Mr Newman’s Friday E-ssembly: 15 May 2020

Mr Newman’s E-ssembly: 15th May 2020

Dear Parent

As we come to the end of Week 4, the half term break is in sight; I know a lot of pupils, parents and staff will be looking forward to this welcome respite.  Our pupils are bringing energy and enthusiasm to their lessons and we know that this is not always easy, given the circumstances, but to see their cheery faces in our Zoom lessons certainly brightens up the day!

So, how is remote learning going for you and your family?  I get asked this question frequently from friends and family and my answer changes from day to day – we have good and bad days, which I think is the norm. 

Some days, the computer is getting shouted at or close to getting thrown out the window (of course I would not do that), or when my Year 1 son distracts me whilst in a meeting (with the Headmaster) asking me how to spell a word or looking for his socks.  At this point, I execute exceptional non-verbal cues as I quickly try to shoo him out of the room in the hope that Mr Newman has not noticed!  Other days, we are celebrating what they have achieved or sharing an interesting fact they have learned at the dinner table. 

It is hard going some days and that is normal and OK. There are days where my children complete most of their tasks and others where we may have only got some reading and maths completed. Even though I want them to have completed more, I also need to understand that they are young and this is a strange time with school brought into their home (even if their Mum is an experienced school teacher and should be good at this).  Let me tell you that home-learning with your own child is a completely different ball game to a classroom full of pupils! 

It is important to note that your child can catch up on tasks in different times of the day and that teachers are there to support if they have not completed tasks or having a tricky time. All teachers are there to help and to ensure your child is happy and comfortable with their learning. 

We want to share with you how your child’s experience has been so far.  We are going to host parent and Form Tutor meetings on Friday 22nd May. Please note – parents of Year 5 pupils can arrange their meetings on either Thursday 21st or Friday 22nd May. 

You will be able to sign up in the usual way with the Tri-Booking system. The booking link will be sent out on Monday for you to choose your preferred time for your meeting.

Each meeting will be for 8 minutes between 9am and 2pm, between you and your child’s Form Tutor.  Ideally, we would like your child to be part of this meeting as well so they can hear from their Form Tutor as well as share their thoughts on their learning.  Subject teachers will be sharing information with Form Tutors which they will then pass on to you. 

When you have selected the time you wish to meet, the Form Tutors will call you through your child’s Microsoft Teams account (if in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 this will be through Zoom) and host the meeting. Alternatively, if this day or time does not suit you please contact your child’s Form Tutor to arrange a different time or day which can be set up through Zoom if necessary. We look forward to catching up with parents before the half term break.

Early next week, parents of Years 7 and 8 will be receiving more information about our ‘assessment week’, which falls in the week commencing Monday 8th June but will clearly be different to the usual summer exam week. Watch this space.

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend.

Rebekah
Deputy Head

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