I hope the home learning is going as well as it can.  I know many of you will be disappointed to hear that schools will not be re-opening until March 8th at the earliest. Many of our teachers are parents and share your frustration with the current situation but we all need to do what we can to help us take control of this horrible virus. All of the staff here would prefer to have the children in school but we also do not want to be in a situation where the children return to school only to have them sent home because of another national lockdown or an outbreak of the virus in the school. You will all know that even with reduced numbers in school we have had another positive case of COVID in the school and another local school has had to close because of an outbreak there. The ‘R’ number is dropping in this area but it is still a lot higher than it needs to be for us to return to a more ‘normal’ life. Therefore, for now, the majority of you will have to continue with the home learning. Thank you  for all the positive comments we have been receiving from parents about the work set by the teachers – this feedback is welcomed by them all. Remember that if you do have any queries about the home learning all of your teachers are contactable by email between 8.50am - 4.00pm Monday - Friday.

The snow came last weekend and it was lovely to see it and I am sure the children enjoyed playing in it. When real life can feel like we are appearing in the film ‘Groundhog Day’ it is nice when something happens that breaks up the monotony of our current day to day life. The children who are in school loved seeing the snow although it was a shame that we could not let them all enjoy it because they did not have appropriate footwear. I would ask that whenever it snows you do send children in with suitable outdoor clothing. As we have such a large field we do have the facilities to let them play in powdery, fluffy snow before it all goes wet and slushy. This is a great experience for all children and it is a pity if they have to miss out on it because they do not have the appropriate clothing.

There was due to be more snow this weekend but after checking my weather app I see it has changed to rain which is not as exciting.  However, what will be exciting is taking part in the ‘Big Garden Birdwatch’ which I told you about last weekend and starts today. In case you have lost the links which tell you all about it I have included them below:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/everything-you-need-to-know-about-big-garden-birdwatch/

https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalassets/downloads/biggardenbirdwatch/2021/how-to-resources/Bgbw21_how-to-guide.pdf  - how to guide

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/live-lessons/big-schools-winterwatch-live-lesson/zv8vn9q - live lesson

Next week is ‘Mental Health week’ so in the home learning the teachers will be substituting some of the lessons for activities associated with this. Mental health is a big concern in our society, especially now, and I think it is important that we highlight this and give the children strategies to be able to manage their own mental health and well- being.

I hope you have a good weekend – although rain is forecast you can still enjoy being outdoors even when it is wet.