Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to what will prove to be a very different Summer Term. I hope you were all able to enjoy some relaxation over the last two weeks and at least get some fresh air and sunshine. 

The teachers have been busy planning for this next round of remote learning and the learning for this week will soon be on the class pages on the website. We are all still finding our feet with this way of working and are constantly reviewing what and how we are using the resources and platforms available to us. New resources and access to different ways of learning are being pushed out all the time and if you are on social media I’m sure you will be seeing the many different organisations offering a huge range of resources. We are constantly looking and evaluating these resources and will only send out links to you that we feel are appropriate and worthwhile.

Please be reassured that the work set by school is a suggestion for you, you can choose to use some/all/none of it, so if there are parts which you prefer over others, then please select as you see fit. We understand that as parents, you are your child's primary educators and that you will know what is best for your child and family circumstances. Therefore, the resources we are providing will be used in different ways in different households.

BBC Bitesize and The Oak National Academy have launched a range of online lessons to help with 

remote learning. We have just begun to explore The Oak National Academy resources, so we will test these out before we start including them in the planning you will see on the web pages.  We hope that by ensuring we offer a variety of tools, parents will find what suits them and their children best.

I am sure that many of you will be communicating with friends and family via Zoom/Facetime/Skype to stay in touch (and do the odd quiz), and I am sure your children are all becoming familiar with online communication! However, I just wanted to explain that we have no current plans to create online live lessons and there are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, it is hard to get a private, secure channel. Our children are not at an age where they are able to (or should be) accessing social media independently. We are conscious that many parents are working from home, and by scheduling set times, this may exclude some due to their parent's work commitments, or be encouraged to use the device without supervision. We also have a number of teachers who are caring and educating their own children as well as working from home. They, therefore, maybe working more unsociable hours to fit around their families. I am sure you will agree that the teachers have been doing an excellent job so far communicating with you via Tapestry and the school website. 

Please do use the email communication at the bottom of the class page if you have any queries about the learning which has been set, and the teachers will be only too happy to help you find a solution. If you have any queries or concerns not related to learning then please do email the admin address and the relevant member of SLT will be able to respond to you. We want all children to have the best possible experiences during this unusual time. We are monitoring all of the emails so we are able to ensure that any common concerns are addressed swiftly. 

Keep well and stay safe

Mrs Randles :)