Dear Parents/Carers,

Due to the current circumstances, we missed the chance to celebrate World Book Day as a whole school on Thursday March 4^th 2021. Therefore, we are going to be celebrating our own Tweeddale World Book Day which will be held next Thursday March 18^th 2021. There will be a number of book-related activities in school on the day. Also, children are encouraged to dress up as their favourite book characters, as is the tradition for WBD.

In the next few days, please look out for vouchers that will entitle children to purchase a book for free (using the £1 voucher).

The list of which can be found on the WBD website here:   https://www.worldbookday.com/books/ .

Alternatively, the voucher could be used to get a £1 discount on books not listed on the above website, but only in participating shops. Most large supermarkets and bookshops take part in WBD so look out for the WBD branding when purchasing.

Dear Parents/Carers,

We look forward to welcoming you and your children back to Tweeddale on Monday 8th March 2021. The organisation of the day to day running of the school will mirror that of the Autumn Term 2020 (pre Christmas).

Details of the return are listed below:

1. Pupils will be organised in class bubbles.
2. Staggered start/finish times for school will be in place (apart from Nursery) based on the house system - Air: 08:40 - 14:50, Earth: 08:50 - 15:00, Fire: 09:00 - 15:10, Water: 09:10 - 15:20. You will only be allowed onto the playground a maximum of five minutes before your given time. Please do not arrive early expecting to be let into the playground as you will be asked to wait outside the school gates. This is to ensure social distancing is maintained on school premises. When waiting on Tweeddale Rd, please maintain social distancing measures. 
3. During drop-off/collection, adults must wear a mask at all times whilst on school premises.
4. Please ensure you are on time for drop-off and collection as you will still be marked as 'late' if you are five minutes beyond your given start/finish time.
5. Pupils must return to school wearing the correct school uniform. We understand there may be some extenuating circumstances due to non-essential shops being closed, but you must provide a valid reason for incorrect uniform being worn (clothing only). If a child does not have school shoes, you must ensure their plimsolls are in school and these will be worn inside the building. Their trainers can be worn at break and lunchtimes. Only permitted earrings will be acceptable. Please check the uniform policy for what constitutes acceptable uniform.
6. Children should wear their PE kits on the days they have PE. Please check the uniform policy for what constitutes acceptable PE kit.
7. Lunchtimes will be staggered in order to avoid any mixing of bubbles.
8. All staff will wear face coverings in communal areas of the school.
9. No primary age children are required to wear a face covering in school.
10. Children are not to bring bags to school: all materials will be provided. Only a lunchbox (if packed lunch) and water bottle are needed.
11. At this point in time school clubs will not be running. We are hoping to begin clubs again in some form from the beginning of the Summer Term.
12. The updated Covid-19 risk assessment will be updated and available on the school website from the end of tomorrow.

We thank you for your support in advance and look forward to seeing you all on Monday.

Regards,

The Tweeddale Team

In accordance with the School Admissions Code 2014, the Greenshaw Learning Trust has consulted on the admissions arrangements for Tweeddale Primary School for entry in September 2022/23. The consultation closed in December 2020.

The main changes are;

• The inclusion of a priority for exceptional social and medical applications for schools where it was not previously included
• A Supplementary Information Form (SIF) for all exceptional social and medical applications (all schools)
• Alignment in the order of priorities within admission arrangements
• Alignment in criteria definitions

Please click on the link to view the determined admission arrangements for the school.https://www.tweeddaleprimary.sutton.sch.uk/admissions.php

Yesterday evening, the Prime Minister laid out the Government’s route map to take the country out of the current lockdown. As widely reported, schools are at the very top of the list. From the 8th March, Tweeddale Primary School will be reopening for all year groups and we cannot wait to see every child back in school. The period of lockdown has been lengthy. We will need to work together to support your child/children as they adjust back into usual ‘school’ habits.Over the coming weeks, please prepare them for the return to school by regularising sleeping habits and ensuring that they take part in as many learning activities as possible during the day. Also, it would help if you could fit in additional exercise. Walks around the local parks are great at this time of year, particularly with the improvement in the weather, longer days and spring flowers. These don’t need to be every day but our experience after the last long lockdown was that many children did not have the stamina for the longer school days and by half term some were really flagging.

Over the next two weeks, the staff will be busily preparing the school for all the children to return. Remote learning will continue as before however staff will also be planning for the last four weeks of term to ensure a smooth transition from remote to school based learning. In short, we can’t wait to have the children back!

However, it is not a return to normal. Most members of staff have not yet been vaccinated and certainly none of the children have which means that the risk of infection has not changed. All of the rules set up in September will be retained. Children will be hand washing/sanitizing throughout the day and break times will remain separate for different classes. Staff members are regularly testing themselves with Lateral Flow Device Tests so if there is any infection it can be caught quickly and impact kept to a minimum. Staff and adult visitors will also be wearing face coverings, as before in the Autumn term, in situations where social distancing between adults is more difficult (for example, when moving around in corridors, communal areas and at the gate). Pick-up and drop-off times will remain as before and we will ask you to continue to wear facemasks and leave the sites as quickly as possible once you have dropped off/collected your child/children. If we are careful and follow the school rules and Government guidance we can begin to rebuild our school community. As with the exit from the last lockdown, this is the most delicate part. More details will be shared closer to the 8th March.

Without doubt this has been an unprecedented year. With your support, the continued development of remote learning by the staff and enthusiasm from the children, we believe we have all worked together to make this as successful an experience as possible.

Thank you for your support.

The Tweeddale Team