April 24, 2020

Update on Coronavirus – 24/04/20 at 17:00

Dear Parents,

We are back and in full flight already and the sun continues to shine. We are delighted by the uptake in pupil engagement since the beginning of term and the positive response to face to face Teams sessions.

We have expanded the number and variety of sessions for next week. Below is the senior pattern. The junior lessons will appear further down this update in Mrs Wright’s section.

Remember the sessions are recorded so the children can watch them later. Other work continues online on Satchel:One, to offer the full programme of lessons in line with the curriculum. We are aware of individual circumstances regarding technology sharing and also that for some there is just too much work to be completed in the time available. We are looking into how we can help here and will amend the expectation of the amount to be submitted so that each lesson doesn’t stay live if not completed, which may add to the anxiety of those who are struggling to do everything. Just do your best…

There have been a number of resources released recently for parents looking after children at home at the moment. The first is the government advice, which is a sensible and straightforward read:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

Then we have had communications from http://www.kooth.com offering support for pupils who might be struggling with their mental health in the crisis. Have a look at their website for further information on how they can help.

I hope you have a lovely weekend in the sunshine, and you enjoy the freedom of your daily exercise outings.

Mrs Pam Hutley
Headmistress


Dear Parents,

I hope the children have settled back into term well and are hopefully enjoying the tasks and challenges the teachers are setting for them.

It has been great seeing so many of the children (and staff) on Teams this week. It has been a good opportunity just to have a chat and catch up whilst checking the children are all able to access the meetings and turn microphones on. We look forward to developing our use of Teams and will begin some short lessons next week. Lessons will still be on Show My Homework if children are unable to join the online lessons and recordings of the lessons will appear on the Teams chat page; tasks that follow will also be on Show My Homework. Sessions next week will be as follows:

Please continue to encourage the children to use Show My Homework to send us messages and add comments if they need additional help with anything.

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine.

Mrs Victoria Wright
Head of Juniors