The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) has confirmed changes to the 2023 key stage two (KS2) tests schedule in England, due to the additional bank holiday set to take place on Monday 8 May 2023, in honour of the King’s coronation.

Ministers have decided that KS2 tests will take place in the same week, with tests following the usual order but each taking place one day later than originally planned. As such, the new schedule will be as follows:

• Tuesday 9 May 2023: English grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) papers 1 (questions) and 2 (spelling)
• Wednesday 10 May 2023: English reading paper
• Thursday 11 May 2023: mathematics papers 1 (arithmetic) and 2 (reasoning)
• Friday 12 May 2023: mathematics paper 3 (reasoning)

Thank you for your contributions to this year’s Poppy Appeal. The total raised was £122.10.

Tomorrow (Friday 18 November) is Children in Need day. As Friday is PE day for some of our classes, we will not be asking the children to dress up because some of them will need to be in their PE kits. However, all children are welcome to wear any Children in Need accessories they may have.

We are aware of the strain on household budgets at the current time and we will, therefore, not be asking the children to bring a donation into school.

If you wish to donate, please follow the link below to the Children in Need donation page:

https://donate.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/

The Local NHS in the Northeast and North Cumbria have developed advice for parents and carers of children and young people around some common childhood illnesses.  Please see the poster below:

HTQR_code_poster_09

Please see the letter below from the Spennymoor Foodbank:

Spennymoor Foodbank letter

Please see the letter below which contains details about how to provide consent and also a link to further information about the nasal flu spray. You will be asked for our school code which is: HD114070.

Flu Immunisation Programme Communication – For Parents

Please see the information below from Durham County Council:

Free swimming is once again available in the October Half Term and further information is available here: https://www.durham.gov.uk/freeswimming

Ahead of the school holidays, we want to remind everyone about good hygiene at our swimming pools and leisure venues. Please make sure you wash your hands and shower before using our pools. If you have been unwell, particularly with a tummy bug, please don’t use the pool for at least 48 hours. If you have been diagnosed with cryptosporidiosis you should not use swimming pools for 14 days after symptoms have resolved.

Please see the information below about job vacancies with Chartwells:

Job advert

Please feel free to share this with anyone who may be interested.

Please see the information below from Durham University about their junior programmes and holiday camps:

Dear Parents,

The dates and times for this year’s Christmas performances are as follows:

• Wednesday 14 December at 1:15pm – Infant nativity (YR/1/2)
• Wednesday 14 December at 2:00pm – Junior show (Y3/4/5/6)
• Thursday 15 December at 9:15am – Infant nativity (YR/1/2)
• Thursday 15 December at 10:00am – Junior show (Y3/4/5/6)

The morning performances on the Thursday are a repeat of the afternoon performances on the Wednesday. We have two of each performance to allow us to accommodate as many parents and other family members as possible. Further details will follow in next half-term’s newsletter.

Kind regards

Mr W. Kirtley (Headteacher)