16 December 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

What a busy and exciting term we have had at Ripley Nursery School and Ripley Nursery School Childcare.

Our children, staff and parents have been amazing in working together and, despite the disruption due to the enforced periods of isolation, the children have all settled well in school and childcare, developed new and exisiting friendships and have displayed high levels of engagement and persistence in their learning.

 We pride ourselves on giving our young children access to learn in both indoor and outdoor rich learning environments and this gives our young children multiple opportunities to thrive, to develop resilience, to learn new skills, tackle challenges and problem-solve in practical and co-operative ways.

Next term I will be away from school for health reasons and in my absence Donna Brown will take on the role of Acting Head. We have a strong leadership team and governing board here at  Ripley Nursery School and Childcare who will be supported in turn by our dedicated Derbyshire Education Advisors.

Your points of contact will continue to be your class keyworkers,  Kerry Hartwell, School Business Manager, Annabel Martin and finally Donna Brown, Acting Headteacher.

Please be extra mindful and cautious at this time; we are asking you to monitor your child’s or your own health carefully and consider whether you need to take additional precautions if anyone within your bubble has any symptom from change or loss of smell through to cold type symptoms. Currently the administration staff are working remotely; if you have any concerns or queries, including those relating to symptoms please email kerry.hartwell@ripley-nur.derbyshire.sch.uk as we may be unable to answer the telephone promptly.

I wish you all a happy and safe Christmas period – it may not be a regular Christmas holiday however it is a time to enjoy and relax with our close family. If we all follow guidance and keep safe we have the wonderful promise of happier and busier times ahead.

Kind regards,

Cathy Bednal

Head of Ripley Nursery School & Ripley Nursery School Childcare

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Ripley Nursery School

We look forward to meeting all our new children and parents at our garden visit day on Monday 14^th December 2020. To ensure the safety of our school community only new parents and pupils will be onsite with staff on this day.  We understand that this is a difficult time to be starting a school placement and I would like to share with you the measures we have taken to keep staff, families and children safe. 

At Ripley Nursery School we have worked throughout the pandemic balancing the stringent government guidance with the well-being and educational needs of our younger learners.

All staff and children work within ‘bubbles’ as we understood that small children cannot socially distance and may need comfort and support from their keyworker during the school day.

We understand that the best way to keep safe is for staff and families to work together with clear routines and rules and to keep clear lines of communication open and well used.

Health & Safety measures in response to covid 19

Within school we have adapted our environment to allow for more frequent cleaning and have restricted the numbers of children and staff in contact with each other by dividing the school learning spaces, including the outside areas, into two distinct bubbles. We also support children to practise good hand hygiene throughout the school day.

To ensure a safe and smooth entry and exit into school we have staggered start and finish times and increased the number of entrances. All parents must wear a mask at drop off and pick up times. We understand that all local schools have taken the same approach to support social distancing, if you are struggling with the allotted timings please speak to myself, Kerry Hartwell or your keyworker and we will do our best to accommodate changes. We ask families to arrive on time, to keep a social distance of 2 m apart from other families and to leave the school site promptly following the clearly marked out routes.

Most importantly we ask you not to bring children to school who are ill or displaying any symptoms of covid 19. If anyone in your family has any symptoms of covid 19 apply then for a test and do not bring your child to school unless you have a negative result.

If your child falls ill at school we will care for them, alert you to collect them and take their temperature. All children and adults have access to prompt testing and we will ask you to apply for and administer a test on behalf of your child if they display symptoms of covid 19.

We ask you to sign a home school agreement to signify you understand and agree with all the guidance and rules we have put in place.

If you have another child/children who is/are isolating please do not bring them to school with you when dropping off or picking up. I understand that this is may be a difficult situation however our priority is to keep our school community safe and free from covid 19.

With all these measures in place we cannot guarantee that we will not have to close if any child or staff member tests positive for cornonavirus. We will contact Public Health England/Department of Education if anyone reports a positive test, follow their guidance and notify parents swiftly.

Starting Ripley Nursery School

We operate a gradual transition into school for any new starters in order to promote the well being of all children. We appreciate that joining school is a huge step for children and their families and this year we have had to employ a different approach as we cannot invite parents into school. Therefore all new parents and children, who have not visited school, will have a garden visit with their keyworker and an opportunity to find out about Ripley Nursery School. All families should now have a start date and a garden visit. Please ensure you wear your mask during the garden visit.

School Information

School website –  please go to www.ripley-nur.derbyshire.sch.uk for more information about our school including our ethos, policies and further contact information. Additionally, we ask our parents to sign up for the school app, this is linked to the website and provides regular updates about events in school and important reminders. We will send you a link to download the app once your admission form is processed.

If your child is absent from school please telephone school by 9.15am /1.15pm and speak to Annabel Martin or Kerry Hartwell as we have a duty to record all absences. We ask you to attend school promptly to ensure the safety of all children and families and to ensure children receive full access to all the learning experiences available to them at Ripley Nursery School.

If your child has any medical requirements, including dietary, please notify your keyworkers or Kerry Hartwell prior to your child starting school.

On your garden visit you will be given a letter regarding parent pay. The letter will give you a username and password for your personal log in to parent pay. Please ensure you log into the system as this will enable you to pay for your parental contribution, lunches and any additional sessions or payments. The parental contribution is applicable to every child and is charged at £1.50 per week. This covers healthy snacks and drinks, baking ingredients and other provisions.

Check out your classroom and teachers

Staff in your child’s class have made class videos to introduce themselves and show you what will be on offer for your child – you can find these on the school website under the Children’s tab, please use these videos to help support your child before they start school.

Staff from your child’s class, their keyworkers, will be on the door to encourage your child into school. Our staff are kind and caring and will work with you to support your child joining school. Your child can bring in a transitional object, for example their school mouse (we provide these on your garden visit), which will stay in their school bag. Please provide children with a spare change of clothes and a pair of slippers, labelled with their name, in a plastic bag or a fabric drawstring bag which can stay in school.

We provide wet weather gear to allow children to work outside whatever the weather however we often get wet socks from splashing in puddles - so please put extra socks and pants in their school bag too.

Our uniform suppliers are loopwear which are based in Ilkeston. They also have an online shop from which you can order uniform. Please follow the link below.

https://loopwear.co.uk/find-your-school/ripleynurseryschool-loopwear

We look forward to working with you and your child over the next academic year. We send information out through our school app to your mobile phone so please keep us informed of any changes to your personal details. You can also find a wealth of information about Ripley Nursery School on our website, including details about our sister organisation – Ripley Nursery School Childcare.

Your keyworkers from your child’s class will share your child’s progress and achievement through online learning journals and more information will be coming out to you in the near future.

Kind regards,

C.L. Bednal

Cathy Bednal and all the staff of Ripley Nursery School

We are pleased to announce that Ripley Nursery School has organised a clothes & shoe collection with Bag2School in order to raise funds to enhance our outdoor areas.

Bag2School is the UK’s leading textile recycler and fundraiser working with schools and since its inception in 2001 it has now paid out over £36 million.

As well as raising vitally needed funds for Ripley Nursery School it also helps the environment by helping to divert unwanted textiles away from landfill. A recent DEFRA report has shown that textile collection schemes are helping to reduce the volume of textiles discarded as municipal solid waste. However it is a fact that as a nation we still send 350,000 tonnes of textiles to landfill every year.

By getting involved in our Bag2School collection, you have an opportunity to sort through your cupboards and wardrobes and donate unwanted textiles in the bag provided – this can include adults’ and children’s clothes, shoes (tied together please), hats, belts, handbags and soft toys, (please refer to http://uk.bag2school.com/ for full details). In addition to raising much needed funds it will also raise awareness amongst the children of the benefits of recycling and reuse.

You can use any bag to donate your items and don’t forget to ask grandparents, friends and neighbours to have a sort out as well!

Bag2School will be collecting from Ripley Nursery School on Tuesday 24^th November at 9am. Please bring your bag (or bags!) to the main office either any time on Monday 23^rd November or Tuesday 24^th November before 9am and help us have a really good collection.

Many thanks indeed for helping us with this unique fundraising opportunity.

Yours faithfully

Ripley Nursery School

Today we went to harvest the pumpkins from our allotment. They have been growing for nearly seven months!! 

Mr. Flude, who helps to look after our allotment, reminded us to pick the pumpkins before the weather gets too cold – a quick frost would damage our crop. 

We were amazed to find; 

one enormous pumpkin,  

one large pumpkin,  

one knobbly pumpkin and  

three small pumpkins. 

We needed help to pick up the biggest pumpkins.  

We picked some lovely green and red apples from our apple tree, put all our produce in the wheel barrow and wheeled it back to school. 

Our friends at school were very excited to see our wheel barrow full of pumpkins and apples. 

We are thinking about what we can do with our pumpkins next week, any ideas? 

Pumpkin Raffle!

Get Halloween ready!

We are raffling off one of our HUGE Nursery grown pumpkins from our allotment this year to raise money to improve our outdoor learning space.

A 50p ticket charge will be added to your parent pay account; if you wish to buy a ticket please pay using the option on parent pay and your name will be added to the draw.

The raffle will be drawn on Friday 16^th October and the lucky winner will be able to collect the pumpkin from Nursery.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Ripley Nursery School

We are currently due to reopen school on Thursday 3^rd September, following the summer holidays. We understand that for some families returning to school this may be a worrying time. As a school we worked throughout the past academic year, including the spring and summer terms with clear guidelines to keep all staff and children safe.

We have planned for staff and children to continue to work within ‘bubbles’ as we understood that small children cannot socially distance and may need comfort and support from their keyworker during the school day.

We understand that the best way to keep safe is for staff and families to work together with clear routines and rules and to keep clear lines of communication open and well used.

Health & Safety measures in response to covid 19

Within school we have adapted our environment to allow for more frequent cleaning and have restricted the numbers of children and staff in contact with each other by dividing the school learning spaces, including the outside areas, into two distinct bubbles. We also support children to practise good hand hygiene throughout the school day.

To ensure a safe and smooth entry and exit into school we have staggered start/finish times and increased number of entrances. We understand that all local schools have taken the same approach to support social distancing, if you are struggling with the allotted timings please speak to myself; Kerry Hartwell or your keyworker and we will do our best to accommodate changes. We ask families to arrive on time, to keep a social distance of 2 m apart from other families and to leave the school site promptly following the clearly marked out routes.

Most importantly we ask you not to bring children to school who are ill or displaying any symptoms of covid 19. If anyone in your family has any symptoms of covid 19 apply then for a test and do not bring your child to school unless you have a negative result.

If your child falls ill at school we will care for them, alert you to collect them and take their temperature. All children and adults have access to prompt testing and we will ask you to apply for and administer a test on behalf of your child if they display symptoms of covid 19.

We ask you to sign a home school agreement to signify you understand and agree with all the guidance and rules we have put in place.

Starting school

We have a range of cohorts attending Ripley Nursery School during Autumn 2020. The children already registered with an established school place, for example those children and parents who already know our school and their keyworkers will return to school on Thursday 3^rd September (or the next day of their school placement).

We operate a gradual transition into school for any new starters in order to promote the wellbeing of all children. We appreciate that joining school is a huge step for children and their families and this year we have had to employ a different approach as we cannot invite parents into school. Therefore, all new parents and children, who have not visited school, will have a garden visit with their keyworker and an opportunity to find out about Ripley Nursery School. All families should now have a start date and a garden visit, where appropriate.

Staff in your child’s class are currently busy setting up the new exciting learning spaces and will be posting class videos to introduce themselves and show you what will be on offer for your child – please use these videos to help support your child before they start school.

Staff from your child’s class, their keyworkers, will be on the door to encourage children into school. Our staff are kind and caring and will work with you to support your child joining school. Your child can bring in a transitional object, for example their school mouse or other special toy, which will stay in their school bag. Please provide children with a spare change of clothes and a pair of slippers, labelled with their name, in a plastic bag or a fabric drawstring bag, which can stay in school.

We provide wet weather gear to allow children to work outside whatever the weather however, we often get wet socks from splashing in puddles - so please put extra socks and pants in their school bag too.

School Information

If your child is absent from school please telephone school by 9.15am /1.15pm and speak to Annabel Martin or Kerry Hartwell as we have a duty to record all absences. We ask you to attend school promptly to ensure the safety of all children and families and to ensure children receive full access to all the learning experiences available to them at Ripley Nursery School.

If your child has any medical requirements, including dietary, please notify your keyworkers or Kerry Hartwell prior to your child starting school.

You will have been sent a text message from ‘The School App’ which you will need to download to enable you to receive school messages and information including dates for your diary and school newsletters. If you have any problem or have not receive this message, please contact the school office.

On your garden visit you will be given a letter regarding parent pay. The letter will give you a username and password for your personal log in to parent pay. Please ensure you log into the system as this will enable you to pay for your parental contribution, lunches and any additional sessions or payments. The parental contribution is applicable to every child and is charged at £1.50 per week. This covers healthy snacks and drinks, baking ingredients and other provisions. 

We look forward to working with you and your child over the next academic year. We send information out through our school app to your mobile phone so please keep us informed of any changes to your personal details. You can also find a wealth of information about Ripley Nursery School on our website, including details about our sister organisation – Ripley Nursery School Childcare.

Your keyworkers from your child’s class will share your child’s progress and achievement through online learning journals and more information will be coming out to you in the near future.

Kind regards,

C.L. Bednal

Cathy Bednal and all the staff of Ripley Nursery School