Our Advent journey towards Bethlehem....

Make a crib together…

Last weekend in the Bishops Pastoral Letter - which was read out at church; Bishop Paul asked all families to make a crib at home during Advent, a special way to get ourselves ready for Christ’s coming.

There is an old Mexican custom where, during Advent, people dressed as Mary and Joseph and travelled around their villages knocking at peoples’ doors to see who would give them hospitality.

This custom has been adapted around the world through the idea of a ‘Travelling Crib’, which involves the model figures of a nativity scene being passed from house to house each night during Advent, before being brought to Church on Christmas Eve. This journey symbolises Mary and Joseph’s difficult journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem before the birth of Jesus. On their designated night, host families set up the crib in their homes and use the opportunity to stop what they were doing and think as a family about the true meaning of Christmas. It is a unique way to help families prepare for Christmas, that schools and churches have been facilitating for years.

The buttons below have a link to the website (larger button) and a copy of the slides (in case you cannot access the website, and also the ‘cut-outs’ which are templates of all the nativity figures which you can decorate and cut out together ready to read the story together with your child/family. You can then take a photo of your family’s complete crib and send it to the class either through your class email or Dojo. Your teachers would love to see what you have made!!!!

Go on… try to make your own crib this year!

Keeping everyone safe.

You will have heard on the news about the new variant of Covid which is now spreading throughout the world.

All Blackpool schools have been advised by Dr Arif Rajpura - our Director of Public Health, to take extra precautions in the run up to Christmas "In order to reduce the risk of COVID and other winter-borne viruses we are advising schools to carefully consider and risk assess non-essential activities.” As a school we are therefore putting back in place the protective measures we had during and between lockdowns, in the hope that we can try to keep our children and staff as safe as possible and mitigate any risks present. In this way you will know that we have taken the decision not to have any public performances of our nativities & concerts, but instead to film them and have them available on the website for families to view as we break for Christmas.

We do urge parents however, to take all symptoms seriously and book a PCR test if in any doubt. We have also increased mask wearing for adults in school and also handwashing for the children. It would also be advisable for parents to wear masks when picking up at dropping off times as these are the times when we are at most risk. Please do not take risks with your health at this time!

E-Scooters

E-Scooters have been in the news over the past months as an eco-friendly method of transport.

Some parents may have been considering one of these for a Christmas present so I wanted to share with you the latest information we have received from Lancashire Police…

“…Currently it is illegal to ride an E-Scooter on a public road or pavement in Lancashire. They are classed as a motor vehicle and subject to the same legal requirements such as MOT, Tax, Licensing and Insurance.

The attached leaflet explains in more detail what the situation is regarding E-Scooters; the fact that they cannot be ridden on the public highway and so should not be ridden to school. We would appreciate it if you could make your students and parents/guardians aware of this information prior to the end of term, especially if they are considering these as Christmas presents. “

Please see attached leaflet:

Christmas Cards

A quick reminder about our school policy regarding Christmas Cards for our new parents/families or anyone who has joined school this year.

At Our Lady of the Assumption we are trying to cut down on waste in our environment & for many years of children giving each other cards, we found that they would be left at school, lying all over classrooms corridors etc; in other words… WASTED!

For the past five or more years, if children want to bring a card, we now simply ask for 1 card to be written for the whole class and teacher displays that and celebrates the child for their kindness. If you feel you would like to ‘give’ anything more, then we ask that a £1 donation is sent in and this is put towards a local/national charity ie CAFOD or Brian House.

Thank you all for your support with this.

Christmas Holidays

School closes at 2pm on Friday 17th December and we re-open for Spring Term on Tuesday 4th January 2021.

*Please note that After School Provision is available on this date from 2pm - 4.30pm when the club will close for Christmas.

Wishing you a lovely safe weekend & we hope you can get some rest and relaxation with your child/children. The children all appear very tired at the moment - so perhaps a few early nights are in order so we can all enjoy the celebrations of the rest of Advent.

Take care of yourselves

Miss Haggerty

'Christ is our King, let the whole world rejoice...'

Yet another busy week of learning has gone by and, as usual, the children never cease to amaze me with their enthusiasm and joy of learning.

I can hardly believe that we are now only a week away from the start of Advent and celebrating the great feast of Christ the King this weekend. This week Jesus reminds us that although many things may change, His love for us is constant and through His Word we should know that He will always be with us. We are encouraged to sow seeds of hope as we look positively to the future; something we are all trying to do here in school. Of course next week we will all be making our Advent promises. (Where has this year gone?)

Nativities

Our classes are all currently planning and looking forward to their own special re-creations of the nativity and also some traditional simple carol services & presentations. Unfortunately with us all still battling to ensure our school community is as safe as can be, the decision has been made to record what we can of the children’s celebrations and present these on our website rather than taking the risk of inviting large numbers to gather as an ‘audience’. The last thing we want is for anyone to be ill over Christmas time!!!!

Look out for further details about these and other celebrations on your class news pages.

Fundraising during Advent

Many of you asked about Children in Need today: Charity towards others is never far from our minds, and the children have also been talking about charity work, which as always, is a vital part of our school Mission. We recognise that today was Children in Need Day and instead of simply undertaking an event on one day, we remember and give thanks to members of our school community who have undertaken some amazing fundraising activities to help raise money for our own, local ‘children in need’ and in particular, families within our own school. Our Year 4 class recently packed and delivered Christmas ‘Shoeboxes’; we continue to support local foodbanks and have also recieved some gifts on behalf of BFC which will be distributed to many of our families.

Our PTFA are holding a Christmas Jumper Day on December 14th, when children (and staff) can wear their lovely festive jumpers and bring £1 - this is also our Christmas Dinner Day in school (more details to follow about this!)

Our older children are also constantly coming up with great fundraising ideas - I know they are working on these to raise money also - so watch this space!

We will be looking to raise funds (as we have done for many years) for Brian House/Trinity Hospice, which they have greatly appreciated. We know that Brian House continues to struggle due to the pandemic and any funds raised going forward will support them as they carry out their essential and deeply compassionate work. And also not forgetting our own families and the children we love, such as Amy and the ways we can continue to support her and her family too!

Sacramental Programme

This weekend we welcome the children who will be undertaking the Parish Sacramental Programme for this year. Their families will be attending masses on Saturday and Sunday when Fr Loughran and the Parish will welcome them all officially at the beginning of their important faith journey.

We will keep the children and their families in our prayers and hope that, after lockdowns and restrictions, this can be a new beginning for them and the first steps of a journey which will see these families become an ever growing and strengthening part of our wonderful Parish Community. We hope to see you all at mass for many years to come.

Get Reading….

We all know at Our Lady’s, that reading inspires us all. But did you know that 1 in 11 disadvantaged children and young people in the UK don’t have a single book of their own? That’s a frightening thought - isn’t it? Currently Blackpool has teamed up with The Literacy Trust to promote reading across our town with the ‘Get Blackpool Reading’ campaign.

The Lteracy Trust is a great resource with hundreds of resources, videos and ideas not only for children (like this ‘Top tips for choosing a book’ video) but for school and parents too! Next week classes can tune in to Join Matt Haig for a special Christmassy session exploring his book, and soon to be Netflix film, A Boy Called Christmas. The true story of Father Christmas.

The children can hear Matt read from the book, discuss his inspirations and get exclusive sneak peeks from the film. They may even have a chance at the end to ask Matt questions from the class!

The Literacy Trust have teamed up with Blackpool Catering this year to give the Christmas dinner a 'magical' theme. Each child who registers for a Christmas dinner will receive a free book! What a great present!

We are also happy to support local author Dina Elizabeth Slater (who has close links to Our Lady's school!) as she launches her fantastic new children's picture book, 'Arthur and the Magic Book'. We want to take the opportunity to share a link to the free eBook for you to enjoy. Below there are also links to Dina's website, should you wish to find out more information. (You may have already seen this on our Twitter feed!)

Website: www.artandetta.co.uk

EBook: https://bit.ly/3k6VI9O

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artandetta

We will also look forward to a visit from Dina next year. Who has promised she will come and talk to the children about being an author - we love an author visit!

We hope that this Christmas you can give the gift of reading to your children… not simply by buying them a book - but by inspiring them to read: Reading with your child and to them is the single most significant treasure you can give!

I wish you all a lovely weekend. Stay safe. I hope you can manage to find some quality time for you and your child to read this weekend.

Miss Haggerty

Lest we forget...

This weekend marks another Remembrance Sunday when we give thanks for those who have fallen in service of our country and, of course, we continue during November to remember all who have died.

The children have had some very reflective lessons where they have discussed the significance of the poppy, and it has been wonderful to see how many children have been proudly wearing them this week. This poignant celebration is becoming more and more important to share with the children as the numbers of service men and women become less and less as the years pass by. Our generation really needs to keep this alive and share the importance of it with the young!

Samaritan Christmas Shoe Boxes

Thank you to everyone who has been donating items to help fill our shoe boxes this year (and to families who have sent shoe boxes in too!) Mrs Hodgkiss and her fabulous helpers from Y4 have filled and packed over 20 boxes!

Well done Everyone!

The boxes will be taken to the delivery point this weekend and soon be ‘winging their way’ to children across the world in time for Christmas.

Sacramental Programme 2021/22

This years parish programme for Reconciliation and Holy Communion will begin from next weekend - so please make sure that you have completed an application form and returned it to Fr C Loughran BY FRIDAY 19th NOVEMBER AT THE LATEST!

Fr Loughran held a meeting on Thursday evening for any interested parents. These parents should now have their application form which needs to be returned to Father as soon as possible. If you do not yet have an application form you can see Fr Loughran during the week. He will be at Our Lady’s church on Tuesday morning between 8.45am - 9.15am (when he is meeting some parents) or Tuesday evening at mass at 7pm, or immediately after mass until approx 7.45pm. Father will also be saying mass for our Y5 class on Thursday 18th November at 9.30am so will also be available following this mass until approx 10.15am. These would be the best times to speak to him and either complete a form or hand a completed form back to him.

Alternatively, you could email Fr Loughran at : catholicsinsouthblackpool@gmail.com and arrange a time to come and complete the form and return to him.

If you know your family are interested in taking this next step in your faith journey together, please, please do not hesitate as Fr is hoping to hold a welcome mass to begin the programme from next weekend 20th/21st November.

Details have been on our website for some time and you can also find a link and further explanation of the sacraments on our church webpage (Blue button on the left - church)

PLEASE NOTE: receiving the sacraments is not a school-led initiative - it lies solely as the responsibility of each Parish. As Fr Loughran is Parish Priest for ALL 3 Parishes now (Our Lady of the Assumption, St Cuthbert’s and St John Vianney) he has to arrange the Sacramental programmes between all 3 Parishes - No mean feat as you can imagine! So please contact him as soon as you possibly can!

School Uniform

We have received an email today from ‘The Uniform & Leisurewear Company’ who own the uniform supply shop on Clifton Street in Blackpool town centre who sadly are having to close the store very soon. Because of this they are currently having a major school uniform sale with many garments on sale with over 50% reductions!

This may be worth a visit if you are needing any items of uniform currently.

They have informed us however, that parents can still purchase from the store online or orders can be taken by telephone:

Tel: 01524 388355 Website: www.ualonline.co.uk Sales: sales@ualonline.co.uk

ParentPay

A plea to parents/families to please ensure you can open your ParentPay accounts. We really need you all to be on ParentPay in order to make ourselves 100% cashless and each class will have things coming up for which you need to access your ParentPay account.

Also a reminder to please, please check your account for amounts owing. It is horrible for us to send reminders out to parents regarding outstanding payments, and embarrassing for yourselves; but even small debts can mount up and we want to try to avoid this at all costs.

Many thanks

Finally…

I hope you all managed to see the posters etc regarding the support agencies promoting the importance of sleep for both yourselves and your children in last weeks blog... This is such an important factor in maintaining good health and wellbeing so I hope you are all trying to get a good amount of sleep each night - even at weekends!

I hope you all manage to find some time to relax (and sleep!) this weekend and I continue to pray for you all.

God bless

Miss Haggerty

Faith-Filled and Hopeful...

It has been lovely to welcome the children back after half-term… although many classes were sadly depleted due to much illness! This has been a real shame as this half-term we were ready to really ‘get stuck in’ to our learning and teachers had planned all the new concepts and topics ready to deliver from Monday.

We realise that this term will be difficult for everyone as the winter viruses seem to be encroaching on us sooner than ever and of course we also have the threat of COVID pushing ever closer. This week we have been informed of 6 new cases within our school community (parents and children) so we have to ensure we are always on our guard. We have been told by Public Health that the hospitals are really busy and especially Blackpool Vic – not entirely with COVID, but with all the other winter borne viruses.

We need to try and do anything we can to bring the case rates down.  This means going into winter with a bit of caution, doing our bit for infection control, wearing a facemask in indoor crowded places or public transport, washing your hands, getting vaccinated and also getting the booster if you are invited to do so, which is really important.

The vaccine van is still doing its rounds, the information is on the council website - Vaccine Van (blackpool.gov.uk). This can distribute vaccines to those 16 plus and also 1st, 2nd and Booster doses. In school we are ensuring our classes are regularly washing their hands at each change (ie coming into/leaving the class, dining hall, PE etc) We are also continuing to enforce the ‘Catch it, Bin it, Kill it’ rules with the children by ensuring there are plenty of boxes of tissues available for the children throughout the day.

Schools are also being informed by Public Health that we should be urging families where ANY member tests positive for Coronavirus (on a Lateral Flow or PCR test), that ALL other family members should take themselves for a PCR test to ensure the virus hasn’t spread to other members of the household. Schools have to send specific details of any cases to Public Health on a daily basis, so please bear with us if we have to ask several questions to find the information we need!

PLEASE, PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU DO INFORM SCHOOL OF ANY POSITIVE CASES WITHIN THE FAMILY - It is important that we keep evidence of cases within our school community!

Are we getting enough sleep…?

We received information this week that one in four children in the UK are not getting enough sleep. This has been a recent concern in school as this week in particular we have seen many children come into school looking exhausted and openly telling us they feel tired! This worries us all as this has a huge impact on the children’s behaviour and ability to learn, as well as their physical health. Getting enough sleep is the best way to help our immune system stay strong!

There is a free helpline which is run by trained sleep advisors who can talk to young people directly, or parents (they can also talk to parents about their own sleep issues). The helpline is open 5 nights a week, Sunday to Thursday, 7-9pm and the number is 03303 530 541.

You can read more here: https://thesleepcharity.org.uk/national-sleep-helpline/ or see the flyers below!

Sacramental Programme

To clarify for parents, there is a meeting being held at Our Lady’s Parish Hall on Thursday 11th November at 6pm for parents of children in Y4 (or above) who wish for them to undertake the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Holy Communion. Fr C Loughran will be leading this meeting and explaining about the application process for the programme for this year.

Finally…

What a week this has been; so many learning opportunities which the children have keenly grasped. We look forward to another six weeks with more of the same!    

Enjoy the weekend…

Miss M Haggerty

'Take courage. Get up. Jesus is calling you' (Mark 10: 46-52)

I can hardly believe it is half way through Autumn Term already!!! Where has the time gone? The past eight weeks have simply flown by… and what a joy it has been having everyone back together at school again! The children have all grown into their new roles and each class has been immersed in learning and exploring new concepts. Walking through school, looking at books and chatting to children, I’ve been amazed at how new challenges are being faced and past learning recalled and used as building blocks. Children are beginning to recall how they can use their mistakes to learn from and in lessons they are demonstrably employing their growth mindsets and growing in confidence each week - it is a joy to behold!

Sacramental Programme

In discussions with Father Loughran, an agreed date has been decided for Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Sacramental Preparation Programme for 2021/22. This will be for children from current Y4 (or above) Your child must have received baptism within a Catholic or Christian Church Community before preparation for the Sacrament of Communion and you should be able to provide proof of this from a baptismal certificate or giving name, date, church and name of the priest or minister who baptised your child so that records can be checked.

You can find an introductory letter HERE with further requirements and details.

There will be an initial meeting for interested parents at 6pm held in Our Lady of the Assumption Church Hall on Thursday 11th November for all parents wishing for their child to participate in the programme this academic year.

Notification of the programme and all letters will be available at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church. Information is always available when you attend mass on either Saturday evenings at 6pm and Sunday mornings at 10.30am. Our Lady of the Assumption School supports and works together with the Parish in the Sacramental Programme.

Guides and Brownies

There are some vacancies currently for our local Brownies group and also any girls interested in joining The Guides. Girls interested in joining Brownies should be between 7 - 10 years old and for Guides, between 10 - 14 years old.

If you know of anyone who may be interested in joining the groups, they begin on Wednesday evenings starting in November. Call Mrs Duffy: 07847377581 for further details.

School Meals

Blackpool Council are introducing some delicious new menu choices after half term. We all LOVE our school dinners at Our Lady’s - they are just as popular with staff as they are with the children! Please see menu below.

Keeping each other Safe

This continues to be a challenging time for everyone. Within school we have been alerted this week to some new positive cases in our community and as always, we thank you for following the guidance, keeping us informed and erring on the side of caution. Please do book your child for a test if they have any Covid/Covid-like symptoms or at the very least undertake a lateral flow test at home - we can advise where you can get these. We would just ask that if your child has been for a PCR test, please will you remember to inform us of the result, even if negative, before sending your child back into school.

Infection rates remain high (and on the increase) in our area and alongside this, other germs are circulating. We continue to have all workspaces ventilated, have kept mixing to an absolute minimum and continue with our regular hygiene/handwashing routines; alongside this we will continue to closely monitor cases. Thank you as always for your support.

Finally

We hope that you will have a lovely, relaxing holiday week with your children. Staff have really enjoyed meeting you all virtually at our Parent - Teacher meetings, following the final day of this half term.

We will be pleased to welcome the children back on Monday 1st November at 8.45/8:55am.

Thank you for all your support over these last eight weeks, it makes all the difference, working in partnership with you to ensure that children have every opportunity to learn and grow.

Miss Haggerty

To pray the rosary is to hand over our burdens to Christ and His Mother…

Parent Teacher Meetings

Thank you very much for your swift responses to booking a time to (virtually) meet your child’s class teacher. If anyone has had any difficulty in doing this please let us know as soon as possible.

When you have booked a time slot this can then be seen by your child’s class teacher. As we will have the time limit, please let your child’s teacher know by email/class dojo if there is anything in particular that you want to discuss so that they can ensure you have adequate opportunity to speak about this.

The video link itself will only be sent out 24hrs before the meeting.

We look forward to having this opportunity to discuss your child’s learning.

Parental Safety Notice

It has come to light that a significant number of children (in various classes) had been trying to play games based on a Netflix programme called ‘Squid Game’ this week. This has caused us great alarm, as, when we have investigated further, children have quite openly told staff that this is something they have seen clips of on YouTube or through other popular programs.

This is a particularly graphic programme and has been rated at 15+ but looking at concerns on review sites it would appear to be aimed at solely adult audiences (18+) See letter HERE with further details. There are also further useful links on Y5 news page as Mrs McVey has been finding out further information into how this game is being publicised.

We would urge parents to have a conversation with your child regarding anything they made have heard/seen and also to review your parental restrictions on devices your children have access to. Our online safety newsletter gives further guidance about YouTube settings and access for children.

October - Month of the Rosary

What is The Rosary?
The Rosary is a set of prayers to God, Our Lady and the Holy Spirit. As we repeat the familiar words, we allow our minds to think about a wonderful part of Jesus’ life here on earth – a mystery.

As our school is named in honour of Our Lady, it is really special to have these times of year which are dedicated to her. More than ever, our world is in need of Mary’s love, care and guidance - so we have attached a resource which we use in school to reflect on the rosary in the hope that you might be able to use this to say the rosary as a family during the month of October.

(Don’t worry if you can’t manage the whole rosary - even just one decade gives us time to reflect and share in these beautiful prayers together)

Our Lady of the Assumption Church

To keep all of our families updated… you are aware that Fr Jim has left Our Lady’s now as Parish Priest. He is now at Ulverston and is settling in well (although he did tell me that he misses you all very much!)

Our Lady’s church is fully (and safely) open for masses and is now being served by Father Chris Loughran who is residing at St John Vianney’s Presbytery. Our weekend masses have remained the same with Saturday evening Vigil mass at 6pm and Sunday Mass at 10.30am each Sunday morning.

The church website however, has been changed and I am in the process of linking this across with the website ‘Churches in South Blackpool’ where you will find news about each of the parishes (OLA, St Cuthbert’s and St John Vianney’s) all on one site.

I am attaching this weeks newsletter, which also gives you all the contact details for Fr Loughran and Fr Sullivan and the mass times in each parish.

Help Our Lady’s to win equipment…

I have recently found out about a number of different competitions and reward schemes which can help school to be awarded with equipment.

One is a rewards scheme with Morrisons Supermarkets where (if you register for a Morrisons ‘More Card’ you can nominate a school for their ‘Good to Grow’ scheme where points can be earned for gardening equipment for school.

Another is a competition from FamilyFirst together with Sports Direct:Parents & our local community can nominate our school for the prize, simply by clicking on this link: www.facebook.com/122432455071056/posts/913019132679047/?d=n

This afternoon we have presented our new Reception Class (and the children who have joined Our Lady’s over the past couple of years) with their Our Lady Medal and their Welcome certificates. It is so lovely to be able to start to celebrate being a ‘family’ again here at Our Lady’s. Even though we can only safely gather half of the school together at one time, it is still a poignant way to remember what makes our school so special.

The Reception children have already got off to a wonderful start and Mrs Holden, Mrs Debowska and the team are so proud of all they are learning so far. We look forward to the rest of the new academic year and also to their exciting learning journeys in the years ahead.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Haggerty

“Ah, Kindness. What a simple way to tell another struggling soul that there is love to be found in the world”

Parent - Teacher Meetings

Parents Day Video link is now live. Parents should now have been sent a link to book a slot with your child’s class teacher/s by text and/or email.

The system simply asks you to type in your child’s first name and this will take you to the choice of teacher you wish to book a meeting time with. You are then invited to open the meeting slots available for your child’s class teacher.

On last weeks blog (News page) there is a button which has a guide with instructions for the site if you need to look at this.

We are looking forward to being able to speak to you about how your child has settled since returning to school. Please remember that there is a time limit of 10 minutes on each of the calls, so if there is some information/issue you want to specifically discuss; it would be a good idea to email your child’s teacher using the class email to let them know if this is the case.

Flu Vaccinations

A reminder for parents that your consent forms for flu vaccinations MUST BE RETURNED by Tuesday 26th October .

A leaflet explaining the vaccination programme can be accessed by clicking the following link: Flu vaccination for children: leaflets and posters - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Further information on the vaccination programme can be found on NHS Choices at: Link

As in previous years you must opt-in to the programme. Even if you decide you do not want to vaccinate your child against flu, you must please complete the consent form giving the reason. This will help the Nursing Service plan and improve the service.

This simple spray for your child is really important this year more than ever, as with more mixing, the likelihood of severe infection from flu this year is very high.

New Electronic Process

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals have enhanced the consent process by transforming a previously paper process into a streamlined electronic form accessible anywhere. Previously receiving consent for a child’s vaccine was reliant on school staff handing the paper forms out and getting them home to their parents/guardians, increasing the potential for the form being lost. Now electronic, the form can be easily and quickly completed via mobile device, tablet or computer. This will save parent/carers time and free up school staff time. Once your child has been vaccinated you will also be notified by text ensuring that you are up to date with the child’s vaccinations.

Filling out the Consent Form:

You will be required to provide your Child’s NHS number. Please click the following link if you do not know your child’s NHS number: Link

1.       Please click the following link to access the online consent form: Link

2.       Please quote the unique school code. The code for our school is:  BP119596

If you experience any problems accessing the form, please telephone your local vaccination team on the number below and the team will be happy to help.

Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre 01253 951984

Lancaster, Morecambe, Heysham, Carnforth & over Wyre - 01524 519430

The vaccinations will be undertaken in school on Tuesday 2nd November. Please do ensure you sign your child for this important vaccination.

School Photographs

A quick reminder that your child’s photograph proof wiil be coming out on Monday (so please look in your child’s bag for this!)

The final date for return payment if you wish to purchase a photograph is Tuesday 19th October.

Finally…

I hope that this lovely weather we experienced today continues; although I fear not… but, whatever you are doing, enjoy your weekend and relax!!!!!

Miss Haggerty

"All of us can co-operate, as instruments of God, for the care of creation."

Season of Creation

If you have read either Y5 or Y6 class bogs you will have heard about the work our children have been undertaking during this Season of Creation. They have been considering climate change through the CAFOD “Eyes of the World” Campaign. The eyes of the world are on us this year as Britain hosts world leaders for the United Nations' climate change talks – COP26. They will make important decisions that will shape the future of our global family. Our Lady’s is joining the campaign to call on the Prime Minister to support the world's poorest communities affected by the climate crisis.

Last week our new Head Boy and girl joined an extremely wet group as they joined members of CAFOD who are spanning the country with a banner highlighting the issues for creation. The banner will conclude it’s journey in November in Glasgow for the conference.

Keeping each other safe

It was so lovely to have a little sense of ‘normailty’ again last week with the photographer visiting us in school to take the children’s pictures. These are small steps as we still need to remain very aware that we are still very much at a very difficult point in the year with infection rates still rising nationally. We are (and we know we will continue) to experience further cases within our school community. As other germs like colds and flu are also present with similar symptoms, navigating guidance can seem like a minefield. Please if you are unsure always email or ring to check and remember we always here to help as you are making those decisions.

Within school we continue to teach the children about how we can each play a part in reducing germs spreading. Just like us, the children forget and little reminders are helping them to remember how their actions make a difference.  

We planned our school organisation carefully for September to enable us to revert to bubbles if the need arose. We will be closely monitoring cases and will make any changes that are necessary based on Blackpool Public Health Advice.

Parents’ Day

As with everything else we are having to make decisions based on the current situation.

This term we would like to invite you to a virtual parents’ meeting on Parents’ Day (Friday October 22nd) with class teachers. We are using a video and booking system which is part of the Teachers2Parents text system to connect parents and teachers by video call.

This platform has no app for you to install, you simply use your web browser, and you will be automatically connected to the teacher at the time you have booked in the appointment schedule.

All appointments will be ten minutes and start at the allotted (booked) time. You will then see the time and count down on the screen. Please note: when the countdown ends, the meeting is automatically closed and the next appointment is started, the teacher has no control over this. We would recommend that you login and check the audio and visual before your appointment starts.

The facility unfortunately has no format to add a note when you book. If there is something specific you would like to discuss, or any particular concerns you would like to discuss with your child’s class teacher please use your class email to communicate it to the teacher before the meeting.

The available appointments will generally be between 8:45am and 4:30pm. Appointments will be able to be booked once we confirm your class teachers available times. This will be done by the end of the coming week (wb 4th October)

If you have more than one child, the system will automatically enable you to book more than one appointment by bringing up the names and classes of your other child/children on the screen. Before booking your other child’s appointment, you will simply need to ensure the times do not overlap.

There is a button below which provide support on booking an appointment and how to access the virtual meeting. Please click to find out more.

You will be alerted by text and email (if you have provided school with an email address) when the booking system is open. 24 hours before the Parents Day you will be sent a link for the video call which you will open to speak to your child’s class teacher.

If you are struggling once the system is open, please contact school and we can help.

Finally…

Let’s hope that next week is a little drier; fingers crossed! An Indian summer would be hugely welcomed and, as the days shorten, getting out into that fresh air and having a brisk walk can be so good for all of us. I just hope that, whatever the weather, you get chance to have some relaxing time and some fun with your families athe weekends.

Miss Haggerty