Our school staff returned from the Christmas holiday for an inset day on Monday 4th January 2021 planning for the coming term with the children expected to arrive back in school the next day. Sadly, at 8 pm that evening, we discovered our plans for the term were going to have to be completely changed with the announcement of a third national Lockdown to include the closure of schools. 

We remained closed on Tuesday 5th January, taking a second inset day, during which our staff worked incredibly hard, meaning that by Wednesday 6th January we not only re-opened for vulnerable children and the children of key workers but that a full programme of remote learning was ready to go for those children at home. 

Enrich learning through progressive teaching methods and technology

During this second school closure period we utilised our school website, Google Classroom and Tapestry to provide flexible learning for our families enabling them to fit their child's learning around working from home and other family commitments.

From the outset, we committed to setting learning following the planned and sequenced curriculum which would have been followed had the children been in school. Each day a main teaching element was posted for each area of learning with a follow-up activity to be handed in. English, Maths and Phonics were posted every day with one of the other subjects from the wider curriculum each day eg Science, RE or Art. We also posted a storytime video every day from a different member of the school staff. 

We had regular online 'Time to Talk' sessions allowing small groups of up to 10 children to meet and chat with their class teacher and friends. These took the form of Show & Tell, storytimes and scavenger hunts. Many of our teachers discovered hidden talents as they prepared videos for the children to watch from home utilising green screen technology and video editing techniques. 

We welcomed all our children back to school on Monday 8th March albeit in Year group 'bubbles' and with a number of restrictions in place.

The video below gives a taste of the wonderful learning that went on at home and in school during this latest Lockdown