Dear 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