Dear Parents/Carers
As we reach the end of our second full week of home learning, I would like to provide you with an update, and pay tribute to the hard work of pupils, staff and parents in adapting to and working with the current system.
We appreciate that home learning is very challenging and that many parents are combining their work commitments with the pressures of home schooling. However, please ensure that you stay in regular contact with your child’s teacher and provide evidence that he/she is engaging in the process. Recent communication from the Department of Education has placed the responsibility for monitoring this directly onto schools, and we have been advised that if pupils are not providing evidence of their work, then we should record that as an unauthorised attendance.
Teachers have been working hard in planning and organising for home learning. A sample of their regular activities include:
- Daily briefings
- Written/audio/video messages
- Daily Registrations
- Preparing resources: PDFs/e-books all tailored made and differentiated
- Sourcing web links -tutorials/games
- Immediate communication between teacher and child/class/parents
- Daily feedback and praise - written/audio/video
- Providing online support and instructional videos daily
- Facilitating opportunities for a discussion forum
- Opportunities to share work and encourage peer assessment
All teachers are reporting that activity on SeeSaw is extremely busy and that they are online well into the evening. Please bear this in mind and, if possible, keep communications within normal working hours. Also, reduce communication during days when teachers are supervising in school, to help make their workload more manageable.
I would also like to draw your attention to the 'Remote Learning Resources' section of our school’s website, where you will find a compilation of resources that you can use to supplement the work already set by teachers. This has recently been updated and is a valuable source of online resources available for your use.
Previous feedback from the first lockdown has informed us that activity days were well received and served to motivate children and break up their normal routine. While this was undoubtedly easier in the summer term, we will look at and plan for this towards the end of the half-term. In the meantime, I would recommend participation in the PTA’s Jog January initiative as a way of getting the whole family out and enjoying the local parks and walkways. If you would still like to sign up you can do so at this link https://form.jotform.com/203375640964056
We have been informed by the Department of Education that payment in lieu of free school meals will continue to be made (by direct payment) to those children entitled to free school meals.
As always, if you need to contact me directly about any of the above, please email me using either stjoesps@gmail.com or the contacts link on the school website.
Kind regards
Mr Donaldson