Please click the image to download the full letter from Buckinghamshire Council

​This week I would like to say a massive thank you to all of you who have been so patient with us while we started using Teams to teach small groups of children – it has been a steep learning curve for all of us!  I would also like to thank the staff who have been amazing at adjusting very quickly this week to all the changes.
Bringing in more children to school has been both lovely and frustrating.  It is wonderful to see children back in school but disappointing that we can’t fit in everyone who wants to return.  You all know me fairly well by now and I hope you can trust that we have not made any decision lightly about inviting children back to school.   I cannot wait to have everyone back in school and have some sort of normality!
At school we are busy preparing for the next academic year and feeling excited at the thought of all the children returning to us in September.  School reports are nearly finished and will be sent out to you the week beginning 6th July.  The reports are much shorter than previous years but will give you an idea of how your child was doing before we closed in March.   
Next week the government are due to publish new guidance and then we can start to let you know what is happening for September and about your child meeting their new teacher. 
Have a lovely weekend and stay safe.

Miss Digweed

After a very thundery and wet week the sun is finally coming out!   After weeks of having just a few children in school, it is now much busier and it is fantastic to be able to hear children back in the building. 
We are acutely aware that our children need to be in school and are concerned that we are not able to fit any more children into our ‘bubbles.’  This week we have announced that we are going to start running some online sessions for children who are in years 3 and 4 (who are NOT attending school) and we hope that we may be able to offer this to some year 5 children very soon.  Please be patient with us as we get to grips with using Microsoft Teams – we are all learning new skills and some of us are needing more time to get to grips with the technology than others!
In the coming weeks, we are going to hold a virtual sports day and Mr Hawkes will be sending out information on this very soon.  We hope that everyone will take part including parents so get those trainers on!
Chalfont Community College
Y6 parents – if your child is going to CCC please make sure you have seen the email they have sent.  The deadline for returning the forms to CCC is Friday 26th June. 

Dear Year 5 Parents/Guardians,

Following the updated guidance from the government, we are looking to see how we can support more children in school.
We have space for a few Year 5 children to join an existing 'bubble'. If you feel your child falls into once of the following categories, please contact the school to discuss the possibility of them returning to school;

• Special Educational Needs
• Vulnerable/Pupil Premium
• In Exceptional Circumstances

​
Spaces in school are VERY limited and we may not be able to accommodate everyone who would like a space. We will  continue to provide home learning on our website and support all our Year 5 children until the end of term.

Best wishes,

Miss Digweed

If there's one thing we miss about the Summer Term, it's got to be the school trips but fear not, we have the answer!

Why not head over to the Space Agency's online event; a talk about rockets and planets by the fantastic Tim Peake! Join him today from 11.30am to get to hear from a real life astronaut!
https://www.facebook.com/events/2463275507296456/

Everyone loves a good wander around an Art Gallery but now you can virtually explore Met Kids from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, watch their videos or even jump in a time machine!
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/online-features/metkids/

If it's the animals you are missing but can't go to the zoo, why not bring the zoo to you!
London Zoo have made a virtual tour so you can meet baby sloths, squirrel monkeys, lemurs, penguins, giraffe and so many more!
​https://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/virtual-london-zoo

Phew! Now that is a long day!

​Dear Parents/ Guardians,

Following the Government’s announcement earlier in the week we are busy looking at if it is possible for us to welcome back more children before the summer holidays.  The limiting factors to if we can increase the number of pupils in school are of course: the number of staff needed and available rooms. 

This term has certainly had its challenges and, as we get closer to the new school year, I feel that there are going to be more challenges ahead!  As I have said previously, I am extremely grateful that I am working in such a supportive school community as this has definitely made things easier.

We are, of course, thinking about September and planning our curriculum for the new term.  Preparing a curriculum for an effective start in September is within our control. Knowing how schools will be asked to safely reopen is not. For this we are relying on Government guidance, which is currently not forthcoming. Buckinghamshire Head Teachers, Governing Bodies, teaching unions and the Local Authority are all lobbying government for early publication of guidance. Clearly, knowing what to expect as soon as possible is in all our interests.

Please be assured that whatever the new term brings, we will be doing everything that we can to meet the academic, social and emotional needs of your children; we cannot wait to have them back!

We are in the process of proofreading annual written reports and these will be sent out by post nearer the end of term.

It looks as though we might get some sunny weather this weekend so hopefully you will be able to get outside and enjoy it.
​
Stay safe,
 
J Digweed

​Dear Parents/Guardians,

Following government guidelines, we created small groups to accommodate the year 6 children who wished to return to school. These groups are kept totally separate during the day to reduce the risk of cross contamination of any germs. To maintain social distancing, we can only have a small number of children in each group and new children are unable to then join an established group.

Going forward we will not be able to accept any new year 6 children into these existing groups for the above reasons.  In addition, we are short on both staff and space to accommodate many more groups.   Therefore, we need to know immediately if you intend to send your year 6 child back to school this half term so that we can plan accordingly.
​
If you choose to send your child back to school, then please inform us by 3.30pm on Monday 15th June by emailing the school office at [email protected] or calling the school reception (please feel free to leave a voicemail if the number is engaged). Our aim is to have a final, definitive list of year 6 children; this will be the last opportunity to join a group.

​Please contact us soon as possible (by the latest Monday 15th June 3.30pm) if you choose for your year 6 child to return to school this half term.

Thank you once again for all of your support during these difficult times.
Your sincerely,

​Jill Digweed

Dear Parents and Carers,
This is Aidan in Rowling Class' mum Claire.  I hope everyone is well and coping in these strangest of times. 
Our children are going to have a very different end to their primary school life than we all expected and also different to anything any siblings may have had.  They will miss putting on a Y6 show, leavers assembly and of course their prom.
I wondered what people feel about us all trying to organise a token for them to have until we can can hopefully meet up and say goodbyes when our world becomes a bit safer?  Previous years have all had leavers hoodies with their names in the outlined year of leaving.  I also wonder if anyone would be interested in asking your child to write a message to their whole class or year group and we could put them together in a booklet or poster?  I am very aware that money is even tighter for many people at this time and this should be taken into account.
Teachers and school are extra busy making things work at this time and I was thinking that if school was in agreement we could make these arrangements between ourselves.  (Y6 parents have always arranged the hoodies and momentos).
A text will be sent with my contact details shortly for anyone who wants to contact me. Please do as soon as possible.
I'm also on Facebook.  

Thanks everyone, stay safe
Claire