Dear Parents and Carers

Blink and you would have missed it! Another half term goes by and we are at the half way point of the

school year. As I write this I can hear the Year 6 children starting to arrive with their bags and smiles all

ready for our three day trip to Cardiff. We always have a great time away taking in Cardiff Castle, the

Principality Stadium and the wonderful ‘Big Pit’ up there on the Welsh Valleys. We’re taking away 67

fantastic children and I look forward to telling you more about it in the first newsletter after the half term

break.

The week before last we bid farewell to Miss Haskell-Wood after 20 years working in the school. Claire

has been our Data and Systems Manager and a key member of our administration team. Across

Somerset there are very few people that know more than Claire with regard to how to use the Schools

Information Management System (SIMS) and in particular how to use Assessment Manager which is the

system that stores data and ultimately builds the profile of how your young person is doing in school. We

wish Claire our very best wishes as she takes on a new role at The Taunton Academy – a final challenge

and one that she will be superb at. Many thanks for all you have done for Swanmead.

Many thanks for helping us tighten up on uniform over the last few weeks. In the grand scheme of the

world it might not seem the most important thing. However, ensuring that children across the school are

dressed smartly and correctly, is a vital message to them for when they start the world of work someday

soon. A continued reminder to ensure that children are in shoes not trainers and that leggings are not

part of our school uniform.

Finally, thank you for your continued support with our Academy project. Following my letter to you last

week, I was really grateful to the many of you that emailed (or stopped me in the street!) to show your

frustration and to voice your continued backing to the process. I am sure we will get there with this, but

it will just take a bit more time than any of us were expecting.

A reminder that we finish school tomorrow (Thursday) and return to back on Monday 24th February. All

have a great half term break with your children.

Mark Walker

Headteacher

Telephone: 01460 52431 e-mail: Swanmead@educ.somerset.gov.uk Web Address: www.swanmeadschool.co.uk

The Swanmead Pen Parents’ Newsletter – Term 1.2 DATE: Wednesday 12th February 2020

Swanmead Community School

Ditton Street

Ilminster

Somerset

TA19 0BL

Headteacher: Mr Mark Walker

Year 8 Eco Houses

Children in Year 8 have spent loads of hours designing and putting the finishing touches to their eco

houses in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) competition held via their Science and

DT lessons. We spent a large proportion of time in assembly last week celebrating their talents,

showing off their designs and presenting them with their awards. Daniel, Ben, Ethan, Emma P, Emma S

and Spencer all received Highly Commended for their work with Isabel (Bronze), Becca (Silver) and

Noah (Gold) taking the top awards for these wonderful pieces of work. Engineering and ‘clever design

inventions’ is where the money is parents! Continue to encourage this and well done to the children

involved.

PSHE Day 3

We have just enjoyed our third PSHE day of the academic term:

Year 5 - Children in year 5 enjoyed finding out about cultural celebrations from different parts of the world. They

looked at Chinese New Year, Ethiopian Enukutatash and Thai Songkran and produced a range of beautiful art

work.

Year 6 - Year 6 developed their enterprise skills looking at developing product and marketing skills, and even

created music to reflect and sell products.

Year 7 - The theme for year 7 was rights and responsibilities. They looked at what they are responsible for

personally and how our actions can affect others. Human rights was also studied and what can happen when this

is not adhered to.

Year 8 - Year 8 had sex and relationships education where the theme examined health and protection, and what

is appropriate in relationships. Pressurised relationships were looked at via a play and workshop, which also

looked at the importance of honesty, trust and communication. We are looking forward to the next PSHE day in

March.

Numeracy Ninjas Numeracy Ninjas – Grand Master – Ruler Prize (20 x Black Belts)

Jaike N Emma P

Numeracy Ninjas – Grand Master – Rubber Prize (15 x Black Belts) Noah B Joseph S Leo R

Numeracy Ninjas – Grand Master – Pencil Prize (10 x Black Belts) Clara S

Numeracy Ninjas – Grand Master (3 x Black Belts) Daniel L

Numeracy Ninjas – Black Belt Kira H Sophie D

Sports News

Year 8 Hockey

Well done to our U13 girls’ cricket team who had a

great game against Holyrood with some of the girls

playing their first ever cricket match.

KS2 Hockey

Well done to our two U11 hockey teams who took part

in a tournament at Holyrood with one team reaching

the semi-finals. It was great to be able to take 15

pupils due to their commitment to attending hockey

club last term!

KS2 Cross Country

Well done to Harry, Josh, Charlie, Freddie, Summer,

Sky and Barnaby who took part in the Kings College

Primary School cross country race in very muddy

conditions!

Severe Weather Conditions – School Closures

Should the weather forecast tell us that we might be expecting some colder weather we will always

endeavour to ensure that the school is open if it is safe to do so. If you suspect that there could be the

potential that the school might be closed then I remind parents of the different options there are to

check:

a) Notices to be placed on the school website – www.swanmeadschool.co.uk and on the front

door of the school.

b) Message written on the school’s Facebook page.

c) Check the county school closures website on – www.somersetschoolclosures.org.uk

d) Listen to the following radio stations which will pick up school closures for

broadcast/publication on their website:

• BBC – Somerset. 95.5 FM, 1566 MHz

• Tone FM 107.8 FM (Taunton & surrounding areas)

Parents’ Evening Dates

Please make a note of the Parents’ Evenings taking place in the Spring/Summer Term.

Year 7 Parents’ Evening - Tuesday 3rd March

Year 8 Parents’ Evening – Wednesday 25th March

Year 5 Parents’ Evening - Tuesday 28th April

Year 7 History

As part of their history curriculum, Year 7 have been working hard designing their own

Motte and Bailey castles - there were some fabulous designs! Different mediums were used

to help the children explain what different parts of the castle were for. These included

elaborate posters, detailed Lego designs, papier mache models and some brilliant Mine Craft

work. Some even used food as their chosen medium and made some delicious cakes.

Sure you don’t really want to read this but schools have been encouraged to forward this on

to parents regarding the latest coronavirus situation.

Coronavirus – Advice for all early years providers, schools and

further education providers

The government is closely monitoring the spread of the Coronavirus and is taking action at

home and abroad. The overall risk of Coronavirus to the UK remains moderate. However we

understand that people may be concerned where there are children, students or staff

returning from or visiting China. Public Health England and the Foreign Office have issued

advice for anyone travelling to the area. This can be found at:

· https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/china

· https://www.gov.uk/government/news/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-and-avian-flu-

advice-for-travel-to-china

Latest information and advice can also be found at:

· https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Please share this advice with your staff and cascade as appropriate.

Advice for parents/guardians

You should not be unduly worried about the possibility of your children catching the

Coronavirus. There is no reason why your children should not continue to attend their early

years, school or further education setting as normal.

We recognise that some families or children may be planning to travel to China during the

forthcoming half term period. If so, please refer to the FCO’s latest travel advice via the link

above.

What action you can take

A UK wide campaign has been launched to provide clear advice on how to slow the spread

of Coronavirus. Please help to support the campaign which promotes basic hygiene

practices, such as regularly washing hands and always sneezing into a tissue, to stem the

spread of viruses.

You can do this by:

Displaying this poster in relevant public spaces:

· https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5e35b25740f0b609169cb52a/coronavir

us-public-info-poster-2.pdf

Sharing DHSC content from the following social media links:

· https://twitter.com/DHSCgovuk/status/1223888531262726144

· https://www.facebook.com/DHSCgovuk/videos/194227541968649/

· https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dhsc_coronavirus-coronavirusoutbreak-

coronavirusuk-activity-6629655670331318273-Djpu