E-newsletter 57

 
Grendon Newsletter
  E-newsletter #57 Friday 23rd September 2020  
 
  Hello Visitor,

Parents' Evening 

Parents' Evening will not take place in its traditional format this term. However, the school is very keen to continue to engage with parents and offer an alternative.

On Monday 2nd November, class teachers will email each parent with a short summary detailing their child's transition into their new year group - the school is very aware that some children have not been in school for a long time (some not at all!) and that children may have been slightly unsettled at the prospect of returning to new routines, so teachers will be largely reporting on how well your child has settled into the new term.  

Following on from this, there will be an opportunity for parents to speak to their class teacher via a pre-arranged phone call if there is anything they would like to discuss further. This is not obligatory, of course, and many conversations have already taken place. Teachers will be available during the afternoon of the following days to call you. To book a 10 minute phone appointment, you must email your child's class teacher to make the request and they will then be able to provide you with an appointment time on the allocated afternoon.

Thursday 5th November Mrs Gookey  

Monday 9th November Miss Hillman  

Tuesday 10th November Miss Jenkinson  

Thursday 12th November Miss Steed  

I would like to remind parents that myself and all of the teaching staff greatly value the dialogue with you, albeit mainly remote, that has existed since our return to school. Staff are highly responsive to any emails and phone calls from parents and so please continue to use this line of communication.

Covid-19 Updates

 

Thank You

Many thanks to the overwhelming majority of parents who have followed the guidance within the Parent Information document. It has undoubtedly supported the smooth and calm running of the school and I cannot tell you how grateful I am for this. 

Drop Off And Collection Times

The staggered drop off and collection times appear to be working extremely well. Our own observations seem to tally with the parental feedback we have received - that is to say that the start and end of the school day is smooth, happy, relaxed and safe.

For parents of children in Pine Class, I know that it's tempting to do the handover as you walk past the classroom door but please do continue on to the playground to avoid any congestion along the path from the car park. Despite some of the children's protestations they actually all love their goodbye cuddles and kisses from you and so please take them onto the playground and take as long as you like to give them a nice big squeeze there before sending them on their way into class.

School Trips

The 'Rule of 6' obviously does not apply to educational settings and this extends to school activities that take place off-site. Provided that the integrity of each class bubble can be maintained and the necessary risk assessments have taken place, pupils can happily and safely participate in off-site visits. With this in mind, the school is exploring the idea of arranging some local trips that focus on outdoor learning and where we can call on parental support for transport. We will liaise with parents throughout and in a timely way to help manage expectations and respond to any queries that you may have. Class teachers will keep you up to date with any plans for off-site trips.

School Events

You will appreciate that forthcoming school events are likely to be impacted heavily by the Covid-19 restrictions. It will not be possible for our Harvest celebrations to take place either in church or even as a whole school celebration this year and this will be the case for the vast majority of whole school events planned for the Autumn Term. The school will, of course, explore alternatives wherever it can.

Swimming

It is unclear whether school swimming lessons will take place this academic year. The broad requirement for primary pupils is that they should be able to swim 25 metres by the end of Year 6 and the school supports this by providing swimming lessons at Waendel Leisure Centre for our Year 3 and 4 cohorts. Some children from Year 5 and 6 also attend. As we receive more information from Waendel Leisure Centre about their plans to resume school swimming, we will iof course update you.

Attendance

Whilst the national attendance rate sits at around 87% overall, I am delighted to report that our school's own attendance figures are only slightly down on our normal figure at 95%. There continues to be some inevitable absences due to children self-isolating either because they or a household member has displayed one of the symptoms of Covid-19. I hasten to add that no pupils or members of their households have returned a positive test.

 

Whilst there are many things that the school cannot do this term, there are also a great many things that it can do and it is these that we must focus our energy on. School staff continue to work tirelessly to create exciting learning opportunities for your child and it is clear that the children are benefitting from a very rich and imaginative curriculum. The atmosphere remains purposeful and happy and individual classes are fundamentally operating as normal. 

 
  Grendon Church Of England Primary School
Main Road
Grendon
Wellingborough
NN7 1JW
Tel: 01933 663208
 
  https://grendonprimary.net/