Dear Parents/Carers,

Firstly I would like to thank you all for supporting us so well with the online learning offer we have running at the moment. This learning is accessed by all children in school and with your help, all children at home.

It is so important that your children engage with every lesson. Teachers continue to spend a lot of time planning sessions that we hope will result in the children making the progress they deserve over this prolonged time out of school. Please rest assured that the lessons that are being delivered to children at home are the same as the ones which are being delivered in school. Thank you for supporting us in keeping your children home if you are able to.

We are already planning the priority learning and effective ways forward when they eventually do return, but in the meantime all we ask is that you make sure your children tune into all lessons every day. This includes the children who may be in school for part of the week – when they are not in school, they are expected to log into the lessons from home.

Many of us are parents and certainly share your pain when it comes to managing the household and in many cases work commitments on top of this. Of course we will do all we can to help with any digital issues and any other issues that you may have that may affect your children’s learning.

Email us on newdale.primary@taw.org.uk or call us on 01952 387720

We have been made aware that some children are staying attached to devices late on into the night playing games or on social media. Clearly the amount of time they are online learning at school isn’t ideal, but to add to this with hours more screen time could have a detrimental affect on e.g. sleep patterns and moods.

Again, I have two teenage children myself and know it is hard to peel them off devices, but also see the need to set boundaries and limit this time. Simply insisting they go on a walk could be a nice way to get them outside in the fresh air.

Numbers of cases in our area are thankfully coming down slowly. We cannot afford to relax however. We had another case in our Nursery this week despite the very best routines and risk management. Cases thankfully do not get the chance to spread, as we have systems in place to prevent this from happening.

Please remember you can get a precautionary test at any time even if you don’t have symptoms. https://rapidtest.telford.gov.uk/ All staff at Newdale test a minimum of twice a week to support our drive in keeping the virus out of our school community.

Thank you for your ongoing support and fingers crossed we continue to see more positive news across our borough in the coming days and weeks.

MIss Cook

Headteacher

Each year at Newdale, we take part in Safer Internet Day (SID). This year it will take place on Tuesday 9^th February. Whether your child is learning from home or in school, they will engage in a series of activities throughout the day with the aim of learning key ways to keep themselves and others safe online.

Please click on the link below to view the full letter.

Safer Internet Day February 2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

Firstly I want to say a huge thank you to all those parents who spent the time filling in the Online Learning Survey (127 received). We are delighted with your feedback and have shared your wonderful comments with the whole team and Governors.  We have now read each and every one and here are just some of the highlights and the areas that we are now working on:

Highlights

• You are delighted that children who are working at home are getting the exact same offer as the children who are attending school.
• The live learning lessons are a hit! Your children are loving seeing their teachers and friends in the same way that the teachers are loving seeing them too!
• Communication between school staff and you is brilliant: staff are working hard to support you even out of school hours.
• You have complimented all our staff teams about how hard they are working.

Areas we are now working on

• Ensuring that work is organised (maybe in dated folders) and daily or weekly timetables are shared so that you can see easily what needs to be done and when.
• Uploading the work the night before, in order for you to prepare if you wish.
• Offering a wider variety of lessons e.g. topic days or art days.
• Giving more opportunities for pupils to meet e.g. carrying out ‘show and tell.’
• Supporting you further in understanding topics and concepts e.g. vocabulary definitions and Maths knowledge organisers.

Year group teachers may also feedback specific points to you based on comments that link to their particular year group.

We are constantly reviewing our offer and it is wonderful to have this feedback to work on.

We appreciate that it is very difficult for children to maintain the level of concentration and motivation needed for home learning and we are so proud of them for keeping going. Our priority is clearly the wellbeing of your children and of course ensuring they continue to make as much progress as they can, so that when this virus is under more control, they will still remain where they should be with their learning.

Senior managers met last night and have begun plans to incorporate some sessions that would have been going on in school, that perhaps have less structure than normal. For example, next week on Tuesday afternoon, all children in school will be given the opportunity to see an online pantomime that we have purchased for them.  The team is also planning in more themed days and practical art days which we know the children will enjoy and will potentially give adults who are supporting a bit of relief! Please remember that teachers are conscious that parents at home, may well be working from home, and therefore the sessions are designed for the children to work as independently as possible – don’t let your children trick you into thinking you need to be supporting them through every minute of every session – they would be working independently in the classroom too!

It has gone very quiet as far as announcements from the Government about schools are concerned. As soon as we hear what the plan is, we will of course let you know.

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Cook

Headteacher