Your views and opinions matter!

Please use this form to comment, offer ideas, views, thoughts, saying what we do really well, what you would like to see more of, less of, great new ideas.

We always value your thoughts and opinions, without you, we are not a school family!

You can access the Microsoft Forms link by clicking the logo below or by scanning the QR code.

As always...Thank You! 

Online Safety...Keeping our children safe online 

Friday 8th October 2021

'Squid Game'

Unfortunately we have had many reports through children about Squid Game and the issues related to it.

It would appear this is not just an EM issue, but nationwide, even further afield than that.

whilst there are no formal 'guidelines' for advice about the programme, simple steps can be deployed by you our parents and carers to prevent any more of our children becoming witnesses to the inappropriate and disturbing content that it contains.

* Set up an area on Netflix/Prime/Now TV for your child and apply the parental controls (limiting what they can and cannot watch and access. For example, set the 'Age' as appropriate to how old they are and do not go higher.

* Please chat to your children about the importance of only using the 'child friendly' area on Netflix that YOU have set up for them and not to stray onto other areas set up for parents/older siblings.

* Be honest with your children about why you are doing this...to PROTECT them!

I have today spoken to Upper KS2 about the reasoning behind age ratings especially for films and programmes because of graphic content, please could I ask you do the same so we can prevent anyone else becoming upset over the content they are seeing on Squid Game.

Just like Momo a few years ago and previous online programmes, games, films, we often do not know of their content until we are told by our children. I am very proud of the children who have gone to their class staff teams this week to express their concern and the sensible and mature ways in which they have dealt with it! They are a credit to you! Thank you!

If you do hear of your children becoming upset, worried, anxious about Squid Game or any other online programme, game, activity, and you are unsure how to deal with it, please do not hesitate to come and chat to either myself or Mrs Sworeń or Mrs Ridings who together with myself are school's Online Safety Leads. And don't forget to check in the Online Safety area on our website to read through the online guides.

Many thanks as always,

Annalisa Howarth

Headteacher

Friday 1st October 2021

Mrs H's London Marathon 2021

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to share the news that I have had to defer running in the London Marathon this weekend until 2022. 

You have probably seen me hobbling around school this week with a very poorly back. I was being very optimistic in thinking I would be well enough to run on Sunday, but alas I am not and had to make the difficult decision to postpone.

To say I am gutted is an understatement, but needs must 

I WILL be running next year and all the money raised so far will carry over. So Huge thank you once more for all you have done for donating money and giving me words of positive encouragement, it all means so very much.

I will keep you posted and up to date!

Many thanks again,

Anna Howarth 

Welcome Back to School ~ September 2021!

Friday 3^rd September 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back (nearly!)

We can’t wait to welcome you all back to our new school year on Monday. A few have been in touch double checking times, entrances etc. Hopefully all you need to know is below:

Return to School in September 2021

Government guidance now allows school to remove the bubble structure, other social distancing measures and control measures that have been in place for children.  However, as a Governing Board, we have decided to continue with our separate bubbles and staggered start and finish times and lunchtimes for the foreseeable future and will be reviewed at half term.

However, we need to be clear that the pandemic has not gone away and as per government guidelines, we now need to learn to live with Coronavirus. As such some general measures will need to remain in place.  From time to time, our arrangements may need to be reviewed in the event of any increase in infections or changes in government guidelines.

Below details some key changes to be aware of. 

Please see Government guidance for latest information

The School Day

The school day will continue to run as last year.

We ask parents to be at the relevant entrance points promptly to support the organisation of the school day.  Ensuring your children are in school promptly has a huge impact on their learning. (Breakfast Club and ASC are running from Monday 6th September. Please contact Miss Hankin via the school office for further info).

Entrance and Exit Points

During the Covid-19 pandemic we have used different ways of entering and leaving our school site.  These have been successful in many ways and we will be continuing with different entrance and exit points for different classes next term.  As with all school procedures, we will be evaluating this as we move through the autumn term.  The information below details the entrance points for your child’s new class from 6^th September 2021. 

Collecting children at the end of the day. 

Parents should line up and wait at the relevant points to collect children in an organised and orderly way.  Children will be handed over to the parents in an organised way and leave the school site promptly.

Below is a reminder of start and finish times as well as entrance and exit points:

Equipment in school

We are again asking for personal belongings to be kept to a minimum, with children bringing in their lunch boxes, book bags (including reading books and reading records and of course any letters and homework), their coats only. Following the success last year of individual ‘work/study’ packs, each child from Year 2 to Year 6 will receive one of these which will be kept in school, therefore there is no need for pencil cases to be brought in.

P.E

Getting changed for P.E is a key part of children becoming independent.  We are therefore asking that all P.E kits are once again brought into school at the beginning of term. We are continuing our partnerships with both TQ Sports for sport/PE provision and Little Yogis for our weekly Yoga sessions.

Lunchtimes and Break Times

Children will continue to eat in phases in the Hall with meals chosen the previous afternoon and ‘Table Service’ by staff will continue! As a school, we have found that the children are calmer and can be more sociable whilst eating by doing this, as well as less waste and children get the meal they want. 

Playtimes will continue with children playing as their year groups in the zoned areas on the playground. We hope over the coming weeks, we will be able to structure playtimes as ‘Phases’ so that children in different year groups can play together. Again, this depends on local Covid rates.

Prayer & Liturgies and Assembly

During the last 18 months whole school Prayer and Liturgies and any assemblies have been held on Teams.  We know the importance of physically coming together as a whole school community however, we are going to re-introduce this slowly, with weekly Shining Stars Awards being held on Teams from a different class each week and uploaded to the school website. Whole school Prayer and Liturgies will be resumed over the coming weeks, again dependent on local Covid rates. However, class based Prayer and Liturgies will continue in class during the week.

School Events and Clubs

School events have changed dramatically over the last 18 months with many meetings taking place virtually and many usual events being unable to take place in the normal way.  As we move through the autumn term we will be keeping you fully informed of any school events and clubs we are able to hold.  I hope everyone understands that at this point we are not in a position to outline any extracurricular clubs or key events and we will do this upon the return of school in September. 

Over the last 18 months, we have had to adapt, be flexible in our approaches and constantly alter daily life. Some of these changes have been hard to make and left us without our usual structure and support networks and routines. However, some have been really positive and lessons we have learnt from. Certainly as a school, we have learnt from them, which is why we are keeping some changes from last year in place. These decisions have not been taken lightly and have been in consultation with the Governing Board as well as children, families and staff. We hope you also understand.

Key Control Measures

During the last 18 months, school has functioned incredibly successfully and is now confident and experienced in working in the pandemic.  As school reopens in September 2021 we will continue to have key control measures in place to prevent transmission of the virus which are in line with Government guidance. 

Outbreak Management Plan

In the case of a Covid-19 outbreak it may be necessary to revert to a different school organisation once again.  These procedures would be similar to those we have worked in during the last 18 months so parents and children should feel confident and at ease with them.  Any procedures within this aspect of our management plan would be adapted to meet the needs of our children following ongoing risk assessments and changes in government and DfE guidance. 

As ever, please do not hesitate to get in touch either by phone or by email or in person if you have any concerns, worries or questions.

Many thanks for your continual support,

Kind regards,

Annalisa Howarth

Headteacher

Summer Holidays 2021...

Theatre in the Park this summer!

Click on the picture to go to a link for tickets and more...

Friday 5th March 2021

Dear Children, Parents, Carers, Staff & Governors,

As we now come to the end of this particular partial school closure, I hope this finds you all safe and well, physically and emotionally 😊

Just over 8 weeks ago, we were getting ready to re-open our doors and welcome our school family into 2021…and then Lockdown happened!

So Monday we will be able to wish you Happy New Year and welcome to 2021 at EM in person and we cannot wait!

The last 8 weeks have been incredibly hard for everyone, for you the parents and carers, for our staff and Governors and of course for our children, both those at home and those who have been in school in our Rainbow Pods.

Hopefully you have read the risk assessments and FAQs I have put on the website under Covid-19. Here is a brief outline of routines for drop off and collection:

** Please can only 1 parent/carer bring children to school and drop off and leave school premises, not gathering on the school playground or at the school gates.

In other ‘Non-Covid’ news….!

Despite being in Lockdown and partial school closure, we have, as ever in true EM spirit, we have still celebrated World Book Day in true style!

All children and staff in school dressed up as a whole library of characters…The Gruffalo, Gangsta Granny, Harry O’Hay and Betty O’Barley, elephants, Monkeys, Highway Rats, Wallys Matildas, BFGs…name a character…we had it covered! We had a great day in school with our Rainbow Pod children and also enjoyed receiving work and pictures from all of you at home who dressed up and got into the spirit of reading for pleasure!

Staff recorded themselves reading stories and these were uploaded to the school website and social media platforms throughout the day, so click on the links on the website (News & Events) Keeping In Touch, to watch them if you missed them.

The photos of Character Potatoes from my Weekly Challenge last week have been fantastic! I am so very impressed with the hard work, imagination and creativity put in, well done all of you! Remember you can still send in pictures if you haven’t already!

I am hoping to continue a weekly challenge when we return, however they may be more action based whilst in school and also at home…watch this space!

As we come to the end of this most recent Lockdown, let’s think about not what we have missed out on, but what we have achieved…learning from a screen, uploading work, spending time with our families, sending emails, messages, letters to those we cannot see, reading, walking, spending more time outside…we have all achieved a lot. I am so proud of each and every one of you and thank you for doing the right thing the last 8 weeks.

Let’s remember to continue to stick with the rules, then we can hopefully resume our ‘old normal’ lives in late June.

You have all been brave, patient, positive, hard-working, dedicated and brilliant…now let’s get excited and ready to return to school on Monday ready for the last 4 weeks of term before Easter…let’s make those 4 weeks count!

Take care this weekend, stay safe, be kind and we cannot wait to welcome everyone back together once more on Monday!

Mrs H 😊 🌈

Our Shining Stars this week…

…For Being Brilliant! 😊

Nursery ~ TJ

Reception ~ Samuel

Year 1 ~ Isa

Year 2 ~ Anthony

Year 3 ~ Ivie ~ Laura

Year 4 ~ Arwa

Year 5 ~ Aidan

Year 6 ~ Oliwia

Well done to all the EM children for all your brilliance this Lockdown, you really do make us proud!

‘Every storm runs out of rain’

Maya Angelou

🌈

Be hopeful. Be patient. Be kind.

World Book Day 2021!

Thursday 4th March 2021...

Why not log in to the Lancashire Adult Learning site...

Friday 26th February 2021

Dear Children, Parents, Carers, Staff & Governors,

I hope this finds you all safe and well, physically and emotionally and I hope you have all had a well-rested and safe half term break 😊

There has been much talk everywhere this week about the full re-opening of schools from Monday March 8^th following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Monday evening. As I said in my Group Call text on Tuesday, I am working with Governors, Staff, the Local Authority and the Diocese to finalise plans for re-opening and will be sharing these with you early next week. However, the plans will not be very much different to how things were in the Autumn Term. I have nearly put together the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) which you have sent in and also mirrors those from September. Again, I will share these with you next week when they are finished.

In the meantime, please do not worry, as always, we would not re-open if we did not think it was safe and we will be doing everything possible to make sure it is!

So that staff have time to get classrooms ready for all children returning on the 8^th March, we are changing the timetable for ALL children next week:

Thursday & Friday will both be Book Days! Activities will be set for children at home and also those in school in the Rainbow Pods based around books and book themes for the classes. The work completed for these online can be uploaded as usual on Purple Mash. Work completed on paper should be brought back into school on Monday 8^th March. However, staff WILL NOT be marking the work (either online or on paper) until after Monday 8^th March. This way we can continue to provide learning whilst giving staff time to make sure everything is ready for your children on their return.

On Book Days we will be having different stories being uploaded to the school website and shared via our Social Media platforms throughout the day! If any children would like to record a story for me to upload, please email it in as an mp4 clip and I will upload for you (please be aware of safeguarding and names).

We are hoping after Easter we can resume theme days and weeks. We will be continuing some of our successes from Remote Learning such as weekly recorded assemblies, Liturgies and also our recorded PowerPoints for key teaching support. I will be sharing more information about all these after Easter.

We will also be having our annual Easter Competitions this year in school. At the moment, I am not sure about Easter Bingo, but hopefully we can have something chocolate related!

Last week marked the start of Lent. We would normally encourage our children to ‘Give something up’ in Lent, however, we have all had to give up so very much the last 12 months, so instead, let’s give up time for others and also give time to ourselves to be kind, to be caring, to be you. Pope Francis speaks wise words:

Take care this week, stay safe, be kind and we cannot wait to welcome everyone back together once more!

Thank you as always for your never ending support, patience and kindness, Mrs H 😊 🌈

Our Shining Stars this week…

…For Caring 😊

Nursery ~ Omar

Reception ~ Abisha

Year 1 ~ Meadow

Year 2 ~ Alexis

Year 3 ~ Ziggy

Year 4 ~ Jessica

Year 5 ~ Krista

Year 6 ~ Ola

‘Alone we can do little, together we can do so much’

Chinese Proverb

Mrs H's Weekly Challenge 23rd February 2021

This week's challenge is a double one! Next Thursday, 4th March, is World Book Day. We can't be together as a whole school, but we still want to celebrate. We can't be altogether dressed up, but we can be at home and with pictures and photos! A practical, hopefully fun, challenge for you all....

1. Decorate and make your favourite book character using...a potato! A large baking potato might be best for this depending on your character. You can make it as flamboyant and fancy as you wish!

2. Dress up as your favourite book character if you can, or just wear your normal clothes and take a selfie (or ask a family member to take your photo) of you and your favourite book.

Don't forget to send your pictures in by email to me 

head@englishmartyrs.lancs.sch.uk

Enjoy making, reading and dressing up!

Mrs H 😊

Friday 12th February 2021

Dear Children, Parents, Carers, Staff & Governors,

I hope this finds you all safe and well, physically and emotionally 😊

What a great, if very, very chilly, week we have had here in school and home!

I wrote at Christmas that it had been possibly one of the longest half terms, however, I think this is a contender too, I am sure you will all agree!

I would like to express my total respect and thanks to ALL of you for all your support, understanding, patience, care, friendship and laughter over the last 6 weeks. It certainly seems a very long time ago since I sent ‘that’ text on Monday 4^th January. What a lot has happened and what a lot we have all accomplished, whether it is setting up WiFi codes and additional data, new food vouchers, mini classrooms in different rooms and work areas within the family home. We have ALL played an important part to make sure that even apart and in different locations, we are still together as one school family. Thank you!

Everyone has worked extremely hard: Mr Green who has got into school every day at ridiculous o’clock to clean, disinfect, sanitise and empty bins; all the support staff who are in school throughout the week working in the Rainbow Pod Bubbles and when they aren’t, they are working from home; teaching staff who are in school each and every day preparing online lessons, marking and making check in calls; Mrs Hewitson and Mrs Thompson who cook every day for EVERY child, free of charge, catering for all diets and tastes; Mrs Gardner and Mrs Galka who have worked tirelessly in the office, doing finances, registers, new starter packs and raft of other things too! YOU, our parents and carers have also worked extremely hard, keeping in touch, keeping your children safe, helping and supporting your children in their learning, doing what is best for them. And especially our children, whether they are in our Rainbow Pods or are our Stay at Home Heroes, Amazingness has been shown every single day, without fail! Happy smiles collecting work packs, sending work in on Purple Mash and email with a cheery note to staff and big grins and hellos from the pods each day, and dedication and hard work throughout. Thank you!.

I certainly feel blessed and extremely lucky (odd phrase considering the times we are in!), however, the smiles, the support, the dedication, the care from EVERYONE has made an immensely tense, uncertain, stressful time easier and smooth to lead.

What an amazing team we ALL are TOGETHER!

Today we ‘finish’ for half term. Over half term, school will be closed for everyone, this is a directive from the Government. However, as at Christmas, please contact me by email if you or anyone in your family test positive, especially if you have been in one of our Rainbow Pods. I have to continue the NHS Track and Trace for school over the break. Thank you!

We WILL NOT be setting any type of work for any of the children. Rather we are asking ALL of you to relax, have quality family time, read a book, watch a film, paint a picture, go for walks in your neighbourhood, keep healthy and recharge! I think we ALL need this at the moment!

In preparation for next half term and World Book Day on Thursday 4^th March, we will OF COURSE still be celebrating it! Class staff will be in touch the themes!

Have a great week, remember to keep to your own household or support bubble, don’t mix, stay safe and be kind to each other and we will ‘see’ you on Tuesday 23^rd February!

Mrs H 😊 🌈

Our Shining Stars this week…

…For Commitment to Remote Learning! 😊

Nursery ~ Nelly & Toby

Reception ~ Sienna

Year 1 ~ Aurora

Year 2 ~ Sadia

Year 3 ~ Safa

Year 4 ~ Waqas

Year 5 ~ Waiel

Year 6 ~ Szymon

‘The deep roots never doubt spring will come’

Marty Rubin (Author)