24.2.21 Reading Update

24th February 2021Mr Bennett
24.2.21 Reading Update

World Book Day

On Thursday 4th March, we will be celebrating World Book Day. We have some great activities planned for our pupils which we will share with you over the coming week. To ensure that all children are able to claim their free book, an online voucher is being offered which can be printed off or shown on a mobile (please check individual stores’ terms and conditions first).
The token can be found at the following link: https://www.worldbookday.com/…/01/booktoken_PrimaryUK.pdf
There is a great range of books on offer and something to appeal to children of all ages. We hope your child finds something of interest to get stuck into!
N.b. We are not dressing up this year.

Mortimer Primary Spring Book Club

Following on from the success of our autumn book club, we are once again inviting parents to browse the online selection on offer at Scholastic. We are celebrating World Book Day on Thursday 4th March, and what better way to celebrate than choosing some new books to enjoy? Also, for every pound you spend, Scholastic will donate 20p for us to purchase books for your children to enjoy at school.
There is a huge range on offer and some excellent bargains to take advantage of. The closing date for online orders is Sunday 7th March. All orders will be delivered to school and distributed upon our pupils’ return.
Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support. Our book club can be accessed at this address: https://schools.scholastic.co.uk/mortimer/digital-book-club

23.2.21 Email Communication to Parents

23rd February 2021Mr Bennett
Dear parents/carers,
We are continually trying to improve all aspects of our school. One area is our communication to parents. We are now able to offer email messages direct to you.
Communicating this way will allow a reduction in paper letters, allows greater reach to parents not on social media and enables school to share information more widely and quickly.
Please complete the form (link below) to receive email updates from Mortimer Primary School. We will be using the Teachers2Parents service to achieve this.
https://forms.gle/pbBQvxBrY87CZnQY9
If you have multiple children in school, please complete for the eldest child and then list the younger siblings on the next question.
You can give us 4 separate email addresses which we will send to.
Please check your spam/junk over the next week and add the address to your safe list. Tests emails will be sent out on Friday 26th Feb and Mon 1st March.
Thank you

22.2.21 Parents’ Spring Raffle

22nd February 2021Mr Bennett

22.2.21 Parents’ Spring Raffle

Just as Boris is about to tell us his new plan for schools, staff have kindly donated lovely food and drink goodies to create a fantastic spring hamper for parents. It’s the perfect pick me up for a home schooling parent or a marvellous treat for those critical workers!
Entries are £1 each and you can purchase more than one.
Entries can be purchased via Parent Pay. All money raised will be added to the PTA fund, which supports events and activities for pupils throughout the school year. 
The draw will be made Friday 5th March. Thank you for your support.
1ST PRIZE – LARGE PARENT HAMPER
2ND PRIZE – MEDIUM SWEET TREAT GOODIES
3RD PRIZE – SMALL SWEET TREAT GOODIES

19.2.21 Reminder: Mission 2 Mars

19th February 2021Mr Bennett

19.2.21 Reminder: Mission 2 Mars

Hello everyone, I hope everyone is enjoying the half term.
Just a reminder …
All children, both in school and home learners, have been tasked with collecting junk modelling pieces for the Mission 2 Mars project which will start on Monday.
We reopen on Monday 22nd February with the procedures and practices from the last half term still in place.
Stay safe

12.2.21 Half Term, Strava and Get Collecting

12th February 2021Mr Bennett

12.2.21 Half Term, Strava and Get Collecting

Hello all,
HALF TERM
Just to remind everyone that we will be closed to all next week and will reopen to pupils on Monday 22nd February. No new work will be posted on the Google Classrooms and staff won’t be replying to any of your messages as they are taking a well-earned break. Take the time to leave the screen and do something different!
STRAVA
Tyne and Wear School Games Organisers have created a Strava club for staff and parents of schools in Tyne and Wear, aiming achieve a collective distance of 10,000miles through walking or running and encouraging everyone to get active.
Parents can sign up to the challenge using the link below.
https://www.strava.com/clubs/835297
Club – Tyne & Wear SGO Lockdown Challenge
This challenge is in competition with Northumberland, Durham and Tees Valley.
Whilst children can’t take part, we are sure they will be happy to encourage and coach their parents!
GET COLLECTING
Please use half term to collect your materials for the Mission to Mars project starting after half term. Boxes, tubes and pots will be idea for this week long project. See previous post for more details.
Have a safe half term break and we will see you all soon!

Online Safety Champions!

11th February 2021A Stelling

Well done to our Y6 children in school, who came first out of 49 teams this week in an Online Safety Quiz.

Coinciding with Online Safety Day 2021,the ICT in Schools team at The Word hosted an interactive quiz. Children from across Years 2-6 from throughout the borough took part and all Mortimer teams scored extremely well.

Big shout out to our Year 2 Technical Tots Team, who came 8th in the whole authority. 

At Mortimer Primary your child’s safety on the internet is very important to us which is why we have a trained member of staff who delivers the KidSafe UK programme from EYFS through to Y6. The KidSafe UK program’s philosophy is that an empowered child grows up to be a powerful, healthy adult. Their mission is to teach personal safety to children and their grown-ups to build strong, resilient families and safer communities. Alongside this program we also have a comprehensive PSHE curriculum which also addresses internet safety.

We are very proud to see our pupils becoming such strong, confident and most importantly safe, online ambassadors!

11.2.21 We Wonder: Mission to Mars

11th February 2021Mr Bennett

11.2.21 We Wonder: Mission to Mars

After half term we will be having an amazing cross-curricular week (wc 22nd February) focused on Mission to Mars!
It would be a good idea to start keeping/ collecting recyclable materials in preparation for the week for your child to use.
EYFS and KS1 will be making space transport and KS2 a habitat for Mars. This is for both remote learners and children coming into school
Children should bring their materials with them on the first day back after half term. They will use their own materials that they bring into school.
There is also a competition through The National Literacy Trust. This is just for KS2 nationally, but we are going to have a competition in school for KS2 and KS1 entries with a winner from each key stage. Wow!
More information will be shared, but for now children should get collecting those boxes and yoghurt pots. Please make sure they are clean on arrival to school!
Thank you to Miss Anderson and Mrs Douglas for leading this exciting week!

Safer Internet Day: An internet we trust: exploring reliability in the online world

9th February 2021A Stelling

At Mortimer Primary your child’s safety on the internet is very important to us which is why we have a trained member of staff who delivers the KidSafe UK programme from EYFS through to Y6. The KidSafe UK program’s philosophy is that an empowered child grows up to be a powerful, healthy adult. Their mission is to teach personal safety to children and their grown-ups to build strong, resilient families and safer communities. Alongside this program we also have a comprehensive PSHE curriculum which also addresses internet safety.

Today is Safer Internet Day and the theme is:  An internet we trust: exploring reliability in the online world. If your child is in school today they will be taking part in an internet safety discussion with their peers. If your child is at home their teacher will be setting tasks and/or materials for you to use and work with them at home. 

We live in a truly digital world; your child does not know a world without technology, internet searches and smart devices around their home; it is all our responsibility and duty to prepare them to maintain their safety in an ever connected world. 

If you would like access to resources prepared especially for parents we highly recommend the following website. 

https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2021/i-am-parent-or-carer

8.2.21 Lunch orders via Parent Pay

8th February 2021Mr Bennett

8.2.21 Lunch orders via Parent Pay

Just to remind parents that you need to book your child’s meals before the Wednesday deadline as hot meals can no longer be ordered by the office after the deadline, only a sandwich option can be booked, however there will still be access to hot potatoes/chips, vegetables and a hot pudding choice.
Booking meals can be done any time before the Wednesday deadline so you don’t have to wait until the Wednesday night to book. You will need to make sure there are ample funds on your parent pay account to cover the bookings, if the choices aren’t paid for within two hours of booking they get cancelled by the system.
Also from Monday 22nd Feb there will be ham buns and chicken wraps available on the menu for a Monday.