Good afternoon,
Thank you for your patience and support as we all digest the news and the implications of last night’s government announcement. We know that in households across the area this morning, there will have been the full range of emotions and we appreciate the difficulties, frustration and upset families must be facing on what should have been the start of a brand new term at school. This will especially be the case for some children who will have gone to bed before the announcement was made and therefore woke up this morning expecting to return today as planned. Children – and parents – will need to take time to process this last minute turn of events and we are here to support you in the coming days and weeks.
There is some important information for you within this post, and in some cases respond to. I am trying to keep posts to a minimum to avoid overwhelming you, but please do take some time to read and understand this update – and to contact us if you require any further details or have any queries.
Critical Worker children in school
As you will have seen from the news, this latest variant of Covid is more highly transmissible between younger children. It is therefore essential that we keep the numbers in school to an absolute minimum. Please do remember that during this lockdown, unlike previously, childcare bubbles are permitted. Class teachers will be generally be working from home in order to oversee the setting, administering and provision of feedback for remote learning. Any children who are in school will be accessing the remote learning on laptops and will be supervised, generally by support staff, on a rota basis. Action required: In order to ascertain who may be in need of a place in school this half term, we would ask all parents to complete this survey https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=5qFB7HDvVkuhiM4hpIpiA5gxWWPemZhFlFlldnFKmA1UQzJMT0lEV0hCSVhGWDRCSEZWOU5NVEhOSy4u This will help us to be able to prioritise places in school should that become necessary. Further details will be provided to parents who are critical workers under separate cover.
Remote Learning
Further to the information shared yesterday, Mrs Rayner has kindly offered to lead a live Zoom presentation at two different times tomorrow with a focus on how to access our school’s remote learning offer. These sessions will not be interactive, but will allow you the opportunity to learn more about what to expect in the coming weeks as your child learns from home. You can join a session at either 9:30am or 2pm (content will be the same in both sessions) Action required: If you would like to join one of the sessions please email Mrs Rayner at class3@crayke.n-yorks.sch.uk so that she can issue you a link with a password to be able to access Zoom. Please clearly indicate which session you would like to join – either morning or afternoon.
For the remainder of this week, there will be some short “taster” activities for the children to complete as they become more familiar with how to navigate the site. From next week we are aiming to have Remote Learning Plan B up and running but please do bear with us as we all navigate this brave new world together.
Contacting class teachers
A reminder that should you need to contact the class teachers, they will be available on their school email addresses as follows:
Class 1 – Mrs Helfferich – class1@crayke.n-yorks.sch.uk
Class 2 – Mrs Dobson – class2@crayke.n-yorks.sch.uk
Class 3 – Mrs Rayner – class3@crayke.n-yorks.sch.uk
Class 4 – Mrs Chandler – class4@crayke.n-yorks.sch.uk
Please don’t expect an immediate response as they will be busy during the school day with remote learning and will get back to you as soon as they are able. Also please be aware that they, like many of you, will be juggling working from home with other demands including childcare as well as supporting children in school.
Laptops
We have a small number of mini laptops available for those families who identified in the remote learning survey that they would need additional devices in the event of school closure. Action required: If this applies to you, please contact headteacher@crayke.n-yorks.sch.uk to arrange collection.
Basic skills – reading, spelling and times tables
In addition to the lessons you will be receiving daily, please do continue to simmer the all important basic skills of reading, spellings and times tables. Maintaining a regular routine with these will pay off! This half term’s spelling lists will be uploaded onto the school website as soon as possible.
Free School Meals
We are awaiting further information about the potential provision of food parcels for families entitled to free school meals and will be in contact in due course. Action required: If your financial circumstances have changed and you may now be entitled to financial support please contact us and we can support you with this in confidence.
And finally… some wonderful news!
We have some exciting news to share with you to start the new year. Mrs Dobson is expecting her second baby in May! She is very pleased to finally share the news with yourselves and the children. I am sure you will join me in congratulating Mrs Dobson and wishing her well for the remainder of her pregnancy. We will be advertising for a maternity cover in due course and will keep you informed of developments.
Thanks once again for your support and understanding. Stay safe.
With best wishes
Judi Jackson
headteacher@crayke.n-yorks.sch.uk
