Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• You're doing an Amazing Job!

  Thu 26 Mar 2020 Mrs Bland

  Dear Parents/Carers,

   

  As we approach the end of week one of this new way of life I just wanted to write and tell you that you’re doing a great job!

   

  Lots of people are feeling worried, stressed, overwhelmed and under pressure by everything that’s happening in the world around us and for many parents the work being set for children to complete at home is adding to this burden.   I wanted to share some thoughts with you – I hope they may help.

   

  You are not ‘Home-schooling’.  Home-schooling is a choice parents make when they have considered a wide range of information and decided to keep their child out of formal education as provided by schools. It is something parents who take this decision plan for, they choose to become their child’s teacher in whatever form they decide this will take.  What we currently have is an unprecedented emergency situation that has catapulted us all into a ‘distance learning’ situation that is alien to us and we are all doing our best to adjust.

   

  You are, and always have been your child’s primary educator.  If you decide that your child isn’t going to engage with the work set by school and is going to spend their time away from school building dens, baking, watching TV learning new stunts of their bikes and scooters then that is your choice.  That is your right.

   

  Remember that, as schools, this is all new to us too!  We have had no notice, no preparation time, we were told to continue to provide opportunities for pupils to engage with learning during the time they are away from school and we are still finding out what that looks like and how best to do it.  The activities we are setting are suggestions and ideas to ensure that we are offering enough opportunities for our pupils to remain engaged with learning – use them if they suit you and your child.   Nobody is expected to do every task and remember that there is no deadline to complete by so you may have days where you do nothing and then other days where you dip in and catch up – that’s fine!

   

  It is absolutely not possible to facilitate distance learning taking on the role of teacher with primary aged children and work from home at the same time.  If you’re trying to do that stop now!  The work set by school is re-visiting learning objectives already taught in school, providing the children with the opportunity to rehearse and over-learn to ensure that deep learning has taken place and more of what has been learned will been remembered.   We’ve opted to do this so that tasks can be completed independently by the children giving you time to be able to focus on the elements of your job that need your attention whilst you work from home.

   

  Because we don’t know how long schools will be closed for but we do know that ‘if you don’t use it you lose it’ I would ask you to try and complete some of the tasks set by your child’s teacher each week and as a minimum ensure that your child does some reading each day, some free writing weekly- maybe keeping a diary or writing a report about something they have experienced, maybe drawing a comic and illustrating their writing.  Some maths work, practising times tables, logging into times tables rock star or Sumdog or practical work cooking and problem solving.  Also try to ensure they get some physical play/activity every day eg Lego building, cutting out, playdough modelling – those of us still in school are starting our day exercising with Joe Wicks and loving it!

   

  The most important thing we can do at the moment is look after each other and try to stay well.  Don’t let school work and pressure to complete tasks be another stressor in your life. Your children’s worlds have changed beyond recognition, many of them are worried and uncertain about what the future holds.  You loving and supporting them through this very difficult time is of paramount importance.   

   

  Focus on the things that are most important and find the positives in every situation so that we have the strength to get through this and emerge stronger for our experiences.

   

  During this closure time school and teachers can be contacted in the usual way so if there is anything you need please get in touch.

   

  Take care and God Bless

  Mrs Bland

• Covid -19 Coronavirus School Closure Information

  Thu 19 Mar 2020

   

  Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Confirmation of School Closure

   

  You will be aware that the Prime Minister and Education Secretary announced yesterday that tomorrow will be the last full ‘normal’ day of school. Schools will close indefinitely from Friday 20th March 2020 for MOST children. Schools are to remain open for children whose parents are identified as ‘key workers’. The government will make an announcement later today to identify precisely which groups of workers this will be. However, we do know that the following groups have been identified:

   

  • NHS workers

  • Police

  • Teachers

  • Critical national infrastructure roles such as delivery drivers

   

  While we wait to hear the exact identification of roles, we would like to take a proactive approach and begin to identify those pupils whose parents are classed as ‘key workers’ and are likely to need to continue attending school. If you believe you fall into one of these groups please contact Mrs Anderson, in the school office on 0191 251 8080 asap, and at the latest by Friday lunchtime, to let us know which of your children will continue attending school, so we can be prepared for next week. 

   

  I am working with our vulnerable families and social workers to identify those children who would need to continue accessing school.

   

  Access to school is also available for those who currently have an EHCP and there is an expectation that parents of those children would wish them to continue accessing school.  If your child has an EHCP please contact us to confirm that they will continue to attend school.

   

  With the deepest regret, only those children that fall into the categories identified by the government will be able to attend school.

   

  We will continue to update parents via email and will ensure our website remains a helpful tool to support online learning. Our office email will remain active for any queries.

   

  We are working with the local authority to support children eligible for free school meals, and we will inform you how this will be organised by Friday.

   

  We await further government guidance on the proposal to suspend public examinations for this academic year.

   

  This is understandably going to cause many anxieties for families, and we hope that we will be able to continue to support you wherever possible. We will continue to keep you informed with any new information as we receive it, in what are incredibly difficult and uncertain times. 

   

• Covid 19 Coronavirus Update

  Wed 18 Mar 2020

  Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Update

   

  We are currently living in unprecedented times and responding to information that is ever-changing.

  As a Head teacher I very much understand the national desire for schools to stay open and I understand that many parents in our school community have roles and jobs which are easier to fulfil while your children are in school.   We have conducted risk assessments and are putting into place measures to reduce the ongoing risks to our children and staff in order to keep our school open in these challenging circumstances.

  We are being advised by Central Government, Public Health England and our Local Authority and are currently following this most recent guidance:

  • If anyone in your household shows symptoms, high temperature and new continuous cough all members of the household should self-isolate for 14 days
  • We should stop all unnecessary contact with others and all unnecessary travel.
  • We should work from home where possible.
  • We should avoid all venues such as pubs, clubs, theatres and restaurants.
  • All those with underlying health conditions, all those who are over 70 and all those who are pregnant should take the utmost care and should avoid all unnecessary contact with others.

   

  We would ask that in an effort to protect our school community you adhere to this advice.  

   

  Pupils who should not come to school:

  Any pupil with symptoms, a high temperature or new continuous cough, should not be in school and should self- isolate for 7 days.  We are taking a cautious approach to this in school and will be sending home any children who develop either of these symptoms in order to minimise the risks to others in school. 

  Pupils who live with someone who has symptoms should not be in school and should self-isolate for 14 days, this is the period required to allow symptoms to develop and to enable them to pass the point of infection.

  Pupils who are vulnerable due to medical conditions are strongly advised to be ‘largely shielded’ from the virus.  Therefore I would advise that these pupils do not come to school. 

   

  Potential School Closure:

  We are currently working to keep our school open, however the situation is ever-changing.  We may be instructed by government to fully close or we may be in a situation where because school staff's need to self-isolate we cannot operate safely.  In the event of staff absence impacting upon our ability to operate we may need to operate partial closure ie closed for certain year groups.  

  We are currently making preparations to put some distance learning in place should we find ourselves in this situation and will share this with you as and when it becomes necessary.

   

  We will aim to give you as much advance notice of either of these situations arising as we can as we are very mindful of the challenges that will undoubtedly present.

   

  Cancelled Events:

  We are following Government advice and until further notice cancelling all non-essential activities and events to include 

  • Extra-curricular activities – Access Coaching Sports Clubs, Irish Dancing and Art Club
  • All inter-school sports events
  • All  class liturgy, assembly or Mass
  • Any large in school gatherings such as key stage or whole school acts of worship or assemblies
  • Y6 Booster sessions

   

  As well as the advice available on Public Health England’s website there is a dedicated helpline available to any schools or parents who need further information and this can be contacted as follows:

   

  Phone: 0800 046 8687

   

  Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk

  Opening hours 8am-6pm Monday to Friday

   

  I will keep you updated on developments as our situation changes.  I thank you for your continued support and co-operation as we all work together to keep our loved ones and wider community safe and healthy.

• Year of the Word

  Fri 06 Mar 2020 J. MacDonald

  As part of our Year of the Word the children in Y2-6 received a bible. These will be used in their classrooms to read, listen to, share and live out the Word of God. Father Martin came to school today to share some scripture with the children and help them see how these messages can be a part of their lives. He blessed the bibles and asked the children to use them in their prayers and in lessons.

   

  

• World Book Day

  Thu 05 Mar 2020
  Today is World Book Day.  We have been celebrating this years theme 'Share a Million Stories' throughout the week with lots of different ways to share stories with our friends and families.  We have had the Book Fair in school - thank you to those families have visited to buy a book - the more you buy the more we earn for our class libraries. On Tuesday we had a visit from a theatre company  who told us the story of Robin Hood through musical theatre, the whole school joined the chorus line for the singing and some children were chosen to have cameo roles.  We began World Book Day with 'Breakfast with Books' - there is no better way to start the day than with a Pan au Chocolate in one hand and a book in the other!  Everyone came to school wearing a vocabulary jar depicting a word which was written, explained and illustrated.  Throughout the day we had the chance to share our vocabulary choices and hopefully some of these wonderful words will appear in the stories we write over the coming weeks.   Huge thanks to our families for supporting the activities on offer and helping us to foster in the children a love of reading for pleasure.