Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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Letter to families 26.06
Fri 26 Jun 202026 June 2020
Dear Families,
As we head into the final few weeks of this very unusual summer term, I thought I would update you on a few things. We welcomed our Year 1 pupils back this week for 2 days a week – it was so lovely to see them. School is starting to feel busy again and the children have settled back brilliantly. Teachers will be contacting you at home again next week to check in with those of you who will not be returning to school until September.
I am continuing to follow government guidance carefully. At this time, there is no confirmed guidance for September. We are working on planning for several scenarios and I will let you know when we have a clearer idea of arrangements. I am hopeful that all children will be back at school but this is not definite and of course, the situation is likely to develop and change for a while yet. Currently the advice is that school will not be open in the summer to any children (including those of keyworkers). I am meeting with CHAS to look at what they may be able to offer over the holidays.
I am now working with the team to look at teachers and classes for September. We are just finalising the arrangements and I will send further details out next week, including our plans to manage transition. In the meantime, we do have some staffing news that I can share:
* Miss Buckley and Miss Layton will both be going on maternity leave at October half term. I completed interviews yesterday and have appointed two new teachers, Miss Chloe Hodkin and Miss Harriet Clarke to cover this. They will work alongside Miss Buckley and Miss Layton for the first half term to give the children some extra support and continuity and then take over the class until Miss Buckley and Miss Layton return.
* Mrs Herbert and Mrs Ward will be leaving us in July. They have both given many years to the school and we will miss them greatly as they are both amazing teachers. I am sure that you will join me in thanking them for their support, hard work and commitment to our school community over the years.
Our ‘bubbles’ in school are now full including those for keyworkers. We are running a waiting list but this situation is unlikely to change.
I hope that you enjoyed the assembly last week and that you managed to get out and about enjoying the natural world. I thought about you all as I went on one of my walks through a wood near my house – it was so lovely and peaceful and made me feel so much better after a very busy day.
This week’s assembly is based on the theme of ‘Change’. This has been a time of change for all of us and we have had to adapt to new things almost on a weekly basis. At this time of the year, our thoughts also turn to the question of classes and teachers for September and, of course, our Year 6 children will be moving on to pastures new. These changes can be very exciting but they can also be uncomfortable and worrying. The story this week is about Aziz who didn’t like change and how he overcomes this with the help of his friend Numi. Have a good weekend everyone and I will be in touch again next week. Keep sending the emails as we love reading them and seeing what you are all up to at home.
Kind regardsMrs Revill
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Letter to families19.06
Fri 19 Jun 202019 June 2020
Dear Families,
Hello again. What a week it has been and I hope that you are all safe after the torrential downpours we have had. We have had another successful week in school and the children are working hard. We opened our final Keyworker class this week and our Reception and Year 6 children have also enjoyed being in school again.
We will be welcoming back some of our Year 1 pupils next week at the Cator Lane site. Arrangements until the end of term have now been finalised (as long as the government advice does not change again of course). From next week over 100 Keyworker children will be in school all week, an additional 45 Year 6 for 3 days, 60 Reception children for 2 days and 60 Year 1 children for 2 days. We have had to limit the number of days due to the space in school, availability of staff and to enable us to adhere to our risk assessments. We will be offering at least some provision in school to over 250 children every week from Monday 22nd June onwards.
Once the Year 1 children are in school all staff who can be in school will be working and we have no more flexibility or ability to run any more groups. We will keep the home learning going and endeavour to keep the phone calls and Zoom meetings going too. I know that this is an uncertain time for everyone and there is nothing I would like more than to have all the children back in school. As we look towards September, the picture remains very unclear and we are awaiting Government guidance as to what school may look like. It may surprise you to know that as school leaders we do not get any prior warning of changes and generally hear announcements at the same time as you. This is incredibly frustrating for us as I am sure you can imagine. As a staff, we are discussing various models for September and I will let you know details once they are finalised – unfortunately, this is unlikely to be any time soon.
We are also beginning to look at classes and teachers for September and I will let you know how this will be organised at the beginning of July. We are looking into ways that the children can ‘meet’ their new class teachers and classmates to aid the transition process. As part of our planning, we will also be looking carefully at the curriculum for the first half term to ensure that children come back into school positively.Note about the end of term – Monday 22nd June should have been an Inset Day. We should also have had one in May. As school remained open on both days, the governors have agreed that they are taken off the end of term. The summer term will now end on Wednesday 22nd July.
My assembly this week focuses on the importance of having some calm time and connecting with nature. I have really enjoyed my walks and love spending time outdoors – it always make me feel better (even in the rain). I know that lots of you have been building dens, camping out in your gardens, growing vegetables and enjoying bike rides and walks. I have also loved watching Springwatch and I have included a link to the programmes website below, as there are some lovely videos, photographs and activities to do. There is also a link to the RSPB Family Wild Challenge website as some of you may like to become involved with this project.
Springwatch - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qgm3
RSPB wild challenge - https://www.rspb.org.uk/fun-and-learning/for-families/family-wild-challenge/The assembly is a guided ‘walk’ through the woods – I hope you enjoy it.
Have a good weekend everyone and I will be in touch again next week. Thanks again for all your continued support and understanding.
Mrs Revill -
Letter to families 12.06
Fri 12 Jun 2020Dear Families,
Hello everyone, I hope that you are all Ok. We have had a busy week in school this week with the return of some of our Year 6 and Reception children. It has been so lovely to see the children – they were all amazing. School feels like it is beginning to wake up after hibernation. Of course, it would be great if we could welcome you all back but unfortunately, this is not possible at the moment – fingers crossed for September!
The introduction of more children to school has been extremely challenging with the new regulations and the complex risk assessments that we have to meet. As the economy has begun to open up, we have also had an increased demand for ‘keyworker’ places. This has meant that we have had to put back the introduction of Year 1 until week beginning 22nd June. This decision was a difficult one to take as I am only too aware of the pressure you are under to maybe get back to work and to have some certainty so that you can plan for the next few weeks. In light of this, I will confirm the arrangements until the end of term on Monday next week for Reception, Year 6 and Year 1.
The teachers will be phoning you again this week if your child is not in school. The class email system is still up and running and some class Zoom meetings have already taken place.
I have also sent out a consultation for the new Relationships Education policy (RSHE) today. This new policy will be statutory from September 2020 and we, as a school, need to consult with parents. At the moment this consultation will be completed online but we hope to have a meeting in the Autumn term if at all possible. Please have a read of the policy and send us your feedback by Friday 26th June. We will then follow up these comments either in a general FAQ format or on an individual level as appropriate. My assembly this week is on the value of Happiness. The story I have chosen is ‘Have you Filled a Bucket Today?’ The story shows that if you are kind and thoughtful to others then you can have a positive effect on the people around you. There are lots of resources on Twinkl to supplement this story if you wanted to do some of them at home. Have a good weekend everyone and I will be in touch again next week.Thanks again for all your continued support and understanding.
Mrs Revill
Head Teacher -
Letter to families 5.6.20
Fri 05 Jun 2020Dear Families,
As the final half term of the year has started, school is certainly a much quieter place. I have been reflecting on the usual ‘summer term madness’ in school and all the things that we will miss doing – end of year shows, residential trips, the picnic and many other events. We are already thinking of the things that we can do when we finally meet again. These are certainly unusual times.
This week the keyworker classes have settled into their new ‘bubbles’ really well. The children and staff have been getting used to the new routines in school and have been working hard doing the home learning set by staff. We are so looking forward to seeing some of our Reception and Year 6 children next week – I have never seen the staff so excited! We are all set up and ready to welcome the children into school and we are determined to make it a positive experience for everyone. The provision in place will be reviewed on a daily basis and may be subject to change – we will, as ever, endeavour to give you as much notice of any changes as possible.
Many of our keyworker bubbles are now full. We are also full in Year 6 and only have a couple of places left in our Reception and Year 1 bubbles. Due to the guidance and legislation, these bubbles are now fixed and there is no room for flexibility. If you do decide that you would like to send your child back you can email the office; however this would mean that we would need to completely review our provision in order to maintain the small bubbles that we have put in place.
The teachers have once again enjoyed making the phone calls and talking to you and the children. I know that lots of you are continuing to work hard accessing the home learning – keep sending your emails as they really brighten our days. We have had positive feedback about the new weekly format and we will continue to respond to your feedback and ‘tweak’ things as necessary. The class email system is still up and running and some class Zoom meetings will start to happen again from next week.
I know that many of you will have watched the events in America unfold this week and I am sure that some of your children will have asked lots of questions about it. It made me think of one of our core values of Respect – respect for each other, valuing everyone and celebrating difference and diversity. My assembly this week will focus on that key value of Respect and I will also read a story called ‘Odd Dog Out’ which talks about finding your place in the world and being proud of who you are. These sorts of issues can be difficult to talk about, particularly with children, but it is important to be led by the children and answer questions and enable this debate and discussion if the children want it.
Thank you all so much for your support, flexibility and kind words. These past weeks (since late
March) have been, without doubt, the most difficult period of my time in education leadership and I will share with you that at times I have felt close to being overwhelmed by what I've been asked to do and then, as a result, what I have had to ask the staff and all of you at home to do. I feel immensely proud of our school and community and I know that we will come back from this even stronger than before.
You are always in our thoughts. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Mrs Revill
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Home Learning Letter
Mon 01 Jun 20201 June 2020
Dear parents/carers,
Changes to Home Learning and Communication
As you are aware, from 1st June, we will begin to increase the number of children attending school. As a result, very soon almost all of our teaching staff will now be back in the classroom for the majority of the week. This means that we will need to make changes to the way we do our home learning and home/school communication. Please see the information below for more details.
Home Learning
We will now provide home learning on a weekly basis. All work will be uploaded to the school website on a Monday morning. The work will include some English, Maths and Topic based activities. Some will be activities we have set and some will links to online lessons. All of the work and any important messages will be detailed in the weekly newsletter. It is really important you read this before opening the other files as this will help you navigate what to do and will include links to online lessons. We do not expect you to do it all, but as a guide two or three English and Maths lessons plus a topic activity each week will be sufficient. Please note, we will no longer be posting daily messages.
Children Attending School
We will use the same lessons/activities as the home learning with children in school. For Years 6, 1 and Reception, we will make it clear on the home learning pages which lessons/activities they will be completing if they are in school. Key Worker children, whose days in school may not be consistent, will work through the home learning sequentially.
Emails and Telephone Calls
If you need to contact school, the best way is to use our year group email addresses. We will aim to respond to all emails within 48 hours. If you need to contact us urgently, please call the school office.
We will continue to telephone the parents of any children who are not attending school, although this will be less regularly that last half term. We will call during the week commencing 1st June and then at least once during the remainder of this half term. Please note, if you child is attending school, we will not call you unless you request us to do so. There will be one Zoom meeting this half term for children in Years 2 to 5.
If you need any further information or support please do not hesitate to contact us.
Many Thanks
Miss Anna Hodkin
Deputy Head Teacher