5th February 2021

I have really enjoyed seeing all the Number Day costumes and activities the children have been doing at home and in school today. Mrs Howarth has done an excellent job adapting the day she had originally planned for the remote learning environment. It is a creative way to involve the children in learning more about numbers and raising money for such a good cause - the NSPCC. We decided to continue with our Number Day, even though the official one has been postponed until May, because we thought it would be a good way to brighten up the week and bring something different to the remote learning!

Next week, we will be marking Child Mental Health Week - the theme is 'Express Yourself' and we will be planning some activities to run alongside our curriculum activities.

There is only one week left of this half term and I know that this has seemed like a long half term and has been challenging in some way or other for parents and carers - whether they be critical workers on the frontline, working from home, or leading remote education with children, or any combination of these three or others!  It is difficult to strike a balance and keep positive in such circumstances. In school at the moment we are asking all our staff team to write down a 'positive quote/thought/something that cheers them up. We will share these thoughts with each other next week. I thought it would be good to share these with you but also to perhaps share some of your quotes/positive thoughts with the rest of the school community in next week's newsletter. Please send your quotes by clicking here. Hopefully this will help bring some positivity and cheer us all up!

One of my favourite quotes from the Bible is below and I have it on the wall by mey desk!

'Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.' Joshua 1:9

Mrs Reynolds

Parent Consultations

We will be holding Parent Consultations via Google Meet on Wednesday 24th from 12.00 till 3 pm and on Thursday 25th February from 3.30 to 7 pm.

Each Parent Consultation session will last 10 minutes and we would ask that you keep to this timing so that teachers can stay on schedule and later appointments do not get delayed. If you have something you wish to discuss with your child's class teacher that will need longer than 10 minutes they will arrange with you to have a separate meeting about that. 

The focus for the Parent Consultations will be for teachers to discuss with you how your child is progressing and what their next steps in learning are.  They will need to get some more feedback from you on how your child has been coping with the remote learning, what level of support they have had from you and what areas they have struggled with. In order for teachers to assess whether children have reached their learning goals for this half term and to prepare for them returning to school or the next stage of remote learning, it is important that the teachers have an honest assessment of the level of support your child has with the work they have been completing. The class teacher will also be giving you feedback on the work that your child has been returning. 

Booking for the Parent Consultations will be via the school website and will open at 10 am on Saturday 6th February when you will receive an email with a link to the booking system. It will remain open until 10 am on Monday 22nd February but we would ask that you book your session as soon as possible, and by the end of next week if possible so that we can set up schedules and Google Meet sessions before we finish for the half-term break. 

Restricting Attendance in School

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on 4 January 2021, only children of critical workers and vulnerable children and young people should attend school or college. All other pupils and students will receive remote education.

The criteria for limiting attendance in school during this Lockdown has changed when compared to last summer.  The guidance for this Lockdown is that 'Children with at least one parent or carer who is a critical worker can go to school or college if required, but parents and carers should keep their children at home if they can' and the definition of a critical worker has also been widened. This has meant that there are more children currently in all schools across the country.

How schools manage this is up to them as long as they apply the criteria appropriately and they have the staff available. It is another complex issue and some schools will have more staff shielding, for example, than others and this will mean that they do not have sufficient adults in school to offer places to as many children. 

We sent a questionnaire to all parents when the Lockdown was announced to ask if they were critical workers and if they would need their children to be in school. We are satisfied that we have applied the criteria fairly and consistently and we continue to remind parents that they should keep their children at home if they can to ensure the safety of all. 

We have been lucky that we have been able to provide places for the children of critical workers and vulnerable children who have needed our support and that  the numbers that we have coming into school are not so high that it puts at risk the safety of our staff and the children (and their families) that are coming into school. We do have a set of criteria to apply if this safety becomes an issue (eg if we have illness amongst the staff team which means that we do not have sufficient staff to deliver the support to all those who need it).

Every school organises their in school and remote education differently and in our school, teachers are preparing lessons and activities for all the children in their class. They also spend time each day giving children at home feedback on the activities/learning outcomes/observations that are submitted via the learning platforms. The sessions for the children in school are led by our teaching assistants and Mrs Phillips. They use the same materials that are set by the teachers that the children at home are accessing. 

Can we help?

If you are struggling, financially or otherwise, we would encourage you to contact us in school as we are able to access various resources that can help and support you. 

Please email or call the school office in confidence to let us know. 

Following on from our recent survey about IT requirements we have been able to source laptops for families who were struggling to access online learning. If your family would benefit from some help with a laptop for your child to access their remote learning then please let us know. 

PFA Zoom Disco