October 2021

20 Buckden Roundabout October 2021 Pre - School We ’ ve started the term with plenty of fun, engaging activities, helping our returners settle back into pre - school and our new starters feel at home. Our first Book of the Week was, appro- priately, a Peppa Pig story called ‘ George ’ s First Day at Play- group ’. It ’ s been lovely to meet the new children and their families. We ’ ve been introducing their parents and carers to our online Tapestry journals, where they can see what their child has been learning and achieving and contribute photos and notes on their home learning activities too. We ’ ve sent out a New Starters ’ Questionnaire too, to get feedback on what we ’ re doing well and if there are areas we could improve. This term is always busy, and we ’ re already gathering ideas for significant dates such as Halloween, Diwali, Bonfire Night, Re- membrance Day, Chanukah and Christmas. The first occasion we mark is usually Harvest, and we will be talking to St Mary ’ s to see if we can visit in a COVID safe way. Talking of COVID - 19… COVID - 19 safety measures We ’ ve reviewed our COVID - 19 risk assessment in line with government advice. We kindly ask that parents and carers continue to queue outside of the foyer door and wear a mask if entering the setting. We appreciate that COVID - 19 restrictions can make it difficult for parents and carers to talk to us as often as they might like. They are free to phone or email us at any time, and we ’ re offering Zoom meetings if they need a private chat. New EYFS Our statutory guidance, the Early Years Foundation Stage, has been updated by the government. One of the biggest changes will be around assessment, moving away from typical ages and stages and towards using our professional judgement in assessing the children ’ s progress. We will be putting posters in the foyer explaining the changes, and encourage parents to ask staff about any queries they have. There are limited spaces available. Please call 01480 810600 or email us at buckdenpreschool@yahoo.co.uk to arrange a visit or apply for a place. For committee enquiries, please contact our chairperson, Jo Chillmaid, at buckdenpreschoolchairperson@gmail.com or on 07393650084. For more information, visit www.buckdenpreschool.co.uk or see our Facebook updates at https://www.facebook.com/www.buckdenpreschool.co.uk/. Shoebox Coffee Morning for Operation Christmas Child A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to this. A grand total of £410 was raised for the shoebox appeal. It was a wonderful achievement so thank you all once again. Carol Swepstone BUCKDEN CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL (Primary Academy Trust) September 2021 Well, here we are again after our summer holidays. We have all returned to school refreshed and ready to start the new school year, which at the moment is looking fairly nor- mal compared to the last 18 months. It ’ s lovely to see the playground full again with children and parents at the begin- ning of the school day and at home time. Following government guidelines staff are still lateral flow testing twice a week and we encourage any children who are off sick to book a PCR test. Parents are encouraged to wear a face mask when visiting the school. We are still doing eve- rything we can to ensure the safety and wellbeing of staff, children and parents. Our new Reception children are settling into the school rou- tines and look as if they ’ ve been here for much longer than they actually have!! We have also welcomed a number of new families to the area and the children have all joined higher up in the school and settled into Buckden life with ease. We have welcomed Father David into the school by all the children drawing colourful welcome pictures and the chil- dren were very excited at meeting him and look forward to his assemblies and hopefully visits back to the church later on in the term. As we start the beginning of the school year can we take the opportunity to remind our parents and visitors about park- ing around the school area. We all need to be aware of the needs of the local residents as well as the traffic and parking regulations around the school. The area in front of the school marked with yellow lines is not a ‘ dropping off ’ area. As well as being very dangerous due to passing cars and the pedestrian walkways, this part of the road needs to be kept clear at all times as it is the access area for emergency vehi- cles. We also ask parents not to park on the grass verge by the school gates or use the school car park. The parking spaces in front of the school are for use by the staff and visi- tors. Please do not use them for dropping off and picking up your children. Extra parking spaces are available at the Mil- lennium Centre, which is a short walk from the school. Thank you for adhering to these guidelines. There have been put in place for the safety of everyone who comes to the school at the beginning and end of the day.