Dear Parents/Carers,
Contact with School:
A number of our Teaching Assistants are working from home supporting online learning. They will be regularly phoning parents to check everybody is well at home and also support with online learning. This may mean that calls which register as ‘unknown caller’ between 9am and 3pm are from the school.
Headteacher’s Awards
Year 1 -
- Zuzanna - For working really hard on her home learning this week and creating a fabulous picture linked to our story.
- Alfie, Bella and Frankie - For engaging with some of the home learning this week.
Year 2 -
- Cody - For making a super effort to engage with our home learning.
- Summer - For making a super effort for making a fabulous musical instrument linked to our story.
Year 3 -
- Tracy- For taking time to focus on her times tables at home and achieving an incredible score. Fantastic!
- Tallulah- For believing in herself and persevering with tricky maths questions using grid method for multiplication.
- Sofia- For completing her home learning and sharing photos of her wonderful work with us on Google classroom.
Year 4 -
- Ayla- For engaging in all of the lessons and joining our weekly zoom meetings to stay connected with her friends and teachers. Ayla was smiling for the entire zoom meeting this week and her happiness was just what we needed!
Year 5 -
- Miley - for a fantastic attitude to learning. You have worked so hard this week. You have been flexible in your approach to learning and have worked independently. Well done!
- Cody - for diving into the Google classroom so enthusiastically this week - great to have you back in the Google classroom!
- Serenity - for her positive attitude and resilience with her home learning. Well done for submitting everything every day!
- Justin - for his superb attention to detail in his English. Fabulous home learning!
Year 6
- Dylan - for his fantastic effort with his maths work, this week. He has asked for help, when he is not sure and has responded to online feedback. Well done for submitting your work everyday.
- Chanelle - for being consistently positive in school, towards both staff and her classmates. Chanelle comes into school each day with a can-do attitude, and a great work ethic.
Home Learning - a reminder and some updates
Thank you for your continued support with our home learning. The children have been engaged with their home learning. The work that has been submitted this week has been fantastic!
We have set up home learning for all classes. Links and information are all available under the ‘Home Learning’ tab on the website. If you need any password resets, or have any other problems please email us.
Key points about home learning
Lessons:
In classes, Google Classroom is being used for both school and home learning - the work is the same. The childrens’ timetable, which is shared at the start of the week, consists of reading, writing, phonics (infants only), comprehension, maths, RE, science and foundation subjects (including history, geography, PE, music, Spanish). This work is uploaded daily to your child’s Google classroom. There will be regular class Zoom meetings, giving teachers time to catch up with their class, celebrate work and give some feedback.
In Reception, parents and children are asked to access Tapestry daily to communicate with their teacher and upload work and videos there.
Expectations:
Thank you for your supporting comments and kind gestures towards our staff. They are working incredibly hard to support your child with their home learning and all of our teachers are in school doing this.
It is expected that your child logs on, daily, and uploads their completed work - this is so important because we will be able to see how the children are getting on and support those who need it. In the infants, there are 3 hours of work set and in the juniors, there are 4 hours. Our fantastic team of teaching assistants are online during the school day, to support with any questions, give feedback and check in on the well-being of your child. We know from the first lockdown how much the children love interacting with the staff on Google Classroom and we can’t wait to see the wonderful things they are getting up to!
Uploading work:
Before lockdown, your child was taught how to upload their work to Google Classroom - they were using it in class. We are well aware that they may need a bit of reminder so follow the link below for a parents’ guide to uploading work to Google Classroom.
Download the Google Classroom app on the app store or play store. You can also access the classroom, via your web browser.
If you have any questions or would like a tutorial, email your child’s teacher or contact the school office and an appointment can be made at a convenient time.
If Reception parents need any support with accessing Tapestry, please contact Miss Hunt via reception@ctk.education and she can remind you.
Celebrations
We will regularly update our Facebook, sharing what the children are learning in each year group as well as sharing any news. Mr Condon will also share all of our news in our weekly newsletter. We will also have Zoom assemblies, so we can virtually come together, as a school and celebrate our Online Active Learners, seeing which class can achieve the highest percentage of home learning.
Use of Zoom or Google Meet
Staff will be increasingly be using these tools to keep in touch with children on a daily basis and also for regular face to face support and feedback. Where we do not yet have permission for your child to use this tool, we will be requesting it shortly, asking parents and carers to confirm permission via email.
Internet access
If your child does not have access to a computer or tablet, please contact the school office and we will arrange the loan of a device.
Here is some information which may be useful for families who don’t have internet access. Certain mobile phone companies have come forward and are offering increased data allowances for disadvantaged children to help with the online learning.
https://get-help-with-tech.education.gov.uk/about-increasing-mobile-data
Use of Facemasks
To help everybody to be safe, can I again strongly request that all parents and carers wear a facemask when they bring their child to school or collect their child. If there is a medical reason why this is not possible, we do understand and it would be helpful if you could let us know this.
Support
Above all, if you need advice or support in any way please contact us. Even if we are unable to solve problems we will do our best to give advice or signpost you to other agencies.
Vacancy for School Cleaner
We have a vacancy for a school cleaner starting on the 4th January 2021, if you would be interested in the position please contact the school office. Hours for the vacancy are Monday to Friday 3.30pm to 5.30pm with some work required during the school holidays.
Dates for Diaries
End of Term 3 - Friday 12 February 2021.
Term 4 - Monday 22 February 2021 to Thursday 1 April 2021.
Term 5 - Monday 19 April 2021 to Friday 28 May 2021.
Term 6 - Monday 7 June 2021 to Wednesday 21 July 2021.
Please continue to take care and stay safe during this difficult period. We hope to see you soon.
Yours sincerely
Matt Condon
Headteacher
