School Update

The East Anstey School Newsletter

Autumn Term 2020 - Week 8

Friday 6th November 2020

Latest Information

Procedural Updates

Following the introduction of a new period of national lockdown this week and the latest updated

guidance from the DfE, we have revisited our school risk assessment to ensure we are as secure as possible.

Main updates for families: We will be promoting the government "Hands, Face and Space" message

and as part of that, we will be asking parents to wear masks where possible at drop off and

collection times. Staff will also be wearing face coverings at contact points and in communal areas at

school (this is not advised for classrooms). Social distancing continues to be encouraged. Please

note - as part of lock down regulations, car sharing should only be for people from your household

or support bubble.

Remember - ‘Hands. Face. Space.’:

• hands – wash your hands regularly and for 20 seconds

• face – wear a face covering in indoor settings where social distancing may be difficult, and where you will come into contact with people you do not normally meet

• space – stay 2 metres apart from people you do not live with where possible, or 1 metre

with extra precautions in place (such as wearing face coverings or increasing ventilation indoors)

Open Afternoon

Our 'virtual' Open Afternoon took place this afternoon. Whilst obviously not the same as seeing

parents face to face, it was lovely for the children to get the opportunity to show off their work.

Thank you to those families who managed to attend, and hope you enjoyed seeing what we have been up to despite the limitations of the wider internet.

Food and Financial Support for Families in Need

Devon County Council have asked us to cascade the following information:

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is continuing to put a huge financial strain on some people.

Employment situations are changing rapidly and for some their income now no longer covers what they need or they have lost their jobs completely.

Help is available. If you know someone who is worrying about money and how to pay for basic

household essentials, please encourage them to apply for extra assistance through funding made available by Devon County Council via your District Council’s hardship fund.

To find out more about what support is available in Devon, including how to access local financial

support, healthy start vouchers and free school meals, where to find foodbanks and community

larders, free meals during the school holidays and what to do if you ’re on a low income and need to self-isolate, please visit Devon County Council’s website.

Children in Need

As we can't do our normal cake sales etc, we will have a non-uniform day on Friday 13th November

to support Children in Need. The children are invited to bring a donation (suggested £1) for the Children in Need collection.

Junior Sports Clubs

Unfortunately, following updated guidance we are now unable to offer after school sports clubs this term. We will hopefully be able to revisit this for the Spring term.

SMCC Virtual Open Day

We have received communication from South Molton Community College regarding their virtual

Open Day for all Year 6 and their families. Although they are not able to welcome you into the

college at the moment, the virtual tour will give you a really good overview of life at SMCC. This is

now available to view on their school website and also on their facebook page. There will be more

added to this virtual tour in the following weeks, so it will be worth visiting this at a later stage too, to see these updates.

Poppy Appeal

We did manage to sell some poppies and other merchandise earlier in the week, before the

introduction of the second lockdown meant we had to stop selling them and return what we had to

the Royal British Legion. We still have the raffle running for our cuddly hedgehog who has been

kept securely and has not been in direct contact with either bubble. Tickets are 50p and we will draw the raffle on Wednesday 11th (Remembrance day).

This year, the RBL are quite short on poppies due to many staff being furloughed or unable to work.

They have asked that we promote the option of donating via their online donation page (where you

can also download a poster or a poppy to colour). The poster below also gives details of how to donate by text if you prefer.

Flu Vaccination Reminder

As you may remember we sent out details in the Summer of the upcoming Flu vaccine, which is

booked in school for Friday 11th December. We have recently received an email from Virgin Care

Services stating that letters are being sent home to parents from NHS England regarding the flu

vaccine. Virgin Care Services are advising that, as long as you have given your consent online for your

child/ren, then they will be vaccinated in school as planned. Please see a copy of the letter below,

containing the link needed to give consent, should you still need to do so. Please let the offi ce know

if you need any further information regarding this.

Dear Parents/guardians

Your child is due to be in Reception to Year 6 from September 2020 and they are therefore eligible for a Free Nasal Childhood Flu Vaccination.

It is anticipated that this will be delivered in schools between October 2020 to December 2020, this

will be administered adhering to all up to date Infection Control, PPE and social distancing guidance at the time.

Flu vaccination is one of most effective interventions we have to reduce pressure on the health and

social care system which is going to be more important than ever this year. For this reason, it is

essential we deliver the vaccine to as many children as possible to prevent the spread of infect ion to those most at risk in society.

In light of the above we are expecting demand to be high and therefore we urge you to follow the

below link to consent to your child’s vaccination now. You will also find answers to your FAQ’s on

this link.

https://schoolimms.virgincare.co.uk/flu/2020/devon

Good News

Awards

Class 1 Achiever - Raffles

Class 2 Achiever - Callum

Well done to you both!

House Points

Latest update on House Points:

Amber: 209

Emerald: 264

Ruby: 226

Sapphire: 179

What's On

Although many of our school events will not be able to be held in our normal way, we are doing our

best to involve families as much as possible with our usual termly activities.

A list of proposed dates for some virtual events is shown below - please make sure your child's

TEAMs access is still working as you will need that to access the online events. We are also

increasing the number of communications we send home via TEAMs including messages, homework

etc., so it is becoming increasingly important that you have access. Please contact us as a matter of urgency if you are having any difficulty.

Forthcoming Dates

(Dates may be amended or added)

November

Wed 11th - Remembrance service in school

Fri 13th - Children in Need Non-Uniform day

December

Fri 11th Flu Vaccinations - (Reception - Year 6)

Christmas Production - online (date to be confirmed)

Christmas Class Dinner & Parties (date to be confirmed)

Christmas Holiday - Friday 18th December to Tuesday 5th January

Non-Pupil Days - Friday 18th December and Monday 4th January

Connect:

Do you have some good news for us or an advert you would like to share? Do you have some

community news or would like to promote a project or event? Connect with our newsletter and reach a wide audience. Children, do you have something to share (book reviews, hobbies etc)?

- Email your news or adverts direct news@exmoorlink.org

- Email the office eastanstey@exmoorlink.org

This newsletter is also available as a PDF