Chris Lindsay Chris Lindsay

Stanmore Post - 6 November 2020

Dear Parents,

The children have settled back into school really well after the half term break and we have some fantastic learning outcomes. Today, children from KS1 toasted marshmallows over a fire pit and Year 3 and 4 began their 'Italia Topic' - they found out about the history of Pizza, then designed and made their pizza boxes ready to be pizza chefs next week.  Year 5/6 have begun work on high quality acrylic paintings linked to the topic of rivers. This is based on a stimulus of both 'The Wind in the Willows', by Kenneth Grahame, and a local visiting artist, Lizzie McKellar. You can see examples of her work at: https://www.lizziemckellar.co.uk/

As you will be aware, we had a recent visit from OFSTED. This was part of a series of visits by OFSTED to a variety of schools nationally. The information will be used to gain a national picture of the affect the pandemic is having on schools. We are pleased to now be able to share with you the published letter. The letter does not contain any judgements but summarises briefly the discussions the inspectors had with our school leadership team. This is to provide parents and carers with information about what our school is doing to help children back into full-time education. The letter is published on the OFSTED website. You can also find it at:   Ofsted visit to Stanmore Primary School - October 2020

Thank you for the response to my recent letter about the increased measures around school to tackle the spread of the Coronavirus. Once again we are seeing the whole school community come together and I am really grateful for the positive 'can do' attitude of all of our staff, parents and carers. We are continuing to review the risks and will respond with necessary control measures to enable us to keep the school open. I have had some questions about what happens when members of the community are told to self-isolate and so I have outlined the latest guidance below.   

Yours sincerely, 

Sharon

Self-isolation Guidance  

Do the people I live with also need to self-isolate at home with me for 14 days? 

If you are have been in contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19, but you do not have symptoms, other people living with you do not need to self-isolate and should follow the general guidance. 

If you do develop symptoms of COVID-19, you should arrange to have a test to see if you have COVID-19 - visit NHS.UK to arrange, or contact NHS 119 via telephone if you do not have internet access. If you live with other people, they will need to begin self-isolation at home while you wait for your test result. Follow the Stay at Home: Guidance for households with possible or confirmed COVID-19. 

Self-isolating at home for the 14-day period will help protect your family, friends and the NHS. Self-isolating at home in this way can also protect the most vulnerable in society, by reducing the chance of a second wave of COVID-19 in the wider community. 

What should I do if I live with someone who develops COVID-19 symptoms?

If someone you live with develops symptoms, they will need to self-isolate at home along with all the other people who live with them; this will include you. 

They will need to arrange to have a test to see if they have COVID-19 - visit NHS.UK to arrange or contact NHS 119 via telephone if you do not have internet access. 

They and the people who live with them should follow Stay at Home: Guidance for households with possible or confirmed COVID-19.

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Chris Lindsay Chris Lindsay

Stanmore Post - 23 October 2020

The children have had a lovely day dressed in their party clothes. They have enjoyed a mini disco and popcorn, kindly provided by the Friends of the School. Thank you for supporting this FOS event; we raised £142.80. It is so positive to see our resilience as a school community. Although we are not able to enjoy many of our usual planned events, it is good to find alternative ways to maintain our school traditions where we can. Not only does this strengthen the feeling of ‘belonging’ to our school community but it also creates something to look forward to, which is an important part of wellbeing. I expect that there have been some great photo opportunities too. You can see some of our photos at: 

https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/10/23/what-do-you-do-when-you-cant-have-the-usual-halloween-disco

https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/10/23/things-were-spooky-in-maple-class-today

Our curriculum work has also been largely unaffected and children have achieved some fantastic outcomes. Some of the highlights include: Building a river on the school field, creating exploding volcanoes, art work in the style of Leonardo da Vinci, designing and making felt puppets. Inspired by the Year 6 visit to Stubbington, children in Oak and Elm class have been building dens. See more photos of our learning at: 

https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/10/23/an-irresistible-curriculum-this-half-term-volcanos-de-vinci-and-dens

We are continuing to adapt to our circumstances and I am pleased to have been able to welcome Hampshire Music Service back into school for Listen to Me and 1:1 music lessons this term.  Ensemble playing and singing have some restrictions but we have been able to have class Samba drumming and Ukuleles back in action.  Children benefit so much from participating in musical activities and I am grateful to the staff at Hampshire Music Service for their efforts in maintaining a face to face service. Similar secure Covid measures are in place to enable children to make use of the school library.  We are very fortunate to have a team of dedicated volunteers who have supported Mrs Haumann to manage our wonderful library resource.  

This half term has had its challenges but I am proud of the way we have all adjusted. Our ‘Keys for Success’: resilience, persistence, co-operation organisation confidence and respect are modelled daily by children, staff, Governors and parents in our school community. 

 I hope that you can enjoy a restful and healthy half term.

Best Wishes

Sharon Taylor

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Chris Lindsay Chris Lindsay

An irresistible curriculum this half term - volcanos, de Vinci and dens!

Our curriculum work has also been largely unaffected and children have achieved some fantastic outcomes. Some of the highlights include: Building a river on the school field, creating exploding volcanoes and puppet making. Inspired by the Year 6 visit to Stubbington, children in Oak and Elm class have been building dens.

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Chris Lindsay Chris Lindsay

What do you do when you can't have the usual Halloween disco?

The children have had a lovely day dressed in their party clothes. They have enjoyed a mini disco and popcorn, kindly provided by the Friends of the School. Thank you for supporting this FOS event. It is so positive to see our resilience as a school community. Although we are not able to enjoy many of our usual planned events, it is good to find alternative ways to maintain our school traditions where we can. Not only does this strengthen the feeling of ‘belonging’ to our school community but it also creates something to look forward to, which is an important part of wellbeing.

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Chris Lindsay Chris Lindsay

Stanmore Post - 16 October 2020

As you will be aware, we have had a week of external visits to the school to check in on various aspects of our school improvement journey. We had a planned Local Authority Monitoring Visit on Tuesday. Usually this would be a termly visit. However, due to the restrictions on visitors we have not had a visit since December 2019. Although they were not able to fully interact with the children, the Inspectors noted significant improvements since the last visit. In particular they commented on how calm the school felt and how engaged children seemed in their lessons. They agreed that the work in the books show that the children have been working really hard since the beginning of term. 

Yesterday we had a visit from OFSTED. This is part of a series of visits by OFSTED to a variety of schools nationally. The information that they gained will be used to gain a national picture of the affect the pandemic is having on schools. During the day the Inspectors met with all of the leadership team. This included a virtual meeting with Mrs Kempson in Stubbington. The lead Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI) will now write a short letter. The letter will not contain any judgements but will summarise briefly the discussions the inspectors had with our school leadership team. This is to provide parents with information about what the school is doing to help children back into full-time education and will be published on the OFSTED website. You can read more about the purpose of this visit at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/interim-phase-maintained-schools-and-academies

Both visits this week felt very positive and we were able to share a range of examples of our ongoing work. What came across was the pride that we all feel to belong to Stanmore School. 

Yesterday Year 6 had a really successful trip to Stubbington Study Centre. Before lockdown we had planned a residential to Stubbington later this term, intending to make this an annual Year 6 event. I am really pleased that we could still offer a very full day’s experience, despite the restrictions. It was a pleasure to hear how much the children and staff enjoyed the trip. They experienced a range of activities including a beach visit, den building and a game of Stubbington Fox. They were lucky enough to spot badgers at the Badger watch. It was lovely hearing younger children tell me that their brother or sister had gone to Stubbington. Our Enrichment Curriculum is carefully planned to give children experiences throughout their school journey that they can look forward to. 

You can see photos of the trip at https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/10/16/year-6-big-day-out-to-stubbington

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Chris Lindsay Chris Lindsay

Year 6 Big Day Out to Stubbington

Year 6 had a really successful trip to Stubbington Study Centre. Before lockdown we had planned a residential to Stubbington later this term, intending to make this an annual Year 6 event. We were really pleased that we could still offer a very full day’s experience, despite the restrictions. It was a pleasure to hear how much the children and staff enjoyed the trip. They experienced a range of activities including a beach visit, den building and a game of Stubbington Fox. They were lucky enough to spot badgers at the Badger watch. It was lovely hearing younger children tell me that their brother or sister had gone to Stubbington. Our Enrichment Curriculum is carefully planned to give children experiences throughout their school journey that they can look forward to. 

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Sally Atkins Sally Atkins

Year 5 and 6 - Home Learning 19th October 2020

Curriculum for the week commencing 19th October 2020

Each day:

  • MATHS TASKS YEAR 5 and 6

    The week both yr 5 and 6 are continuing to explore and apply our understanding of division and multiplication, including prime numbers and squared and cubed numbers. We are using the White Rose videos which will provide expert tuition as well as allowing the children to work independently.

LITERACY TASK

  • Click to open where you will find the five activities for you to complete this week

OTHER SUBJECTS - CLICK TO OPEN LINK TO OAK ACADEMY

Topic- Weather https://classroom.thenational.academy/lessons/what-makes-up-the-weather-70tk4c

Science- Comparing lifecycles https://classroom.thenational.academy/lessons/are-the-life-cycles-of-mammals-all-the-same-c4u3gr

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Chris Lindsay Chris Lindsay

Year 3 and 4 Home learning 19th October 2020

Curriculum for the week commencing 19th October 2020

Each day:

  • Complete fifteen minutes of Times Table Rock Stars

    Links to plain, lined and squared paper

    MATHS TASKS YEAR 3 and 4

  • This week the children are exploring measurement and perimeter. We have used White Rose resources which allow the children to receive expert tuition as well as independent work

LITERACY TASK

  • Click to open literacy task where you will find the activities for you to complete this week

OTHER SUBJECTS

Use this link to find out as many interesting facts about Italy as you can!

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