Search
Search
Mayals Primary School
Ysgol Gynradd Mayals
"Be the best you can be"
Translate
Translate
Log In
Log In
Log in
Latest News
-
Vote for Louis!! Swansea' Got Talent
Tue 21 Apr 2020Let's get Louis to the top - please follow this link to view his video and register your vote! #TeamMayals
-
Parent / Carer Update - 21.04.20
Tue 21 Apr 2020Dear Parents / Carers,
Unbelievably, this week is the first week of the Summer term! Normally, we would be returning from the Easter break, and gearing up for the last third of the academic year. This year however, we are faced with a somewhat different scenario.
We hope that this update finds you well and coping with these exceptional times! We are missing the children, but hope that they are enjoying the extra time at home with their loved ones.
Please find a few updates below, but as always, if you have any concerns, questions or queries please do not hesitate to get in touch.
As always, best wishes,
Mr. Cox
Home Learning:
As we now move into week five of school closure; hopefully the children have begun to establish some routines and are working their way through the resources provided to them through J2E. However, the circumstances are surreal, and for that reason, it is fully understandable that the children’s motivation and focus may ‘ebb and flow’ from one day to the next.
As we have technically started a new term, this week, we feel that it may be a good starting point for us all to try and reinvigorate the children’s interest and start a refreshed wave of home learning.
As the children complete the weekly tasks, we would really like to encourage them to engage with the school; examples of this could include: sending clips of how they solved a problem, sharing pictures of work that they have completed; posting their high score on Sumdog; sharing presentations / movies / animations that they have created; or even snippets of any new skills they have started to learn. The staff would really like to see how the children are getting on; and we hope that this will re-instil the children’s understanding that school staff are still there for them.
As I mentioned in a previous update; sharing can be done safely through Class Dojo, through Hwb and also J2E. Along with this, (if you are happy to share your work online), you can send it to me at: CoxL32@hwbcymru.net or by tagging us in a Tweet on Twitter (@MayalsSchool).
Some of you have already done so, and these can be viewed on our Twitter page, or within our ‘Home Learning Gallery’ https://www.mayalsprimary.co.uk/the-home-learning-gallery/.
Oak National Academy –
In addition to the learning packs provided by our staff, you may also want to utilise the resources provided on the newly launched, Oak National Academy website.
The website has been created by the Department of Education for England, not Wales, but nevertheless can provide three online video lessons per day, for children aged from Reception to Year 10. The lessons focus of key topics of language, maths and foundation subjects.
The resources can be found by following this link, and then entering the classroom - https://www.thenational.academy/
School Meals
This week, we are pleased to say that there has been a change to the way in which our eligible families can access lunchtime meals.
As a cluster, we are now able to deliver weekly food parcels to all our eligible families. This process begun yesterday, and I believe that it was gratefully received by many of our families.
If you are eligible and interested, but have not had notification, please get in touch.
Moving Forward:
As you are aware, we are being told by the Government that there are currently promising signs in the daily figures of Covid-19 cases in Wales and the UK as a whole. As a result, the mention of lifting restrictions and of schools re-opening is becoming a frequently asked question by the media.
Within education in Wales, the most up to date information we are able to access, is the ‘Stay Safe. Stay Learning’ Policy, which was published by Kirsty Williams, yesterday. When launching the policy, she made some of the following comments:
- “Today marks the beginning of the summer term, but schools in Wales will not be re-opening their doors to all learners.
- “In these circumstances our task is to find ways to help our children keep learning - this means enabling remote learning and planning for how we can best help children through this time.
- “We will also support parents and carers to support their children’s learning, recognising that, while they are a child’s primary educator, they are not teachers and being clear that we do not expect them to recreate school at home. They also have an important role in supporting schools as they would normally do.
With regards to schools re-opening, she made the following comments:
- “This will only happen when the scientific advice says it is safe to do so but, even then, we cannot assume that it will be an immediate return to business as usual.
- “This means our remote learning support is likely to have a role to play alongside provision in schools.
As a school, we are working within our cluster to follow the guidance of Welsh Government and of the local authority. As soon as we have any further information, I will be sure to promptly pass the information onto yourselves.
(Link to guidance – https://gov.wales/new-guidance-will-help-wales-stay-safe-and-stay-learning-while-dealing-coronavirus-impact )
(Link to policy document - https://gov.wales/stay-safe-stay-learning )
Message from our Chair of Governors – Mrs Kathleen Boyce:
To parents and carers,
On behalf of the Governing Body of Mayals School, I should like to thank our dedicated Head, Deputy Head, all teachers, assistants, administrative and support staff for all they have done to adjust to a new way of working in the present emergency. I should also like to thank all parents and carers for doing everything possible to ensure that all children feel safe and happy. Pupil well-being is at the centre of our work in Mayals School and we know that happy secure children will easily make up for any learning 'missed' recently. We look forward to the great day when school life returns to normal and assure you of our determination to provide the very best learning experience for every child.
Please take care and thank you very much for your ongoing support.
Mrs Kathleen Boyce.
-
Mental Health and Wellbeing Support
Mon 13 Apr 2020We have been asked, by one of our Dads, to share the information below:
A mental health and well being chat for men, which is usually held every Friday, is now available via Zoom chat.
The meetings take place every Friday, between 11am and 1pm. They can be accessed by following this link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/3238134668
Everyone welcome! -
Parent / Carer Update - 12.04.20
Sun 12 Apr 2020Dear Parents / Carers,
As we now move into week 4 of school closure, I hope that this letter finds you and your families, well! We hope that you are coping with the massive change to daily life, and are managing to keep yourselves busy.
Happy Easter:
On behalf of the staff at the school, I would like to wish you all a happy Easter! A very different Easter for us all, but a good opportunity for us to reflect on everything that is going on at the minute.
In school, the children would normally have been busy making Easter bonnets and decorating eggs. If you have decided to do any Easter craft at home (or have a message or done anything cool) please take a photo and share it with us. It would be lovely if I could put a photo gallery together, to share with everyone, and cheer everyone up. Please send them to CoxL32@hwbcymru.net, and I will share them over the next week.
Emergency Childcare Update:
As I mentioned in last week’s update, we 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.
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
Free School Meals:
The local authority are still providing ‘Grab and Go’ bags for families entitled to free school meals. These meals can be ordered daily, and collected from Bishopston Comprehensive.
Please get in touch if you are eligible and interested in accessing the meals.
Home Learning:
Our staff are continuing to update the online tasks for home learning. They are also keen to find out how you are doing with them? You can interact with your teachers by sharing work through Hwb, J2E and Class Dojo.
In the links below, are some fresh ideas and challenges for you to have a look at. The top link takes you to the virtual ‘Swansea’s Got Talent: Kids’ competition, where you have the chance to win £150. It would be great if you could share these videos with us too!
https://www.stem.org.uk/sites/default/files/pages/downloads/Starters-for-STEM.pdf
https://swanseavirtualschool.org/resources/
https://www.getoutwiththekids.co.uk/
Back to School:
There has been no mention or indication of when we may all return to school. Understandably, the local, Welsh, and National Government are focusing their attention on containing the spread of this awful virus. Until this is done, and until the lockdown begins to be lifted, it is inevitable that we will continue to remain closed.
This picture is, of course, changing daily. As soon as we know any information, we will be sure to pass it on.
Keeping in touch:
We continue to keep updating our new website and posting Tweets on Twitter. Links to home learning ideas, and all previous updates / correspondence can be found there. Please keep a look out for any new information.
Lastly, I want to again wish you all continued good health at this very difficult time. We miss you all, and look forward to seeing you all soon. Please remember that we are here, should you need us for anything.
Take care,
Mr. Cox
-
Parent / Carer Update
Fri 03 Apr 2020Dear 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
Page 1 of 1