Our daily message (13 July 2020)
We hope you had a good weekend. Hopefully, lockdown easing a little has meant you can catch up with more people. Like most Mondays, we’ve our Living and Learning ideas. Before that…
It’s the 14th week of home learning (that’s not counting Easter and the summer half-term holiday), and it’s the last week. Well done for getting this far – it’s been tough for so many people.
On Friday, we updated you with our plans for a staggered start and end to the school day. Tomorrow, we’ll update you with more plans for September in school.
Leeds City Council has produced a new checklist of things for us to consider as we prepare for Autumn for all children. The checklist has 36 sections and 282 items for us to consider, so you can be confident that by the time we’ve worked our way through it, our plans will be sensible and comprehensive.
Living and learning
Each week in school, we have a Living and Learning statement. I can reflect and look ahead is our statement this week. One of the Sphere Federation Health Leaders writes:
We’re nearing the end of the school year. Being able to reflect is one of our eight Rs for learning – we looked at these way back in the first half-term of the school year. Reflecting means to think carefully about something and in this statement refers to looking back and thinking about what has happened this year.
Whether you’re at home or at school, in this, the last week of the school year, we can reflect on the year’s successes, changes and challenges. Reflect together: use these prompts to discuss with your child.
- I feel I improved the most in…
- Something important that I learned this year was…
- My favourite subject this year has been…
- What I enjoyed learning the most this year was…
- Something I’m proud of accomplishing is…
- Something I’ve learned about myself is…
- Something I will miss is…
- I will never forget this year because…
Encourage your child to include a reason: My favourite subject this year has been… because…
We thought about changes and transition last week. The following prompts can be used to support your child to look ahead to their next school year.
- I’m excited about…
- I want to learn about…
- I’m nervous about…
- I think the hardest thing will be…
- I can’t wait for…
- I think I’ll be surprised about…
This activity allows children to reflect and look ahead by writing a letter to their future self.
Shadwell Lane speeding
A total of 27 drivers were caught speeding outside our school on Thursday night, as reported in the Yorkshire Evening Post.
At the start and end of the school day, if you do drive, then please drive slowly and carefully near our school.
At other times, respect our neighbours and all the other road users by doing the same: drive slowly and carefully.
Our daily message: School in September (update 1)
Our final daily message this week comes from Mrs Weekes…
We’re really excited to finally be able to welcome back all our pupils to school – and to welcome some new faces, too!
Autumn is for all children – we’re welcoming back all children on Monday 07 September 2020.
The new school year will have lots of things in place to keep making sure school is a happy and healthy and safe place to learn.
We’ve closely considered lots of different aspects to make sure the new school year goes smoothly. Of course, lots of things are subject to change – the government might update guidance and we’ll be evaluating how things go, ready to iron out any glitches as we go along.
Today, we want to let you know some important news about the start and end of the school day.
We need a way to make sure our 210 children can get in and out of school safely. As we ease out of lockdown, it’s still important to reduce ‘people traffic’ around school at these busy times.
We’re continuing to have staggered start and end times.
Doing this allows us to maximise learning time – something which the guidance from the Department for Education prioritises.
| class | teacher | drop-off time | pick-up time |
| Reception | Mrs Burke | 8.30am | 3.00pm |
| The timings for Reception will be in place once your child has attended for a few sessions and have built up to attending full-time. | |||
| Y2, Y3 | Mr Parker (Y2)
Mr Wain (Y3) |
8.40am | 3.10pm |
| Y1, Y5 | Mrs Freeman and Mrs Taylor (Y1)
Mr Owen (Y5) |
8.50am | 3.20pm |
| Y4, Y6 | Mr Wilks (Y4)
Miss Wilson (Y6) |
9.00am | 3.30pm |
It’s important to note this is not a window of time in which to drop-off or pick-up so please be punctual. This will help us to keep our community safe by reducing congestion.
Where you have children in different classes, please bring all children at the earliest time and pick up at the earliest time.
For example, a family with a child in Y3, Y4 and Y6 would bring all children at 8.40am and pick all children up at 3.10pm. Siblings will be in the playground with an adult ready to be collected.
Entering and leaving school
The entrance will be the main gate. The exit will be the small pedestrian gate. This creates a one-way system.
Other things you can do to help
- If you’re waiting in the playground, please ensure your child stands with you and doesn’t mix with other children who may be in a different bubble. Children mixing across bubbles undermines our risk assessment.
- Where possible, just one adult should drop-off and pick-up. This reduces the number of adults on site.
- Whilst our playground has always had a community feel about it with people enjoying chatting in groups and catching up with others, during this time, we ask that adults swiftly enter and leave the school grounds.
We’ll keep updating you about school in September – Autumn is for all children back again!
Our daily message (09 July 2020)
Our daily message today includes a word from the Chair of Governors for Sphere Federation. Before that…
Sadly, during lockdown, incidents of domestic violence and other domestic abuse have increased quite significantly. Get support if this is happening to you or to someone you know.
We’re a few days into July, but it’s not too late to benefit from this Jump Back July calendar from Action for Happiness. This month, their focus is on how we can be more resilient in challenging times. Even taking just one thing on board each week might make a difference. Today’s suggestion is ‘Help someone in need and notice how that gives you a boost, too’. (My favourite so far this month has been the tip for Sunday 05 July – and, for me, that related to mowing the lawn!)
Finally, some words from Rachel Greenhalgh, our Chair of Governors…
As the academic year draws to a close, the governing body reflects on its work throughout 2019/20 and looks ahead to the coming year. This annual governance statement will shortly be published on our Governance page (in the Join In section).
Without exception, this past year has been the most challenging the education sector has experienced. As a governing body, we have responded by adapting our governance to cover essential business only and to ensure our school leaders have been supported.
At the end of last week, the Government published guidance for full opening of schools from September. School leaders are working hard to digest this new information, discussing numerous options in detail, creating plans, and managing risks for the safest possible return for all pupils and staff next term. Mr Roundtree has also initiated a working party with other school leaders and people from the Local Authority to develop well thought through plans for September. The governing body will ensure these plans and risk assessments are robust, and communicated to you as soon as possible.
Next year, the governing body will continue to ensure that all our statutory duties are met and focus on essential areas of governance whilst supporting school leaders as the Covid-19 situation evolves in the new academic year. Our immediate areas of priority remain the safety and wellbeing of all pupils and school staff, and we will continue to challenge school leaders on our vision that all the schools are a happy and healthy place to learn, and that all our children feel safe.
These past few months have been a very difficult time for most people and we are extremely proud of how all our school community has pulled together throughout the pandemic, and we thank you for all your support over the year. The Government has confirmed they are not asking schools to open over the summer holiday. We fully support this and agree ‘teachers, support staff and school leaders deserve a break, to recharge and rest’ (Department for Education daily email, 30.06.20).
We hope that you and your children have a happy and healthy school summer holiday and we look forward to seeing you all in September.
Tomorrow’s message is from the Head of School and provides the first key information about school in Autumn for all children.
Virtual sports day results and skipping challenges
Well done to all children who took part, at home and at school, in the virtual sports day yesterday.
The results are in and can be accessed here.
Here’s our overall school results for each challenge (out of 217 schools).
Netball challenge 56th
Keepie uppie challenge 27th
Rugby challenge 93rd
Speed bounce challenge 46th
Skipping challenges
If you are interested in trying another physical activity challenge, Jodi from Skipping School – a regular visitor to school, is running a daily skipping skill challenge this week. Sadly, Year 2 and Year 4 have missed out on their skipping festivals this year so these videos will help the children to recap the skills they have learnt at school.
Our daily message (08 July 2020)
Today’s message talks about the summer and September…
The BBC reports today that ‘home-schooling has been hell‘. We don’t doubt for one minute that it’s been tough – even more so if you’re one of the majority whose child is still at home.
In a recent daily message (25.06.20), we made the analogy of home-school learning being like a marathon: ‘This was always going to be a marathon, not a sprint. We’re definitely approaching the finishing line – we just can’t see it yet. And just like a real marathon…the last stages are tough.’
Are we reaching the finishing line? Some of you are anxious about the summer weeks, too.
From our communications with you, we know you’ve done a really good job. Some of you have had to step back from the home-learning quite a bit. That’s completely understandable, as you try to engage your child, deal with work, deal with all the other problems that this virus has brought about.
To hopefully help some of you through the summer, we’ve produced a list of summer camps and other activities. If you’re in a position to afford this, it might be an idea to sign up to something – your child could benefit from the social aspects, and it’ll give you the much-needed break you deserve. (If you do sign up for something, do seek assurance that the provider is following protective measures in line with the guidance which the government has produced. To help reduce the spread of Covid-19, we also strongly recommend you limit as far as possible the number of clubs your child attends.)
In that previous daily message, we also said: ‘The government has announced that all pupils in all year groups in England will go back to school full-time in September. Even if that doesn’t happen (and I’m thinking worst-case scenario here), I’m confident all children will be back at school on a rota system.’ In September, some schools in Leeds are planning reduced school days or reduced weeks for the first couple of weeks, and others are planning for years groups to return on a staggered basis over a few weeks. We’re planning to have all our children back from Monday 07 September – the very first day of the school term.
The school day might have a slightly different start and end time; there will be lots of tweaks to the timetable to allow for handwashing, playtimes and lunches; and we’re changing our curriculum topics to support children’s return. There will be plenty of other changes to consider, too, no doubt.
We’re lucky because our staff had already all agreed to attend training days at the end of the summer holidays (Thursday 03 September and Friday 04 September). We can use these to prepare all staff for the changes and safeguarding measures we’ll need to take. This will mean we can open for your child on Monday 07 September, the first day of term.
We want to assure you now that we’re doing all we can to hit the ground running from the very first day of the 2020-21 school year – a marathon that we hope we can all run together from the very start to the very end.
Our daily message (07 July 2020)
Today’s message reflects the conversations we’re having in order to prepare for September, when schools open more widely…
We’re working hard to make sure the September start for all our children returning to school – or joining for the first time – is a happy and healthy one.
I’m working closely with people from Leeds City Council and other Leeds headteachers to share ideas and best practice as we wade through the current government guidance. (This morning, I had my longest Zoom meeting yet – it lasted just short of three hours! – but it was really positive and productive).
School leaders across Sphere are also working hard on specific details. Some of the detail has to be based on each of the Sphere schools context, but others can be applied across all three schools. (I had another Zoom meeting this afternoon, for example – thankfully, a bit shorter at one and a half hours!).
There’s a lot to consider. Some obvious things are staggered start times, playtimes, lunches and finish times.
During the school day, we’re planning an adapted curriculum that follows two key principles: we want it to be broad and balanced but allow for flexibility so we can support children in terms of learning and wellbeing. The government’s guidance contains some broad messages (such as ‘Substantial modification to the curriculum may be needed at the start of the year, so teaching time should be prioritised to address significant gaps in pupils’ knowledge with the aim of returning to the school’s normal curriculum content by no later than summer term 2021‘) and some specific detail, too (such as information about specific subjects like PE and music).
Other aspects of school organisation that we’re working through include before and after school care, maintaining the increased sanitisation, handwashing and cleaning, and staffing issues. (There are some aspects of school that you might not immediately think about, such as checks for Legionnaires’ disease to ensure the water we have is healthy.)
Some of what we’re doing may have to be finalised in the summer holiday, and guidance from government could well change, too. We’ll keep you informed as much as we can, and as soon as we can.
Our daily message (06 July 2020)
We hope your weekend was a good one. It’s Monday – that means it’s time to talk Living and Learning during lockdown…
Statement of the week
I know how to cope with change… is our statement this week.
Talk to your child at home about the changes they’re facing:
- some changes are expected and some are unexpected
- some changes are welcome, others less so
- some can be managed, others are harder to deal with
We’re nearing the end of the school year. Some of us will be moving on to a new school; most of us will be getting ready for new classes and teachers. This clearly isn’t a normal year and transitions are different for us all. However, we want to encourage children to cope with change by managing and understanding the emotions they feel at this time.
At home, start by asking your child to consider change for the new year:
- what will be the same and what will be different?
- what will be easy and might some changes be harder to deal with?
- are there ways to cope with the more challenging changes?
Books can support transition. Use this reading of Dear Teacher as a prompt to discuss your child’s hopes and fears for the new year.
The Anna Freud website provides resources to support with transition including starting primary and moving to secondary school. MindMate also provides support for our Year 6 pupils.
Sports day
Sadly, one of our favourite events of the year – sports day – can’t take place this year. The next best thing is to take part in a virtual sports day!
We’re excited to be joining the West Yorkshire Virtual School Games Sports Day on Tuesday 07 July. The day will involve children taking part in multiple activities with the chance to compete against other schools across the county. There’ll be prizes on offer, too.
What do you need to do?
Have a look at the guidance for parents/carers to help you prepare for the day.
When does it take place?
There is a live opening ceremony at 10am on Tuesday 07 July and the activities can be completed at any point in the day.
Is this just for children who are back at school?
No – the activities can be done by children at school and at home. The sports day could be one of your child’s home learning activities on the day.
What are the activities?
The parent guide gives details of all the activities and instructions will also be given on the video released on the day.
Do children have to complete all the activities?
We’d encourage the children to have a go at as many as they can but they don’t have to complete them all.
How do we submit results?
This is the link to submit results (live from 10am on 07 July up till 12pm on the 08 July). All children’s results will be added to their school score.
We’d love to see the virtual sports day in action so please share any photos of your children taking part and good luck to everyone!
Our daily message (03 July 2020)
There’s a lot of things going on right now in terms of social distancing, summer and schools in September…
Social distancing
You’ll be aware that in most of England, some aspects of lockdown are easing from Saturday. In light of this, we’ve updated our policy in terms of social distancing. The main changes are:
Indoors or outdoors, you can meet in groups of up to two households (a support bubble counts as one household) in any location. You don’t always have to meet with the same household – you can meet with different households at different times. However, it remains the case – even inside someone’s home – that you should socially distance from anyone not in your own household.
Outdoors, you can meet in groups of up to six people from different households as long as you remain at least one metre away (ideally two metres). This means that parents and carers must ensure their child stays at a distance from other people – hugging and hand-holding, games like tig, tackling in football should all be avoided.
Summer
Earlier in the week, we confirmed that schools would not be open in the summer. Since then, the government has updated its guidance on what parents and carers need to know about schools during the coronavirus outbreak and they’ve added content on summer provision. (There’s also content on school uniform and the support package to help pupils to catch up, plus updates on school meals and the Covid Summer Food Fund.)
School in September
Yesterday, the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, announced the plans for all children to return to full-time education at the start of the autumn term. Read the supporting guidance for schools, colleges and nurseries.
They have also published guidance for parents and carers on the plans for the autumn term to help reassure you about what to expect for your child.
We know many of you are disappointed that schools aren’t open over the Summer holiday. And we know the disappointment comes from your concern about the learning that your child has missed this school year.
Please be assured we’re already working hard with other school leaders in Sphere Federation and across the local authority to have plans in place for a safe and successful school year 2020-21.
Enjoy the weekend as much as you can.
Our daily message (02 July 2020)
Today’s message comes from Sal Tariq, the Director of Children and Families for Leeds City Council…
Dear Parent(s)/Carer(s)
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your understanding and co-operation during what has been an extremely difficult time for our schools and your children.
I hope you join me in thanking teachers and head teachers, for their efforts in keeping schools open since lockdown for the children of key workers and vulnerable children. In many cases, this has included provision throughout the holidays. Most recently, head teachers have undertaken a significant amount of work in re-configuring their schools to make them safe to open more widely to more pupils in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6. I am very grateful for their efforts to make this happen.
Each school in Leeds is different and each school has unique circumstances. This is why we have been very clear that all schools will be operating slightly differently from each other during the current period. The numbers of pupils schools have been able to welcome back varies from school to school and school leaders have had to consider a wide number of variables.
Some schools, for example, have smaller classrooms, whereas some have greater numbers of ‘shielding’ staff. Both of these considerations result in the school being able to accommodate fewer pupils. In a number of schools, the numbers of vulnerable children or children of key workers have risen considerably which has resulted in a lack of capacity to welcome more children back.
Many schools have now reached the position where they cannot take any more children back safely and within guidelines. As a result, some head teachers are in the difficult position of not being able to offer a child a place. I know there has been some talk of using community facilities such as church halls, leisure centres, social clubs and scout huts to provide additional space but current government guidance is clear that schools should not use these facilities at the moment.
Accommodating children in non-educational settings is not as easy to do as it may first appear. It would highlight significant safeguarding, health and safety, resourcing and staffing implications and the priority for school leaders is the safety and well-being of your children. Schools must await further guidance from the government before considering this as an option.
Many of you are aware that the Government announced plans earlier this week to relax the 2m social distancing rule and may wonder if this means that schools can take more children. The government have said that from 4th July where it is not possible to stay two metres apart, guidance will allow people to keep a social distance of ‘one metre plus’. In Leeds, our current guidance to schools regarding social distancing of 2 metres has not changed; a 1 metre plus policy would require additional measures such as face coverings to be used routinely and would expose staff and children to greater risk of infection.
I know that the current situation is frustrating to parents and carers who are keen for their child to return to school. Despite their best efforts, school leaders will inevitably not be able to accommodate all requests from parents. I am writing to ask you to be respectful of the decision made by the head teacher of your child’s school, in the knowledge that it has been made with the safety of all children and staff at its heart.
Head teachers are now busy planning for September when it is hoped that all pupils will be able to return to school full time. School leaders are eagerly awaiting government guidance as to the expectations for September and I know they will communicate their plans with you as soon as they are in a position to do so.
I anticipate that restrictions, for example staggered start and finish times, class bubbles and increased cleaning and hygiene routines, will remain in place from September to ensure the safety of staff and pupils
I thank you for your continuing patience during these difficult times. I hope you and your families stay safe and well.
Yours sincerely
Sal Tariq OBE
Director, Children and Families
If you like, you can download the letter, too.
