Kind regards, Paul Walker CEO, First Federation Trust

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice

 

Dear parents and carers,

In light of the recent weather forecast, we would like to inform you about how we deal with any severe weather, especially snow, which may affect the school.

Each day of any severe weather the leadership team in school will make an assessment about whether it is safe and practical to open the school to pupils. This decision will be made as soon as is possible in the morning.

You will be informed by our text and email service if the school is to close. It is therefore vital that you inform us if you have changed your mobile number or email address. We will also post the information on our school website.

If you do not hear anything from us, the school will be open.

Please be assured that we would only decide to close our school in exceptional circumstances where the safety of your child is the primary concern. On occasion this may be due to the availability of teaching staff who travel some distance to reach school, rather than purely conditions for pupils getting to school.

As you will understand if the school is closed then there will be no breakfast and after school club.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Kind regards,

Mrs Leila Naldrett

Year 5 Sailing

The Island Trust have kindly arranged to come to Gatehouse on Thursday 19th January 2023, straight after school to give a presentation to families.

We look forward to welcoming you all.

Places are still available.

https://www.theislandtrust.org.uk/

https://www.gatehouse.devon.sch.uk/attendance-matters/

Green Letter - Where a child's attendance is giving the school cause for concern an attendance letter will be sent advising the parent that their child's attendance has dropped below 96%.

If attendance continues to drop, the schools Family Support Worker will contact the family to help and support.

Amber Letter - If a parent has already received a green letter and their child's attendance continues to fall to below 93% an amber letter will be sent inviting the parent to attend a meeting with member(s) of the attendance team to try and work out if the school can support the family in any way to improve the child's attendance.

We will also enquire if the child has an ongoing medical condition that the school can help and support with should the absences be due to a high number of days due to illness and medical appointments.

Red Letter - This letter is sent if you have already received a green and amber letter and your child's attendance has continued to fall to below 90%. At this point your child is considered a 'Persistent Absent' pupil. The Education Welfare Officer may be contacted to seek advice and be involved.

Continued low absence, for reasons not deemed acceptable by the school or the Education Welfare Officer will be dealt with by the EWO. If you, as the parent/carer, do not follow any plan or contract set out by the officer you may be fined or served with a court summons.

Medical Absences / Illness

If absences are due to illness or medical and the level of attendance of the child is becoming a concern the school will send a soft medical letter advising parents of their child's attendance record and identifying how many sessions / marks are due to medical / illness out of the possible amount attended. They will be reminded to obtain medical evidence where possible.

48 Hour Sickness Rule

DIARRHOEA AND VOMITING

Diarrhoea and/or vomiting commonly affects children and can be caused by a number of different germs, including viruses, parasites and bacteria. Infections can be easily spread from person to person, especially in children.

If your child is sick at school, we will ask you or your emergency contact to take your child home. They should not return for 48 hours to the school premises, since the last episode.

Thank you for your understanding and support with this. Further guidance on infection control may be found on the Public Health England website.

Applications for school places for September 2023 closes on 15th January 2023.

If you have not had the opportunity to visit the school and would like a tour please email admin@gatehouse.devon.sch.uk and we would be delighted to book you in.

To apply for a school place visit:

https://www.devon.gov.uk/.../apply-for-a-primary-school.../

Please share with family and friends that have a child due to start school in September 2023.