See here for the latest news and updates

• NEW Singing and Signing videos with Judi!

  Mon 27 Apr 2020

  The first of the next series of videos is now on the home learning zone. Kicking things off, Judi signs along to What About Us by P!NK.

   

  To go to the page, CLICK HERE!

   

  Or to go to the Youtube channel, CLICK HERE!

• New Community Hubs to help families

  Thu 23 Apr 2020 Julie Fardell

  Government, Council and voluntary organisations have banded together to form 10 Community Hubs throughout Birmingham. They have been formed to assist families who have special needs arising ffrom the impact of Coronavirus. This includes financial support where necessary. Families can self-refer but the Hubs will check with schools to support the applications for assistance.

  Theninformation follows in an attachment. The Northfield Hub Coordinator is Becky Debenham, 07516 918 133

  email: Northfield Families@northfieldcommunity.org

   

  The following link will take you to the attachment:

  file:///H:/Coronavirus%202020/Coronavirus%20resources%20for%20Families/Covid-19%20CYPF%20Locality%20Support%20Hubs%20-%20April%202020.pdf

   

   

   

• Communicating by Phone with school staff

  Thu 23 Apr 2020 Julie Fardell

  As staff are mostly working from home, when they call you, it may come up as "Unknown Number". Please answer these calls as we may have important information to discuss with you.

  Please understand that school staff , although working from home, should still be able to enjoy non-work time. With his in mind, please restrict your phone calls and emails to normal business hours 0830-4.00pm weekdays, but not on Friday 8 May 2020 which is a bank holiday for VE day.

  For safeguarding concerns, the DSL phone is available at all times.

  We have a statutory responsibility to check that all pupils are safe and well when we are not seeing them at school. Please don't be offended if a member of school staff phones you on a weekly basis and asks how things are going. This is  done to ensure that our pupils remain safe and well.

• Victoria School opening to a small number of vulnerable children and children of keyworkers on 27 April 2020

  Thu 23 Apr 2020 Julie Fardell

  Thank you to all parents and carers who responded to phone calls from class teachers earlier this week. For the vast majority of pupils, parents are able to follow the government advice that says the safest place for children to be is at home and that is where they should stay. For a small number of our pupils though (<10%), it is safer for them to be at school or their parent/s are keyworkers and need for their child to be cared for to enable them to go to work.

  For those parents who have had a phone call from Pastoral Care Lead, Di Tate, confirming they have a place at school next week, please remember to send in:

  Any medications that must be administered during the day, asthma inhalers, nappies/pads, thickener (if used) and anything else that your child will need throughout the day.

   

  The school day is 9am to 3pm.

   

  There will be no nurses or enteral feeders present.

   

  The curriculum will not be delivered. This programme provides safe care for your child.

   

  Your child may be with different peers and staff, and may be in a different classroom to usual.

   

  The Snoezelen Room, soft play and hydrotherapy pool will not be in use.

   

  We will try as far as possible to maintain social distancing but this will not be possible during personal care, feeding and positioning. 

   

  Staff will be wearing personal protective equipment  (PPE) during these activities where social distancing cannot be achieved. We have supplies of disposable gloves and aprons, S1 disinfectant spray and sanitising hand gel. We have ordered face masks which should arrive on Wednesday 29/4/2020.

   

  Your child will have his/her temperature taken at school using a non-contact thermometer. (The thermometer)should arive on Wednesday 29/4/2020)

   

  Children with symptoms of COVID-19 must not attend.

   

  Children who have had a letter from the government saying that they are in the extremely vulnerable category and should stay at home for 12 weeks must not attend.

   

  Pupils living in a household where someone else has COVID-19 symptoms must remain at home for at least 14 days.

   

  Lunch will be provided as normal.

   

• What to do if your child needs to return to school

  Fri 17 Apr 2020 Julie Fardell

  First of all, a big thank you to all parents who have been keeping their children safe at home to protect them and to limit the spread of Coronavirus in the community.

  On Monday and Tuesday, you will receive a call from your child's teacher to ask you about 3 things:

  1. Home Learning - is the amount of work just right / too much / too little? Are you able to access the learning resources on our website?

  2. Have you downloaded the website App yet? If not, please do so as this will  help you to keep up to date with all new information posted on the website.

  3. Does your child need yo return to school because they are vulnerable and therefore safer at school than at home or because their parent/s are keyworkers essential to the Coronavirus response and therefore unable to care for them safely at home.
   

  We are able to re-open the school from 27 April 2020, to a small number of pupils if they are vulnerable and would be safer at school than at home or if the parents are keyworkers critical to the Coronavirus response and cannot arrange alternative care at home. 

   

  Please remember that government advice is still that if the child can be safely cared for at home, then this is where they should stay. 

   

  Children with any symptoms of COVID-19 must stay at home for at least 7 days and while symptoms persist.

   

  Children living in a household where anyone else has symptoms must stay at home for at least 14 days.

   

  Children who have received a letter from the government identifying them as clinically vulnerable because of underlying health conditions must remain at home for 12 weeks.

   

  Because of the personal care and positioning  needs of children at Victoria, it will not be possible to achieve "social distancing" of 2 metres.

   

  The school nurses have currently been deployed to other NHS roles. We do not know whether there will be any school nurses or enteral feeders available.

   

  Please make sure you take the call from your child's teacher when they ring so we can gain a clear picture of the level of need for Victoria School pupils to return to school. 

   

  If at any other time, you feel your circumstances have changed and your child needs to return to school, please leave a message on the school voicemail 0121 476 9478 or email enquiries@victoria.bham.sch.uk.

   

   

   

   

   

• Mental Health Support for 11-25 year olds

  Tue 14 Apr 2020 Julie fardell

  Through the Summer term,  the vast majority of pupils will continue to be learning at home. Encouragingly Birmingham Children’s Partnership will be laying out their growing offer of local and city-wide COVID-19 support for children and families, beginning today with Kooth.
  
  Kooth is being provided now as a free, safe and anonymous service to support young people’s emotional and mental health in Birmingham. Because young people have suddenly had exams cancelled, transition arrangements thrown up in the air and are dealing with the impact of COVID-19 on their loved ones this is important. The new service was successfully launched yesterday for young people from year 6, aged 11 up to 25. The full offer, including online self-referral can be accessed at www.kooth.com.
  Kooth is linked into the wider mental health support from Forward Thinking Birmingham and offers:

  • Online mental health counselling and chat services from midday to 10pm during the week, and 6pm to 10pm at weekends
  • Peer to peer support through moderated discussion forums
  • Self-care tools and resources to build resilience
  • Early response to and identification of emotional wellbeing and mental health problems
  • And there are no waiting lists, referrals or thresholds to access the service

• De-escalating behaviour

  Wed 08 Apr 2020 Julie Fardell

  Many of us feel very anxious in the current situation. Our children are no different. Sometimes they find it hard to tell us that they feel anxious. Instead they might act out or present with distressed behaviours that we find challenging. 

   

  Our Federation partner school, Cherry Oak school , has some useful resources about this on their website under the Pupils/Home Learning Tab. Go to www.cherryoak@bham.gov.uk to take a look at a social story about staying at home and some videos on de-escalation techniques.

   

• A Coronavirus Storybook

  Tue 07 Apr 2020 Julie Fardell

  Here is an illustrated storybook for children, about Coronavirus. You may have to simplify some of the language for younger or less able children, but we encourage you to read it with your children to help them better understand what Coronavirus is, why they need to stay at home at the moment and what they can do to help stop the spread of the virus. It also helps them to understand that it is ok to feel bored, angry, sad or anxious. This really is a book to read together as a whole family. Copy the following link into your browser to open the story:

  https://nosycrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Coronavirus_INSwith-cover.pdf

   

   

• Staying mentally well during the Coronavirus Pandemic - Resources for adults and children

  Mon 06 Apr 2020 Jlie Fardell

  Two Free Courses to Support You During the Coronavirus Pandemic

   

  We’ve developed two free courses to support you at this time:

   

  • COVID19 – Staying Mentally Well – which walks you through simple steps you can take to try to look after your emotional wellbeing
     
  • Simple Self-Soothe Strategies – which introduces you to five simple strategies for relaxation and self-soothing which can be used by adults or children.

• Confirmed case of COVID-19

  Fri 03 Apr 2020 Julie Fardell
  We have learned today that a pupil at Victoria School has tested positive for COVID-19. The child was last in school on 17 March and was confirmed with COVID-19 on 31 March. The child is now at home in self-isolation. Birmingham City Council Education, the Department for Education and Public Health England have been informed. PHE advice is that no further action is necessary. DfE advice was to advise contacts who should follow government guidance if they have any symptoms. The period from 17-31 March does account for the 14 day isolation period for contacts of people with symptoms - the pupil was not at school during this period and will be absent from school for a minimum of a further 3 weeks since diagnosis, so the risk to others is minimal.