VV_October Web 20-compressed

The children in Year 1 and 2 had a super start
to the school year on the 3rd September. The
teachers had been working hard in school to
prepare the classrooms ready for the children to
come back and it was worth it to see how
excited the children were to see all of their
friends again.
Our new additions to the Tylers Green First
School Family have joined us in Reception with
an extended transition period to support them as
some of the children have not been able to go to
nursery for a long time. The children have
started off with visits to the school in small
groups before eventually starting full time on
the 21st September. We have had new furniture
delivered for our Reception classrooms so their
rooms are looking bright and colourful.
We’ve invested in a new phonics scheme for
the children – it’s called Bug Club Phonics and
it’s a fun and interactive way for the children to
learn using games, videos and online books.
Children have their own login to the secure
website which they can access at home to
practice their sounds and read the books set by
the teacher. It’s already made a difference as the
children are very enthusiastic about their
phonics lessons!
We are very pleased that our parents have
been able to order packed lunches from our
school meal supplier from September. The
children have enjoyed tucking in to a healthy
balanced meal and it saves time and money for
busy parents. There’s sometimes even a
gingerbread man! We hope our hot meals
service will resume in the next half term – if the
guidance allows. After lunch our children have a
great time on the playground or field playing
with their friends within their year group. We’ve
been looking for lunchtime staff for a while now
– if anyone would like to apply to supervise and
play with the children at lunchtime please get in
touch! All of our vacancies are advertised on
our website.
Our new wrap-around childcare provided by
Little Oaks @ Tylers Green is now up and
running. The children have a healthy breakfast
www.pennandtylersgreen.org.uk
Village Voice October/November 2020
and play before school, and then have a super
programme of activities after school – including
activities in our woodland. The children who
have attended so far have loved it! Jude Talbot.
Headteacher
The Village Pre-school
We’re back to something of the old normal and
keeping everything crossed that it will last. The
children, parents and staff are all delighted that
we are open again.
Afternoon activities have also resumed. We
are pleased to be able to continue working with
Romar Sports, Dinky Dancers, Playball and to
welcome back Heddi from Kiddleydivey. These
sessions which run in the afternoons between
1.15 and 2pm allow the children the opportunity
to take part in activities that would perhaps be
cost or time prohibitive if not included within
the Pre-school day.
While there are no other users of the building
(with the exception of Church services on a
Sunday, which are limited to the Sanctuary at
the moment), we have minimum setting up each
day and are therefore, for the time-being, able to
offer a limited amount of earlier start times for
parents needing to get off to work.
Now that schools and pre-schools are back
and children are mixing in wider circles, the
inevitable colds and sniffles have begun again.
There is some (understandable) confusion about
whether children can attend and whether they
need to have a test if they have sore throats and/
or runny noses; these are NOT Covid-19
symptoms. The Royal College of Paediatrics
and Child Health (RCPCH) in agreement with
current Public Health England (PHE) guidance,
states that ‘We believe that children with simple
cold symptoms such as coryzal symptoms
(runny noses) or sore throats without fever who
would normally have attended schools in other
times should not be tested for Covid-19.’
Symptoms that require a test are:
• A new continuous cough
• Fever/high temperature
• Loss of, or change in, sense of smell or taste
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