12.11.25
Anti Bullying week.
A useful article to support you with discussing Anti Bullying week at home
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zr3r8p3
10/11.25
A reminder of what the Family Learning/ Family Care Team can do to support you and your family.
- Free Family Food Parcels for yourself or someone in the Community
- Community Cupboard – Pantry of food for families with open access
- Free School Uniform
- Free Family Holidays
- Support to find courses for employment
- Support to find training and resources
- Links to agencies within North Wales to support your family
- Foodbank referrals
- Ideas and Support for family weekend activities
- The Family Learning team have many links across Wrexham and North Wales – if you are facing difficulties or struggles please do speak to the team as we will often be able to support you with resolving any issues.
Ways to contact the Family Learning Team
- Box in the school office to leave a message
- Ask to book a face to face / telephone appointment to see Miss Thomas or Mrs O’Toole
- Message on Class Dojo – Miss Thomas or Mrs O’Toole
3.11.25
Please see Class Dojo for for FREE Family events shared in the local area to keep you entertained over half term! We hope you have a restful break and will see you soon.
17.10.25
Good news Friday! Thank you to our generous community in supporting out harvest service at school. We have now been able to fill the Community Cupboard which is entirely run on donations! We are so appreciative. As always please do collect items for yourself or someone that you know.
A reminder that we also are able to make food parcels if you need them please do contact us via the school office or directly using Class Dojo.
Take care
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
2/9/25
Hello everyone, welcome back to a new school year. We hope that you had a good break together. Please do let us know if there have been any changes that you feel that we may not already know about.
See below some useful information to support your children in back to school.
https://www.oxfordshiremind.org.uk/back-to-school-wellbeing-tips-for-parents-and-children/
10/6/25
Men’s Mental Health Week
Men’s Mental Health Week, held from June 9th to 15th, 2025, is a dedicated week to raise awareness and promote mental health support for men. The week serves as a reminder for men to prioritize their well-being and encourages open conversations about mental health, challenging the stigma often associated with men seeking help.
 Welcome to Pwrpas, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to improving men’s mental health. We were founded out of genuine concern for the mental well-being of men, driven by a deep personal commitment to this vital cause.Our founder, who has extensive experience in adult education and training, understands men’s mental health challenges. Having navigated his own mental health struggles and observed the severe impact on the lives of those around him, he felt compelled to create a supportive environment where men could find the resources they needed.With the help of a remarkable group of friends, they developed a user-friendly website that serves as a comprehensive resource hub.Our platform provides an extensive directory of organisations offering support for various mental health issues, making it easier for men to find the help they deserve. |
 ANDYSMANCLUB are a men’s suicide prevention charity, offering free to attend peer-to-peer support groups across the United Kingdom and online. We want to end the stigma surrounding men’s mental health and help men through the power of conversation. #ITSOKAYTOTALKThe Wrexham Club runs a Free-to-attend peer-to-peer support group for 18+. 7pm-9pm. Every Monday Night (except Bank Holidays) |
 Men’s Sheds Cymru introduced and now drives forward the Men’s Sheds movement in Wales. Men’s Sheds is an internationally recognised and successful concept for establishing community groups specifically around the needs of men.Find your local shed! |
Meeting ID: 828 9569 2719 Passcode: 397759 We provide a safe space for men to talk openly about their mental health in a supportive environment. There is also plenty of talk about Wrexham AFC which is the common link which brings us together. Dragon Chat also meets up before every home game in the new Dragon Chat room at the Wrexham Miners Project on Maesgwyn Road (LL11 2AP) from 1pm onwards on a Saturday game (3pm kick off permitted) and 6.15pm onwards on midweek games. By creating a safe, supportive space we can signal to people experiencing poor mental health and/or suicidal thoughts there is hope, we care about them and want to support them. Talking is the first step, although it can often be the hardest one. |
24.3.25
Some advice below for families who are looking to support their child with toilet training in the daytime or evening. Please see the ERIC website below for some support and advice! Do also contact us at school if there is anything that we can do to support you on this journey. https://eric.org.uk/all-aboard-the-toilet-train-get-ready-for-school/
How Family Line works
We all need a listening ear sometimes. Whether it’s something in the past, or something happening now, if you’re 18 or over and you’re worried, anxious, stressed, overwhelmed or just need someone to talk to about any family issue, FamilyLine is here.
(If you’re under 18 years old, we’d recommend you call Childline or look at the resources on Young Minds.)
You can call, text, email or webchat FamilyLine. One of our trained operators will listen and respond to you, offering support, information or guidance, depending on your needs. If we can’t help, we’ll try to make a direct link with someone who can – that might be our virtual befriending or short-term counselling service, Family Action services or signposting to other organisations.
People call about all sorts of family issues including conflict at home, relationship issues, sibling violence, past trauma, parenting concerns, financial worries and for support when caring for children with additional needs. These are just a few examples – we’re here for every family and any family issue. So, please, if you feel you need some support – get in touch.
Open Monday-Friday, 9am to 9pm. Callers must be 18+.
0808 802 6666
Text: 07537 404 282
Online chat
familyline@family-action.org.uk
Contacting us out of hours
Our helpline opening hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm. Outside these hours, text FAMILYACTION to 85258, to access our free 24/7 crisis support service delivered in partnership with Shout. This is also available on weekends and bank holidays.
10/3/25
Our Community Cupboard has now been fitted out with our brand new shelves! Please do help yourself if you need to, remember that we do also have uniform and can make food parcels and deliver these to you if needed!
This half term our topic in My Happy Minds is Relate please do remember to sign up to the Parent ap.
4/3/25
Sometimes being a parent is hard work! Don’t forget to take care of yourself too. Below is some ideas on how you can support your own wellbeing and mental health as you are just as important!
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/parents-guide-to-looking-after-yourself/
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/parenting-and-mental-health/
https://www.advancebrighterfutures.co.uk/
We are always here for you for a friendly chat and helpful advice, do message us on Class Dojo if you would like an appointment.
Take Care
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
19/2/25
You may have heard your child talking about lessons at school called ‘My Happy Mind’. These lessons are weekly lessons that promote wellbeing and emotional health. As part of the My Happy Mind scheme it includes a free app for parents which includes the breathing lessons that we use in school and also help and advice.
To sign up please see the message below.
To access these materials just go to https://myhappymind.org/parent-resources to create your free account. You will need to enter your name, email, and authentication code.
Your authentication code can be found on Class Dojo.
13/2/25
This week in school we have been looking at Internet Safety Day. As part of this work we thought it would be interesting to share a website that offers Parents/Carers lots of advice and a particularly helpful page about installing parental controls on a variety of devices. We know that the children are a whizz at these things now, but as Parents/Carers we might like to add some parental controls in but not sure how. Follow the link below to find more information about how to do this.
https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/
Do you have a family member in prison?
Need to talk about it?
At school speak to
Miss Thomas
Mrs O’Toole
Mr Moore
Or
Prisoners Family Helpline
0808 808 2003
http://www.prisonadvice.org.uk
NHS Healthy Start Scheme
The NHS Healthy Start scheme helps young families on low incomes
to buy healthy food and milk.
If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have children under four
and receive certain benefts, you could be eligible for NHS Healthy
Start.
Once on the scheme, you’ll receive a prepaid card, which you can
use to buy fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk and infant formula.
The card will be topped up with payments every four weeks and
you can use it in most places that sell healthy food and accept
Mastercard® payments.
You can also get free Healthy Start vitamins.
Find out if you’re eligible for NHS Healthy Start and apply online now
at http://www.healthystart.nhs.uk
3/2/25 Children’s Mental Health Week
Below is some advice and links for how to support your child with their mental health and wellbeing. We hope that you find these useful and a reminder that we are always here to support you and your family!
Sometimes being a parent is hard work! Don’t forget to take care of yourself too. Below is some ideas on how you can support your own wellbeing and mental health as you are just as important!
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/parents-guide-to-looking-after-yourself/
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/parenting-and-mental-health/
https://www.advancebrighterfutures.co.uk/
We are always here for you for a friendly chat and helpful advice, do message us on Class Dojo if you would like an appointment.
Take Care
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
6/1/25
Welcome back all! We hope that you have had a good break. We are starting the New Year off with a bang with lots of Family Events happening in January we hope you can make them.
Our newest event starts on the 4th February for Pre School families and those families with children in Nursery. Please do let the school office know if you would like to attend or message Miss Thomas on Class Dojo.
19/12/24
Today on the last day of term we want to wish you all a peaceful and relaxing winter break. We hope that you are able to spend time with those that you love. Please see below some useful numbers and information that you might need. We look forward to seeing you all again in January and hope you can attend the Family events in January 2025. See you soon!
Take care
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
See below our Family Newsletter which was made available at some Christmas concerts in the last couple of week.
January Events – Call the school office to book on these
Upcoming events!
2/12/24
Last week saw some great events happening in school. Firstly we had our second popular Clwb Aderyn for Preschool families.
Secondly saw the start of our School Giveaways! We asked our community to donate lots of toys, clothing food items and stationary and shared these together in our Giveaway! See the below images! Thanks to you our generous community who made it happen!
11.11.24
This week marks the start of Anti-Bullying week. This is an important week and shares vital messages to children and families about bullying. The children will be completing work in school around this. We will also share some useful information for families below.
11.11.24
Today marks the start of World Nursery Rhyme week, all of our youngest learners in school will bring home an activity and information pack today. We will also each day be updating Class Dojo with activity ideas! Please do send in any pictures or ideas that you take part in over the week. Below you will find the videos for each day.
Take Care
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
11.10.24
Today we had our first Clwb Aderyn session for preschoolers at school. The families invited all have children who are hoping to join our school in September or in the future! We had such a lovely afternoon together and will continue this over the coming months.
Our next Family Learning Event
8/10/24
We were delighted to have so many families and agencies attend our Family Information night. A big thank you to all the agencies who attended it was wonderful to see you there and thank you for giving up your time. I am sure all the families will agree it was great to see what we have on offer in our local area!
Local course that may be of interest to you – don’t forget to also attend our Coffee Afternoon this Friday.
An update of what is on in our local community.
2/9/24
Hello all,
A big welcome back to all our families! We have missed you all in school over the summer break. We hope that you are feeling refreshed after some time off. A few things to note from the Family Learning Team – Firstly our Uniform Shop is open! – If you need sizes that are currently not showing as in stock outside please let us know as we have more stock available in school.
If you need support with any school supplies please do let us know. We can also offer help and advice around employment, finances, behavior management, wellbeing support, mental health support and much more. If you feel like you need any support or things have changed at home over the summer break do let us know as we would love to be able to help you.
We are hosting a welcome back Coffee and Tea afternoon in a few weeks, see the poster below, and will also be holding a free raffle for those that attend! It could be your lucky day! We look forward to seeing you all soon.
Take Care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
Sleep Advice and Support – if you need any further advice or help please do let us know. Take care, Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
Advice below on how to save energy! Top Tips and help!
15/5/24
This week is Adult Mental Health week, we really feel it is important to support our families with their mental health – after all our Parents and Carers are so busy supporting our pupils it is important that you feel taken care of. The theme for this years mental health week is about moving more! There is a direct link between feeling a brighter mood and good mental health and moving our bodies. Please see below for some helpful advice and tips.
You may also want to check out the following webpage.
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/
As always if there is anything that we can do in school to help support you and your family do contact us.
Take care
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas have recently received training from PACT – if you or a Family member is effected by someone you love being in Prison and you would like any help please do speak to us.
We have excellent links with the Home Start in Wrexham team. If you feel like you would like any support please do let Mrs O’Toole or Miss Thomas know and we will refer you to the team.
Eat them to Defeat them.
Children’s Mental Health Week 2024
Please see the links below, for some useful help and advice to support your child this year during Children’s Mental Health Week.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/curations/cbbc-mental-health-awaresness
https://parentingsmart.place2be.org.uk/
World Nursery Rhyme Week
Next week we will be celebrating World Nursery Rhyme Week for our youngest learners. Please check out our YouTube channel with the updated YouTube videos for each day!
Take care
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
Diary Dates from the local area!
27/9/23
A few online courses that we have found running locally.
Just a reminder about our partnership with CWMPAS. We’re offering these great FREE digital skills workshops. Please feel free to share with your friends and family in Wales if you think they could benefit.
Monday 9 October – Supporting People to Get Online: offering support and training for individuals who wish to support the most vulnerable in society with simple online tasks that can make the world of difference and brighten their day. There are many members of the Welsh public who own digital devices but require support or guidance in how to make the most of being online. We at Digital Communities Wales are offering training to those who may be interested in supporting individuals on their digital journey and getting the best out of being online.https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dcw-training-supporting-people-to-get-online-tickets-712850203147?aff=oddtdtcreator
Tuesday 10 October – Online Safety session: This workshop will help you navigate the web safely and minimise the risks to your personal information. It will also help you to recognise scams or unsafe websites.https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/online-safety-neighbourhood-watch-tickets-708407936207?aff=oddtdtcreator
Wednesday 11 October – Social Media and Understanding Boundaries Online – accidentally oversharing without realising it can risk your personal data and expose you to scammers – find out how to enjoy social media safely: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dcw-training-social-media-and-understanding-boundaries-tickets-712913331967?aff=oddtdtcreatorWe also have our Adult Maths and English courses beginning soon in school run by Coleg Cambria please do contact the school office if you are interested in attending.
18/9/23
It has been lovely to see all our families again. I am pleased to say that our Community Cupboard on the back yard is still popular do remember that it is here and open daily to use.
We would also like to invite our families to our Tea nd Talk after school club a time where you can use our school WIFI services to help with homework and form filling, we can also help with the forms and provide information and advice. This launches on the 28th of September and we look forward to welcoming families then!
Please do let us know if you would like any information and advice as we continue to support families on an individual basis as well as through groups.
We hope you have a great week.
Take care
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
5/9/23
Welcome back everyone, we hope that you are feeling well rested after a long summer break. We hope that you were able to spend some time together as a family no matter how small. This year we will have lots of fun activities happening for you to take part in with your children as well as courses run for adults.
Our Community Cupboard has relocated to the back yard of school. Please do make use of this and if you require a food parcel making email FamilyL5@hwbcymru.net. We are also able to refer to foodbanks.
Adult Learning Coleg Cambria will be recommencing these courses will lead to qualifications. Please let the school office know if you would like to attend.
17/7/23
A little note to say thank you to all our families over the past academic year. Thank you for your support for Family Learning and Family Care. We hope that you have some time to rest over the summer break. Please do keep checking our Facebook page over the summer as we will be sharing ideas and activities to do at home and in Wrexham.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
10/7/23
Just a quick message this week to our families. Thank you for your support with completing our most recent Parent/Carer Wellbeing Survey this was very helpful to understand the needs of our community we have been analysing the responses and hope in the next school year to tackle some of the issues raised about Gwersyllt.
Reminder
Free Uniform is available on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday mornings in the Community Cupboard alongside our Food Cupboard. If you need support with food please do let us know as we can make foodbank referrals, please email FamilyL5@hwbcymru.net for an emergency food parcel.
Transition
For some families that adjustment and transition at this time of year can be difficult if you are finding things difficult at the moment please do let us know.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
New Family learning Event Locally
Bersham Road Wheels Event
Saturday 8th July 10-3pm FREE
If you have a passion for cars and motorcycles or fancy a family day out then this free Family Fun Day is for you.
Join us at Coleg Cambria site Bersham Road on Saturday 8th July for a day filled with:
- Extraordinary vehicles
- Live music
- Trade Show & Stands
- Displays
- Food & Refreshments
- Guided tours of our site
We have free onsite parking and admission to the event is free for everybody. LL13 7UH
29/6/23
Good afternoon,
We had a wonderful morning at our Transition based Coffee Morning it was incredibly successful and we look forward to implementing some of the ideas for Family Learning in September and over the next academic year. If you have any special skills that you might be able to offer our families or ideas for courses to run etc please do let us know. We would love to work with you.
Thank you to those families that have completed our Parent/Carer Wellbeing survey that we sent out this week the replies have already provided us with food for thought for the next year.
We hope to see you again soon.
Take Care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
8/6/23 New Facebook Page!
We wanted to make you aware of our new Family Learning/ Family Care Facebook page that will promote and show you new groups classes and events in the local area.
We hope that it is a useful resource for you.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
24/5/23
Below are some local events and opportunities to support you and your family.
Weekly Parent’s Support Group
An opportunity to meet and discuss all things related to parenthood with other mums and dads who ‘get it’. Either based in an indoor play centre, or a walk and talk with other parents around Alyn Valley’s idyllic setting,
May 2nd, 9th and 16th 2023
Tuesdays | 9:30am – 11:00am
Alyn Waters Country Park | Mold Road | Gwersyllt | Wrexham LL11 4AG (meet in main car park)
Tuesday May 23rd 2023
9:00am – 11:00am
Infunity Soft Play Centre | Unit 1 | Bromfield Lane Industrial Estate | Queen’s Lane | Mold CH7 1XB
We hope that you have a good week.
Take Care
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
Mental Health Week 2023
Hello everyone,
This week the 15th of May 2023 is Mental Health Week in the UK this years theme is Anxiety. Please see the video below for more information and support.
Information and advice links
Information for Parents/Carers about Anxiety and Young People
https://mentalhealth-uk.org/help-and-information/advice-for-parents-and-guardians/
https://www.mind.org.uk/for-young-people/information-for-parents/
https://parents.actionforchildren.org.uk/mental-health-wellbeing/
Local Counselling Support
Home
School Support
Please do email us at FamilyL5@hwbcymru.net or book an appointment to meet with us if there is anything else we can do to support you and your family at home.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
20/4/23
Help and support for Families
With the current cost of living crisis help and support is available from Advice Link cymru, on the following website below.
https://www.gov.wales/here-help-cost-living
For CV help, interview techniques and more advice and support for employment please see the below link for contact information.
https://www.scope.org.uk/employment-services/working-on-wellbeing/
Citizens Advice in Wrexham can help with many different needs, they offer advice, debt support, help with energy support and more. For information and contact details please see the link below.
0300 330 1178
We are also able to support in school with a number of topics, or offer a listening ear, please do contact us if you need support on either FamilyL5@hwbcymru.net or by ringing the school.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
30/3/23
School Holidays.
We hope that you have a restful time over the next two weeks and look forward to seeing you after the school holidays.
Take Care
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
Foodbank and Community Cupboard.
The Community Cupboard has been recently re stocked full of cereal and tasty food for you to have if you need it for Free! If you also email the Family Learning Email address FamilyL5@hwbcymru.net if you would like a food parcel creating when we return to school.
We can also make referrals to Foodbank if you would like.
Eat them to Defeat them
This weeks recipe is as follows.
Free School Meals Information
As the cost of living rises, no child should go without. In Wales, nearly half of
parents are not claiming the free school meals that their children are entitled
to. We are writing to remind you of the three types of support you might be
entitled to.
Don’t miss out on Free School Meals. School meals promote healthy eating,
increase the variety of food your child might eat, and can improve behaviour
and social skills. If you receive certain benefits, or your circumstances have
changed, check if you’re entitled through
https://www.wrexham.gov.uk/service/school-meals/free-school-meals
If you need any help or assistance with completing forms etc please do let the Wellbeing Team know.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
27/2/23
This week the recipe that we would love for you to try at home is a Chili Quest. The vegetables have been spotted in South and Central America and need defeating. Try this new recipe out on the kids! We would love to see photos of you trying out these recipes!
Eat them to Defeat them 2023!
Welcome to our new Eat them to Defeat them campaign 2023 at Gwersyllt Community Primary School. See the below video for more information about the campaign. If you would like to join in with the campaign please see their website for more information.
Family Learning Event
1/2/23
Hello everyone,
Next week marks the start of Children’s Mental Health week, we will be looking at a variety of activities and lessons in school during this time. We thought it may be useful to direct you to some useful services to help Parents/Guardians support their Children’s Mental Health at home.
Please see the websites below for useful information and support. We are also here in school to support you with helping your child and can offer advice and support please contact us if you would benefit from this.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/
https://www.place2be.org.uk/our-services/parents-and-carers/supporting-your-child-s-mental-health/
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/mental-health-parenting/
25/1/23
Hello all,
A quick note to inform you about some of the Family Learning offers that we have in school at the moment.
Wellies in the Woods
If you would like to join this group for more sessiona it is open to all families with pupils in KS2 and takes place on a Monday
afternoon.
Please see the posters below. Have a great week.
Take care
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
16/1/23
Please let us know if you are interested in the following,
Please let us know if you are interested in any of the following activities
- Mental Wellbeing – will look at some positive and negative influences on our mental health. Advice on how to break the ‘vicious cycle’ of thinking, feelings, behaviour and physical sensations to improve our mental wellbeing.
- Living Life to the Full – An8 week programme to improve mood and mental wellbeing by making changes to thinking styles, behaviour, and physical health.
- Stress Management – will look at recognising the signs and symptoms of stress in ourselves & others. Discussion of positive coping strategies, the 5 ways to wellbeing and a practical relaxation exercise.
- Self-esteem & confidence – this session will include tips on how we can build our self-esteem and confidence, as well as changing our self-talk to be more positive.
- Healthy Eating– -this session will include information about what constitutes a healthy balanced diet, the Eatwell Guide and recommended portion sizes.
- Food & Mood – will increase knowledge of balanced eating and its importance in mood. Help to identify changes that could be made to improve overall diet.
- Sugar Awareness– will increase your knowledge of sugar within different food and drinks.
- Energy Drinks – will increase awareness of energy drinks and the reasons why people consume them. Discuss levels of sugar and caffeine in different products and the potential effects on physical and mental health.
- Physical Activities – these fun sessions can be tailored to your group’s needs and abilities. We can offer; buggy fit walks and exercises, games for children and their parents, Superhero circuits/ dodgeball/ rounders/ kwik cricket for school aged children, and circuits for adults. As well as Tai Chi and yoga.
Take care
Miss Thomas nd Mrs O’Toole
11/1/23
Hello and welcome back! It has been great to see all the children back in school this week feeling refreshed and ready to learn again!
We just wanted to let you know about a few things this week.
Communtiy Cupboard
Community Cupboard is open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings which is filled with Free Food and Uniform.
Wellies in the Woods
Wellies in the Woods sessions for KS2 are starting back on Monday 16th January 2023, if you would like to attend please let us know via the school office.
Please see below the new courses we have available for January and February for Adults.
Holiday Funding
We have the opportunity for Free! Holiday funding for families please see below for more information, if you are interested in these please let us know, wither via email or in person. FamilyL5@hwbcymru.net.
What’s on offer
A range of fantastic holidays that include self-catered caravans, lodges and cottages that are perfect for anyone wanting to get away for Easter. Depending on the funding for the specific country that your families live in then families will be able to travel any time from January until either Easter or early spring.
What’s included
- Accommodation booked via our travel provider Inspire Travel
- Families will receive a £30 per person food voucher
- Depending on how they choose to travel, either a £50 fuel e-voucher per application or a £30 per person contribution towards the costs of public transport (train tickets, some coach companies)
If there is anything else that the Family learning team can help with please let us know.
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
19/12/22
Hello and welcome to our last message of the year, we have some news for you and some updates. We wanted to wish you all a rest filled time of the winter break, hoping its full of peace and joy. Take care, Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole.
Christmas Newsletter Information
Christmas Newsletters will be given out at the performances this week for Year 1 and year 2 and Year 3 and Year 4. We hope that you find this information useful.
Community Cupboard
Reminder that the Community Cupboard is open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings filled with free food and uniform. You can also email FamilyL5@hwbcymru.net for a food parcel that can be collected from the office discreetly.
New Courses available.
After our most recent survey we have secured some courses and funding for families for Forest School session, family clubs and also training for Adults. Please see the posters below, or contact the school office for more information .
Community Information
Cost of living – information drop-in sessions
When it comes to the cost of living, making sure you claim all the help and support you’re entitled to could make a huge difference.
Drop-in advice sessions, where you can speak to someone in person, are taking place at libraries across the county borough:
- Friday, January 6, 2023 – Gwersyllt Library, 2pm-5pm
- Friday, January 20, 2023 – Ruabon Library, 2pm-5pm
- Friday, February 3, 2023 – Llay Library, 2pm-5pm
- Friday, February 17, 2023 – Wrexham Library, 10am-2pm
Just pop along to find out more about the help available.
Make Ahead Dinner Ideas
Take care,
Miss Thoams and Mrs O’Toole
Altogether Kit List and Information
A list of Kits that are available – Den Building, Football, Relaxation, Drawing, Under the Sea, Lego, Journey, Splash, Party, Story, Movie, Nature, Art, Night Time, Dinosaur, Game.
14/11/22
Hello everyone,
We hope that you have had a great couple of weeks. It has been wonderful to see all the children and families taking part in Wellies in the Woods for foundation phase pupils. We have also been pleased with Community Cupboard, please do use the cupboard we have lots of food, uniform, sanitary products and toiletries.
This week is World Nursery Rhyme week! Please see the video below about how to be involved. Key Stage Two children have been invited to join our Limerick Competition more details in the Newsletter.
24/10/22
Hello to all our families,
A few reminders this week.
I hope that you have seen the adverts for our Wellies in the Woods event that is starting after half term for our Early Years and Foundation learning families. If you would like to attend please do contact school.
Wellies in the Woods
Tea and Talk and Ap support
On the first Thursday of every month we will be hosting a Tea and Talk session for families. You will be able to come and ask the family learning team about help with benefits, help with childcare. We can also order your children’s school dinner with you and can make referrals to Foodbank. This will be the first week after Half Term.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
Hello everyone,
3/10/22
Just some quick updates this week about things that are happening in school.
Tea and Talk
On the first Thursday of every month we will be hosting a Tea and Talk session for families. You will be able to come and ask the family learning team about help with benefits, help with childcare. We can also order your children’s school dinner with you and can make referrals to Foodbank. Our first session is this week on Thursday.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
22/9/22
Hello everyone,
We hope that you have been having a good week back into the routine of school life. This week we have a few updates for you.
Parent/Carer Wellbeing Questionnaire feedback.
At the end of the summer term we sent out Parent/Carer questionnaires we promised that we weould ffeback the results from this. Our first piece of feedback that we have implemented is that many Parents/Carers wanted more information about the class teacher and the new classes that their child was going into in September. We hope that you have all received your welcome letter from your child’s class teacher and that you have enjoyed reading these. We have also discussed an extended transition period for children moving into new classes in the summer term. We will be able to let you know more of these details towards the end of the year. We are now carefully looking at the other areas of feedback we received and will be working towards more ways forward throughout this year.
Information for Meal ideas
We have recently been sent some great information around meal ideas and we thought that we should share these with you.
https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/recipes/dinner/
One pound meal ideas
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/cheap_family_dinners
12/9/22,
Hello everyone,
We hope that you had a restful summer break and starting the new school year has been stress free. A quick reminder this week. That if we can help or support you in any way incluuding foodbank vouchers. Please do let us know. We are here to offer support and gudience on a range of issues including mental health. We hope to bring you more ecting Family Learning events this year.
Our Adult learning of Maths and English qualifications has just started up again if you would be interested in coming along to these sesssions please do let us know.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
14/7/22
Hello everyone,
Thankyou for all your responses to our recent questionnaire regarding transition. We have analysed the questionnaires and will let you know 3 ways that we will use your comments to move forward as a school.
We hope you have a wonderful relaxing break over the coming weeks. Looking forward to seeing you in September.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
4/7/22
Hello everyone,
We hope this message finds you well. We thought that over the summer you might appreciate some ideas that you could do as a family to support and look after your Wellbeing. Please see the files attached below for some ideas.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
22/6/22
Dear all,
We hope that you have received our most recent Family Learning survey via texts and we have been receiving the responses in the next few weeks we will be updating the website with the results and next steps that we will be taking.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
16/6/22
Dear all,
We hope that you have been enjoying the lovely sunshine that we have been having recently. It has been lovely to see you all at our Sports Days over the last week.
Don’t forget to see our noticeboard by the steps near home bargains for our latest updates.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
09/06/22
Dear all,
We hope that you had a rest filled week during the half term break. We have a couple of updates for you this week.
Firstly our next Family Learning event.
Free Shopping bag of Food, eat well event. On the 5th of July at 1.45pm we would like to invite you to our Eat well event, at this event each participant will receive a free bag of food. If you would like to attend please contact school.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
23/5/22
Dear all,
We hope that you were able to have a relaxing weekend a disappointing result for Wrexham in the Football this weekend. However it has been great to hear the children’s stories today bout the game in Wembley.
We just wanted to let you know about a competition run by Wrexham libraries over half term. “
Jubilee Fun!
Wrexham Libraries has some great activities for you to take part in as part of the Jubilee celebrations. For children we have a Design a Crown competition, with a prize for each age category. We are asking children to design a crown which includes something relating to: the Queen’s life or, with a coat of arms or with royal symbols. The age groups for this competition are: 6 years and under; 7-11 and 12-16. For adults there is a Jubilee Tour competition around our libraries. If you manage to find the hidden Jubilee images in every library you can enter the prize draw to win an Amazon gift voucher. Finally, and just for fun, there is a Jubilee Bingo game – collect your ‘card’ from your local library and read a book relating to each category. More details can be found at your local library. Closing date for the competitions is 20th June 2022.”
If you need any help with resources for this please let us know on this email address. FamilyL5@hwbcymru.net
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
19/5/22
Hello everyone,
We hope that you have all been able to enjoy the sunshine together.
Just a quick update this week to let you know our net Family Learning event is taking place on 7th June for our Year 1 and Year 2 families. Please see SeeSaw for further details.
Take Care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
9/5/22
Hello everyone,
We hope that you have had a relaxing weekend. Please see below the link to a fantastic course that is being offered in our community. Please see the leaflet below.
Take care, have a great week.
3/5/22
Dear all,
We hope that you all feel relaxed and refreshed after the long bank holiday weekend. We have a couple of messages for you this week.
Free Shoes!
HomeStart Wrexham have a number of free pairs of school shoes. If you feel that you need some school shoes please contact us.
Altogether Kits.
We are temporarily pausing our Altogether Kit’s for this half term due to us both being on training sessions away from school for this Half Term.
Recipe of the week!
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
28/4/22
Hello everyone,
Welcome back! We hope that you had a relaxing break over the last two weeks and enjoyed spending some time together. Just a reminder that if you need any further support that we are here for you in school. We can offer support and advice on a wide range of topics, if we can’t find the answer immediately then we will be able to contact some one who can help. If you have any suggestions for advice or support that you would like please do let either Miss Thomas or Mrs O’Toole know.
Take care,
Family Learning/Family Care Team
If you would like to borrow an Altogether Kit please email FamilyL5@hwbcymru.net
You can borrow them on a Friday afternoon until a Monday morning. We hope you can enjoy some Family Fun!
07/04/22
Dear all,
Just a little note to wish you all a peaceful break over the next two weeks. We hope that you are all able to relax and recharge.
Keep a look out in the local area for an exciting Easter activity prepared by us. See the school newsletter for more details!
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
31/3/22
Hello everyone,
We hope that you have all had a good week. We had a fantastic time at our First Aid Training for parents and members of the local community last Friday. We have also launched our Family Links programme this week with a Coffee morning. If you would like to attend this group then please do let us know at school.
Lastly it has been another week of eating vegetables in school! We hope that your children have been just as excited to show and tell you all about their sticker charts and the vegetables that they have been trying! An interesting recipe for you below.
As always if you need any support please do contact Miss Thomas or Mrs O’Toole we can offer help and advice on many different topics from finance to housing help and help with your child’s behavior.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
24/3/22
Hello.
We hope that you have had a great week. We are delighted to say that our First Aid course for this week is now full however if lots of our families would like to attend in the future we will look into funding to get more courses ran in school, please do let us know if you would be interested.
Sleep
You may have received Sleep guides recently from school. We also wanted to provide you with some more information about the importance of sleep for your children. The website below has some great information about the amount of sleep children need and great tips for helping them to go to sleep.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/healthy-sleep-tips-for-children/
Social Media
Following on from Mr Moore’s message about the use of social media and some of our pupils we thought it might be helpful to provide some useful help and ideas on how to guide children to understand and use social media appropriately. Please see the link below.
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/a-z-guide/social-media/
Healthy Eating
This week is Tomato week in school, please see this fabulous recipe below on how to use tomatoes in cooking.
Take care, Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
17/3/22
Hello to all our families,
We hope that you have had a good week. We wanted to update you about a couple of events that are happening in school in the next few weeks.
Free Level 3 Pediatric First Aid course on Friday 25th March 9am-3pm. If you would like to attend please let school know.
Family Links coffee morning 31st March 9am-11am– this coffee morning is an introduction to the Family links course. The 10 week programme which will begin on Thursday 28th April will look at lots of different topics, including understanding why children behave as they do, recognising the feelings behind behavior. Exploring different approaches to discipline and finding ways to develop co-operation and self -discipline. We hope that you will be able to join us. If you would like to come along please do contact the school.
Healthy Eating – Eat them to defeat them campaign.
We hope that you have been enjoying the campaign running in school and your children have been telling you about all the vegetables that they have been trying over the last couple of weeks. We wanted to share a recipe with you this week for Broccoli week please see the video below. If you do try any of these recipes take a photo and send it in to us, we would love to see it!
Have a great week, if there is any more support we can help you with please do let us know.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
10/3/22
Hello everyone,
We are focusing in school on eating healthily this week. We wanted to let you know about Healthy Start vouchers and how these can help you with purchasing vegetables and fruit. Healthy Start have launched a pre paid card rather than the old paper system. You will receive a pre paid card that you can use in most supermarkets, convenience stores etc.
You will be entitled to the following.
If you’re receiving a qualifying benefit and are pregnant or have parental responsibility for at least one child under the age of 4, you can apply online now for the NHS Healthy Start card (opens in a new tab).
How much will I get for my children?
- £4.25 each week of your pregnancy (from the 10th week of your pregnancy)
- £8.50 each week for children from birth to 1 year old
- £4.25 each week for children between 1 and 4 years old
Your money will stop after your child’s 4th birthday, or if you no longer receive benefits.
You can also get free Healthy Start vitamins.
The Healthy Start scheme can be used to pay for Fresh cows milk. Fresh, frozen, tinned fruit and vegetables. Fresh, dried, tinned pulses. Infant formula milk based on cows milk.
Eligibility
You’ll qualify for the Healthy Start scheme if you’re at least 10 weeks pregnant or you have at least one child that’s under 4.
In addition, you must be receiving any of the following:
- Child Tax Credit (only if your family’s annual income is £16,190 or less)
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Pension Credit (which includes the child addition)
- Universal Credit (only if your family’s take-home pay is £408 or less per month from employment)
You will also be eligible for Healthy Start if:
- you’re under 18 and pregnant, even if you are not claiming any benefits
- you claim income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and are over 10 weeks pregnant
- you, your partner or your carer get Working Tax Credit run-on only after you have reported you’re working 16 hours or less per week
To find out if your family earns £408 or less per month from employment whilst claiming Universal Credit, look at your ‘take-home pay for this period’ on your monthly Universal Credit award notice.
If you need any help completing the forms and paperwork for the Healthy Start scheme please let Miss Thomas or Mrs O’Toole know and we can help you with this.
This week has been Pepper Week in school and the children have enjoyed tasting peppers. Some ideas for you below on how you could incorporate peppers into cooking at home this week.
Have a great week.
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
1/3/22
Hi everyone,
In school we are taking part in the Eat them to Defeat them national campaign we will be taking part in different activities in school and your children will have received a Eat them to Defeat them pack for you to complete at home. We also wanted to include a couple of recipes that you could do to encourage this or cook together at home.
We hope that you all have a great week and look forward to seeing your reward charts full!
Take care,
17/2/22
Hello everyone,
As part of our healthy Come and Cook with us week we wanted to provide you with some useful information.
Healthy Start Vouchers
You’ll qualify for the Healthy Start scheme if you’re at least 10 weeks pregnant or you have at least one child that’s under 4.
In addition, you must be receiving any of the following:
- Child Tax Credit (only if your family’s annual income is £16,190 or less)
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Pension Credit (which includes the child addition)
- Universal Credit (only if your family’s take-home pay is £408 or less per month from employment)
You will also be eligible for Healthy Start if:
- you’re under 18 and pregnant, even if you are not claiming any benefits
- you claim income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and are over 10 weeks pregnant
- you, your partner or your carer get Working Tax Credit run-on only after you have reported you’re working 16 hours or less per week
Apply online on the following link
https://services.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/apply-for-healthy-start/
Healthy Eating Swaps
The link below has some great ideas on some easy swaps that we can all do to help improve what we eat and be healthier.
https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/food-facts/healthier-food-swaps/
Reminder
Adult First Aid Training 8th March 2022 – 2 places left. Please contact school if you would like to attend.
Adult Maths and English course every Wednesday 1pm-3pm please contact school if you would liek to attend.
Fuel Cost Help
Eligibility
One member of the household must be receiving one of the following working age means-tested welfare benefits:
- Income Support
- Income Based Job Seekers Allowance
- Income Related Employment and Support Allowance
- Universal Credit
- Working Tax Credits
Apply Here – https://www.wrexham.gov.uk/service/winter-fuel-support-scheme
Come and Cook Week
We hope that you have enjoyed our Come and Cook week, please see the videos below. We will be announcing the winners of our competition soon.
Important Information
14/2/22
Please see below our Ingredients list for the Come and Cook with us week that will be going live today.
Enjoy!
11/2/22
Hello everyone,
As children’s Mental Health Week 2022 comes to a close we wanted to send you some more useful information. The children have been doing some fantastic work in school focused on mental health and Growth Mindset work.
We also felt that it was important that we offered advice and information for our Parents/Carers to support your own mental health. It is important that as Parents/Carers we take care of ourselves and how we are feeling so we can support our children in the best possible way. Please see the link below from Mind with useful, helpful information. Do contact us if you need any further help and support.
Take care, have a good weekend.
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
10/2/22
To all our families,
We have so much to update you on this week. We have launched our Altogether Kits in school today, please see the video below for more information.
First Aid Course
We have a fantastic Free opportunity for a Pediatric Frist Aid course on the 8th March 2022 9am-3pm. If you would like to come please contact us at school. Place are limited.
Adult Learning Courses
We have a English and Maths course available to our families. The course will include gaining qualifications, if you would like to learn new skills please contact us.
Come and Cook Week
Next week we are hosting a Come and Cook with us Virtual week. We will be posting videos each night of meals that you can make at home. If you would like to cook along with us the shopping list for next week is below.
Healthy Eating Poster Competition
Take care everyone,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
9/2/22
We are sorry for the delay on todays post, we had technical issues that have created a short delay in uploading our Children’s Mental Health Week information.
Todays link below is information from the NHS on supporting your child’s mental health.
https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/supporting-others/childrens-mental-health/#top-tips
We hope that you find this useful.
Best wishes,
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
8/2/22
To our families,
As promised we are back to share another useful website to support Children’s Mental Health Week. The theme of the week this year is all about Growing Together and reflecting on how e grow as a person over the years. We wanted to link you to the Place2Be website and advice. Please see the link below. Have a great evening.
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole.
7/2/22
Hello everyone,
Today the 7th February 2022 is that start of Children’s Mental Health Week. We will be taking part in numerous activities in school this week. We wanted to also share with our families some helpful and advice and tips on supporting your child at home with their mental health. The first website we are recommending this week is Young Minds. Please see the link below.
We will be back tomorrow with more advice to help.
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/survival-guide/
3/2/22
To all our families,
We hope that you have had a restful week. It has been lovely to see our families engaging with the Storytelling Week activities.
Next week is Children’s Mental Health Week, we will be sharing information to support you and your family with mental health.
We hope that you have been able to find our new Noticeboard on the playground by the gate to the Home Bargains car park we will be updating this regularly, so do keep a look out for new things popping up weekly!
As promised here is our weekly easy recipe!
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
27/1/22
Hello everyone,
We hope that you have had a good couple of weeks. Next week is National Storytelling Week our Year 1 and Year 2 pupils will be coming home with a fun pack of activities and ideas to learn together we hope you will enjoy learning together. We have found a fabulous website with thousands of free stories read by celebrities and authors. See the link below.
We hope that you have a great week, please do remember that we are here for you if you need any help or support.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
13/1/22
Hello everyone,
Welcome back and Happy New Year to you all. We hope that you had a peaceful winter break. This half term our 5 Ways of Wellbeing focus is keeping Active. Over the half term we will be sharing ideas on how you and your family can keep active.
The link below explains the importance of keeping active for children and young people.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/physical-activity-guidelines-children-and-young-people/
The link below explains the importance of exercise for Adults.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/#guidelines-for-adults-aged-19-to-64
Our Wellbeing Committee in school which is a made up of a 1 member from each class from Year 1- Year 6 have been focusing on how to improve our Wellbeing in school and the Wellbeing of our families and community. They have asked to share a healthy recipe each week on the School Website to encourage our families to be able to cook and try new foods. The video below is the first recipe that they wanted to share with you all.
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
15/12/21
Hello everyone,
Marcus Rashford and Tom Kerridge have created a Christmas Dinner for £10 to feed six people. We thought we would share the video with you as it might be useful for shopping lists in the next week.
We hope that you have a restful weekend.
Take care
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
3/12/21
Hello everyone,
Over the next couple of weeks we will be posting some information that may be of some help to you through your letterbox.
As always please let us know if there is any topic or area that you would like support or help with and we will do our best to find out some information to support you.
25/11/2021
Hello everyone,
We hope that you are all well this week. We have had a busy week with Family Learning events in school. We have been running some TechnoCamps workshops alongside Glyndwr University with our oldest pupils. We have also all watched Pirates of the Chillibean from the Food Standards Agency and some of our families joined us in the hall for a movie experience.
Our Wellbeing Committee in school will be focusing on making our school healthier with healthy eating ideas- watch this space to see what they come up with.
We thought that you might like some ideas and tips on cooking and meal planning on a budget. We have some useful links below to some websites and information that might be useful.
Here is a link to the Skint Dad blog it has fantastic ideas on how to save money and budget. It provides information about sales and offers available. Linked below is a Family Healthy Meal plan for around £25 a week to give you some inspiration on shopping on a budget.
https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/recipes
We hope that you find this information useful and it will give your some inspiration for recipes this week.
Take care, have a lovely week.
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
15/11/2021
Hello everyone,
As you may already know it is Anti-Bullying week this week. The children enjoyed an exciting assembly this morning led by Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole. The theme for this years Anti-Bullying week is ‘One Kind Word’ and we have challenged our pupils to see how many Acts of Kindness that they can complete this week. We thought you might also like some information on how best to support your child if you think they are being bullied. The following website has great information about Cyber Bullying and other topics.
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/bullying-and-cyberbullying/#support
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
08/11/2021
Hello everyone,
We hope you all had a good weekend. We have found a great leaflet linked below about Healthy Snacks in school that you might find useful. Healthy snacks at break time can help with pupils concentration and behavior in the classroom. Suitable drinks and snacks also help to prevent tooth decay. Please see the leaflet below for some ideas.
We hope you have a great week.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
21/10/21
Hello everyone,
We have had a great week in school this week. It has been great to see the children so excited to be learning in school. We have held our final Space Workshop today for Year 1 and Year 2 which was a great success.
We have sent a few questionnaires out to try and get your thoughts and opinions of what you would like in the future at school. Please let us know if you have any ideas what you would like the Family Learning Team to support you with.
We hope that you have a restful half term break and are looking forward to seeing you soon.
Take care,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
14/10/21
Hello everyone,
We hope that you have all had a great week. Below are the videos from local organisations in Wrexham that we can put you in contact with if you need any further help or support. If we can help you in any way please do give us a call at school.
Have a great weekend.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
7/10/21
Hello all,
We have had a great week this week with our First Early years Family Learning event of the year. We have been learning all about Space. We will upload some pictures soon of this fun morning.
This week we thought we would give you some useful Wellbeing Advice please see below.
Wellbeing Advice
This month we are focusing on the topic of Anxiety.
The video below is explains what anxiety is and what people might feel when they have anxiety.
“Anxiety can make it really hard to stop worrying. You might have worries you can’t control. Or you might feel like you need to keep worrying because it feels useful – or that bad things might happen if you stop.
It can be helpful to try different ways of addressing these worries. For example, you could:
· Set aside a specific time to focus on your worries – so you can reassure yourself you haven’t forgotten to think about them. Some people find it helps to set a timer.
· Write down your worries and keep them in a particular place – for example, you could write them in a notebook, or on pieces of paper you put in an envelope or jar.”
· “Try to get enough sleep. Sleep can give you the energy to cope with difficult feelings and experiences. See our page on coping with sleep problems for more information.
· Eating regularly and keeping your blood sugar stable can make a difference to your mood and energy levels. See our page on food and mood for more information.
· Try to do some physical activity. Exercise can be really helpful for your mental wellbeing. See our pages on physical activity for more information.”
For more information advice and specific help please see the Mind Website below. https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/anxiety-and-panic-attacks/self-care/
The NHS website below has some great help and advice on Anxiety and where to find support. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/feelings-and-symptoms/anxiety-fear-panic/
Talking to someone you trust about what’s making you anxious could be a relief. It may be that just having someone listen to you and show they care can help in itself. If you aren’t able to open up to someone close to you, the Samaritans and Anxiety UK both run helplines that you can call to talk to someone. https://www.samaritans.org/ https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk/
We hope that you find this information helpful. Please do get in touch with us if you have any more ideas that you might like help with.
Best wishes,
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
30/09/21
Hello everyone,
We hope that you have had a fantastic week. We have really enjoyed our Family Learning events in school this week for KS2 around Volcanos, Earthquakes and Space. It is great that so many of you were able to come and we hope to run more Family Learning sessions in the future. Please do let us know if there are any topics that you would like to have for these sessions. Next week we are looking forward to our Family Learning event for Early Years.
Action for Children Website
We have a fantastic website full of useful information and advice to share with you this week. It also has a Live Chat facility where you can ask parenting questions that you might have. Please see the link below.
Please do get in touch with us if we can help or support you in any way.
Best Wishes,
Miss Thomas and Mrs O’Toole
23/09/21
Hello everyone,
We are looking forward to our Family Learning Events next week, we hope you can attend our Science Workshops, if you would like to come please contact school.
Maths and English
If you would like to attend our Adult Maths and English classes please contact Mrs O’Toole or Miss Thomas.
Understanding your Childs Mental Health and Wellbeing Free Course
We have been given the opportunity for this fantastic course for our Parents/ Guardians please see the image below.
Help your child with Reading course
Help your child with reading
Courses starting 28 September 2021 | Tuesdays and Thursdays | 4 x 1 hour sessions
Course Overview
This course will help dads, mums, grandparents and carers help children with their reading skills. You will learn lots of handy hints to take away and have fun practising with your child.
The course includes:
- Fun with letters and words
- What, when and where to read?
- Rhymes, games and songs
- What are phonics and how to practise them?
What Do I Need?
You will need an iPad or a laptop as this is an online course. You will also require Internet access. Click here for more info:
28th Sept Daytime: https://www.adultlearning.wales/en/course/44476
Evening: https://www.adultlearning.wales/en/course/44478
We hope that you find these courses useful. If you need any more information or we can help in any way please contact us.
Best wishes,
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
16/09/21
Hello all,
We hope that you have all had a good week. We have had a fantastic week in school with our first adult Maths and English session taking place thanks to all those who attended. If you would like to attend next week then please contact us at school. If there are any further courses or training that you would like to take part in , please let us know.
We are delighted to tell you we have been awarded the ‘Lockdown Award’ by the Investors in Families company. This is given for the work done by staff during the period of home learning. We want to thank you for your wonderful contributions during that time.
Please see below about our next exciting Family Learning opportunities coming soon.
If there is anything that we can do in school to support you or your child’s wellbeing please contact us.
Best wishes
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
09/09/21
Hello everyone,
We hope that you are all settling back into school life. We have all had a busy week learning about our new classes. Just a few events that are coming up over the next few weeks highlighted below. Please do remember if there is anything that we can do to support you, your children or your family then contact us at school.
Maths and English classes for Adults
Alongside Coleg Cambria we will be running Maths and English classes for Adults starting on Wednesday 15th September 1pm-3pm. These courses are open for anyone in the community to join. If you would like to attend please contact the school.
Science Workshops
We have a fantastic opportunity for Parents/ Guardians to join us for interactive fun virtual workshops with your child. The details for the classes are as follows.
Monday 27th September
9am- 10am Class 5
2pm-2.45pm Class 1
Tuesday 28th September
9am-10am – Class 3
Thursday 30th September
9am-10am – Class 4
2pm-2.45pm Class 2
If you would like to attend these sessions with your child. The please contact school as there is social distancing requirements still in place.
Best wishes for the coming week.
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
02/09/21
Hello All,
We hope that you have all had a wonderful summer. We are delighted to see all the children back in school today and they all seemed excited to be in their new classes.
Maths and English classes for Adults
Alongside Coleg Cambria we will be running Maths and English classes for Adults starting Wednesday 15th September 1pm- 3pm. These courses are open for anyone in the community to join please contact school if you would be interested. The courses will lead to qualifications and people who have attended have been successful in using these qualifications to gain employment.
Family Learning Events coming up!
During the next half term we will have some exciting opportunities for you to participate in school in some fun family learning events. To keep up to date please check the website regularly for more information.
Free Family Holiday
We have the opportunity to provide families with a short holiday break. These are short weekend breaks. Please contact us for more information and the criteria.
Job Opportunity
MoneyPenny have some part time, school hour job vacancies available. For further information please contact Money Penny Tel: 0345 123 3700
Wellbeing Support
Please let us know if there is anything you need support with either with your child’s or your own wellbeing. We can offer support with a range of things from mental health support to housing and foodbanks. If there is anything that you might need help with please let us know.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas
02/07/21
Hello Everyone,
We hope that you have all had a good couple of weeks. We just wanted to keep you up to date.
We have recently held some Family Learning events. We have hosted Storytime and Craft sessions for our youngest pupils and their families. These sessions have encouraged children to build positive relationships and spend time with their Parents/Carers. We have also held them outside, so they are connected to nature as it is so important to spend time outdoors for our wellbeing.
We have also had Maths and English taster sessions for Parents/Carers and members from the local community. These will be starting in September on a Wednesday afternoon. The sessions provide adult learners with Maths and English qualifications so that they can then use these skills in the workplace.
Helpful advice for our own Wellbeing
This month we are focusing on sleep and why this is important for our own mental health and wellbeing.
“We all have evenings when we find it hard to fall asleep or find ourselves waking up in the night. How we sleep and how much sleep we need is different for all of us and changes as we get older.
Sleep problems usually sort themselves out within about a month. But longer stretches of bad sleep can start to affect our lives. It can cause extreme tiredness and make usually manageable tasks harder.” NHS
The following web page has some fantastic advice for help with sleep issues.
https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-health-issues/sleep/
The following link has some great information about why sleep is important and what steps we can take to help us sleep better.
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
10/06/2021
Hello Everyone,
We hope that you enjoyed your week off over half term. Recently all of our pupils undertook a Wellbeing Survey. When we have looked at this survey information we have decided that the children will be undertaking some more work on Growth Mindset in the classroom.
We thought that it may be useful for our families to also find out a little bit about what we mean by Growth Mindset and how you can support our pupils at home with this work too. We have found this excellent information on the website below and thought we would share with you.
https://www.mindsetworks.com/parents/growth-mindset-parenting
We also have found a great online learning opportunity for our families to help children to learn and how we can encourage this at home. Please see the following link.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EdU9fW_eOdIwOXlIzTLWZ7g3s5kqdQMp/view
Enjoy the weekend.
Take care
Mrs Edge and Mrs O’Toole
27/05/2021
Hello everyone,
We hope that you are all well. This week we have some news to share with you all.
Family Learning Events
Next half term we are able to start running our family learning events. We are running a craft and story time session for some classes. If you would like to attend any of these with your child then please contact the school as places are limited due to social distancing guidelines.
17th June Kestrels
24th Early Years
1st July Harrier’s
Each session will run from 9am-10am. Please get in touch if you would like to attend. In September we hope that we will be able to run more sessions for other groups and classes.
School Packs
We have the opportunity to provide some families with free school packs. These packs include a stationery pack and / or a lunch bag and bottle. If you feel that this might be useful for you at this time, please do contact Mrs O’Toole or Mrs Edge confidentially.
We hope that you are able to have a restful half term next week. If there is anything that we can help you with over the coming weeks then please do let us know.
Enjoy half term.
Take Care,
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
20/05/2021
Hello Everyone,
We hope that you have all had a good week. We have been busy in school looking at the recent Pupil Wellbeing Survey. We have now gathered wellbeing information from Pupils, Staff and Parents and look forward to sharing this with you when we have looked at all the data.
We hope that you have a restful weekend and look forward to seeing you on Monday.
Take Care,
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
How to apply for Free School Meals
Your child is eligible to receive free school meals (in maintained schools in Wales) if you or your child receive the following…
- Income Support (IS)*
- Income Based Jobseekers Allowance (IBJSA)*
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Income-related Employment Support Allowance (IR)
- Child Tax Credit – providing you’re not entitled to Working Tax Credit with an annual total income below the HMRC set limit
- Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
- Working Tax Credit ‘run-on’ – the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit
The form for applying online is on the following link. If you would like any help with completing the form please let Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge know. It is all confidential.
https://www.wrexham.gov.uk/service/school-meals/free-school-meals
11/05/21
Hello everyone,
As promised here is some links to great free mental health workshops this week.
Mental Health week workshops
On the 12th and 13th of May 2021, WISE KIDS is delighted to be hosting 2 free online interactive workshops which will also feature guest panellists.
· “In My Own Words” – Understanding Young People’s Online Experiences (A Workshop for Professionals/Parents/Carers)
TikTok, Fandom, eSports! Do you know what young people enjoy online? Do you know what troubles them online? Do you know why? Are you curious about what they want adults to know?
· “Let’s Get Digitally Smart” (A Workshop for Young People aged 12-16)
Are you a parent/carer who wants their child to be a critical thinker and digitally smart, safe and kind online?
These workshops are part of a WISE KIDS series to support young people’s digital literacy and wellbeing.
You are invited to come along to learn more – registration details below!
· Workshop 1 (May 12th 2021, 4pm-5.00pm) is for young people aged 12-16 attending with their parent/carer who must complete this registration form:
https://forms.gle/UzrYGyk6XJ8WViRt7
· Workshop 2 (May 13th 2021, 5.15pm-6.30pm) is for adults (parents/carers/professionals) who must complete this registration form.
https://forms.gle/hsc3GxguWqJMAdQT8
Both workshops will be facilitated by Dr Sangeet Bhullar from WISE KIDS. Workshop 2 will also feature presentations from pupils from Risca Comprehensive, and guest panellist Dr Huw Davies (Lecturer in Digital Education at Edinburgh university), Becki Bawler (Senior Leader and Teacher from Risca Comprehensive School), Luiza Bivolaru (Senior Practitioner from the South East Wales Adoption Service), Natasha Evans (Chair of the Merthyr Tydfil branch of the National Autistic Society) and Noah Shepherd (Youth Worker at Treharris Boys & Girls Club).
Foodbank Information
FOODBANK CENTRE OPENING TIMES & LOCATIONS
Monday 1.30-3pm Bradley Road Baptist Church, 104 Bradley Road, LL13 7TP
Tuesday 12.30-2pm St Mark’s Church, Bryn Eglwys, Caia Park, LL13 9LA
Wednesday 10-12 Gwersyllt Congregational Church, Hope Street, Gwersyllt, LL11 4NT
Wednesday 3-4.15pm The Salvation Army, Garden Road, Rhosddu, LL11 2NU
Thursday 10.30-12 George Edwards Hall (opposite Tesco), Well Street, Cefn Mawr, LL14 3AE
Thursday 1-2.30 St Martin’s Church, Seventh Avenue, Llay, LL12 0SB
Friday 11-12.30 Capel y Groes (the church next to Asda), Bodhyfryd, LL12 7AG
07/05/21
Hello everyone,
We hope that you have had a lovely week. We just want to make you aware that next week is Mental Health Awareness Week 10th- 16th May. Here are a couple of links to websites that have information to support you. Next week we will also include more useful resources of things that you can do together as a family.
Mental Health Awareness- Mental Health Foundation
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week
Mind
https://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/mental-health-awareness-week/
This years Mental Health Awareness week is Nature. We hope that you are able to get outside and enjoy nature this week.
Take care
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
29/04/21
Hello Everyone,
We hope that you have enjoyed the lovely weather recently and have been able to get out and about outside and have some fun! We have some fantastic information this week for you.
FREE HOLIDAYS!
We have the opportunity to refer families for free holidays. The criteria is as follows, if this applies to you then please do get in touch.
Holiday Association Information
We help families with a child or children under the age of 18 and those who care for them – be they parents, grandparents, carers or older siblings.
We work across the whole of the UK.
Short breaks:
Families must be on a low income (household income must be less than £24,000 or relevant means tested benefits).
For most of our breaks families must not have had a holiday in the last four years. Occasionally we are able to provide offers which are suitable for families with more recent holiday experience and this criteria does not apply.
If this would be of interest to any families please get in touch with Mrs O’Toole or Mrs Edge. We will keep all information confidential.
Online Courses for adults
Eventbrite events courses below- please note many are free
Monday, May 31 – Health and Happiness WorkshopLearn effortless techniques to manage your stress and increase your energy levels
Fri, 4 Jun 2021 – 48 hours of Bite Sized Mindfulness
Sun, 2 May 2021 – Happiness Hour
Tue, 4 May 2021 – May the Fourth Be With You – Online Family Trivia Night
Wed, 19 May 2021- Freedom from Anxiety Online Meditation
Fri, 11 Jun 2021 – Anxious & Over It?
Please do get in touch with us if we can help you with anything.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
23/04/21
To all our families,
We hope that you are all well. Below is some more information that may be of help to you.
New course for residents of Wrexham and Flintshire.
A free course funded by the North East Wales Adult Community Learning Partnership is starting soon. The Level 2 qualification is ideal for anyone who wants to support children and young people with Additional Learning Needs in a variety of settings. To reserve a place, click on the link below or email: info@deesidecommunitytrust.co.uk.
Free Events
On the eventbrite website there are many free sessions to support wellbeing
Here are some examples
26th April Mindfulness Meditation
28th April Guided Meditation
11th May Mindfulness for Wellbeing
It really is worth checking out the Eventbrite website as they have a vast number of courses and activities and many are free to attend.
Please let us know if you need any support with Wellbeing and we will do our best to help.
Have a good weekend,
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
15/04/21
Hello Everyone,
We hope that you all enjoyed a break over the school holidays and are enjoying being able to meet more people socially outside. We wanted to share some links this week that might be helpful.
Bereavement support for families
Young Minds has some useful information for families on the following link.
Mental Health Support for Adults
Mind North East Wales has a number of events online to support your wellbeing and mental health they also have access to free counselling for adults. If you think this might be useful for you the website is linked below.
Wrexham Family Information Services
Wrexham Family Information services offer support and information to families about a range of topics and can help you to find different local services to help. Please see the link below.
http://www.fis.wales/fis/W06000006
Coleg Cambria
Coleg Cambria have a range of 6 week taster courses including IT courses, Staying Safe online, English and Maths classes, Childcare, Catering and Hospitality. There is also a six week book club course with a focus on reading, chatting and wellbeing.
If you would like more information about these courses then please contact us at school.
We hope that these links help. Please do contact us if there is anything that you feel that we could support you with.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
23/03/21
To all our families,
We hope that you are all enjoying being back at school and you are looking forward to the school holidays next week. We thought you might enjoy some ideas that you can do to have fun at home.
Activity Ideas
This is a link to an A to Z of fun activities for families to do.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zb92mfr
Active Wrexham
Active Wrexham on Facebook has lots of great family friendly classes to participate and take part in. They have lots of live sessions and pre recorded things for families. Have a look and join them on some zoom classes.
Free Training for Adults
Groundwork Training have lots of online and distance learning courses available. Ideal if you are looking into getting back to employment but need some new qualifications. Just some of the courses that they offer.
Level 1 Health and Safety in a Construction Environment
Level 2 Food Safety in Catering
Level 2 Customer Service
Level 1,2&3 Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults.
For more information email- training@groundworknorthwales.org.uk
Claim what is yours campaign
Thousands of people in Wales could be entitled to more benefits. March 2021 is the launch of a new campaign to get you to claim what you are entitled to. You could get support with housing costs, living costs and loss of income. Please see the two links below.
https://gov.wales/claim-whats-yours
You may also be entitled to a one off grant to help you with unexpected costs. You can use the grant to pay for a new fridge freezer or sofa, bed, cooker amongst other things. See the link below for more information.
https://gov.wales/discretionary-assistance-fund-daf
We hope that you enjoy the break next week.
Take Care
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
16/03/21
Hello everyone,
It has been a wonderful start to the week to have all the pupils back in school. It has been fantastic walking through the school building and hearing all the children back together in their classrooms and hear their laughter and chatter,
Your child may be finding it difficult coming back to school and if you need advice or support with this please let us know. The wellbeing of our children is so important to us. All staff will be doing all they can to make your child feel settled and happy.
Information to support – linked to questionnaire outcomes
This week we thought we would share some more useful information that some of our families requested in our recent survey.
Employment help
Careers Wales has lots of useful information on their site including how to write a CV, how to fill in application forms and tips for interviews. They also have information around furlough, and training courses for adults in the community. Below is the link to the website.
https://careerswales.gov.wales/courses-and-training
Advice Link Cymru
Advice Link Cymru has some fantastic advice about employment and you can also call them to ask for help. They offer advice for all sorts of topics and can link you to all different networks that will be able to help with employment.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/our-work/advice-partnerships/advicelink-cymru/
Advance Brighter Futures
It is also important that in these unprecedented times that as adults we are well supported and our own Mental Wellbeing is helped. Advance Brighter Futures in Wrexham offer a whole range of services for adult mental health. Please see the link below.
Services
Shelter Cymru
Following on from our survey some families may need support with housing. Shelter Cymru offer advice on many topics such as homelessness, eviction, renting, mortgage repossession, finding somewhere to live and repairs and home conditions. Below is the link to the website with some advice and they also have a number that you can call.
We hope this all helps
Please contact us if we can be of any further help
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
09/03/21
To all our families,
We are looking forward to the return of all our pupils next week. We hope that they are feeling excited about coming back to school. We thought we would include some useful information on supporting you and your children coming back to school.
Support for coming back to school
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z2j62v4
Money Support
Here are a couple of links to useful websites to support families with money matters.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/our-work/advice-partnerships/advicelink-cymru/
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/categories/family
Foodbank
We can now refer and provide foodbank vouchers from school. If you feel that you need support with getting food please do get in contact with us. All information will be kept confidential.
Take care,
We look forward to seeing you all soon.
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
03/3/21
Hello everyone,
We hope that you have had a good week. We have been busy in school looking at the recent wellbeing responses and will be sharing some information again this week. Don’t forget that we are in school and are here to help in any way that we can. Please do contact us.
Math’s and English support
Parent Kind has some really great information for supporting your child at home with maths. It has lots of differnet calcualtion methods and step by step guides under calculation methods. Here is a link to the website.
https://www.parentkind.org.uk/For-Parents/Parent-Hub/Supporting-Learning
Parentkind also has lots of information on phonics to support you when helping them with the different phonics activities and reading activities. Please see the following link
https://www.parentkind.org.uk/Parents/Phonics
Coleg Cambria
Coleg Cambria also offer support for parents with helping their child with home learning. See the following link with contact details on the different courses that they do to improve English and Math’s skills.
Wrexham Family Information Services
Wrexham Family Information Services are offering a coffee and chat service over zoom each week. The next weeks topics are as follows.
11th March – Alan Roberts Neurodevelopment Team – Alan Roberts is an ADHD specialist from the Neruodevlopment team. He has over 25 years expereince working with families providing practical tips to support children and young people with ADHD.
18th March Activate 8-2-16 – Activite encourage and faciliate chidlren with additonal needs to participate in physical activity.
25th March Homestart- Homestart is a volunteer led organization providing a wide range of support to families across the Wrexham area. Volunteers are trained to help work alongside you to overcome the challenges you are facing and build on your strengths.
For more information on any of these Coffee and Chats and for the zoom link, Call Lynne on 07772941347 or Megan on 07800689082 alternatively email fis@wrexham.gov.uk
We hope that this information is helpful, if there is anything else that you feel would be good to have some information on then please do contact us at school.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
24/2/21
To all our families,
We hope that you all were able to enjoy a break and spend some time together over half term. We have received lots of responses to our recent wellbeing survey that we sent out. We have been looking at some of the responses and over the next few weeks will be sharing information that you have asked for some support with. Don’t forget you can still contact school if there is anything that we can help with at all. Here is some helpful pages and links for you this week.
Sleep Advice
Here are some great articles with some advice on how to support your children with getting the best nights sleep.
NHS Sleep Advice
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/healthy-sleep-tips-for-children/
Sleep Advice- The Sleep Council
Sleep Advice for Children
How the Covid- 19 pandemic might have effected your child’s sleep.
Foodbank
If you need food there are two numbers that you can call that can issue you with foodbank vouchers so that you can get a food parcel. Call Wrexham Citizens Advice 0300 330 1178, or call Citizens Advice (Mon- Fri 10am-4pm) 0808 2082138. They also now offer a home delivery service as well as the distribution center’s.
A typical food parcel includes. They will also be able to help with different dietary needs.
- Breakfast cereals
- Soup
- Pasta
- Rice
- Pasta sauce
- Tinned beans
- Tinned meat
- Tinned vegetables
- Tinned fruit
- Tea or coffee
- Biscuits
- Snacks
Healthy Start
Healthy Start vouchers are available to families with children under the age of 4 years which can be used towards food and formula milk. The vouchers also entitle you to free vitamins for children under the age of 4. See if you are eligible following the link below.
Do I qualify
Anxiety advice
Some of our families have asked for some advice and tips with how to help their child with anxiety. Linked below is two great websites that have lots of helpful information and support for you all.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/anxiety-in-children/
https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/conditions/anxiety/
We hope that these links and advice will help you. Don’t forget to contact us if we can offer help in any other way.
Take care
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
9/2/21
Hello everyone,
We hope that you are all keeping safe and well. Please do contact school if there is anything that we can help with. We have found some more great activities and advice online to share with you this week.
BBC Bitesize
BBC Bitesize have some fantastic resources for families, some great article offering tips and tricks with home learning and also some fantastic activities for the children to enjoy. Please see the link below.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/znsmxyc
Family Lives
Family lives have some great information on their website and they also have an email address that you can contact for free confidential advice. askus@familylives.org.uk
Gov.uk
Gov.uk has some useful information for Parents/Carers during the Covid 19 pandemic, please see the link below.
Benefits Check
As some of our families circumstances have changed during the Covid-19 pandemic here is a useful tool to find out if you are entitled to any benefits.
https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators
We hope that you find these website and tips useful. Don’t forget to check the school Facebook page for some great ideas too.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
3/2/21
To all our families.
This week is an important week on our calendar in school as it is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. The theme of this years awareness week has been ‘Express Yourself’.
Your child/children may have been taking part in some activities set by their teachers on google classroom over the week. We have seen some fantastic work coming in and we hope that you have all enjoyed taking part.
We thought that it may also be helpful to share with you some useful information that we have found this week.
Here is a great link below for parents/carers to also get involved with Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week 2021.
https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/
Relax Kids
You may also have seen that we have been sharing links on our Facebook page this week about how you can support your child with their mental health. Relax Kids has a great activity pack that you might like to do with your child.
https://www.relaxkids.com/express#
Care for the Family
The Care for the Family website has some great support available for families and how to help during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finance Support
The Step Change charity can support you if your financial circumstances have changed and offer great adive and practical help.
Cruse Bereavement Care
This charity has a helpful website for support for bereaved families and has some advice on how to support children and young people too.
https://www.cruse.org.uk/get-help/coronavirus-bereavement-and-grief
Action for Happiness
Finally as it is the start of a new month we thought we would share the February version of the Action for Happiness calendar. We hope you enjoy it!
https://www.actionforhappiness.org/friendly-february
We hope that you all have a good week. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to support you or your children.
Take care,
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
27/1/21
Hello Everyone.
Here are some more links to useful advice, tips and activities to help you and your family.
Skills Toolkit
If you are looking to improve some of your own skills to help support your child or you wish to get back into employment the skills toolkit below has some fantastic online courses that you also get a certificate for.
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/find-a-course/the-skills-toolkit
Free School Meals
For some of our families your circumstances may have changed in recent months and you may now be eligible for Free School Meals. Please check the website below to see the eligibility criteria/guidance and how to apply.
https://www.wrexham.gov.uk/service/school-meals/free-school-meals
Parents/Carers Wellbeing
The link below has some fantastic tips on how to manage your own wellbeing as a parent/carer in lockdown.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zrmhscw
Worrying
If you find that your child is worrying more lately then have a look at this BBC video with some top tips.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08n8k6r
Food bank
If you need a food parcel please call the CAB foodbank helpline on 0808 208 2138. They can help you to access it.
Struggling with Bills
If you are struggling with debt or the bills are just mounting up. This service can offer free help and advice.
CMA connect Wrexham
Phone – 07506248737
email: help@cmaconnectwrexham.org.uk
https://cmaconnectwrexham.org.uk/
Children’s Mental Health Week
Finally, but very importantly, next week is Children’s Mental Health Week – 1st- 7th February. The theme is Express Yourself. Don’t forget to check back here for some helpful hints and tips and we will also be sharing some ideas with your teachers who will share them with you on Google Classroom.
We hope that you have a good week.
Take Care
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge.
21.1.2021
Hello to our families.
As promised here are some things below that may be of interest and help to you and your family.
Coleg Cambria
Coleg Cambria Lockdown Learning 2021. If you are over 19 years of age, earn up to £26,000 per year you could be entitled to free courses. If you are on furlough, agency workers, zero hour contracts or at risk of redundancy you can apply for a personal learning account regardless of salary. The courses provide a range of skills that will be useful for future employment. For more information please contact 0300 3030 006 (option 3) or email pla@cambria.ac.uk
Hafren Dyfrdwy- Here to Help Scheme
Here to help scheme will provide you with between 10%-90% off your water bill regardless of age employment status, or if you receive benefits, if you are struggling with the Hafren Dyfrdwy bill they are here to help. For more information please see the link below
HomeStart
Please see the following website for useful information to support you and your family
homestart.org.uk/Pages/Category/support-for-families-during-covid-19
Action for Children
Please see the following link for support for parents during Covid-19. There is lots of articles and helpful advice for families.
https://parents.actionforchildren.org.uk/covid-19/
Shoo Rayner
For a bit of fun and something to do together as a family. Why not check out some great art videos and tips by Shoo Rayner on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/user/ShooRaynerDrawing
Also. don’t forget to check the school Facebook page where there is also useful information and fun activities shared.
Best wishes and warm regards
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
Useful Information
Dear All…
Each week we will be uploading some useful information for families. The first link that we would like to share with you is from the website action for children. We hope that you find the article helpful. https://parents.actionforchildren.org.uk/covid-19/how-can-i-help-if-my-child-is-worried-about-covid-19/
Action for Happiness
We have recently discovered this wonderful website that is full of lots of ideas to support you and your family. One idea that we particularly like is the KINDNESS CALENDAR. We hope you enjoy the ideas and activites.
https://www.actionforhappiness.org/calendars
Wellbeing Questionnaires
We have carried out some Wellbeing Questionnaires with some of our pupils to find out their thoughts about school. We will let you know the outcomes in January.
Christmas Message
We would like to wish you all a peaceful and relaxing Christmas holidays. We hope to be able to organise some events for families in 2021.
Best wishes
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
Mental Health Information
Here are some useful phone numbers and people to contact to support you with your mental health.
C.A.L.L – Community Advice and Listening Line 0800 132 737 or text ‘help’ followed by a question to 81066.
Samaritans – phone 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
Mind – phone 020 8519 2122
Advance Brighter Futures Wrexham – phone 01978 364777
If there is anything we can help you with please get in touch. We are sorry we are unable to have Family events at the moment however we are still available to chat if you need us.
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
Useful Information
To our families- here are some useful phone numbers/emails:
Citizens Advice – 01978 364639
Family Information Service – 01978 292 094
Mind – Mental Health support – 03001233393
Advice about Universal Credit – 01978 364639
Coleg Cambria – Advice re adult learning – Heather Williams – heather.williams@cambria.ac.uk
Job Centre – 08001690190
If there is anything we can help you with please get in touch. We are sorry we are unable to have Family events at the moment however we are still available to chat if you need us.
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
Adult Learning – Welcome back!
We would like to continue to offer support with Adult learning and other skills parents or family members would like to up date or develop.
There are a number of online courses available through our link with Coleg Cambria. These courses may benefit your learning and/or your child/childrens learning.
The two courses outlined below are to help with maths and english and will help parents or family members to support children with their learning at home. Please contact me if you want any further information or contact Heather Williams from Coleg Cambria whose email is written in the information below.
If you would like advice or support regarding writing CVs or anything related to preparing for the workplace etc please contact me and I can put you in touch with someone who can help or a course related to the area you would like advice about.
Warm Regards,
Mrs O’Toole
Help a Child with English course
Course Duration –1 hour per week for 6 weeks with 1 hour for self study/drop in workshop with course tutor
Course Info-The classes will help you brush up on how best to help your child with their English work through written, fun and practical activities.
The class will give you ideas on how to make English fun for your young child. You will get a better understanding of how English is taught in school and ways to support your child best at home whilst homeschooling. At the end of this course you will be given the opportunity to further develop your own English skills and possibly achieve a nationally recognised qualification in English, should this be something you feel you would benefit from.
The classes will be offered online via Google Meet using Google Classroom. You will need access to the internet.
Friendly and informal – run by a qualified adult community tutor. You will be given support to help access the digital platforms you need. If you are interested please contact our Adult Learning Liaison Officer, , Heather Williams – heather.williams@cambria.ac.uk
Assessment – Regular feedback and support from tutor
Entry Requirements – Must have access to a device / internet / log in although help will be given where necessary. Cost – FREE (subject to eligibility)
Help a Child with Maths course
Course Duration-1 hour per week for 6 weeks with 1 hour for self study/drop in workshop with course tutor
Course Info- The classes will help you brush up on how best to help your child with their maths work through written, fun and practical activities.
The class will give you ideas on how to make maths fun for your young child. You will get a better understanding of how maths is taught in school and ways to support your child best at home whilst homeschooling. At the end of this course you will be given the opportunity to further your learning and further develop your own maths skills and possibly achieve a nationally recognised qualification in maths, should this be something you feel you would benefit from.
The classes will be offered online via Google Meet using Google Classroom. You will need access to the internet.
Friendly and informal – run by a qualified adult community tutor. You will be given support to help access the digital platforms you need. If you are interested please contact our Adult Learning Liaison Officer, Heather Williams – heather.williams@cambria.ac.uk.
Assessment – Regular feedback and support from tutor
Entry Requirements – Must have access to a device / internet / log in although help will be given if needed.
Cost – FREE (subject to eligibility)
Your Space
We are working alongside Your Space
A group that support children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Please see attached pdfs for more details, booklets and timetables of events.
Your Space Booklet Sept 19 updated
Your Space Summary Activities September 2019
Family Care leaflet
Please click the link below for more information about family centres
Welcome to family centres leaflet.pdf2
Intergenerational Project
Some of our pupils are visiting Pendine to spend time with the residents doing a range of activities such as Art and Storytelling. It is an amazing experience and each time I take the pupils there I feel deeply proud of them. They have fostered wonderful connections with the residents and according to the staff at Pendine the residents thoroughly enjoy their time with the children and greatly look forward to their visits. Mrs O’Toole
Free Maths, English and Computer sessions for all
If you wish to improve/revise your maths, English and/or computer skills we have weekly sessions in school. The sessions are run by Coleg Cambria and are very relaxed and informal. If you feel you would be interested in attending these sessions please contact Mrs O’Toole for further information. The maths/English sessions are on a Thursday afternoon and the computer skills take place on a Monday morning.
Mrs O’Toole
Upcoming Family Learning Sessions
We have managed to sort out some activities for families to become involved in.
Hwb Workshops- to learn about computer skills that your children use for homework
World of Work activities – dates to follow
We hope to see you there!
Selfie workshop
Please see below regarding an interesting activity at Gwersyllt Resource Centre.
Design a Selfie Photo Frame on Tuesday 29th January 2019 at Gwersyllt Community Resource Centre. Free craft workshop 9.30am- 2.30pm call in for a couple of hours or stay all day!
Family events
We have a number of events planned for the next term involving opportunities for family members to come and participate in activities with their child/children. We will keep you posted!
What’s your talent!
If you have a talent/skill that you feel would be worth sharing with our children please speak to Mrs O’Toole or Mrs Edge. We would love to have more parents/grandparents involved in our school.
Community/business links
If you work in a business or in the community and feel that you have something to offer the children in our school or you know about an organisation/business that you feel our children could get involved in please contact us.
Christmas Performances
Today a group of our children are performing music, readings and poems at Glan Aber Court and at the Gwersyllt Resource Centre. We will add some pictures later!
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
Pizza Perfection
Last week ten children and parents/grandparents visited Plas Coch for a wonderful pizza making session. They designed their own pizzas, learnt how to expertly stretch and spin the dough and then they created topping filled pizzas. We were amazed at how many toppings some children could fit on their pizza bases! It was lovely to see families learning together and having fun. We are hoping to run more pizza making mornings in the near future. Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
Christmas Crafternoon
On Friday afternoon we are looking forward to greeting 30 families to school to spend an afternoon making Christmas crafts. We will have refreshments available including mince pies and hot chocolate! Children from Year 3 and 4 will have the opportunity to work with members of their family to create a range of Christmas cards and decorations. We will let you know how it all goes.
Look out for…
We will be adding a section to our website called – Family Wellbeing.
There will be lots of information available for families regarding Wellbeing including mental health information, family support and advice and community group information. We hope this will be of help to our families. Please let us know if there is anything you would like included in our Family Learning/Family Care/Family Wellbeing sections.
Christmas Crafternoon
We had a marvellous Crafternoon. £40.00 was raised for the charity MIND. See Mr Moore’s blog for further information about Crafternoon.
Christmas Tree Festival
Mrs Edge and Mrs O’Toole took the Christmas trees our children made up to the Holy Trinity Church, Gwersyllt today. They will be on show for the weekend-Saturday 10-4, Sunday 12-5.00. Carols by Candlelight begin at 5.00pm. We hope you get a chance to pop in to the church and see the wonderful trees our children created and the range of trees made by the other schools in Gwersyllt.
Mrs O’Toole and Mrs Edge
Gwersyllt CP 
