12th June Newsletter
Dear Parents/Carers, It was such a pleasure to see the excitement on the faces of the EYFS children as some of them returned to school this week. We were all greeted with smiles and warmth and it was wonderful to have some of our Trinity children back. The children adapted well to being in their class ‘bubbles’ and were great about washing their hands and understanding that their play area is currently divided into separate zones.
The children were amazing and it was so heart-warming to hear their laughter and giggles ring across the playground as they played with their friends. The school felt alive again and I couldn’t help but smile throughout the day. Thank you for dropping off and collecting children at the allocated times, this has really helped to avoid congestion at these peak times. Whilst it is sad that not all children are able to return at the moment, we want them to know that we miss them and we are thinking about them.
We are all now looking forward to welcoming back some of our Y6 children next week. I cannot wait to see them and I expect they will be highly excitable and emotional.
Y2, Y3, Y4 ,Y5 The leadership team are looking at various ways we can bring these year groups back to school before the end of term even if it is only for half a day, a day, an afternoon etc. I really do not know yet. We feel it is really important for our children to have the opportunity to see their friends again, to play with them and to be at Trinity. I know they miss being at school and for their emotional well-being we really want to make this happen. However, we do have to be mindful of the risk assessment which has to remain flexible to staff availability and the safety of our children, staff and community.
Working through different scenarios is mind boggling and talking about bubbles is suddenly becoming the ‘norm.’ Discussions about using the field which can accommodate groups of 15 children is an option we are exploring although it was pointed out to me yesterday that each bubble would need a member of staff and if we have 3 bubbles of 15 for each year group we will need 12 members of staff!! The majority of our staff are already supporting a bubble across the school including the groups of key workers.
END OF TERM We are striving hard to use the flexibilities that enable us as school leaders to practice the art of the possible, in extraordinary circumstances. Towards this end, we are already talking about options for how we might bring the academic year to a close for those pupils that will remain at home as well as transition for the next academic year.
SEPTEMBER ONWARDS – INTO THE UNKNOWN With the end of term just six weeks away we urgently need government to provide as much clarity as possible about their plans for September and beyond – including anticipated constraints that schools may face. We will need to plan ahead, possibly for several scenarios, so time is of the essence. However, I fear that clarity will be sadly lacking by the end of the Summer Term although Trinity will try to provide some. I thank you in advance for your support and patience.
WEBSITE We are really pleased to announce that our old website has been refreshed and it is looking far more professional, clean and easier to navigate around. The address is the same as the old website www.trinityprimaryschool.org. The website can now be used as a source of up to date information for parents and carers as well as help to improve communication. A huge thank you to the developers Nicola Nott from The Creative Duck and Pete Moody who have worked so hard to make this happen. The next challenge for Nicola will be teaching an inept IT user such as myself how to have admin rights!
GOOGLE MEETS This week Miss Newman, Mrs Robinson and myself met some of the Y5 children via the Google Meets platform. It was a huge success. The children were great in turning their mics off, taking turns to talk and they were brilliantly behaved and so sensible. Miss Newman asked them to prepare three statements two of which were true and one a lie. It was good fun and we certainly learnt a lot about our children from this! It was so lovely so see Y5. Roxi couldn’t stop smiling, Issac’s new dog was adorable and Riley’s rabbits were cute. Thank you Y5 for being so sensible and wonderful. Moving forward with this, some of the Phase Leaders are now looking at trialling this in their year groups. TRINITY TED
I was so pleased to accidentally meet Mrs Elson who is knitting the jumper for our Trinity Ted. He was ever so pleased to meet Mrs Elson (his second mummy) as well as the girls Poppy and Rosie. We really do need to give him a name. Therefore, I am asking the children to email suggestions for names to the office and we will then vote for the favourite. Names suggested so far: Trinity Ted, Captain Tom, Spencer Bear. Deadline for suggestions: Tuesday 16th June
INTERNET SAFETY Whilst we have all learnt new skills about virtual working and learning, I am sure you will all appreciate any advice out there for keeping safe online. The NCA CEOP website www.thinkuknow.co.uk- – this contains links to advice for children at different age groups, parents/carers and professionals including teachers. Do have a look at their up to date guidance and insight to stay one step ahead of this rapidly moving area.
MENTAL HEALTH IN SCHOOLS This team produces a lovely newsletter which has some great ideas for home activities as well as advice for talking to children about Coronavirus. Click here to see full newsletter.
Wishing you a great weekend and hopefully warm weekend.
Beatriz Melero and The Trinity Team