Dear Parents,

Have you ordered your school Group photo yet? A polite reminder that the closing date for free delivery back to school is Sunday 21^st May 2023.  Order through the Tempest website using your unique link or visit www.tempest-orders.co.uk 

If you need any assistance in ordering your photos, feel free to contact Tempest on 01736 751555 (option 3).

Many thanks,

Tempest 

Last week we had a special assembly from Tabitha from Investors in Children. The assembly was to raise awareness and understanding of autistic children and to celebrate our differences.  Tabitha showed two thought-provoking videos and the children asked some excellent, thoughtful questions.

Click the links to watch the videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPknwW8mPAM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbwRrVw-CRo

We have recently said goodbye to two members of our staff, both of which will be greatly missed:

Heather, who has worked in our kitchen for a number of years. We’d like to say thank you to her for all her hard work and kindness and wish her a Happy Retirement.

We also said goodbye to Mr Blackett on Friday with a special assembly written by the children. He has given his heart and soul to looking after our school and it’s grounds and has been a huge part of the Cockfield family for many years. We’d like to say a big thank you to him and to wish him a Happy Retirement.

Chartwells, our school catering company would like us to share their latest newsletter with you all. Please have a read

April 23 Parent Newsletter

We are now on our summer menu with lots of new choices , please see the below menu for all options

Chartwells North Eats SS23 Menu (2)

The children have had a lovely day today for world book day and they have all looked fantastic dressed as their favourite book characters or just wearing their own clothes. Every child has been given a £1 book token and a free book to read 🙂

Here are some photos that we have been taking through out the day

Reminder – Children’s Mental Health Week

The children have been asked to ‘Dress to Express’ tomorrow (Friday 10th Feb). This could be through favourite colours, hairstyles, favourite sports kits, fancy dress, party clothes…whatever your child wants to wear as an expression of themselves. Just for fun – no donation needed.

6 – 12 February 2023 is Children’s Mental Health Week. The week is run by children’s mental health
charity Place2Be to raise awareness of the importance of children and young people’s mental health.

This year’s theme is Let’s Connect.

Children’s Mental Health Week is an annual event dedicated to raising awareness about children and young people’s mental health. This important event is a brilliant opportunity to open a discussion about mental health and wellbeing with children and young people.

The children’s mental health charity, Place2Be, set up Children’s Mental Health Week to highlight the importance of mental health for children and young people. We all have mental health and the majority of people will experience some form of mental health issue throughout their lives. In fact, up to 1 in 4 of us will experience mental health problems at some point in our lifetime.

During Children’s Mental Health Week 2023, we can take some time to focus on mental health and talk about these important topics. We can encourage children to think about how they can best look after their own mental health and encourage parents, carers and teachers to reflect on their role in supporting children with their mental health.

Each year there is a different theme for Children’s Mental Health Week. The theme for Children’s Mental Health Week 2023 is ‘Let’s Connect’.

This theme encourages children to explore how they can cultivate meaningful connections in their lives to support their mental health and wellbeing. Connecting healthily with others is a key part of living a fulfilling life and feeling loved, cared for and safe.

We can discuss important topics, such as feeling lonely, making friends and healthy relationships with children and young people during Children’s Mental Health Week 2023

Children’s Mental Health Week facts

Here are five Children’s Mental Health Week facts to help you learn all about this important event:

• The first Children’s Mental Health Week was held in 2015.
• Last year, in 2022, the theme for Children’s Mental Health Week was ‘Express Yourself’.
• Five children in a classroom of 30 pupils are likely to have a mental health issue (The Children’s Society).
• 50% of all mental health problems start by the age of 14 (The Children’s Society).
• 75% of children and young people who experience mental health problems aren’t getting the support they need (Mental Health Foundation).

Thanks to Place2Be and Twinkl for the information above.

Please read the below letter sent from Durham County Council:

Dear Parent or Carer,

With the continual challenges we are facing in terms of inflation and energy and to ensure a sustainable and nutritious meal is provided to the Children, it has been necessary to agree a price increase in relation to the Primary School meal.

From Monday 27th February (following the half-term break) a school meal will cost £2.41 per day.  From September 2023 meals will increase to £2.50 per day with this rate fixed until April 2024.

The meals are freshly produced on site by a catering supplier Chartwell’s and offer a 3-choice menu per day. Each meal is developed to ensure the right amount of protein, carbohydrates, fruit, and vegetables is available while avoiding confectionary and artificially sweetened drinks, with limits on the fat, salt, and sugar content in each meal.

The good news is if your child or children attend an infant school or infant class from Reception to Year 2 (KS1) then school meals will be free to them under the government Universal Infant Free School Meal Scheme.

Don’t forget that if your child has a medical dietary requirement (supported by a Medical Practitioner) then this can be provided for.

This is an unprecedented period of financial challenge across a range of Industry sectors and services, the education team has worked hard with the current provider to agree a pricing mechanism to ensure a high quality and sustainable meal service is provided for Children within Durham Schools.

Thank you for your support.