School closure - information for parents

Tuesday 5th January 2021

Dear Parent/Carer

I hope you and your family are safe and well and are beginning to come to terms with the sudden school closure announcement made yesterday evening.

School is now closed for all children except those of critical key workers and vulnerable children whom are entitled to attend every day. Those children attending will be bubbled into small groups with their own dedicated classroom and will remain in these groups for the duration of the lock down. If your child is attending you will be notified separately of your child’s group, classroom and arrival/departure times. A packed lunch will be required for Wednesday and from Thursday onwards you will be able to order and pay for a school lunch using the same booking system as before. This will be a reduced menu so if you have already booked meals in advance, these will be cancelled by the Admin team by the end of tomorrow. You will then need to go on to the school gateway on Wednesday evening and re-book your child’s meals.

Unfortunately, we will be unable to provide breakfast and after school club whilst school is closed but if your child is attending and occasionally needs to be dropped off earlier or collected later please contact the school.

From Wednesday 6th January, weekly Home learning will be posted on class pages on the school website. Learning for the week will be shown as daily English, Maths, Science and the wider curriculum activities and, where possible, at different levels of challenge - one, two or three star activities. Through taking this structured approach it will enable you to work through activities on a daily basis but also to pick and choose activities from different days as appropriate. I appreciate home learning can be very challenging and wellbeing is vitally important but the expectation is that children complete some work every school day. Once work has been completed it can be sent back into school using Class Dojo or by using the class email. Consent letters for using Class Dojo were sent out last term, if this has not been returned please do so as soon as possible. If the consent is not returned and you begin to use Class Dojo we will assume you have given consent. Once work has been received teachers will provide feedback but please be aware this may take some time  as many teachers will also be teaching critical key worker and vulnerable children. For help and support using Class Dojo please email pupils@hatherleigh-pri.devon.sch.uk 

If you are unable to access, download and print Home learning resources please let the school know and we will be able to provide you with hard copies which can be collected from school.

For more information on Home learning please view our Home Learning Policy which can be found on the school website but please do not hesitate to contact the school or class teachers through the class email if you need any support or have a question.

During the summer term lock down many children sent in photos to be posted on the school website of school work, projects and activities, these were amazing and a great source of pleasure and inspiration for all and something we would like to do again.  Please send in your photos using pupils@hatherleigh-pri.devon.sch.uk 

For children entitled to a Free School Meal (FSM) you will have been contacted regarding term time provision whilst the school is closed, if you believe you are entitled to FSM and have not been contacted please inform the school.

Spending considerable amounts of time together at home as a family can be challenging, if you have any wellbeing or safeguarding concerns please contact the school or in an emergency the Police 999, non-emergency 101 or MASH (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub) on 03451551071 or mashsecure@devon.gov.uk .

Please regularly visit our website to view updates to class pages, home learning photos, online resources, including those for SEND children, and for further updates and information.

Stay safe and well

Alan Monger

Headteacher