Newsletter – 26-Jan-24

Dear Parents and Carers

Meal payments and lunchtimes

Thank you parents for ensuring your child’s meal account is credited. Unfortunately there is not a function to set a reminder when the credit is running low on the Arbor account, so please just try to keep an eye on the balance. 

We have seen a reduction in the school hall food waste since introducing the rule that the children have to sit together and eat for at least 15 minutes at lunchtime. Mrs Clitheroe (who has been at The Priory for 30 years this year) and her team work very hard to produce every school meal to a high quality, and it’s good to see this fuelling our learners! 

International Week – food tasters

International Week is coming up in the week commencing Monday 5th February. During the week the teachers have planned activities  

On Friday 9th February, to add a nice flavour to the end of the week, we would like to give the children a chance to taste some food from around the world. 

If any parents have good recipes for international dishes and would be willing to cook (or buy and donate) enough of that dish for a class to have a small taster (not a whole portion), please contact the school office at office@priory.hants.sch.uk. 

PARKING

A few reminders regarding parking, I appreciate there are times these situations might be tempting, but:

• please do not park on the grass verges opposite the school.
• please always be mindful of blocking in empty spaces in front of the school, every space must be used.
• please do not pull up at the front entrance to drop children off for school, or collect.
• please do not park in the staff carpark (just before the back playground)

As mentioned previously, we are working with the Hampshire Travel team to get to the best, and safest solution, so your patience and support with this really is greatly appreciated.

ATHLETICS:  On Tuesday this week, Mrs Adams and Mrs Selwood accompanied 12 of The Priory’s Athletes as they competed in the Basingstoke Schools Athletics Competition against 5 other local schools. The team took part in a range of heats covering a wide variety of track and field events including; sprints, relays, long jump, triple jump and javelin to name a few. It was a fast-paced afternoon and each of our competitors worked hard and did their very best in both the individual and team events. They all had successes and most of all had fun, supporting each other, and encouraging each other as a team. Mrs Adams and Mrs Selwood were incredibly proud of all of them and never more so as they all awaited the results of the day. As each result was read out in reverse order, the team got more and more excited as we got closer to being in the top 3, second place was read out and by this stage it was obvious that we had won! Everyone erupted into spontaneous cheers as they celebrated their success. They had been absolutely amazing and deserved the win. Above all we were proud of how they had conducted themselves across the entire event – they were an absolute credit to themselves and The Priory school. As well as winning on the day, they have qualified for the Basingstoke finals which will be held in March. Watch this space for future news from our fantastic athletics team.

THE WINNING ATHLETICS TEAM!

RUGBY:   Thursday saw the second outing of our dynamic new rugby team. Our squad turned out another great round of rugby performances at Silchester school. An impressive tally of 11 tries scored across 4 challenging games, highlighted how the players worked, attacked and defended hard. On a muddy, wet and slippery pitch, our players really demonstrated their developing skills and it would be fair to say that the standard of play across all of the teams had been upped following the first round. Team ethos and support were as strong as ever, which led to 2 wins, 1 draw and a narrow loss. As always, the parental support was great and our team shone. Well done all, it is a privilege to watch you all grow and improve. We are very proud of you all!

OUR SPARKLING RUGBY TEAM!

THURSDAY 8th FEBRUARY: GB Gymnast Kelly Sim will be visiting the school.  Please see separate emails on this.  The school will benefit by receiving sports vouchers, raising the profile of sports, health and fitness, being inspired by a world class athlete, and enjoying a collaborative event.  PE Kit to be worn on this day please.

Safeguarding and Wellbeing

Signposting for Family Support …

This week we are providing a bank of resources that are available locally to support you and your family with a range of issues that you may be experiencing. Often we need some help and support and we just do not know where to turn, hopefully some of these sources and agencies could help. Some may require a referral from school which we can help with, a medical professional, such as a GP or school nurse, sometimes a self-referral is needed.

REMINDER – CAMHS P.A.C.E event…

A free health and wellbeing event for all parents, carers and professionals who support and work with children and young people.

This link:   click here  will take you to the full list of dates and venues and you are able to book the workshops that you may wish to attend.

CHILDREN’S  WELLBEING SERVICE – HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

ABOUT US –  The Children’s Wellbeing Service has been commissioned by The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The aim of the service is to support parents and carers of children and young people living in Hampshire who are experiencing distressing or challenging behaviours. Children’s Wellbeing Service works with families to help develop children’s positive behaviour and emotional wellbeing for Year R to Year 7.

PLEASE SEE FURTHER INFORMATION IN THE FULL LEAFLET BEING SENT TO ALL PARENTS/CARERS. THIS EXPLAINS HOW TO ACCESS THIS SUPPORT VIA A REFERRAL FROM A GP OR OTHER MEDICAL/HEALTH PROFESSIONAL

ChatHealth text service 

ChatHealth is a confidential text support service for parents, carers, families and young people in Hampshire manned by Southern Health health visitors and school nurses.

There are three ChatHealth services for:

Parents and carers of children under 5 – Text 07520 615720  Opening times: 9.00am – 4.00pm Monday-Friday exc. bank holidays

Parents and carers of children and young people aged 5-19 years – Text 07507 332417  Opening times: 8.30am – 4.30pm Monday-Friday  exc. bank holidays

Young people aged 11-19 – Text 07507 332160 Opening times: 8.30am – 4.30pm Monday-Friday exc. bank holidays

Any text sent outside opening hours will receive an automated message with advice of where to get help if their question is urgent. Out-of-hours texts will be replied to within one working day.

FULL CHATHEALTH INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT –

https://www.hampshirehealthyfamilies.org.uk/chathealth

Reporting concerns

Key actions to take if you have a concern that a child is in danger, may suffer harm and maltreatment…

MAKE A REPORT IF…

• If you fear that a child is in immediate danger CALL 999 and report the concern
• IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS AND YOU ARE NOT SURE WHAT YOU SHOULD DO – report your concerns to the DSL and team at school

Alternative options – as a member of the public you can report a concern to Hampshire’s Child Protection Services directly – information about the services is available here – this site provides useful information and learning about a range of abuse as well as what will happen when concerns are reported –

https://www.hants.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth/childrenandfamilies/safeguardingchildren/childprotection

If you are a member of the public and wish to report any welfare/safeguarding concerns DIRECTLY TO CHILDREN’S SERVICES:- you can complete Hampshire’s online form here: online enquiry form

You can report a concern over the telephone and via email –

Phone 0300 555 1384   
Monday to Thursday 8.30am to 5pm
Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm

Email childrens.services@hants.gov.uk     Please note: Emails are dealt with during normal office hours Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. At other times phone our out of hours number.      

Out of hours – Out of hours contact telephone number for Children’s Services Phone 0300 555 1373 

REMEMBER – SAFEGUARDING IS  EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY

Star of Wonder Awards

YEAR R

George, Rosie and Elliot

YEAR 1

Lillie, Olson and Jago

YEAR 2

Joseph, Harry and Poppy

YEAR 3

George, Grace, Harrison and Olivia

YEAR 4

Isabella, Esmae, Keira and Primrose

YEAR 5 

Sofia, Eloise and Robert

YEAR 6

Annabelle, Belle and Casper

With special mentions for achievement in piano for:

Aurelia, Simran and Jago