Annual Reports and Transition to 2020-2021

Some of our remote learning Superstars! 🌟

Dear Parents/Carers

Annual Reports

I am pleased to tell you that over the next couple of days you will receive an email from your child’s class teacher with the annual report attached. As I have mentioned before, it is a different format to last year to reflect the significant disruption to the school year. Within the report there is a letter from Mrs. Tennant explaining the changes that we have made and the reasons why. As we are sending the reports digitally for the first time, it will mean that reports will arrive at different times as we have a number of teachers in school busy supporting children on site as well as managing remote learning.

To help protect your child’s personal data we have password protected the report with your child’s date of birth. Once you have entered the date of birth in the format DDMMYYYY (e.g. today would be 06072020) the report will open. We appreciate that there are lots of different devices being used at home and access to the internet isn’t always easy. If you need any help with accessing the report then please email us and we can check we have the correct email addresses. If absolutely necessary, we can provide a paper copy for you to collect from school. We will not be able to post them I’m afraid as this method is not secure enough for transferring personal data.

Transition

Tomorrow was scheduled to be Transition Morning where the children would get to spend some time with their next teacher ready for September. Obviously that is not possible this year which is a huge shame for the children and the teachers. We will miss it greatly, as it is always an exciting day with a real buzz around the school. I know high schools have been working with Mrs. Casey on supporting Year 6 with their next chapter and we are always here to help our children as they move on. We are looking forward to hearing how they get on in Year 7 and I know they will do us proud. The teachers will be producing resources to share with you all before September to help calm any nerves and help prepare the children for their new class. If your child is joining us in Nursery or Reception, then please take a look at this page of our website which shows you who the teachers are and what the classrooms look like. There is also a form to fill in about your child to help the transition into our school. I am sure you will agree that the videos produced for the classes returning this term were of a very high standard and I would like to thank the teachers again for their creativity and hard work.

There are very few significant changes to the staff in terms of numbers this year but there are two very significant staff leavers in terms of their influence on the school over a long period of time. You will know that Mrs. Tennant is retiring at the end of the year but this is also the case for Mrs. Reynolds. She has worked at our school for an incredible 39 years and supported so many children, families and staff along the way. Mrs. Reynolds has always provided the children, parents and staff with great reassurance and stability through her sense of humour, her honesty, her willingness to help others and her deep compassion for the welfare of the children. I know she will be greatly missed by us all and we wish her a very happy retirement.

The moment the children have been waiting for! The teaching staff for each class next year!

I know Mrs Flatman is excited to be joining the school as Deputy Head Teacher and it is also fantastic to welcome back Mrs. Percival after her maternity leave. Miss. Begum is joining Mrs. Casey (in person instead of virtually) in September as Teaching Assistant in Year 6 and she has already been busy working on Google Classroom this term. Given the changing times in which we are working, there may be alterations to the way staff are deployed next year but we will always keep you informed.

September

After receiving the lengthy government guidance last Thursday, we are in the process of amending our risk assessments and plans to allow for a full reopening in September if the health authorities are satisfied that COVID-19 is under control locally. The Governing Body are meeting within the next couple of days to agree the plans and next week we will be able to share them with you all. If you have any questions about these plans then please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. All plans will be posted on our COVID-19 page of the website.

I would politely ask for all families to sign up to the Arbor Parent Portal as soon as possible so that you are all able to communicate with school easily. It is crucial you sign up because there will be changes next year to communication with families, payments for meals/trips/clubs etc, parents’ afternoon sign up systems, newsletters and messages. Paper based communication will be ending, unless absolutely necessary, so that we can reduce the number of people coming into school as well as limiting the amount of paper going back and forth. We already have 40% of the families signed up and here is the link for our school’s Arbor portal for others to join. Don’t be disadvantaged by not signing up and please let us know if you need any help.

In addition to the Health and Safety plans being drawn up, we are also considering the adaptations we may need to make to teaching and learning in September so the children are happy, secure and confident about coming back to school. This length of gap in education is unprecedented, therefore we anticipate that there will be different needs to support when we return. Please be assured that we are making every effort through additional training and planning to prepare ourselves thoroughly for September and that rebuilding the positive ethos and relationships in school is our first priority.

Thank You

We know that you have all had to cope with many changes very quickly and we really do appreciate the patience and support you have shown us in this difficult time. I can’t promise that there won’t be more changes to come, but I can promise that it will always be for the benefit of the children.

Thank you for your continued support

Mr. J. Sharp

Deputy Head Teacher (Head Teacher from 1st September 2020)