Thursday 14th January 2021

Dear Families,
Just a little catch up to keep you up to date now that we have been running the latest provision for a week or so.

Firstly, be in no doubt that we know that this is a challenging time for you all. Nobody wants to be working like this and everybody wants to have all children back in school and working together safely. Although the data we see on the news is grim, it has been encouraging to see that locally, things seem to be improving a little in terms of numbers of new infections. Fingers crossed that this will keep going in the right direction and we can get everyone back.

I know where things are especially tricky, I have been contacted by colleagues in social care and we are working together to support you. Everyone not in school will be having a call from class staff each week. Please highlight any worries during this call or contact us directly if something arises. We do not want you to feel abandoned.

Class staff have worked hard to plan and deliver remote learning. Remote learning isn't just on Teams but includes other activities which you can share with your son or daughter. I know some families have really enjoyed supporting their young person on Teams which is fantastic and I thank you for your support. Individual teachers will have contacted you about activities for your child or young person as we have tried to make provision as bespoke as possible. All of this is a work in progress and your feedback is welcome. Staff have worked their socks off and I hope you feel that this is improved from our provision in the spring last year.

Please don't worry if you can't manage to do all of the suggested activities. It is not a competition and we understand that children and young people respond differently in school to at home, so please don't feel overwhelmed. We don't expect you to recreate school in your living room! If you need help, please ask.

Also, thanks for the information about devices at home. We now have some laptops which we will be distributing soon.

As always, stay safe.

Kind regards
Janis