Latest News | Waterside School

Living with Covid Plan - Our Response

Tue 22 Feb 2022

Dear parent/carer/guardian,

I am certain you have caught up via all social media channels/TV on the Prime Minister's announcement regarding the 'Living with Covid' plan. The guidance we have received from the DfE isn't as clear as we would have hoped, so below is a summary of the changes for all of us outside of school from today and Thursday and what we will continue to do as a federation.

From Today:

in all mainstream settings, twice weekly testing for pupils and staff stops
in all special settings, twice weekly testing for secondary pupils and staff continue
within the Imperium Federation, twice weekly testing for all staff (Waterside and King's Oak) and for pupils in King's Oak will continue until Easter

From Thursday:

anyone with COVID will no longer be legally required to self isolate
guidance remains in place for those to test positive to self isolate for 5 days
within the Imperium Federation, we will continue to self isolate for 5 days if test positive until Easter (staff and pupils)

From April 1st:

COVID tests will no longer be free for the vast majority
COVID passports will cease to be required except for international travel
COVID no longer requires a risk assessment

After discussion yesterday evening, we have decided to continue with our current measures until Easter...why?

I am certain you will agree, that although recently we have had more cases than we had throughout the pandemic, we have - by focussing on mask wearing, hygiene etc managed to keep ourselves and our community safe.

We have enough LFT's to ensure that whoever needs to can test twice weekly - these will be given out this week.

We will continue to review this situation and take on board any further guidance received from either Government, PHE or our unions.

I hope you can agree that this measured course of action seems prudent.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at school.

As ever

Meic and the Waterside Team

Staff training day - 21/2/22

Wed 02 Feb 2022

Waterside School will be closed to students on Monday 21/2/22 for a staff training.

Moving from Plan B to Plan A

Wed 19 Jan 2022

Dear Parent ,

We received updates following the Prime Ministers announcement that England is going to move from Plan B to Plan A by January 27th.

This means:

From today, face coverings in classes and teaching spaces are not longer needed, but ventilation and social distancing must continue. Face coverings are to continue in corridors and communal spaces.
From Thursday January 27th, face coverings are no longer required in any spaces within school, but ventilation and social distancing must continue.
The Government will no longer require staff in other sectors to work from home after January 27th.
Testing is to remain in place as it has done for us throughout (staff only at Waterside).

As we have done throughout the pandemic, we will remain cautious in response to these announcements.

As such, the following will remain:

enhanced cleaning to continue at both sites
fogging to be used where cases have risen
twice weekly testing to be done by all staff - if we have a rise in cases, as before, we will move to daily testing
ventilation, hygiene protocols to remain in place
visitor policy to remain in place

There have been no transport changes (school) announced, so at present, if uses either school provided transport or TfL transport to come to school, a face covering must still be worn by adults and those in KS3 and above.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

As ever

Meic and the Waterside Team

Young Greenwich Partnership

Thu 06 Jan 2022

Dear Parent ,

Hope this finds you well (it's been particularly chilly today)!

We have been contacted by the Greenwich Youth Partnership and have been asked to send out what their services can offer you and child.

You can find a link to the Young Greenwich Partnership here and the link to the Parental Service here.

Attached to this message are flyers in case you have difficulties with the links. We have also posted these on Twitter and our website.

If we can help in anyway with you accessing the services offered, please do not hesitate to contact us.

As ever

Meic and the Waterside Team

COVID Update following the Prime Ministers Speech on Saturday

Mon 29 Nov 2021

Good morning super hero parent,

I do hope this finds you well.

As you are well aware, as a school, we have done everything we can to reduce the potential for infection with COVID-19 with a great deal of success. Unlike some of our colleagues, we have maintained our interval cleaning, maintained hand hygiene and with your help, have reduced the potential of other types of infection by monitoring our pupils sickness closely.

You will have seen that the Prime Minister gave a speech on Saturday evening regarding the new variant and the measures the Government need us all to take. With rates of infection increasing in and around Greenwich it is vital that we all pull together so that we can keep each other healthy.

From today, all pupils (in KS3 and 4) travelling on school or public transport are required to wear a face covering at all times. If your super hero wishes to wear their face covering they are more than welcome to do so - even though the Government isn't currently recommending it for primary children.

We will be restricting access to essential visitors only and they will be expected to wear a face covering at all times.

In January - on the first day back, the Government are requiring all who work in education to take an LFT before arrival. All Waterside staff test twice weekly and will continue to do so.

We will continue with our hygiene methods and monitor any recorded infections closely and already have plans in place (as we had earlier in the year) to maintain education and work with our partners in Public Health.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Let's do all we can to keep each other safe and well!

As ever

Meic and the team

Equity and Equality Charter

Thu 30 Sep 2021

We've signed up to this ... why not read through and see how you can improve your understanding of equality.

Have a brilliant Summer break!

Fri 23 Jul 2021

Wow! What a year we have had!

Since March 2020 - we have all had to manage the pandemic in the best way we could (and still are) and ensure that we have kept each other safe.

Firstly, on behalf of the entire Federation and the Governing Board, can I thank you for being so supportive throughout this year - following the guidance we've issued and helping us keep our buildings open and our community safe.

We are so proud that over the entire course of the pandemic so far, we have only had to close 2 classes across the Federation - which is the lowest class closure in the Borough!

This is phenomenal.

For those of you who now leave us to either support your super hero on their next steps in mainstream or into specialist provision - we are going to miss you. Together I would hope you agree, we have supported, educated and given you the hope and courage to take the next steps in your stride. It has been a real honour to get to know you and work with you and I speak on behalf of all the team at Waterside that we are so proud of what your super hero has achieved.

It is important to remind you that although we may not touch base daily, we are always here for you (as past parents have found out) and will help if we can.

For those of you who are returning to us in September - thank you for continuing to trust us with your super heroes education and well-being. We do not take that trust lightly and are proud of what we have achieved together so far and what we can do next year.

To remind you - Waterside and King's Oak both have 3 lots of training days at the start of September. School is closed Wednesday September 1st, Thursday September 2nd and Friday September 3rd, with pupils returning to school as usual on Monday September 6th.

We have had to take those first three days for a number of reasons (staff training, first aid training, curriculum, OFSTED updates etc) but also we have to ensure that we have all tested for COVID (as per Government guidance) and that, if the Government have altered any guidance over the Summer in relation to schools, we have time to ensure we all understand it and how it affects both you, your super hero and ourselves.

If there are changes, we will send it out via Parent Mail.

With restrictions altering, foreign travel restrictions altering daily, it is important that we keep ourselves safe and do what we can to continue the brilliant work we have done over this entire pandemic.

Have a brilliant Summer break - enjoy, rest, recharge and keep safe!

Meic and the entire Imperium Federation family

Street Tag - Greenwich Active!

Mon 19 Jul 2021

We are delighted to announce that Waterside will be participating in the Street Tag GREENWICH GET ACTIVE Schools Leader board program.

With Street Tag, participants record the distance they walk, run, or cycle by collecting virtual tags with their smartphone at various locations, watching their total distance accumulate to climb up the Schools leader board; steps are converted into points by syncing their steps into the Street Tag app.

This is designed to encourage you as families to walk and cycle to school, to be physically active, to connect with green spaces, and is an opportunity to rediscover their local area as well as earning rewards for school.

Greenwich Primary Schools Leaderboard Dates

Mini Summer Season 19th July to 20th Sept 2021

Season 1 - 20th Sept 2021 TO 6th Jan 2022

Season 2 - 6th Jan 2022 TO 13th April 2022

Season 3 - 13th April 2022 TO 15th July 2022

The reward scheme for the top 3 schools is:

Greenwich Get Active Early Years & Primary Schools Leader board

Mini summer Season: £50, £30 to top 2 schools respectively

1st Place = £150 to School School PTA

2nd Place = £100

3rd Place = £50

So how can we join in?

Steps to join your School Team

Download the App “Street Tag” from Play Store/ App Store.
Click on Sign up.
Fill in your details.
Password should be at least 8 characters with 1 special character, 1 upper case, and 1 number.
Click YES for Team QR Code.
Scan the school QR Code (this is attached below)
Click Sign Up
Verify either by email or phone number.
Fill in the questionnaire.
You are ready to go.

Tips for Parents/Guardians to add a child to a parent account

1. Make sure your child has an Email Id.

2. A parent can add a max of 2 children as players C1 and C2.

3. Go to settings, select the add a child option.

4. Fill in all the details to add a player.

5. Go to the main menu on the Street Tag app, click on Settings, and then go to the Profile option.

6. Select Add C1 and C2 options.

Once a child is added as a player. You can see the C1/ C2 option on the main screen.

While tagging with your children, please click on C1/C2 to scan a tag for them.

Steps to create the tags if there aren’t any tags.

Please stand at the location where you want to create new tags.
From the app’s map home screen, click on the ‘create tags’ button at the top of the screen.
Click the “I’m awesome, give me tags” button.
The app will create new tags for you if there aren’t enough or existing tags around.

Features of the App

Menu (top left) where you will see

1. Leader board: The leader board displays your rank, School team name, and the number of points your school has.

2. Message Board: This section is a way for all users to know what’s going on and new things they should look out for. When a new opportunity is placed by Street Tag you get a notification.

3. Dashboard: You can see your team’s scores and individual players’ scores. Miles/distance covered.

4. Tags can be seen on the main screen map. The tags are yellow. Once they are scanned they turn red. A tag cannot be re-scanned within an hour.

5. Tags with Star are more than 50 points value.

6. A set of 18 tags will earn a bonus of 200 points.

7. Playground: All the app features are listed on it.

Power Hour is a flexible hour during the day for you to work out by walking, cycling, running to scan virtual tags.

When you tag during your power hour, you earn triple points per each virtual tag that you successfully scan. You can pick your ‘Power Hour' of choice timeslot at least 24 hours in advance. The Power Hour will not work for the same day if not selected in advance. You can select up to 7 days of Power Hour slots in advance. When your Power Hour starts, there will be a countdown for that hour, and all the 'tags' (not steps) that are scanned during that hour will be triple points, except for Saturdays between 10 AM and 11 AM Power Hour will not be available for selection. You do not have to exercise for the whole hour, you can exercise for the whole hour or you can do as much as you wish to do. The standard points assigned to each tag will remain outside of your selected power hour.

Power Hour Streaks

Every time you complete consecutive day streaks of daily power hour exercise, you earn an additional bonus that grows bigger with the more days streak you complete.

For example, you complete 2 days streak, that's +50, with each day it's plus +5 added to the 50 i.e. On the third day it will be 50 (for the two days) + 55 (on the third day) = 105. If you complete another day 4 streak that will be 105 + 60 = 165. Day 5 streak will be 165 + 65 = 230. Day 6 streak will be 230 + 70 = 300. If by day 7 you miss your power hour; ONLY then will the total 300 streak points be credited into your account. And a new streak can start. Your streaks can be as long as you want them to be.

C1 & C2 (i.e. the child accounts connected to parents) also benefit from the Power Hour functionality.

A guide for using the Offline Mode on Street Tag

1. Open the Street Tag app and open the app side menu.

2. Click on "Collect Tags Offline".

3. Switch on either "Collect Tags in Complete offline mode" or "Collect Tags in Hybrid offline mode".

4. Your C1 and C2 will work in offline modes from May 2021.

5. Your main account, C1, and C2 will be able to collect Poly Tags and Monument Tags in complete offline mode from May 2021. (Note - When in offline modes, all Poly Tags and Monument Tags are automatically converted into normal tags for collection)

6. Your tags collected in offline mode will appear on the 'Collect Tags Offline' screen only an hour after your tagging activity. You must sync your offline tags within 24 hours after they've appeared. Street Tag CANNOT recover unsynced tags that are automatically deleted after 24 hours.

Further guides can be found on the app via the information button on the top right of the screen of the 'Collect Tags Offline' screen.

Street Tag is a free child and family-friendly mobile application that uses virtual tags to incentivize communities and families to become more physically active and boost mental health.

On the Street Tag app, you collect points assigned to virtual tags all-around your community including green spaces, once you are within a 40-meter radius of any virtual tag, your app will automatically collect the points, steps can also be synced and converted into Street Tag points. These points add up in real-time on your school’s leaderboard, with prizes to be won at the end of each season.

It's lightning-fast and easy to create new tags on your preferred walking, running, or cycling route on Street Tag. Anyone can create virtual tags around them using the app.

Use the Street Tag 'Power Hour' to commit to an hour of exercise at least 24 hours in advance and have all your tag points collected during that hour tripled and maintain a daily streak of physical activity for even more bonuses.

Start using Street Tag to explore and boost your daily physical activity and mental health. Collect virtual tags, sync your steps, try different experiences in the virtual playground and WIN PRIZES.

Join the school team today!!

Communication Difficulties

Thu 15 Jul 2021

Dear all,

As you are aware from this mornings email, there has been a problem with broadband across SE London.

We have had a further update. Due to an underground power explosion under a roundabout in Lewisham, there has been major damage to the fibre optic cables used by Virgin and other providers - hence why the internet and communications are off line.

Due to the location on a VERY busy roundabout, the fix may take longer than 24 hours so it is likely that the vast majority of schools will be off line until the weekend.

We already sent the emergency contact number in the previous message however, we have managed to gain some access via mobile 'dongles' so if you dial the main school number, you will be able to leave a message and then staff can call you back.

Apologies for this inconvenience but we are in the hands of the engineers.

Thank you for your patience

Meic and the team

Bank Holiday Monday & Philharmonia

Fri 30 Apr 2021

Hopefully you are looking forward to the Bank Holiday weekend! Please do not send your superhero to school on Monday!

We have some really interesting developments happening this term, so do keep an eye on your Parent Mail for updates. One development is the YouTube link below.

The Philharmonia Orchestra have been working throughout the pandemic, ensuring that live music is available to a variety of communities. Their membership has artists who are deaf, have ADHD or ASD, physical disabilities etc but who are all professional musicians who work on some amazing projects.

The lead of the orchestra has asked for some help as you can see below and it would be great if you could find a couple of minutes to help them, she writes:

"Amazingly, the orchestra work I do has continued throughout lockdowns by streaming. I thought you may be interested in this for school which is available on Philharmonia YouTube. I think it’s now available for around 40 days. The more views the better the sponsorship so it all helps to keep orchestras going at this difficult time.”

If you click on the link and like/share the video - it generates sponsorship for the orchestra and provides opportunities for schools and communities to have access to live music.

Thank you and have a great Bank Holiday Weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re6x33IWVJQ