February 12, 2021

12th Feb – Newsletter – Half-term relief, Competition Winners, FOSM update, Martin’s Tool Hire, and more!

Summary!

Half-term is here! Thank you for all of your heroic efforts this term, whether at home or school. We are in this together. We are so grateful that we have got this far with only 1 bubble being closed since September – thank you for the sacrifices you are making. For one of the largest primary schools in Hampshire, this is quite a feat.
We haven’t had any planned or leaked news about school returning. Like you, we await any news from the government. We will respond as quick as we are able to when the news comes out.
Bug Club – Apologies for any confusion, but as parents/carers you can’t actually change the password, we have to do this. We’ll be in touch soon about that. I do hope you are enjoying Bug Club!
A massive thank you to Martin’s Tool Hire, who have saved us hundreds of pounds by lending us a scoffold tower for a few days to carry out essential maintenance. When we called to ask about the cost, the immediate answer was – we’ll do it for free, including collection and delivery. We thought it deserved a special mention.
Have a wonderful break! Mr Applegate :)

Star Learners – Home and At School

Well done to:

Year R: Alfie J, Finley, Prannav, Isla, Olivia, Joshua S
Year 1: Camila, Daisy (1C), Liliana, Ruby C, Elizabeth, Elijah
Year 2: Angelina, Thomas, Freddie, Daniel, Braden, Zach
Year 3: Kody, Ashdon, Joshua F, Taya, Isla, Lucas
Year 4: Tyler, Liam J, Izzy, Cristina, Marcus, Harry S, Owen
Year 5: Lottie H, David, Issac B, Joe H, Sophia M, Daisy S
Year 6: Nevaya, Bela, Matilda, Maddie, Evie (6B), Rafferty, Brooke

Competition Winners!

Well done to Katie (Year R), Elodie (Year 1), Mia (Year 2), Chloe (Year 3), Eva (Year 4), Emily (Year 5) and Gurshannt (Year 6) for your brilliant inventions! This is following our competition to design something new that will make our world a better place. Their creative ideas have won them a special book and certificate. Well done to everyone who entered too – we had lots of entries! See their designs here!

Your generosity is outstanding – and much appreciated!

Thanks to your kindness, we have bene able to raise £14,583.11 since September 2020! Just phoenomenal! Thank you so much, and of course to the FOSM team for your massive efforts in this. Find our more about our FOSM fundraising here!

World Book Day – Thursday 4th March

We won’t be doing a dress up day, but the children will be taking part in a range of reading-related activities on this day! We also aim to do a little something extra in the summer!

FOSM bookshop now open!

We are excited to announce that FOSM now has its own bookshop! You can find it by clicking here:

For every book purchased through the site, FOSM will get 10% of the price.

We have put together a wide selection of titles from activity books and books to save the planet, through to books to boost confidence as well as books being shared in school. There are even some books for grown-ups on the site.

If you would like to share any books that you and your family have enjoyed we’d be delighted to add them to the shop. If there is a book you’d like to purchase, but its not listed in the bookshop yet, then you can drop us a line and we will make sure it’s added.

The FOSM Bookshop is hosted on Bookshop.org a new platform that supports independent booksellers who are really struggling currently. Bookshop.org was set up to provide a convenient and affordable alternative to buying through Amazon. There is a small delivery charge on orders but all books are sold at a discount on rrp. You can find out more about bookshop.org here: https://uk.bookshop.org/pages/about

Please contact Clare Hodder at bookshop.fosm@stmarksce.org.uk with any questions about the shop or to send your recommendations or requests for books to add to the shop.

Support with heating costs, for families facing Winter hardship due to COVID-19

Information for Parents and Carers

As part of our connect4communities programme, and in addition to the food vouchers distributed to families through childcare providers, schools and colleges, we have provided the Citizens Advice Service with £100,000 of funding to help families and individuals with energy costs over the Winter period – gas, electric and water.

Contact details for the local branch of the Citizens Advice Service can be found on this website: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/…/contact-us/contact-us/

Please note that the local branch will complete a quick eligibility check and refer parents and carers to the distributors of the grant and financial support will be provided to the family or individual seeking help.

The eligibility criteria for this support – to heat homes – is wide-ranging to ensure the money is as accessible as possible and is as follows:

Families with children:

Families in receipt of benefits related free school meals
Families including 16-18-year olds previously eligible for Free School Meals
All children with a social worker
All children open to Early Help
All households with 2 – 4year olds accessing childcare and eligible for Early Years Pupil Premium
Households with a young carer
Those who it is believed will struggle to afford to heat their home adequately and/or maintain a reasonable standard of living this winter

Households without children:

Care leavers
Households that have been identified as going into debt for the first time
Households or individuals with no other way of obtaining funds, e.g. those who face choosing to pay either rent or bills (considered unmanageable debt)
Those who it is believed will struggle to afford to heat their home adequately and/or maintain a reasonable standard of living this winter

Support from this fund, distributed by the Citizens Advice Service, can take the form of:

Pre-paid energy cards or the payment of a fuel bill on behalf of an eligible household

Other sources of welfare support

Local sources of other welfare support can be found through:

The connect4communities online directory: https://fish.hants.gov.uk/kb5/hampshire/directory/home.page
Connect to Support Telephone Helpline: https://www.hants.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth/coronavirus/volunteer-welfare
Connect to Support Online Resources: https://www.hants.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth/coronavirus/volunteer-welfare

About connect4communities

‘connect4communities’ is a programme of support provided by Hampshire County Council, in collaboration with other agency, voluntary and charitable partners. It is funded by the Authority’s £2.89 million Covid Winter Grant from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Regular Notices

Sign-up for our school prayer points mailing list

Would you like to join our prayer points mailing list? In conjunction with Immanuel church, this is a new opportunity to receive by email a half-termly prayer point list for our school. Click here to find out more.

SCL After school care and Half Term Child Care

Click here for Half-term child care booking! Held at Hatch Warren Community Centre.

Click here for regular after school care at St Mark’s.

Covid Reminders

Use the email covid@stmarksce.org.uk if you have questions or need to report symptoms or a positive case.
Please keep us updated – for example, of test results.
Read this letter from Public Health England about symptoms and testing.
NHS Symptoms Check
If a child or parent is at home because of symptoms, please keep the siblings off too. IE the whole household needs to isolate, and the person with symptoms needs to get a test.
We are moving online with homework, spellings and Google Classrooms. If you need help with technology, please do let us know by emailing the office.
If a child is off school but able to work, then Google Classroom work is available – and it should be completed. Teachers spend a lot of time making sure this work is available so no-one misses out!

Do you have a spare laptop you don’t need?

Do you have a laptop lying around, which we can use to support children at home? Doesn’t need to be new or quick. We blitz it, and install all the software necessary. That way a child who doesn’t have access to a laptop for home learning can really benefit. If you can help, please email the office.

Online Forms

Absence Request form – going to be absent (e.g. wedding, funeral, holiday etc)? Use this form
Pupil Premium Form – have your work/benefit circumstances changed? Complete this form so we can check if your child is elligible for free school meals and other support at school.
Getting Home Arrangements – tell us how your child gets home each day.
Mobile Phone Request – for older children needing to bring a phone to school

Going to be absent?

We’ve moved our absence request form online. This is for absence requests such as holidays, weddings, funeral, special events, and more. You don’t need to use this form for sickness or self-isolation (but please email/phone the office if they are unwell).