Welcome to St Bridget's C of E Primary School

All online learning will start on Wednesday using Tapestry for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and Google Classroom for Key Stage 2.

8-1-2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

I can only imagine how difficult this week has been for you. On Monday I welcomed everyone back to school and by the evening at 8pm I was hearing the national message of we are all going into lockdown. This was not good news for anyone and for some families this has been devasting news on a number of different levels. We have been asked to open school to vulnerable children and critical workers, as defined by the government, which has meant a limit on numbers. In spite of this we have been overwhelmed with applications. We have dealt with nearly 200 applications not all of which we have been able to accept. To put this in context, school is nearly 40% full after 3 days. In the last lock down, we reached this figure after 3 months. While we have learnt to successfully manage health and safety in school, I believe the school is under far greater strain and threat of outbreak this time around.

Staffing wellness update
Shielding staff	2
Staff with Covid	1
Staff needing to isolate	2

Online learning

This week, at what is the beginning of our online learning journey, our aim is to build familiarity with resources and applications that require log-ons as well as maximise engagement and understanding of the daily structure and timings. As children and parents become confident in this we will inevitably develop the provision and keep this under review. Our approach ensures we are reaching the highest percentage of children that we can, whilst identifying and moving to support those we cannot.

Google Classrooms access devices

We know that some families are sharing devices during home learning and wanted to let you know that you are able to access Google Classroom on the Xbox and PlayStation. Brief details are given below.

X-Box

Go to my games/apps
Go to Microsoft Edge
Type in classroom.google.com in the URL bar
Type in your usual user name and password

PlayStation

Go to www browser
Type in classroom.google.com in the URL bar
Type in your usual user name and password

As a school we have some capacity to loan devices to access remote learning and we are also looking at how we can access more equipment for parents. We will update you on this next week.

BBC Two Education offer during lockdown

The new offer from the BBC will ensure all children can access curriculum-based learning, even if they don’t have access to the internet. Starting on Monday 11 January, each week day on CBBC will see a three-hour block of primary school programming from 9am, including BBC Live Lessons and BBC Bitesize Daily, as well as other educational programming such as Our School and Celebrity Supply Teacher and much-loved titles such as Horrible Histories, Art Ninja and Operation Ouch.

Bitesize Daily primary and secondary will also air every day on BBC Red Button as well as episodes being available on demand on BBC iPlayer. Tim Davie, BBC Director General, says: “Ensuring children across the UK have the opportunity to continue to follow the appropriate core parts of their nation’s school curriculum has been a key priority for the BBC throughout this past year. “Education is absolutely vital - the BBC is here to play its part and I’m delighted that we have been able to bring this to audiences so swiftly.” This TV offer sits alongside a wealth of online content which parents, children and teachers can access when and where they need it:

St. Bridget’s Buddies

Currently, St. Bridget’s Buddies is not open. We will to keep this under review and will inform you when we can open St. Bridget’s Buddies safely.

A huge thank you from all of the staff

Many of you have acknowledged the difficult situation that school has found itself in from Monday and your kind words, understanding and patience have been invaluable. Your words of encouragement and simple thanks have not gone to waste. At the front of school Mr Neal has started a display board for all staff to read which shares these messages. We all need encouragement some times and reading this board is a constant reminder of the support we are all providing each other throughout the community. My staff remain highly motivated to provide the very best learning that they can whether you child is in school or at home.

Your sincerely,

Neil Le Feuvre