Regular updates.
I hope you and your loved ones are all safe and well.
As you will be aware, the Government lockdown is to continue and be reviewed in May. Until then, we must continue to stay in our own homes apart from for daily exercise, food shopping (one adult only where possible) and to go to work if you are unable to work from home. We MUST social distance from everyone else who does not live in our household.
At school we have been very busy planning the next phase of home learning for our children. When they return, we will put every effort into making sure children ‘catch up’ on missed learning, we are teachers and it is our job, however, this can be greatly supported in the meantime with your help at home. Daily practise will promote discipline, good attitudes to learning, confidence, perseverance and sense of achievement, all attributes we celebrate in our children at Stoneyholme. Keeping a routine will also help your child when they return to school and will in turn; help you to manage their boredom and behaviour while we are in lock down.
This planning now includes ‘new learning’. We have looked at our plans for what we would have taught your child during this half term and picked out the important skills and knowledge we believe is necessary for their future education, We have then developed new ways of ‘distance teaching’ to include; videos, slide shows, diagrams and pictures rather than a lot of written instructions. The work will be presented in a way that we believe the children will understand. On the Class pages on the website, there will be a daily timetable of what the children MUST complete on that day. IT IS NOT AN OPTION, HOME LEARNING MUST BE COMPLETED, Monday to Friday are SCHOOL DAYS. If children struggle to complete an activity, email the teacher using Purple Mash and they will get back to you to offer help and support. We have provided a further pack of resources to help children produce their VERY BEST work. This includes a special exercise book, a pack of pencils, glue, rulers etc. for each family and from Year 1 upwards, their Maths No Problem exercise book. Please encourage them to look after them and present their work as neatly as they possibly can. The books and reading books MUST be returned to school when we are open again and will be used as part of their assessment evidence this year.
Teachers will continue to ring your child once a week. Please pick up the phone when they do. Children should be in their own homes and available to speak to. Good routines are important. When school is open, children are expected to be here by 8 50am, while they are at home, they should not still be in bed in the afternoon on a school day.
Until we can all be back together again, please take very good care of yourselves and contact us if you need anything at all!
With our very best wishes
Lisa Davison
and all of the staff at Stoneyholme Primary School.
Easter Holiday Arrangements
Dear parent and carers
I hope you and your families are all well. We are missing you all very much!
Thank you to everyone who has supported children’s home learning. We all had very short notice to make plans and arrangements for home learning and under the circumstances, I think you at home and we at school have done a great job so far! These are strange times for us all and we do not want home learning to be something that causes any further stress in your household. Learning is anything that makes your brain work. Cooking, playing a game, getting some exercise are all good examples of fun ways of learning.
Our website has lots of ideas and links to other sites of fun activities to keep your children occupied over the holidays while the country remains in lockdown. It is important that we all continue to follow government advice and stay in our own homes.
There is a new link for parents/carers on our website signposting resources, websites and organisations providing a range of support.
I would like to extend a special thank you to all of the key workers in our community. Your selfless acts which are helping to keep our country going during these difficult times are humbling and very much appreciated. My heartfelt thanks go to all of my staff at Stoneyholme who have continued to go above and beyond to support our community under very challenging circumstances. They are continuing to develop ways of supporting your child’s academic and emotional wellbeing while school remains closed, as well as planning for when school re opens in the future.
Teachers will resume home contact after the holidays (week beginning 20th April) and set new learning challenges.
Staff will not be in school for the next 2 weeks, however, if you need to contact us, please use the contactus@stoneyholme-pri.lancs.sch.uk email address. This will be constantly monitored by a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Messages left on the school answer phone will also be monitored during this period.
Take very good care of yourselves and your families. I am very much looking forward to the day when we can all be together again!
Kindest regards
Lisa Davison