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• Garden room will bring big benefits to school community

  Tue 09 Feb 2021
  Work is due to start on our wonderful new garden room at Easter, and we are excited about the huge benefits that it will bring for all members of the school community. The bespoke log cabin will be made to work hard: it will be a break-out and intervention room for groups of pupils and adults; a soundproofed music studio; a quiet haven for emotional literacy sessions; a meeting venue and a space in which we can host members of the local community. It will be in almost constant use, significantly enhancing the facilities our small school can offer, both now and for future generations.
  
  We are so grateful to The Waterhouse Trust for its generosity in providing the majority of the funding. If you would like to make a donation towards the remaining amount, you can do so simply via The Good Exchange here: https://app.thegoodexchange.com/project/18454/yattendon-ce-primary-school/community-room-2020-21
  Thank you! 

• Woodland adventures for all

  Tue 20 Oct 2020
  We are lucky enough to have our own woodland classroom a short walk from school. All year groups have benefitted this half term with visits to explore, have fun and learn outdoors. Our youngest pupils in Owls continue to make regular 'Forest Friday' trips. This is an account of their first visit: 

  Although wet, we walked to the woods behind the church safely. The children all had a sense of road safety and could talk about why we had our high vis jackets on so vehicles could see use all easily. When we arrived we sung our Forest Friday song and the children began to join in with some of the words.

  
  There were then a range of challenges to enable the children to explore the environment - all were able to stick the the given boundaries and safety instructions.

  The children had to collect a variety of things from the woodland floor - leaves that they described and said why they had picked their leaf. Thin/short sticks which we compared and discussed.

  
  They then had the freedom to explore for themselves - many explored the established den areas, some lifted the tree stumps to look for mini beasts and others continued collecting things of interest.

  
  At the end of the session, we enjoyed a drink and a snack and talked about our first trip to the woods.

• Coronavirus Update - School Closures

  Wed 18 Mar 2020 Mrs Manley

  Dear Parents,

   

  At 5.15pm today, the Secretary of State for Education gave a public statement that all state-funded schools in England would be closed from the end of the school day on Friday.

   

  Having indicated that all schools would be closed, he then indicated that they would be expected to remain open for the children of key workers and for those in various vulnerable categories – providing a safe place and access to meals. We are expecting a definition of ‘key worker’ tomorrow from the Cabinet Office. It will take time to determine the nature of this provision.  If you think this may apply to your household, it would be helpful if you could let the office know by email.   office@yattendon.w-berks.sch.uk

   

  Although we have been anticipating such an announcement, and prepared for various scenarios, the limited details so far released raise considerably more questions than answers. You will all have your own legitimate concerns and queries.

   

  The Secretary of State gave no undertaking that schools would be expected to sustain a pattern of normal learning during the closure; rather that any available staff would be expected to support other front line efforts. 

   

  I will be working tomorrow with staff, to clarify as best we can what this announcement means for the school, for our pupils and for you. I anticipate providing more details later tomorrow. I am literally receiving information at the same time that you are. Whilst very happy to receive emails from 7am until 10pm, I am waiting for information and guidance.

   

  Thank you for your support and for your patience in the meantime.

   

  For the next two days, pupil attendance is expected to continue as normal within the COVID-19 Public Health England guidance.

   

  Best wishes,

   

  Mrs Manley

• Coronavirus Information

  Wed 18 Mar 2020 Mrs Manley

  Dear parents

   

  As you’re probably aware, the government’s guidance on the coronavirus has changed from the ‘contain’ phase to one of delaying the spread of the virus. We’re getting in touch to let you know what we’re doing in light of this, and what we expect from all of you, to help make sure our school community keeps safe and calm.

   

  All hygiene messages have been re-iterated in Collective worship this morning as well as encouraging the children to take responsibility for handwashing and touch.

   

  Several of our families have made the sensible decision to self-isolate this week. I must insist this is followed please, as Public Health England advice has been updated. People are now advised to stay at home for 7 days if they have either:

   

  • a high temperature
  • a new continuous cough
  • are directed to do so by a medical practitioner

   

   The PH advice can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public#history;

  The PH advice above also contains a link to stay at home guidance, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance. 

  We’d like to reassure you that at school we’re taking all of the necessary steps to protect our community and are continuing to follow official guidance from the government and West Berkshire.

   

  Several parents have asked for work to be sent home for their children who are self-isolating. This is DIFFERENT to the school being closed.

   

  IF you feel your child is well enough to work at home, please focus on:

  ·daily reading and discussion about the text

  ·spelling frame to practice year group spellings - https://spellingframe.co.uk/

  ·TT Rockstars and times tables practice

  ·Purple Mash – your child has a log in to this

  ·Host country research/ activities (Owls – Wales; Robins- Switzerland; Swallows – Canada; Kingfishers – India)

  Work for Owls class has been loaded onto the class page of the school website, as some other work is not appropriate.

   

  What’s the current situation?

  The school remains open – this is the current official guidance we have been given.

  Breakfast and after-school clubs are running as normal.

  Pupils should attend unless they feel unwell

  If your child is unwell, report this as you would normally by phoning or emailing the school office.

   

  What we’re doing to protect and support pupils and staff:

  Take the temperatures of pupils who say they are feeling ill

  Maintain our daily cleaning schedule and in addition clean and disinfect regularly touched objects and surfaces.

  Enforce hand-washing and use of hand sanitiser

   

  What we need you to do

  • Keep your child at home for 7 days if they have a high temperature and/or
  • a new continuous cough

  Come and collect your child straight away, if we ask you to.

   

  What happens if the school has to close?

  We’ll only close if we’re either officially advised to do so or we don’t have enough staff to run the school.

  In either case, we will:

  Notify you through a school comms and post this on our website. We will let you know when we will reopen. If and when we close, we will be posting work on the class pages of the school website.

  Please keep in mind that we’re only sending out this information to help the school community prepare. There are currently no plans to close.

   

  If you have any questions

  Please consult the school office, if you have any questions about our response to this issue

  NHS, if you want to know more about the symptoms of coronavirus. If you think you or your child may have the symptoms, use NHS 111 online if at all possible before calling 111.

  Department for Education’s coronavirus helpline: 0800 046 8687, if you have any questions about the government’s response to coronavirus in relation to schools.

   

  Kind regards

  Mrs Manley

• Yattendon wins gold - for being green

  Thu 30 Jan 2020

  Yattendon School has been awarded a gold award by the Woodland Trust for getting involved in green activities including tree planting, visiting a local woodland, reducing carbon emissions and recycling.

   

  The Green Tree Schools initiative, which has seen more than 12,000 schools sign up since it was launched in 2008, offers the opportunity to bring the great outdoors, wildlife and green issues into the classroom.

   

  Schools win awards for participating in green activities, which include tree planting, reducing carbon emissions and recycling.

• Friends indeed

  Sun 19 Jan 2020

  A project that forges friendships between children and local elderly people and tackles loneliness has won a national award for Yattendon C of E Primary School.
   

  The school scooped both the nationwide ‘Make a Difference’ award and the regional one for its initiative aimed at combating loneliness amongst senior citizens in its own village. The awards are the culmination of a child-led social action programme that encourages youngsters to identify an issue they feel passionate about, then make a difference through practical action.

• A Yattendon designer

  Fri 13 Dec 2019

  There has been plenty happening across school as part of our design and technology curriculum focus.  
   
  Kingfishers have researched (including a very enjoyable tasting session) peppermint creams, designed and then made a batch. They will evaluate their finished products which will be presented in their personally designed and made boxes. 
   
  Continuing with a food focus, Owls have made their own mince pies. Swallows have been applying their Science learning about electricity, by designing a circuit to make Rudolph’s nose light up! 

   

  Robins went one step further and invited eight members of our local community in for some Christmas crafts. They made festive cones and sewed felt stockings, followed by listening to tales about childhood Christmas times. What a special morning for everyone! 
   

• Harvest celebrations

  Sun 22 Sep 2019

  We enjoyed our annual crumble making on Tuesday afternoon as Mrs Wood led proceedings, supported by some Year 6s. Children weighed, measured, stirred and constructed their fabulous crumbles ready for us to take to church on Wednesday as our Harvest gift to our community. 

   

  Robins did a BRILLIANT job of leading our Harvest Service. Who would have thought that children so new to Year One and Two would be capable of creating a drama, reciting a poem with actions, writing AND then reading their prayers in front of a church full of their peers and families?

• Winning horse

  Wed 04 Sep 2019
  We had a fabulous start to the Summer with a 3rd place win in the Dubai horse painting competition at Newbury Racecourse! We were awarded £1000 plus a Galaxy tablet! Well done Dulcie for creating the winning design.

• EXCELLENT result for SIAMS inspection

  Tue 04 Jun 2019
  We are delighted to share the results of an inspection that took place before half term – a Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS). In a similar way to Ofsted, all Church of England schools are visited regularly to evaluate the key question: How effective is the school's distinctive Christian vision, established and promoted by leadership at all levels, in enabling all pupils and adults to flourish?
  
  We received an overall grade of Excellent, and were also judged to be Excellent in the effectiveness of our Religious Education and the impact of Collective Worship. A new framework came into force last September, which makes it far more challenging for schools to achieve this highest grade. In the Oxford Diocese, we are the third to have been deemed Excellent since then.
  
  Our wonderful ethos and environment is thanks to the energy, skills and commitment of our whole school community – staff, parents, children, governors, the church, the Estate and other local people. It’s a huge team effort and we feel so fortunate to be part of such a supportive and caring ‘family’. There is also clearly a great deal of work that goes on behind the scenes to build upon those strong foundations to ensure that children receive the best education and wider opportunities, and flourish like the seeds in our school vision. As one of our younger pupils so beautifully explained to the inspector: “my teacher waters my soil so I can blossom like a beautiful flower.”
  
  As part of the process, the inspector looked in detail at seven strands, including the school vision and leadership, the progress of pupils (especially in RE), our relationship with the community, opportunities for all members of the school community to explore their spirituality, and our impact as global citizens. A huge thank you to all the hard-working staff at school who care deeply about the children here and strive for excellence every day. And also to the parents and children who spoke to the SIAMS inspector and were so positive about our school.