Newsletter 1st December 2021

Christmas Cards

We will have the Christmas Post Box up and running by Monday 6th December.  Please do not send cards to school until then.

Holiday Club Provision

I have had notification of some holiday club provision that is available in Lancaster, the venue location is the Holiday inn, Caton Road, Lancaster. 

The holiday club provision will include a daily swimming lesson, Interactive wellness sessions and children of all ages will learn basic first aid skills through the junior medic program. Lunch will be provided also.

There is a scheme in place that means children entitled to pupil premium can attend the provision for free. The program is also open to non-pupil premium children at a fee.   Pupil premium children can attend for up to 4 sessions. They can also just attend one if preferable. Spaces are limited. 

Parents can email or phone (see below) directly to book, the provision is running 9am -1pm on Monday 20th December until Thursday 23rd December. There is also a link online to book at www.swimtime.org/finder and select upcoming courses.  Contact phone number is 01524 899319 and email is northlancs@swimtime.org

We have a number of ways that we communicate with you and for you to communicate with us. Some people are getting a little confused by what to use when and what to use it for.

Parent App – PA Connect – all newsletters, forms, information and letters will be sent out via ParentApp as a push notification, text message or email.  All parents need access to this as it sends you the latest messages etc.

Parent Pay – all trips, residential, music lessons, clubs, night owls and early birds are to be paid for using Parent Pay.  In paying for the activity, you are also giving consent for your child to attend the activity.  We MUST have this permission for activities that take place outside the local area of the school.  All parents need access to Parent Pay.

CONTACT US – Any information that needs to be shared with the teacher, office staff, Mrs Armistead, our SENCO or Pastoral Team can be emailed to contact-us@skertonstlukes.lancs.sch.uk.  Someone will endeavour to reply to your email within 1 working day of receiving it.

Telephone – You can call school anytime on 01524 65445.  If there is no one available to take your call, you can leave a message and someone will endeavour to get back to you within 1 working day.  Follow the phone instructions to talk to the office, the Business Manager or the Pastoral Team.

CLASS DOJO – This is specifically used to share learning including homework and home learning during periods of isolation.  Parents are encouraged to see their children’s learning and the whole school pages where we share whole school information.  It is very easy to message staff using Class Dojo but all too easy for staff to miss these messages. 

PLEASE DO NOT MESSAGE STAFF USING DOJO. 

Please call or email contact-us@skertonstlukes.lancs.sch.uk .  We will endeavour to reply to your messages within 1 working day of receiving them.  It is NOT ok to expect a member of staff to reply before 8.00am, after 5.00pm or at weekends.

In Person – Staff members are always in the playground before and after school, as are members of SLT.  If you need to pass on a message, we ask that you email or ring and only talk face to face in an emergency.  The office is open before and after school for advice and to take orders e.g. Photographs, Friends activities etc.  If you require a longer discussion with a member of staff, please telephone or email to make an appointment.

SCHOOL CLOUD – Web based video calling that we use for Parent-Teacher meetings.  All parents must register following the email link sent to you from school cloud.  Parents Evenings are offered in November and April. An extra meeting may be offered following the end of year report in July.

I hope this stops any confusion around how to make contact with a member of staff in school. If you have any questions or concerns, please call the school office on 01524 65445 or email contact-us@skertonstlukes.lancs.sch.uk. A member of staff with endeavour to reply to within 1 working day of receipt of your message.

Our current attendance is 93.9% attendance and our target is 96%.  We are aware that there are some classes with children off with illness and that is an authorised absence.  What is concerning is that our unauthorised absences is 1% of the school population.  This means that a number of pupils are not in school for a valid illness or appointment. 

It is more important than ever that children are in school, on time, every day.  The pace of learning is high as we work hard to help the children make progress following COVID.  Even arriving 10 minutes late each day adds up to 50 minutes of lost learning in a week.

School are working with the local authority Pupil Attendance Support Team (PAST) who will be doing 'hot spot' home visits for pupil's whose attendance is a cause for concern.

A reminder that school starts at 8.55am and arriving after this time is late for school.

To ease access to handwashing on arrival each class has a time that they will enter the school building.  It is important that your child is on time in order to stay within their class group on entry to the building:

8.55am Year 2 and Year 5

8.50am Year 1 and Year 4

8.45am Year 3 and Year 6

Each week we are celebrating the class with the best attendance in school and monitoring those classes that have children absent.  For the last two weeks the percentages are:

Well done to Year 4 with the best attendance in school last week!  Year 6 were a VERY close second.

First Skerton Boys Brigade and Girls Association

Calling boys and girls from St Luke’s School to come and get involved in Boys Brigade Girls Association.  Do you enjoy football and other fun games?  Do you fancy trying camping?  Do you like learning new crafts and skills?  Do you enjoy new experiences?

Then BBGA could be for you. 

We meet every Thursday from 6.00pm to 7.30pm (8-11years) at Skerton Community Centre, King George Playing Field, Slyne Road, Skerton.

For more information please contact John Walker (captain) 07886656930

Look for a Book

At Skerton St Luke’s we continue to believe that inspiring our children through reading and sharing a range of books is of huge importance. A couple of years ago, Mossgate Primary School set up a book challenge where children could hide and share books with other children in the local area. We would love for our school community to take part again in this challenge. If you would like to join in, here is what you need to do:

1. Choose a book that you no longer use and are happy to give away.

2. Write a note to go with your book for the person who finds it e.g. I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I did.

Take care not to include personal details such as surnames and addresses.

3. Include the name of the Facebook page on your note - Lancaster and Morecambe Look for a Book – so that the finder can share on the page.

4. Wrap the book and the note in a plastic bag that is sealed so that it won’t get wet if it rains (large food bags are great for this).

5. Hide the book in a place where a child may find it in the local area, perhaps Ryelands Park, King George’s park/field, along the canal, Williamsons Park, to name a few local places.

We hope that all of our children take part in the challenge. The more children that take part, the more opportunities there will be for your child to find a new book to enjoy and pass on. It is also a great way to enjoy the outdoors as a family.

If you hide a book and are lucky to find one, share on DoJos in your child’s portfolio for the class teacher to see.