Worship 2 Go - Compassion

🎥 Year 6 Leavers Video

Here is a wonderful video to say goodbye to a wonderful class. Enjoy!

Mrs. Casey has put together a fabulous and very emotional leavers video for Year 6. The contributions from the children and staff are wonderful and will very...

Worship 2 Go - Week 11 'Vulnerability'

Rights Respecting - Article of the Week

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)

Manchester to provide 'game-changing' post-lockdown summer activities for all children and young people

After months now in lockdown, children and young people in Manchester are set to benefit from a summer-long programme of activities to help get them out and about, reconnect with their friends, and to re-build their skills.

The bespoke citywide programme of summer activities for all school-aged children and young people in the city is being put together as a 'game-changer' to help combat the effects on young people of living in isolation for the last few months.

The plan is being drawn up by the council in a bid to directly tackle the negative impact that being out of school and away from their friends is known to have had on the city's 87,000 school aged children and young people. The council is now talking to schools, youth providers and others - including parents and young people themselves - about what is needed, and is also talking to funding agencies, businesses, and other organisations about how to make these plans happen.

As well as missing out on the academic side of school - despite the great job city schools have been doing with virtual learning for their pupils - many children have also missed out on using and developing the many other skills they use every day in school.  

Skills such as being physically active, team work, social skills, sharing and collaboration, listening and speaking skills, are all just as important as academic learning, but unfortunately different family circumstances will mean some children have had little chance to further develop these skills during lockdown.

There are also concerns that many children will be anxious about starting school again after the current enforced period of absence means the majority of children will have been away from school and their friends for at least five months by the start of the new academic year.

Children's individual experiences of the lockdown period too will be very different, and many may have had an extremely difficult time and will need time to talk about their thoughts and feelings. These are all skills which will need to be re-established in order for children to start learning effectively again in September and at the pace required for them to catch up.

The plans being put in place would see some school sites and other venues used across the city for a range of different activities for children from the age of 4 - 16 years of age.  Although some school sites will be used, activities will be provided by youth and leisure providers and not by schools themselves.

The council is also looking at ways of addressing holiday hunger for the city's 28,000 children who are currently eligible for a free school meal, as part of the overall activities package.

Councillor Garry Bridges, Executive Member for Children and Schools, Manchester City Council, said:  "There has been no level playing field for anyone during the corona crisis - much less for our children whose background circumstances are all very different.

"We are in no doubt that although all of our families have been affected by the virus in one way or another, the difficulties affecting the poorest and therefore most vulnerable of our families in Manchester will have taken even more of a toll on them.

"We can't stand by and see their health, well-being, and life chances disappear during the long summer holidays whilst those who can - who have the cash - emerge from lockdown and head straight for the luggage rack, picking up their pre-lockdown lives exactly where they left off.

"We want our summer programme to be a game-changer: to make an immediate and real difference to this generation of children and young people who - through no fault of their own - have had their lives put on hold for the last few months.  It's important that we recognise how difficult this has been for them, and imperative that we act now to reverse the impact it has had."