Dear Parents and Carers,

Update on Coronavirus

As you are aware yesterday, the Government introduced new guidance on whole household isolation in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak:

· if you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started

· if you live with others and you or another member of the household have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill. It is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community

· for anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period.

The symptoms are:

· A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)

· A new, continuous cough

The full stay at home guidance for households with these symptoms can be found here:

· https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance

Anyone with underlying health conditions have been advised to social distance all information can be found on this website. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

We are maintaining regular hand washing to reduce the spread of germs, if any child wishes to bring in their own small soap and keep with them they may.

We have asked children to bring in their own water bottles which should be labelled with child’s name washed and refilled at home for the next day.

As a small school any reduction in staffing may lead to the need for alternative strategies being put into place. For example, the use of supply teachers, teaching assistants covering classes and a reduction in activities. At the forefront of any decisions we make are our children and their health and safety.

We are monitoring the situation regularly and parents will be notified through our text messaging service and social media. Therefore we are asking all parents to ensure that we have up to date contact details for them. Please contact the school office directly to update your details or be added to the systems.

We appreciate your support with this matter, as a school we are trying hard to ensure that all of our school community is kept safe and well. As further information arises we will keep you updated.

Please keep well and follow the guidelines as I know this is a difficult time for all families

Kind Regards

Katherine Muncaster

Dear Parent/Guardian

COVID-19: prevention and control in school

Following the email we circulated to parents yesterday outlining the preventative measures currently being taken in school, I am writing with a further update. I have had a meeting with the Governors this morning and we have taken the decision to postpone any unnecessary school events from today. This is a precautionary measure to reduce the risk for our school community.

Therefore the following events are being cancelled/postponed;

• Tonight’s FOTB Cinema Night (refunds will be issued next week)
• Year 4 Class Assembly scheduled for Friday 20th March (new date TBC)
• Next week’s Teacher/Parent Meetings postponed for all Year Groups.

However we are looking into alternative arrangements and will be in touch regarding them shortly. If you have any immediate concerns about your child please contact your class teacher directly.

In line with yesterday’s Government announcement, we are also asking all parents to follow the guidance below;
You child needs to stay at home for 7 days if they have either:
• a high temperature
• a new continuous cough
This will help to protect others in our school community while they are infectious. Please ensure that you notify the School Office in the usual way regarding their absence.
We appreciate your understanding and support with this matter. If you have any further concerns please contact me via the School Office (T. 01614324941/Email. headteacher@tithebarn.stockport.sch.uk.

Kind Regards

Mrs K Muncaster

Dear Parent/Guardian

Infection Control Measures in School
I am contacting you following the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK and abroad.
I would like to take this opportunity to outline the preventative measures the school has put in place in order to minimise the spread of infection.
As per the advice from the government, the school has taken the following actions for infection control:
• Encouraging good hygiene by promoting the importance of handwashing for at least 20 seconds with warm water and soap in the following circumstances:
• On arrival at school
• After using the toilet
• After breaks and sporting activities
• Before food preparation
• Before eating any food, including snacks
• Before leaving school
• Ensuring pupils and staff understand that they must cover their cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue away
• Ensuring frequently touched objects and surfaces are cleaned and disinfected more regularly than usual
• Calling NHS 111 if someone becomes unwell and isolating any unwell people in a separate room
• Advising people who have returned from category 1 specified countries/areas in the last 14 days to self-isolate for 14 days – even if they don’t have symptoms – before they return to school and use the 111 online coronavirus service to find out what to do next.
• Advising people who have returned from category 2 specified countries/areas in the last 14 days to stay at home if they develop symptoms and use the
111 online coronavirus service  to find out what to do next.
The full list of category 1 and category 2 countries can be found on the government website:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public
As an important part of our school community, I would ask that you encourage good infection control practices, such as thorough handwashing, at home and keep your child informed about the things they can do to discourage the spread of infection.
Unless your child has tested positive for the coronavirus (and hasn’t been exposed to anyone with the virus), they should attend school as usual unless they are too unwell due to an unrelated illness or they have specifically been advised to self-isolate.
If you think your child may have been exposed to or has coronavirus, please contact the school on Tel. 0161 432 4941 the earliest opportunity.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs Katherine Muncaster
Headteacher

10^th March 2020

Dear Parent,

This year we will be holding an Eggstravaganza in school on Friday 3^rd April 2020. The aim is to raise money for the children’s chosen charity; for school and to have some fun!

The junior children will be running stalls in small groups, whilst the infant children will run a stall or activity as a class.

We will also be holding a decorated egg competition; we will be looking for entries where we can see how independent the children have been in their creations! A secret judge will be awarding prizes in the following categories:

• Tithe Barn is 50!
• My favourite book
• Sporting Events

We are looking forward to a successful day and thank you for your support.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs K Muncaster

 

 

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Public Health England (PHE) is the body through whom all of the latest guidance and information is being produced and distributed. Schools have been advised to include links to the resources rather than producing their own or downloading information produced by others. This means that the latest information will be available through the links rather than schools needing to update already downloaded information as and when new information becomes available.

There are links to the latest resources guidance and advice contained at https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response
Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan City, China in December 2019.
Public Health England is working to contact anyone who has been in close contact with people who have coronavirus.
Read the latest information about the situation in the UK, along with guidance for what to do if you think you’re at risk.

Go to NHSUK/coronavirus for information about the virus and how to protect yourself. Use the 111 online coronavirus service to check if you need medical help.
The government has published its coronavirus action plan and expanded its public information campaign.
Number of UK cases and latest test figures.
Read Public Health England’s blog posts about its response to coronavirus and how it uses contact tracing to prevent the spread of infection.

We think it is important to make parents aware that the DfE are keeping schools up to date also. As you would expect there are a great many similarities and duplicates in terms of links.

Department for Education

There is currently a daily email to keep you updated on the government’s response to COVID-19 (Coronavirus).
Government Coronavirus action plan
This document sets out what the UK as a whole has done to tackle the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and what it plans to do next.
The action plan can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-action-plan
The document includes:
• what we know about the virus and the disease it causes
• how we have planned for an infectious disease outbreak, such as the current coronavirus outbreak
• the actions we have taken so far in response to the current coronavirus outbreak
• what we are planning to do next, depending upon the course the current coronavirus outbreak takes
• the role the public can play in supporting this response, now and in the future

Current advice remains in place: No school should close in response to a suspected (or confirmed) COVID-19 case unless advised to do so by Public Health England.
The importance of hygiene
Personal hygiene is the most important way we can tackle COVID-19, especially washing hands more; and the catch it, bin it, kill it strategy for those with coughs and sneezes.
Please help us in sharing simple and effective hand hygiene messages.

Wash your hands more often for 20 seconds with soap and water. Or use hand sanitiser. Protect yourself and others.

For more advice visit: https://t.co/SkCoecbJWC pic.twitter.com/18FVwWHy95

— NHS (@NHSuk) March 4, 2020

Public Health England has a dedicated webpage with a range of posters and digital materials at:
https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/101-coronavirus-/resources
Sign up is quick, free and means you will be alerted as more resources are made available.

Department for Education Coronavirus helpline
On 02 March we launched a new helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:

Phone: 0800 046 8687

Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk

Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19:
• https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19

Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas:
• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus

These links are where we will all find the latest information and guidance and the information is updated at least daily.
On 03 March there was a Downing Street press conference which is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-at-coronavirus-press-conference-3-march-2020

 

Countdown to Christmas

The run up to Christmas is always a magical time in school. The children’s excitement is contagious and it is lovely to hear snippets of Christmas carols and rehearsals for our Christmas celebrations.

The children have been working hard to prepare for our celebrations; they have decorated school with a range of Christmas creations. From baubles and stockings to snowman. The school is awash with colour!

I look forward to seeing many of you at our wonderful Christmas Fair this Sunday between 11 am and 2pm.

We all look forward to you joining us for our Christmas celebrations and sharing this magical time in school.

Meet our SENDCo

I am delighted to introduce Mr Earp our SENDCo and Year 5 teacher.

We are inviting parents to come and meet Mr Earp and are arranging drop in sessions this half term and next.

Mr Earp will be available-

Tuesday 3^rd December at 9 am

 Thursday 12^th December at 2.30 pm

We will share further details after the holidays

Key Dates

2^nd December Operation Eagle Eye begins

6^th December Book People Book Bus in school

7^th December Santa Dash

10^th December 1.30 pm Infant Nativity

11^th December KS2 Carol Concert 9.15 am and 2 pm.

12^th December whole school trip to the pantomime and FOTB Christmas Discos

13^th December 9.15 am Infant Nativity

17^th December School Christmas Dinner (Please order online via Dolce)

18^th December pm Infant Christmas Party (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2)

19^th December pm KS2 Christmas Party

20^th December Toy Day and school closes for the school holidays

 

KS2 Christmas Carol Concert

This year’s concert will take place at school on Wednesday 11^th December with performances at 9.30 am and 2 pm. We do hope you can join us. If you are unable to attend we will be filming the concert and sharing it via E-Schools.

Infant Nativity

The KS1 and Reception Nativity will take place on 10^th December at 1.30pm and 13^th December at 9.30 am. We will also be filming the Nativity and sharing it via E-schools.

Christmas Post

Once again, Mr Blackburn and his merry band of elves will be operating a Christmas postal service at school. Christmas cards can be brought into school from Monday 9^th December.

Christmas Discos

On Thursday 12^th December it will be FOTB’s Christmas Discos. You will have received a letter regarding how to purchase tickets.

Please note the discos are only for children who attend Tithe Barn and parents are asked to drop their child off and return to collect them.

5-6pm children in Reception, Years 1 and 2

6.30pm -7.45 pm children in Years 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Raffle Tickets

You should have received a booklet of raffle tickets this week- two books for each family. This year we are raffling some amazing hampers that have been kindly donated by our parents.

We will be drawing the raffle on Friday 13^th December at the Infant Nativity. Please ensure you have returned your tickets by then.

Packed Lunches

Reminder- if you send your child in with a packed lunch for their dinner, please ensure that you have cancelled their school dinner order.

Thank you

Photo Booth

Once again, Mr Stamper will be running our Christmas photo booth at the Fair on Sunday. Make sure you don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to create Christmas Magic. The images will be available after the fair via google drive.

Fantastic Assembly

It was a privilege to watch our Year 6s perform their class assembly this morning. They had planned and designed the assembly all by themselves and it was a morning of war time songs, drama, and exploration of what life was like at that time.

It was wonderful to see their learning brought to life! Year 2 have also been exploring their History topic of the Great Fire of London and participated in an amazing workshop this week. We will be sharing the assembly and the Year 2 workshop via e-schools so please take a look.

Follow us on Twitter

@TitheBarnPri

We have also have a Facebook account Parents and Carers of Tithe Barn Primary School where we share information and events that have occurred in school.

Operation Eagle Eye

2^nd – 6^th December 2019 

Working in conjunction with the Local Authority we are having a week focused on road safety in school. There will be various activities going on including learning how to cross the road safely, cycle safety and Year 6 will be out patrolling the streets looking at speeding and parking in the local area. We will share the different activities during the week via the school website and twitter. 

Thursday 5/12/2019

Step Outside, Year Two, 9am – 12.

Headsmart, Year 4 (pm)

Friday 26/01/2018

Child Speedwatch,Year 6, 9am – 12pm.

Key Dates

22^nd November- Non-uniform day in return for a bottle for the Christmas Fair

1^st December- Christmas Fair 11 am – 2pm.

2^nd December- Operation Eagle Eye begins in school

6^th December – Book Bus in school 8.30 am -4 pm.

Book Bus

We will be visited by the Book People’s Book Bus on Friday 6^th December. The bus will contain a wide array of books at discounted prices for parents to buy. In addition to this the school will receive 15% commission in free books. If you wish to visit the bus it will be in the school car park between 8.30 am and 4 pm

Google Classrooms

On Wednesday 27^th November at 2.15 pm we are inviting parents, particularly those from KS2 to join us for an information evening regarding how we use Google Suite and how you can support your child at home. The session will include a short presentation from our Digital Leaders. We hope you can join us for this informative session.

Fond Farewell

It is with great sadness that I am writing to inform you that Diana Vose, our Inclusion Manager will be leaving us later on this term. She will be setting up her own business The Buffet Carriage serving homemade sandwiches and cakes.

Diana has worked at Tithe Barn for 17 years

and during that time has worked tirelessly for every child to ensure that they are well supported and achieve their true potential. She will be sorely missed by us all and we wish her the best of luck with her new enterprise.

We will continue to ensure that her fantastic work continues and we will share our future plans for this role shortly.

Once again, I would like to thank Diana for her hard work and effort. It has been a privilege to work with her.

After School Club

Our wonderful After School currently has some additional availability. The Club is open from 7.45 am till the start of school and at the end of the school day until 5.45 pm. It is run by our team of friendly staff and provides a high standard of care

We have availability for both regular sessions or for them to be booked as required. We currently have limited availability every morning except Thursday and after school on Monday and Friday.

Please contact Miss J Hughes (club manager) for further information-

baasc@tithebarn.stockport.sch.uk

07561818056

 

Harvest Festival

Thank you ever so much for all your wonderful contributions to our Harvest Festival recently. We had a wonderful morning and it was fantastic to have so many parents join us for our celebrations.

The Wellspring and Stockport Food Bank have now collected our donations and they are being distributed across our local community. Thank you again for all your support.

Please accept our apologies for the delay in sending out the calendar, it will be with you after half term.

Follow us on Twitter

@TitheBarnPri

We have also have a Facebook account Parents and Carers of Tithe Barn Primary School where we share information and events that have occurred in school.

Fond Farewell

Today was a very sad day for everyone at Tithe Barn as we celebrated Bob’s time at Tithe Barn. The children sang a special thank you song. We shared memories of Bob’s time at school and presented him with cake, cards and a wonderful collection.

We are extremely grateful for everything Bob has done for our school so we presented him with the key to our school. We have invited Bob back to join us for some special occasions but if you’d like to visit him, he will be supervising the road outside Heaton’s Library.

Key Dates

October 29^{th (Tuesday)} – Children return to school following half term.

October 30^th and 31^st– Parents’ Evening

7^th November- Google Evening 6 pm

Book Bus

We will be visited by the Book People’s Book Bus on Friday 6^th December. The bus will contain a wide array of books at discounted prices for parents to buy. In addition to this the school will receive 15% commission in free books. If you wish to visit the bus it will be in the school car park between 8.30 am and 4 pm

Google Classrooms

On Thursday 7^th November at 6 pm we are inviting parents, particularly those from KS2 to join us for an information evening regarding how we use Google Suite and how you can support your child at home. The session will include a short presentation from our Digital Leaders. We hope you can join us for this informative session.

School Admissions

31 October 2019 and parents will be notified about their child’s place by the 2nd March 2020. Places for children who were born between 1st September 2015 and 31^st August 2016 for Reception 2019 must be made by 15^th January 2020.   Parents will be notified about their child’s place by 16^th April 2019. Further information and the online application is available at –

https://www.stockport.gov.uk/apply-for-school-place

Flower Festival

On Tuesday 9^th October we had our annual school Flower Festival. The children brought an array of flowers and resources in to school and created displays on the theme of ‘Celebrations’. The results were fantastic and more of the creations can be viewed at

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mUokels9x6SJpri8jCgY83b65Om_MdEJ/view

I would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs Osborne for organising such a wonderful event which raised £144.04 for Francis House.

Thank you for taking the time to read the newsletter. The newsletter will be sent out every fortnight and I hope to give you a snap shot of all the exciting things that are happening in school. Hope everyone has a wonderful half term break, we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday 29th October.

Katherine Muncaster

 

Headteacher

 

 

Busy Term

The children have all been working very hard and our new Reception children have settled into life at Tithe Barn.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the wonderful grandparents who joined Year 1 recently to talk about their childhood and answer the children’s questions.

I would also like to thank our wonderful volunteers who attended our Safeguarding training this week and are helping to ensure that we keep all our children safe.

We are looking forward to our Flower Festival and our Harvest Festival and hope that you can join us for our celebrations.

Thank you for your continued support

Katherine Muncaster.

Sporting Adventures

We were delighted to have Kiera Byland return to school last Friday to receive a fantastic cheque for £904.45 to support her trip to compete in the next Special Olympics. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped to raise the funds through our sponsored cycle last term.

We also presented Kiera with Martin the Monkey who is one of our characters from our Learning Jungle. Martin’s learning power is to continuous improve and we felt that this reflected Kiera’s amazing attitude to life.

We are looking forward to continuing to work in partnership with Kiera. She has now become our first Sporting Ambassador and will continue to be an inspiration for all of us.

Key Dates

Thursday 10^th October – Flower Festival (Year 2 upwards)

Friday 11^th October- Harvest Festival

Friday 18^th October- Book Bus to be in school

Friday 18^th October- Surprise celebrations for Bob!

 

Giving Machine

As part of the Friends of Tithe Barn efforts to raise money for our school they have set up an account with the Giving Machine. This is one of the easiest ways to support our school in raising much needed funds. All you have to do is register and shop. What could be simpler!

The site is supported by a number of big retailers including John Lewis, Amazon and Waitrose- to name just a few. Also you can pay for Car insurance, house insurance holidays. Please have a look if the company you are buying online from is listed with Giving Machine. The easiest way to raise money.

Visit the link below to support us-

www.thegivingmachine.co.uk

 

Book Bus

The Book People’s Book Bus will visit us on Friday 18^th October. The bus will contain a wide array of books at discounted prices for parents to buy. In addition to this the school will receive 15% commission in free books. If you wish to visit the bus it will be in the school car park between 8.30 am and 4 pm

Nut Allergy

Please be aware that we have children in school with severe nut allergies. Therefore we kindly ask that you refrain from sending any nuts or products such as snack bars in containing nuts.

Thank you for your support with this matter.

Celebrating 50 years of Tithe Barn

We are all very excited to be celebrating 50 years of Tithe Barn Primary School this year and want to make the year extra special for our school community.

We would like to invite you to a meeting on Friday 11^th October at 2.30 pm to discuss plans and ideas. We do hope you can join us. If you are unable to please send any ideas or offers of help to headteacher@tithebarn.stockport.sch.uk

We will be consulting with the children to gather their ideas through our school council. We are all looking forward to an exciting year.

Thank you once again for your support .

Harvest Festival

This year our Harvest Festival will take place on 11^th October at 9.15 am.   We will be collecting donations for both the Wellspring and Stockport Food Bank. They are keen to collect the following-

• Tinned fruit
• Tinned puddings
• Tinned meat, vegetable and potatoes
• Long life milk and
• Long life orange juice.

Please bring your donations to school from Monday 7^th October 2019.