Newsletter 5.10.18
Date: 5th Oct 2018 @ 10:40am
5th October 2018
Dear Parents
Parent Governor
I am pleased to be able to ask for nominations for the post of Parent Governor. As a school we have a very active board of governors who make strategic decisions on the running of the school. The post will involve the individual concerned joining the governing board for two full meetings per term, in addition to being a member of specific committees. The timings of these vary to suit the members of the board.
Should you wish to apply for the post you will need to complete the nomination form and return it to the school office by 12.00pm on 23rd October 2018. If we have more than one applicant then there will be a ballot to determine the successful candidate. Further details and application forms are available in the school office and on the school website. Please note that we are specifically looking for nominations from parents who have a financial or industry background.
School Council
I am pleased to inform you that the following children have been voted as the new Y6 School Council by the children in the school:
Tyler I Alexia C
George T Rosalyn F
Luke S Elizabeth B
Jamie W Francesca B
Oliver D Cari S
Following the initial vote, Tyler I and Alexia C were voted as Head Boy and Head Girl respectively and Rosalyn F and George T were voted in as Deputy Girl Boy and Boy. Congratulations to all concerned!
As a school we are continually looking at ways of keeping you informed of what is happening in school. As a result we will shortly be opening a Facebook page. This will be a means of posting information about school life including year group and school newsletters. However as with all such initiatives we have been required to produce a policy to govern the use of the site. I have included a draft version of this for your reference. Should you wish to make any comments about this, we would be pleased to hear from you. Please note that we will also be reissuing a letter next week seeking permission for us to use images of your child on the different school media sites. This will now be issued annually under the GDPR regulations. If at any time you wish to withdraw the permission given, please contact the school office to do so.
Harvest Services
These will be held on the following dates:
Early Years and KS1: Wednesday 10th October at 9.15am at Winsford High Street. This service will be led by the Year 1 children.
KS2: Thursday 11th October at 10.00am at the United Reformed Church, Over. This service will be led by the children from Y3.
This year we will be seeking donations of produce on the morning of each Harvest. This will then be distributed to the Salvation Army to support families in need in the locality.
Sainsbury’s Gold Quality Mark
I am delighted to inform you that we have been accredited with the Gold Sainsbury’s School Games Mark for the 3rd year in succession. This recognises the quality of PE provision in the school, including the wide variety of clubs on offer and the number of children involved in PE in the school. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff for giving their time freely to run a wide variety of clubs in school and Mr Allen for compiling the information used towards the accreditation.
Cross Country Success
Congratulations to our School Cross Country team who completed in the first league meeting of the season against schools from the Vale Royal Schools Sports Partnership. All children ran really well, with the majority of the team finishing in the top ten positions. Well done to all concerned!
Nursery Places
Due to the number of children who have moved into full time education we have limited places available in our Nursery. Should you require a place for your child or would like to make an appointment to view the Nursery, please contact Miss Garnett (Nursery manager) via the school office.
Closing Date for School Applications
Please note the closing date for applications for children to start at Primary School in September 2019 is 15th January 2019. If you have a child who is due to start at this time, please do not automatically assume that they will gain a place at the school because they have an older brother or sister at High Street. All applications for children starting need to be made through the local authority. Further details can be obtained from Wyvern House or through the school office.
We will be holding tours of the school for prospective parents on the following dates. Should you wish to attend or know someone who would like to view the school, with a view to them sending their child to High Street, please contact the school office on 01606 288188 to book onto one of the tours:
Friday 12th October at 9.15am
Tuesday 6th November at 9.15am
Friday 16th November at 9.15pm
Wednesday 28th November at 2.00pm
We will also be holding an open evening on Wednesday 21st November from 6.00 until 7.00pm
Macmillan Coffee Morning
This was a great success with many parents and friends of the school dropping in for a coffee and piece of cake. As a result a total of £197.82 was raised for the charity. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your kind donations. I should also like to thank the parents who donated cakes for the sale and to the members of the school council who supported the sale of cakes and coffee during the morning.
Language on the Playground
Unfortunately it has been reported to me that a number of adults (parents) have been using inappropriate language on the school playground. Please note that this is not acceptable and should we hear it or have it reported to us, then the individuals will be challenged. Should individuals not heed the warning, then we will have no alternative but to ban them from the school grounds. Please note that this is a minority of individuals and that the vast majority of our parents respect our playground space.
Primary Science Award
I am delighted to inform you that we have achieved the Silver Award in recognition of the quality of science teaching in the school. May thanks to Miss Price and Mrs Andrews for their hard work in compiling the information required to achieve the accreditation!
Football Success
Congratulations to the girls’ football team who were runners up on the Winsford Schools competition on Thursday of this week; they all played really well and were a credit to all concerned!
Dates for your diary
Please see the list of dates below to guide you through the remainder of the Autumn Term.
Kind regards
Mark Joule
HEADTEACHER
Dates for the remainder of the Autumn Term 2018
10th October: KS1 Harvest Service @ 9.10am
11th October KS2 Harvest @ United Reformed Church, Over @ 10.00am
12th October: Y6 Nantwich Visit
12th October: New parents Tour of the school @ 9.15 am led by Mrs Taylor
17th – 19th October: Y4 York Visit
23rd October: Parent’s Evening 5.00-7.00pm
24th October: Parent’s Evening 4.00-6.00pm
24th October: School Closed for Half Term
25th / 26th October: Staff Training Days
5th November: School Reopens
6th November: Flu Vaccinations
6th November: New parents Tour of the school at 9.15am
8th November: River Visit
9th November: School Remembrance Service: School Only
13th November: School Photographer to visit.
14th November: Y5/6 Kings School Cubic Challenge
16th November: New parents Tour of the school at 9.15am
21st November: Open Evening 6.00-7.00pm for Prospective Parents (Nursery and Reception)
28th November: New parents Tour of the school at 2.00pm
3rd December: Winsford Partnership Choral Event @ Lifestyle Centre Y4
4th December: Winsford Partnership Choral Event @ Lifestyle Centre Y4
10th December: Nursery Nativity PM
10th December: EYFS to Delamere Forest all day
11th December: EYFS Dress Rehearsal am
11th December: Y1 Dress Rehearsal pm
12th December: EYFS Nativity am and pm
12th December: Y2/3 Rehearsal at URC am
13th December: Y1 Nativity am
13th December: Y2/3 Carols at URC pm
14th December: Y5 / 6 Rehearsal Carols by Candlelight at St Andrews am TBC
17th December: Year 5 /6 Carol Concert at St Andrews, 6.00pm TBC
17th December: Y3/4 Theatre Visit: Grange Hartford
17th December: Y5/6 Carol Service @ United Reformed Church, Over.
19th December: Y5/6 Christmas Party am
19th December: EYFS Christmas Party am
20th December: Y3/4 Christmas Party am
20th December: Y1/2 Christmas Party am
20th December: Y5 / 6 New Vic Theatre Visit
Draft Facebook Policy
1 RATIONALE
1.1 This policy recognises the increasing number of people using social networking sites that has both a positive and an adverse effect on the reputation of schools in the local community. Many schools, including Winsford High Street Primary School, use social medial as an effective tool for parental engagement e.g. forwarding information through Facebook and Twitter. However, in some cases, parents bypass the complains procedure outlined in the Complaints Policy and have taken to social networking sites to criticise and in some cases make malicious comments about individual members of staff or a school community.
1.2 This policy is to explain the acceptable use of Facebook and to provide a best practise to deal with any potential pitfalls in using Facebook.
2 WHAT IS FACEBOOK?
2.1 Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. The site also has features such as:
- Marketplace - allows members to post, read and respond to classified ads
- Groups - allows members who have common interests to find each other and interact
- Events - allows members to publicise an event, invite guests and track who plans to attend
- Pages - allows members to create and promote a public page built around a specific topic
- Presence technology - allows members to see which contacts are online and chat
3 AIMS OF USING FACEBOOK
3.1
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- To promote Winsford High Street Community Primary School as a progressive school in our technological advances
- To promote responsible use of Social Media
- To allow staff the engage in educational discussions to enhance their own practice
- To quickly share children’s work and school achievements and success
- To share school announcements
3.2 The main school Facebook page [www.facebook.com/Winsfordhighstreetprimaryschool] will share information detailing school events and will run alongside the newsletter, emails and other traditional methods. It will not therefore replace it. Because of this, Facebook will not be used to engage with parents directly.
3.3 There will only be one Facebook page controlled by the Headteacher and administrators. It will be set up as a Business Page, therefore posts will have no indication to staff and people visiting the page will only be able to ‘Follow’ the page rather than becoming a ‘Friend’.
4 SAFEGUARDING PUPILS
4.1 To safeguard all pupils at Winsford High Street Community Primary School, the full name of pupils will not be published. First names may be used to reference work, but not alongside any pictures of pupils. The school seeks photographical consent of all pupils, and without this consent will not appear on any photos on Facebook outlined in the Data Protection Policy and Photographic and Video Consent Policy.
5 FOLLOWING THE SCHOOL PAGE
5.1 Any account on Facebook could follow the school accounts. Checks will take place on a regular basis of recent followers as this will appear as a notification. Users that are deemed to be unsuitable or do not add value outlined in this policy will be blocked. Decisions on this will be made on a case-by-case basis involving SLT. Parents will be encouraged to follow the school accounts. Children under the age of 13 should not have a Facebook account as outlined in Facebooks “Terms of Services Policy’. As this is the case, all pupils will be blocked. If Winsford High Street Community Primary School becomes aware that a pupil has provided personal details without parental consent, appropriate action will be taken.
6 INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT OR REFERENCING
6.1 In many ways the use of Facebook is used to express opinions. Winsford High Street Community Primary School welcomes referencing and interactions that shows the school in a positive manner. However, the school will deem inappropriate content as:
6.2
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- Offensive language or remarks aimed at the school, staff, parents, governors or any others affiliated with the school
- Unsuitable content or images posted onto the page
- Unsuitable content or images posted onto the page feed from another feed
- Images, video or text that infringes copyright
- No surnames of pupils will be shared – first names only
- No children’s names next to a photo of themselves
- Extremist views in line with the prevent duty outlined in the Extremist Policy
6.3 Any inappropriate content will be gathered as evidence (such as screenshots, printouts, times, dates and names where possible to insure the identity of the person who reported the incident is removed), then deleted, the users blocked and reported to Facebook. Incidents of a more serious nature will be passed onto the appropriate authorities.
6.4 When dealing with cases involving Facebook, a group of parents may have set up a site or page that is closed/secret to comment about, or in some cases criticise the school or an individual member of staff. It is important that staff do not become embroiled in the incident as this can sometimes inflame a situation.
6.5 If an individual member of staff has been targeted or mentioned, then the Head Teacher will be mindful of their duty of care to those involved and there is a specific duty on employers to protect their staff from third party harassment.
6.5 Headteacher and school leadership will explain to the member of staff how they intend to address the concerns and consider what support could be offered. Appropriate support will depend on the nature of the concerns and reaction of the individual.
7 PARENTAL AGREEMENT AND RESPONSIBILITY
7.1 Each parent is asked for their permission to have images of their child to be put on Facebook. Where parents have not consented for their child to appear in a photo on Facebook, these wishes will be followed. This is outlined in the Photographic and Video Image Policy.
7.2 Online safety is an important part of the computing curriculum. Parent/carers are encouraged to keep children safe online and know they have a responsibility of being an online role model. Therefore, parent/carers are asked to consider how comments may be misunderstood or misinterpreted when shared online. If parents/carers have concerns or complaints regarding the school, then they are requested to use the correct and official channels, so we can work together to resolve any concerns that they may have.
Date for review: Summer 2020