8th March and beyond

Dear parent/carer

It is now just five days until 8^th March and I am looking forward to us having the opportunity to reopen fully to all our children as school attendance becomes compulsory again.

As the Government have discussed, I hope this is our last lockdown and we must ensure we do not let measures slip at this crucial time.  Please remember to maintain social distancing, wear a face covering and regularly wash your hands.

As we plan for the return of our children, I have updated our covid-19 section of the website in preparation and this sets out the measures and steps we will be taking here at school.  Please visit our school website and go through the covid-19 sections available from the Home Page.

Many things will be as they were in the autumn term:

• Staggered start and finish times;
• Our one-way systems and routes around school;
• Lunches taken in classrooms rather than the Main Hall (except for children in Nursery and Reception);
• PE kits (no football kits please) to be worn to school for the full day when the class have PE and Games lessons;
• Mr Boulton and I standing out at the gates and around school to greet the children coming in and saying goodbye at home times.

As it was in September after Lockdown 1, our first priority is to ensure the children are happy and comfortable back in school as the best learner is a happy learner.

We also need to ensure that the children fill any gaps in their learning that have come about because of the lockdown measures.  We would not be doing our duty as a school if we did not aspire to get the children’s learning back on track and all staff are determined to do this yet again.

We will use the remaining weeks of this term to get the children settled back in to school life and assess where their current learning is at so we can ensure we make the most out of the summer term.

With so much disruption this year, we have modified some of our usual routines and I have set out  some of these below so you are aware of what is coming up:

• Parents’ Meetings (Virtual), Upper School w/c 17^th May, Lower School w/c 24^th May, EYFS (Nursery and Reception) across both these weeks - We will hold parents’ meetings around this midpoint between 8^th March and the end of the school year.  These will be done virtually, as we did in the autumn term.  By holding these meetings at this point, we will have had chance to get to know exactly where the children are at with their learning and development, and how well they are engaging with life back in school.  It will give teachers opportunity to discuss this with you, celebrate the successes and tackle any issues.
• End of year reports sent out Monday 12^th July – We are leaving these to as late as possible in the year to try and maximise learning time for the children and postpone any summer assessments to as late as possible for the same reason.  End of year reports can then be the best reflection possible of your child’s learning and development before the school year closes.

We will, of course, write out about these activities in due course to remind you but I wanted you to know straight away that these essential parts of the school year have been thought about and organised in advance.

We are all fully aware of the Prime Minister’s road map and the tentative dates that have been published for each phase of easing the lockdown.  Given the nature of the disruptions we have all had to contend with I cannot realistically see school opening to face-to-face events for parents and carers this school year.  As such, our current planning is around activities like national sports week going ahead just for the children and we will also look at how we can use online platforms to support end of year messages from classes, e.g. Y6 Leavers, and also end of year awards for pupils.

As I wrote to you last term, please help us with the simple things to support your child’s learning.  Little and often is the best way to learn as we all rebuild and recover.  Talking, sharing, supporting and helping your child regularly WILL support their wellbeing and happiness, and as I said above, the best learner is a happy learner.  Read with your child regularly (daily please!) and help them learn their spellings, number bonds and times tables.  Little and often is what works.

For now, thank you again for your support of school and, just like previous messages last term; please ensure we are all working together around our children to support their learning and wellbeing.

Take care and stay safe!

Mr Hanley, Headteacher