For the attention of all Parents/Carers

 

Thursday 31st December 2020 

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope that you are all well and have enjoyed your Christmas break as best you could. This was certainly a very different Christmas and New Year from the one we usually enjoy with our family and friends.

I am sure that you will have seen last night’s Government briefing where it was announced that some schools within tier 4 would not be returning as expected after the Christmas break. We have received confirmation that all Havering schools will remain closed to most pupils from the 4th January 2021 due to the increasing number of confirmed cases within Havering.

The Government guidance is clear that Primary schools should only allow children of critical workers and those defined as vulnerable to attend. Mead will be open to these pupils from Monday 4th January. A full list of critical workers and those children as vulnerable can be found below.

Critical workers and vulnerable children who can access schools or educational settings

If any of the categories listed apply to your child or your work is listed as critical to the COVID-19 response, please complete the questionnaire link below by 12-00 on Saturday 2nd January to enable us to make further plans in school.

'Vulnerable Children' and 'Critical Workers' form

From Monday 4th January, the school day will be from 8-30 until 3-00 for all key worker and vulnerable children and we will shut on Friday afternoon as usual (1-00). Children should come to school in their uniform and school lunches will continue to be available.

Children who are not returning to school Children who are not returning to school will be provided with remote learning via Google Classroom. The links can be found on the last page of my letter or via the school website. Online learning will begin on Monday 4th January.

Please contact the school if you have difficulty accessing Google classroom, please contact the school office. We will help where we can!

School Meals Any children who are entitled to Free School Meals (this does not include Infant Universal Free School Meals) who will not be attending school during this closure are eligible for a food parcel. Please contact the school office or email mail@mead.havering.sch.uk to request for this.

This is not the start to the New Year that we had hoped but it is vital we continue to do all we can to keep our school community safe during these challenging times.

At this time, we expect closures to be in place until Friday 15th January with further Government guidance expected before Monday 18th January. I will continue to update you as I receive further information, although sadly I only find about school updates via the television announcements or leaked newspaper articles!

If you have any questions, please email mail@mead.havering.sch.uk; we will do our best to support and guide where we can. 

Please contact the school if you have difficulty accessing Google classroom, please contact the school office. We will help where we can!

School Meals                                                                                                                                                         Any children who are entitled to Free School Meals (this does not include Infant Universal Free School Meals) who will not be attending school during this closure are eligible for a food parcel. Please contact the school office or email mail@mead.havering.sch.uk to request for this.

This is not the start to the New Year that we had hoped but it is vital we continue to do all we can to keep our school community safe during these challenging times.

At this time, we expect closures to be in place until Friday 15^th January with further Government guidance expected before Monday 18^th January. I will continue to update you as I receive further information, although sadly I only find about school updates via the television announcements or leaked newspaper articles!

If you have any questions, please email mail@mead.havering.sch.uk; we will do our best to support and guide where we can. 

Take care and stay safe.

Mr Denchfield
Executive Head teacher

   

Online learning will restart on Monday 4th January.
KS1 learning - these links are also on the school website
Class Dojo	Curriculum	https://student.classdojo.com/#/login
Bug Club	Reading	Pearson ActiveLearn
Mathletics	Maths	https://student.mathletics.com/primary#/launch
MyMaths	Maths	My Maths
KS2 learning - these links are also on the school website
Google	Curriculum	https://www.google.com Sign in at the top right of the page. Click on the waffle to enter the G-Suite. Select the classroom icon.
Bug Club	Reading	Pearson ActiveLearn
Mathletics	Maths	https://student.mathletics.com/primary#/launch
TT Rockstars	Maths	Times Tables Rock Stars: Play

Useful medical links

Symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19)

Get a free NHS test to check if you have coronavirus

Social distancing: what you need to do - Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Covid 19 testing sites

Testing and tracing for coronavirus (COVID-19)

People at higher risk from coronavirus (COVID-19)

Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine

FOR THE ATTENTION OF YEAR 6 PARENTS

Saturday 19th December 2020

Dear Parents and Carers in Year 6

Last night, we were notified that there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 within Mead Primary School.

The positive case is within the Year 6 bubble; the children and staff within Year 6 who have been in direct prolonged contact with the person confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 will need to self-isolate for 10 days. This means your child must self-isolate until Saturday 26th December - this is 10 days after the children and staff were in close contact with the person who tested positive.

Other members of your household can continue normal activities provided your child does not develop symptoms within the self-isolation period.

You should also be aware of Symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), and make sure that if anyone in your household develops these symptoms they should stay at home and ask for a coronavirus test as soon as possible.

Any form of self-isolation over the Christmas period will be difficult and will very likely have an impact on family plans. I am so sorry if this is the case but it is important we share this information and ask that you follow the advice from Public Health and the Department for Education.

Below are some medical links which may be helpful at this time.

Useful medical links

Symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19)

Get a free NHS test to check if you have coronavirus

Social distancing: what you need to do - Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Covid 19 testing sites

Testing and tracing for coronavirus (COVID-19)

People at higher risk from coronavirus (COVID-19)

Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine

I hope you are able to enjoy the remainder of the Christmas holiday as best you can and we look forward to seeing you when we return to school on Monday 4th January.

Take care and stay safe

Mr Denchfield



Head teacher

A goodbye from Mrs Smith

 

Weekly Newsletter - 18/1/2020

Weekly Newsletter

18th December 2020

Dear Parents,

It is with a heavy heart that I write, what will be my last newsletter, to our Mead families. I came to Mead just over 17 years ago as a supply teacher and during the ensuing years progressed from class teacher, to year group leader, to Deputy head teacher and then to my current role as headteacher. During that time I have seen a lot of children come and go, in fact some have even come back-bringing their children to Mead!!

I feel very privileged to have worked with such dedicated staff over the years and to have been so warmly welcomed into what I have found to be a very close, supportive, caring community and I shall certainly miss you all.

But most of all I shall miss your wonderful children-they are the heart of Mead and their cheery smiles and warm greeting on the gate in the mornings have made that 5:30 early morning alarm call so worthwhile.

I am sad that the current Covid situation has prevented me from saying my goodbyes personally but I want to thank each and everyone of you personally for all of your support-I leave you in the very capable hands of Mr. Denchfield who I’m sure will receive a very warm Harold Hill welcome. Please take care and have the best possible time you can have, in these difficult times, over Christmas and the New Year. I shall certainly miss you all.


I am not the only person leaving this term. Sadly the Mead community has to say goodbye to Miss I’Anson who is moving back to Yorkshire to be near her family-I am sure you will want to join me in extending our very best wishes to her for the future.
I ‘m sure Mrs Wagner, who will be joining us to take Jamaica class, will get a warm Mead welcome in January.


Unfortunately, not every year group was able to record their Christmas performances but I hope you have managed to see the recordings that we were able to make. I was fortunate enough to see some of them live and I must say we have some really talented children here at Mead. I hope those children who were unable to take part in the performances in school were able to share with you some of their songs at home.


IMPORTANT

We are responsible for advising parents and staff of any new positive coronavirus test results (for pupils) up to and including 23rd December- We sincerely hope this won’t be necessary but would urge parents to please advise school via the following e-mail of any positive cases detected up to this date please.

mail@mead.havering.sch.uk


School will be completely closed this afternoon

Please ensure ALL children (including those who would normally remain in school on Friday afternoons) are collected at the following times:

Reception-12:30 from Gate 3

Year 1-12:45-from Gate 3

Year 2 -12:45 from KS2 playground

Years 3&4 -12:55 from KS2 playground

Years 5&6-13:05 from KS2 playground

Nursery- Afternoon children can come in for the morning session


Havering Catering Services

Week beginning Monday 4th January is week 2 on the Havering catering services menu. All meals are served with unlimited salad and vegetables and cost £2.25. The menu can be accessed here (it says infant school but is the menu for both infants and juniors).

Please be reminded to top up your child’s catering account as we cannot provide dinners for pupils whose accounts exceed a debt of £10.


Diary Dates
Term Dates 2020-21



Spring Term
Monday 4th January - Friday 12th February
Monday 22nd February - Thursday 1st April


Summer Term
Monday 19th April - Friday 28th May
Monday 7th June - Friday 23rd July

INSET Days 2020-2021

INSET 1	INSET 2	INSET 3
Thursday 3rd September	Friday 4th  September	Monday 22nd February

INSET 4	INSET 5
Friday 28th May	Friday 23rd July

Diary Dates

First day back after the Christmas break is Monday January 4th-Hopefully everyone will be back and school can get back to some sort of normality.
Please be aware that Year 4 swimming starts 4th January- The first day back after the Christmas break

Attendance Update
Our attendance so far this academic year is 95.5%, which is just below our 96% target. Fortunately we are not penalised for pupils who are absent for Covid related reasons. Let’s hope we can reach our target with improved attendance next term.

We are not awarding certificates this week (as half of the pupils are not in school) but want to acknowledge all the pupils who are working hard both in school and at home- I sincerely hope things improve in the Spring term and there is less disruption to

On a personal note and on behalf of everyone in school I want to thank you for your kind words, cards and presents.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs L Smith

Headteacher

Reminder - School closure

School will be completely closed on Friday afternoon ( 18th December)

Please ensure ALL children (including those who would normally remain in school on Friday afternoons) are collected at the following times:

Reception-12:30 from Gate 3
Year 1-12:45-from Gate 3
Year 2 -12:45 from KS2 playground
Years 3&4 -12:55 from KS2 playground
Years 5&6-13:05 from KS2 playground
Nursery- Afternoon children can come in for the morning session

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR YEAR 5

 Unfortunately due to staffing shortages we will not be able to open the year 5 bubble this coming Thursday and Friday-Pupils will, however, be expected to continue with online learning.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Year 3 Christmas Jumper Day

Happy Christmas Jumper day! 🎄⛄❄️ 

Even though we couldn't be in school, we still wore our festive jumpers at home.

Lovely pictures - Thank you for sharing them with us :)

Well done Year 3!

Year 2 Christmas Jumper Day

 Even though we couldn't be together today it was lovely to see some of you wearing your Christmas jumpers at home.

Well Done Malta Class

To Jacob, Joseph, Jessica, Jackson, Gabby, Julianna, Yohan, Pio, Noah, Bella and Gracie. 

You all deserve the E for Excellence certificate for the hard work that you have put in to the activities to develop your speech and language, social communication and attention and listening skills this term. Well done everyone.

Year 1 Awards

Year One have had another successful week!

Well done to Hollie-Rai in Australia, Lexi, Sandra and Shayan in New Zealand and Ianis, Stanley and Roman G in Palau who have read 10 books.

Rubi and Lorena in Australia and Domas and Izabela in New Zealand have received their silver reading awards this week for reading 50 books.

Well done to Sandra, Ignacy, Amy and Dora in New Zealand, Poppy, Isla, Aum, Samhita, Visha, Samir, Isla, Natalia and Leo in Australia and Arsalaan, Lorienne, Maisy, Noah, Emma, Alexa and Izyan in Palau, who all achieved WOW Awards this week.

William in New Zealand and Samhita in Australia received Handwriting Awards.

The Star Writer certificates were awarded to Darius in New Zealand, Logan in Australia and Mekhi in Palau.

And finally the E for Excellence certificates were awarded to Leo in Australia, Amy in New Zealand and Karl in Palau.

Well done everybody, we are very proud of you all!

Year 6 awards

 

Well done to this week's Year 6 award winners: The week’s Star Writers are:

Argentina- Summer

Brazil- Mahroosh

Chile- Lily

The pupils in Year 6 who received an 'E for Excellence' certificate are:

Argentina- Anmona

Brazil- Leah

Chile- Aiden

Mahroosh, Mia, Tomi, Chloe, Irina, Vlad and Jason, Alex, Lev Pavel and Josh K have worked hard this week to achieve a bronze award. Nia, Irina, Jason, Pavel and Josh have also received a silver Mathletics award this week.

The Butterflies Project, a charity for children with a learning disability

 

Year Six Spellings

Here are the Year Six spellings for this week. First look look up the definition of each word. Then, use the paper sheet or the task on Google Classroom to write a sentence using each word. Pupils will be tested on Friday 18th December. Practice hard and good luck!

minibus
miniskirt
miniscule
minibeast
minicab
minimum
microscope
microchip
microphone
microwave

Weekly Newsletter 11-12-2020

Dear Parents,

The beginning of this week was certainly very challenging with both year 5 and year 4 bubbles having to close, closely followed by year 3 on Tuesday. I want to thank parents and carers for being so understanding-we were only informed of the Covid cases in years 3 and 4 in the mornings of the closure so there wasn’t a lot of time to let you know and I apologise to those of you who had to turn around at the gate. Unfortunately years 3 and 4 will not be back in school before Christmas but as today is Christmas jumper day we’d love to see some photos of them wearing their Christmas tops.

On Monday we are welcoming back our year 2 children and staff after 2 weeks of isolating and on Thursday our year 5 staff and pupils, we are really looking forward to seeing them and sharing some of the planned Christmas activities with them.

I’m afraid the Christmas activity list I shared last week has had to be reviewed in light of recent events. The year 1 performance shared on Wednesday was truly amazing as was the fabulous recording shared by our Nursery children yesterday-we are lucky to have such talented children at Mead-Well done to everyone.

We will share as many performances as we can but sadly some had not been filmed prior to the bubbles shutting-maybe the children can do solo performances for you at home?

Please be reminded that if your child has been told to self isolate they should not be leaving your home at all during the period of self isolation as this may put others at risk.

IMPORTANT
We are responsible for advising parents and staff of any new positive coronavirus test results (for pupils) up to and including 23rd December- We sincerely hope this won’t be necessary but would urge parents to please advise school via the following e-mail of any positive cases detected up to this date please.

mail@mead.havering.sch.uk

School will be completely closed next Friday afternoon

Please ensure ALL children (including those who would normally remain in school on Friday afternoons) are collected at the following times:
Reception-12:30 from Gate 3
Year 1-12:45-from Gate 3
Year 2 -12:45 from KS2 playground
Years 3&4 -12:55 from KS2 playground
Years 5&6-13:05 from KS2 playground
Nursery- Afternoon children can come in for the morning session

Havering Catering Services
Week beginning Monday 14th December is week 1 on the Havering catering services menu. All meals are served with unlimited salad and vegetables and cost £2.25. The menu can be accessed here (it says infant school but is the menu for both infants and juniors).

Please be reminded to top up your child’s catering account as we cannot provide dinners for pupils whose accounts exceed a debt of £10.

Diary Dates
Term Dates 2020-21

Autumn Term
Monday 2nd November - Friday 18th December

Spring Term
Monday 4th January - Friday 12th February
Monday 22nd February - Thursday 1st April

Summer Term
Monday 19th April - Friday 28th May
Monday 7th June - Friday 23rd July

INSET Days 2020-2021

INSET 1	INSET 2	INSET 3
Thursday 3rd September	Friday 4th  September	Monday 22nd February

INSET 4	INSET 5
Friday 28th May	Friday 23rd July

Star Writers:
These children have used a range of powerful vocabulary and techniques to become a Star Writer; Lily in Chile, Sebastian in Barbados, Nancy in Jamaica, Ella in Antigua, Logan Australia, Darius in New Zealand, Mekhi in Palau, Archie and Violet in St Lucia, Antony and Kaden in Kenya, Alice in Madagascar, Summer in Argentina, Mahroosh in Brazil, Sky in Northern Ireland and Tommy in Egypt. Look out for examples of their work on the blog!

Learning Power Awards:
These are the awards we present to the pupils when they have demonstrated one of our four learning skills: Resilience, reciprocity, reflectiveness & resourcefulness.

Well done to the whole of Kenya class who receive certificates for resilience.

Well done to Samhita in Australia and William in New Zealand who have presented their work beautifully; They have shown pride in their work and taken care with their handwriting and number formation.

Reading Awards
The following pupil have read 10 books and receive a bookmark for their efforts, Rosie in Antigua, Lexi, Sandra and Shayan in New Zealand and Ianis, Stanley and Roman G in Palau


Oscar in Antigua and Kamil in Barbados have achieved bronze reading awards for reading 25 books.

Silver Reader awards go to Nathan K in Jamaica, Rubi and Lorena in Australia, Domas and Izabela in New Zealand, Amelia D, Lenny L and Callum in St Lucia and Kamil, Kojo and Zelda in Barbados who have read 50 books. They each receive a silver certificate and a £5 book token for their efforts.

Nuhaa in Palau, has read 75 books and she gets a book of her choice for her fantastic effort.

A massive well done to this week’s gold readers Matteo in Jamaica, Zuzanna and Ignacy in New Zealand, Amaan in Palau and Emilia in Barbados who have read 100 books and receive a gold certificate and a trophy for their efforts.

Mathletics Award
The following children have been award a Bronze certificate for achieving 1000 points by completing their Mathletic challenges; Lily, Logan, Damira, Grace, Amelia, Hollie-Rai, Avyukt, Aum, Leya and Shay in Australia, Moksha, Nuhaa, Taha, Arsalaan and Mia in Palau, Amy, Domas, Ria, Isabela, Sandra, Ignacy, Dora, Zuzanna, Mhroosh, Mia, Tomi and Nia in Brazil, Sidiq and Ella in New Zealand, Esmai, Max, Nisa, James, Olivia, Dev, Katherine and Sienna in Scotland, Chloe, Irina, Vlad and Jason in Chile and Alex, Lev Pavel and Josh K in Argentina.

These children have been awarded a silver certificate for achieving 5 Bronze certificates in Mathletics; Logan in Australia, Zuzanna in New Zealand, Mia in Palau,Dev in Scotland, Irina and Jason in Chile and Pavel and Josh K in Argentina.

A gold certificate is awarded to Zuzanna in New Zealand-Well done to her.

I have made my teacher happy/WOW Award

Pupil	Reason
Aum, Samhita, Visha, Samir, Isla, Natalia and Leo in Australia	For moving up a book level.
Poppy and Isla in Australia.	For completing an amazing piece of writing for homework.
Arsalaan, Lorienne, Maisy, Noah, Emma, Alexa and Izyan in Palau	For moving up a book level.
Sandra, Ignacy, Amy and Dora in New Zealand.	For moving up a book band.
Daniel R, Alex and Paulina in Madagascar.	For working hard with their Dojo home learning.
Joshua and Charlotte F in Egypt	For their home learning.

E for Excellence Winners:
These wonderful children have demonstrated excellence this week.

Barbados	Billie	Wales	All of Wales class who have accessed online learning
Jamaica	Mahir	Scotland	All of Scotland class who have accessed online learning
St Lucia	Lenny L	Germany	All of Germany class who have accessed online learning
New Zealand	Amy	Greece	All of Greece class who have accessed online learning
Australia	Leo	Italy	All of Italy class who have accessed online learning
Palau	Karl	U.S.A	All of U.S.A class who have accessed online learning
Madagascar	Daniel K and Majus	Canada	All of Canada class who have accessed online learning
Egypt	Isabel and Maryam	Mexico	All of Mexico class who have accessed online learning
Kenya	Cristian	Chile	Anmona
N. Ireland	Natas	Brazil	Leah
Argentina	Aidan	Antigua	Ruby

For those of you not returning to school next week have a fabulous Christmas and a very happy new year.
Everyone else have a good weekend and I look forward to seeing you all bright and early Monday morning.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs L Smith
Headteacher