Wakefield Council are providing SEND support swimming lessons for children age 5+ with special educational needs or disabilities that may find mainstream lessons challenging, or need additional support to learn to swim. Find more details about cost and booking here. 

We have received details of Free Government Funded Resources around Young Peoples Wellbeing. These are funded through the AEB therefore of no cost to the School or Parent. 

Below are some of the most popular courses on offer:

• Understanding Autism (learn how individuals process sensory information, understand characteristics, understand conditions, learn how speech, language and communication differ in people with Autism)
• Understanding Children and Young Peoples Mental Health (Understand factors which may affect Young Peoples mental health, the impact that they have and how to support them with these issues)

• Understanding Behaviour That Challenges (supporting positive behaviour, effective communication & how to manage challenging behaviour)

• Understanding Specific Learning Difficulties (understand characteristics of ADHD, ADD, Dyslexia & Dyscalculia, importance of early diagnosis, assessment methods available to diagnose learning difficulties)

The qualifications are completed within an 8-week period, duration is completely dependent on each learner's ability as to how fast they complete and how many hours it takes. There are no exams, essays or end-point assessments however I would however advise that these are NOT 'short courses' that will take just a few hours to complete. As these are equivalent to a GCSE Grade C, you are required to write comprehensive answers for some questions. You may do as many as you like, or just one at a time. 

 The only criteria the learner must meet to be eligible, is the following..    

• Aged 19 or over on or before 31^st August 2021    
• Have lived in the UK/EU for 3+ years    
• Not already be on a Government funded course (Apprenticeship for example)    

The course is completely free, but the learning provider reserves the right to charge a drop out fee in the event that someone enrols, but then makes no attempt to complete the course without a valid reason. That said, the college will grant extensions if the learner has a genuine reason as to why they feel they won't be able to complete it within the 8 weeks.

If you are interested in undertaking one of these Free Online courses, then please complete the following link this week:

https://theaimgroup.co.uk/booking-form/0014J00000eocW2

If you have any questions, please call Lois Smith on 0203 900 3091 extension 235 or email lois.smith@theaimgroup.co.uk 

Our 'Children in Need' donation page has now been set-up. This is a direct link rather than a payment item on ParentPay like we have used in the past. The minimum donation is £1 but you can of course donate more, and if you are a UK taxpayer you can gift-aid your donation too! You can find the link here.

Christchurch food bank in Ossett have today collected our Harvest donations. The car was packed to the rafters with all of our fabulous items. Thank you so much to our amazing  parents and carers for your generosity.

An online e-safety talk will be held in school on 20th October at 2:30pm. All parents are welcome to attend. The session will last between 35-40 minutes and cover :-

• Screen time - the balance between using technology and engaging in other activities.
• Risk - Look at the risk of children being online and how to minimise them.
• Settings - How to get support with device settings.
• Age-Appropriate - looking at age restrictions for App, games, etc.

If you would like to attend, please let us know in the school office.

Thank you to everyone who has placed an order from our virtual book fair. We had 11 boxes of book parcels delivered to school! We will update you when we receive our free books for school. 

Please click here  to complete the online feedback form if you attended the Open Evening on 29th September at Horbury Academy. Your views are greatly appreciated.

The virtual book fair is now on until 3rd October.
You and your children will be pleased to know there is a huge range of brand new books to choose from including board books such as Hugless Douglas, picture books such as We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and many Julia Donaldson titles, we have early reader titles like Horrid Henry, Roald Dahl books, Diary of the Wimpy kid, Dork Diaries, Alex Rider as well as many, many, more, too many to mention at only £2.50! Simply click here and choose your books.
Once you get to the checkout stage please complete the billing details as normal but remember at the delivery details stage to add your child’s name and class where prompted. For the delivery address please put ‘St Peter’s and Clifton’ and the school’s postcode ‘WF4 5BE’ as this will remove all postage fees. You can order up until midnight on Sunday 3rd October. All orders will then be dispatched and we will let you know when you can collect from school. Buying through the Virtual Book Fair will help our school as we will receive a free book for every 5 collectively sold that has a value of £2.50, so every book counts! Happy Shopping!

The Horbury and Ossett Phoenix Rotary Club are holding a fund raising walk on Sunday 19 September starting in Carr Lodge Park, Horbury, at 10am. Like many charitable causes the Hospice has been hard hit financially by the pandemic and the walk is purely for the benefit of the Hospice.

Entitled 'BE A HERO' they are recognising both the heroes of the pandemic and fictional superheroes and asking participants to consider dressing up appropriately (although this is not essential). It is open to all and the two routes in use are suitable for all except those with the most severe disabilities and mobility issues.

Prizes will be awarded for best dressed heroes, children and adults. Sponsorship forms will be sent to those who pre-register. You can find more information here or by telephoning 07717 108415.

All are welcome to just show up on the day to take part or pre-register via the contact details above.

We have an exciting event happening soon across the whole school…a Virtual Book Fair! This is a great opportunity to buy books at fantastic prices, there are 1000’s at only £2.50 including many top titles from Baby books through to teen books.  There’s many great non fiction books to support topic learning this term.  All orders placed during our book fair will be delivered to school for free and also school will be able to earn a free book for every five £2.50 books purchased by the parents/carers.

Do not order yet (or you’ll be charged for delivery) but you can have a look at the amazing titles at www.booksforbugs.co.uk

We will announce very soon when our Virtual Book Fair has started.