We hope you all have a wonderful half-term holiday! School reopens on Monday 7 June 2021.

Reporting symptoms after school closes for the half-term break

If your child develops symptoms of coronavirus at any point over the half-term break you must book a test.

If your child develops symptoms up to and including Saturday 29 May which result in a positive test you must inform the school at byersgreen@durhamlearning.net.

Please include the name of your child, their class and the date that their symptoms started, as well as your own contact details.

If your child develops coronavirus symptoms from Sunday 30 May onwards, they must be tested and, if positive, follow the advice of Test and Trace. You do not need to inform the school of any symptoms which occur on or after this date.

Please see the message below from Durham County Council:

Our Fun and Food programme will be available over the May half term, providing fun activities for children and young people, including a healthy meal or snack. Find out what is on in your area by visiting www.durham.gov.uk/FunAndFood

Our school is delighted to be taking part in Royal Mail’s Heroes Stamp Design Competition,
honouring the heroes of the coronavirus pandemic.

Please read the information below.

Heroes_Letter_For_Parents

If you don’t want your child’s design to be entered into the competition please let us know.

Please see the message below from Durham County Council:

If anyone in your household has symptoms you need to book a PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test as soon as possible. For more information and to book a PCR test visit www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test  or call NHS test and trace free on 119

As coronavirus symptoms in children can vary it is advised that children who are unwell should not attend school until they are well again.

If you have difficulty accessing a PCR test your school may be able to help, as most schools retain a small stock of these tests.

Alternatively Durham County Council offers support to people seeking further advice about coronavirus through the County Durham Together Community Hub, details of which can be found at www.durham.gov.uk/covid19help or by phoning 03000 260 260.

One of the side effects of lockdown has been the increased use of technology.  Most children have really benefited from this when in lockdown but unfortunately sometimes it can go wrong. The misuse of technology that some primary aged children have experienced includes, bullying, fraud and child abuse.  We now need parents and carers to take an active role in keeping their children safe in the online world, just as they would in real life!

The best way of protecting your children is to talk with them about how they use technology, find out about the apps, websites and games they use and make sure they can share any worries they have with you.  Both the net-aware and internetmatters.org websites are full of helpful advice.

As a school we take online safety very seriously and children are taught about keeping safe throughout their time in school, so they develop the skills and resilience needed to keep themselves safe on line.  We should remember that they are still children, they will make mistakes and they will need your support not only to stay safe but to grow and flourish both online and offline.

Below we have listed five useful websites to help support your child staying safe.  Please take some time to talk to your children and find out more on the websites below.  Parents and carers are also welcome to discuss issues and get support from the school – we will help.

 

Website	Comment
www.internetmatters.org	Really useful website covering parental controls, apps and all aspects of supporting parents with technology.
www.net-aware.org.uk	Great website for parents, written by the NSPCC that explains about individual apps and the safety measures they have in place for children.
https://www.childline.org.uk	The website for children to get support themselves.
https://www.ltai.info	Support with radicalisation.
https://www.getsafeonline.org	More for parents – this site explains how to protect yourself against online fraud – which is an increasing problem.

Durham County Council now offer free LFD testing and home testing kits. Find out more and book appointments www.durham.gov.uk/CovidLFT.

Please see the rainbow guides below which provide an at-a-glance list of local and national services supporting the mental health needs and emotional wellbeing of adults, children, young people and families.

• MH & ES for adults
• MH & ES for children, young people and families

 

Please see the letter below from Amanda Healy, Director of Public Health for County Durham and Jim Murray, Head of Education and Skills:

Letter to parents April 2021

We hope everyone has a great Easter break.  School reopens on Monday 12 April 2021.