Latest News | Bishops Waltham Infant School

Thank you!

Wed 13 Jan 2021

Thank you to all the parents who have sent nice emails - it is really appreciated by the staff.

Also thanks for this lovely box of chocolate bars that arrived for us today!

it is great to see so many children logging on remotely for our live zoom call, story and lessons this week. We are currently updating our policies to reflect remote learning and when completed these will be sent out to you. In the meantime, please can you abide by a few simple rules that we already use in school, to comply with our safeguarding procedures, GDPR and child protection policy.

1. Please do not allow your child to zoom from their bedroom. There should be no inappropriate objects or words in sight.

2. Zoom calls, screens or lessons should not be recorded in any way. The school has not given permission for this. We regard our online teaching, the same as our class teaching. Videoing, photographing is strictly forbidden to protect the children in our care.
3. Our zoom calls will be made with one other adult in earshot at all times. We will not request 1-1 sessions with children and will have other adults present at all times.

4. We do not have a social media platform. We are aware that some parents have made some/joined some. Again, our school has not given permission for images/ videos to be used on these platforms especially zoom screens.

These are just a few points. I know you are all really keen and want to show us what you can do, but the safety of all children is paramount. Thank you so much for your cooperation. I have been amazed by the learning taking place and uploaded to tapestry - I know your teachers have been too. Well done all!

Best wishes

Mrs Riches

Friday 8th January 2021

Fri 08 Jan 2021

Dear Parents and Carers

Thank you to everybody who attended our assembly this morning. I promise I will get better at this-already looking at ways to improve! It is very different to zoom, as I couldn't tell if you could see me or not. The only way is up!

I will start writing to the children on our school blog page. I know the teachers will be able to send you messages directly using tapestry and your children pages, but I had no space to talk to the children, so I will use the blog part of our website. You can find it under the children tab or click the link here:

https://bishops-waltham-infant-school.primarysite.blog/?user=40142

We have had a very kind offer today of some free PPE from a parent, which has been great. We were sent an original box back in September, but nothing since. You may have seen that we have not had any ipads/laptops either, because we are an infant school. Because of this, I have a small plea. If you have old devices hanging around, that can access the internet, or you or your company would like to donate a new device, we would be very grateful. the ones we are currently signing out are our class ones, but with over a third of our children attending under critical care/vulnerable, we haven't got many devices free to loan. You would really be helping us out if you can.

Mrs Palmer has sent everybody's login details to Tapestry-this will now be the place to upload learning. It creates a file for your child's learning and teachers can comment on all. Our Reception Class teachers are teachers our Key Stage one teachers how to use it.

Thank you for all your help and support this week. Although anxious, our whole staff team are also very upbeat and your kind messages and amazing learning is lifting us all higher! Thank you to Mr and Mrs Jones and Mrs Nettles for the yummy cakes-they were a welcome treat today!

Well done to you all at home for doing such a great job. Lots of parents have commented how different it is this time. If we had been given options on how we organised our learning in June last time, this is the approach we would have liked to take, teaching and helping all children and families every day. We hope the routine of starting and finishing the day with your child's teacher is helping to structure the day a little too. We are providing 3 hours of learning per day, as per the guidance from the DFE. Breaks, daily reading and playtime in between are important for the children too, and we suggest the story at the end is when everybody stops their day and enjoys their normal family time.

You have all made it to the end of the first week-I hope you manage to relax this weekend. You have earned it!

Best wishes

Mrs Riches

First day of Remote Learning

Wed 06 Jan 2021

Dear Parents and Carers

It was so lovely to see all the children ready to learn and talking to their teachers on zoom this morning! The teachers can't wait to read their stories to them at 2.45pm. Remember to log back in.

As you can imagine, there are a lot of things to organise at the moment. We have 9 Critical Care bubbles running with 2 adults in each. We are also teaching children at home too. We are reviewing a few things to make learning links clearer for children, including learning for the day. We are also still awaiting our tapestry logins for Year 1 and 2, for individual learning to be sent back to school. Until we have this, please use the Year Group emails. When your child logs in, please can it be their name (we had some funny named children on some zooms today!), and mute your microphone. The teachers will let you know when you can unmute.

We will be having a Celebration Assembly on Friday, and I have asked the teachers to share one child from each Year Group's learning-this includes children attending school and at home. Teachers will also continue to award learning stars for good learning and we will send out learning certificates to home. I will send the link to the zoom before Friday.

Thank you to the majority of parents for helping try to make school safe for our staff and children by only sending your children in, when there is no other option for you at home. This is helping to greatly reduce numbers and risk of spreading coronavirus. The new strain is said to be 50%-70% more transmissible. It is also affecting children. This is a great worry to us all, and I know you will not put our staff members and children at greater risk if you had someone at home who can help your child. I would like to reassure parents who have sent their children to us, that we have a stringent risk assessment and procedures in place to be as safe as we can be.

We are signing out electronic devices if you need them to help at home. We have not been given any devices from the government, so they are our school laptops that we use in class. The availability of devices are limited, and will be given to families who are in the greatest need for them. We also have a limited number of data cards, if your device runs on data. These will be given out to families who email to request them and are in the greatest need for them. If you feel that either of these will be useful, please contact Mrs Palmer.

For children who are attending school during lockdown, please do not bring in anything from home other than outside clothing (coat, hat gloves), a water bottle and trainers if not worn to school. Lunches will be provided, but if you would like to provide one for your child, you can. Please only attend on the days requested, and if your circumstances change (eg you are furloughed), please change your child's attendance at school to reflect this. On the days your child is not attending, please complete the learning for the day at home in their blended learning book. These stay home until the children come back to school at the end of lockdown.

If you require writing pencils/pens please let us know and they can be picked up at the office. We will not be sending any reading books home during this time and book bags should not be brought to school. There are online links for parents who need reading material on our website.

We provided a pack of learning for this week. The majority of learning will be able to be done straight from the computer into the blended learning book, with little being printed out. The current advice for all is 'Stay at Home'. Following this advice we will not be providing learning packs for all every week, as this would encourage everybody to leave their homes. Please contact Year leaders if you are unable to access the learning and we will look at how we can help individuals.

Our brilliant Yoga Teacher, Emma Whewell, is currently videoing some Yoga sessions and Yoga hints and tips. As soon as these are ready to go on our site, we will put them on. We will all be very flexible the next time we meet!

We hope you are all keeping well. Thank you so much for your kind words of support and emails this week. They have really cheered us all up. As I have said in the past, we had very good plans for this. But until a plan becomes a reality, we really couldn't see how it would run. We will continue to make tweaks and changes as we go along and remember we are always on the end of the telephone, or email. If you can give us a couple of weeks to find our feet, we will be very grateful. All staff are working very hard to make this work for all our children and families and appreciate the enormous stress this has put everybody under. We will get through this. Hopefully the vaccine will be forthcoming and we can see you sooner rather than later. We miss you all very much.

Best wishes

Mrs Riches

Arrangements for Learning-Please Read

Tue 05 Jan 2021

Dear Parents and Carers

Your heads are probably spinning with the shock from last night. I know ours certainly are. This time when we are in lockdown, our technology (and our skill) is much better.

All the teachers want to zoom their classes this afternoon to say hello and offer the children reassurance. Your teacher will be sending a zoom invite for this afternoon for the following times:

Year R (Bats, Rabbits, Owls) 2 o'clock

Year 2 (Hedgehogs, Foxes, Frogs) 1.15pm

Year 1 (Squirrels, Robins, Otters) 1.45pm

Between 1 o'clock and 3pm today your child's learning pack will be outside their classroom for you to pick up. Their books are labelled, so please only take your child's book. Please use the one way system and wear a mask to do this. Books will be available in the turning circle to pick up (if you are unable to make today)tomorrow between 9.30am and 2pm.

Free School Meal Food Hampers will be available to pick up from tomorrow, for children eligible for Free School Meals (not universal credit). Please check with Mrs Palmer in the office if you are unsure whether you are eligible for these Hampers.

We are extending 'Tapestry' into Year 1 and 2 so that children can send their learning to their teacher for feedback (instead of using email). This will be ready next week, and we will send each child their individual log in as soon as they have been set up.

We have Sum Dog and TT Rockstars as practise platforms for maths and English skills. All other learning is currently in your child's Year Group Folder, under 'blended learning'.

Remote Learning Timings

All children will have a zoom with their teacher at the start of the day, Monday to Friday. This is to introduce the learning for the day. The timings are as follows:

Year 1 and 2: 9am

Year R 9.30am

All children will have a zoom at the end of the day for story and a song/rhyme. The timing for this will be 2.45pm.

From next week onwards, there will other 'live' sessions through the day to zoom into too. Your child's class teacher will get in touch with you regarding timings for these sessions.

Year Group emails are open for any questions or answers you may have. Critical worker and vulnerable child applications will be replied to within the next hour.

I hope this is clear to all. Please contact us if you are unsure of how to access learning either via the office or your Year Group, and we will be there to help.

Kind regards

Mrs Riches

National Lockdown Information - January 4th 2021

Mon 04 Jan 2021

National Lockdown Information- January 2021

We are now in a national lockdown. Please click on the link to see what this means for you and your family. Where possible, stay at home. This includes your children too.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/949536/NationalLockdownGuidance.pdf

IMPORTANT NEWS SCHOOL WILL BE CLOSED TO ALL CHILDREN TOMORROW

Mon 04 Jan 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

Follow the Prime Minister’s announcement this evening, we are writing to inform you that Bishops Waltham Infant School and Bishop’s Waltham Junior School will be closed tomorrow for all pupils.

Teachers are currently preparing their resources, in line with our blended learning/remote education plans, and these will be uploaded ready for children to access from tomorrow morning.

The school will continue to be open for vulnerable and critical worker children from Wednesday 5^th January.. Our Local Authority have asked us to wait until they issue advice regarding number limit and eligibility for these places.

We will contact parents of those children who we believe are classed as vulnerable to confirm a place for your child/children tomorrow (Tuesday). You do not need to contact us unless you believe that your child/children meet the definition of a vulnerable child and you have not received a phone call by 3pm tomorrow.

To ascertain numbers, if you believe that your child/children fit the definition for a critical worker place then please complete the following online form by 10am on Tuesday 5th January

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=kZvl1qS1hk6-NL-kMyWHA0VC4Ykd7JRNkjkcB05GXPdURTE0TVU0Wko0SzA5SFk4RTVXU0RVQlYxVC4u:

Please Note: Completion of the form is not a guarantee of a place, and all parents who have filled in a form will be contacted by the end of the school day tomorrow.

Whilst we recognise that many families may have a need for childcare, we are required to restrict our provision to those children described in the official guidance, in order to keep the numbers in school as low as possible. School closure is primarily a means of limiting the spread of coronavirus in educational settings and the wider community. It was made very clear in tonight’s announcement that if you can do your job at home then your child should be home with you as schools are a ‘vector of transmission’.

Please accept our apologies for the late notice and for any disruption that this sudden change to our plans has caused to you and your family. We do not receive any prior notification of school closure from the government and receive the news at the same time as the rest of the population.

Please be reassured that, as always, we are on the end of the phone should you require any support. Thank you all for your support and understanding. Until we can come together once again as a community, please take care and stay safe.

Kind regards

Mrs Ginene Riches & Mr Darren Campbell

Headteachers of Bishops Waltham Schools

Coronavirus and children-what to look for

Mon 04 Jan 2021

Please find below, an up to date chart that we have been asked to share with parents regarding symptoms to look for in children regarding coronavirus.

Importance Notice-current situation regarding school start of term

Sun 03 Jan 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you have had a restful and enjoyable Christmas, however your plans turned out in the end. As I am writing this, there is much speculation in the press and on social media about schools reopening for primary aged children. I wanted to touch base with you, to let you know the information I have to date.

Currently, primaries in Hampshire are to remain open, and we are planning to reopen our doors to all pupils on Tuesday 5th January, with Monday being a planned INSET day. I understand that there will be a mixture of reactions from parents to this from relief to anxiety. There is also the ever increasing anxiety about the rapid rise in cases across the south-east and further last minute changes imposed on us from the government. This real anxiety is also felt amongst school staff as well as concerned parents.

As yet, there has been no additional guidance provided regarding additional risk assessment measures that are required in primary schools. As you know, we already had in place all the measures required to minimise the risks for staff and for pupils, and have reviewed these regularly throughout the term, and will continue to do so. We have added to our risk asessment the need for all adults picking up and dropping off children to now wear a mask, as communicated to you on Thursday 31st December. Some staff members have also expressed that they would like to wear a mask/visor, and you may see more staff doing this. We will continue to monitor the information provided by the DfE, along with any local authority guidance.

We will endeavour to provide you with as much notice as possible of any potential changes which will affect children or parents, although I’m sure you will appreciate that in the current situation, last minute decisions may be out of our hands.

We were very fortunate to have no bubble closures in the Autumn term, and I thank you in your continued support to help with this. However, regardless of how careful we are in following the guidance, we understand that the new strain of virus is impacting on the rate of transmission, and I am now hearing of many more positive cases amongst friends, our school families and colleagues. Realistically, it is more likely that we will be impacted on this term.

In light of the additional mixing which may have occurred on Christmas day, it is more vital than ever that I ask all families to ensure that you follow the government guidance regarding potential Covid cases this term:

• If your child, or anyone in the household, has Covid symptoms, the whole family should self-isolate until the symptomatic person has had a negative test result. Please fill in our COVID track and trace form for any household positive cases. We will continue to use this form as our record in the coming months. Emails often get lost from private mail boxes and the form will give us a way of collating all the information we will need when filling in our daily DFE return, without the need to bother you or your family during your period of illness.

• If your child has been in contact with anyone who has tested positive for Covid, please ensure that they follow the self-isolation period as required by track and trace.

In order to minimise risk of transmission in our community at drop-off and pick-up times, I would like to remind you of the following:

Please adhere to the start and finish times for your child’s class Year Group when dropping-off and picking up (available on ‘Latest News’ and ‘Parent Information’ on our website. There is a 10 minute window for dropping off and picking up, and I urge you to consider spending less time queueing and try to arrive within the 10 minute window instead. This is especially important if relying on more vulnerable family members to help with childcare.
We ask that only one adult accompanies the children onto site. If dropping off children for a friend, those children will become part of your family drop off. Group. If dropping off two or more children, please can the same family member do this, not swap family members outside.
Drop off/Pick up need to be at 2m from the door. We will still be unable to have discussions with you at the door about your child, no matter how small, and instead ask that you use the Year Group email to contact us/let us know information or telephone the school office, where we will take a message and inform the teacher.
Drop off and pick up should be as brief as possible and we will expect parents to help us with this. We ask that the exit ramp be kept clear at all times and parents do not congregate around the bottom, making it difficult for parents to walk past when socially distancing.
When dropping off or picking up, please observe social distancing with the other waiting adults. Children should be kept close at all times, to enable all family groups to socially distance.

Please wear face coverings when dropping off/collecting pupils on the school grounds.

Letting children from different bubbles mix and run around in the park after school could impact our whole school and close more than one bubble down. Please take care if letting your child play in playparks, regarding mixing with children not in our school/in your child’s bubble.

You can also help by getting your child back in to good hand hygiene habits which may have become less stringent over the holiday if they have been mainly at home. Please also take some time to remind them of the importance of social distancing, particularly when playing. The children will have had limited opportunities for interactions with one another over the Christmas break and therefore may find social distancing even more difficult when they return to school. The teachers will take some time on Tuesday to remind them of expectations.

Provided there are no changes, we look forward to seeing your children on Tuesday, but I will be in touch as soon as possible if there are any further developments. I will alert you to any emails sent, with an app message as well. We will be open on Monday for any parent queries, so please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need to let us know anything or would like a question answered.

Kind regards

Ginene Riches

Headteacher