Newsletters and latest news
Change to Bank Holiday 2020 – Due to the governments recent announcement, the bank holiday, originally set for Monday 4 May 2020, will be switched to Friday 8 May, to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
Update on Coronavirus and School 20th March 2020
Dear Parents/Carers,
A sentence that I never thought I would have to write: This afternoon, we will close our school indefinitely. On Monday, it will reopen, not as a school as such, but as a facility that cares for the most vulnerable pupils and allows for key staff to continue in their roles as our country faces up to the current situation. Parents whose children are able to attend school from Monday will be informed in a separate email, hopefully by the end of today. Government guidelines, released this morning, make it clear that children should only be attending school if completely unavoidable:
• If it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should be.
• If a child needs specialist support, is vulnerable or has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be available for them.
• Parents should not rely for childcare upon those who are advised to be in the stringent social distancing category such as grandparents, friends, or family members with underlying conditions.
• Parents should also do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus. They should observe the same social distancing principles as adults.
To gauge the numbers of children that may be attending, could I ask any parent that feels as though they are a key worker to complete the online form, as soon as possible, via the link below:
https://forms.gle/ot7WpA2F7XE4NbuYA ]https://forms.gle/ot7WpA2F7XE4NbuYA
We will use this as a basis for offering places and ask that parents are considerate when requesting places, as they are likely to be limited. Please only bring your child if you have been notified by school that a place has been offered. I am sure you appreciate that the lack of time between Wednesday’s announcement and today’s closure has meant that things may not run totally smoothly. If you feel that you should have been offered a place and have not heard by Tuesday, please contact school.
Tonight, your child will bring home information regarding their learning, including some paper resources and the logins for some of the main learning platforms that we will use. These will continue to be updated over the course of the closure. All children will be given the contact email of a key teacher in their Key Stage to be in contact with, please use this as the form of communication. ClassDojo will not be being used or monitored throughout the duration of the closure. The school office will remain open or calls diverted to a member of staff. The school building will remain open at times for the collection or return of work.
As I said at the beginning of this email, the closure is indefinite. I sincerely hope that we will see you all again before the end of this academic year. To our Year 6 children especially, do not think that your hard work will go unrecognised – SATs may not be happening but your efforts for this year will not go unrewarded. I hope we get a chance for you to end your last year in style.
Further information about school opening and the service that school provides will be sent out in the coming days and weeks. I cannot thank staff enough for their work in preparing for this situation and I thank all of the parents and members of the community that have offered to help in the last few days. It is a community spirit and selfless service to others that will help us through this difficult time.
We will try our very best to ensure that your children have the resources they need to continue learning at home and when they return we will make sure they return to engaging, exciting lessons that make up for the lost time.
Most importantly, we will remind them of our Mission Statement – that Christ came to give life, life to the full. Over the next few weeks, living ‘life to the full’ will be impossible – stay well and look after each other so that we can come together soon and pick up where we left off.
The rains will clear, the sun will shine again.
God bless,
Mr McMahon