News Update - 13th May 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians,

​As I write this newsletter the sun is shining and I am hoping that you are able to spend time outside enjoying some fresh air.  As some of you know this would have been SATs testing week and the Y6 children would have been able to show off all that they had learnt.  It feels very sad to think that the children in Y6 won’t be able to have the usual end to primary school.  However, I am sure that our Y6 children will continue to be resilient and will cope admirably with the transition to secondary school as they are a wonderful year group.

Wellbeing
School has been closed for 7 weeks now and the impact upon us all is becoming increasingly apparent. Some will be enjoying spending more time with family, but many will be finding this change incredibly difficult for a multitude of reasons. I would therefore like to tell you that there is a dedicated section of our website that contains numerous wellbeing suggestions including: calming exercises, mindfulness crafts and government guidance. 
Click here to view the page.

Prime Minister’s Announcement
This week the Prime Minister made the announcement that Primary Schools will start to have more children attending from 1st June.  During the week more details have been revealed about what this will look like for us.  The key points are:

• Year 6 will be able to attend school from 1st June (dependent on the infection rate staying low in the coming weeks)
• The children will be put into small groups of 10-15 children.  They will be completing the home learning tasks on our website
• The groups will be allocated a member of staff (this might not be their usual class teacher)
• Each group will have a different break and lunchtime – the groups will not mix at any point
• Start and finish times will be different for each group
• Parents have the choice whether to send their child back to school or not.  Parents are asked to confirm whether they want a place in school for their child for June and July by Monday 18th May so that we can plan staffing
• There will be a rota and children will not be in every day to allow us to ensure social distancing is possible where we can
• The Y6 teachers will call parents of Y6 children on Friday to discuss next steps

Coming out of Lockdown
As we start to come out of lockdown there will be very mixed emotions.  It is important to take things slowly and to accept that things will feel strange, and that this is ok!  Things are going to be very different and we will need to get used to a ‘new normal’.
We appreciate that everyone’s home circumstances are different and we will make no judgements if you feel that you are not ready to send your child back to school yet.  Please do not worry as teachers will continue to provide the home learning activities on our website and will support you as much as they can. 
It is incredibly difficult for you to meet all of the demands put upon you right now. We know that when we welcome your children back, we will have to take account of them having missed a significant chunk of school. This is not a problem; the teachers here are experts in identifying learning needs and meeting them. We will find a way to catch up as our whole nation is in this together. The priority has to be the health and wellbeing of all your family; please remember it is not worth falling out over a task on a website!
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As ever, my very best wishes,

Miss Digweed