I am very pleased to share their full report with you all (attached below). We are really pleased to see such a positive report for them.

Kind regards

Mr. Westley

The workshop ‘Parenting in a Digital World’ aims to support parents/carers as you grapple with this tricky area of parenting and will focus on answering practical questions such as:

How are smartphones influencing our children and teens and what can we do about it?

• Why are they so addictive?

• When should my child be given a phone?

• What controls should we put in place and how do I implement them?

• What apps should they be allowed on?

• How can we find the right balance for our family?

This is a great opportunity to benefit from The Conversation’s research and experience in this area; we do hope you can join them at one of their workshops. You can sign up here: https://www.theconversationstamford.co.uk/signup.aspx

This will be an encouraging and supportive session. The workshop is aimed at parents and carers of children aged 0-16 regardless of whether your children have a phone yet or not.

This parent support workshop is part of the ‘Stamford Cyberwise Campaign’ encouraging schools, parents and children to evaluate young people’s digital habits and consider the impact mobile phones are having on mental health and well-being. More information about the campaign in general can be found at the link above.

Children can come to school dressed in their favourite outfits—whether it’s a cosy jumper, a football t-shirt, or something that makes them feel happy and confident!

To take part, we kindly ask each child to bring £1 to donate to the Friends of DSJ, helping us raise funds for exciting school projects.

Thank you for your support—we can’t wait to see all the fantastic outfits!

This event is brought to you by the Friends of DSJ- 

Monique, Rachel, Lauren, Victoria and Krystal

Children have the opportunity to celebrate themselves and come into school in clothes that make them unique. 

No donation is needed. However please remember that children should dress appropriately for the weather.

Thursday 13th February - Dragon Riders of Roar publication day.

Jenny will be doing a half hour virtual event with Our Bookshop at 10.30am

 BOOKING LINK

Saturday 15th February - 3:30pm - LINCOLN

Jenny will be visiting Lincoln and taking part in Waterstones Children's Festival.

 BOOKING LINK

Please see attached calendar of events so you can save the date. We will send out more details on each event nearer the time. 

Feel free to follow the friends facebook page where we will post the information too.   

From the Friends of DSJ

Monique, Rachel, Lauren, Victoria and Krystal

https://ttrockstars.com/

Please do support your child in accessing it, to help support their times tables work in school. It does make a BIG difference in building their confidence! i have asked your child's class teacher to re-share their password, so that they are able to access their own 'Rock Star'!

With thanks to the PTA for ensuring this valuable resource remains available to the children...

Providing emergency food to people in crisis.

Every day people in the UK go hungry for reasons ranging from redundancy to receiving an unexpected bill on a low income. A simple box of food makes a big difference, with foodbanks helping prevent crime, housing loss, family breakdown and mental health problems.

FOOD IS DONATED

Schools, churches, businesses and individuals donate non-perishable, in-date food to a foodbank. Large collections often take place as part of Harvest Festival celebrations and food is also collected at supermarkets.

FOOD IS SORTED AND STORED

Volunteers sort food to check that it’s in date and pack it into boxes ready to be given to people in need. Over 40,000 people give up their time to volunteer at foodbanks.

PROFESSIONALS IDENTIFY PEOPLE IN NEED

Foodbanks partner with a wide range of care professionals such as doctors, health visitors, social workers and police to identify people in crisis and issue them with a foodbank voucher.

CLIENTS RECEIVE FOOD

Foodbank clients bring their voucher to a foodbank centre where it can be redeemed for three days’ emergency food. Volunteers meet clients over a warm drink or free hot meal and are able to signpost people to agencies able to solve the longer-term problem.

Contact them on: 07516717346, or visit their website: https://deepings.foodbank.org.uk/

FOODBANK VOUCHERS

Our foodbank works using a voucher referral system. Find out more about how we work.

We know that anyone can find themselves at crisis point for a number of different reasons.

In order to provide the most appropriate help for the circumstances of your situation we work with local agencies. If they feel you are struggling to put food on the table, they will issue you with a foodbank voucher. The local agency can also provide long term support if needed to help address some of the issues behind the reasons for your crisis. 

Our foodbank works with a number of different agencies, such as Citizens Advice, children’s centres and health visitors. To find out more about the agencies that hold our vouchers and how you can get help, please contact us.

When you visit a referral agency they will take some basic details from you to complete the voucher. This will help them to identify the cause of your crisis and offer practical guidance. It also means we are able to prepare suitable emergency food for the right number of people.

Once you have been issued with a voucher, you can exchange this for a minimum of three days of emergency food at your nearest foodbank centre.

If you are a referral agency and would like to become a registered voucher holder for our foodbank, please contact us to find out more.

Please see the attached letter regarding the requirements for this and the nomination form to be completed.

Please note all nominations need to be received at the school office before midday on Friday 29th November.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, committed and creative Teaching Assistant, who wishes to fully involve themselves as an integral part of a very friendly and forward thinking school.

Get your spooktacular outfits ready for Wednesday 30th October. 

The first session is for Reception and KS1 children - between 5pm and 6pm.

The second session is for KS2 children - between 6.15pm and 7.15pm.

Please book your place on PMX. There will be an item in your shop for this disco. The cost is £3.50 per child and includes a drink, snack and treat. 

You can also purchase a 'Trick or Treat' Raffle ticket for your chance to win a plentiful halloween hamper. Tickets are available via PMX. They are just 3 tickets for £3 and you can buy more than one set if you'd like to. Tickets also in the PMX shop.  

For reception only - parents may come in and make sure their child is settled as this will be their first event. 

Please join the new PTA committee in making their first event a success! 

Thanks,

Monique, Rachel, Lauren, Victoria & Krystal

Friends of DSJCP

Thank you to all who joined us for our AGM.

Monique Howard~ Chair
Monique works as an Operations & Change Delivery Manager so is used to managing projects and spinning lots of plates.

She has two daughters at DSJ: in year 1 and year 5, and is looking forward to organising some fantastic events for the school.

In her spare time, Monique loves reading fiction and is currently on a mission to read one book a week for a year.

Rachel Newsome~ Vice Chair
Rachel works in marketing and events and has covered lots of industries over her career, including craft, travel and home fragrance.

She is a mum of 2 girls: one in year 1 at DSJ and one who is 2 years old.

Rachel is looking forward to helping the committee to raise money for the school and is keen to use her experience to help out with social media, newsletters and a bit of crafting!  

Lauren Marney~ Vice Chair
Lauren is a  Specialist Occupational Therapist with 18 years experience working in the NHS.

She’s a mum of two boys, her eldest has just started reception so, she’s new to DSJ school life. Lauren is excited to be part of the PTA and looks forward to raising vital funds.

Her passions in life are nature and the great outdoors. Her guilty pleasures are country music and chocolate.

Victoria Russell~ Secretary
Victoria is an Executive Assistant for a large media company. She  especially enjoys organising events and parties for the business, which will be invaluable to help within the PTA.

She has a son in year one and loves to socialise with friends, enjoys baking (great news!), going to the gym and best of all, having days out with her family.

Krystal Collins~ Treasurer
Krystal is an Accountant for an award winning accountancy practice, and brings a wealth of experience to the PTA. She has tons of ideas about how to reduce our costs to make even more money for the school.
 
She has a daughter in year 5 at DSJ.  

Krystal enjoys painting, kayaking and photographing nature.

What is the Summer Reading Challenge?

The Summer Reading Challenge encourages children to keep reading during the school summer holidays – and to enjoy reading anything they like! Children aged 4-11 are invited to set a reading goal and collect rewards for their reading. It’s completely FREE to take part.

It is an amazing way to boost children’s confidence – last year 72% of children taking part felt more confident reading.1

Why should my child sign up?

• They will be better prepared to return to school in the autumn.
• The Challenge supports the move into a new year group.
• Becoming more independent in their reading boosts children’s confidence and self-esteem.
• The library provides free access to books and fun family activities all through the summer.
• Library staff are on hand to offer support and book recommendations.

Your child will be part of a UK-wide programme developed by The Reading Agency and delivered in partnership with the public library network.

How can my child take part?

Visit your local library and sign up. Your child will:

• Register with the library and borrow and read any books, eBooks and audiobooks.
• Receive a Challenge poster and collect special stickers and rewards for reading.
• Win a medal and certificate if they read six (or more!) books during the holiday.
• Not a member of the library? You can ask at the library to get your child’s free library card.

When?

It will launch on 6 July and onward and closes on September 14th.

Where?

Deepings Community Library, High Street, Market Deeping, PE6 8ED. 01778 346528

The Lincolnshire Reading Pledge has been developed by Witham St Hugh’s English Hub and L.E.A.D. Teaching School Hub, working in collaboration with Professor Teresa Cremin (Reading for Pleasure & The Open University).

As you know, at Deeping St James, we value the importance of Reading for Pleasure and the positive impact it can have on our pupils lives. The ultimate aim of the Lincolnshire Reading Pledge is to ensure that every child, regardless of their background, needs or abilities, becomes a confident, fluent and enthusiastic reader.

There really is no greater gift we can give to our children as a school and as parents.

To achieve the award staff and pupils worked towards meeting a range of criteria throughout the academic year.

Thank you to parents, staff and children who supported our World Book Day and reading workshops which helped towards the achievement. Our Reading Champions have made a fantastic contribution towards school attaining this award - thank you and well done to them all!

Well done, Mr Bell, as our English Lead, who supported both school and the Reading Champions through the process!

We look forward to continuing our Reading Pledge journey next year and marching on towards Gold now!

The event will take place on the 7th July (12pm-5pm) on The John Eve Field.

The MDTC & DSTPC have awarded a grant to the organising group, and with support from the:

• Deeping Lions
• Rotary Club
• Round Table
• Inner Wheel

Deeping will have a family fun day! The main emphasis of the event will be enjoyment without having to spend lots of money. Most of the entertainment will be FREE with the aim that every child will go home with a small gift.

What can I expect at the event...

• How many sweets in the jar?
• Crazy bingo
• Wacky races and much more...

Walk to school week begins on Monday 20th May. There are lots of ways you can join in with Walk to School Week, you could cycle, scoot or park and stride (park the car a little further away and walk the last part of the journey) School Council members will be recording each day how children came to school. If your child/ren walk to school 4 or more times they will receive a badge designed and made by school council.

The class that has the most children walking to school during the week will also win a trophy which will be presented at Sports Day. Attached is a booklet with suggested activities and ideas that you can carry out each day whilst walking to school. 

School Council members are really excited about encouraging as many children as possible to join in. 

However, being able to keep up to date with the latest apps and trends in order to keep your children safe can feel like an overwhelming task. The Stay Safe Partnership delivers Online Safety workshops in Primary and Secondary schools across Lincolnshire everyday.

In this event, they will give you the most up-to-date information and tools, so you feel confident that you can keep your children safe from online harm whilst still allowing them to explore the online world.

Whether you want to know more-around age-appropriate apps, online trends, parental controls, social media or any other burning questions-this is the event for you!

Sign up is required.

Stay Safe Partnerships Online Safety Q+A for Parents of Primary Aged Children 5th June 2024 6-7:30pm FREE TEAMS event sign up required: https://buytickets.at/staysafepartnership/1238483

Stay Safe Partnerships Online Safety Q+A for Parents of Secondary Aged Children 19th June 2024 6-7:30 pm FREE TEAMS event sign up required: https://buytickets.at/staysafepartnership/1238529

If your child is accessing the internet, in any form, there is sound advice on the website about how to best support them - please do take a look.

Participation is completely free of charge. All we ask is that each child tries to raise £3 in sponsorship money to support the work of our Hospice.

As a school we have signed up for this active fund-raising event to support hospices in our locality. Rudy the Reindeer visited school earlier this week and went into every class to meet the children. Rudy caused great excitement across the school as well as dropping off 210 pairs of antlers!

On the 11th December the entire school community, wearing antlers will come together on the front and back playgrounds. Christmas tunes will get us in the spirit to run, dance or prance as reindeers in order to support this worthwhile cause.

To donate, simply click here and follow the link to our Just Giving Page.

After the run all children will be bringing home the headband antlers as a token from St Barnabas for their support and engagement with this fund-raising activity. Look out for photos of the event on the termly newsletter!