​Dear Parents/Guardians,
 
Lower School swimming will start week commencing 27th March:
Year 3 will be swimming on Monday 27th AND Tuesday 28th March
Year 4 will be swimming on Wednesday 29th, Thursday 30th AND Friday 31st March.
 
Your child will need to bring:

• swimming costume (Boys must wear swimming trunks (not shorts) and girls must wear a one-piece costume)
• 2 towels (one to stand on whilst changing)
• A swim hat
• Goggles (if the goggles consent form (below) has been signed)
• Flip flops (shoes to wear to and from the pool from the changing area)
• Dressing gown to put on after swimming to walk to the changing rooms

 
Parents should be aware that the pool forbids the wearing of earrings. If your child has a verruca, they will still be expected to attend swimming but they must wear a verruca sock.
 
Goggles
Whilst they are not considered to be essential, we recognise that children who swim frequently or whose eyes are susceptible to irritation may prefer to use goggles for swimming. They may help maintain the required body position and improve vision through the water.  Therefore, parents may request that their child uses goggles during the lessons by filling in the form below.
I should inform you that it is your responsibility, as parent, to teach your child to put on and take off goggles in the correct and safe fashion. Our advice would be to read the manufacturer’s instructions for putting them on and taking them off. This is important to ensure protection of eyes from impact damage through stretching the eyepieces away from the face with wet fingers.
Please ensure that goggles are of a good quality. Goggles should be British Standard Institution (BSI) Goggles which includes makes such as Speedo or Zoggs, which will include instruction on the package for the correct way to put them on and take them off. You should be aware that on occasions your child will be asked to remove their goggles in order to safely perform certain aquatic activities.
If you would like your child to wear goggles during swimming lessons in school, please complete the form on the paper copy of this form given to your child or email office@ivjs.school with the following:  

• Your child's name and your name
• If you would like to request that your child wears goggles during their swimming lesson at school.
• That you understand that it is your responsibility to ensure the goggles are in good condition and that your child knows how to take them on and off safely. You also recognise that there will be occasions when they may be asked to remove their goggles.

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

A trip is being organised for Year 4 to visit the Iver Environment Centre on Friday 21st April. In order for this visit to go ahead, a voluntary contribution of £5 per child is needed. This will cover the cost of the tutors at the centre who lead the workshops and transport. Payments can be made via your child’s School Money account. The trip will be during the school day, leaving around 9am and returning before 3.15pm.

The purpose of the visit is to support and enhance your child’s learning about plants, animals and lifecycles.  It will be a fun and interactive experience where children will get a first-hand experience of nature. They will even be pond dipping to become river detectives!

The children will not need to wear school uniform as they will be outside all day and may get quite mucky. Please ensure your child wears suitable clothing, including a rain coat and wellington boots in case of rain. They should bring a packed lunch in a named carrier bag. If your child is entitled to free school meals and would need us to provide the packed lunch, please let us know by Tuesday 18th April.

If you have any questions about the trip, please don’t hesitate to speak to your child’s class teacher. Please complete the permission form on the paper copies of this letter sent home with your child or email office@ivjs.school to give your child permission to attend the trip and let us know whether they will require a packed lunch provided by the school (for FSM children).

Yours sincerely,
 
Miss Rowe, Mrs Punny and Miss Bjorck

As before, clubs will show as a payment on your child's School Money account (www.eduspot.co.uk). Please do not pay this unless you want to book your child a space. Club payments that are not paid/needed for will be removed from your account after Monday 27th February. 

Clubs start Monday 20th February and run through to the last week of the half term, the last club being Thursday 30th March as we will be finishing at 1pm on Friday 31st March. All clubs are 3.15pm to 4.30pm with pick up at the front of the school. Clubs cost £7 per club and can be booked for the full half term (£42 or £35 for Upper School Girls Football). We are now able to offer a discounted rate to any children entitled to Pupil Premium (the discounted cost will show automatically to anyone entitled).
​
Should you have any issues logging into your School Money account, please email office@ivjs.school.

Dear Parent/Carer on Years 5 and 6,

Next half term, we have an EXCITING opportunity! We have hired a swimming pool for 3 weeks so that children in Year 5 and 6 can develop their swimming skills in line with the Statutory School Swimming Programme as part of National Curriculum Physical Education. By the time a child is ready to leave primary school they should be able to swim, know how to get out of trouble if they fall into the water, know the dangers of water and understand how to stay safe when playing in and around it.   This includes understanding and adhering to national and local water safety advice, being able to use appropriate survival and self-rescue skills if they unintentionally fall in or get into difficulty in the water, and knowing what to do if others get into trouble.

Swimming is effectively ‘Wet PE’.  As such, in addition to the above, our aim is for pupils to be physically active during their School Swimming lesson and have opportunities to:

• Engage in competitive situations (both against themselves and others) and co-operative physical activities,
• Communicate, collaborate and compete with each other,
• Develop an understanding of how to improve; learn how to evaluate and recognise their own success.

 
Your child will have a 2 week programme every day of 30-minute lessons, starting on the 13th March 2023. 
The company will also supply a qualified swim teacher and a lifeguard. (There will always be a member of IVJS with the children who are also trained in school swimming lessons).

Your son/daughter will be taught the following skills and strokes in different water-related contexts:

• how to enter and exit the water,
• floatation,
• submerging,
• rotating from back to front and front to back and regaining an upright position,
• pushing and gliding and an understanding of streamlining,
• aquatic breathing,
• moving effectively and efficiently through the water using alternating and simultaneous strokes on front and back, such as front crawl, back crawl, breaststroke, side stroke,
• swimming longer distances and for increasing amounts of time,
• using swimming skills and strokes for different purposes such as water polo and synchronised swimming,
• survival and self-rescue skills: treading water, Heat Escape Lessening Position (HELP) and Huddle positions, floating and resting in the water, attracting attention, sculling and swimming in clothes/buoyancy aids,
• water safety: knowledge and understanding of different water environments, how to stay safe when playing in and around water including recognising flags and warning signs and understanding national and local water safety advice,
• what to do if others get into difficulties: stay safe: shout, signal; throw, do not go into the water; raising the alarm 999,
• play competitive games such as water polo and apply basic principles suitable for attacking and defending.

 
Please complete the slip on the paper copy of this form (sent home with the children) with the following information:

• Permission given for children to participate in school swimming lessons.
• How many metres they can swim (0 metres/ up to 10 metres/ 25 metres or more)

​Dear Parent/Guardian,

I am pleased to tell you that this term we will be participating in the NSPCC’s Speak out. Stay safe. online programme. This consists of an online assembly and supporting classroom based activities. Speak out. Stay safe. is a safeguarding programme available to all primary schools in the UK and Channel Islands. It aims to help children understand abuse in all its forms and to recognise the signs of abuse in a child friendly way. Children are taught to speak out if they are worried, either to a trusted adult or Childline.

In the online assembly, the Speak out. Stay safe. messages are delivered in a fun and interactive way with the help of their mascot Buddy as well as special guest appearances from Ant and Dec. We have studied the content of the materials and are extremely confident that they are appropriate for primary-school-aged children. By the end of the programme, we’re convinced children will feel empowered – knowing how they can speak out and stay safe.

If you would like to know more about the Speak out. Stay safe. programme you can find information on the NSPCC website http://www.nspcc.org.uk/speakout or I would be happy to discuss any questions that you may have.

Additional resources:

Adapted assembly for home use
The NSPCC has also developed an adapted version of their assembly for parents/carers to use at home with their children.  This can be found here: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/safety.  With the help of celebrities, the film focuses on how a child can get support if they have any worries or concerns.
To complement the assembly, there are some resources that can be used to enable further discussion whilst doing activities with your children.  These are hosted on the NSPCC website www.nspcc.org.uk/activities. 
​
Online safety hub
You may also like to visit the NSPCC Online Safety Hub where you will find advice and information on a range of different online safety topics including gaming, social media, sharing nudes, parental controls and more.
You will also find online safety information for families of children with additional needs and disabilities. We have worked with Ambitious about Autism and parents and carers who have children with additional needs and disabilities to create activities to help talk about online safety which you can find at www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/online-safety-families-children-with-send.

Childline Under 12’s Website
Childline also have a website with age appropriate advice for primary school children on topics such as bullying.  It also has games and other interactive tools. Your child can visit it at www.childline.org.uk/kids.
If you’d like to know more about the NSPCC’s work, or take a look at the wide range of information and advice which is available for parents and carers, please visit their website www.nspcc.org.uk/parents.

Talking PANTS with your children
Talk PANTS is a simple conversation to help keep your child safe from sexual abuse. From P through to S, each letter of PANTS provides a simple but valuable rule that can help keep your child safe. You can find out more and download the free resources at www.nspcc.org.uk/pants.
Penguin and Ladybird have partnered with the NSPCC to create a brand new Pantosaurus book aimed at children ages 4 - 8. You can find copies of the new book on sale, either in Matalan’s selected stores and online, selected SPAR stores or at https://shop.nspcc.org.uk/. All profits from the sale of this book will support the NSPCC.

Support the NSPCC
You may be interested in the NSPCC’s new selection of BUDDY goodies available from the NSPCC shop at https://shop.nspcc.org.uk/collections/buddy which make perfect gifts for children - and all profits go to help keep children safe.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Mrs Chapman-Allen
SENCO and Inclusion Manager

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

​As a treat for our pupils, we have managed to secure a visit from the Hobgoblin Educational Theatre Company for tomorrow for our very own pantomime performance! The show will be during school time for the entire school and is designed for school children so has a strong focus on literacy, presented in a way to make sure all the children are engaged, interested and enjoying learning!

If you would like to help contribute to cost of this event, you are able to make a donation via the Shop tab on your School Money account (suggested donation: £2). We will also be accepting cash donations tomorrow.

https://eduspot.co.uk/

Thank you in advance.

Mrs Chapman Allen