Dear Parents and Carers
I hope you are all well.
It is lovely to see the lighter mornings and evenings as February has started. I hope you are all able to get out more with the children for some much needed fresh air and exercise after a day’s schooling, either in school or at home. I hope the children are enjoying their new PE bags and finding lots of games to play with the beanbags and are developing their skipping skills. Our normally reliable and quick ordering service has let us down this time, and I’m afraid there is still no sign of the extra tennis racquets, balls and footballs – we will let you know when they arrive. If you haven’t yet collected your child’s bag, please do so, as I’m sure they will be good to have over the half term holiday.
If you are looking for activities to do with the equipment, a quick internet search results in some great ideas. Try https://empoweredparents.co/bean-bag-activities/ for the bean bags, or for those children who can already skip with a rope, there are some tricks to learn on https://www.jumpruk.com/the-lock-down-jump-rope-challenge/
Still on the active front, please note that Real PE at Home has a range of activities to suit all ages and skills levels. This is a brilliant opportunity for the children to build on the skills that go towards making them great sports players and can easily be done with minimal equipment. Looking at the site this morning, I see there are a number of children who have not yet logged onto this great resource – please contact Mrs Pike if you cannot find your username and password.
Finally on a physical skills note, the weekly challenge set by Mr Stone from Gillingham School, still currently just for Key Stage 2, is a great way for the children to be involved in competitive activity, even though they may be working alone. Instructions and how to log the children’s scores can be found in the Chestnut and Oak Teams Files for the relevant week.
Other News
We are aware that sometimes the Remote Learning you are doing with your children can be a challenge. The way we teach Maths, for example, is largely new since 2014, and learning to read through phonics and the emphasis on grammar in the children’s reading and writing are still relatively new in primary education and is ‘not the way we did it when I was at school!’. It is, though, really important that learning remains a fun activity and you keep a positive relationship with your children throughout this period. Do, please, let us know if you are struggling in any way as we may be able to help, and you can use the many resources that are available for free to the community. The Early Help Hub has sent some links to some support you may find useful. I have put them on the school website, along with many other resources, under Learning/Family Learning, but you can also find them by following these links:
Keeping-Calm-and-Providing-Supportive-Parenting-During-the-Coronavirus
On an economic front, we also know that many jobs are being cut back across the country. If you are affected in this way and are in receipt of certain benefits, please let me know as that can trigger extra funding we can use in school to help support the children. Full details of eligibility can be found at Dorset Council Pupil Premium
Thank you once again for all the support you are providing for your child’s education at this time – it will make a real difference to how much they have to catch up on their return to school.
With best wishes
James Stanford