September

Yesterday, Kirsty Williams announced the excellent news that all schools in Wales will be open to all pupils by Monday, September 14^th 2020. 

Within her statement, she did highlight that specific groups of learners, may need to be prioritised for the first week of the term.  However, from the second week, schools should be looking to get back to full capacity.  Her full statement can be found by following this link, https://gov.wales/education-minister-announces-back-school-plans-september

Now that we have this information, we can start to refine our detailed plans for our return.  We do envisage having a short period for transition between classes, during the first week, and then looking to get ‘back to normal’, within the second week. 

From listening to the Minister’s statement, it is clear that school life, just like everyday life, will still require some additional measures to be put in place, to minimise the risk of cross-infection, and a risk of a second spike in the pandemic. Such as, the children being placed in larger contact groups (bubbles) of around 30; school start/end times and break times possibly being staggered; and not having larger gatherings, such as assemblies; but these are all finer details, which we will consider once we have more guidance.

We will now be working closely, with the local authority, our Governing Body and with our cluster of schools, to prepare risk assessments; discuss transition strategies; manage wellbeing; etc – with an aim to provide a model that best suits the needs of our children and families.  We will share these plans with you, before the end of next week.

As always, if you have concerns, suggestions or queries, before then, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Classing Structure – September 2020

Please find below, the teaching staff structure, for September.  Please share this with your children.  We will also be looking for the children to have chat with their new teacher, next week, as well as more structured transition opportunities, during the first week back.

Reports

At this time, we will only be looking to send out paper copies of our Year 6 reports, before the end of term. 

All other parents / carers, can request an electronic copy of their child’s report, which can be shared (in pdf format), via Class Dojo or sent to an email address.  If requested, these will be sent out, during the first weeks of the summer break.  Please contact the school, or your child’s teacher, should you want their report in this format.  Alternatively, paper copies will be handed out, immediately, when the children return in September.

Childcare arrangement over the Summer

We have now received the following information, from the local authority, relating to childcare arrangements for the summer break:

Childcare for children of critical workers

For childcare provision for the children of critical workers, given timescales and implications of CIW registration, the most viable option is to signpost families requiring childcare to use existing registered private childcare provision.  Further information is available for parents/carers by contacting Swansea Family Information Service on 01792 517222 or by e-mailing fis@swansea.gov.uk.

We have also been asked to forward you a survey link, which the local authority hopes to use in order to gauge demand, during the summer holidays. 

Please be advised that this survey should only be completed if you are regarded as a critical worker, and if you would possibly require childcare, over the summer.  Please find the link below.

The survey closes at 11.45pm on Tuesday July 14^th 2020. 

SUMMER CHILDCARE SURVEY (CRITICAL WORKERS)

Year Groups

Start of Day (Drop off time)

End of Day (Collection time)

Year 6 and Year 2

8.30 am

2.40 pm

Year 5 and Year 1

8.40 am

2.50 pm

Year 4 and Reception

8.50 am

3.00 pm

Year 3

9.00 am

3.10 pm

Return to School

It has been absolutely fantastic to have our Key stage 2 pupils back in class, this week!  It has been lovely to see them itching to get in, and not wanting to leave.  I would like to thank the children for being so well behaved, considerate and enthusiastic.  In a difficult situation, with new processes and procedures to get used to, they have responded brilliantly.  I would also like to extend this thank you to our parents and carers, who have followed the timetables and processes rigidly, and again, helped to make the school week run as smoothly as possible!

We cannot wait to welcome our Foundation Phase pupils back, from Monday.  We hope that they enjoy, as much as our older children!

With regards to week 3 (week beginning 13.07.20), we are busy evaluating our processes and will be looking to share a definite plan with you all, this week.

Blended Learning

This week, we have begun to put our adapted ‘blended learning’ measures in place.  Many of our classes have been involved in live sessions, on Microsoft Teams, and each class should now be receiving weekly videos / presentations / tutorials to help with home learning (via J2E), and to supplement the Cwests that are already being uploaded.

As we move through the coming weeks, we will continue to refine these processes and look to share more and more with our children. 

It is by no means compulsory, but if you do want your child to be involved in the Teams sessions, the following consent form must be completed.  We have sent a personal message, via Class Dojo, to all those families who we have not yet had a response: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Ug4_TzS3ZEGUCRtgHRR5k5OU8z2vx7ZBmyGr8Gr9zEFUMldBUFg0TzYxU1ZTUUFaV0dHRElUOVpWTC4u

We have also created a tutorial video, to help with setting up Teams.  This can be found by following this link - https://spark.adobe.com/video/t8hnDQOFEmjZm

As always, if you are having any difficulties, or have any concerns, please do contact your child’s class teacher, or contact me directly.

Emergency Childcare Hub (ECH)

We continue to operate the ECH daily, between the hours of 8.30am and 3.30pm.  We will continue to do so, up until the end of term – which is Friday July 17^th.

I am sorry but we have not yet had any guidance, from the local authority, to indicate what will happen to the childcare after this date.  Collectively, schools are pushing the local authority for urgent guidance.  As soon as we have more information, I will be sure to share it with families immediately.

September

Understandably, we have had many emails from parents, over the past few weeks, enquiring as to the arrangements for schooling in September.  I am afraid that, as with the ECH, we are still awaiting any guidance from Welsh government.  Announcements have been made by other countries in the UK, so we are hoping that decisions will be made, and shared with us, soon.

As a school, we have begun to plan for different scenarios and will be ready to push ahead, with what is appropriate, as soon as we know the parameters of our return.  Until then, I can only apologise for the delay in information, and thank you for your continued patience.

Please rest assured, as soon as we know more, this will be shared with all.

Newsletters / Information

Just a quick reminder that all our school newsletters and information can be found on our school website. 

Should you have misplaced an email, or would like to check what has been sent out – all correspondence can be found by following this link: https://www.mayalsprimary.co.uk/stream/news/full/1/-/

We also share information through Class Dojo and through our school Twitter feed: @MayalsSchool.

Year 6 Leavers and Nursery Check in

During the last week of school (week beginning 13.07.20), we are hoping to arrange opportunities for our Year 6 pupils to have one last ‘socially distant’ get together, as well as an opportunity for Nursery pupils to check in with their class teachers, before the Summer break.

Could all Year 6 and Nursery parents please keep a close eye on their emails and Class Dojo accounts, over the next week, as plans will be shared via these means.

School Uniform

We have been asked, by the local authority, to share the following message with all families entitled to free school meals:

School uniform grant applications can be made from 13 July for children currently entitled to free school meals going into Reception and Years 3, 7 and 10.  Eligible parents/carers will be contacted closer to this date with details on how they can apply.  Further information on the grant can be found here https://www.swansea.gov.uk/schooluniformgrant

The school will be open to pupils on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The school will be closed (except for emergency childcare) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for deep cleaning.

Each year group will be split into thirds.  One third (Group A) will attend school on a Monday, another third (Group B) will attend school on a Wednesday, and the final third (Group C) will attend school on a Friday. 

During week 1 (week beginning June 29^th); only Key Stage 2 classes will attend school.  On the second week (week beginning July 6^th); only Foundation Phase classes will attend school.  Having smaller numbers in school on these weeks, will allow better opportunity for the children to become familiar with the new environment and increased expectations of safety.

On weeks 3 and 4, pupils from both Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2 will attend school.  (NB This will depend on current climate, staffing capacity, and efficacy of safety measures).

If achieved, this will have allowed each child to be offered three opportunities to be in school, over the four weeks.

All siblings will attend school on the same day.  Unfortunately, due to logistics, parents will not be able to choose which group their child is in, and pupils will not be able to move between groups.

Parents will be notified which group their child/ren will be in, when we have a clearer picture of the number of children that will be returning.

There will be no more than 10 pupils in a class, each day.  There will be two members of staff in each class (this will typically be the ‘normal’ class teacher and teaching assistant for that class).

School start times, finish times, break times and lunch times will all be staggered.  Parents will be asked to drop off / collect all siblings at the same time.

Clear social distancing expectations and frequent hand washing opportunities will be consistent across the school.

When in class, the main focus of sessions, will be to address the emotional wellbeing of every child.  Activities will involve looking at the impact that this crisis may have had on children.  Pupils will also have opportunities to briefly visit basic language and maths concepts. 

Where possible, learning will take place outdoors.

Pupils will be given their own set of equipment (e.g. pencil, pen, rubber, etc).  Resources will not be shared between pupils.

Break times will be different to ‘usual’.  Unfortunately, no shared resources will be able to be used.

The main means of education will continue to be home learning.  We will continue to provide online learning opportunities for every child, and will also be looking to develop further processes to re-invigorate learning, over the final few weeks.

(Teachers will now focus their attention to home learning on Tuesdays and Thursdays).

All parents will be asked to sign a new ‘Parent/School’ agreement, which will clearly establish agreed processes and procedures. (More information will follow).

No school lunches will be provided.  All children must bring their own lunch, snacks, drinks for the day.

Unfortunately, there will be no Breakfast Club, Wraparound or After School Club provision available, until at least the end of July.

All processes will be evaluated and reviewed constantly.  They will be dynamic, and subject to change, in response to this turbulent situation.  The safety of our children, staff, and families will always remain our main consideration.

Emergency Childcare Hub (ECH):

The Emergency Childcare Hub will continue to run, at the school, up until Friday July 24^th.  As yet, we have had no guidance as to what will happen after this time, however we have been told that the provision will not be run by schools.

From June 29^th to July 24^th, the ECH will run from Monday to Friday between the hours of 8.30am and 3.30pm.

As has always been the case, this provision should only ever be used as a ‘last resort’, and is only to be accessed by the children of key workers and by our most vulnerable children.  Parents are strongly advised to consider their usual childcare arrangements first.

As of June 29^th, all parents using the ECH (whether new parents to the service, or existing parents) will be asked to provide a letter to certify that they have key worker status.

Available capacity will be dependent of available staff and room space.  Should demand for the service increase above available capacity; measures of priority would need to be followed.  These will be made clear, when clarified by the local authority. 

If you believe that you will require use of the hub (either before, or once we return to school, then please do let me know).

Will your child/ren return to school?

I fully understand that there is a lot of information within this document, and you will inevitably still have questions that you would like to ask.  By following this link, you will be directed to a Frequently Asked Questions section on our website, where I hope you will find more information to help inform your decision (https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/mayals-primary-school/UploadedDocument/8dc8e2e074ee41d58032a0eb4fd6deae/mayals-faqs.pdf).

VERY IMPORTANT –

When you have had the opportunity to read and consider the information, please could you complete the very short questionnaire:  https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Ug4_TzS3ZEGUCRtgHRR5k5OU8z2vx7ZBmyGr8Gr9zEFUM0c2OFBON0I3Q09YOVpEU1pLVjVEQVRJVC4u

Within the questionnaire, you will be asked to give a definitive answer as to whether you intend for your child/ren to return to school during the first two weeks of opening (KS2 29.06.20 or FP 06.07.20). 

We ask that this decision not be changed, so that we have a clear idea of the number of children to expect. 

All pupils that we do not receive a response for, we will regard as ‘Not Attending’, and unfortunately, your child/ren will not be permitted to attend during the first two weeks.

You will need to complete a separate questionnaire for each of your children. 

Parents must respond to the questionnaire by 6pm on Thursday June 18^th. 

Parents will have the opportunity to review their decision, after the first two weeks.  Another questionnaire will be sent out before Week 3 (week beginning 13.07.20).

Return to School

Thank you to all those who completed the questionnaire, indicating your choices on a return to school.  Around two thirds of our parents responded.

As you can imagine, we have had an extremely busy week, compiling information and beginning to prepare for our school to re-open to pupils, from June 29^th.  An awful lot of advice and guidance has been released this week; and we are in the process of cross-checking our proposed plans against this advice.  Once final clarity has been given, we will be looking to share our plans with you (obviously, as soon as possible).  Thank you ever so much for your patience!

We have however, had some updates that we are able to share with you at this point:

• I am sorry to say; we have been notified by the local authority, that no nursery pupils (either pre Nursery or main Nursery), will be invited back to school before September.  This is a local authority principle, and will apply to all schools across Swansea.
• All pupils, from Reception to Year 6, will have some opportunity to return to school, to ‘check in’ with their class teachers.  This will be in a very different capacity to what school was like in March, as there must be no more than one third of the school population, on the school premises at any one time.

As stated above, we will be sharing information with you, as early as we can.  We are fully aware that many children and parents are going to be very anxious about the return – and we want to give you as much time as possible, to mentally and physically prepare.  We will do all we can to support you all (not just the children) through the transition taking place over the coming weeks.

Emergency Childcare Hub

The Emergency Childcare Hub, which we have been running at Bishopston Comprehensive since we closed our school building in March, will now return to Mayals. 

As of Monday, the provision will run (as it did in Bishopston) to provide emergency childcare for our key worker parents / carers.  We have been asked to reiterate the message, that this provision should only be used as a ‘last resort’.

Our Childcare Hub will operate at Mayals until the end of term (Friday July 24^th).  However, from June 29^th, when other children return to school, the arrangements will change.  The full changes are not yet clear, however we do know that the provision will only operate within school hours (i.e. 8.30am to 3.30pm).  Again, as soon as we have further guidance, we will let you know.

Food Bank

Thank you to all our families, who have generously kept supporting the food bank throughout this crisis. 

Donations continue to be accepted, and can be dropped off to the Holy Cross Church, next to our school.

Thank you again, in advance.

Newsletters / Information

Just a quick reminder that all our school newsletters and information can be found on our school website. 

Should you have misplaced an email, or would like to check what has been sent out – all correspondence can be found by following this link: https://www.mayalsprimary.co.uk/stream/news/full/1/-/

Keeping in Contact

With all that is going on, school staff thought it would be nice to try and catch up with our children and families.  Over the past week, our staff have begun to make telephone contact.  The staff have said that it has been lovely to speak to the children and parents.  We hope that it has been helpful?!   

It is our aim to speak to all our families before the end of next week – and then continue the process, as we move forward.  

If you would rather not receive the call, then please notify either Mrs Edwards (EdwardsK125@Hwbcymru.net) or Mrs Clay (ClayC2@Hwbcymru.net).

Sumdog

Finally, I would like to congratulate everyone that completed the 1000 questions, in this week’s Swansea Sumdog Competition.  1000 questions is no mean feat!

Across schools in Swansea, over 750 pupils participated.  We had five children, who managed to get into the top 50 on the leaderboard – a fantastic effort!!

Congratulations to Morgan Sambrook (who finished 17^th out of 750), Solomon Baker (28^th), Sam Karimbeik (36^th), Jacob Peters (45^th), and Conn Atkinson (49^th). 

We will organise a prize for each of you, and get it to you in the post.  Well done all!!

Video Message to the Children:

I have recorded another short video message to the children.  I will post the video on Class Dojo this evening.

Half Term:

As next week is officially half term, we will not be setting ‘Home Learning’ for the week.  It will be a good opportunity for children (and parents) to recharge batteries; and to not have the pressure of having to complete the set tasks. 

If you would still like to access work for your children, however, there are still links on our school website or there are some lovely activities that can be accessed through:

• Oak National Academy - https://www.thenational.academy/online-classroom/subjects/#subjects
• Swansea Virtual School - https://swanseavirtualschool.org/

Staff will still be providing emergency childcare for key workers, throughout the week, but half term will also be a chance for them to ‘recharge their batteries’.  Could I please ask you to refrain from directly messaging the staff, via Class Dojo, throughout the week – and if there is anything that you need, to contact me instead (CoxL32@hwbcymru.net).  Many thanks for your understanding and support with this.

Trips / Residentials:

As I mentioned in my last update, we have unfortunately had the sad news that both our residential trips have now been cancelled.

Mrs Lomas is in the process of organising refunds to parents.  Year 6 parents, should be expecting cheques to be delivered by post (please let us know if you do not receive these soon).  We are still trying to process information for the Year 3 and Year 4 trip.  We will notify you of the arrangements as soon as they have been finalised.

Free School Meals:

This week, the processes in place to cater for Free School Meals families, has changed.  As a school, we have made efforts to try and contact every parent that we have on our eligibility list, however we have not been able to get through to some.  If you believe that you are eligible, could I please urge you to check your email inbox (and junk inbox) or contact the school as soon as possible, so that we may support you through the process.

If you would prefer to contact the local authority directly, the contact email is - FSMpayments@swansea.gov.uk

Thank you:

This week we received a very thoughtful donation from the Swansea Bay Health Board Fundraising team.  We were able to collect around £250 worth of Lego sets, for us to use within the emergency childcare Hub.

During the time of school closure, we have had some incredibly kind offers and donations from our parents, and the wider school community.  We haven’t been able to access them all, but can I say a massive thank you for your kindness and generosity!

Saying this, we continue to be on the lookout for grants / support that we may be able to access; particularly to help us with preparing our school for whatever measures we have to put in place, when we start to return.  If you are aware of any / or able to access any support, please do let us know.

Moving Forward:

As I mentioned above, we have started to think about the practicalities and measures that we may put in place, when we do return to school.  However, in Wales, we are yet to have any sign of a date or any real idea of what school may look like.

I believe that across the nation, we will all be closely watching how ‘school life’ develops in England, over the coming weeks, and lessons from this will guide how the Welsh Government responds in turn. 

As soon as we have any clearer information, I will be sure to pass it on.

Reports:

If you have not already done so, could I please ask you to forward this information to your child’s class teacher.  The information that your child gives will be included in their report.  We are sorry but anyone who doesn’t return this information will not have the information in their child’s report.  Many thanks!

Child’s Name:

My Best Friends:

My Funniest Moment:

My Favourite Moment:

I am Especially Proud of:

My Next Steps (One target):

Home Learning:

Our teaching staff continue to update the weekly tasks, uploaded to Hwb, J2E, Class Dojo and our school website.  We are loving the examples of work that you are sharing with us!!  Please keep them coming!!

We are constantly reviewing our approach, to try and find the right balance between providing ‘too much’ or ‘too little’ work.  It is inevitable that each of our children (and families) will have different experiences from home learning, as we all have different scenarios that we are living in.  All that we ask, is that families do what they can.  It is obviously important for the children to be working, but this is a difficult time for everyone, and the primary focus should be keeping our households healthy, safe, happy and in a positive mindset.

If you are experiencing difficulties, please see the helpful weblinks on our school website:  (https://www.mayalsprimary.co.uk/support-for-parents/).

Home learning books – We have been contacted by some pupils, to tell us that they have completed their first home learning book.  Well done!!  If you have any other books / paper in the house, it is perfectly fine to continue using these.  Otherwise, I will be in school this Thursday, and will leave a box of books next to the front gate, should you want to collect one. 

May I please remind you though, that this should only be done if there is no other way for your child to record their work.  Also, if you do decide to come and collect a book, please abide to social distancing guidelines (should there be more than one person collecting at a time), and please do not enter the school grounds / premises, under any circumstances.

Difficulties accessing online ‘Home Learning’ – As mentioned in previous updates; if you are struggling to access the online home learning content, please let us know, so that we can look at how to support you in doing so.

National Tests:

This week, the Welsh Minister for Education announced that there will be no National Tests in primary schools, during this academic year. 

Trips / Residentials:

We are very sad to tell you that both our residential trips for this year have been cancelled by the providers. 

We have been able to speak to Llain (the providers of the Year 6 trip), and are in the process of organising refunds.  Year 6 parents should expect to be contacted by Mrs Lomas over the coming days, regarding this.  If you have not already had an email from Mrs Lomas, or do not receive one over the next couple of days, then please let me know.

We are still working hard to finalise arrangements with the Urdd Centre (providers of the Year 3 and 4 trip).  Once we have their more information from them, we will be sure to let parents know immediately.

Free School Meals:

The local authority are proposing changes to the way they provide meals for eligible families, during the period of school closure.  They will be contacting families over the coming week.

It is very important that they have up to date contact details for all of our eligible families.  If you think that you may be eligible, and have not already received an email from Mrs Lomas, then please let us know so that we can update your records and notify the local authority.

Moving Forward:

Despite the confusion and speculation that was amassed from the weekend’s announcements in England; Welsh schools have had very little indication that there will be any immediate change to the processes that are currently in place.   In fact, Kirsty Williams made a statement last week, clarifying:

The situation for schools in Wales will not change on 1 June. You have my guarantee that we will give everyone time to plan ahead of a next phase starting.

Our school senior leadership team are regularly discussing, and preparing for, the measures that we may need to put in place in Mayals.  When the time for us to return finally arises, and when we know what this looks like - we will be ready.  However, for the immediate future, this will not be the case. 

Of course, as soon as we have any more information on the situation, we will share this with you.

Reports:

Lastly, it is coming around to that time of year where school staff are beginning to write Summer reports.  With the current circumstances, I hope that you understand that we have had to make some slight amendments to the template that has been used over the past few years. 

We will still be reporting on the core aspects of the children’s achievements and attainment, as well as the personal milestones that each child has overcome during the academic year.  However, we have decided not to officially report on end of year levels, reading ages, attendance, etc, as we have not been able to collect up to date assessments since February.  All these will be better discussed, during Autumn term parent/teacher consultations, when we are (hopefully) back to the normality of school, and we have been able to more accurately assess the impact of the lockdown.

One aspect that we are keen to keep, is the pupil comments.  Below is a small number of questions that will be included in your child’s report.  Could we please ask you work with your children to provide brief answers for each of the questions, and then return them to your class teacher through email, J2E, Hwb or Class Dojo.  All those that we receive back will be included in your child’s report.  Many thanks!

Child’s Name:

My Best Friends:

My Funniest Moment:

My Favourite Moment:

I am Especially Proud of:

My Next Steps (One target):