Newsletter 25.09.20

Dear Parent / Carers,

Usually our newsletter will feature monthly but we have been so busy at school there is lots to report! Mr Thompson – our site manager – has been working morning and night to provide us with a site which is safe, secure and hygenic. The signage alone across two sites has been a huge undertaking. We are listening to parents who are telling us where there is further improvement still – thank you. A huge thanks to both him and his cleaning team who are our unsung heroes. A lot of credit must go to our pupils for following new systems: playground timings and zones, washing hands and lots more information to take in. If your child is tired at the end of a day it comes as no surprise.

It’s a girl!

Some fantastic news to share with you – Emelia was born on 23rd September – congratulations Miss Hudson – both Mum and baby are doing well.

New teacher

We have recruited a new teacher – Mrs Dhindsa – who will be covering Miss Gulc’s maternity leave. This will start from the 12th October and Mrs Dhindsa has kindly agreed to come into school to ensure she can work alongside Miss Gulc to provide the best transition for 34KG. She is also looking forward to meeting parents.

Face coverings

Thank you parents for wearing face coverings. There are some parents who are not wearing face coverings – if this is for a medical reason then please wear the appropriate lanyard or speak to Mrs Bryan-Smith. We may prompt you to wear one and this is to ensure the safety of all our school community.

Social distance please!

We have had reports from parents that there are pinch points where it is difficult to adhere to social distancing. We are putting more lines on the playground. However some parents are congregating at the front of school at The Lane site- in some cases smoking – this is anti-social and a conflict of our safety protocols.

Cyclists exiting school

If you come to school by bike please remember to exit the school on the left hand side remembering the one way system.

Because the bike racks are on this side there has been a misunderstanding and cyclists must cross over by the children’s centre in order to exit the school. Apologies if this wasn’t made clear.

Nursery starters

Nursery starters have made a super start to school. It’s lovely to see so many smiley faces enjoying their learning.

Music and sport

We welcome back our specialist music teachers next week. Similarly clubs have restarted for sport with our coaches. We didn’t anticipate the huge deluge of rain we had the other day. Apologies to parents for the saturated pupils you had to welcome home on Thursday after school.

Remote learning

How well did your child do with their home learning before we returned to school? Incredibly well is the answer. Pupils engaged with technology and the use of chrome books. We intend to train our teachers and staff to develop and teach these skills whilst ensuring that pupils know how to be safe online. We have had feedback and messages of support recently regarding the importance of safety.

Catch up programme

Our raising achievement team (some of our teachers across school) met to discuss how we best spend the money to support your child accelerating in their learning. Governors are giving their full support to this key priority following our meeting this week. We are so lucky with the expertise that our governors bring to support school. We have already started teaching training on phonics to build upon some pleasing results in school.

Mental health

Teachers and parents have commented on the way pupils are keen to share their feelings and emotions. It’s never been so important to talk about how we are feeling especially in challenging and uncertain times. Mr Brown likes to take his dog Riley on very long walks but I am sure you all have strategies to regulate your emotions.

Remote learning, the catch up programme and mental health are all part of the school’s development plan this year so we will be providing regular updates.

That’s all for now….

Thank you parents for your ongoing support. Have a great weekend.