Summer Term 2020 - sharing our work and latest House Points totals
Children are encouraged to share the work they are completing at home by sending it to us by email to stanmoresupport@stanmoreprimary.com
When you share your work with us, you may well earn points for your House.
These are the totals for the Summer Term so far.
House Points for week beginning 18 May 2020
Stanmore Post - 22 May 2020
Dear Parents,
Firstly thank you for your support and understanding since the school went into lockdown in March. You have helped us by meeting the challenges of home learning and ensuring that your children have remained physically and mentally active and in touch with school. We appreciate all of the positive messages that we have received including the lovely 'hello' video from some of our Stanmore Children.
In accordance with the Prime Minister's announcement on Sunday 10th May, we are continuing to make plans for the first phase of a return to Stanmore Primary School for Years R, 1 and 6. This will only happen in line with Government Guidance expected by Thursday 28th May. However, like all schools we have made plans ahead of confirmation by the Government. Should this change, we will contact you by email or text no later than Sunday 31st May. Opening information will be posted on the website.
At Stanmore Primary School, the return dates are planned for:
Monday June 1st Children of critical workers and vulnerable children and Children in Year R
Tuesday 2nd June Children in Year 1
Thursday 4th June Children in Year 6
As you would want and expect from us, we are following all available Government and Local Authority advice in working to create a range of health and safety measures.
This letter sets out the practical measures that we are taking to reduce the risks for children and adults as we return to greater numbers on the school site. There are further documents that accompany this newsletter, which can be found on our website https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/3/16/coronavirus-stanmore-primary-update
School will not look or feel the same for your children. You can help prepare your child by sharing the photos of the site with them and sharing the 'social stories' that will help give a clear message about what they can expect. These can be found at: www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/5/22/resources-to-help-your-child-in-their-return-to-school
Managing the risks for your children
The guidance makes very clear that primary-age children cannot be expected to comply with social distancing - we will manage groups of children in 'pods' of 15. These 'pods' will have their own classroom space and central to our plan is that they work separately from other pods.
Children will be taught in half year groups - We have plans in place for 8 pods. Where possible we will keep children of the same year groups within a pod. It may be necessary to have some mixed age pods, particularly for children of critical workers and vulnerable children in Year 2-5
Most children will not be taught by their class teacher - There will be up to two adults familiar to your child, but not necessarily their class teacher. The work will be planned with input from their year-group teacher; they aren't guaranteed to be with that teacher.
We will set systems in place to maximise hygiene practices - frequent handwashing practices will continue, as well as a regime of cleaning surfaces and contact points throughout the day. Children will also have their own desk and equipment to use wherever possible, with highly restricted sharing of resources. Children will need to bring a water bottle and lunch box but no other bags or equipment including soft toys and mobile phones
First Aid and management of cross contamination - Every class has a first aid kit and a book to record incidents and any potential C-19 cross contamination. The teacher will deal with any first aid incidents and record them in the class book as a 'green' incident. A first Aider will be called to the class for a head bump or more serious cut or bruise and record this as an 'amber' incident. Parents will be notified by text or phone call in the same way as usual. Parents will continue to always be notified straight away in the event of a serious medical incident. We ask that you remind your child about the need for good hygiene including managing coughs and sneezes. If there has been any risk of cross contamination this will also be recorded. Staff have PPE to use if there is a first aid incident or a child accidentally wets or soils themselves. Don't worry, we have spare clothes for your child.
If your child becomes unwell with symptoms - please don't send your child to school, if they have a new or continuous dry cough, a high temperature and loss of smell or taste. Please let us know and book your child to be tested immediately. Other families in your child's pod will be notified that they need to stay at home until the test result is returned. If the test result is positive, the symptomatic child will need to stay at home for 7 days. The other children in the group will need to stay at home for 14 days. If the test result is negative then the ill child should stay at home until they are well and the remaining children can return to school immediately. This is also the case should a member of staff show symptoms.
If your child becomes unwell with symptoms at school - they will be cared for by a member of staff in Acorns. You will be contacted and asked to collect your child from Acorns and then advised to follow the Covid-19 guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection.
Managing the School Day
School start and finish times - These will remain the same initially. The gates will be locked at 9:30am allowing for longer because of the queuing system. We are aware of 'pinch points' at the school gates, therefore there will be an in/out system marked with 2m intervals.
Drop off and pick up - Social distancing is expected across the school site and we rely on you to manage that up until you get to the classroom doors. There will be a 'check in' and 'check out' queue for parents and children leading up to the classroom door. These will be marked at 2m intervals. Only one parent can accompany the child onto the school site.
Wrap around provision - This remains under review. Children mixing before and after school compromises the strategy of keeping children in their groups to lower the risk of transmission and therefore parents should not expect that this provision will resume at this time.
Attendance At present, parents have been 'booking' children in for days that match shift patterns. Children of critical workers in Year 2-5 may still prefer to continue with this arrangement. However, children returning in Year R 1 and 6 should preferably attend school every day. The reason for this is that we can't manage a check in system for greater numbers across the school without compromising safeguarding. It will become almost impossible to track who is or isn't in on any day.
Notifying the school of absence or non-attendance If a child is not returning we must receive this in writing with a reason for your decision. We may be able to re-assure you. If a child is attending but is absent due to illness, parents MUST phone the office every day by 9am stating the reason for absence.
All penalties regarding non-attendance have been suspended - although the Government strongly encourage children to attend, they will not be challenging school attendance during this period. Some will not be able to attend because their families are self-isolating or shielding. We will support your decision regarding what you feel is best for the safety and wellbeing of your children
Managing the school experience
The curriculum in school - we are really looking forward to seeing children back in school and are working hard to create a curriculum that can be delivered in these unusual circumstances. Children will work mainly from their desks, using our lovely grounds whenever possible. Children in the Early Years and our younger children in Year One, will be encouraged to keep a safe distance. It will not be appropriate for them to sit at desks all day or to learn without sharing some resources and equipment. These will be wiped down with sanitising spray or washed regularly.
The virtual curriculum - this will continue, but instead of sending work to stanmoresupport, work will be submitted to Mr Read at year1and2@stanmoreprimary.com Miss Hurley at year3and4@stanmoreprimary.com and Mrs Atkins at year5and6@stanmoreprimary.com
We will not be able to provide the full depth and breadth of curriculum that your children are used to - mental health and wellbeing will be the priority on return. Time will be spent listening to your children and reassuring them. In addition to this, children in Catkins, will be re-integrating into school life and getting used to separating from their parents ready for transition to Year 1. In Year 1, children will be re-visiting the early reading skills including phonics, and revisiting early number skills in preparation for Year 2. In Year 6 we aim to give children as much 'closure' as we can to their primary school years, while focusing on readiness for Kings in terms of their work.
Playtime and Lunchtime - Each pod will be allocated an outdoor space. Year R and Year 1 will eat in the hall, with spaces set out carefully to minimise contact. Older children will remain in their classrooms and lunch will be brought to them, or they will eat from their lunch box. Tables will be wiped down with sanitising spray before and after lunch and bins will be emptied regularly. All children should wear trainers ready to be outside and enjoy freedom of movement during the day where less restricted use of the grounds will be timetabled for each pod. Sorry, no football or contact sports including tag at break, lunchtime or as part of exercise.
Clothing - children should wear school uniform and trainers. Normal good personal hygiene and regular washing of clothes is recommended.
Behaviour - Please talk to your children about the need to follow the school rules, including those on social distancing. We are working on a revised behaviour policy and further guidance on this will follow. Adults are asked to respect these guidelines and support us in managing the risks while on site, whatever your personal views. We belong to a community and have shown tremendous support for one another during lockdown.
We will do the best we can to make the reopening of our school as smooth as it can be. I am proud of the staff team who remain positive and determined to make the very best of this situation. We are working hard to consider every operational element and we will continue to smooth out issues as they arise so please bear with us. It may seem daunting at the moment, but we will quickly adapt as we have done over the past couple of months. We are really looking forward to welcoming back the children in these year groups and look forward to when we can see all of our children back in school.
Best Wishes
Sharon Taylor
Resources to help your child in their return to school
Children returning to school
As we plan for children to return to school, we recognise that members of our school community returning after a long period of absence may be worried and have strong feelings and emotions about the transition. These worries are normal. Everyone has been affected by the pandemic in some way, and we recognise the importance of supporting all of our families back to school. As a mental health and well being team, we have summarised some information and helpful tips which can be found here.
Social stories
We have created social stories for you to share with your child/children before they return to school. We hope they help to answer any questions they may have and introduce the changes in a child-friendly, reassuring and visual way. Social stories are often best revisited and shared more than once in the lead up to something new. Please share the social story you feel is most appropriate to your child's age and stage.
Key Stage 2 - Return to school social story
Year R and Key Stage 1 - Return to school social story
Changes to the school layout
To help children familiarise themselves with the new look and feel of the school, we have produced this short video.
Can and can't
We can’t wait to see you all, but in order to make your transition back to school a bit easier we have put together some cans and can’t for each year group.
Year 6
Year 2 - 5 Critical Worker and Vulnerable
Year 1
Year R
Stanmore Post - 15 May 2020
Dear Parents,
I hope that you are all well and beginning to adjust to the gradual easing of some of the lockdown measures. Well done on your continuing efforts to support home school learning and to encourage children to submit work. We really enjoy the variety of creative ideas that come in via Stanmore Support each week.
If we can help your child to access work in some way, please get in touch by sending an email to stanmoresupport@stanmoreprimary.com
We can provide printed versions of the work on line. Please contact the school office to arrange collection.
Work submitted and house points
https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/5/15/summer-term-2020-work-and-house-points
Year 1 and 2 home learning can be found here:
https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/5/14/year-1-and-2-home-learning-18-may-2020
Year 3 and 4 home learning can be found here:
https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/5/14/year-3-and-4-home-learning-18-may-2020
Year 5 and 6 home learning can be found here:
https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/5/14/year-5-and-6-home-learning-18-may-2020
If you haven't had the opportunity to watch our staff team school say 'hello' to you, then follow the link below. We hope you enjoy it, we had fun creating it for you.
https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/5/13/we-thought-wed-say-hello
In accordance with the Prime Minister's announcement on Sunday 10th May, and the guidance documents released this week, we are making plans for the first phase of a return to Stanmore Primary School for Years R, 1 and 6 no earlier than 1st June. There is still uncertainty about the plans and I am sure that you are aware of their mixed reception. We would like to reassure you that we are following all available Government and Local Authority advice in order to lower the risks for children and their families in school.
Planning for school return for Years R, 1 and 6
Links to the guidance can be found at the bottom of this letter. I would like to highlight a few key points and considerations from the plans, as things stand.
The guidance makes very clear that primary-age children cannot be expected to comply with social distancing - we will be able to offer best practices to lower the level of risk, but will not be able to adhere to the stringent social distancing that the rest of the population are bound by.
We will set systems in place to maximise hygiene practices - frequent handwashing practices will continue, as well as a regime of cleaning surfaces and contact points throughout the day. Children will also have their own desk and equipment to use wherever possible, with highly restricted sharing of resources.
Children will be taught in half year groups - the guidance sets a limit of no more than 15 children in a group, who will not be allowed mix with children from other groups, even if they are in the same year. Learning time, lunch and playtimes will be with the same group of children and adults in order to lower the risk. There will be no assemblies other than in their own groups
Most children will not be taught by their class teacher - we will be utilising teaching spaces throughout the school to accommodate the three year groups, children of Critical Workers, and vulnerable pupils and deploying every available member of staff. This means that, although the work will be planned with input from their year-group teacher, they aren't guaranteed to be with that teacher.
School start and finish times These may need to be staggered - this is in order to adhere to social distancing at the school gates, thereby lowering the risk to adults dropping off/collecting their children. We are planning an in/out system at the gates and there will be a 'check in' and 'check out' queue for parents and children marked at 2m intervals. Only one parent can accompany the child onto the school site.
Wrap around provision. This remains under review. Children mixing before and after school compromises the strategy of keeping children in their groups to lower the risk of transmission and therefore parents should not expect that this provision will resume at this time.
All penalties regarding non-attendance have been suspended - although the Government strongly encourage children to attend, they will not be challenging school attendance during this period. Some will not be able to attend because their families are self-isolating or shielding.
Priority children from all year groups are still invited to attend - this includes vulnerable children and children of Critical Workers. Children of Critical Workers who are in Years R, 1 and 6 will join their respective year groups. It is likely that children of Critical Workers in Years 2-5 will be taught either as their own group, or join the nearest Year group out of Year 1 or Year 6.
Home learning provision will continue - we expect to be able to maintain our current levels of home learning provision for all year groups, so that no child is left un-catered for.
We will not be able to provide the full depth and breadth of curriculum your children are used to - mental health and wellbeing will be the priority on return, in addition to receiving regular core-curriculum teaching (English, maths and science)
You will appreciate that all schools have had only a few days to consider how the guidelines apply to each setting, and that there are many more details to be worked through. The information above is only there to give an idea of how things are likely to be. In order to help you make an informed choice, we will provide you with a more detailed guide as to how your child's school day will run. It is also important that you remain aware that the June return date is contingent on a number of factors including the meeting of the Government's '5 Pillars'.
As far as transition is concerned, it is looking increasingly likely that this will have to take place remotely, with activities set by the receiving teachers. This will be shared in due course.
For parents of children in Years R, 1 and 6, we are happy to talk through any concerns you may have about a return to school for your child, though we may not have all the answers yet.
We will do the best we can to make the reopening of our school it as smooth as it can be, and want to thank you for the messages of support and encouragement we have already received. We are really looking forward to welcoming back the children in these year groups and look forward to when we can see all of our children back in school.
Information for parents and carers: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/reopening-schools-and-other-educational-settings-from-1-june
Actions for education and childcare settings to prepare for wider opening from 1 June 2020: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-educational-and-childcare-settings-to-prepare-for-wider-opening-from-1-june-2020
Implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings
Best Wishes
Sharon Taylor
Summer Term 2020 - sharing our work and latest House Points totals
Children are encouraged to share the work they are completing at home by sending it to us by email to stanmoresupport@stanmoreprimary.com
When you share your work with us, you may well earn points for your House.
These are the totals for the Summer Term so far.
House Points for week beginning 11 May 2020
Year 1 and 2 - Home Learning - 18 May 2020
Curriculum for the week commencing 20 April 2020
Each day:
Log in to Purple Mash and complete the activities in the ‘To do’ section
Complete fifteen minutes of Times Table Rock Stars
Complete one task from the Curriculum Jigsaw Challenge (see below)
Complete the RWI task (unless your child is in Mr. Read’s group or Mrs. Jones’ group) in which case they should complete one of these literacy tasks (see below)
Over the week:
Take a look at some of our links to other educational sites and ideas and get creative!
Try a task from the Processes Big Challenge
CURRICULUM JIGSAW CHALLENGE
Click to open the Year 1 and 2 Jigsaw for this week
READ WRITE INC TASKS
I hope that your child/ren have enjoyed reading the RWI books. For this week, I would like them to try the book in the next colour band up. Please below for more details.
If you have been reading Ditties, please stay on Ditties or try Green books.
If you have been reading Green books, please try Purple.
If you have been reading Purple books, please try Pink.
If you have been reading Pink books, please try Orange.
If you have been reading Orange books, please try Blue.
If you have been reading Blue books, please try Grey.
Click to open the Parents and Carers guide to teaching phonics at home
Read the instructions and ask your child who their Read Write Inc teacher is to work out which group they are in (if you need help identifying which group they are in you can send an email to stanmoresupport@stanmoreprimary.com)
Then complete the relevant group work from the list of downloads below:
LITERACY TASKS
Click to open the literacy task for this week and the five activities for you to complete this week
Use this file for your comic strip
Year 3 and 4 - Home Learning - 18 May 2020
Curriculum for the week commencing 11 May 2020
Each day:
Log in to Purple Mash and complete the activities in the ‘To do’ section
Complete fifteen minutes of Times Table Rock Stars
Complete one task from the Curriculum Jigsaw Challenge (see below)
Complete one of the Literacy Tasks (see below)
Complete twenty minutes of reading
Over the week:
Take a look at some of our links to other educational sites and ideas and get creative!
Try a task from the Processes Big Challenge
CURRICULUM JIGSAW CHALLENGE
Click to open the Year 3 and 4 Jigsaw for this week
LITERACY TASK
Click to open literacy task where you will find the activities for you to complete this week
Use this file and this file for the activity on Monday
Use this file for the activity on Tuesday
Use this file for the activity on Wednesday
Use this file for the activity on Thursday
Use this file for the activity on Friday
Year 5 and 6 - Home Learning - 18 May 2020
Curriculum for the week commencing 18 May 2020
Each day:
Log in to Purple Mash and complete the activities in the ‘To do’ section
Complete fifteen minutes of Times Table Rock Stars
Complete one task from the Curriculum Jigsaw Challenge (see below)
Complete one of the Literacy Tasks (see below)
Year 5 pupils should complete thirty minutes of Reading Plus and Year 6 pupils should read a book for thirty minutes
Over the week:
Take a look at some of our links to other educational sites and ideas and get creative!
Try a task from the Processes Big Challenge
CURRICULUM JIGSAW CHALLENGE
Click to open the Year 5 and 6 Jigsaw for this week
This week’s comprehension task
LITERACY TASK
Click to open literacy task where you will find the five activities for you to complete this week
Use this file for the activity on Monday
Use this file for the activity on Tuesday
Use this file for and this file the activity on Wednesday
Use this file for the activity on Thursday
Stanmore Post - 7 May 2020
Dear Parents,
I hope that you are all well and looking forward to the bank holiday weekend. Although it will be different to the one we might have planned, I hope that it will be a sunny one and a chance to reflect on our place in history now as much as on May 8th 75 years ago. You can see how the school celebrated on that day in the history section of our website.
In school, children have been learning about VE day and children in our ‘virtual’ school will have also picked up on the themes through home school learning. We have appreciated your continued efforts to complete work and send examples in to us.
Over the weekend, we are all expecting to hear news from the Government about the next steps out of ‘Lockdown.’ Our priority as a school, is to be as ready as we can to respond to whatever measures are put in place. Once we fully understand the timescales of any changes that are announced, we will communicate what this means for our school as soon as we are able.
I have some staff news to share. Miss Hurley and her partner are expecting a baby later this summer. We send them our congratulations and very best wishes. We are delighted that we have been able to appoint a new class teacher, Mrs Karen Joyce, who will start with us at the beginning of July in Year 3 / 4. Sadly, we wave goodbye to Miss Lucy Shuff. Miss Shuff will be missed by children, staff and parents. Her contribution to the improvements at Stanmore have been greatly appreciated, most recently as part of the Ready to Learn team. We have been successful in appointing Mrs Julie Mitton, an experienced teaching assistant. We are all looking forward to welcoming our two newest members of staff to our Stanmore Community.
If we can help your child to access work in some way, please get in touch by sending an email to stanmoresupport@stanmoreprimary.com
We can provide printed versions of the work online. Please contact the school office to arrange collection.
Work submitted and house points
https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/5/7/summer-term-2020-work-and-house-points
Year 1 & 2
https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/5/7/year-1-and-2-home-learning-11-may-2020
Year 3 & 4
https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/5/7/year-3-and-4-home-learning-11-may-2020
Year 5 & 6
https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/5/7/year-5-and-6-home-learning-11-may-2020
To submit work, please email it to stanmoresupport@stanmoreprimary.com This can be a photo of the work, or a Word / PowerPoint / pdf file (or similar). Please note any photos submitted should meet safeguarding requirements. Children should not be identified by their address or personal details in the photo and children should be appropriately dressed.
Examples of children’s work will be published on the website at the end of the week. House points may be awarded for work submitted.
During this time all home school learning enquiries should come via the stanmoresupport@stanmoreprimary.comemail address. Unfortunately, queries and comments posted through Purple Mash, Dojo or school social media site will not be addressed. A teacher from your child’s year group will review all work submitted by 2pm each day and provide an acknowledgement so that your child knows that the work has been received. We are sorry but we are unable to provide precise feedback or 1:1 tuition at this time.
General School enquiries that are not related to home school learning should be sent toadminoffice@stanmore.hants.sch.uk
Please let us know if you believe that, as a result of changes in your circumstances, you may now be eligible for Free School Meals. We can apply on your behalf.