19^th October 2020

Dear Parents and Families,

I hope that you and your families are well.

I am writing to update you on a number of questions I have had from parents and some other school news.

Questions include:-

Will there be a change to half term holiday dates due to COVID?

Not that we have been told up to now. We have not been informed of any change to half term dates at this time. Children finish school this Friday, 23^rd October, and re-start school on Monday, 2^nd November.

Where can I access the latest NHS advice on COVID?

You can access that information at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Where can I find out what the local COVID alert level is in Milton Keynes and what restrictions are in place locally due to COVID?

Go to the site https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus and enter your postcode in Postcode Checker.

As of today’s date, Milton Keynes is at the medium level.

Please see https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-covid-alert-level-medium for details of restrictions currently applying in Milton Keynes.

My friends have moved to Milton Keynes due to changing their job – do you have any school places at St Monica’s?

Yes, we do. If you or anybody you know is looking for a school place, we currently have places in most year groups. Please contact us on the red email address above or phone the School Office on 01908 606966.

My job circumstances have changed – is my child now entitled to Free School Meals?

All children from Reception to Year 2 are entitled to Universal Free School Meals from our school caterer https://www.kingswoodcatering.co.uk/

If your child is in those year groups, please go to the Kingswood site to order your meals for your child. You can order packed lunches as well as hot meals from Kingswood so please make use of this entitlement for each child you have from Reception to Year 2 ages.

In addition, there is Government support for children of all school ages (including those not in Reception to Year 2) who are entitled to Free School Meals due to their parents being entitled to benefits. If you are and/or have recently become entitled to any of the following, your child may be entitled to free school meals:

• 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
• Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get Free School Meals.

If you believe you may be entitled to Free School Meals as you get one or more of these benefits and you are not currently claiming those meals, please contact us at the red email address above and we will get back to you.

Has there been any confirmed positive cases of COVID at or reported to St Monica’s since full re-opening in September?

We have not been informed of any positive cases this term amongst staff or pupils and there have been no partial closures for year groups/bubbles etc. to date.

So that we can develop our teaching with regard to homework or children being absent from school, we will be contacting you this week with a survey of how your children could access the internet at home should there be a need for remote teaching. Please ensure you reply to this email with full details as soon as you can so we can best prepare for any such closures? The Government has asked the school to put together a register of how each child can access remote learning from home.

You will also receive details regarding Google Classroom which is a useful platform by which we can set homework and provide home learning if that becomes necessary.

In addition, the Government has also put online lessons from the Oak National Academy which provides lessons each day for all year groups (including secondary) if you wish to access them because your child is at home or otherwise.  They can be accessed here – https://www.thenational.academy/

I will be in touch with further information as it arises. In the meantime, please direct any queries regarding school work to the teachers and any other queries (including about this letter), please mail to the email in red above and we will be glad to hear from and get back to you.

In other News…

Apply for School Places for Year 7 next September, 2021, for all those children now in our Year 6

You need to apply for your child’s secondary school place to Milton Keynes Council by 31^st October 2020.

Please see https://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/schools-and-lifelong-learning/school-admissions/starting-secondary-upper-school-in-september-2021 for details on how to apply. Alternatively, please call School Admissions on 01908 253338.

If you need any help with the process, please contact me this week. Please get your applications in on time to avoid disappointment with your school allocation later on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvv0KxlDv6s contains information on St Paul’s Catholic High School’s virtual open evening for this year if you want more information on St Paul’s.

My child is sitting the Bucks 11+ this month – I need a form from St Monica’s to confirm my child is fit to sit the test.

I have signed no forms on this yet this year whereas usually I have signed over 10 by this time. You need to get those forms in to me this week (with the photo of your child attached as instructed) so I can get them back to you. Your child will not be able to sit the test (most of which fall during half term break) without that form from their primary school.

New Head Boy and Girl and House Officers from Year 6

For this academic year, our Head Boy is Patryk and our Head Girl is Ife.

Green House Captain is Jenrola and Vice-Captain is Brisa.

Blue House Captain is Raphael and Vice-Captain is Amber.

Yellow House Captain is Janelle and Vice-Captain is Joseph.

Red House Captain is Stephanie and Vice-Captain is Maja.

Well done to those children on their election to those roles!

Kind regards,

Yours sincerely,

Mr O’Malley

Headteacher