St. Luke's Newsletter - Issue No. 108

What a challenging couple of weeks it’s been! We’d like to say a big well done to our children in Tigers and Elephants class for doing their remote learning and for staying indoors. We know it’s not easy but you are all playing your part in keeping everyone as safe as we can.

We’d also like to thank staff and parents for being so adaptable at such short notice.

Drop off and Pick up

It has come to our attention that not all parents are following our procedures when dropping off and collecting their child from school. We would like to remind parents of these procedures;

• Parents/Carers should enter via the pedestrian gate next to the car park entrance and not the top gate (even if you are running late or no one else is about)
• Parents/Carers should not send their child in through the top gate – they should queue up with their child and only leave once their child is through the main gate supervised by staff
• Parents/Carers should stand at a 2-metre distance from any other adult. This distance is indicated by the painted yellow lines
• Parents/Carers should wear a face covering when entering the school site and keep this on whilst on the school site – this is any area within the school gates
• Children should not mix and play with each other whilst waiting to come into school
• Parents/Carers should only arrive at their designated time
• Parents/Carers should stand 2 metres apart when waiting on the playgroun

We will be monitoring these procedures over the next week.

The infection rate in Redditch is still very high and we need to do everything we can to keep our school community safe. We hope that you will all help us with this.

COVID over Easter holidays

We hope that everyone will be well over the Easter holiday. However, if your child does become symptomatic and test positive for COVID between Friday 2^nd April and Sunday 4^th April, you must let the school know by emailing [email protected] . This is because school will need to contact all close contacts so that they too can isolate.

If your child is unable to return to school on Monday 19^th April due to isolation, please let us know via email.

Catch up Funding

As you may be aware the government has given schools some additional funding to support pupils in catching up on the time missed in school. We have put together a plan of how we will use this funding in the spring and summer term. We are able to provide additional support in each class. We will specifically target; language development, reading, writing and maths skills, and supporting children with their emotional wellbeing.

Teachers are currently observing and tracking each child’s progress so that we can get the right support to those who need it the most. You can find our catch-up funding report on our school website in the COVID section.

Rats

We have had some sightings of rats on our school site. We have sought professional advice and we are currently working with these professionals to get rid of the rats. We are ensuring that we are keeping the children away form the problem areas whilst we deal with this issue. However, we ask all parents to be careful and vigilant when queuing up for school.

Laptops

We have a number of laptops on loan from the DfE which can be given to families to support remote learning. Therefore, if your child’s class bubble is closed, you can telephone school to request a laptop. These will be given on a need basis for pupils who;

• Don’t have any access to devices
• Can only access their learning through a mobile phone
• Are having to share devices with parents or siblings
•  

All laptops borrowed should be returned to school once the isolation period is over.

Laptops over Easter

We would like to offer laptops to children during the Easter break should they wish to do some extra learning. Teachers will not be setting learning over Easter but children can still access websites such as Ed Shed and Oxford Owl. Children can also access learning on CBBC and through Oak National Academy. This is at your discretion and there is no expectation for your child to do additional learning during Easter.

However, if you need a laptop for this, please contact school. These will be given on a need basis.

Free School Meals

For all pupils who are in receipt of free school meals, vouchers will be given for the Easter holidays. These have been ordered and should come to you via email.

Wellbeing Award

As you will be aware, we have been working towards achieving a nationally recognised Wellbeing Award. We had our final assessment last week and we are delighted to inform you that we have been awarded the wellbeing award. Our wellbeing report can be found on our website in the wellbeing section. It is a very positive read and recognises the hard work and commitment of our staff.

We will continue to make wellbeing a high priority in school and will update parents in the near future of our next steps. Mrs Pemberton would be keen to welcome more parent voice and would like to set up a parent forum for this. This group would meet once per term to talk through how best to support and educate our children on mental health and wellbeing. If you would be interested in helping Mrs Pemberton with this venture, please email or telephone the school.

Easter Celebration

Although we cannot celebrate Easter in our usual way, we will try to make the end of term special for the children. On Thursday 1^st April, the children will have a special virtual Easter service from the church. The children will also take part in their annual Easter egg hunt.

We will also be videoing the children singing Easter songs which we will upload to Class Dojo. If you do not wish your child to be on this video, you will need to let school know by Tuesday 30^th March.

Thursday 1^st April is our last day in school for this term.

To all of our families, we wish you a safe and happy Easter and we look forward to seeing you back in school on Monday 19^th April.