St Joseph’s R.C. Middle School

Fortnightly Newsletter – Friday 18th September 2020

Dear Parents, Grandparents & Parishioners, It's been a wonderful last two weeks at St Joseph's since our last newsletter with so much happening now that clubs have started. The good weather has also helped with so many pupils being on the school field which is lovely to see. We have such a wonderful school site and we are trying to use it to the full. Please see our Facebook page for updates and photos. We are trying to reach as many parents as possible as parents can't visit sites with restrictions now becoming tighter. We are Hexham's hidden jewel and we want all to see what goes on in our school. Our library is back open and we have a rota underway. Please don't forget St Joseph's Breakfast and Learning club that operates daily and we have IT available to assist with learning, table tennis and many other activities on offer. Pupils can also go to morning clubs straight from Breakfast and Learning club which opens at 7.45 am. Parish Welcome: I am delighted that we will be holding celebration Masses throughout the year for all classes after half term. Fr Dunne and Fr Chris will coordinate this so that it can safely take place in the school hall. I also hope to plan more opportunities in the coming weeks and months for our parish schools and involve parents when possible even if we can do things by live video link. On another note, I am delighted to announce that Fr Anthony Cornforth will visit St Mary's and St Joseph's as we launch our international charity in Zambia. We aim to support 10 pupils to have an education for a year at the Belauni Street School, with a range of exciting fundraising events throughout the year. More to follow… First Holy Communion: Fr Chris will be contacting parents of Y4 & Y5 children to discuss proposals for children who should have made their First Holy Communion last school year and those due to make theirs this school year.

Macmillan Coffee Morning: This year, we still intend to hold our annual Macmillan Coffee Morning but with a difference! As we are unable to hold a coffee morning in school, children will have the opportunity to buy a biscuit and a drink of juice for £1.00, to raise funds for this very worthy cause. If any parents are holding their own ‘virtual coffee morning’ at home, we would love to see the photographs. School Photograph Day: On Monday 21st and Tuesday 22nd September our school photographer will be in. Pupils will have individual photographs taken as well as any sibling photographs. Pupils should be in full school uniform; therefore, they do not come in PE kit on these days. They will however, need to bring a pair of trainers so that they can access the school field for their games lesson. Clubs: On Tuesday 22nd September, the Y5 golf lesson and the after school golf will still be running. No PE kit please due to school photographs, a pair of trainers to change into is all pupils will need. Parents’ Evening: Due to current restrictions, we are unable to hold our Pastoral Parents’ Evenings as we have previously. Your child was given a form for you to fill in to indicate whether you would like a telephone call or a Google Meet appointment. On Thursday 17th September at 7pm you should have received a ParentMail telling you the booking system had gone live to enable you to book your own appointment slot. If you have any problems accessing this, please get in touch with the school office. Clued up Kids – Post COVID-19: On Friday 25th September, all pupils will be involved in a digital fact finding assembly that will focus on mental health, E-Safety, emotions during lockdown, bullying, eating habits and social media. This is a well-planned assembly and school is fully aware of the content. Vacancies across the Federation: The governors of St Mary’s RC First School and St Joseph’s RC Middle School are seeking to appoint two catering assistants and one cleaner to work across the school federation. For more information, please go to North East Jobs or you can find the information on the vacancies page of the school websites. Music Lesson Timetables: Below is a timetable of which days instrument teachers will be in school.

Monday- Piano lessons

Tuesday – Drum and woodwind lessons

Wednesday- Violin and drum lessons

Thursday- Brass lessons

Friday- Guitar, violin and singing lessons

Pupils will need to remember to bring their instruments and music in on the correct day. Timetables have now been put up in school which are outside of the music room so pupils will be able to check their times. The timetables will run every half term. Any new pupils who are starting instrument lessons will be shown how to read the timetables. We would encourage all pupils to make a note of their instrument lesson times in their planner. Unfortunately, due to current safeguarding restrictions, instrumental teachers will not be able to go to their classroom to collect a pupil who has forgotten to turn up, therefore, pupils are responsible for arriving at their music lesson on time. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Rosier. COVID 19 UPDATES: Following last week's newsletter updates can I remind parents that our school risk assessment procedures are on our school website. We rely on you as parents to comply with our controls and also to follow government guidance outside of school in order that the risk of bringing COVID into school is significantly reduced. This guidance will outline the key principles set out in the Government guidance and the control measures that will mitigate risk. We aim to include as much as we can at this point, but we need to bear in mind that guidance and circumstances can change frequently and at short notice. We will update this document with any additional information as time goes on. Masks/Face Coverings: As many of you will be aware, COVID-19 is on the rise and our North East region is now subject to a partial lockdown. Due to the increased risk, from Monday 21st September, face masks will be mandatory for all our KS3 pupils at the following times:

Entry and exit of the school building

In corridors

During assemblies in the school hall.

On school transport to and from school. We kindly request that pupils wear a suitable and sensible fabric face mask or a disposable facemask. Please ensure that all facemasks are stored in a named, resealable plastic bag. If you are unable to purchase a facemask for Monday, school does have a limited supply of disposable masks available. As for those children with a medical condition (e.g. asthma) who are exempt from wearing a facemask please contact the school office. COVID-19: If anyone in your household is displaying any one of the following symptoms then your child must not come to school and the person displaying symptoms should book a Covid test.

A high temperature

A new cough where you keep on coughing. This means coughing a lot for more than an hour or three or more episodes of coughing in a day

Losing or there being a change to your sense of smell or taste

The fastest way to get a test result is to go to a testing site. Individuals will need a pre-booked appointment or they will not be given a test. People can also order home test kits to be sent directly to them. To book an appointment or order a home kit, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test If you are unsure whether you need to take a test, click on the link below for advice from the NHS https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19/ If anyone in your household takes a Covid test, your child must not come back to school until the school office has been informed of a negative test result. Secondary School Admissions: If your child was born between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009. Your child is due to start year 9 at secondary school in September 2020. You can apply online for a secondary school place from 9 September 2019 to 31 October 2019. If you live in Northumberland please go to https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/article/2797/Secondary-school-

admissions and if you live in Durham please go to https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/2194/Secondary-school-places Middle School Admissions: If your child was born between 1 September 2011 and 31 August 2012, your child is due to start Y5 in September 2020. You can apply online for a secondary school place from 9 September 2020 to 31 October 2020. https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Education/Schools/School-admissions-places-appeals-1.aspx Assembly: Our assemblies have continued on a two week basis but we will require pupils in KS3 to wear a mask in future assemblies. Next Friday we will be starting a fact finding mission with a special Clued up Kids assembly around post Covid 19 lockdown. Children will be asked a number of questions regarding Lockdown emotions and experiences, eating habits, friendships, mental well-being, use of social media, online bullying, relationships, health, sexting in which we can help assess children's mental well-being across the school - All children will give a private anonymous digital response using a Bluetooth device to answer questions. Following these assemblies we hope to follow this up with a parents assemblies to compare parents responses against pupils...not easy I agree...anyway we may be able to facilitate this with careful planning but not for some time. Earrings: Many thanks to all pupils who have managed to remove earrings for PE lessons or purchase a safe cheap alternative in the way of plastic earrings for PE lessons. If you have not yet please do. We will purchase some for the school office and sell them at a nominal amount in the coming weeks. Y5 Golf Success: Bryan and Kirsty were delighted with all our Y5s in their first golf lessons and he looks forward to teaching more Y5s to Y8s in our golf club in weeks to come. Later in the year, we will have a visit from Hexham Golf Club encouraging children who might be

interested in joining the junior ranks. We aim to develop more pathways into sports as the year materialises. Pupils will be registered into clubs and ensure that hand washing takes place prior to participation. School Meals: One of the best features of our school is the quality of the school meals that we offer. The menus rotate regularly and a copy of the menu is always available from the school office so you can see the choices available. Lunchtime staff help children with carrying their trays, cutting up their food etc. Our kitchen staff can cater for all dietary requirements. I have always taken pride in the quality food we provide the pupils in the schools I have worked in and have always believed that school dinners are such an important part of the day for all children. Our Federation prides itself on FRESH, QUALITY & LOCAL. What this means to your child is: we only use quality prime cuts of British meat, all our eggs are free-range and local suppliers are local to the North East - All fruit and veg are Grade A, fresh and local when possible. Meals are prepared onsite from our trained catering team use fresh, quality & local ingredients. The new menus have been designed with your child in mind; we also aim to receive feedback from the school council and staff/parents throughout the year. The new menus are extremely flexible and have much more choice, each day the following options will be available:- Main Course, vegetarian option, pasta or jacket potato & filling option, salad and bread. Dessert options are main dessert, fresh fruit or yoghurt and a drink (water is available daily, fresh fruit juice served as part of their five-a-day with their dessert).

We currently have one of the best uptakes in Hexham for school meals in the range of 90% of children having a school meal in SMFS and around 60% at SJMS, packed lunches are almost a thing of the past! As an accredited Healthy School, any packed lunch boxes should be nutritionally balanced and should not include fizzy drinks, chocolate or high fat crisps. I have noticed this week a number of Walkers high fat crisps and high sugar juice drinks in some children’s lunch boxes.. By the same token, please try to increase the amount of fruit, yoghurt, brown bread, vegetables and unflavoured water, wherever you can. Due to children with allergies, nuts or foods containing nuts are not allowed. Obviously, these children avoid consuming nuts themselves but they can react in the same way, if simply in a room where nuts can be found in another child’s lunch box. I am sure you will understand that we have to be very careful and I appreciate your support.

Gospel: Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day, and sent them to his vineyard. Then at various times throughout the day, even right up to the eleventh hour, the landowner hired and sent more workers into his vineyard. In the evening, he said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay everyone one denarius each.’ The ones who had worked all day grumbled at the landowner, complaining that he paid the men who came last the same amount as them. The landowner said, ‘My friends, I am not being unjust to you. Did we not agree on one denarius? Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the last-comer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?’ Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.”

Finally, a huge thank you to our pupils for adhering to our strict guidelines on handwashing and they have all made it their priority to wash their hands moving between rooms which reduces the risk of any virus spreading. On behalf of Fr Chris, Governors and staff, may we wish you a happy weekend. Mr P Naughton Fr Chris