Congratulations to everyone who entered our Pumpkin Design Competition this year! We had some fantastically creative entries, well done! After careful consideration, Mr Stephenson chose our winners! They each received a Halloween themed goody bag filled with Halloween treats.

Our winning designs are:

Know Your Symptoms– Please click here to compare the symptoms of Flu, the common cold, allergies against those of COVID-19!

What a great start to the beginning of our Autumn Term. It has been great to see you all once again! All our children has been amazing! It has been so lovely to see their smiley, happy faces enjoying being back together again, listening to them chat with their friends, playing & having fun together! Thank you for all your help and hard work!

Colds, coughs and BACK TO SCHOOL
This is really difficult for parents, really hard for schools…and NHS 111 is overrun with calls to speak to doctors. Today the @rcpch issued some new up to date (and evidence based) guidance for parents and schools. It has been made into a simple flow chart to make it easier to understand. We hope it helps!

Here is a link to the government advice document too:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-in-the-autumn-term

Our very first virtual Sports Day was a great success! many thanks to all of you who took part, especially the parents who joined in too and those of you in charge of the videoing! It was fantastic to see such enthusiasm and dedication to sport!

What talented, creative young people we have here at Witton-le-Wear! Have a look below at the fantastic designs!

The overall winning design was created by Declan-James, Angel-Janae & the Simpson family:

Our year group winners are:

Nursery – James’ Dinosaur

Reception – Charlotte’s flowers

Year One – Polly’s Ice Cream

Year Two – Jacob’s Pikachu

Year Three – Frankie’s Octopus

Year Four – Verity’s COVID-19 model

Year Five – Grace’s Farmyard

Year Six – Freya’s Robinwood Activity Centre

Update on GOV.​UK.

Voucher scheme launches for schools providing free school meals

Page summary
Weekly shopping vouchers worth £15 to spend at supermarkets while schools are closed due to coronavirus

Change made
First published.

Time updated
12:15am, 31 March 2020

Children eligible for free school meals will benefit from a national voucher scheme allowing them to continue to access meals whilst they stay at home.

Schools can now provide every eligible child with a weekly shopping voucher worth £15 to spend at supermarkets while schools are closed due to coronavirus.

Schools can continue to provide meals for collection or delivery themselves, but where this is not possible, the scheme will allow schools to provide vouchers to families electronically, or as a gift card for those without internet access.

The vouchers can be spent on food at a range of shops including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and M&S, with the Department working to get more shops to join the scheme as soon as possible.

Info for parents: Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit – if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.

Your child may also get free school meals if you get any of these benefits and your child is both:

• younger than the compulsory age for starting school
• in full-time education

How to avoid catching or spreading coronavirus

Congratulations to our Cross Country runners today! Despite the weather conditions, our children in years 3-6 put in a brilliant effort, racing around the course at Bishop Auckland College. There was lots of muddy fun! An extra special congratulations goes to Jay in Year 6 who came in first place! Fantastic run, well done!