Castle Primary School

Welcome back to the Summer Term 2020!

I hope you are well, had a peaceful Easter and are coping with the strange world we all find ourselves in?  At school we are trying, as much as possible, to keep in touch with you and your children in the hope this helps you both now and when we get to see each other again whenever that may be.

The following is to keep you all up to date with what we are doing in school remotely and in the building to keep your child in touch with their teacher along with some other useful information.  

This is certainly not school as we know it!

Remote learning

The following should now be in place

• Each child will have a call from their class teacher each week -  this is to keep them linked in with their teacher and to give help with learning.  This may be on different days depending on who is doing the calls and if the teachers are on rota in the school building.

• You should have all been contacted by your child’s teacher by email.  The teachers are really enjoying receiving photos and messages of home learning, please continue to do this.  If you have any further queries teachers are available daily via email.  They will offer a ‘nagging’ service for you if you are having issues with your child thinking they are still on holiday and so don’t have to do any learning J.

• As the children learn in different ways, the home learning looks quite different and is sent out either weekly or daily.  In EYFS and Key Stage1 we are tending to do a weekly email as we felt it would be adults downloading the information and organising the work.  However, in Key Stage 2 we feel the children may need a more day to day timetable of work and should be more independent.  If you have any questions or need some more support, please email your child’s teacher and ask.  The work as far as possible does not need to be printed off and we hope is accessible to as many as possible. 

• If you are not getting some of these options, please drop us an email and we will do our best to sort issues out – technical problem permitting J.

Partial opening of the school

In line with the government’s policy of social distancing the school is, like many others, partially open for specific categories of children only.  Much like remote schooling this is not education as we know it.  The school day is not the standard day as we have had to keep adults in school to a minimum.  The children are completing the same home-learning tasks in school as the children at home. They spend as much time outside as possible and are having to socially distance themselves.  The staffing rota changes daily and we are not able to provide 1:1 support or interventions as a result of the social distancing rules. It is not a normal school day.

For Key workers please remember we are a last resort, if you have someone else at home please keep your children at home in line with the government’s social distancing policy.  If you do need to send your child to us please keep the time to a minimum, for example, if you are on call keep them with you until you need to go to work and then drop them with us rather than sending them in for the whole day.

Please remember we have no kitchen staff in school so packed lunches will be needed. 

If over time, there are changes in policy or we are unable to keep the school open we will let you know as soon as possible.  I am in weekly remote meetings with the other Head Teachers in the area to ensure we keep a hub school open.   This will be communicated to you via the website.

Free school meals vouchers

These are available IF you have an entitlement to FSM only.  The universal entitlement to an infant free meal for all children in Key Stage 1 is not part of the scheme.   As you may have read online, there are currently a number of issues with the site set up to provide the vouchers run by Edenred. 

Please rest assured this will be sorted, it may be that the next voucher you will receive will cover three weeks’ worth rather than a single voucher each week.  One way or another, if you are entitled to this benefit, we will get the money to you.  We understand your frustration but please be patient as unfortunately the problem is beyond our control.

Issues around money

The school is not able to give you money you but if you email Mrs Harper she may be able to signpost you or help you access services to support you at this time - charper@the-castle-primary.devon.sch.uk

Safeguarding

We all have a duty to each other at this time to keep socially distanced to stop the spread of the virus.  However, we also have an ongoing duty to children to ensure they are safe at all times.  If you have a concern about the safety of a child, you have a duty to repot this to the MASH team (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub). The contact number is 0345 155 1071.  At this time, families are under stress and the MASH team are able to signpost help and support where needed to help the whole family.

You can also check the school website for support around keeping safe online during lock down.

Please keep yourselves safe and we look forward to seeing you again when the school reopens whenever that is.

Take care

Mrs Noble and the school team