Dear Parents and Carers,

This week marks Children’s Mental Health Week 2021 with the theme ‘Dress to Impress’ so we would like the children to wear colourful clothes on Tuesday 2nd February either in school if they are attending or at home and send us photos via Seesaw!

You can find more information including activities, etc at https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/

We are also starting our catch-up sessions with teachers this week for pupils in Years 2 – 6 as we are aware of the impact this time is having on our children. You will have received a permission form to complete and your teacher will then email the Microsoft Teams invite to your child’s hwb email address, where they will need to click on the link to join the meeting at the allotted time.

These sessions will be for 30 minutes and will be a chance for the children to catch up with their friends and allow the teacher to explain that week’s work and have a general chat about their learning and how everyone is doing at home.

I have attached the agreement below that sets out the expectations ahead of the meeting –

Prior to the session, parents, carers and pupils agree to:

• Complete and return the consent Microsoft Form.
• Make sure your family household is aware of the date and time of your lesson.
• Ensure your device is fully charged.
• Work from a suitable location where the learner feels comfortable, preferably accompanied by a parent/carer.
• Dress appropriately for all sessions, thinking about respect for others.
• Carefully consider what is in view of the camera, i.e. check that the background is suitable and does not contain images or information that should not be shared or that could be deemed inappropriate.
• Reduce the possibility of the lesson being interrupted by other household members or pets.
• Have accessed Hwb with your Hwb username and password.
• Be punctual for all video-conferencing sessions.

During the live session, parents, carers and pupils agree to:

• Login to Microsoft Teams with your HWB account.
• Once you arrive in the session click on MUTE and turn your CAMERA OFF. Await further instructions from your teacher.
• Turning the camera on is optional for the learner. Teachers may ask you to keep cameras off to improve connectivity during the lesson expectations.
• Show respect for everyone in the online classroom.
• Seek to contribute to the session in a positive manner and not be disruptive at any time.
• Use the chat, mute/unmute and the hand up/raised hands functions to make the most of the session.
• Do not share images of the session.
• Leave the session when asked to – the teacher MUST be last to leave the chat.

INSET Days 2020-21

Due to the postponement of planned staff training we are cancelling the INSET day on Monday 22nd February and rearranging for later in the year.

This year’s INSET dates are as follows –

Monday 12th April 2021 (newly added)
Friday 28th May (newly added)

Monday 7th June 2021
Monday 19th July 2021
Tuesday 20th July 2021

One other INSET day has yet to be arranged and you will be notified of the date.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that during this challenging time for everyone we are always here if you need anything or just want a chat and a chance to offload.

You are all doing an incredible job juggling everything at the moment and I wanted to say thank you for your continued patience and support.

Mr J. Llewellyn
Interim Headteacher