Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
If you are entitled to Free School Meals, please read all the information carefully.
Finally, after many hours (days) of work by Mrs Warburton (School Business Manager) to manage what has been a flawed and haphazard DfE system for managing eVouchers, we have now received the vouchers for parents who requested collection from school.
We are in the process of printing them today and a text message will be sent when they are ready for collection. Please do not call the office asking if they are ready yet as this will delay the process. We will text you when ready.
For ease and simplicity, you will receive three weeks worth of vouchers. This has been done in order to reduce the time taken to navigate the system if it has to be used again and thus avoid delays.
eVouchers
If you requested an electronic version (you gave an email address when called) these should have been sent to you from DfE by now. If you have not received them, they are arriving to parents in batches it would seem These are not sent via the school, but DfE direct under the company name 'EDENRED'. If you have not received these, it will be worth checking your junk email box as your email system may not have recognised the name if your security levels are high.
Some parents have experienced opening these to find they are in queue for access and have had to wait. If you experience this, it may be worth opening the mail before you visit the store and or taking a picture/downloading the voucher at a quieter time when the system will not be under strain.
Mr Seargent.
If you are entitled to Free School Meals, please read all the information carefully.
Finally, after many hours (days) of work by Mrs Warburton (School Business Manager) to manage what has been a flawed and haphazard DfE system for managing eVouchers, we have now received the vouchers for parents who requested collection from school.
We are in the process of printing them today and a text message will be sent when they are ready for collection. Please do not call the office asking if they are ready yet as this will delay the process. We will text you when ready.
For ease and simplicity, you will receive three weeks worth of vouchers. This has been done in order to reduce the time taken to navigate the system if it has to be used again and thus avoid delays.
eVouchers
If you requested an electronic version (you gave an email address when called) these should have been sent to you from DfE by now. If you have not received them, they are arriving to parents in batches it would seem These are not sent via the school, but DfE direct under the company name 'EDENRED'. If you have not received these, it will be worth checking your junk email box as your email system may not have recognised the name if your security levels are high.
Some parents have experienced opening these to find they are in queue for access and have had to wait. If you experience this, it may be worth opening the mail before you visit the store and or taking a picture/downloading the voucher at a quieter time when the system will not be under strain.
Mr Seargent.
Mental health support is now available to Derbyshire residents of all ages through a new mental health support line.
Call 0300 790 0596 between the hours of 9am and midnight, seven days a week (This is a low-cost telephone number).
The new mental health support line aims to provide additional support and guidance to people who have mental health needs during this time. It will provide:
This is a temporary service that has been developed as part of the Trust’s response to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The service will be reviewed on a regular basis and again once the Trust’s services return to their usual ways of working.
Dear all
I hope this message finds you well, or as well as can be during what is a very difficult time for many.
School status:
Following the guidance from DfE, the school remains open to those families of key workers and as defined previously. We, like several other schools, remained open during the Easter break to these families and I know it was much appreciated. The arrangement is very much one of a child care nature, however, the activities have been educational in nature where practicable. I pass on my thanks to the staff for their ongoing work.
Staff continue to ensure the school website is updated with online learning activities.
As Headteacher, I know no more than you as to when schools will re open to all. Whilst I do get daily briefs from government, these are always based around the practicalities of current situation and not future planning. There is a lot of speculation in the media regarding schools re opening, but I would take all with a 'pinch of salt' - nobody really knows. If I do hear anything, you will know.
School vouchers for meals
If 4 weeks ago I was asked what would be one of the greatest challenges for school admin during the Covid 19 outbreak, I would not have predicted Free School Meal Vouchers! The system put in place by the government has been chaotic for the most and inconsistent at best. The high numbers applying for free school meal vouchers placed on their system has meant that it has not coped with demand. However, after much work, we are nearly there.
At the time of writing:
Please remember, the system is not ours. In the meantime, we continue to keep the kitchen open to provide pack ups for children. They, as they have been from the start, are available between 12 and 1pm.
Moving forward
If we do find that the lockdown is extended and vouchers needed again, I STRONGLY ADVISE that parents who have asked us to print them out, submit an email address to us. This will mean the voucher gets to you much quicker. Vouchers do not need printing out if you have a smart phone. Hopefully, this will not be needed, however, I will look into facilitating this if needed.
Mr Seargent
This morning I received the following email from the Department for Education regarding the late issue of FSM eVouchers:
|
Sent from DfE |
Update on national voucher scheme for schools providing free school meals.
The free school meal voucher system has been upgraded over the bank holiday weekend. We are working closely with our supplier Edenred to resolve any outstanding issues quickly. We thank schools for their patience while the system is expanded to meet the high demand. |
The school submitted all the information regarding eVouchers once the centralised DfE system became available last week. The system is not ours, and we are aware that many schools are frustrated with the time it is taking to get these to you. We have done all that was asked as soon as it was asked of us.
What happens next:
Email Address had been provided when we called:
If you gave an email address for your eVoucher delivery, you should check your mail. The vouchers will be sent directly to you by DfE and should be imminent. I have been asked if these can be shown electronically (by phone as an example); we do not know the answer to this, but I suspect this will be the case. In a world where e-payments are a preference, this would make sense.
Request for schools to print
For those without printers who stipulated so when we called you, we will print out the eVouchers in batches for you so as to reduce trips needed to school to collect. These are yet to be sent to us (we check daily). As soon as they arrive we will inform you will be able to collect.
I very much appreciate the the eVouchers are the preferred system for you, indeed, it is ours also. However, as this has not been done before and the systems put in place outside of the school are new, it is clearly taking some time. Sadly, we cannot speed the process up on your behalf, but these should be arriving very soon!
When will schools re open?
I am aware that there are questions being asked by some parents about when schools will be re opened.
The simplest answer is that Government, as yet, have given no indication that schools will be re opening soon. School leaders cannot act to re open schools and, even if this were to be the case, the argument for doing so safely at this time would not be strong.
Following government directive, Ashgate Primary School is currently open only to families of essential workers, vulnerable children and even then, when no alternative safe provision is available. Were schools to fully open to children at this time, social distancing guidance issued by medical professionals could not be implemented effectively. This would place staff , the general public and children at increased risk.
Sadly, this is not likely to change imminently without a significant change in the Government's position. I am led to believe a review of the lockdown is due towards the end of Easter; even then, if they were to follow the pattern set in other European countries, it is unlikely that schools will open fully then. The bottom line is, no one knows.
I will of course keep you updated if there are any changes to the situation.
Free School Meal Vouchers issued by the DfE
Despite the overwhelming traffic on the Government school free meals site when it was launched, which resulted in it failing, Mrs Warburton has now uploaded the information and I have received confirmation that it has been accepted.
This is a key step.
When vouchers will arrive electronically or be available at the school (based on the preference you have given) is not yet known, but I suspect soon. Once available, we will let you know.
School packed meals remain available between 1200 and 1300 daily in the interim period.
Whilst it is officially Easter break, we have opted to remain open for those families with essential workers, including NHS, care workers and emergency services.
As the NHS staff will be working over the bank holiday period, so will we. Therefore, if you are registered to have your child cared for at the school during closure, we are open to you.
We recognise our importance in the role of supporting those who are supporting others. Hospitals and care homes will not be closing their doors; nor should we in a time of need.
Likewise, we will continue to provide Free School Meals (see other noticeboard announcements) during this period. Sadly, our kitchen is closed by Chartwells over the Easter, but I, or another member of staff, will be collecting meals from another setting each day and bringing them onto site.
I would like to express thanks to my staff who will be coming in during this period; recognising themselves as essential workers and playing their part.
Thank you to all parents of children entitled to Free School Meals who shared their preferences for meals collection. As you can imagine, this was time consuming.
I'd like to thank Mrs Baird and Miss Francis who spent all day calling families and collating the information.
We are currently attempting to upload the information to the the government system. As you can imagine, the website traffic is significant at the moments all schools across the country are doing likewise. As a result schools are finding it challenging to upload the information, but it will be done when access is available.
In the meantime, we continue to provide packed lunches but will let you know as soon as vouchers are available (for collection or email).
BBC Bitesize - daily lessons
Great news!
From 20 April, you’ll be able to access regular daily lessons in English and Maths, as well as other core subjects, in an expanded version of their website and also on special programmes broadcast on BBC iPlayer and BBC Red Button.
They have worked with colleagues in other parts of the BBC and education experts from around the UK to make sure everyone who needs it can access learning resources during this uncertain time. You can also expect some of it to be delivered by well-known faces.
Lessons on screen
BBC iPlayer and the Red Button service will host Bitesize Daily. These are six different 20 minute shows, each designed to target a specific age group, from ages five to 14, and for pupils throughout the UK. Experts and teachers will be involved, covering what should be learned that day for the different year groups and key stages. Maths, Science and English will be covered in dedicated programmes, and other subjects such as History, Geography, Music and Art will also be covered.
For older students, BBC Four is also joining forces with Red Button for evening programmes to support the GCSE and A Level curriculum.
Listen and learn
In addition, BBC Sounds is also launching separate podcasts, aimed at either primary or secondary pupils, to support everyone learning at home. The daily shows, each around 10 minutes long, will link with content on Bitesize which supports education and also other needs, in what is likely to be a confusing and worrying time for many young people as we continue to live in lockdown.
Bitesize also has an app. This will be providing daily lessons for 14 to 16 year olds.
Find out more about the app https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zgd682p