Dear Parents, Guardians,

 

It has been such a pleasure to welcome more children back this week.  The children are managing very well within the regulations set out and all seem to be enjoying being back.  On Monday our year 5's will be in for some transition work with Mrs Stangroom ready to step up to the exciting challenges of year 6 from September.  It is delightful to hear the laughter, chatter and music around school again; I could publish a book after all this with all the funny things I hear from children and staff!!  Today I saw the impact Google classrooms could have going forwards and the collaborative work between the children, from a distance, is fantastic and very exciting.

 

I wanted to communicate with you now about staff leaving.  The current situation with Coronavirus has impacted decisions some of our staff have made.  Sadly, Mrs Myall left just before Easter and without a proper goodbye; we look forward to celebrating her commitment to the school in the future.  Mrs Judge was also due to leave us at Easter but she has been able to continue to work which I am incredibly grateful for.  Mrs Judge will however be leaving us at the end of term and I hope in some way we can say goodbye then and properly in the future. Finally, we need to say goodbye to Mrs Beakhouse and Miss Parish.  Mrs Beakhouse has supported so many children over many years and we are sad to see her go.  I know she is looking forward to spending a lot of time with her family, especially her first grandchild.   Miss Parish has been on maternity leave following the arrival of Bernie and wishes to stay at home with her family.  I know you will join me in wishing all our staff well and thanking them for their hard work and dedication.

 

Over the next two weeks we will be emailing home the End of Year Reports; along with the report we will be sharing staffing information for September.  Normally by now we would be organising whether our current Reception children will be in Rosefinch or Bullfinch.  We are delaying the process as we await further government guidance on schools for September; this may impact our structure and organisation.  We will remain in contact with you to share information and we will consult with you as we move through the process.

 

Finally, I wanted to clarify arrangements for the end of term, Tuesday 21st July.  Transition is vital at this stage of the year to ensure the children have a smooth transition to their next year group.  As I am sure you can imagine we wish to provide some support for our Reception children coming into school in September; Mrs Guillaume will be supporting this transition on Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st so our current Reception children will have their last day in school on Friday 17^th July. Mrs Dodds is working with some of the current year 2 children and their last session in school will be on 14th July to enable Mrs Dodds to spend time with the key worker bubble of year 2 children.  This will ensure we have supported them all in preparation for September.  The year 6 children will also have their last day on 14th July although I know there are online leavers’ show plans going on beyond this date. We would like to invite the year 4 children back on Monday 20th July to spend the morning with Mrs Wirth and Mrs Williams to support their transition into Goldfinch for September.  School will be open for Key worker children on the Monday and Tuesday 20^th and 21^st July.  Aside from this provision, staff will receive some training on Google classrooms and have time together to plan for September as best we can at this stage.  

 

I know many parents are finding this time difficult, especially as the length of lockdown seems extensive. We remain confident that in school we are providing as much as we can in a safe way, and at home parents are supporting in the best ways they are able to.  The most important thing is our health and wellbeing of our children.  Hopefully during this period and over the summer we will nurture our physical and mental health and we will come back in September ready, energised and determined.  Next week's learning will have a slightly different feel as we approach the end of term and this will have a focus on our wellbeing.  Next Friday would have been Sports day so instead we will be competing virtually this year.  Thank you Mr O'Reilly for organising this for us; I am sure the Reds will win but I look forward to seeing you challenge me on that!!

 

Have a lovely weekend, take care

 

Jacquie Vanstone