Latest News
This year, King's Church's Annual Holiday Club is returning!
King's Church Durham is running a holiday club for children aged 4-11 years with a medieval theme, called Kingdom Seekers! Each day there will be songs, craft, games and activities all based around Bible stories. A cold lunch will also be provided. It is on Monday 1 - Friday 5 August, 9.30am-12.30pm at Laurel Avenue Community Centre. Sign up is required and places are limited but there will be a waiting list. Sign up at:
www.kcd.org.uk/holidayclub. If you have any questions, please email holidayclub@kcd.org.uk.
summer fayre 2022
CLICK to download dates for your diary for summer term
Wednesday 29th June, 9.15am: New Reception parents meeting - Class 1.
Thursday 30th June: KS1 Multi Sport Festival (Class 2)
Tuesday 5th July, 9.30 am: Nursery, Classes 1 and 2 Sports Day
Tuesday 5th July, 1.30 pm: Classes 3, 4T and 4W Sports Day
Need to come to school in PE kits and bring water bottle
Parents are welcome to Sports Days.
Wednesday 6th July: Opening of Dragon Park - all classes invited
Thursday 7th July, am: Reception Festival at Sherburn Primary.
Need to come to school in PE kits and bring water bottle
Thursday 7th and Friday 8th July: Year 6 Induction to Belmont
Monday 11th July, 1.30 pm: Summer Fayre
Wednesday 13th July: Teddy Bear’s Picnic.
Children bring one teddy bear to school with them.
Friday 15th July, 9:30 am: Reception Graduation – Parents invited
Friday 15th July: Annual Reports out to Parents/Carers
Wednesday 20th, 10.00 am: Year 6 Leavers’ Assembly – Parents invited
Wednesday 20th July 10.45 -12.00 noon: End of Nursery Party - Parents invited
Wednesday 20th, pm: Year 6 Party
Thursday 21st July: End of Summer Term
Tuesday 6th September: Children back to School
A Day of Welcome - Friday 17th June
click for information about a DAY OF WELCOME
It has come to our attention that children have been taking the disposable type vapes - electronic cigarettes - from stores including Home Bargains and both using them themselves and passing them on to other children outside of school. These electronic cigarettes may resemble a coloured pen and so might not obviously look like a cigarette. Please keep a close eye out for these items and if appropriate, discuss this issue with your child. I have contacted Home Bargains and from today, these disposable vapes will no longer be accessible from the shop floor. I will continue to contact other shops in the locality, including Tesco, who widely sell these items from the shop floor making them easily accessible. Please call school if you have any concerns regarding this issue. Thank you.
From 1st April 2022 schools have reverted to managing suspected or confirmed cases of infectious disease in schools as we did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new isolation guidance for symptomatic children is as follows:
Children who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people. They can go back to school, college or childcare when they no longer have a high temperature, and they are well enough to attend
Children with a positive COVID-19 test result should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days.
Please find below an information pamphlet provided by the government about the terms and implementation of the Council Tax Rebate to help households with rising energy bills.
As countries around the world come out of Covid-19 lockdowns, surging demand for energy has meant energy prices have increased. Over the past year, the price of gas alone has quadrupled.
Whilst the problem is global, the effect is being felt by millions of households here in the UK.
The Government has listened to these concerns and it has acted.
Recently, the Government announced that around 20 million households in England in council tax bands A-D will get a £150 rebate from April.
The rebate will not need to be repaid.
Households in council tax bands A-D will receive the £150 council tax rebate.
This means 4 out of 5 households in England will benefit, including around 95% of rented properties. However, second homes or empty properties will not benefit. If you are unsure of your council tax band, check your council tax band via your printed council tax bill or at:
https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands or contact your local council.
What if my household isn’t eligible?
• Councils will receive an extra £144 million to provide support to vulnerable households who may not qualify for the £150 council tax rebate.
• This includes people on low incomes in council tax bands E-H.
• Your council will provide more detail on how this will operate in your area.
How will my household get its £150?
• Your council will confirm how the rebate will be paid in your area.
• For people who pay council tax by direct debit, in most cases, the rebate will go directly into bank accounts. If you don’t already pay by direct debit, you might want to sign up. This will make sure the rebate is paid to you quickly.
• For those who do not pay council tax via direct debit, your council will confirm how the rebate will be paid to you. Please make sure that communication is from your local council before providing payment details.
• The rebate will not need to be repaid.
What else is on offer to support households with their energy bills?
• We are helping to spread the cost of the recent jump in energy prices over several years. £200 of this year’s energy bill will be taken off from October and spread equally over the next 5 years instead, easing the burden on family budgets. This is not a debt, no interest is charged and no credit ratings are affected.
• The Warm Home Discount will be expanded, so nearly 3 million low-income households will benefit from a £150 discount.
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It's time for the Easter Egg Decoration Competition! Please send all entries into school by Wednesday 7th April. Names should be written on the back of or underneath the entry. Thank you.
Parents/Carers Information Regarding Additional Measures in School
click to read letter
On Friday 18th March we will be joining in with all the fundraising fun of ‘Red Nose Day 2022' in aid of Comic Relief.
Children may come to school dressed as their favourite superhero, in Red Nose Day themed clothing (including a red nose!) or dressed in red.
All donations are welcome.
Thank you for your support.
Red Nose and Easter themed meals coming soon.
If your child usually has a packed lunch and would like to order a Red Nose or Easter themed lunch, please call school office on 0191 3868416.
All children in Class 1 and 2 are entitled to a free lunch.
Red Nose Lunch will be served on Friday 18th March.
Children who are not eligible for a free meal in Classes 3, 4T and 4W will need to send in £2.15.
Easter Lunch will be served on Wednesday 6th April.
Children who are not eligible for a free meal in Classes 3, 4T and 4W will need to send in £2.20 as the cost of meals goes up to £2.20 on 4th April.
Help support Ukrainian Refugees in Poland
One of our Breakfast Club volunteers, Joe Pickering, has been working with Joanna from Moon Jewellery and The Red Cross to organise donated items to be sent to Poland to support Ukrainian Refugees.
There has been enough clothing donated at the moment but any of the following would be greatly appreciated.
sleeping bags and blankets
(new) underwear for women and children
baby bottles
baby food in jars
baby formula
nappies
baby wipes
toiletries and hygiene products
colouring books and crayons
First Aid items e.g. bandages, antiseptic creams
pots, pans and cutlery,
bedding,
cleaning products,
non-perishable food such as pasta cereal, tins
torches and power banks
If you would like to donate any items in support, please bring to school and we will make sure to pass them on.
Thank you for your kind support.
Support for Parents/Carers if your child has been upset by videos and images of the war in Ukraine on social media.
Watching the horrors of war unfold has been very difficult for many adults this week. TV and Radio news are full of information about the awful attacks on the Ukrainians and, perhaps one advantage of social media, is letting us all see what happens when one country invades another. Much of the information on TV has, to a certain extent, been sanitised with the most horrific content removed. This is not the case on social media. We have recently become concerned that some of our children are seeing horrific pictures and videos of the war, and some are struggling to cope with what they have seen. There is not one particular app or website that is worse than the others. Pictures and videos of the war are available on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and probably lots of other social media sites too. In addition they are being reposted so they do not always come directly from The Ukraine. We strongly recommend you take some actions to help your children:
Discuss this with your children. Have they seen upsetting content? Explain what you would like them to do if they see something scary. (Turn the device upside down and get either Mum, Dad or their carer – they are not in trouble).
Carefully consider what social media (if any) is suitable for your children. The minimum age for most platforms is 13 because the content providers cannot guarantee that it is suitable for a younger audience.
Set up parental controls on devices. Many apps have settings which try and limit the most graphic content – but even with safety features turned on, content is not guaranteed to be “child friendly". The website “Internet Matters” https://www.internetmatters.org/ is particularly useful in providing advice on most apps and security settings.
Talk and listen to your children. We can’t pretend this isn’t happening and they may well have questions and worries which are better discussed than kept secret.
If you have serious concerns then please talk to the school as staff there may be able to help.