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• Message from Mrs Beasley

  Thu 11 Jun 2020

  Mrs Beasley (Reception C)   “To my lovely Reception Class. I hope you are all staying safe and enjoying time with your family. I keep looking on Tapestry to see what exciting things you have been up to at home. I’m missing you all very much and can’t wait to see you when we return to school”

  

• Message from Miss Valentine

  Thu 11 Jun 2020

  Miss Valentine (Reception B)   “Just a quick message to let you all know that I am missing all of you. I have been checking Tapestry daily and I am very proud of all of your hard work. I am excited to see you all when we are back in school, in the mean time stay safe and keep up the super work with your home learning. Big hugs from me to you”

  

• Message from Mrs Stamp

  Thu 11 Jun 2020

  Mrs Stamp  (Reception A)   “Hello everyone! I hope you and your families are all keeping safe and well. I am really missing seeing your smiley faces every day! I  have been trying to read stories to Bowie cat but she does not listen as well as you all do! I have loved seeing what you have been getting up to at home on Tapestry - make sure you keep on posting. Everything feels very different at the moment but hopefully we will all see each other again very soon. Keep smiling!"

  

• Message from Miss Greenwood

  Thu 11 Jun 2020

  Miss Greenwood (Nursery)

   

  “I just want to say hi to all the children in Nursery. Myself, Mrs Foster and Mrs Akhtar are really missing you all and we hope to see you soon'“

   

   

  

• Important update regarding school re-opening

  Tue 09 Jun 2020

   

  Dear Parent/Carers

   

  Following the announcement of the phased return of children to school made by the Government, we would like to keep you fully informed of what is taking place in order to prepare and plan at Marland Hill.

  Actions taken so far:

  • The school has undertaken a full risk assessment, and completed a thorough recovery planning document to support the phased reopening of school. This is going to be shared with staff and Governors once it has been quality assured by the LA.
  • Parents in the relevant year group [years 6 and 1 and Reception] have been contacted to establish their intentions to send their children back to school (Please note if you decide you would like your child to come back to school after initially saying no, then you must inform us, giving plenty of notice as this will affect staffing, groupings and rooms required)
  • Key worker children are continuing to attend school, as required, linked to their parents’ working patterns. Key worker children will be kept in a separate group in a separate part of school with their own teaching staff.
  • The Senior Leadership Team has met and organised how the staff can be structured as the children in different year groups return to school, as well as continue to provide for key worker children and other pupils who will still access home learning.
  • There has been regular communication with staff to keep them informed about current guidance, roles and responsibilities, and preparation for the gradual reopening of school.
  • Preparations have been made and are well underway in setting the school and classrooms up, ready for children to return.

  As you are aware, the Government has identified four year groups that can begin to return to school. The guidance states that there must be a limit on the number of children in each class. In order for us to follow social distancing recommendations, we are able to fit a maximum of 8 children in a classroom. As you can imagine, with 60 children per year group, this is proving to be a very challenging task. In addition to this, we still have the children of key workers to provide places for and these numbers are also increasing as more key workers return to work. To support with this, we are staggering the year groups’ return, beginning with year 6, then year 1, and finally Reception. At the minute, we do not plan to reopen to Nursery children.

  We are aware that some of you have to plan for returning to work and need to know what is going to happen, but we feel the health and safety of all pupils and staff has to come first and we have to plan out a careful and considered approach. Following LA advice, we anticipate being able to open after the 15^th June, but cannot yet give a definite date for the relevant year groups to return. We will do this as soon as we are able to. We are mindful, as parents, employees, employers, keyworkers and Local Authority representatives ourselves, of the real impact of the school closure upon families. This is the reason for communicating our decision to you as soon as possible to enable you to plan for your ongoing childcare.

  Details for the parents of children in years 6, 1 and Reception who will be returning over the next few weeks will be sent in advance of each year group returning, but will include:

  • Staggered start and finish times for each year group. We intend initially to begin with year 6 returning 8.45am – 2.00pm
  • School will close on a Friday afternoon for cleaning and preparation for the next week. Year 6 pupils will need to be collected after lunch at 1.00pm on each Friday.
  • We would ask that only one adult picks up a child/ren to ease the number of people outside school.
  • There will be markings on the playground floor, and around door areas, to support social distancing
  • Children will need to bring a water bottle and packed lunch to school and no other equipment or bag from home. The school will provide a grab bag for all pupils on free school meals.
  • Weather permitting, many lessons will take place outdoors, as advised, to reduce risk.
  • We ask that all children wear clean clothes everyday, rather than school uniform, and shoes that are practical for being outside
  • There will be lunches in classrooms and a rota for playtimes and zones to use for outdoor learning so children can stay in their smaller groups or ‘bubbles’.
  • School staff will be setting out classrooms for the return of some children separating tables and providing individual packs of resources. There will be a limited number of resources we can use, and cleaning of shared resources does have to take place regularly and after use of individual/groups of children.

   

  Please do not send your child to school if they, or anyone in their household, is displaying COVID19 symptoms. Parents should be aware that if one child becomes unwell and tests positive for Covid 19, then a fourteen day isolation must take place of all of the group and teacher who are in that bubble. Testing is also available at identified locations across the region.

   

  School for the children will feel very different and we need to prepare them for this.

  We will begin to send information to the children about what they can expect when returning to school. They will explain different ways we have organised the children in groups, and the structure of the day. They will get to see how the classrooms look and find out some of the new practices we have to adopt when moving around school or interacting with each other.

  We hope that this has given some insight into what is happening and how the next few weeks will operate. You will receive more information in the coming weeks, and as soon as we are able to.

  A final piece of information to the families of all children who receive free school meals - if your child is in school these meals will once again be provided, but in the form of a grab bag. If children are not yet in school, the voucher system will continue.

  Many thanks for the support you have shown the school over the last few months, Please note that some of these details may change as we respond to issues as they arise, we will keep you informed.

  Please stay safe and well.

   

  Yours sincerely

                                                                 

  Mrs Alex Pridgeon                                                  

  Headteacher              

• Carers Week

  Mon 08 Jun 2020

  This week is carers week, we would like to say a big thank you to all carers for your hard work especially during this difficult time, we really appreciate it.

   

  

• Thank you

  Mon 08 Jun 2020

  Thank you to Tabiaz and Tulula for this lovely picture sent into us. It’s lovely to see you both being so creative during lockdown.  We miss you too and we hope to see you very soon!

   

  

• Year 6 Leavers Hoodies

  Mon 08 Jun 2020
  Year 6 Leavers Hoodies have now been ordered for those who have said that they would like one for their child. When they have arrived we will contact you to arrange the best and safest way to get the hoodie to your child. Thank you for your kind co-operation during this difficult time.

  

• Home Learning

  Mon 08 Jun 2020

  Our staff at Marland Hill are continuing to work hard to ensure that all children have work available, this is available still through Education City: https://ec1.educationcity.com/ and our website: https://www.marlandhillprimary.co.uk/home-learning/

   

  

• Home Learning Update

  Mon 08 Jun 2020

   

  As per the letter from Mrs Pridgeon last week, each year group has put together a suggested timetable of activities and these can be found on the Home Learning page within the Children section of the website.

   

  Dear Parent / Carer,

   

  As you are aware after half-term school will remain closed to the majority of pupils in line with government guidance. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for the work you have been doing with your children at home and to share details of our remote-learning offer for the summer term.

  • All pupils should access Education City where Maths, English and Science activities will be assigned on a weekly basis.
  • Pupils from Year 2 upwards have access to Times Table Rockstars where appropriate times tables practice will be assigned.
  • Parents of pupils in Early Years will be directed to appropriate activities by logging on to Tapestry
  • There will be a list of useful online activities, including links to websites, on the school website
  • Each week a suggested timetable of activities will be uploaded to the school website. This will include suggestions of television programmes; online work and activities that can be done with your child in and around your home.
  • Support in accessing digital resources is available from school at all times.
  • Paper based alternatives will be made available upon request for those families that cannot access digital resources
  • We cannot send reading books home at this time but can direct you to online reading resources

  We really appreciate the efforts that parents are going to in ensuring that their children’s learning can continue throughout this time away from school. It is important that you continue to support your child to complete school work each day. Having a clear routine for working will really benefit your child, both during this time and when they eventually return to school. Please include the following in your daily routine:

  • Encourage your child to complete a daily Maths and English activity online or on paper – there is value in revisiting previous activities for further practise. Staff will be monitoring access to online resources and may contact parents in relation to this.
  • Read with your child and encourage them to talk about what they have read
  • Complete an activity linked to another curriculum area such as science
  • Complete an activity that requires your child to move about and be active
  • Share a game with your child that involves them needing to speak – board games are great for this.

   School staff are available throughout the week should you need any assistance with home-learning. Thank you for your continued support during this time,

   

  Yours sincerely

  Mrs Pridgeon

  Headteacher