Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
Dear parents
On Tuesday 2nd September you will receive by email your personalised starting school letter with specific times for the 'stay and play' and 'meet the teacher sessions' as well as timings of sessions for the following week.
Kind regards,
Linda-May
Dear Parents and Carers
We hope that you and your family have had a good break over the summer holiday. We are looking forward to welcoming your child back to school on Thursday 3rd September at 8.45am (please see our website for term dates). We are aware that some children have missed several months of school and are keen for them to be able to see their friends, participate in the life of the school community and catch up on learning that they have missed. We hope therefore that you will support us by bringing your child to school on the first day of term. Please note that home learning will no longer be provided as it is the government’s expectation that all children will return to school in September.
Please rest assured that we will continue to follow procedures that are designed to keep your child safe during the course of the school day; these include regular hand washing, keeping children within year group bubbles at break and lunch times, and regular cleaning of equipment and surfaces. In the unlikely event that your child becomes unwell we will escort them to an isolation room and will contact you to collect them from school.
We plan to ensure that children’s return to school is as smooth as possible. We have therefore updated the procedure for parents dropping off and collecting their children each day. In order to make it easier for parents and children not to congregate in large numbers outside the school gates please note the following arrangements:
Year 1 will enter and leave school via the main gate (as previously)
Years 3 and 4 will enter and leave via the new entrance in Boxley Street
Years 2, 5 and 6 will enter and leave via the entrance in Evelyn Road
Start times and finish times remain the same for all year groups as before lockdown.
Please remember not to escort your child(ren) inside the school gates. The only exception to this is that at the end of the school day Year 2 parents will come into the main playground, turn right and wait for their children near the fence that borders Evelyn Road. When dropping off and collecting children you should endeavour to observe social distancing guidelines. If you need to speak to someone in the school office, remember that only one visitor is allowed in the entrance lobby at any time.
Drinking fountains remain disconnected; it is important therefore that your child brings their multi use water bottle into school. This should be taken home and washed at the end of each day. We will be recommencing healthy, hot meals from the first day back for parents who have chosen this option; a menu will be available on the website shortly. Children should bring a packed lunch into school where parents have informed the school that they have selected this option.
Due to government guidelines it will not unfortunately be possible to reopen the morning Wideawake Club. We have however planned an after school clubs programme which will commence the week beginning Monday 14th September; more information about clubs will be provided shortly. Each club will only be attended by pupils in a single year group to ensure that children remain within their year group bubbles.
We are sure that this will be an exciting term for your child and look forward to seeing you next week.
Yours sincerely
Olaf Moorhouse
Head of School
Linda-May Bingham
Executive Headteacher
Dear Parents and Carers,
At Britannia Education Trust, we strive to promote equality and celebrate diversity in all its forms. We feel it is important to make links available that address and reflect the recent events and support you in discussions you may be having with your children. We also feel it is important to stress that the resources shared below are not intended to be a home learning activity for your child to do alone. In school, we will discuss the events in a supportive way, led by the children’s questions. We are sharing these links because we are not currently able to have these discussions in the classroom with those in the school community who are learning from home at the moment.
The following linked resources have been produced by the BBC as a starting point for discussions.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/52813673
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LLBDsVREaI
Here are some links to other helpful resources:
BAME Books
Diverse Picture books BLM QR Codes
Click on the link below to see all about the project our Y6 pupils have been working on..
https://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/newham-school-releases-special-song-for-nhs-1-6658574
Dear families
On behalf of all the staff at Britannia Education Trust and Britannia Village Primary School it is our pleasure to welcome you to your new school!
Prior to starting school we will send you an admission pack. This will contain information about starting school as well as some admission forms that we ask you to complete and return to us by post. We also require some ID evidence and that will also be detailed in the pack.
We will ask you to provide more detailed information about your child on a Google form which will then be available to your child’s teacher. We will email this to you and, once completed, you can submit the form to us electronically.
Once we have received your information we will meet you and your child (via skype if it is not possible to meet in person) and you will have a chance to ask any questions you may have.
We are aiming to get the above items out to you by April 30th. Until then, if you have any pressing questions, please feel free to contact us using the contact details on this website.
Kindest regards,
The Early Years Team and Linda-May Bingham, Executive Headteacher
Dear families
I hope you are all coping well with the lockdown and looking forward to our teachers being back in touch from Monday the 20th April. Below I have summarised the main points from the DFE's latest guidance and you will find many useful links in their advice. The BBC will also start broadcasting educational programmes from Monday too and I'm sure they will be a great source of support. The school office will be open again from Monday if you have any queries.
Kind regards and stay safe,
Linda-May
DFE Coronavirus advice – updated 16th April 2020
How long will schools be closed for?
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, schools, colleges and childcare providers will be closed to the majority of pupils until further notice, however settings are open to vulnerable children and those of critical workers.
Advice for families with vulnerable children:
If children can stay safely at home, they should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading. That is why the government has asked parents to keep their children at home, wherever possible, and asked schools to remain open only for those children who absolutely need to attend.
Advice for critical workers:
Children with at least one parent or carer who is critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) response can attend school if required.
However, many families with a parent or carer working in critical sectors will be able to ensure their child is kept at home. Every child who can be safely cared for at home should be, to limit the chance of the virus spreading.
Families with children eligible for free school meals:
Headteachers can decide which of the available options will be best for families in their area. Schools can either provide food on site, arrange deliveries or order a voucher to be given to the family. Our schools are providing vouchers via email. More information on support for pupils eligible for free school meals is available.
Support for parents educating their children at home:
Available support includes:
For parents with children under 5 years old, who have not yet started school, the Department for Education (DfE)’s Hungry Little Minds campaign features tips and practical activities that you can do at home with children to support their early learning.
There are many simple ways to help your children learn and it does not have to feel like ‘learning’. Having everyday conversations, make-believe play, and reading together, all make a big difference to your child’s development.
You can find more ideas and content from the BBC’s Tiny Happy People campaign and the National Literacy Trust Family Zone.
Support available to keep your child safe online. Below are some useful links to help parents and carers:
Resources to promote and support children and young people’s mental wellbeing include:
All NHS mental health trusts are setting up 24/7 helplines, and seeking to use digital and virtual channels, to continue delivering support during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Families who are currently entitled to Free School Meal vouchers under the COVID19 Government voucher scheme, will receive their vouchers in an email through a third party called Wonde. On 1st April the Government confirmed the weekly amount of £15 per child – this is slightly more than the usual weekly allowance per child for FSM provided in school. For as long as this scheme continues, we will aim to send out the vouchers weekly – subject to there being no problem which prevents us from doing so.
The vouchers can be used for food in store at either Asda, Morrison’s, Sainsbury’s or Tesco.
Please be aware of fraudsters – you will not be asked to provide your bank details for any vouchers, as you will receive these in voucher/code form.
If you think you should qualify but haven't received any vouchers, please go onto the free school meals section of the Newham website where you can make a new application. Please do not contact the school, as we do not process FSM applications.
Dear families,
We hope you are all enjoying the positives of lockdown and managing to stay sane through it all. We are really proud of the efforts you are all making to stay in touch with teaching staff and to keep the learning going for your children at home. We appreciate that it’s not at all easy to juggle the many demands on your time – so well done everyone! We are also incredibly proud of our hugely talented staff who have had to, at very short notice, make massive changes to the way they teach and interact with the children.
We will be taking a break over the Easter holiday and school will be completely closed so that staff can take a well-deserved break. So, for the next 2 weeks, teachers will not be setting work each day or giving any feedback. However, as we usually do, there will be project work for your children over the holiday and also optional extras if you are looking for ideas to keep your children busy. You will find these on the school website - click on the 'Children' tab and under Home Learning you will find the year group website and other websites that we are gradually adding. Explore them and see what interests you and your child. Click here for quick access.
West Silvertown Foundation are also putting on some Easter activities for the community - details are in their newsletter here: We've gone online! Check out our virtual activities...
We hope you are all keeping well and look forward to ‘seeing’ you on the 20th April when we will continue with our remote home learning starting with our Made4Life week.
Kind regards,
Kiel and Linda-May
Dear families
We are very sorry to have to announce that school is currently closed to most pupils due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
If you are a key worker and need childcare for your child then please contact the office on 02075115412 or by email to info@britannia-village.newham.sch.uk
Please note that childcare is for emergency use only and that your child should stay at home if you can make that happen.
We are providing home learning for all pupils and you should have heard about this from your class teacher. If you have any problems accessing the learning please contact the office.
Families who are entitled to free school meals should by now have received vouchers.
School will be closed completely for Easter and we will be back with the hom elearning on the 20th April.
Stay safe and healthy everyone!
As a country, we all need to do what we can to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
That is why the government has given clear guidance on self-isolation, household isolation and social distancing.
And the most recent scientific advice on how to further limit the spread of COVID-19 is clear. If children can stay safely at home, they should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading.
That is why the government has asked parents to keep their children at home, wherever possible, and asked schools to remain open only for those children who absolutely need to attend.
It is important to underline that schools, colleges and other educational establishments remain safe places for children. But the fewer children making the journey to school, and the fewer children in educational settings, the lower the risk that the virus can spread and infect vulnerable individuals in wider society.
Schools are, therefore, being asked to continue to provide care for a limited number of children - children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the Covid-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home.
Vulnerable children include children who are supported by social care, those with safeguarding and welfare needs, including child in need plans, on child protection plans, ‘looked after’ children, young carers, disabled children and those with education, health and care (EHC) plans.
We know that schools will also want to support other children facing social difficulties and we will support head teachers to do so.
Parents whose work is critical to the COVID-19 response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors outlined below. Many parents working in these sectors may be able to ensure their child is kept at home. And every child who can be safely cared for at home should be.
Please, therefore, follow these key principles:
If your work is critical to the COVID-19 response, or you work in one of the critical sectors listed below, and you cannot keep your child safe at home then your children will be prioritised for education provision:
This includes but is not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.
This includes nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach.
This includes those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting.
This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms length bodies.
This includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines).
This includes police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.
This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.
This includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure), the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors.
If workers think they fall within the critical categories above they should confirm with their employer that, based on their business continuity arrangements, their specific role is necessary for the continuation of this essential public service.
If your school is closed then please contact your local authority, who will seek to redirect you to a local school in your area that your child, or children, can attend.
We are grateful for the work of teachers and workers in educational settings for continuing to provide for the children of the other critical workers of our country. It is an essential part of our national effort to combat this disease.