Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
Dear Parents,
Following recent government announcements regarding the re-opening of schools, the Director of Children and Young People's Services, Steve Reddy, has today written to all parents in Liverpool to explain the city position.
Please click on the link below to access the document on our Newsletters page:
https://www.normanpannell.com/stream/newsletters/full/1/-//
Please take time to read the letter in full and to understand it in detail before contacting school. We will of course be here for you and I will be very interested to hear your views or try to answer any questions you may have.
Regardless of the national picture, it is clear that Liverpool LA are putting our children's and school staff's health and wellbeing at the forefront of decision-making with regard to our local Covid-19 situation.
If you would like to contact me, please use the e-mail address: norman-ht@normanpannell.liverpool.sch.uk
I will try to respond individually as soon as I can, dependent on how much correspondence I receive.
Thank you for your continued support and good will during these very difficult times. Stay safe, and I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Yours sincerely,
Rob Simpson
Good evening everyone,
We have just posted our new staff lockdown video for the children, parents and wider school community. Our driving message is Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds, Healthy Futures. When there are a lot of things out there to worry and feel stressed about, it is even more important to find ways to think positively, keep active, keep learning and keep having FUN!
Please click the link at the bottom for our school video resource page, or go to our Twitter page. We would love to see photos or videos of the children joining in and showing us what they've been up to - these can be posted as replies to our video. If you do post, please use @NormanPannellPS to make sure we don't miss it.
Stay safe, keep believing, keep smiling.
Mr. Simpson
https://twitter.com/NormanPannellPS/status/1259923540020690945?s=20
Good evening parents and carers,
Last night (Sunday 11th May), Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, gave an indication of how and when schools might return.
Primary schools in England could reopen to some year groups from 1 June "at the earliest", says Boris Johnson.
The prime minister said a phased return to school would begin with pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6, if infection rates and the government's other tests at the time allow it.
(source: BBC News website)
At this point, we have no further details on this. There is no set confirmed date, and we will be looking at further details and guidance as it emerges.
This week, the 'Netherley Hub' will be led by staff from St. Gregory's, therefore there will not be a Norman Pannell member of staff in the school office. Please do not phone school to ask about school re-opening. We do not know any further details than those published in the press. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at norman-ht@normanpannell.liverpool.sch.uk and I will try to respond, but I stress, we have more questions than answers at this point.
In the meantime, please stay safe at home, except for those limited activities permitted in government guidance.
Yours sincerely,
Rob Simpson
(Head Teacher)
Good morning parents and carers,
We are now into the 3rd week of the e-voucher scheme in Liverpool. Gradually, they system is improving and far more parents are having success with redeeming and then spending their vouchers.
However, I am aware from the system that there are some parents who are still not 'redeeming' their vouchers and therefore have not been able to spend the £15 per child per week that they are entitled to.
If this is you, please e-mail me to arrange a phone call for some help. We want to ensure that everyone gets the support they are entitled to. My e-mail address is norman-ht@normanpannell.liverpool.sch.uk
If you are not currently registered for Free School Meals, but think that you now might be, please go to the Local Authority website (link below) to find out more and register.
LCC Information and application: https://liverpool.gov.uk/benefits/free-school-meals/
Yours sincerely,
Rob Simpson
(Head Teacher)
Good evening parents and carers,
It appears that the system is working quicker and more reliably this week, although I am aware that some people may still be having issues.
The majority of parents have 'redeemed' this week's voucher, as well as last week's, so there is definite progress. Thank you so much for your patience and polite e-mails during what has been a stressful time.
If you are continuing to have issues, please e-mail me at norman-ht@normanpannell.liverpool.sch.uk
Kind regards,
Rob Simpson
(Head Teacher)
Good morning parents and carers,
As we enter a new week, parents are DUE to receive their e-mail from Edenred for the second voucher. Having logged on to the website this morning, I can see that for many parents, the status is 'LIVE', meaning those e-mails should be with you already, or will be very shortly. There are some parents who have not yet gone 'LIVE', but hopefully this will happen at some point today.
There are still a small number of parents who have not received their e-mail from last week, or who have not redeemed their voucher yet. We will be in touch with these parents today by phone in order to discuss how to resolve the situation.
There are some signs that the system is slowly improving, so hopefully the issues that we have experienced last week will become less frequent.
Please e-mail me at norman-ht@normanpannell.liverpool.sch.uk to update me, ask questions or report issues.
Yours sincerely,
Rob Simpson
(Head Teacher)
Good morning parents,
I am pleased to say that, having checked the Edenred website, ALL applications for this week's vouchers have now gone 'LIVE', meaning that if you haven't already received your e-mail, you should do today.
Please check your e-mail inbox (and junk inbox just in case) to redeem your voucher as soon as possible.
When you do this, you will select the supermarket of your choice, then when you submit you will receive your voucher to spend within 24 hours (most parents so far have received it within a few hours).
Good luck - let us know (e-mail or phone school) if you have any problems. Next week's order is being processed so hopefully this will be less frustrating next week and thereafter.
Yours sincerely,
Rob Simpson
(Head Teacher)
Dear Parents,
Today there has been progress for some, but again frustration for some others. With no apparent pattern or reason, I can see that the majority of parents' status on the Edenred website have turned to 'LIVE' (38 out of 48), with a small number not processed yet. Of the 38 that have gone 'LIVE', 10 so far have progressed to 'REDEEMED', meaning parents have successfully acted upon the e-mail they have received and ordered their voucher. A few parents now have their finished voucher on their phone for the supermarket of their choice, so it seems it is worth waiting for and proves that we will get there! Again, apologies for the frustration this has caused parents - this is the same up and down the country. Please ensure you check your 'junk' e-mails in case they have been sent there. The website definitely seems to work quicker in the evening or early morning, so if you have received your e-mail, it is worth having a go out of office hours to save a lot of time.
Liverpool Local Authority recognise this problem and have kindly purchased a huge number of £10 ASDA vouchers for our city's parents entitled to Free School Meals. If you have not yet received your e-mail, you can go to the school office tomorrow and collect one voucher per child from Miss Harrison, who is leading the Hub in the office this week.
Next week's order was made yesterday, two days earlier than last week when we were first trying to collect the e-mail addresses, so as the system settles down, I hope these teething problems will be resolved by the powers that be, and you will receive your vouchers on time.
In the meantime, thank you again for your patience - we are doing everything we can and are still ahead of many many schools in the city with where we are up to at the moment.
Yours sincerely,
Rob Simpson
(Head Teacher)
Good afternoon parents and carers,
Although many of you have still not received your e-mail from the government's new Free School Meals voucher provider, I am pleased to say that the first few parents have. These parents have reported to me that they have received the e-mail and then clicked 'redeem', allowing them to choose the supermarket of their choice and create their voucher, which will according to the e-mail, be finally e-mailed to them within 24 hours, ready to use in store. They have warned that this has taken between 30-60 minutes, but from my own experience, I would advise that the website works more smoothly late at night or very early in the morning (before 9am).
The parents who have had success have also managed to create a £15 voucher for Morrison's (which had been a concern yesterday).
I expect the remaining e-mails to be delivered from the online provider very soon so that all of the parents who are eligible and have given us their e-mail address will be able to create the e-vouches tomorrow.
I realise that this has been a huge frustration and cause of anxiety, and we have answered many phone calls and e-mails today from parents who are patiently waiting for the voucher to arrive. I will be submitting next week's order tonight, when I can get access to the website, so that the order comes through earlier next week. I will also be able to order a few weeks in advance, so that the system should become much smoother as the weeks go by. Thank you so much for your patience and support while we have been getting this new system off the ground.
If you are still waiting, and you are struggling financially, we do have some 'backup plan' £10 vouchers for ASDA at school. For this week only, if it would help, you may go to school tomorrow to collect one voucher per eligible child (must be registered for benefits-related Free School Meals with the local authority). This will be in addition to the e-voucher that you should get shortly.
I can only apologise once again for any distress that this new system has caused - I have spent most of the last week along with many colleagues during the last week on this, so share your pain. We have been working very hard and are ahead of some other very frustrated schools in this process. Fingers crossed it will be easier moving forward.
Yours sincerely,
Rob Simpson
(Head Teacher)
Dear Parents and Carers,
Today has been very frustrating for head teachers, school admin teams and no doubt, for you as parents as well. Across Liverpool and the country, schools have been trying everything they can to ensure the parents receive a Free School Meal voucher (£15 per child per week). You helped us with this by providing an e-mail address, which we submitted last week. The system states that today is the 'delivery date', but as yet I understand the vouchers have not been sent. This could happen at any time, but I am becoming less confident that they will arrive today.
I am deeply frustrated and we will continue to do everything we can to resolve the situation. I have reported the issue to the Local Authority and am aware that many other head teachers and parents are experiencing the same problem. Unfortunately the government system does not seem to be working properly at present.
When the e-mails are sent to our parents, you should be sent a code, which you then use, following the instructions, to create a voucher for the supermarket of your choice. I tried this system out this morning and there was an issue with Morrison's in that they only allowed multiples of £10, therefore I could not spend £15 at Morrison's. If you have 2 children (£30) you would be able to use that for Morrison's (3 x £10). I have raised this issue with the Local Authority. However, I did manage to create a £15 voucher at ASDA. When you receive your voucher, if you have the same problem, you could either try to generate a £10 Morrison's voucher, or you could create a £15 voucher for ASDA or another store.
This problem may be resolved tomorrow so it is worth trying Morrison's first if that is your most convenient store to use.
I am so sorry that parents have been left expecting a voucher to allow them to go shopping today, only to be left waiting with frustration. This is beyond our control. As soon as I am given any information, I will update this page and we will do everything we can to help parents and carers with any issues.
Kind regards,
Rob Simpson
(Head Teacher)