BELMONT SCHOOL NEWS 22nd January 2021
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THOUGHT FOR THE
WEEK
Kindness
BELMONT SCHOOL NEWS
22nd January 2021
Testing Team at Belmont
The Covid-19 testing process is
now up and running here at
school. All staff and secondary
pupils who have consented are
being tested on a weekly register,
as a class bubble.
The team (Mrs Kear, Miss Holliday
and Mrs Marshall) have completed
the relevant training and set up
the site safely following the layout
requirements. The process
includes registering each test,
taking swabs safely, processing
them and recording the results.
Parent, carers and staff receive
results via a text message half an hour after the test has been completed.
We are really impressed with the positive responses and are really proud of the pupils who are engaging well with
the swabbing process, as well as sticking to the rules of hand sanitizing, social distancing and wearing of face
masks. We are pleased that so far we have conducted over 200 tests and in some cases, like Night Owls, this has
been 100% of the students and staff from a class. Regular testing, together with all the additional safety measures
in place, offers reassurance that around school we are doing everything we can to keep our Belmont community
and their families safe.
We are grateful to all parents and carers for their support during this time and will continue to update you of any
changes.
Mrs E Kear
New Staff Profiles
Miss M Chappell, teachers in Hippos
‘When I first started at Belmont I was very nervous to start a new school part-way through
my NQT year but I had no reason to be worried! I have loved getting to know my new
class, the staff and pupils at Belmont. Everyone has been so welcoming and helpful when
I have seen them around school. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the year will bring!
A funny moment…...In my previous job at the Milestone School I was running a sensory
session where the children each had trays full of rice, sand and oats to play with. As I went
to give a child a tray I tripped over a chair and spilt the tray all over the floor! We still had
a great time exploring the different textures!
Miss C Elliot, LSW in Hippos
‘I spent 3 years as an LSW in Sydney, Australia. Two of my more unusual responsibilities
included guarding a possum which had chosen to sleep in a bin on the playground, and
keeping an eye on a (very large but harmless) Huntsman spider which was crawling across
the classroom ceiling and terrifying the (rather strapping) male teacher.
I love the small class sizes and good staff to pupil ratios. Also, the staff have been very
welcoming to me.’
Miss A Meldrum, LSW in Elephants
‘I really enjoy being a part of the staff community here at Belmont, there’s a great
family atmosphere. Everyone works together as a team which is great and we do
manage to have fun along the way – apart from the time I spent the day with a rip in
my trousers … there’s never a dull moment!’
OPAL
The present pandemic situation is unfortunately affecting the OPAL
provision we would like to provide for our students, however we
are trying our best to adapt our activities and continue to offer
quality of play for our students. Being outdoors reduces the risk of
spreading the virus, and play has huge benefits for children’s
development and emotional wellbeing, so the outdoor play and
learning is even more important now.
This term each of primary bubbles have been provided with an
individual box of various loose parts, OPAL resources and toys.
These boxes have proved to be very popular and have enriched the
pupils’ outdoor play. It is lovely to see how creative our students
can be in their play.
We have done some work to improve our primary mud kitchen and made it more fun for children. Also, to
maximise the use of our resources during the pandemic, we have created OPAL activity zones in the primary
playground in line with the practical advice of OPAL’s consultant microbiologist and specialist in infection control
Mark Hichens. These zones are: scooters/ bikes play, sandpit play, pirate ship play, mud kitchen and OPAL
cupboard resources. The classes swap between the areas each week as the equipment can be accessed by one
cohort for the week, left for the weekend, and used by another group the next week.
The secondary
classes have
allocated scheduled
zones for playtimes
as well. We are
planning to equip
every secondary
bubble with the
OPAL sport
resources bag, they
have been all given
new balls for a good
start.
We hope to be able
to create more OPAL play opportunities in secondary playground next term. Thank you for the OPAL donations so
far and all your support.
Mrs Vida, OPAL Coordinator
Poppy Appeal
We are pleased to let parents know that Belmont collected £143.99 for the Poppy Appeal last November.
We received a message from the local Honary Organiser Lynne Hulme
‘Thank you very much for helping with our Appeal. Without your help,
we would be unable to continue our vital welfare and benevolent
work.’
Registered Charity No. 219279
Kindness Awards
Congratulations to all the pupils who were awarded a kindness certifcate and a hot chocolate treat this week
with Mr Day and Mrs Hanna.
Alysha, Grace,James,Sinead, Seb.S, Fredrick, Rhys, Sam T , Wyatt, Saphire
A message from the Blue Peter team
We would like to inform you that we have launched Blue Peter on YouTube at CBBC and we were wondering if
your pupils and parents would be interested in this, for entertainment outside of home-schooling hours now
we’re in lockdown.
Blue Peter is the longest running kids TV show in the world and we are uploading
videos to it that are suitable for 5-11 year olds. We have world record breaking
challenges, arts and crafts, environmental videos, cooking and baking how tos,
inspirational films, gaming, celebrity appearances, dance routines and music
performances. We also feature ways of getting a Blue Peter badge, behind the
scenes footage and extra content about our incredible presenters Adam, Lindsey,
Mwaksy, Richie and Henry the Blue Peter dog.
If you would like to subscribe please follow the link:
https://www.youtube.com/bluepeter - (it’s obviously completely free to
subscribe!) and don’t forget to watch the live programme on CBBC at 5.00pm every Thursday, or on BBC iPlayer.
Thanks so much for your time,
The Blue Peter Team!
Do You look After someone?
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