I do not think that I have to tell you that it has been a ‘bit of a week’ in school. Unfortunately, we have had another positive case of Covid in the school which means that some classes and staff have had to isolate. I would like to thank all the parents who were called for their swift response in coming to pick up their children. I know that it is a situation that none of us enjoy but it is, at the moment, part of the world we live in. May I also apologise for having sent out the incorrect isolation dates to those classes having to isolate. I did follow the guidance given by the DfE, but, after consultation with another party, I realised that I had been given the incorrect dates which is why we sent out the amended letters. Fortunately, it was good news because the isolation period was being shortened rather than extended.

It is a busy week in school next week because we have parent consultations and we have our sports events. Due to the times we live in the parent consultations are being held virtually but at least you will still be able to find out about your child’s progress. May I ask that you do stick to your allocated time of ten minutes. If you need to discuss an issue in greater depth you may make an appointment to discuss it with your teacher at a later date.

You will know that for Sports Day we are having to hold the event across a number of days so that each class competes individually but the children will still be in their house groups and will be competing to collect points so their house can win. We have now had to extend the event to Monday, 5^th July so that the classes who are isolating can also take part and we will have the presentation in school on Monday afternoon (for the children only). Please remember that if you can attend that we are allowing a maximum of 2 parents per child. We also ask that when you are watching the event that you remain in your family group and socially distance from other parents.

That is all for now. I was looking forward to a lovely sunny weekend but unfortunately the weather App has changed as the week has progressed and it looks like we have a few rainy days ahead of us. Let us hope the sun shines for our sporting events.

 

I have not been on the school gate as much as I usually am this week. This is because I have had a lot of meetings to attend and they have all been either at the beginning or end of the school day which is the reason you may not have seen a lot of me. I always feel that I have to explain why I have not been present in case people feel that I have just not been working but I can assure you that is not true.

I know you will all have listened to (or at least heard about) the government’s latest announcement about us not being able to proceed to Step 4 on June 21^st which has meant that we cannot proceed with our end of term arrangements as we would have liked to. Although this is disappointing we have done our best to run all of the events we wanted to in a slightly different format and allow parents to attend the event. You have been very supportive of the school so far and I know that you will continue to support us in the same way. All we can do is hope that if we follow the guidance things will eventually return to how they were and that in the next academic year we will not have the disruptions and changes that we have experienced this year.

After the lovely weather we have experienced, things have changed in recent times and we have seen the return of rain. At least it is warmer than it has been which makes the rain more bearable. If the weather is not good outside though at least we can watch the football on the television. England are playing tonight so it can only help their case if we are all there cheering them on. Who knows – this could be the year when we actually win another football trophy as a nation. Have an enjoyable weekend.

 

 

I hope you all had a good half-term. It was lovely to actually have some sunny weather and to have places to visit rather than just being stuck at home. It also looks like the warmer weather is going to be with us for a while so I think we can officially say that summer has arrived - hurray!

How the rest of the term proceeds depends on what the government decides next Monday (if they stick to that date). I know that everyone would like things to return to how they were but we still have to be careful. As some of you may know we have had another case of Covid in school and we have had some people isolating this week which is boring for the individuals involved and difficult to organise for their families. The person who has contracted Covid has also had both of their vaccines which was rather surprising although medical officials have made it very clear that the vaccine does not stop you getting Covid. The individual who has Covid is now on the mend but we do not want more families being affected by the virus which is why we still need to follow all the guidelines while restrictions are in place. As a community you have been very understanding of the modifications we have had to put in place to ensure that we can continue to run the school and I am sure that you will continue to be patient in the future if we cannot come out of restrictions as quickly as we would like.

Next week we have children going out on trips which is always exciting. Year 5 are going to the Mariners Base and Year 6 are going to be spending 2 days at the Edge Outdoor Activity Centre. We are also expecting the delivery of 2 outdoor table tennis tables for the children to play on so there is definitely lots going on in school despite the restrictions. Enjoy the sunny weather over the weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.