This Easter school holiday (Saturday 9^th April – Sunday 24^th April), eligible Coventry children can benefit from a wide range of over seventy quality holiday activities (all with food provided) through the Coventry HAF programme.  Eligible children are pupils in year groups of reception through to year 11, who have one or more of the following characteristics: eligible for free school meals, children in need, children on child protection plans and looked after children. Families who are eligible will receive a letter with a unique HAF code, which is required to book on to activities and a meal will be provided at each session. To find out more details about each activity, visit www.coventry.gov.uk/HAF. There is also more information via the booklet that is attached with this newsletter.

You will be aware that government guidance on how we should deal with Covid changed today. The new expectations are that children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people. They can go back to school when they no longer have a high temperature, and they are well enough to attend. For adults testing positive for COVID-19 (some people will still have LFT kits available), they should stay at home for 5 days (remembering day 0 is the day of onset of symptoms/day of test if no symptoms) and avoid contact with others. They should then return to normal activities only if well enough and don't have a temperature. For children testing positive for COVID-19, they should stay at home for 3 days and avoid contact with others. They should then return to school and normal activities only if well enough and don't have a temperature. If we are made aware of any cases, we will continue to notify you so you know and can monitor your child for symptoms.

Thank you to everyone who attended online appointments for parents’ evening in the week beginning 21^st March. We hope that you found these useful and provided you with relevant information about your child’s progress and attainment over the year, so far. We understand that sometimes there can be technical/internet difficulties however moving forward, we are looking to provide a hybrid approach to communicating with parents ie: some meetings will be online and others will be in person.

We started our walk to school challenge in the week beginning 21^st March and the children were excited to learn their own avatar (picture) – the avatars include familiar objects or animals, including a mouse, banana and a clock – why not ask your child to tell you their own avatar? This then enables them to log their own data for how they get to school every day. Remember, in order for the children to earn a badge, they need to record at least one active method of transport to school, over a week

WOW is a pupil-led initiative where children self-report how they get to school every day. If they travel sustainably (walk, cycle or scoot) once a week for a month, they get rewarded with a badge - it's that easy! On average, WOW schools see a 30% reduction in car journeys taken to the school gate and a 23% increase in walking rates. So not only could you save fuel and help the environment, you can also be contributing to a healthy lifestyle for you and your family. See the letter attached with this newsletter for more information.

On Friday 18^th March, the School Council invited children to dress in red in exchange for bringing in a donation for Red Nose Day. The children also participated in decorating a biscuit with a red theme. Everyone enjoyed the experience whilst simultaneously raising money for a good cause. On Friday 11^th March, with your support, we managed to raise £443.42 for the Red Cross, which will directly support the refugees from Ukraine. Thank you so much for all your support.           

On Wednesday 16^th March, twelve lucky children from Year 5 attended a concert by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Warwick Arts Centre. We saw a range of instruments performing, including string, woodwind, brass and percussion. We were also treated to a fantastic performance from a solo pianist. We listened to pieces of music composed by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Beethoven. The most popular piece of music with our children was Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture because it was particularly loud and included a lot of percussion. Every child was impeccably behaved and gained so much from the experience. "I thought it was really exciting and interesting to see how all of the different instruments were played!" - Aiza, Y5. "The pianist was amazing!" - Aminat, Y5