Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
Good afternoon Parents/Carers,
I'm sure you are all following the news and seeing how high the number of COVID cases are both locally and nationally and how rapidly this new virus strain is spreading.
In line with the Government guidance, we are being reminded to STAY AT HOME unless in exceptional circumstances for the safety of all.
We therefore want to reduce the number of visitors to school wherever possible. All queries, questions and concerns should be made by telephone or e-mail. Please be aware that due to staff shortages, the office will not be manned consistently so you may find it quicker to e-mail any questions or problems you have. The list of e-mails are at the bottom of this e-mail to remind you who to contact. Please be aware, staff are only expected to check these accounts during school working hours so if you message outside of these times, you may need to wait for a response.
Remote learning
All pupils have been provided with a home learning exercise book and pen/pencil. When planning, staff are setting tasks that can be recorded in this exercise book or online (e.g. on Purple Mash or TT Rockstars) so pupils shouldn't need a paper pack each week. As long as parents can access the tasks set and the supporting teaching videos or resources, the tasks/ activities should be able to be completed without the need of paper resources from school. The Government want schools to ensure learning can be accessed remotely to reduce the number of people coming to schools and therefore reduce the risks.
Of course, we realise that for some families, paper copies are the only way of completing tasks at the moment, especially where devices in the household are short (we are working with the DFE this week and hope to prioritise resources for those most in need next week).
I think some parents think they need the paper copy of work so I just wanted to clarify this. Parents should only order the paper copy if they have no way of accessing the activities online. You should not have to print anything at home- just watch/ read/ listen and then complete the tasks set in the home learning book provided or practically, depending on the activity being set.
If paper copies are needed, these should be ordered via your child's class e-mail address (see below) by Thursday of each week. They will be ready for collection between 12:30 and 2:30pm on Fridays and between 9:00-10:00am on Mondays only to reduce the number of times people have to visit the school. Please remember, these won’t be ready for you unless you have requested these via your child’s class e-mail.
Sending evidence of work from home
The easiest way to send work to teachers which has been completed in their home learning book, is to photograph the page they have worked on and e-mail this to the class e-mail as below. If you don’t know how to do this, please let your child’s class staff know via the e-mail and they will be glad to help. It is helpful to have your child’s name visible on each page you photograph. You don't need to send photographs of your child completing everything (e.g. photographs of them sat down working to show us they are doing work) just the end product is fine. We know they will be working hard and you will be supporting them as best you can, when you can so please don't feel you need to evidence this. We ask you to photograph the written tasks or the tasks set by the Early Years Team though so staff can look at the child's work and give feedback to help to move their learning on. Some tasks may be completed on the computer so these can be saved and attached and sent by e-mail. Photographs, documents and videos can also be uploaded via the One Drive- Mrs Braithwaite has sent you details about this. Again, if you have any difficulties, please let your child’s class know via the e-mail account below and they’ll do whatever they can to support you.
As I have already mentioned, we are exploring ways of making the remote learning easier for parents and pupils but need to ensure we get everyone able to access devices first before we can move any further forward with this.
Visiting the school
Apart from parents dropping off and collecting Key worker/vulnerable pupils when school reopens on Monday 18th January, the only parents visiting the school should be:
If you do have to come to school for one of the reasons above, please come alone wherever possible (for hampers you may need help if you have more than one child).
Face coverings must be worn unless you are medically exempt.
Please ensure you use the spots to maintain distance.
You will be asked to wait outside school- please ring the bell if the door isn’t open and step back behind the railings to ensure staff can maintain a safe social distance.
E-mail addresses
Please remember when you receive e-mails from the whole school e-mail account (Teachers to Parents) you cannot reply to these. Instead, you need to use the relevant e-mail address below.
For everything to do with learning (pupils in school and working at home), contact your child’s class e-mail.
MissHarrison@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk (Rec.)
MrsAbbott-Lewin@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk (Nursery)
MissWalker@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk (Y1)
MrsBarnes@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk (Y2)
MrsBraithwaite@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk (Y3)
MrCutt@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk (Y4/5)
MissThompson@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk (Y5)
MrsSmiles@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk (Y5/6)
For anything to do with administration, e.g. paying for things, changing contact details, ordering free school meal hampers etc, contact Mrs Grant in the office.
enquiries@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk
For anything to do with Special Educational needs that your child’s teacher can’t answer, contact our Special Needs and Disability Coordinator, Mrs. Abbott-Lewin:
Nicolaabbott-lewin@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk
For anything else, contact me or Mrs Smith
headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk
clairesmith@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk
Please be safe, following the guidelines at all times so we can all be back together as soon as possible.
Kind regards,
Mrs. D. M. Johnson
Dear parents,
To access your child's work for this week please do the following:
Then click on the folder named: WB 11th January 2021.
Then click on your child's year group folder.
(If you are using a smartphone to access the One Drive you may need to click each folder twice to open it.)
In that folder you will then find everything you need for the week's home learning.
I will post this link onto each of the class pages of our website and in the latest news section.
If you have any other issues with accessing the work, please email your child's class teacher.
Kind regards,
Mrs Braithwaite
It has been a whirlwind start to the New Year and it will take a few more days for things to settle into the new normal. I haven’t even really had time to wish you all a Happy New Year and to say I hope you enjoyed some family time at Christmas.
I wanted to take this opportunity firstly to say thank you for responding to the changes so quickly, for sending the information we need to get everything up and running and for your support in what will be another challenging time of the school year. I know you will have been inundated with texts and e-mails over the last few days due to the suddenness and immediacy of the changes announced and you are probably feeling as overwhelmed as we are but together we will get through this period.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to share further information regarding places, free school meals and remote learning.
Clearly, closing schools to large numbers of pupils is not what we wanted to happen but we do understand why we are in this position and safety has to be the key priority. It is really very sobering looking at the increasing number of cases both locally and nationally and deeply saddening the number of people losing their lives to this virus. A statistic yesterday was that more people lost their live in 24 hours in the UK (more than 1000 in just one day) than have lost their lives in the whole of Australia for the whole length of the pandemic so far. That truly evidences how serious the current situation we are in is, so whilst we know these next few weeks are going to be challenging for most people, we have to keep in sight that the reason for these school closures is, when looking at the bigger picture, to save lives.
Key worker and vulnerable places
As you know, schools are now closed to all except vulnerable pupils and those pupils with parents who are key workers in the same way that they were closed last year. This year is different though in that we have significantly more requests- the same is happening in all schools and it is extremely worrying. Clearly, we want to be able to keep everyone in the school community safe which means having fewer pupils in classes to ensure we can keep 2m apart. We also have lower numbers of staffing available to us due to some needing to shield or self-isolate so it is really important that every family, even if they are key workers, only requests their school place if they cannot arrange suitable childcare at home so we can make sure that the provision in school keeps staff, pupils and their wider families as safe as possible. Please bear this in mind if requesting a place or if you already have one.
Free school meals
Pupils who are continuing to attend school will continue to receive free school meals each day. For those at home who are eligible for free school meals for financial reasons (this does not include universal free school meals for KS1), you should have received an e-mail regarding the options and your preferences. At the moment, we can only offer a daily packed lunch which can be collected from school each day. From next week, we will be offering food hampers which will need to be collected from school every two weeks. We know the best support you can receive is the vouchers so you can buy what is right for your household. The Government has promised that this scheme will become available but has not yet said when and has insisted schools use hampers in the mean-time. We will of course continue to chase this up so we can offer these as soon as possible.
Remote learning
All staff at Anthony Bek want to ensure your child has the best learning experience possible whether they are in school or at home and how this is achieved will vary from school to school depending on lots of factors including resources, funding, staff numbers etc. It is extremely challenging for schools, (especially small schools with only one class per year group like ours) to find ways to teach the pupils in school and those at home at the same time. Many larger schools, which have more than one class for each year group, can have for example one Y3 teacher in school teaching the key worker y3 pupils and another Y3 teacher responsible for teaching the Y3 pupils at home. Unfortunately, we only have one teacher per year group so our teachers have to be responsible for teaching those in school and at home so it’s more challenging. However, our staff are always up for a challenge and of course want the very best for every child so will do everything they can to support you. These are a few of the ways they are trying to make the learning at home as easy as possible for you and your child:
We don’t want you to feel under pressure- we know many of you will be trying to work from home as well as supporting your child and you may have more than one child to support so we understand you may not be able to complete all tasks on the days/ times given.We hope to provide as much remote support so that your child can do lots of the tasks independently and may just need you to start them off and check on them now and again rather than expect you to sit with your child constantly. The Government suggests Primary School Pupils should engage in 3 hrs of learning per day. We know that some days may be harder than others to achieve this and you may do more on some days than others. All we ask is that you do your best and keep in regular contact with your child’s teacher so they can monitor how your child is getting on and find ways to help you further if needed.
Sharing your child’s learning
Depending on the task set, there will be different ways to share your child’s learning. If the task is on one of our online programs, e.g. TT Rockstars or Purple Mash, teachers will be able to see this without you needing to do anything. For tasks that the children have written/ drawn something, the easiest way to share this is to photograph it. You can then send this by e-mail to your child’s new class e-mail or you can upload this to the ONE DRIVE class folder- your child’s staff will send you the link for this. If your child is working on a computer, you could just save and send the file. If you are more adventurous and have videoed something to share with staff, you will probably find that this is too big to e-mail in most cases so the easiest way would be to upload it to the ONE DRIVE folder. We know not everyone knows how to do these things so if you are struggling, please let us know and we’ll show you how to do this.
If you simply have no way of taking photographs or videos (e.g. you don’t have a phone, laptop, tablet etc) and therefore are relying solely on paper copies, you can return the completed activities once a week (on a Monday morning) when you collect your next pack. Please ensure you keep in contact with staff during the week though so they know you are getting on okay.
IT resources and internet access
I’m sure you will have heard that the Government aims to help disadvantaged pupils who didn’t have any access to a laptop or tablet or have no access to the internet. At the moment, they seem to be concentrating on Secondary schools but we will continue to make applications for these to support pupils at home who need it.
Please e-mail me (headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk) if your child is home learning but does not have access to a laptop, tablet or phone. It may be that we can make an application to the Department for Education to support you. If your child has a PlayStation or Xbox, your child may also be able to use these to access home learning. I have not tried this myself as I do not have these resources but this has been widely shared in social media this week. I’m also aware that SMART tvs can also be used to access the internet so these may also be helpful.
Questions
This happened so quickly that I’m sure there will be many questions. On Monday we were told to open (despite many concerns) and we were assured that Primary schools wouldn’t close and by the end of the same day, the Government had completely changed their minds so I’m sure, like us, you will have lots of questions. We are waiting for the Government to answer many of these but if you have questions about the general situation, please e-mail me. If your questions are about admin issues, e.g. School Money, not receiving e-mails etc, please e-mail the office and if your questions are about your child’s learning, please e-mail your child’s teaching group (you have all been provided with class e-mail addresses).
We know the next few weeks are not going easy- we've been here before, but we do know that together we can do the best for every child in our school. Our staff will do everything they can to support you at home and we know for some of you trying to juggle work commitments and supporting your child or children is not going to be easy.
Please be safe,
Mrs. Donna-Marie Johnson
Headteacher
Pupils who have requested a key worker/ vulnerable pupil place have been sent the e-mail below explaining the details for the groups. All other pupils will be supported with learning at home.
We have split the children by age into 3 key worker groups:
The numbers in the groups are sufficiently low enough to ensure each child can have a desk of their own instead of having to share as they have done this year so far. This is different in Reception/Y1 however as this style of learning is not appropriate to their needs at all times. We are also fortunate enough to have 3 separate buildings so each group will be in their own building with their own block of toilets to further reduce sharing. We will of course, continue with increased cleaning, hand washing, sanitising and keeping 2m apart within bubbles at all times (the latter clearly more difficult with the youngest pupils but we will still encourage distance at all times)
The new times and gates starting on Wednesday 6th January 2021 are as follows:
Please remember social distancing at all times and face coverings. Please also be prompt and leave the outside area straight away to reduce contacts.
KS2 group- Main reception gate 8:50am-3:15pm
Y2 group- Top/ kitchen gate 8:45am-3:10pm
Y1/FS2 group-Middle/ Nursery gate 8:40-3:05pm Other drop off points
Main reception gate:
Breakfast club (arrivals between 8am and 8:30am only)
Late arrivals 8:55am onwards (social distancing key)
Breakfast club
• Service to be offered to pupils from all groups but limited to a maximum of 15 in total so please ensure you book online and in advance if you need this service.
After school club
• Service to be offered to pupils from all groups but limited to a maximum of 15 in total so please ensure you book online and in advance if you need this service.
• The same procedures and times for collecting will remain in place.
School Uniform/ PE
What do pupils need to bring?
Attendance
Positive COVID cases
Office hours
If you need any help or assistance at any time, please e-mail me headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk or Mrs Smith- clairesmith@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk
It is expected from the Government announcement that this will be in place until at least February half term. Please ensure you keep us up to date with any changes in your circumstances.
We will do our best to ensure this is as positive and educationally beneficial period whilst keeping safety at the forefront of our minds.
Kind regards,
Mrs Johnson
Due to the late announcement made by the Government tonight, Anthony Bek Community Primary School will be closed to all pupils on Tuesday 5th January to enable plans for new key worker and vulnerable pupils to be made. Our school will reopen on Wednesday 6th January to pupils who are vulnerable or whose parents are key workers and have requested a place (headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk). E-mails with details of groups, timings, gates etc will be sent to those parents tomorrow.
Teachers will send electronic work for pupils to complete at home. If any parent struggles to access online resources, please let your child's teacher know straight away.
I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused by not being open to any pupil tomorrow but we need to ensure plans are carefully made to ensure the safety of all and therefore trying to achieve this at 10pm is not appropriate.
Take care,
Mrs. Johnson.
As you know, the Government have said all Primary Schools (except those they have identified in the South) should reopen to all pupils tomorrow. I'm sure many of you have seen in the news or in the local media that some schools or authorities are making the decision themselves to only open to vulnerable and key worker pupils.
At present, our instruction from the Government and from our local authority is that we remain open to all pupils following our risk assessment as before Christmas unless staffing levels mean that the school cannot reopen safely.
You may have seen in the media that many unions for Teachers and Support staff are advising their members of their right to refuse to work if they feel unsafe particularly as the new strain seems to be spreading much more quickly. Staff in many schools have invoked this right which is why you may have heard about some schools not opening for all children tomorrow.
I have asked our staff to confirm their intentions by 3:30pm today. I will confirm before 4:30pm (I will have to meet with the Chair of Governors first) if we need to have any changes ourselves but for now, please assume we are open to all pupils. (It is possible that we may only be able to open to vulnerable pupils (those with a social worker and those with an Education Health Care Plan) and pupils whose parents are key workers and currently working (there is a list on the Government website of key worker roles but I will send this later if we have to go down that road.)
I have received many e-mails from parents who are worried about their children returning to school especially with the high numbers in the local area and the new strain. If you have particular worries about your child's safety or maybe someone in your household is more vulnerable and you're worried about your child bringing COVID home, please e-mail me (headteacher@anthonybek.derbyshire.sch.uk). It may be that we can agree working from home for individual children for a short period of time until the situation is less concerning. I would love to say I can guarantee that no staff or child will test positive for COVID but clearly no-one can guarantee this. What I can guarantee though is that as a school, we are continually assessing risks and making changes to ensure we keep the risks as low as they possibly can. Our risk assessment is on our website but below are some of the key ways we minimise the risks.
Please remember, children should isolate and get a test if they have symptoms (please inform school straight away if this is the case for your child). They should also be isolating if anyone else is the household has symptoms or is positive.
Kind regards,
Mrs. Johnson