Newsletters

MESSAGE FROM MRS JONES

It has been a very busy term with the children returning to a fairly normal school life at Vaughan.  

There have been a number of parent information sessions this term and I would like to thank parents for the large number of attendees at these sessions.  It is a great support to the school's work.  For those who have attended, I hope that they have been a source of support and explain how we can work in partnership. Please also take time to complete the online evaluation through Teachers to Parents that was emailed out to parents who have attended these meetings.

There are a number of different events planned over the next few weeks, and we are aiming to provide parents with opportunities to become engaged in school life leading up to the Christmas break.  We do ask that parents refer to the letter that has been recently sent out regarding these planned events as the school will have to closely monitor the local and national picture in terms of COVID-19.

We appear to be on the right track at the moment and due to everyone working hard to keep to the procedures in place, things are looking promising.  We do suggest that parents resume the wearing of masks on school grounds and if your child is ill, please keep them at home and follow the school's guidance or seek guidance from the NHS.  Please remember to report each day of absence for your child.

In the meantime, I would like to thank all parents for their continued support.

Mrs Jones
Headteacher

UPDATE FROM THE SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY

On 21^st September we were pleased to start the school year with our first Governing Body meeting. In this meeting we agreed the roles that each of the School Governors will take. I was pleased to be voted as the new Chair of Governors, taking over from Lisa Young who has given many years of service to Vaughan in the role. Shayam Mashru is the Vice-Chair of the Governing Body.

As the term has progressed some of the Governing Body have had the opportunity to meet the children and hear more about life at Vaughan. A real highlight was hearing from the Diversity Team who work together to increase others children’s understanding of diversity and inclusion, celebrating the differences of the pupil community.

Update on Board membership

Before half term we held a very successful parent governor election – we thank all of you for getting involved – either proposing yourself for a role, or taking part in the election. We are pleased to welcome Jonathan Arrowsmith and Joanne Constantine to the Governing Body later this term. After successful recruitment, we will also be welcoming a new Community Governor – Juz Paice to join us.

Updates from Governor meetings

Governors continue to meet virtually, on Zoom. This ensures good attendance and that we are able to maintain essential governor business. Below is some of the key areas governors have looked at:

• School budget and forecasting
• COVID risk assessment
• Website review
• Health and Safety risk assessments
• Safeguarding compliance checking and review
• Headteacher and teacher performance
• Review and sign off new policies, including: Special Education Needs and Safeguarding and Child Protection.
• Information report on pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
• Governor code of conduct and Governor skills review.

Big thank you to the Friends of Vaughan

The Governing Body wants to extend their thanks to the parent volunteers who make up our PTA (Parent Teacher Association) – the Friends of Vaughan. You will know from other newsletters and communications from the school the range of income generating activity they are leading.

Nerys Anthony
Chair of Governors

THANK YOU

On behalf of the Governing Body and the entire school, pupils past and present I would like to extend all our thanks to Lisa Young. 

Lisa Young has been a Governor at Vaughan for 10 years, and the Chair of the Governing Body since 2017.  She has championed pupil voice throughout, and been a real advocate for the development of our early years work in particular.

Lisa led the Governing Body through the last Ofsted inspection also.  Lisa has made such a significant contribution to life at Vaughan, with hours and hours of her time given to the school on a voluntary basis.  For this we are so very grateful. 

FIT4LIFE HARROW

Fit4Life Harrow was created to improve the health and wellbeing of all of the pupils in our schools by working together as a schools' community, sharing good practice and implementing new ideas in a coordinated and joined-up way. 

Vaughan have been recognised for our contribution to this and our efforts to support our children and school community in being "fit for life".

MORRISONS GOOD TO GROW

The school would love to say a massive thank you to all parents, carers and staff whom have readily donated their Morrisons Good to Grow coupons to Vaughan Primary School during the Autumn term.  We are pleased to report that we have now amassed 2,286 grow tokens which we are looking forward to redeeming for additional gardening equipment which will enable us to maintain our school allotment plot.  

Thank you for supporting the school by participating in this initiative.

SAFEGUARDING FORUMS FOR PARENTS/CARERS

Safeguarding… Heard that word used at school, but have no idea what it is or what it means?

Next term, Miss Rogers will be holding Safeguarding Forums where she will endeavour to explain what safeguarding is and what it looks like at Vaughan Primary School.  As well as this, she’ll be able to tell you what you can do as a parent to support your child(ren) and the school.

Dates and times will be confirmed after Christmas.

Watch this space!

If you have concerns regarding a child’s safety and wellbeing during the summer break, below are services that will be able to help you.

During holiday time and the weekends, you can contact Harrow Children's Services by calling:

SUPPORT AND ADVICE FOR CHILDREN

If you have a worry or need some support and a trusted adult cannot help, you can contact the following organisations for help.

• Childline (0800 1111, www.childline.org.uk) – This is a confidential service for children and young people. No problem is too big or too small and they’re there to listen and support you with anything you’d like to talk about. Or you can have a 1-2-1 counsellor chat online.
• NSPCC (0808 800 5000, www.nspcc.org.uk)
• Harrow Children Services - 020 8901 2690.
• Harrow Children Services – Emergency out of hours 020 8424 0999
• Police – in case of an emergency - 999

Year 6 only

• Kooth – Kooth is a web based confidential support service available to young people. Kooth provides a safe and secure means of accessing mental health and wellbeing support. 
• Kooth offers young people the opportunity to have a text-based conversation with a qualified counsellor.
• Counsellors are available from 12noon to 10pm on weekdays and 6pm to 10 pm at weekends, every day of the year on a drop-in basis.  You can access regular booked online counselling sessions as needed.
• Outside counselling hours’ young people can message the team and get support by the next day.
• When you register with Kooth, you will have support available now and in the future. Support can be gained not only through counselling but articles, forums and discussion boards.  All content is age appropriate, clinically approved and fully moderated.

To find out more visit www.Kooth.com where you can register and find out more about the service.

You can also view a short video about the service at:

https://vimeo.com/318731977/a9f32c87de   

LOST PROPERTY

Please ensure that ALL items your child brings to school are labelled with your child’s name and class – e.g., coat, school clothes, water bottles etc.  This will help us return lost items to children!

AFTERNOON NURSERY PLACES

We still have some spaces in our Afternoon Nursery.  If you have a child who is Nursery age (born between 1st September 2017 and 31st August 2018) or you know someone who is interested, please speak to the school office for an application form.

SCHOOL MEALS UPDATE & GREEN EARTH MONDAY

On Monday 1^st November, our Autumn/Winter 2021 catering menu was launched. This term, we are pleased to introduce “Green Earth Monday” to the weekly menu’s.

The schools environmental group were especially keen to see the introduction of  a meat free day and Taylor Shaw our caterers have responded to that request.  By bringing this in as a whole school initiative we have been able to raise awareness of the environmental impact of meat eating and encourage people to meaningfully reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by having at least one meat-free day every week. By not eating meat at least one day a week we help the environment, save animals and improve our own health. Why not get your friends and family to try it at home.  If you are looking for recipe inspiration, the  following website may be of interest.

Recipes - Meat Free Monday (meatfreemondays.com)

The schools Autumn/Winter menu can be viewed: Autumn/ Winter 2021 Menu

The school Christmas lunch will be taking place on Wednesday the 8^th December and the menu can be viewed: Christmas Menu.  If you would like your child to have the Christmas menu on this day please can you book it as soon as possible on Eduspot.co.uk so that we can let the chef know how much to order in good time.  Thank you for your help in this. 

ATTENDANCE UPDATE

The Secretary of State for Education has asked all schools to treat attendance as we would pre-pandemic.  

He has asked schools to focus on resetting our approach to attendance and make maximising school attendance a top priority.  This is not only crucial for ensuring that all children and young people, including the most vulnerable, are taking advantage of the education recovery programme, but also for their own physical and mental wellbeing. 

This means that we will be continuing to follow our Attendance Policy, including Harrow Council issuing Education Penalty Notices (fines) to parents of children who are absent from school with an unauthorised attendance mark.

We understand that sometimes children are unwell, and we continue to ask parents to keep their child at home if they are ill, including ordering PCR Covid tests where necessary.  

We continue to be very grateful to our parent community who help us keep everyone safe in school.  Thank you.

RAISING MONEY FOR LITTLE PRINCES TRUST

Mia in Year 1 is being very brave and has been raising money to donate to the Little Princes Trust charity by cutting her hair to donate to children who are cancer sufferers. 

She is super keen to raise as much money as possible in the next 3 weeks.

If you feel you would like to donate, please do so following this link: 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Himani-and-Mia?utm_source=sms&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=Himani-and-Mia&utm_campaign=pfp-sms&utm_term=0d41de9b6af3423cb5b0993db25bbfa2

CHRISTMAS ARRANGEMENTS

The school is hoping to celebrate Christmas as a community as we were unable to do this last year.

We have tentatively placed the events below in order to share with parents, the planned activities.  Whilst the school will try to put on the activities planned, we will also be guided by the school’s own risk assessment and the local picture.

The local and national picture looks to becoming quite challenging over the next few weeks and we will be guided by the directives that we are given.  We strongly advise parents to wear face coverings whilst on school grounds and parents WILL NEED to have a mask on to watch any of the Infant concerts (Nursery/ Reception/Year 1 and 2) to be permitted into the building.

Please remember, if your child exhibits any symptoms related to COVID-19 or is unwell, do not send them to school.  COVID-19 symptoms are also extended to headaches, vomiting, diarrhoea and body pain.  If any family members in the household are exhibiting symptoms, please monitor your family situation and seek advice from NHS 119 should you need it. If parents are not sure what to do then please contact the school and ask.

Please be prepared for an amendment of activities or cancellation if cases within school rise or we receive information from the Local Authority or Public Health directing the school’s safety procedures.

* * *

Monday 6th December - Start of Planned Christmas Activities.  Christmas Post Boxes out positioned under the covered walkway (by the wooden gates).  Please remind children to put name of who the card is from, name of child the card is for and class, especially on the envelope

Wednesday 8th December - School Christmas Lunch

Friday 10th December - Christmas Jumper Day and Santa’s Grotto

Monday 13th December - Head Teacher End of Term Assemblies.  Last Day for Christmas cards to be handed in to Christmas Post Boxes

Tuesday 14th December - Year 3/4/5/6 Christmas Carol Concert to Year 3 and 4 Parents – am, Year 3/4/5/6 Christmas Carol Concert to Year 5 and 6 Parents – pm.  THIS IS AN OUTDOOR EVENT ON THE SCHOOL PLAYGROUND DUE TO THE VOLUME OF PUPILS IN THE CONCERT. IF THE WEATHER IS BAD, THE CONCERT WILL BE CANCELLED AND RECORDED FOR PARENTS – PARENTS WILL BE INFORMED IF THIS IS THE CASE

Wednesday 15th December - Nursery Christmas Concert to Nursery Parents – am, This is for both Morning and Afternoon Nursery.  Both Morning and Afternoon Nursery will be closed on this day. Pupils will perform and then go home.

Wednesday 15th December - Reception Christmas Concert to Reception Parents – pm

Thursday 16th December - Year 1 and 2 Christmas Concert to Year 1 Parents – am, Year 1 and 2 Christmas Concert to Year 2 Parents – pm

Friday 17th December - LAST DAY OF TERM.  School finishes early for Reception to Year 6 (from 1.00pm – a separate letter will come out for end of term arrangements).  No Afternoon Nursery on this day

After School Club finishes at 4.00pm

* * *

All activities that are performances to parents will be subject to only 1 adult per family in order to manage adult numbers on the school site.  This includes if you are the parents of twins.  No requests that exceed more than 1 adult will be considered in order to demonstrate a fair process for all parents.

There will not be a booking system for concerts and staff will allow 1 adult per family into any concert.  Please look at the information above very carefully as there are clear invitations for parents in specified Year groups.  You will be unable to select a performance to watch – hence the school is informing you in advance of planned concert days and times.  Please do not turn up outside of your child’s year group performance as you will not be admitted and this saves any potential awkward interactions with staff.

There have been queries from parents regarding staff gifts.  I would like to reiterate to parents that gifts are not necessary or expected from staff but if parents want to give a staff member a gift, it needs to be named and placed in the same allocated box as the class Christmas cards.

If you have any queries, then please contact the school via the school office.  The school will send further updates as appropriate.

We look forward to celebrating with you.

FRIENDS OF VAUGHAN

We have started the year with a BANG - bringing back in person Friends of Vaughan meetings, organising the personalised Christmas Cards and having our first bake sale in two years! We have been working on agreeing our fundrarising prioritise for the year and have a couple of very exciting events coming up…

All parents / careers are automatically part of Friends of Vaughan so feel free to come along to a meeting, join the Facebook group or drop us an email!

What’s New

ECO Week Bake Sale

We were thrilled to be able to have a non-uniform day and bake sale that coincided with schools ECO week.  Thank you to all the volunteers who baked and everyone who bought a cake.  We ran out very quickly and so will try to make sure we have more cake next time!

Christmas Cards

Thank you to everyone who ordered a Christmas Card.  These have all been sent off to be printed and orders will be sent home in the next couple of weeks. We hope you and your friends and family enjoy the children’s artwork!

2021/22 Fundraising Priorities

We have four fundraising priorities this year and all the money we raise will go to support these important initiatives that benefit Vaughan children.

1. Library Books – Following the refurbishment last year we want to stock the library with a diverse range of books that appeal to children across the school.
2. Playground Equipment – Introduce new play equipment and improvements to the space to ensure children get the most out of their playtime
3. Tech Equipment – Provide additional devices to ensure that all children have the chance to develop their computer literacy
4. Sensory / Therapy Room – Create a specific space for therapeutic interventions for children with additional needs or going through difficult times.

How to help Friends of Vaughan all year round

Raise Money While You Shop! 

You can support Friends of Vaughan without spending a penny extra by shopping through easyfundraising & Amazon Smile. 

Sign up to Easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/vaughanschoolpta (or download the app) and use the links provided whenever you shop online with John Lewis, M&S, Ebay and more. 

Please use Amazon Smile whenever you buy from Amazon and select Vaughan School PTA as your charity. You can set this up on the app so you don’t need to remember each time.

Regular Giving

As with all charities, you can choose to support us through regular donations which are all eligible for Gift Aid.  If you, or a member of your community would like to do this then please contact our treasurer who can advise on the best way at fovtreasury@gmail.com.

Thank You!

Finally, a big thank you to all of you for your support so far this year!

And don't forget .....

KEY MESSAGES FROM WELFARE

COVID UPDATE

COVID is still very much with us and any children displaying symptoms should not be coming to school.  Symptoms include cough, high temperature, loss of taste and smell, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea and general aching body.  We are still asking parents and carers to book a PCR test for their child with any of these symptoms, before they return to school.

Please also remember that we have a 48 hour policy for sickness and diarrhoea.  This means that we ask parents to keep their child at home for 48 hours after the last time their child has vomiting or diarrhoea.  This is to minimise infection to other members of the school - children and staff.

Medication

If your child is prescribed medication which has to be administered at school, please complete a consent form which can be found on the school website with clear instructions.  It must come via the school office or alternatively, call Welfare tel: 0208 427 7222 Ext 2 and arrangements can be made to collect from outside the school office.

Any medical queries, please contact Mrs O’Rourke or Ms Goodspeed in Welfare.

Free check ups

Please be advised that children are entitled to:

• Free NHS Prescriptions
• Free NHS Dental Treatment
• Free NHS Sight Tests

We do encourage families to have regular check-ups.  Please check https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk for further information.

Medical appointments during the day

And lastly a reminder about medical appointments.  If your child has a medical appointment during the school day, please remember to email attendance@vaughan.harrow.sch.uk with the details and with proof of the appointment.  We do ask however, that appointments during the day are kept to a minimum and that you book appointments for outside of the school day.  Thank you.

POPPY APPEAL

Thank you to everyone who donated to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal in November.  We raised an impressive £157.45!

HARROW FOODBANK

Further information is available from the following website:
https://harrow.foodbank.org.uk/

TERM DATES

School will close at 1.35pm on the last day of each term
(please see separate letter sent regarding the end of the Autumn term)

Afternoon Nursery will be closed on the last day of each term.

After School Club finishes at 4.00pm on the last day of term. 

Please do not book holidays for during term time as these will not be authorised.  If you wish to request leave from school, please complete a Request for Leave form and email it to attendance@vaughan.harrow.sch.uk for Mrs Jones' attention.