Mailing for 29^th January 2021

Following the Prime Minister’s update earlier in the week, we will await further information as to whether schools will fully re-open on the 8^th March 2021. As we have said before, we hear this information at the same time as you do. As and when we do have further guidance we will of course communicate this to you.

To our essential worker parents who are continuing to work at these difficult times - a HUGE THANK YOU!! To all those parents who are helping to keep our school community safe by keeping their children at home and home schooling them – thank you and WELL DONE!!

Please continue to share what your child has done, whether it’s one of the tasks set or a photo of them making something, via the class emails, or for Year 1 and 2 via the Dojo platform. Staff will try to respond as quickly as they can but please remember that at the moment they are teaching the children in school as well as preparing the home learning tasks so are busier than ever.  To help try to support our staff working under this immense stress, we will acknowledge each piece of work submitted and give more detailed feedback on one specific task each week.

As so many children are not in school, we ask that your child joins a ‘Zoom’ meeting each week so that we can check in with them and they can also see their friends.  It is also important that they are completing some of the remote learning that staff have prepared. We will make contact with families if we do not see them or if they are not accessing the tasks.  Remember, anything you can do is great it is also important to maintain the balance in these tricky times of learning and having fun as a family.

We continue to put our children, their parents and our staff at the centre of any decision making to ensure that we keep everyone as safe as we can at this continued tricky time. If you have any feedback as to how this week has been, please let us know via parent.mail@hwis.hants.sch.uk

Next week some of our school work (both in school and at home) will be linked to 'Children's Mental Health Week' https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/parents-and-carers/. Some of our lessons will be focused on activities that support children to explore their emotions and give them an opportunity to express themselves creatively. If you are particularly interested then you might wish to look on the Place2be website for further information https://www.place2be.org.uk/  There are sections on the website that offer advice for parents/carers and suggestion of activities for families to join in.  

In the continued national effort to limit the spread of the virus, as a school we are required to continue to contact tracing during the February half term. If your child has been attending school and tests positive having developed symptoms within 48 hours of being in school, please contact us on the school email address so that we can follow our school procedures to identify close contacts and advise self- isolation, as the individual may have been infectious whilst in school. Where pupils or staff still attending school test positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) during the holidays, having developed symptoms more than 48 hours since being in school, we are not required to take any action. Parents and carers should follow contact tracing instructions provided by NHS Track and trace.

Reminders for children in school:

• There have been some children arriving at school after 9am when the classroom doors have closed. Please be aware that if this happens more than three times, your child will not be admitted in late. Staff are starting their teaching sessions promptly at 9am and with ‘class bubbles’, we do not have spare adults to collect the children from the playground gate. Gates will be locked at 9am.
• Please provide additional layers that they are able to put on/take off as the classrooms can sometimes get chilly with the need for increased ventilation.
• Year R children will be taking part in small group PE sessions on Thursdays, please send your child in sport-type clothes on Thursdays.
• If your child is unwell (non Covid 19), please consider if they should be in school. We have had several children in who have been dosed up on Calpol that we have had to send home. We are concerned that these illnesses may pass to staff resulting in the ‘class bubble’ having to close. Thank you for your understanding and consideration.

Letters Home:

Whole School:

Lateral Flow Device (LFD) testing for staff – letter of explanation

Wellbeing activity

HCC consultation regarding proposed cycle route

Kath Routledge book advert

School Dinner Menu week commencing 1^st February 2021

Year R, 1 & 2:

          There are no specific mailings this week

‘Teach your Monster to Read’ is an amazing FREE reading resource that was available during the last ‘lockdown’. Click this link to register your child to access it: https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/

It’s the weekend so enjoy some quality time together as a family J

Take care and stay safe.

HWIS team