Dear Parents / Carers,

I sincerely hope that this letter finds you, and your families, well !

In what continues to be uncertain times, can I thank you all for your continued support and for your positivity in dealing with the extraordinary situation that we find ourselves in at the minute.

Emergency Childcare Update:

As you are aware, despite the fact that our school is not open; our staff are still providing daily childcare for the families of critical workers.  We continue to be based at Bishopston Comprehensive, and are providing childcare from 8.00am to 5.00pm.  Our staff have been keen and eager to come in and provide a much needed service for these families, and will continue to do so over the Easter holidays.

The most up to date information about childcare can be found on the local authority website, by following this link - https://www.swansea.gov.uk/covid19schoolsandcolleges

Home Learning:

As a school, we completely understand that accessing and utilising online activities can be difficult; and is not the same as being in school.  We do also realise that many families have different circumstances; such as having to share technology, and also parents trying to juggle the unenviable task of working from home whilst caring for children.  I myself have a 7 year old and a 4 year old in the house, so I know exactly how difficult it is!

What we want to stress, is that these are extreme times, which are resulting in changes to our daily lives.  Please don’t feel pressured to try and get everything done!  Don’t get worried by the fact that it is 10 o’clock and your children haven’t done their maths yet!  What is important, is that you are all coping with the situation.  Things that can help are: trying to stick to regular meal times, trying to get an hour’s fresh air / exercise a day, and setting achievable work goals each day.  All these help to add a focus and a broad routine, to help break up what can sometimes feel like long days. 

We are however, glad to see that many of our children are making the most of the resources on J2E, and also using the links on our school website.  The staff have been adding to the activities and will continue to do so in preparation for the Easter holidays.

We are also regularly adding new ideas and challenges to our school Twitter feed, and on the ‘Home Learning’ section of our school website.  We have recently added information, that we have received from the local authority, regarding home learning for children with additional needs - https://www.mayalsprimary.co.uk/supporting-additional-learning-needs-aln/

Food Bank:

A massive thank you to those who donated items to the foodbank at the Holy Cross Church.  We are also aware that parents from our school have made monetary donations to the Red Café.  Thank you!

Please do remember though, that these food banks are also there for our families who are in need.  Please do get in touch if there is anything that we can do to help.

Lastly, on behalf of the school, I want to wish you all the best of health at this very difficult time.  Please stick to the government guidelines, and hopefully we will beat this terrible virus sooner, rather than later.

Take care,

Mr. Cox