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Cedar Class - KS1 Speech & Language Base

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Cedar Class - KS1 Speech & Language Base

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Cedar Class have had a lovely week this week, starting our topic all about toys. We've shared our favourite toys and been introduced to 'The Naughty Bus'. Some of us have started gymnastics with a new teacher and we've started throwing and catching skills with Mr. Kelly-Wheeks.

We've been using play-dough and clay with Mrs. Davies to create characters from 'The Three Little Pigs".

Today we've come dressed up as the career we'd like to have when we are older! What a busy week!

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We have enjoyed our Aspirations week here in Oak class! Our myriad of visitors have given us plenty to think about on what we want to be when we are older. We have also started our new Pathways Book 'Arthur and the Golden Rope' and are currently learning about the various Norse Gods such as Thor and Loki. Finally, we started our Gymnastics block and performed some movement on the apparatus in the hall.

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Please email

Mrs Shepherd sec.westfield@haltonlearning.net - if you would like to register for further information.

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We are registered with HMRC as a Tax-Free Childcare Provider

To find out more see link below -

https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare

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You can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of your children to help with the costs of childcare. This goes up to £1,000 every 3 months if a child is disabled (up to £4,000 a year).

If you get Tax-Free Childcare, you'll set up an online childcare account for your child. For every £8 you pay into this account, the government will pay in £2 to use to pay your provider.

You can get Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as 15 or 30 hours free childcare if you're eligible for both.

What you can use Tax-Free Childcare for

You can use it to pay for approved childcare, for example:

childminders, nurseries and nannies

after school clubs and play schemes

Your childcare provider must be signed up to the scheme before you can pay them and benefit from Tax-Free Childcare.

Check with your provider to see if they're signed up.

If your child is disabled

You can use the extra Tax-Free Childcare money you get to help pay for extra hours of childcare. You can also use it to help pay your childcare provider so they can get specialist equipment for your child such as mobility aids. Talk to them about what equipment your child can get.

If your childcare provider is in an EEA country

You may be able to use Tax-Free Childcare to pay a provider based in a European Economic Area (EEA) country. Contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to check.

Eligibility

Your eligibility depends on:

whether you're working (employed, self-employed, or a director)

your income (and your partner's income, if you have one)

your child's age and circumstances

your immigration status

If you're working

You can usually get Tax-Free Childcare if you (and your partner, if you have one) are:

in work

on sick leave or annual leave

on shared parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave and you're going back to work within 31 days of the date you first applied

If you're not currently working

You may still be eligible if your partner is working and you get any of the following:

Incapacity Benefit

Severe Disablement Allowance

Carer's Allowance or (in Scotland only) Carer Support Payment

contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

You can apply if you're starting or re-starting work within the next 31 days.

Your income

Over the next 3 months you and your partner (if you have one) must each expect to earn at least:

£2,379 if you're aged 21 or over

£1,788 if you're aged 18 to 20

£1,331 if you're under 18 or an apprentice

This is the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week on average.

You can use an average of how much you expect to earn over the current tax year if:

you work throughout the year but do not get paid regularly

you're self-employed and do not expect to earn enough in the next 3 months

Example

You're eligible if you're 21 or over and do not have a regular income but earn £9,518 a year. This is the same as earning £2,379 every 3 months on average.

If you're self-employed and started your business less than 12 months ago, you can earn less and still be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare.

If you have more than one job, you can use your total earnings to work out if you meet the threshold. This includes:

earnings from any employment

earnings from any self-employment

If you're both employed and self-employed, you can use just your self-employment income if this would make you eligible. For example, if you expect your average self-employed earnings over the tax year to be more than you'll get over the next 3 months as an employee.

Certain types of income will not count towards the minimum amount you must earn to be eligible.

These include:

dividends

interest

income from investing in property

pension payments

If you or your partner have an expected ' adjusted net income ' over £100,000 in the current tax year, you will not be eligible.

Your child

Your child must be 11 or under and usually live with you. They stop being eligible on 1 September after their 11th birthday.

Adopted children are eligible, but foster children are not.

If your child is disabled and usually lives with you, you may get up to £4,000 a year until 1 September after their 16th birthday. They're eligible for this if they:

get Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Armed Forces Independence Payment, Child Disability Payment (Scotland only) or Adult Disability Payment (Scotland only)

are certified as blind or severely sight-impaired

Your immigration status

To be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare, you must have a National Insurance number and at least one of the following:

British or Irish citizenship

settled or pre-settled status, or you have applied and you're waiting for a decision

permission to access public funds - your UK residence card will tell you if you cannot do this

If you have a partner, they must have a National Insurance number too.

If you're living in an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you (or your partner if you have one) might still be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare if:

your work is in the UK

the work started before 1 January 2021

you've worked in the UK at least once every 12 months since you started working here

This is known as being a 'frontier worker'. You must show your Frontier Worker permit to the Childcare Service when you apply for Tax-Free Childcare.

If you get tax credits, Universal Credit, a childcare bursary or grant, or childcare vouchers

You cannot get Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as claiming Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Universal Credit or childcare vouchers.

Which scheme you're better off with depends on your situation. Use the childcare calculator to work out which type of support is best for you.

Tax credits

If you successfully apply for Tax-Free Childcare, your Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit will stop straight away. You cannot apply for them again.

Childcare vouchers

You must tell your employer within 90 days of applying for Tax-Free Childcare to stop your childcare vouchers or directly contracted childcare.

They'll then stop the vouchers or directly contracted childcare.

You may have to give HMRC evidence of leaving the childcare voucher scheme. For example, a copy of the letter telling your employer you're leaving the childcare voucher scheme.

If you have a partner who gets vouchers or directly contracted childcare, they'll need to tell their employer to stop this within 90 days too.

Universal Credit

Wait until you get a decision on your Tax-Free Childcare application before cancelling your Universal Credit claim.

Bursaries

If you or your partner get a childcare bursary or grant or expect to do so within the next 3 months, you cannot get Tax-Free Childcare.

Apply
Apply online for Tax-Free Childcare
If you apply for Tax-Free Childcare and someone else already gets free childcare for that child, their 15 or 30 hours will stop at the end of the next term. You will be eligible for 15 or 30 hours free childcare instead.

If you have a partner

You must include your partner in your application if you are:

married or in a civil partnership and live together

not married or in a civil partnership, but living together as though you are

Their employment and income will not affect your eligibility if they:

are or will be absent from your household for more than 6 months

are a prisoner

You and your partner cannot both have accounts for the same child.

If you are separated

You and your ex-partner need to decide who should apply if you are jointly responsible for your child.

If you cannot decide, both of you must apply separately and HMRC will decide who gets a childcare account.

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What Tax-Free Childcare is, eligibility and how to apply

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This week's results are in!

Congratulations to Mr M, winner of £12.30

If you haven't signed up yet visit our lottery here - https://www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/westfield-primary-school-runcorn

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Tuesday 11th February

Cherry Class visit to Fire Station Community Garden

Oak Class visit from the Fire Service to demonstrate to smoke tent.

Wednesday 12th February

PTA Disco

3.20 - 4.00pm Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 Disco

4.15 - 5.15pm Year 3, Year 4, Year 4 and Year 6 Disco

Details to follow - payment via School Spider app

Friday 14th February

Last day Spring term 1

Monday 24th February

School Closed Inset Day

Tuesday 25th February

First day Spring Term 2

Thursday 6th March

World Book Day

Pupils to come to school dressed as a character from their favourite book. For some ideas, see link below - https://www.worldbookday.com/celebrate-world-book-day/dressing-up/

Friday 7th March

Year 6 Photograph for leavers book

Tuesday 11th March

Cherry Class visit to Fire Station Community Garden

Wednesday 12th March

Reception and Year 6 - National Heights & Weight Measurements (details to follow)

Reception - vision screening with school nurse

Friday 28th March

Non-uniform day in exchange for a donation to the PTA bingo

Wednesday 2nd April

PTA Easter Bingo doors open at 5.30, eyes down at 6.00pm.

Thursday 3rd April

Closing date for Easter PTA competition, decorate an egg or bonnet (details to follow)

Friday 4th April

Last day of Spring term

All parents and carers are invited to join us at St Michaels Church Greenway Road at 1.30pm for our Easter service. Parents helpers will be needed to walk with the classes.

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Willow Class

Wednesday - PE & Forest

Thursday - PE

Cherry Class

Monday - PE

Thursday - PE

Larch Class

Wednesday - PE

Oak Class

Tuesday - PE

Thursday - Swimming Y5

Cedar Class

Wednesday - PE

Thursday - PE

Sycamore Class

Wednesday - PE & Forest

Thursday - PE Y3 & Y4 Swimming Y5

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Sycamore Class - KS2 Speech & Language Base

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Sycamore Class - KS2 Speech & Language Base

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It has been another positive week in Sycamore Class! We have enjoyed developing our balancing skills in gymnastics – looking at points and patches.

We made Boggart sticks in our forest school session; focusing on British folklore stories where the mischievous creatures originated from.

In our English lessons this week, we have learnt how to punctuate direct speech. The children have made great progress with this, showing they have a developing understanding of inverted commas.

We finished off our week with a great turn out of outfits showing what we’d like to be when we grow up. Sycamore class have enjoyed welcoming in a range of visitors to tell us about their jobs!

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We have had a wealth of visitors in class this week and the children have a lot of food for thought with regards to possible future careers. A huge thank you to all of our visitors and to the children for engaging with the talks. Although it has caused some disruption to our timetable, the children have responded well and settled down to their tasks.

In Writing this week, the children have been further developing their understanding of using speech - including punctuating it correctly, splicing speech and using speech sandwiches. They have also been learning to use a wider range of verb tense in their work, notably past progressive verbs. Whilst in our Maths lessons, we have engaged in some tricky problem solving involving multiplication and division.

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The children have had a wonderful week! We have been so lucky to have visitors in school this as part of Aspirations Week. We have met the school nurses and the manager of an animal sanctuary that rescue and care for abandoned cats and rabbits. In maths, Y2 have been dividing and Y1 have been understanding the tens and ones that make up numbers 0-50. On Wednesday, we teamed up with Willow class to complete activities outside and enjoy the bikes and scooters!

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Another great week in Willow Class! The children have enjoyed welcoming a range of visitors as part of our Aspirations Weeks.

We read the story "When I Grow Up" by Tim Minchin and then the children talked about what they would like to be when they grow up!

We are enjoying our PE sessions with the specialist PE teachers and developing our movement skills.

The children enjoyed another Forest School session with Mrs McIlroy and had lots of fun playing with Cherry Class outside.

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Water Bottle

Snack

Packed Lunch or Pre-order school meal from School Hub

www.schoolhub.co.uk

Coat/hat/gloves

PE Kits - plain white t-shirt, plain black shorts, plain black jogging trousers and sweater or hoodie.

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School Meals - New menu from 4th November

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School Meals - New menu from 4th November

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Reminder - School meals must be ordered from home for each day. Parents can order up to two weeks in advance.

www.schoolhub.co.uk

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Whole School Attendance -

St Andrew - 99.4%

St David - 96.7%

St George - 97.3%

St Patrick - 95.6%

Whole School - 97.3%

Winners - At Andrew

Amazing whole school attendance this week! Well done to everyone!

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Pupil of the week

Willow Class - Emily

Cherry Class - Olivia

Larch Class - Jacob

Oak Class - Jacob

Mrs McIlroy - Archie (Oak)