Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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Warm Spaces
Wed 26 Oct 2022Good Morning all,
I have attached a picture below of an initiative by the long Eaton and Sawley Churches to offer warm spaces and warm drinks to anyone in the community who may need it over the winter.
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Friday update
Fri 14 Oct 2022Happy Friday all.
What a great week we have had here at Dovedale.
The year 3/4 team continued our excellent football season by coming 2nd in their tournament. A huge well done and thank you to the staff and children for representing our school so positively.
Year 3 children were treated to a Diwali workshop yesterday, creating some lovely artwork and working around the story of Diwali as part of our work with Erewash arts.
Mrs Kelly's class presented an excellent class assembly on Thursday. The children presented confidently showcasing their writing, dance, oratory and acting skills. Well done to all in Richard Arkwright class.
The parent's eve slots have been sent out and we are aware that we can't fit everyone in at the times they wish. Unfortunately the hours only stretch so far for those more sought after times. If you can't get the time slot you need contact your child's class teacher and they will arrange a mutually convenient time.
This afternoon the children attended their Expert group workshops. These are the groups that the children selected as areas of interest. We will be inviting parents to attend a session on these later in the year so that you can see some of the activities your child has been experiencing.
Following on from my request for parent supervision in the morning prior to the gates being opened by staff, can I add that children should not be racing around the car park or paths on their scooters or climbing the tree. I understand children may want to hide under the tree but it is a hazard for them to be climbing it as the branches are breaking. Please talk to your children about this.
We are advertising a midday post under vacancies on our website.
A big thank you to the PTA who have supplied us with new chairs and work tables for some of the class spaces that were in need of a refresh. Also for our lovely new benches. See photos below.
All staff have been incredibly busy again this week and I would like to take the opportunity to thank them for stepping up and supporting each other. The team spirit at Dovedale really helps us get through tricky moments and makes it a positive learning environment for the children.
I have asked teachers to turn dojos off for space at the weekend. In case of an emergency please contact the headteacher's email.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
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Black History Month
Mon 10 Oct 2022Good afternoon all,
Last week we kicked off black history month in school with an assembly explaining how we could not possibly celebrate all of black history in a month, but that we need to raise awareness of some of the amazing black people in history as black people's history has been under represented or misrepresented over time. We took some time to look at some individuals who the children may not have heard of.
It is important to remember that statistics from the world economic forum show that the vast majority of young black British people have experienced racism at school, with one in two feeling that racial stereotypes hinder their academic achievement, research shows.
• 95% of young Black British people have witnessed racist language in education
• More than half of males said they hear racist language in school ‘all the time.’
We do not want this to be our school or our children.
In our school we follow the value of respect and the British value of equality.
We will challenge racist language or stereotyping.
It is important for us to discuss with children how everyone should be equal but still celebrate our differences. Difference is an amazing thing which should be celebrated because it is what makes us human.
At Dovedale Primary School we will not tolerate racism or discrimination. We believe that discussing race and educating our children about differences will support them in supporting each other and celebrating diversity.
I have attached a couple of links for you to share with your children if you so wish. Please view them first to determine if they are appropriate for your individual child.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/joinin/black-history-month
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/
We will continue to celebrate black history not only this month especially but every month.
I have also uploaded the assembly schedule under the children's tab so that you can see the different areas we cover in our assemblies in case you wish to discuss these with your children.
I will post some of our recorded assemblies or power points in here also.
Have a good week.
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Keeping children safe
Mon 03 Oct 2022Good afternoon all,
As I am sure you are aware the safety of our children is at the core of what we do, and keeping children safe in the technological age is a varied and sometimes difficult task.
At school we do online safety through our PSCHE curriculum, through anti bullying and through Project Evolve which is an online safety teaching programme which the children access weekly.
As parents it is sometimes difficult to know exactly what is happening in the online world. The link below takes you to the NSPCC information page which helps you understand how to put filters on your children's devices to keep them safe.
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/parental-controls/
I have placed 2 updated documents under the safeguarding tab on this website.
One is an online safety agreement which teachers will be discussing with the children in school and one is a child friendly safeguarding policy. This will be shared in class as part of our keeping safe education but you may also want to share it at home.
Another document on safeguarding in our curriculum which you may find useful is under our curriculum tab. This is a safeguarding in our curriculum map and shows some of the ways safeguarding is threaded through our whole curriculum.
Other links which you may find useful:
This links to CEOP and is for adult use to inform them of how to keep children safe online and the risks they may face.
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
This is the NSPCC web site for supporting online safety.
We have set up an online safety group comprising staff members and our safeguarding governor. If any parents think they would like to have input into this group to support our work on online safety please contact me.
Have a good week and keep safe.
Sarah Houseman
