Please view the document below for a COVID 19 Update And Self Isolation information. The document also details our upcoming events!

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Happy Half-Term

I don’t know about you all, but I think the staff and children are really looking forward to breaking up today for their half-term break. Things have been very different since coming back in September and I would like to thank you all for your continued patience and understanding whilst we continue to try to navigate the never ending updates and changes in guidance regarding COVID 19.

I know that some of you have been frustrated with our one-way system and limited numbers on site, but I hope you recognise that this is done for the safety of your children, our staff and yourselves too. None of these routines have been put in place to deliberately cause inconvenience to any parent or carer and I would like to say thank you to those of you who have taken the time to say some kind things to us during the midst of your frustrations. It has really meant alot.

Whilst we would still ask parents and carers to telephone or email school wherever possible and avoid coming into school, we recognise that sometimes you do need to come into the foyer of the building. Should this be the case after half term, parents and carers will be required to wear a face covering once in the building as per government guidelines.  You will not be required to wear masks on the site otherwise, but are welcome to do so if you so wish.

Thank you to all the parents and carers who attended our ‘virtual’ parents’ evening last night. The majority of you were able to dial up successfully and speak to your child’s class teacher via Teams. We hope you found the discussion informative and worthwhile. For those of you who did not manage to make connection and were unavailable when the teacher telephoned, you will be contacted again by telephone. Please can you ensure you answer the call.

REMINDER FROM MONDAY 2nd NOVEMBER 2020

MORNING DROP OFF TIMES – 8:45am to 9:05am

In order to allow parents/ carers greater flexibility and choice of arrival time, we will welcome all of our children to be dropped off at any time between 8:45am and 9:05am. The gates will be opened at 8:45am but we ask that parents/ carers do not all congregate at this time at the gates, since children and families are free to arrive at any time up until 9:05am, therefore eliminating the need to crowd at the gate first thing.

Please note that any children arriving after 9:05am will be marked as late.

COLLECTION TIMES AT THE END OF THE DAY

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If parents/ carers have siblings in Afternoon Nursery, the older children can be collected from the playground first and then parents/ carers can follow the one-way system to the Nursery gate where your Nursery child will be handed to you.

Please can we ask that parents/ carers are considerate and remain on time for the drop-off and collection of children- not early or later than the designated times. Please can we ask that parents/carers do not congregate at the school gate too early so that social distancing can be maintained.

May we also remind parents/carers that any social distancing for parents on Nettlefolds Park is at the discretion of parents/ carers themselves.

In the meantime, happy half term to everyone and we look forward to seeing you again on 2nd November

Yours sincerely,

P Scott

Headteacher 

Dear Parents/ Carers,

We are so excited to finally be welcoming all of our children and parents/ carers back to school following so many months of missing you all. The children who have already returned have just been fantastic and it is the children in our school who teach us what really matters. Our school is once again filling up with the laughter of our children and we cannot wait until everyone is back with us again over the next week.

All of our children remain in year group bubbles and, with a staggered start and end to each day and lots of hand washing, we believe that our children are as safe as they possibly can be.  Please be assured that we also have plenty of hand sanitiser in school, so do not worry about having to provide any for your child.

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It will take a few weeks to settle into our new routines and we hope that you will understand and be patient with us as we try and manoeuvre our way around ensuring almost 400 children remain safe and happy. Please can we ask that you continue to support us by arriving at school for drop off and pick up at your designated times as this will really help us to keep the adults socially distanced in order to keep your children safe.

We have ordered some new water bottles for every child and these will be given to each child early next week. We ask that you wash these bottles at home every night and send them back empty into school each day so that we can re-fill them with fresh water daily. Please do not send any squash or fizzy drinks in these bottles as they are for water only.

From next week we will also be re-instating milk for any child who wishes to have a drink. School will continue to pay for this and children will be offered a drink of milk if they would like one every morning. Children will not be forced to drink any milk if they do not want it.

We are asking that children wear their OUTDOOR KIT to school on the days that they have PE. You will be given a timetable next week so that you can see when PE days are for your child. Please can you also send us back your child’s PE bag but ONLY with their pumps in. We will keep these in school so that the children can then use their pumps if they need to.

We just want to say thank you all for your support over the past few months and we really look forward to continuing to work as a team to make sure that the children of Loxdale get the very best that we can offer.

Have a great weekend everyone, we hope you like the poem below. Looking forward to seeing you all next week. 

Yours sincerely,

P Scott

Mrs Patricia Scott                                                                    

Headteacher

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The Time We Spring-Cleaned the World

by Laura Gribbons

The world it got so busy,
There were people all around.
They left their germs behind them;
In the air and on the ground.

These germs grew bigger and stronger.
They wanted to come and stay.
They didn’t want to hurt anyone -
They just really wanted to play.

Sometimes they tried to hold your hand,
Or tickled your throat or your nose.
They could make you cough and sneeze
And make your face as red as a rose.

And so these germs took over.
They started to make people ill,
And with every cough we coughed
More and more germs would spill.

All the queens and kings had a meeting.
“It’s time to clean the world up!” they said.
And so they had to close lots of fun stuff,
Just so these germs couldn’t spread.

We couldn’t go to cinemas
Or restaurants for our tea.
There was no football or parties,
The world got as quiet as can be.

The kids stopped going to school,
The mums and dads went to work less.
Then a great, big, giant scrubbing brush
Cleaned the sky and the sea and the mess!

Dads started teaching the sums,
Big brothers played with us more,
Mums were in charge of homework
And we read and played jigsaws galore!

The whole world was washing their hands
And building super toilet roll forts!
Outside was quiet and peaceful,
Now home was the place for all sports.

So we played in the world that was home
And our days filled up with fun and love,
And the germs they grew smaller and smaller
And the sun watched from up above.

Then one morning the sun woke up early,
She smiled and stretched her beams wide.
The world had been fully spring cleaned,
It was time to go back outside!

We opened our doors oh so slowly
And breathed in the clean and fresh air.
We promised that forever and always
Of this beautiful world we’d take care !

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As we come to the end of the term, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support during what has been one of the most difficult periods for everyone in our school community. Without your gratitude and words of encouragement, I really do not think we would be where we are today, in a strong position to welcome our children back to school in September, and I would like to thank each and every one of you on behalf of the team at Loxdale.

I also wanted to say a personal thank you to all of the staff in our school, who have worked tirelessly since the 20th March when lockdown began. During the pandemic period, there have been staff in our school throughout that time, including the holidays and bank holidays, to support our children and their parents- through childcare, teaching, food parcel delivery or even just an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on. These were times when the infection rate was high and it is not an exaggeration to say that these colleagues put themselves at risk for the children of our school and for that I will be forever grateful- as I am sure parents and carers, you are too.

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For more information please read the 'Thank you parents' letter here. 

I hope you are all managing to enjoy at least some of the sunshine and that you are all safe and well.

We have welcomed back some of our Year 5 children this week and this means our school is slowly returning back to some kind of normality. We have missed our children and families lots and it has been lovely to see all the messages, photographs and videos that you have sent us during these unprecedented times.

The Prime Minister announced on Tuesday that it is the Government’s intention to have all children back to school in September and this is something we are all really looking forward to. Quite how that will look, we are awaiting guidance on, but we hope things can get back to our new ‘normal’ as quickly as possible upon our return.

We still have no further updates as yet regarding how the ‘Free School Meals’ vouchers will be delivered over the holiday period, but please can we ask that you all check that we have the latest email contact details for you to ensure that your vouchers are delivered correctly since there will possibly be no-one in school to support any queries you may have during August, which could possibly mean parents/ carers are left without any vouchers during the summer holiday period.

Several Government departments have also announced funding for ‘catch-up’ programmes in all schools for our most disadvantaged children, but again we still await further updates regarding this.

As a local authority maintained school, we also await further guidance around summer holiday activities in the city. Please may we take this opportunity to inform parents/ carers that Loxdale is unlikely to be one of the sites for summer provision. This is due to further building work that is to be completed on site, with regard to the widening of pathways etc... that was unable to be completed previously due to lockdown.

We have missed you all very much and would like to try and have some kind of ‘face-to-face’ meeting with all of our children who are not currently in school before the end of term. This may be when you collect food parcels or work packs or even when you drop off any brothers and sisters. Another way for us to do this is via ‘Teams’, which is how Wolverhampton City Council staff are able communicate with each other during lockdown. It is a little bit like ‘Zoom’, although we are not allowed to use Zoom due to safeguarding concerns. We ask ALL parents/ carers if you could please download the ‘Microsoft Teams’ app onto your phone or PC or tablet this week for us. Next week, staff will call you (as part of their normal check-in calls) and we can then invite you directly to a ‘Microsoft Teams’ meeting via your email, where it will be lovely to see you and your child/ children. PLEASE make sure you answer our calls, which will ensure you don’t keep getting pestered by us (or even other agencies if we cannot make contact).

Please note that we will only be having ‘Microsoft Teams’ contacts with parents/ carers of children who we have not seen at all.

In the meantime, please continue to look after yourselves and stay safe. Miss you all and cannot wait to see everyone again soon.

It was lovely to speak to you all earlier in the week as we tried to find out your intentions as parents/ carers and we would like to thank you for all of the supportive comments you have given us during this very turbulent time. Whilst it is currently our intention to open for identified pupils after half term, please be assured that no parent will be penalised if they have chosen not to send their child to school at the moment and we fully support and understand any individual decision made by you all.

Your responses have helped us begin to shape our plans for after half term. However, as I am sure you are all aware, there is still much debate regarding the safe opening of schools and we are still awaiting clarity from the Government, the unions and the Local Authority.  We have therefore decided to wait until next week before we send out our final guidance to you as we do not want to confuse the situation by keep changing our arrangements.  Please be assured that we do have clear plans in place, but would like to ensure we communicate these to you as clearly and simply as we possibly can during these confusing times.

However, please be assured that we will continue to support you all as we move to the next phase of the plan. In the next week, we will providing information about the school day for critical worker children and identified year groups, the setting up of ‘bubbles’, lunchtime provision, hygiene arrangements,  work to be provided for those children who are not in school, the use of PPE and suggested social distancing and hygiene measures for pupils, staff and parents/carers.

We can confirm, however, that it is our intention to close during half term for ALL pupils in order to facilitate a full and deep cleaning regime that will ensure the building is as safe as it can possibly be for our children to return after the half-term.

May we thank you all for your support during this time and we will endeavour to finalise our plans for after half–term as early as possible next week.

Morning everyone. Hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and well and that you are looking after each other during these difficult times. There seems to be lots of different advice everywhere about the possibility of schools re-opening and it is confusing for us all. Please be assured that as soon as we know anything we will communicate with you via text or social media as soon as possible. However, please be aware that the first time we hear of things is normally the same time as you on the daily briefings on the news! Please be assured that the health, safety and welfare of our children, parents/carers and staff remains our ultimate priority at all times and we will be guided by Government advice on any return strategy.

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We hope that you have all managed to access the learning on-line or if not by collecting hard packs from the School Office. PLEASE do not hesitate to contact your teachers via the class emails if there is anything you are unsure of or you need help with. If you need to speak to Miss Paskin at all, then please do not hesitate to call school and we can get a message to her to contact you directly. Our school phones are manned from 8:30am until 3:30pm by school staff every day, so please call us if you need anything at all- including help with the vouchers! As the lockdown continues, we hope that you are finding the work helpful, but please do not stress about it- WE ARE HERE TO HELP if you need us, even if you just need to chat. We love talking to our parents as we miss you all, so don’t think you are a burden.

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All class teachers will be calling their classes over the next week so please can you answer your phones as we miss you all and are looking forward to speaking to you and your children.

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Friday 8th May is VE day and therefore a Bank Holiday and we will be closed on this day.

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With regards to May half-term holiday, we are currently unsure what is happening, so please bear with us whilst we await further guidance from the government. Again, we will keep you updated as soon as any information emerges.

In the meantime, please take care and we look forward to seeing you all again soon- in whatever way that looks

We hope you all had a restful Easter break and we would like to welcome you back to our very first remote summer term!

We’ve all had to adapt to new ways of working, so I wanted to take the opportunity to say what an amazing job you’re doing to support your child’s wellbeing and learning during this time. Please remember to just do what you can and whatever you feel is right.

It’s definitely been a strange and challenging time and it is ok if you and your child feel wobbly and worried at the moment. We’re here for you every step of the way as we figure this all out together. Remember, if you have any concerns about helping your child learn or you need any other support from the school, please let us know by contacting your child’s class teacher via the class email addresses, contacting the school email address or just call us at school if you need us.

We miss the children very much, but we must follow the government’s guidance to keep everyone in our community safe. So, our school continues to remain closed to all but children of key workers and vulnerable children.

But just because we’re not all in the same building, doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun together! Your children will have lots of activities they can get stuck into over the summer term – so keep a close eye on your child’s class pages and Facebook or Twitter for lots of ideas to help your child learn.

We also love seeing the children’s fantastic learning at home – please keep sending their work in to the class pages or school email as we would like to continue to showcase it on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Also, we love to see your lovely messages on Facebook- please keep sending them to us J

We can’t say yet when we’ll be able to open the school fully, but rest assured that we’ll continue doing our utmost to keep your child learning and our school community connected.

Let’s get cracking with our summer term!

Warm regards and stay safe.

Dear Parents/ Carers,

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We hope you are all safe and well and that you are managing to cope during these difficult and uncertain times. We have all been busy over the Easter holidays, making sure that we stay open for those parents and carers who need our support. Thank you to all the parents who have sent us such lovely messages of encouragement, it means a lot as we too are worried and anxious about our families. Hopefully, things will soon begin to look a little brighter and we will emerge from this as a strong community who can face most things so long as we stick together. We will continue to follow all of the advice and guidance from the government, particularly regarding any ‘exit strategy’ for the school. However, we believe it is too soon to plan for this as yet and we await further government decisions. As soon as any decisions are made we will, of course, communicate these with you as soon as possible.

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Home Learning Packs

We have had a few enquiries from parents/ carers regarding schoolwork for their children after Easter. We will continue to post regular work online for your children and we are also looking to provide ‘hard’ copies of this work for parents to collect if they do not have access to the internet or are finding it difficult to use the pages online.

The teachers will be providing enough English and maths online (or a hard copy) for 4 weeks of work (one piece of English and one piece of maths per day). It is up to you when you decide to do them and in what order. The teacher will also be posting additional links and ideas for you on a daily basis too and some of these links may be re-usable. Our suggestion is that the children do the following each day:

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• 1 piece of English AND daily reading

• 1 piece of maths

• 1 physical activity

• 1 other activity

We are aware that for some parents, you may not feel this is enough, so please feel free to supplement this with additional activities that are readily available on-line. The BBC will also be launching their activities for children on Monday 20th April so please keep a lookout for these as they will be advertised.

We are also aware that some parents may find this work too much, so again please just do whatever you can and whatever you feel is right for you as a family. We want the children to keep up with some learning if possible and enjoy their activities, but the  MOST important thing is that you are all safe and well, both physically and emotionally so please don’t stress!

The packs will go on-line by Thursday 23rd April and be available to collect by Friday 24th April if you prefer.  Additional work will also be posted on-line daily too. In order to ensure that we know how many packs to photocopy and to avoid waste, please can you email the class sites if you require a physical pack, so that we know how many are needed and don’t waste precious resources.

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Childcare Provision after Easter

Please can we also respectfully remind parents that all UK schools continue to remain closed to all but the children of key workers (who do not have partners working from home and who cannot find alternative arrangements) and already identified vulnerable families. We currently have a list of who these families are and have been speaking personally to you over the past few weeks to discuss your needs. If, however, you believe you are a key worker who is eligible for childcare from school, we ask that you contact school directly to discuss your needs if we are not already in contact with you. PLEASE do not just turn up to school without prior discussions as we may not have the appropriate staffing ratios and we need to operate a booking system in order to ensure the safety of our children and staff.

Please can I also politely ask that, if you have booked a place in our childcare that you ensure you use it or at least contact school to make us aware in good time that you will not require the place as this has a considerable impact on our staffing requirements. Obviously, this will not be possible for you if it is due to a sudden illness etc…  Many of our staff have young families too and we are trying to support everyone during these difficult and uncertain times.

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Free School Meals Vouchers

Just a final reminder that the national voucher scheme for our school will go ‘live’ on Monday for those families who are entitled to Free School Meals. For those parents for whom we have an email address, the 16 digit e- codes should come directly to you via email on Monday 20th April and you will then need to log on to:

www.freeschoolmeals.co.uk

and chose your supermarket e- gift card .  You cannot use the 16 digit code at the shops, it must be exchanged for an e-gift card on line first. If, however, you have not received the code by 1; 30pm, then contact us at school.  A top tip in the first instance is to check your ‘Junk’ email as we have heard that this is where some of the voucher codes are ending up.

If you have not provided us with an email address then we will redeem your codes and contact you directly.

Please be aware that this system is experiencing significant difficulty at the moment and there may be lots of ‘teething’ problems. We are monitoring the system daily and believe we are on track, but please bear with us on this.

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In the meantime, stay safe and look after each other. We miss you all loads and cannot wait to see you all again soon.

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Yours sincerely,

Mrs Patricia Scott

Well it is the day we would normally be breaking up for our Easter Holidays, but this year that is not the case. We are open over the next two weeks for parents who have 'booked' a place with us and we are looking forward to welcoming these children each day (apart from Easter Monday).  Each day  there will be a senior member of staff on site with designated teaching assistants to provide child care for those families who need it. Please can we ask that parents are aware that the next two weeks are 'holiday' weeks for  teaching staff and therefore additional work will not be provided and staff will not be responding to any emails. Whilst we have uploaded 'Easter Activity Packs' for those parents who require some support, our children and staff, and you as parents or carers, should take a break over the next two weeks and focus on your own and your family's mental health and well-being.

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On Monday we will be seeing some of you for your food parcels and again next Tuesday as school is providing food parcels for all parents who are in receipt of Free School Meals.  Can I just say to parents that this is NOT government funded or expected but school are paying for this ourselves in order to try and support families most in need. After that, however, we will be rolling out the voucher scheme which we are working hard to set up. It is vitally important that you contact us if you think your email address is incorrect or if, in fact, you do not have an email- because otherwise you won't get your vouchers! Given everything that is happening right now, I KNOW that there will be teething problems with this national system, so I just ask that you are patient and that you recognise that we are doing the very best we can under very difficult circumstances. Please be kind to us as we are finding things a struggle sometimes too.  Please keep posting good wishes to us on Facebook as they really do make our day

Just remember everyone that you don't have to be perfect to be amazing and we think you are all amazing.

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Take care over Easter and look after each other

 xxx

2nd April 2020

I just wanted to say to you all as parents and carers that you are all doing an amazing job, trying to be super parents, child psychologists as well as fully qualified teachers, without any proper training too!

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You will all be doing slightly different things with your children, but you can’t get this ‘wrong’ as this has never happened before. Don’t stress if you are not doing enough- just do whatever you feel is the right thing for your family.

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The point that I am making is that you should be proud of what you are doing for your children, just as we are proud of what we are doing too. Just like us, you will worry about what you have done (or not done), you will second guess your decisions when you hear what others are doing. Do not do this to yourself. We are all doing what we believe is right and in the best interests of all of our children. I hope that the things we are sending you are helping in your understanding of what you may want to do with them at home. However, at the heart of everything right now is you and your family.

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You are making a difference. Look after yourselves as well as your family- we are here if you need us.

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I just couldn’t end this without sharing a heart-warming story that has made us all feel very humble today in school and made us realise how lucky we are to be part of the ‘Loxdale Family’. One of our moms is one of the frontline nurses- working tirelessly every day saving lives, not thinking of herself. Today, when she came to school after a very long night-shift, she brought us all a lovely breakfast to say ‘thank you ‘for what we are doing in school. We are doing what we can, but it is absolutely nothing compared to what our NHS heroes and heroines are facing daily, along with many other key workers. So I just wanted to say a personal thank you to this mom, for looking after us, when really we should be looking after her- you made our day much ‘sweeter’ with those lovely pancakes.

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Be safe everyone and take care of each other 🙂

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31st March 2020

Happy Tuesday to everyone and I hope you are all safe and well.

 It has been another very busy day at school- who even knew a school could be so busy with only a few pupils. However, our internet has crashed, we have had a power cut and we have suffered some vandalism to the site overnight, which is really upsetting for us to deal with as well as everything else that is happening. But we are made of stronger stuff and there has been lots of fun again today in school, with den building and an international football tournament with Mr Thompson and Mr Corns! 

Government advice continues to come in thick and fast (well it would be faster if our internet was working!) and they have now begun to inform us of a roll-out of a voucher scheme that you may get to hear about. However, the government have very clearly told schools that where we are able to provide school meals that we very much need to do this as our first priority. Therefore, this is what we will continue to do over the Easter holidays as early indications are that the voucher scheme cannot be used over the holidays anyway, only during term time. We think we have contacted every family who is eligible for a free school meal so that we can provide them with a weekly food parcel if required during the Easter break. However, if you believe you are eligible and have not had a call then please call us tomorrow to check this out. In addition, PLEASE can you ensure that you contact us directly by tomorrow if you require any childcare during the holidays (if you are eligible). A few parents/ carers have contacted us and we have a list of their requirements, which is not a problem at all and we are looking forward to having the children. However, can I ask that unless you have contacted us, please do not just turn up as we may not be open on that day if there are no children expected in.  We are here if you need us and are eligible- we just need to know! We still are awaiting guidance on Good Friday and Easter Monday opening, but I will update you on that by the end of the week at the latest. 

With regards to the Easter Holiday childcare provision, there will be a rota of support staff covering each day, along with either myself, Mrs Mould, Mrs Poole or Mrs O'Sullivan as senior leaders in school. Teaching staff will be having a very much needed break and so will not be posting daily work online. However, the children certainly have lots to do already and the teachers will be providing some Easter activities online. We do ask, however, that you do not email the staff over the holidays as they will not be checking their emails.

Many thanks and take care all of you xxx

26th March 2020

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Loxdale has today once again been filled with our rainbows.

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Last night, Mrs Poole sent us this lovely message which I thought would be nice to share with you all too.

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🌈R is for resilient.
🌈A is for 'you are all amazing.'
🌈I is for imagination.
🌈N is for 'naughty but nice!' - Auntie Shelia's cakes!
🌈B is for 'beautiful.'
🌈O is for On the day Loxdale is reunited, we will celebrate!
🌈W is for 'We've got this!

25th March 2020

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When I was lucky enough to become the Headteacher of this school, it was one of the proudest moments of my life and I genuinely look forward to coming to school each and every day to work with the greatest and most talented children and staff. No two days are ever the same and not a single day passes without lots of laughter inside our building. Never in my career, did I think that we would be facing the situation that we are in right now and I know that everyone is frightened and worried, including the staff who also have families to care for. I just wanted you to know that there is still fun and laughter inside our school, despite these scary times. Today, we have been gardening and creating rainbows and tomorrow we are going to paint a rainbow to be seen from Nettlefold's Park.  'Aunty Sheila', has baked us cakes to keep us going and we have had to do our Joe Wicks to burn off those calories! We all miss you lots and cannot wait to see you again as soon as this is all over, and it will be.  Until then, please take care of yourselves and your loved ones, know that we are thinking of you all and don't hesitate to send us encouraging messages on our Facebook- we miss you and need your support too! School is eerily quiet right now and I can't wait until it is filled with the laughter of our children and the hustle and bustle that is our daily life in school. 

With love from all of the Loxdale Team

20th March 2020

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Dear Parents/Carers,

The government issued further guidance at midnight last night to schools which I would like to share with you as our latest position.

The most recent guidance on how to limit the spread of COVID-19 is clear:

IF CHILDREN CAN STAY AT HOME SAFELY THEY SHOULD IN ORDER TO LIMIT THE CHANCE OF THE VIRUS SPREADING.

School should only stay open for those families who ABSOLUTELY need to attend and whose parents are critical to the COVID-19 response. PLEASE can we ask that, if at all possible, you keep your children at home. Many parents who work in these critical sectors are still able to keep their children at home and the government is clear that children should stay at home if at all possible.

However, if your child is classed as vulnerable, we will have notified you directly, or has a parent who is a critical worker and alternative arrangements CANNOT be made, then we will be available if you need us.

Please follow government guidelines and ensure that your children are not mixing socially in a way that can continue to spread the virus.

Please see below the government advice on critical sectors as published:

If your work is critical to the COVID-19 response, or you work in one of the critical sectors listed below, and you cannot keep your child safe at home then your children will be prioritised for education provision:

Health and social care
This includes but is not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare
This includes nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach.

Key public services
This includes those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting.

Local and national government
This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms length bodies.

Food and other necessary goods
This includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines).

Public safety and national security
This includes police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.

Transport
This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.

Utilities, communication and financial services
This includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure), the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors.

Please can we ask again that you notify us today if you believe you fall into one of these categories and if you require our services. However, please can I re-iterate that, as the situation continues to evolve, we may need to review our situation on a daily basis.

The letter sent out last night is still valid, I just wanted to clarify the position on key workers and what is being asked of schools.

Regarding Free School Meals, there has still been no further guidance and so we will advise you again later today IF possible.

Regarding the Easter holiday provision, PLEASE give us time to ascertain what that service may look like and we will again clarify this as soon as possible.

I am SO sorry for the bombardment of letters and emails and I hope that this may calm down a little next week.

In the meantime, please help us to keep your children safe by only sending them to school if absolutely necessary and they fit into one of these criteria.

Please take care and be safe.

Please see the link below for parents:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers

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Please read the letter attached regarding Lunch Provision Next Week.

Mrs Patricia Scott
Headteacher

18 March 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

The next few weeks are probably going to be very trying times for us all. As things get more difficult, you may feel worried and your children may be scared of things they have seen or heard on TV. Arguing with your children to do their work is not the stress you need right now. We will provide work, but please do not worry if it is not done. Instead, spend time together, read together, do a puzzle, build a castle, bake a cake, watch TV together, paint or set up a tent in your living room and camp out!

Don’t worry about the children forgetting their tables or their spellings or their long division and don’t stress about having to home-school them. Just spend time together, be together as a family and take care of each other. Though this is a scary time, your children may well remember this as the best time that they spent together with you as a family.

Tomorrow, the Local Authority will be meeting to decide a plan for the way forward and we will share that with you as soon as we know what is happening or likely to happen with childcare provision and school meals etc...

I just want to say to you that we will be here for you all, as long as we can be, for whatever childcare you need. We just ask for your patience and understanding while we try to provide the best service possible, for whoever needs our support. We will do whatever we can to help.

Thank you, as always, for your support during these uncertain times.

Take care,

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

17 March 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

As the advice continues to change on a daily basis, please be assured that we are working hard as a school to ensure we remain open.

However, we also recognise fully the concerns that you may have, particularly for our most vulnerable children and parents with underlying medical conditions. Please can we reassure you by saying that we fully support and understand whatever decision you wish to make regarding sending your child into school.

We are also aware of the advice regarding the self- isolation of families where one family member is showing symptoms and again fully support families who are having to do this. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can help in any way, including food parcels etc…. if needed.

In the event of any school closure, we are preparing for packs of work to be sent home and also a specific Learning Platform will be developed for children to access work whilst at home. This will be explained to children this week and they will be taught how to use this resource. In the meantime, however, we would like to signpost all parents to our website ‘Kids Zone’ ‘Useful Links’, where there are some useful resources for any child who is currently self-isolating, but who is still well. Please also look on our FB page tomorrow, as we will also be posting some activity ideas on there too.

Please can I ask for your understanding regarding preparing work for children at this time as staff cannot plan and prepare work for children who are off, whilst also preparing and marking work for children who are still in school. Should schools close, however, then children will be provided with regular work to complete at home, both in paper format and via digital platforms. More information on this will follow shortly.

Thank you again for your understanding and support during what is a difficult and uncertain time for everyone.

Take care and good wishes to you all.

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

March 2020

As I am writing this blog to you all, it seems that advice is ever changing on a daily basis. You will probably be aware, however, that the Government response to the coronavirus outbreak has now moved to the ‘delay’ phase, and I felt it might be helpful to update you with our arrangements here at Loxdale Primary School. 

Importantly, the school continues to follow Government advice and will remain open unless directed otherwise by the Government or Public Health England.

The most important change to guidance related to schools is the announcement by the Government that, if any one person in any household has a persistent cough or fever, that everyone living there must stay at home for 14 days and avoid leaving the house, if possible,’ even for food or essentials’.  

The symptoms of a coronavirus infection are

– A new continuous cough and/or a high temperature (37.8 degrees centigrade or higher)

I would therefore ask that if anyone in your family develops a dry cough or has a raised temperature that you keep your child at home, with the rest of your household for 14 days.

Your child probably won’t have coronavirus, but if they do, by keeping them home you will help to protect others in the school and the wider community while they are potentially infectious. 

You do not need to call NHS 111 to go into self-isolation, and don’t go to your GP or hospital. If your child’s symptoms worsen during home isolation or are no better after seven days, contact NHS 111 online at https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19. If you have no internet access, call NHS 111. For a medical emergency dial 999.

You will appreciate that as a school we must do all we can to look after the health and wellbeing of our children. If a pupil falls ill during the school day with either a continuous cough or a high temperature, we will send them home to self-isolate as a precaution as per the guidance above. Should this be required, we would appreciate your support in ensuring this happens as quickly as possible.

We anticipate that some pupils will be absent from school over the next few weeks with potential symptoms of coronavirus. While it’s important to remember that these could equally be symptoms of one of the many winter illnesses which we usually expect to see at this time of year, it’s important we act with caution.

In school, we are continuing to promote ‘hand hygiene’ with everyone being encouraged to regularly wash their hands for 20 seconds more often than usual with soap and hot water or hand sanitiser. To reduce the spread of germs when children cough or sneeze, they are asked to cover their mouth and nose with a tissue (or their sleeve, but not their hands, if they don’t have a tissue) and to throw the tissue away immediately. We’ve been promoting these hygiene measures using Government approved e-Bug teaching resources.

Our school cleaning routine has been adjusted with a thorough clean of all surfaces with an approved sanitiser spray taking place at the end of each working day and, for high traffic office areas, in the morning also. Door handles are also being wiped regularly throughout the school day. 

Additional measures now in place include:

·        Implementation of our ‘fresh air ventilation system’ in every classroom, which ensures that fresh air is continually circulated in every classroom

·        Postponed our Easter production until further notice

·        Postponement of external productions in school e.g. ‘Shakespeare Play in a Day’

·        The postponement of any school visits in line with government advice regarding non-essential travel

·        Postponed our visits to Bushfield Court residential home in addition to postponing the visits to our school from the elderly residents

·        Postponed EYFS ‘Stay and Play’ Sessions until further notice

Teachers have already planned learning tasks that the children will be able to complete at home should such a closure ever be required. Please be assured that we will share these with you if and when this happens – though as I stressed earlier, the school will remain open unless directed otherwise by the Government or Public Health England.

 If you would like more information about Coronavirus, please visit www.gov.uk/coronavirus or www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/coronavirus. Parents can also call the Department for Education coronavirus helpline for general advice and guidance by calling 0800 046 8687 between 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday) or e-mailing: dfe.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk.

This is a time that we have never experienced before, but the most important thing is that we, as a school community, look after each other and ensure that we have everything in place to support you, your children and our staff during these difficult times.  Please do contact me via the main school office if you have any concerns or queries and thank you, as always, for your continued support in the coming weeks and months.

With my very best wishes,

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

February 2020

It is the end of a very busy half term and the staff and pupils are now enjoying a well-earned rest. Thank you to all of the parents who attended Parents' Evening - the feedback from this was very positive (in particular the lovely food that was available for everyone to sample). I would like to congratulate Mr Corns on the birth of his son and Mr Brooke who is also the proud daddy of twin boys!  During the break, the builders will be back on site undertaking lots of 'snagging' on the building, including improved lighting and at Easter, fingers crossed that we will finally have the path widened for access to the playground. We are still trying to improve the intercom system for the electronic gate, although this is definitely a work in progress. Please may I, once again, ask that parents do not try and drive through these gates unless they have prior and express permission to do so.  Under NO circumstances should any pedestrian try and access this gate as it is strictly for vehicles only.

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Next half term it will be the turn of Year 3, 4 and 5 to perform for you and so look out for further information regarding the performance dates and times.  We also have a number of special week's planned during the next half term, including Shakespeare Week and French Cultural Week - hopefully lots for our children to learn through direct experience. The Easter Bonnet competition will be on Thursday 2nd April and parents and carers are really welcome to send in their own entry as we are also looking forward to welcoming some special residents from Bushfield Court with their own entries too! Following this, we will break up at 2:30pm on Friday 3rd April for our Easter break. 

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Once again, as always, thank you for your support, as it is vitally important that we all work together to ensure the best possible outcomes for our children.

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See you all again next week, with our staff and children refreshed and raring to go :) 

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

December 2019

It is the end of yet another busy week at school, with the Key Stage 2 Christingle Carol Concert taking place on Tuesday. Thank you to all of the parents and friends who were able to attend on such a wet and rainy day and the children enjoyed performing for you all. On Thursday, our school choir sang in a competition at Merry Hill, where the children were a real credit to themselves and our school and although we did not get chosen as a finalist, I think they were all absolutely brilliant and I was so proud to see them all singing their hearts out on the stage. Thank you to everyone who supported us during such a busy time.

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Today is Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Save the Children and all of the school look resplendent in their festive attire!

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Next week will continue to be full steam ahead with all our events and every minute will be jam packed full of festive fun. Nursery children will be visiting Santa in his Grotto on Monday at Excel Church, followed by a week of Christmas Crafts, where parents have been invited to join their children for a number of events. On Tuesday, Year 1 and Year 2 will be performing the 'Innkeeper's Breakfast' and we look forward to welcoming you all to to see your children on stage. After that, it is party time for all of our children and I have heard that Santa again might be paying us a visit for all of the boys and girls (and staff) who have been good this year.

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School closes for the end of the term on Friday 20th December at 2:30pm and there will be no clubs after school on this day (apart from Tea-Time Club). School re-opens on Wednesday 8th January for all pupils.

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If I do not manage to see you all next week, may I wish you all a very happy Christmas with your family and friends and a joyful and prosperous New Year.

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Mrs Scott x

Headteacher

December 2019

We are excited to be celebrating our first Christmas in our new school and there is certainly lots going on. We are looking forward to welcoming you this evening to our Christmas Fair and we do hope that you will be able to join us to help raise funds to purchase additional equipment for the children of our school. There will be lots of stalls and games and MANY prizes to be won. We have also heard that a very special visitor is arriving this evening for the children- wait until you see our new and amazing grotto- built by our Chair of Governors- it is FANTASTIC!!! There is even mince pies and wine for our parents to enjoy.

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Yesterday was our Early Years Christmas sing-along and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. All of the children were absolute superstars and sang their hearts out for the families in the audience. Today, we have taken our choir to St. Martin's Church for our annual Bilston school's 'Christmas Get Together', where all of the children from each and every school sang beautifully. I was very proud to be spoken to by parents of other schools, who said what an absolute credit our children were in their singing , their behaviour and their impeccable manners. However, it came as no surprise as our children are always a real credit to us, wherever we go and I just wanted to say a big thank you to all parents and carers for helping us to achieve this.

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There is still lots to look forward to with Year 1 and Year 2 production, Year 3- Year 6 Carol Concert and Christingle and, not to forget Nursery's visit to see Santa at Excel Church. The children all have parties to celebrate and cards and calendars to make. Christmas is a busy but magical time in school, where lots of fun is had by us all. 

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However, we also ask the children to think about those who are less fortunate and who will not be able to celebrate with their family and friends this year. To this end, the staff have decided not to send each other cards this year, instead we are buying gifts to send to the local food banks and shelters instead. 

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In the meantime, I hope we will see you all over the rest of this term as we celebrate the season of goodwill to all mankind.

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

October 2019

Well it is the end of a very busy half-term, where everything has been new for us all. I would like to say a big thank you to all parents and carers for coming along on this exciting new journey and bearing with us during a few 'teething problems'. Parents' Evening last night was a big success and it was lovely to be able to meet with you all and share the progress of your children. Some of the lovely comments included ,' The Parents' Evening was a success and teachers gave good feedback and were very approachable' , 'Really impressed with the progress my child has made as they run to school every day. Thank you to all of the staff for helping my child', 'Great staff, happy kids'. However, one of my favourite has to be, 'Food was a nice touch'  because I agree that the curry was lovely and Moz did a great job feeding us all!!!

On behalf of all the staff, I would like to wish you all a very happy half -term and hopefully you have seen the text about holiday activities for your children within the Wolverhampton area. We will see you all on Tuesday 5th November.

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

October 2019

We are nearing the end of a very busy half term and we are very much looking forward to welcoming you to school for our first Parents' Evening of the year on Thursday 24th October, where you will have the chance to look at your child's work and discuss their progress with the class teacher.

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Thank you again to all those parents who have supported us with our school uniform and PE kit. As a school, the Governors have worked hard with our supplier to ensure it as cheap as possible for parents and we hope that you agree that the children look SO smart in their uniform- a real credit to the school.

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This week, Reception and Year 1 have been very excited to have had a visit from Nurse Julie and they have been learning all about the importance of  hand washing. 

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Year 4 and Year 5 representatives have worked with Ian from Wider Learning and have undergone intensive two day training as play leaders to support our lunchtime staff. They cannot wait to get started!

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Thank you to all the parents who supported our Harvest Festival and we have received a lovely thank you letter from 'The Good Shepherd' for all the food and produce that we were able to send to support their very important work.  Please feel free to come into school if you would like to read the letter.

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Next week will be a busy week ahead, with Year 2 Diwali assembly , Year 5 Smoothie Bike and more visits from Nurse Julie. Watch this space for some photographic evidence!

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

September 2019

This week we have been working alongside the Alzheimer’s Society to become ‘Dementia Friends’. Our Year 5 and Year 6 children have spent some time learning about the different types of dementia and how it can affect people in different ways. As a staff we have also looked at ways we may be able to support people who have been diagnosed with this disease, a disease that may have also affected some of your family and friends. We hope that some of our children may become ‘Dementia Champions’ in the year ahead and look forward to raising awareness further within the local area.

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On Friday last week, some of you may have noticed officers from the Local Authority standing outside school with me at the end of the day so that I could show then some of the difficulties that you face when trying to use the narrow path into and out of school. It was agreed that the path is too narrow and the officers who attended are now looking into solutions to widen the path to make it much easier for you to enter and exit our playground to collect your children from school. Please bear with us as we try to ensure this work is completed as soon as possible.

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Thank you to all parents for not cycling on our paths and for using the bicycle and scooter sheds to park your vehicles. Please may we also ask that parents do not bring dogs onto our premises also as this is Wolverhampton City Council Policy.

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Please can I thank all parents who have continued to ensure your children are in the correct uniform for school, including a jumper with a logo and a tie. We will again be looking to buy additional ties as we have already sold out of the ones we purchased! PE jumpers and t-shirts also have a logo this year and children are expected to wear black pumps for indoor PE and trainers for outdoor games.

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I am looking forward to seeing you all in a few weeks at our first Parents’ Evening and please look out for details of appointments etc..

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Hopefully the weather will improve later this week and we can go back to the sunny days of the previous weeks.

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

September 2019

I would like to welcome everyone back to the start of a new school year in our beautiful and brand new school. I hope you all agree that the building is lovely and a fitting testimony to your children. The children all look beautiful in their new school uniforms and thank you for ensuring the children all look so smart.

 I am aware that we are currently having a few 'teething' problems with accessing and leaving the building, but I hope that you will support us over the next week or two whilst we try and develop the best processes we can now that we have only one single point of access and lots more parents! One of the things we are going to trial is opening our gates onto the playground much earlier in the morning so that parents can come onto the playground and wait in a larger space. We would, however, like to remind parents that the children will remain your responsibility until they enter the school building and children must not be left unsupervised on the playground before school. We would also like to ask parents to keep to the left on the path to try and alleviate congestion. 

At the end of the school day, we are also asking parents to 'spread out' if they can at the back of the playground so that staff can see parents much more easily and therefore dismiss children much more quickly. 

Finally, I would like to reassure you that we have been in touch with the local authority regarding the walk into school from Morrison's in order to try and improve the area.

Once again, thank you for your continued support and we look forward to working with you all over the coming year.

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

September 2019

We have finally got all of the children into our lovely new building and I would like to say  a big thank you to all parents/ carers for bearing with us whilst we try and develop the best systems possible for our children in order to ensure their safeguarding.

We recognise that the access to school is now very narrow and we have invited the council to visit us on Friday to see the difficulties that you have, mainly at the end of the day, and to see if the council can offer any suggestions to alleviate this. We would welcome any feedback to the council on this day. In the meantime, may we request that all parents stay on the left hand side of the paths in order to help with congestion. May we also request that you do not drop litter and only walk on the paths and not on the grassed areas in order to avoid damaging the newly seeded areas.

Clubs are also due to begin this week and parents are requested to collect children from the main playground, which will be opened at 4:30pm to allow you to collect your children from clubs in a safer and more organised way.

In a morning, the gates are opened at 8:30am to allow parents to access the playground. However, please may we remind you that there will be NO staff on duty until 8:45am and children should not be left unattended on our playground. At 8:45am, staff will be on duty to receive your children through their designated door and parents are welcome to pass on any important messages to the member of staff on duty at the designated area.

Please may request that parents respect the zoned areas at the end of the day in order to ensure that children are dismissed safely and as promptly as possible. By spreading out further, it is easier for staff to identify children. Please be patient with us as we may not always see you because we are looking at so many faces all at once! We will always aim to dismiss the children as quickly and efficiently as possible.

As a school, we ask that parents treat each other and members of staff with respect. If there are significant concerns, please speak to your child’s class teacher in the first instance, as they know your child well.  However, please may we request that you wait until all children have been dismissed from the class and do not walk across the zoned areas.

Once again, we would like to say a big thank you to all parents for helping us to ‘settle in’ to our lovey, new building and we are all learning the new systems together!

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

August 2019

Well, the new school is really starting to look like the fantastic school that we have all being picturing in our minds.  Have a look at the latest photos from our most recent visit. Our playground is looking great and the grass on our new field is starting to grow nicely.  We have a few trees being planted this week in our new forest schools area and a few more dotted around the site.  As for the inside, this is looking great now. A lot of the painting has been done and you can see that carpets have gone down in most classrooms.The furniture is being delivered next week a few other exciting things are planned for the next couple of weeks.  We can’t wait for you to all see the finished school and we look forward to seeing you in September.

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

June 2019

The new school is really starting to take shape.  We are super excited because, as you will see from the photographs, a lot of progress has been made since we last posted any pictures.  The first photo shows the inside of the school hall, this is where all of our school plays and assemblies will take place.  The second photo shows one of our new classrooms, where the contractors are starting to install the electrical wiring and IT cables.  The last three photos show the outside of the building with all of the windows and doors now in place.  The new school colours will soon be put on the outside of the building, so keep your fingers crossed for a break in the rain.  Once that is done, the outside walls will closely resemble the finished building.  I'm sure you will all agree that it is looking great.  There is still lots of work to do, as well as all of the builders' work and landscaping work, we need to finalise plans for our signs and school equipment.  We have agreed what furniture we need and the building contractor will be getting that ordered and delivered soon.  It is certainly keeping us busy but we know it will be worth it in the end.  As for now, the plans for the 'Farewell to Loxdale' event are in full swing.   Make sure you have got your tickets; it is shaping up to be a top night.

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

May 2019

We are all very excited by the progress being made at the new school.  You can see the latest drone photographs that have been taken only last week.  These really show off the greenery in the new surroundings and you can start to see that our new home is going to be something of a 'little suburban paradise'.  The school team are still working tirelessly to get all of those finishing touches organised so that our new school will feel like home as soon as we move in.  We have also learned this week that we are getting a 'Forest Schools' area so the children can continue their learning outside of the classroom and 'be at one with nature'.  There are exciting times ahead. We can't wait and we know the children can't wait either!

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

May 2019

Here are the latest pictures we have to show you of our new building and we hope you think it is looking good! We have chosen the carpets, furniture, paint and locker colours today and so it is still all systems go for September. The brickwork is looking really lovely and everyone on the site keeps commenting on how striking  they look. Only the best for the children of Loxdale. Keep checking this site and we will post regular updates.

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

April 2019

Welcome back to the summer term, which promises to be a busy one. Please see the latest pictures of the new school below as it progresses and we will keep you updated as the building continues to develop further.

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

April 2019

Here are our next set of photos- we even have a few drone shots for you that we think helps you to see just how much our building has come along in the past few weeks. We are really excited to see each layer of brick being laid and we now have a hall too!

The weather has been kind to us this week and the building work is progressing really well. We cannot wait until we can start to take the children to look at the site.

Remember to save the date July 13th for a real 'Loxdale' celebration!

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

March 2019

What a fantastic morning we had yesterday when we got to go into our new building for the first time.  We were shown around by Mr Bacon (the lovely site manager who is in charge of the build) and we even got a cup of 'builders' tea' to warm us up as it was so cold and wet!

We are so excited as we can now see that the building is starting to look like a real school.  The classrooms look  bright and airy and we will have plenty of outside space to develop. The site looks like a lovely little 'oasis' in the heart of the urban village and we cannot wait to see the building continue to take shape.

We are looking forward to working with the contractors to involve our school community with this, once in a lifetime, project.

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Mrs Scott

Headteacher

March 2019

As you can see from the photos, our new building is coming along very well and we are excited to see the progress that the builders,  Bowmer and Kirlkand, are making. Fingers crossed that the weather stays kind as the project is currently on track for us to be in our lovely new building for September. We have a number of plans in place for moving into the new build as quickly as possible and we will keep you updated as soon as we are confident of the weather having no impact on the project. 

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We are also planning a farewell to Loxdale summer event, which we are planning to hold as a Summer Fair for families in the day and also an evening 'Singalong/ Karaoke' event for adults only too.  Watch this space for more details to follow shortly.

Mrs Scott x

Mrs Scott

Headteacher

January 2019

I thought it might be a good idea to keep you all up to date on what is happening with the new build at Loxdale.  We are currently all systems go for September and the photos attached below will show the progress made with the building.  We cannot wait to see the continued development and I will continue to post regular updates.

Mrs Scott

Headteacher