Dear Parent / Carer,

As the end of term quickly approaches, I would like to take this opportunity to thank staff, governors, parents and carers for the support given through what has continued to be a very challenging term.  Keeping our school open has been very much a team effort, with staff covering others who have been unwell and taking on jobs that they wouldn’t usually do.  The rules by Welsh Government haven’t always been clear or worked in our favour, however the support shown by parents by being extra cautious when pupils have been unwell or when there have been positive cases in the family have helped to keep our pupils and staff safe with minimal positive cases within the school.

It has been a very busy term and we have tried to keep the school day as normal as possible for the pupils.  This week the children have enjoyed a visit from the Elf on the Shelf in their Christmas parties. This term the children also enjoyed Children in Need Day. Thank you to everyone who supported the charity and helped to raise £120.50.  Halloween fun day and film night was also great fun for the children and helped to raise £238.91 in funds for the children. You all helped us to support the Poppy Appeal which raised £203.96. Finally, thanks to your cake donations, the children enjoyed a tea party which raised £153 for Macmillan.

Thank you also to Kim Morgan, Alison Thomas, Judith Hawkes and Eve Walpole for supporting the school by selling cakes and refreshments at the Crynant RFC Christmas Craft Fair and raising £141 for pupil funds. Thank you also to Mrs. Walpole for making a cake as a prize.  I believe these cakes are something quite special. Congratulations to the lucky winner.

We have also been very successful this term with some grant applications.  Pupils have benefited with some great resources bought from two science grants totalling £1040.  We look forward to using many of the resources outdoors next term when children are able to explore our new pond and use our outdoor classroom when it arrives. We have also used some of the funding to improve our PE resources for the pupils.  Last week we also received a £1000 innovation grant for an intergenerational project which we hope to begin in January. This will involve some of our younger pupils working alongside elderly members of our community to share skills and experiences.

At the moment, plans are that the children will return to school on Tuesday 4^th January.  We will be making some slight adjustments to our timings as we try to lengthen the day and return to our pre Covid timings. We have listened to parents who responded to our questionnaire in July, saying that you liked the staggered timings as it helped with parking and we have listened to parents who find staggered timings difficult to manage so we have tried to find a compromise.  Please remember that you can arrive at any point within the 10 minute entry time but dismissal times are fixed to one time which has been staggered to help with parking issues.

Nursery (Mrs. Williams)

• Enter between 8:50am and 9:00am Pupils finish at 11:30

Class 1 and 2 (Mrs. Thomas / Mr. Tipuric)

– Enter between 8:40am and 8:50am    Pupils finish at 3:10pm

Class 3 and 4 (Mrs. Davies / Mr.Allen)

– Enter between 8:40am and 8:50am    Pupils finish at 3:20pm

The arrival and dismissal point remain the same.

 

This week the school website has been updated with many new photos for you to download and enjoy.  We hope you like the regular updates seeing your children busy in school and having fun.

We would like to wish all families a safe and Merry Christmas.  We look forward to welcoming all pupils back on Tuesday January 4^th.

Kind regards

Mrs. M. Teague

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