Latest News

Time to Talk

Tue 26 May 2020 Mrs Kinman

‪💬♥️ It is so important that we all remember to talk and communicate with each other during these difficult and strange times. Time to Talk is still available with Mrs Sabatino. 💬♥️ If you would like a Time to Talk session, please contact school and we will be happy to help. ‬

Friday Celebration Assembly

Fri 22 May 2020 Mrs Brown

Good morning everyone!

It has been another busy week in school and at home! Thank you for all your hard work this half term you are all amazing! I bet you are all ready for your half term break...your teachers (parents!) are! Thank you to all our parents; teachers have really enjoyed speaking to you and hearing so many wonderful comments about the home learning, we really do appreciate your support.

We received a fantastic video of thanks from Year 6 yesterday, we have shared this on our Twitter page for you. Thank you Year 6 you have really made us smile.

This week's Purple Mash Stars of the Week are:

Nursery = Bobbie

Reception = Maksy

Year 1 = Teddy

Year 2 = Elvis

Year 3 = Oliver

Year 4 = Finn

Year 5 = Tyler and Finlay

Year 6 = Niamh

Bravo Bravo Bravissimo Very Well Done!

Class winners this week are:

Spelling Shed = Year 6

Maths Shed = Year 2

Congratulations to everyone in Y6 and Y2! Keep up the hard work!

You now have 2 WEEKS off for half term! Feel free to still do online learning if you wish but your teachers will not be setting new tasks to allow you to enjoy time with your family and have a well earned break. School will continue to be open over the half term holidays to care for the key worker children.

Staff are working hard to prepare school for the 8th June as we extend our pupil numbers. Can we thank everyone for completing the online questionnaire and ask parents to check their emails for updates as our plans develop.

Local Authority Letter

Thu 21 May 2020

The following letter is for all parents from the Local Authority. This has also been emailed to all parents.

Dear Parent/Carer/Guardian

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Sunday we now understand that, from week of 1st June at the earliest, the Government is aiming to increase the numbers of children attending primary schools.

The Prime Minister announced the planned return of children from Nursery, Reception and years 1 and 6 and asked that secondary schools and colleges start to provide some face-to-face contact with staff for students in year 10 and year 12.

Special Schools will also work towards a phased return of more children but without a focus on specific year groups.

This of course is all dependent on the rate of infection for COVID-19 from now until then. This announcement and subsequent guidance from the Government has answered some questions but it is clear that there are many things which still need clarification before schools and colleges could substantially increase the numbers attending.

There are many practical questions which we currently do not have answers to and which we are working together with schools, settings and colleges and the DFE to resolve. The vast majority of Salford schools are open currently for vulnerable children and children of key workers and we are incredibly grateful for the service they have continued to provide in these challenging times.

The offer of places for vulnerable children and children of key workers will continue in this next phase. Salford City Council is committed to supporting all schools to safely open for more children. However, this will be a gradual approach towards the government’s ambition, and we are supporting schools in seeking answers to their questions to make appropriate plans.

Headteachers, with the full support of the Local Authority, will only be welcoming the number of children back into their schools, that they deem to be safe and therefore the timescales set nationally may not be followed. This number of children attending may increase as the summer term progresses, but this will be driven by a robust risk assessment process.

The safety and wellbeing of our children and staff is of paramount importance. There are many specific considerations unique to individual schools, settings and colleges which they are best placed to understand and plan for. This includes the different needs of their cohorts of children or young people and local communities, the size and shape of buildings and the numbers of staff that are available to work.

This means that there cannot be a uniform approach across the City in response to this announcement. Settings, schools and colleges will have to develop their own flexible plans and work at their own pace from 1st June in order to start to safely and gradually increase the number of children attending at any one time.

For this reason, in our primary schools it is highly unlikely that children in the identified priority year groups will be able to attend school full time. Schools are likely to have to prioritise certain year groups and not make an offer to them all. Your school will, of course, be in touch with you to provide more information about their plans for a phased return of additional children in due course.

We would ask you to support your school leaders at this time and be patient, they are working as quickly as they can to put plans in place during this difficult time. It is clear that any return for children and young people will not look the same as before COVID19.

Schools are considering of how best to support our children and young people at this time, with a focus on their mental health and emotional wellbeing as well as their learning. This pandemic has brought with it stress, uncertainty and anxiety for all of us including our children and young people.

We all want to get our children and young people back into education as soon as possible and we want to reassure you that everyone in Salford’s education community is working together as hard as they can during this time to ensure the wellbeing and safety of our children and plan for this first phase of wider opening.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

Yours sincerely

Charlotte Ramsden – Strategic Director

Cathy Starbuck - Assistant Director, Education,

Councillor John Merry Deputy City Mayor and Lead Member for Children’s and Young People’s Services

Reopening of Schools Letter

Thu 21 May 2020 Mrs Kinman

We would like to share a letter that has been sent to all Head Teachers and Governors today. It is from Simon A Smith, Director and Episcopal Delegate for Education, Diocese of Salford.

Dear Colleagues,

As you and I have written many times now, these are unprecedented and challenging times for the schools system and those who work with us and not forgetting our families too.

Over the last week, there has been a plethora of guidance from a range of sources but most notably from the department for education (DFE) who have released a number of key documents. All of them in the form of ‘non-statutory guidance’. Additionally, a number of professional associations have released their own findings and advice; all are being given deep and serious consideration, but only for that guidance to be regularly superseded or updated. This also adds significant stress.

I wrote to you some weeks ago (as part of the weekly mailing) that we did not intend to replicate information that is already in the public domain. Local authorities have worked very hard with their schools, and diocesan education departments, to produce materials, guidance and practical help to better navigate this period of partial opening. The focus now is on what comes next and how we safely bring more of our children and families back into the school environment.

Some colleagues have asked for a diocesan view of what they should do next. This is set against a national debate between the government, scientific and health advisors, professional associations, the wider public and others. I think it would be helpful to set out the legal position of our schools in relation to opening schools for more pupil groups from 1st June.

From 22 March, statutory education for pupils 5-16 is currently suspended. This means these age groups do not legally have to attend school, although schools have remained open for certain vulnerable groups and the children of ‘key workers’. I draw your attention to the guidance published by the DFE, most recently between 15th - 18th May. It is non-statutory guidance and does not have the effect in law of compelling the reopening of the school to pupils. Furthermore, this non-statutory guidance clearly states it is aspirational for schools to open for the listed year groups from 1st June.

The process the diocese education department expects schools to follow is that headteachers (and nominated governors where appropriate) carry out a thorough and comprehensive risk assessment which includes a dialogue with their local authority and insurers. The risk assessment should document any actions that have been or could be taken to mitigate any identified risk(s). This should be legitimately undertaken in a reasonable way which then allows the headteacher to recommend evidentially based conclusions. This must then be considered by the governing board/directors and a decision reached on the next steps to be taken (if any).

The expectation from the non-statutory guidance is that schools will do what is best for them with due consideration to their context and setting. There have been a full range of responses to recent guidance from local authorities and headteachers and chairs will need to be aware of local decisions that have been taken. At the time of writing, these range from local authorities taking a very firm stance to supporting very localised decisions around compliance with the non-statutory guidance. Typically, there is also significant regional variation between these two parameters.

Any school offer may be driven by questions around which groups of children (and in what order/combination), resources required (the staff/people you have available and those not available or at greater risk and financial resources), timeframes (not on 1st June, but from that date) and any additional support needed.

Diocesan advice therefore is that a legitimate and considered risk assessment must be undertaken and it is then for the governing board/directors to agree how the school will proceed with any broader parental offer.

The education team will continue to be strong advocates to the DFE and RSC Office from the Catholic community for the right, timely information in order to help us do the right thing. For you, it is vital that key decisions taken are evidenced, considered and reasonable but governing boards/directors must not shy away from their legal responsibilities of a duty of care to their pupils and employees. This means the courage to do what they believe to be morally and socially just within the legal frameworks that govern us.

I wish to finish by thanking you for everything you have done for your communities in the last few weeks; we have all come to learn just how difficult and emotionally draining this has been but it is also a chance to live out the gospel and be visible missionary disciples of Christ in all that we do.

Yours sincerely,

S A Smith

Director and Episcopal Delegate for Education

@RCSalfordEd

Parent Email

Tue 19 May 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

You should have all received the following email yesterday. Please can you check your emails and complete the questionnaire. Thank you.

The Email:

Dear Parents/Carers,

As I suggested in my letter last Monday 11th May, I have been awaiting further guidance and clarity from the Department for Education regarding the re-opening of schools, as outlined in the Prime Minister’s address on Sunday evening. The guidance arrived and it included the introduction of the Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6.

I now need a careful, measured and methodical plan that's built around the highest safety standards so that our school can do everything in its power to reduce the risks posed to all our pupils, parents and staff.

The purpose of this letter is to try and establish the numbers of pupils that will require a place for after half term from 8th June because we are unable to accommodate all of our pupils’ whilst maintaining their safety and social distancing protocols.

Before making your decision please consider very carefully the following points that may help in your decision making:

> Every child that can be safely cared for at home should be

> You will not be fined for non-attendance

> School is not compulsory at this stage

> Siblings in other classes cannot be accommodated

> A large number of children will not be with their usual teacher

> Lots of the children will not be in their usual classroom

>Places will be part time with staggered starting and finishing hours

To summarise, please consider your decision carefully before completing the online form below. Trust us to make the right decision. We all have your children’s best interests at heart, together with the safety of all our staff. If you request a place, there is no guarantee that you will receive one, I may have to prioritise places.

Please complete the following questionnaire:

https://forms.gle/4RNRLJH28eofWf6u8

The closing date for return of the survey is Wednesday 20th May by 12 noon.

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Raynor

Laudato Si’

Mon 18 May 2020 Mrs Kinman

This week is the fifth anniversary of the publishing of Laudato Si': Care for our Common home written by Pope Francis. The anniversary is being celebrated from Saturday 16th May 2020 to Friday 24th May 2020. Follow this link to find some thoughts, prayers and activities produced by the Catholic Education Service:-

https://www.catholiceducation.org.uk/images/HOME_Celebration_of_Laudato_Si.pdf

St Mary's Enjoying School Grown Goods!

Fri 15 May 2020 Mrs Brown

Thank you to our key worker children for looking after St Mary's Vegetable patch over the last 8 weeks! Today they got to taste their hard work for the first time as the lettuce and rocket leaves were ready for picking!

We made a delicious salad to go with pizza...Mr Sabatino gave us a master class on how to make authentic Italian pizza! As today is National Pizza Party Day!

We didn’t stop there...the children have been busy baking brownies, flapjacks and cookies so we’ve made some extra special deliveries to special people!

Yum Yum!

Mental Health Awareness Week

Fri 15 May 2020 Mrs Kinman

Next week is Mental Health Awareness Week (18^th - 24^th May 2020) and this year the theme is 'kindness'

Greater Manchester is joining together through acts of kindness as we respond to #COVID19 and here are some ideas from @42ndStreetmcr of how you can share some kindness and love, along with an excellent online blog written by Rebecca, sharing some simple ideas of how to everyone can share a little kindness: www.42ndstreet.org.uk/news/latest-news/kindness/

For other resources, see the links below:

www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week/resources

Time to Change

Mental Health Awareness Week

Friday Celebration Assembly!

Fri 15 May 2020 Mrs Brown

Good morning everyone!

We hope you are all well and keeping safe! We've had another excellent week of home learning and working in school with our key worker pupils!

This week you should have received a phone call from your class teachers. Those who we are yet to reach, we will keep on trying!

Teachers have loved speaking to you and it's great to receive so many positive comments about our online learning! We loved hearing your updates...your VE celebrations, tasks you have completed, new skills you have learnt, new siblings being born and hearing your happy voices has has brought a smile to all our faces!

This week's Purple Mash Stars of the week are:

Nursery = Oliver P

Reception = Joshua M

Year 1 = Aaron

Year 2 = Elias

Year 3 = Kuba

Year 4 = Sophie

Year 5 = Arianna

Year 6 = Megan

Bravo Bravo Bravo Bravissimo!

Class winners are:

Spelling Shed = Year 3

Maths Shed = Year 2

Huge congratulations! Keep up the hard work everyone!

We hope you have a fantastic Friday and enjoy your weekend!

National Thank a Teacher Day

Thu 14 May 2020 Mrs Kinman

National Thank a Teacher Day is a day when we, as a nation, can come together to say Thank You to teachers across the country who make a huge difference to young people’s lives - not just now during these unprecedented times - but every day!

This year it is taking place on Wednesday 20th May 2020 – and we will be celebrating and thanking teachers on social media all that week. If you would like to get involved please see the link below.

https://thankateacher.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Thank-a-Teacher-Day-2020-Tool-Kit.pdf

Awards