Catch up letter 03.02.2021
Dear parents,
As we head towards the half term holiday I thought I would update you on a few issues.
Government guidance regarding re-opening
Schools will not be required to open during the half term holiday for anyone. This will give everyone a well-earned break.
School will not re-open to full capacity until Monday 8th March at the earliest and the government has said it will give us 2 weeks’ notice so that we can prepare. I will let you know about re-opening as soon as we are informed.
We are of course open for vulnerable children and those of key workers. However, the guidance does recommend that children stay at home if they possibly can.
Findings from the Parent survey on remote learning
We have further developed our remote learning offer since January and I asked for feedback last week so that we can continue to refine it in order to give our children the best possible options for learning. The summary of the survey is as follows;
We received responses for 45 individual children, 12 of whom come in to school for all or some of the week. (32% response rate for all children and 24% for children solely remote working).
Seesaw – Good platform. Most children find it easy to use. Some issues with writing directly on to the screen or preferring to print off and write on paper.
Zoom – almost all people say their children engage and it is good. Some comments about length of session – a bit long. Tiny minority say they feel their child loses focus and are asking for smaller groups. Zoom assemblies seem very well liked and appreciated. The children enjoy seeing their friends.
Feedback – a resounding YES for being motivational and many say it helps children (and parents) know what to do next to improve. Some commented on the immediacy of the feedback really helping. Keep it short – this will potentially reduce teachers' workloads too.
Any other comments –
Can teachers say by when they will upload the activities so parents don’t need to keep checking?
Set work/lessons as in advance as possible to allow parents to prepare in advance.
Any way Seesaw can accommodate two sign-ins at once for siblings? Time consuming having to keep logging in and out to switch between the two (or more) children.
Can school send out print outs of lessons for collation in books? Many parents saying they have to print a lot stuff out because it’s easier for the children.
We have also had comments about the number of activities sitting in the Assigned activity box so we have discussed this as a staff and will archive assignments and upload some messages as announcements rather than activities.
We shall be looking at what we can do to address these issues. Thank you to those who responded.
Lateral Flow Tests for staff
This is to let you know that all staff who attend school are now taking the Home Covid tests twice a week. Whilst these tests are not the most accurate they do give us a good indication. From my point of view I think it makes staff feel more confident and I hope this also makes you feel more confident if your child is attending school.
School reports and Consultation meetings
We usually prepare a full written report for your child before the Easter break and hold Consultation meetings in the last week before the holidays. As we will have been in lockdown for the majority of the spring term and not able to accurately assess where the children are, we are going to hold off writing reports until the Summer. We shall however hold consultation meetings (probably by Zoom) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 23-25 March, 3.30pm-6pm.
Finally I would like to thank everyone for continuing to support the school so that we can provide the best learning we can whilst remembering to value and care for each other’s well-being. Thank you to parents for being so brilliant at helping your children with their home learning. We appreciate that everyone’s circumstances differ and you will all approach this in the best way for you and your family. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or myself if you need any help in this regard.
Thank you to all the staff, be they at home or in school, for adapting their ways of working in order to provide the best support for the children. Thank you to the governors for keeping a watching brief on what we are doing and ensuring we are meeting the best standards we can.
And last, but not least, thank you to the children. We know it is not easy being away from the classroom and their friends but they are showing real determination and resilience to keep going. I am constantly delighted and amazed to see their learning on Seesaw. Please remember to join your class celebration assemblies so that we can see your smiling faces every week.
Have a great half-tem when it finally arrives.
Best wishes,
Jayne Ingman
Mrs Jayne Ingman