Good afternoon everyone,

As always I hope this finds you all safe and well.

I am writing to confirm that school WILL be open on Tuesday 5th January as planned. In the current circumstances of uncertainty and the ever changing guidance, we will be taking each day as it comes and I will be providing updates as and when I receive them.

Unfortunately, there will be no Breakfast Club or After School Provision next week. I am still awaiting guidance relating to this and will inform you of any updates as soon as possible. Hopefully, we can restart our wrap around care provision from Monday 11th January all being well.

As a staff, we will continue to do our upmost to ensure our amazing children can attend school, take part in enjoyable, educational activities and most importantly feel safe and happy.

Together, by supporting each other we WILL get through this. Our school is amazing and I am proud to be leading a team of such hardworking, dedicated staff who are prepared to come into school in these uncertain times to teach, support and care for our wonderful children.

Stay safe, stay positive and God Bless.

Many thanks,

Mr Appleby

Dear parents,

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Following the Government announcement yesterday, I just wanted to reassure you that school will be open as planned on Tuesday 5th January. The same rigorous Health and Safety measures will be in place to make our school the safest place possible for all of us.

If there are any changes to the above I assure you I will let you know immediately.

Happy New Year to you all.

Stay safe and God Bless.
Mr Appleby

Dear Parents and Carers,

Reporting symptoms after the school closes for Christmas Holidays

Easington C of E Primary School will close at 2.30pm on Friday 18th December.  If your child develops symptoms of coronavirus you must book a test.

If your child develops symptoms that result in a positive test, up to and including December 20^th you must inform the school at easingtonce@durhamlearning.net or via our text messaging service.

Please include the name of your child, their class and the date that their symptoms started, as well as your own contact details.

From Monday 21st December 

If your child develops coronavirus symptoms from Monday 21^st December onwards, they must be tested and, if positive, follow the advice of Test and Trace. You do not need to inform the school of any symptoms which occur after this date.

Kind regards

Mr Appleby

Dear parents,

Following the DfE advice late yesterday afternoon regarding schools having the choice to close a day early this term (Thursday 17th), I am pleased to inform you that our school will remain open on Friday 18th as planned. The rationale behind this decision is threefold:

Please see below information and relevant arrangements regarding positive COVID-19 cases in the Christmas holidays.  This information has come directly from the Dfe:

Due to school closures last academic year, our current Year 2 children could not take the annual Phonics Screening Test at the end of Year 1.  The Government stated in September, that all Year 2 children had to take the test by the end of the Autumn term.  The national standard for children passing the Phonics test is 82%. I am delighted to inform you that every single one of our Year 2 children – 100%, passed their Phonics test with flying colours!!  This is a fantastic achievement for our school and a testament to the hard work of the children and Miss O’Neil.  Well done. We are so proud of you all.

Good afternoon parents/carers

I would like to offer a sincere thank you to everyone for your help and support this week. The feedback from teachers regarding the remote learning has been extremely positive. I hope you will agree that the work set by all teachers throughout the week has been to a very high standard. All work set has followed the Medium-Term Planning (available to view on the School Website) and was a direct reflection of what the children would have been learning had they been in school. The fact that teachers have now also been able to provide feedback and communicate with both parents and children, has been a very positive step forward.

Please can I reiterate my words earlier in the week. Do not worry if you have not been able to get all of the work set by teachers completed. We are aware that all family circumstances are different. Please feel free to submit the work as and when it is completed. Teachers will also be setting half termly homework that children need to bring in with them when school restarts on Monday 2nd November. 

Please see a below some key information and dates for after the half term break.

Parental Consultation Meetings:

In November, we usually have our Parental Consultation Meetings which allow parents to discuss their child’s progress, attainment, behaviour etc. with their class teacher. Due to the pandemic and the current high rates in the County Durham area, unfortunately we will not be inviting parents into school in November. However, teachers will be providing an individual written report for each child. The purpose of the report will be:

Please find below a letter from the Local Authority sent to all schools in County Durham to share with parents.  As school was closed this week, children will not have had close contact in our setting, however, it is still imperative that we are informed if your child tests positive for COVID 19 during the half term break.

Dear Parents,

Firstly can I thank everyone, children, parents and school staff alike for their efforts during this first term back to school. Although it’s been a challenge for many we have started to see a steady rhythm within schools living under covid measures. Thank you.

It is in this respect that I write to you today. With the high rates of COVID-19 in County Durham currently, I am asking parents to let the school know if their child tests positive for COVID-19 during the half term break. If your son or daughter receives a positive COVID-19 test after Friday 23^rd October 2020 please contact the school immediately via email easingtonce@durhamlearning.net and provide the following information: 

Name of child Class/year group 

Date of the COVID-19 test 

Does the child have symptoms? Yes or No 

What date did the symptoms start? 

What date did the child last attend school?

It is very important that you provide this information so that the school can identify any close contacts that your son or daughter may have had in school during their infectious period. The school will then follow up close contacts and request that they isolate for 14 days to prevent further transmission of COVID-19. Please note that you should also report any close contacts that your child has had outside the school setting through NHS Test and Trace. If you are unable to speak to your school please make sure you have provided information of all close contacts within the school to NHS Test and Trace.

In addition I know our children and young people will still want to see their friends during the holidays, but please can I remind all parents that children and young people must not meet up in groups larger than six people (of any age) and that young people should not be gathering indoors with friends. Please also remember where they do meet up in groups of six or less they should still observe social distancing and good hand hygiene. Helping our children and young people to understand the importance of this will help to keep us all safe and healthy.

Thank you again for your help in this matter and I wish you a safe and well half term break.

Your sincerely
Amanda Healy, Director of Public Health for County Durham
Richard Crane, Head of Education and Skills

Find out more at www.durham.gov.uk/article/23337/Staying-safe-at-school-coronavirus-

Good morning everyone,

Thank you so much for all of your support regarding home learning. Following feedback from both teachers and parents, we would like to amend the time work has to be submitted. As a school we want to set the best work possible for our children and also want it to be a reflection of what the children would have been learning had they been in school. However, we fully appreciate and understand that everyone has different circumstances at home and it may be challenging to complete the work on a daily basis, and/or submitting the work by 3:30pm.

Going forward, please do not worry if you do not get all of the daily work set completed on that day, or if the work is not submitted by 3:30pm. Please complete the work in line with what fits around your personal circumstances. Teachers will provide feedback to the work submitted as soon as possible.

We hope you are finding the class dojo app useful and it is an improvement on the last time school was in lockdown, in that teachers can provide feedback to children and communicate with parents throughout the school day.

Please can I reassure you that as a school we are very flexible and will always endeavour to meet the needs of our families.

Thank you for your support,

Mr Appleby