Welcome back! It has been amazing to see and hear the children in school again. They have all settled extremely well and have been laughing and sharing stories, whilst adapting to the new rules and structures of the day as if there were no change. They have been doing some wonderful work on Here We Are by Oliver Jeffers. As we continue to settle in next week, we will continue to use Here We Are as a focus through the whole of school to provide a framework for children to re-connect with each other and re-engage with school life.
What has been happening in school
What a fantastic start to the year. It has been a real pleasure to see and hear the school come back to life over the past 3 days. The children have shown that they are keen to learn, are as inquisitive as they were in March and are taking part in some wonderful conversations and learning. They have produced some wonderful art work, created some amazing poems and other writing, as well as working collaboratively.
Drop off and pick up
I would like to say a big thank you to all the Parents and Carers as we continue to get used to the new routines that we have in school, especially around the pick up and drop off times.
We have tried going for a few days with the current set up and we are going to adapt it for next week, hopefully to make it easier for you to drop off on a morning.
On Monday morning, we ask that you drop your child(ren) off at the KS2 gate, we will then take the children from there around the outside of the building, this will mean that you will not have to wait and can drop them off safely and go straight away. Siblings can come together at the first siblings start time, eg if you have a child in Year 1 and Year 4, you can drop them both off at the Year 1 time. The older sibling will go to their class where their class teacher will be. Lessons will not start until all children are in at the allocated time. This is to help those with more than one child in school.
Reception and Nursery Parents - For your drop off you can walk the children to the Main entrance and there will be members of staff there to take them to their classroom. Hopefully this will help ensure that we can get parents safely on and off the school premises, without having to wait around for too long.
At the end of the day, we are going to keep things the same for now. You will continue to go to the playground at the allocated time to pick your child(ren) up.
If you have siblings, we are going to trial a pick up for all your children at 3:15pm next week, from the Main Entrance.
Hopefully this will help with pick ups for those with more than one child in school.
For this to work, please could I ask that you arrive on the school site at the correct time. If you arrive early we will end up with lots of parents on Campion Road and then will be difficult for those leaving to leave safely. The times are below:
Nursery and Reception: 8:45am start - 3pm end
Year 1, Year 1/2 and Year 2: 8:55am start - 3:10 pm end
Year 3 and Year 4: 9:05am start - 3:20pm end
Year 5 and Year 6 : 9:15am start - 3:30pm end
I am constantly monitoring what we can do to make it easier for all, whilst ensuring we continue to follow all guidance and guidelines to ensure we are keeping school safe for all the children in, as well as for parents and carers entering to pick up and drop off. My intention is, as the process is getting quicker each day and we are all getting used to new regimes, we will be able to make the timings a little bit closer together with 5 minute intervals, rather than 10 for the following week.
Thank you for your support on this, I appreciate that it is not easy, but we can get there working together.
Nut free school
Just a reminder that we are a nut free school. Please can you make sure that snacks that are brought in are Nut free, this includes spread such as Nutella. Thank you for your co-operation on this.
School crossings
I have been made aware that there has not been anyone on the crossing at the Avenue for the older children at the end of the day. This is something I am looking into and have been in contact with the council to see what can be done to resolve this, as well as looking at the timings for the end of the day in school.
Tapestry
As we continue to develop home school links, I am pleased to share that from next week parents of children in Nursery and Reception will be receiving log in details for an app called Tapestry. We will be able to share moments from the children's learning and exploring within school. This is something we are very excited about and we will be sending further details next week.
School dinners
School dinner menu for next week:
If you would like to be on a packed lunch one day and dinners the next, that is absolutely fine. We are on a limited menu still at the moment and are looking at what we can do to offer more in the near future.
Finally
It has been wonderful to see all the children and yourselves back in school this week. As we keep adapting and altering over the next week or so, please do get in touch if there is anything you would like to discuss. This is a partnership and working collaboratively we can overcome what ever is thrown our way. Thank you again for your support this week.
Have a wonderful weekend and see you next week.
Mr McGeeney