I know I say it most weeks but I cannot believe how quickly this week has gone. I have had a lot of meetings and conferences this week (all of them virtually) and the time has just flown. I must admit that spending so much time in front of a computer is not me and I will be much happier when we can return to meeting people in person although I do not think that that will happen for a long time yet.

However, the end of the half term is here and we have all got to the end of it successfully. I am really pleased with how everyone has pulled together to get us through these challenging times. There were lots of changes in the beginning of the term but we are all used to them now. I have to agree with the government that the best place for children is in school so I am sure that by continuing with these routines we will be able to help minimise the spread of the virus which will help to reduce the chances of us getting a case in school.

Over the last week and a half, we have held our telephone parent consultations. All the teachers have given me lots of positive feedback about them and I hope you found them useful and informative. It is obviously not as we would have liked to have done things but at least you all had the opportunity to touch base with the teachers about your child’s learning in school. Do remember though that if you have any concerns about your child you can contact your class teacher by email or telephone at any time.

Half term is now before us and I think we are all looking forward to the break even though perhaps we are not going to be spending it as we expected we would – I know I am certainly not but I am looking forward to the break. May I remind all KS2 parents that the children will need to come back after the holiday in their winter uniform so some of them may need to practise tying their ties during the holiday. May I also say that one of our procedures for keeping the spread of the virus down is to ventilate the classrooms well so I will be allowing the children to wear their fleeces in class or coats if they need to so that they can stay warm in class. We will have the heating on as well but the children may still feel a little cold because of us needing to keep some of the windows open.

I hope you all have a great holiday – remember to keep yourself safe by following all the Covid 19 guidelines and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday, November 2^nd.

 

It has been a bit of an emotional day in school today because Mrs Ilott has left us after working at the school for 14 years. She has been a wonderful asset to the school and we are really sorry to see her go. I am sure that you will join with me in thanking her for her services to the school and wishing her every success for the future.

We have started running some of the extra-curricular clubs this week and they have been very popular with the children. I am glad that we have been able to do this because I do think that school should be about more than just teaching the national curriculum. However, our after school clubs have been affected by the fact that ’Kids ’n’ Clubs’ now has to operate in the main school hall to allow for social distancing so we will now have to cancel clubs if it is raining as we now cannot move the club indoors.

As has been the norm since the beginning of term we have had members of the school community being tested for Covid 19 because they are displaying the symptoms or they have had to isolate because someone in their household has been displaying the symptoms. As yet we have not had a positive case reported this term which has meant that we have not had to send any classes home which is great. May I just remind parents that if your child is displaying any of the symptoms of Covid 19 which are:

• a high temperature

• a new continuous cough

• a loss or change in normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

then you must keep your child at home and arrange for them to have a test. You can book a test by going to ‘www.nhs.uk/coronavirus’ or by calling 119. If you are unsure you can check their symptoms on the NHS website or contact 111. Can I emphasize that whilst you are unsure of the symptoms all members of the household need to isolate and that includes siblings in the school. I know that if we all follow this guidance we will be able to help minimise the spread of the virus in the community.

I hope you all have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday. I cannot believe that this time next week we will be breaking up for half term – the time has just flown by.

 

As you know it has been ‘Walk to School Week‘ in school. Thank you to all of you who helped your children support this project this week. I do think that the benefits of walking, cycling or ‘scootering’ to school are extremely beneficial and we should be focussed on supporting children to use ‘sustainable’ transport all year round. As well as being good for the children’s health and wellbeing it helps protect their future health. There is good statistical evidence that demonstrates that higher exposure to air pollution increases rates of neurodegenerative diseases and we do not want to expose the children to something now that could impact on their future life. If we use less cars, buses and trains we can help reduce the chances of this happening. I have been doing assemblies about this all week and the children have all been quite amazed at how children in other parts of the world travel to school. They were particularly stunned at the picture of a nine-year-old girl using a pulley on a piece of rope to cross a river whilst carrying her younger brother in a mesh sack across her body. If children in other parts of the world are travelling to school like that I am sure that we can all organise ourselves to leave a little earlier in the morning so that our children can get to school without using a car. Even if we do need to use a car to get the children to school it would be good if you could park at a distance from the school and walk the last part of the journey so you are at least keeping pollution away from the school environment whilst helping to improve your children’s health.

I mentioned in my blog last week that we were filming a virtual tour for prospective parents. This is now complete and has been put onto the front page of our website and I thought as existing parents you may like to see it as you have not been inside the school for quite a while. I am really pleased with it apart from the opening sequence which has me in it –or at least I think it is me. If it is true that the camera never lies I need to find a plastic surgeon fast to get rid of the extra baggage around my eyes and the jowls that have developed around my chin! Let us hope I do not put off new parents coming to the school.

Next week we are starting our parent consultations. Unfortunately, because of Covid 19, we cannot do them in person so we are doing them by telephone this term. You can still book appointments in advance, and, as I always ask you, please stick to your allocated amount of time. If something needs to be discussed in more depth the class teacher will contact you at a later date to discuss it in more detail. Hopefully, at some time in the not too distant future, we will be able to welcome you in person again but in the meantime we have to do all we can to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus in school.

Have a great weekend. It may be getting colder but at least we are not expected to get the rain that we had last weekend (although it does not appear that way this afternoon).

 

I find it hard to believe that it is October – it does not feel like 2 minutes since we were preparing for the start of term and all the changes we had to implement because of Covid. Everyone seems used to the new routines now and we really have got used to the ‘new normal’. Now that we are settled we are looking into being able to start some after school clubs for the children. It means that the clubs will not run as regularly as they used to but at least we will be able to offer some of the children some extra-curricular provision. When we have made a decision we will let you know – it will also be dependent on any new government guidance which we receive.

This year, due to the pandemic we are not holding guided tours for prospective parents around the school. Instead we will be uploading a virtual tour of the school so prospective parents can see how the school looks. I am mentioning this in my blog because I know some established parents have not been in the school for a while now and may like to look at this tour so they can see how the school looks now. I will let you all know when I put it on the website.   

That is all for now. The weather for the weekend is not looking too promising but I hope you will not let it dampen your spirits. See you all on Monday.