We want to let our families know that we have carefully planned the children’s return to school this term to take into account their long absence from school due to lockdown and their well-being.
We are starting the year with a whole school book focus: Oliver Jeffers ‘Here we are’. Two weeks of planning has been written by literacy and well-being experts to encourage a sense of community across the entire school, to reflect on the last few months, and also help our whole school look forward to the future in a positive way. At the end of the unit there is an activity where pupils, staff and even parents can share their own notes for living on Planet Earth, supporting everyone to move forward positively.
We have also purchased a new PSHE scheme of work called JIGSAW – you may hear your child talk about the Jiggy (cuddly jigsaw piece) for their class, or Paws the cat, who helps them to pause for thought and be mindful. Jigsaw PSHE perfectly connects the pieces of Personal, Social and Health Education, emotional literacy, social skills and spiritual development. As the Covid-19 pandemic has caused so much disruption and continues to impact on school life, we are pleased to be able to deliver some specially written lesson plans and resilience-building activities with your children. We will continue to use the award-winning Shropshire Respect Yourself program to deliver RSE later in the year. You will be given details about what is covered in RSE, which parts are statutory and which parts are optional as well as a chance to look at the materials beforehand.
In maths, we follow the White Rose planning and this term, they have buit recovery units into their plans. Maths objectives from the summer term will be woven carefully into this terms work to help remind and reinforce the key areas they may have missed.
Support at home: please continue to use Dojo messages to communicate with the class teacher. Be aware that the first few weeks will be very tiring for the children – we need to increase their mental stamina; school is a very stimulating environment and this in itself can make children very tired. Don’t expect too much of them when they get home.
It has been a fantastic first three days. Lots of smiles from staff and children and it has been lovely to see how keen the chidlen are to be here and get back to business!