🗞 Newsletter 16.10.2020

👩🏻‍🏫 Parents' Meetings Update

We have been thinking very hard about managing Parents’ Meetings this year so that they are in line with our COVID-19 risk assessment and that they also provide families with important updates on the progress of their children.

For the meetings in November, we have decided the following:

• The meetings will be held by phone call. The teacher will call families using the number on Arbor (the system we use to hold details about all children and families) from a school device. Please make sure we have up-to-date contact details.

• The meetings will be up to 10 minutes long. Please ensure you are available at the time booked and also try and help us to keep to the strict 10 minute time limit.

• Appointments are to be booked through Parent Portal and will be live from Tuesday 3rd November at 9:00am (no bookings can be made before this time). You should already be able to see the appointment schedule (Guardian Consultations) in Parent Portal, but they are not yet live.

• Teachers will send attainment levels, targets and any other information they wish to share before the meetings so that families have the opportunity to digest it and think of questions if they wish to. This information will be sent by email, or through Google Classroom if needed.

• If there is anything specific you wish to ask, then it may save time if you contact the class teacher using the class email account (please see the class pages for the class contact details) before the meeting.

• Obviously, it will save the teacher’s precious time if all meetings are held on the day timetabled. However, if you really are unavailable, then you can arrange a phone meeting with a teacher at another time.

At the present time we have 63% of children with a parent/carer signed in to Parent Portal. We need to ensure that all families are signed up so that everyone can make Parents’ Meetings bookings. If anyone needs support setting up Parent Portal, please contact Mrs. Mason in the school office and she will be able to help. If you have any other concerns, worries or questions then please get in touch by email or speak to me or Mrs. Flatman on the playgrounds.

We know that we are living in uncertain times and that these plans may need to change, so thank you for your ongoing patience, understanding and support.

Head Teacher

🗞 Newsletter - 09.10.2020

Remember to click on the video image and the underlined text to explore the links.

Letter to parents and guardians: when you should book a coronavirus test for your child

Date: 23 September 2020

Dear parents and guardians,

This is an important letter to share some information on how we can work together to make sure we can continue to give children and young people the best education in the safest way possible.

One important part of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of pupils, students, parents and our communities is testing for coronavirus. We all have a duty to make sure that the right people have access to get tested at the right time. Every time a test is used inappropriately, a person with COVID-19 symptoms may miss out on getting tested.

Therefore, I ask that you all follow these principles:

• you should only book a test if your child has any of these 3 coronavirus symptoms:

  1. a high temperature: any new high temperature where your child feels hot to touch on their chest or back (you do not need to measure the temperature)

  2. a new continuous cough: coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours

  3. a loss of, or change in, sense of smell or taste: a noticeable loss of smell or taste or things smell and taste different to normal

• your child does not need a test if they have a runny nose, are sneezing or feeling unwell but do not have a temperature, cough or loss of, or change in, sense of smell or taste because these are not normally symptoms of coronavirus

• if you are unsure about whether to get a test, please check the official list of symptoms on the NHS website, which is reviewed regularly

• only the person with symptoms should get a test. You do not need to get a test for anyone else in the household unless they also have any of the 3 symptoms listed above. All members of the household need to self-isolate whilst waiting for the test result

• if the person with symptoms’ test comes back positive, other members of their household should continue self-isolating for 14 days and only get a test if they develop coronavirus symptoms

• if a pupil or student in a class or bubble tests positive for coronavirus, anyone who is advised to self-isolate does not require a test unless they subsequently develop symptoms.

No one else in the same class or bubble as the symptomatic person needs to take any action unless advised by the school or college. Schools and colleges have detailed guidance and access to a Department for Education and Public Health England helpline for advice and support.

Contacts of a person who has tested positive must follow the guidance carefully and in full, which means they must stay at home for 14 days. This is because it can take several days following contact with an infected person before an individual develops symptoms or the virus can be detected. Students should only book a test if they get symptoms.

The NHS has produced some guidance to help parents understand when their child can and cannot attend school which you may find useful.

It is vital for children and young people’s learning and future opportunities that they are able to return to school and college. It is therefore vitally important that all we work together and do our bit to make this possible.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Viv Bennett CBE 
Chief Nurse and Director Maternity and Early Years, Public Health England

Dr Susan Hopkins
Interim Chief Medical Officer, NHS Test & Trace
Deputy Director, Public Health England
Consultant in Infectious Diseases & Microbiology, Royal Free, London

🗞 Newsletter 02.10.2020

👩🏻‍🏫 Remote Learning Plan

Remote learning overview

We have now completed our initial remote learning plans for each year group and I would like to provide an outline of them here.

After the period of lockdown we learned a lot about remote learning and undertook training on digital learning platforms as well as receiving valuable feedback from you all. Each teacher has now produced their own plan which reflects the needs of the children and their age. If these plans are needed, they will be shared with the relevant families immediately. All plans follow these principles:

1. Daily practise tasks

2. Units of learning across the curriculum

3. Feedback mechanisms

4. Communication systems

The chart above shows how this has been planned across the school.

We know that many families struggled with devices at home and that some elements of Google Classroom were a little tricky without training. All of the platforms are being practised in school with the children and indeed we believe we have purchased some extremely good new ones too. Now that we are better prepared, there are also paper based tasks that will be provided as well as equipment that you may be short of at home. We have been allocated some devices from the DfE to be used when children need to self-isolate. There aren’t enough for everyone so if you feel that you desperately need to borrow a device in the event of your child self-isolating then please get in touch. We will be sending a survey home again soon.

When a child or bubble are self-isolating we expect the children to be completing the work provided on a daily basis (unless they are unable due to illness etc). They should complete ongoing daily practise tasks as well as the units of learning provided by the class teacher. There are a number of ways to keep in touch with us in school so please let us know if you are struggling with anything. You can send completed work back to the teachers through Google Classroom for some year groups and by email for all classes. It can be work completed on a device or a photo of something completed, whichever is the most suitable.

The lessons and tasks provided will be what the children were going to be studying in class so it is extremely important that they engage with it so that they are not behind when returning to school. We have selected Oak National Academy as there are high quality videos for instruction and excellent coverage across the curriculum in each year group.

Nearly all of the daily practise online platforms can be used at anytime, not just in self isolation, and are very useful in bringing the children on in core skills. Don’t forget the Learning Zone, Hobby Zone and Relaxation Zone too - there is lots to do!!

Hopefully these plans will not be needed very often as I know how difficult remote learning is for the children as well as the families.

Thank you for your continued support and for that to come.

Head Teacher