Dear parents and carers,
Over the next few days, you will be receiving your child's Annual Report and a letter introducing your child to their new class teacher in September.
Reports
We have kept to the same format for reports this year but obviously it is a very different year. Teacher judgments were based on the pupils' progress up to the point of the school partial closure on March 23rd. They are a judgement as to whether the child was on track to be working at age related expectations at that point and they do not necessarily take into account the home learning that has taken place since or any work in school.
Please rest assured, one of the key priorities for our school will be making accurate assessments of the pupils needs when they return in September and adjusting our curriculum to focus on key areas that need to be addressed. This is something we have a wealth of experience in and I am very confident we will be able to continue to offer a full, broad curriculum whilst at the same time targeting any gaps in learning in maths and English. We will also have a big focus on addressing the social and emotional needs of the children and we have some exciting plans linked to the new Personal Social & Health Education curriculum we will be introducing. We will keep you fully informed of all of our work on this.
Transition
We have decided to keep classes together this year as we believe the children will benefit from the extra stability that this will offer them. The normal transition arrangements have clearly been affected, particularly for children moving across schools. We know that this is not ideal and ordinarily we would give your child a chance to meet their new teacher before the summer holidays. We hope the letter you receive will go some way to introducing your child to their new teacher. Although we are a large school, it does feel like a close community and I think many children will already be familiar with their new teacher. We also have 4 new teachers starting with us in the new academic year, all of whom will be incredible assets and are so excited about joining our community. When your child returns we will make every effort to help them feel at ease and they will also have a chance to say hello (and goodbye!) to previous teachers as they will continue to see many of them around school.
Planning for September
Following the government announcement yesterday, we are beginning to add more details to our plans for a full return in September. I will share as much information as possible with you before the end of this term and provide lots of opportunities for you to ask questions and to address any concerns. I think we are in a strong place given the plans that have already been put in place to welcome so many children back and, whilst further adaptations will be made based on the latest guidance, I am confident that we will be able to welcome everybody back and school will feel as 'normal' as possible.
We are so excited for a full return to school and have missed our whole school community and the relationships we have with you all. It has focused our minds even further on making every effort to place the school at the heart of the community and I know we will be stronger for it.
More information will follow on the website with our plans so please do keep checking it for the latest news and we will continue to text out prompts for our most important updates.
Kind regards,
Mr Le Bredonchel