Appleton C of E Primary School

The Friends organised a visit from Korky Paul the Illustrator of "Winnie the Witch" to visit the school.

Korky Paul was a huge success with all the schools children and staff. He really captured the children’s imagination and inspired
them.

During his visit Korky Paul read and acted out some of his many books with the aid of colour slides. He also knidly stayed after school to sign books for the children allowing them to have a lasting memory of the day.

We would like to thank you for your patience and understanding during the recent difficulties with the weather and the heating problem.

We have been told that the oil delivery will arrive tomorrow and the plumbers will be able to restart the heating system

The following questions and answers may help you to understand why we closed school:
 
Why did schools close when other organisations stay open?

Schools must consider a number of risks when considering if/ when to close. Government and local authority advice is to consider staffing ratios, and whether staff and children can travel safely to school. We have a duty of care to the children and our staff which is different to your workplaces.

Why were a few schools open when Appleton was closed?

Some of the city schools and those on the outskirts of the city were more fortunate than we were because their roads were gritted and staff had alternative ways of getting to school (a regular bus service) Out of the 240 schools in Oxfordshire only a tiny number were open.

Won’t my child have missed a lot of valuable teaching time?

Learning is just as important (perhaps more important) as teaching, and learning can happen at home where your child spends most of its time. The snow was a once in a decade opportunity to spend time with your child. Many children have told me how much they enjoyed playing in the snow with their parents, an experience which they will remember for a long time.

We have sent extra work home today and we still expect all children to read and learn their spelling words.

Please note that loss of learning experiences for a whole class is easier for teachers to compensate for than the absence of a single child because the parents have organised holidays during the school term.

Couldn’t we bring in heaters if the oils supplies have run out?

Unfortunately we are not allowed to have electric heaters in school. All electrical appliances must be PAT tested (Health and Safety regulation) which if ignored would leave the school vulnerable to a legal action.

The staff have no problem with a cold school but we can’t open the school with no running water, toilets, sinks, drinking water or water for first aid. The plumbers have turned off our water to prevent burst pipes or damage to our heating system. When our fuel eventually arrives they will need time to refill the water and start the heating system again. Hopefully this will happen tomorrow.

What happened to the heating oil?

The tank was full at the beginning of the Christmas holidays and the timers were set for ‘holidays’ Normally a full tank in winter lasts us for 2-3 weeks during term time and four weeks on holiday mode. Unfortunately the builders and other contractors who were in school during the holidays changed the setting and used up all our fuel.

More fuel was ordered last Monday for delivery on Wednesday but the fuel supplier was unable to deliver because of difficulties with their tankers. Other suppliers were unable to accept new customers.

A huge number of people at Oxfordshire County Council have worked very hard to solve the problem but were unable to source a new supply. We even had a very kind offer from a parent to siphon their tank!

We hope that this answers some of your questions. Thank you for your understanding in this difficult situation.

Please check your e mails, local radio stations and the Oxfordshire County Council website for updates. If the fuel is delivered tomorrow morning then we will open on Wednesday.

Sincerely,

Mary Watts

The Children in Need Book Reading Event last Friday was an absolutely amazing and enjoyable occasion. A huge thanks to everyone who organized and attended the event including three generations of Salmons!

We were really pleased to see so many children and their parents supporting reading. Your child really benefited from your attendance in this event—it showed that you value books and reading!

It really does make a huge difference if you read and discuss books with your children. We can see the differences in achievement of children whose parents set aside time to work with them. Never underestimate the impact of good parental involvement and support on children’s life chances.