Dear Parents/Carers.

I hope you received an email yesterday containing a letter for your children to read including web links and also attachments containing information I sent out in the last week of term.

In the run-up to returning next week, please make time for little conversations about how your children are feeling about going back to school. Be careful how you do this - the aim is to see if they do have concerns, not to plant new ones!

If your child does have worries, acknowledge their concerns first before offering reassurance.

For example:

• ‘It's normal to feel worried about the virus, but here's what you can do to stay safe in school. That’s why Ms Rogers wrote to you yesterday and why school has changed some routines as well.’
• ‘I bet other children will feel worried about having a new teacher, too.  That's why the teachers will spend lots of time explaining how everything will work when you get back.’

And a good way of turning a negative into a positive is using the phrase, "At least..."

As in:

• ‘I know some activities will be different, but at least we know the teachers at Great Binfields will always try to make learning as exciting as possible’.
• ‘I know you're in a different class and have a new teacher to get used to, but at least you are still with the children from last year so you already have friends.’

And don't be surprised if children want to talk about the same issue a number of times.  Kids often need to (repeatedly!) revisit an idea with an adult to get reassurance nothing has changed.

Please convey calm…..

It's natural for us parents/carers to have some level of  worry about returning our  child to school. But however you feel on the inside, it's really important to convey calm to your child.

Kids pick up on lots of little clues about how we as their parents are feeling and they use this information to inform how they should be feeling. If we look worried, they pick up on this and start worrying too!

So, if you do have concerns, it time to be an actor.  However you feel on the inside, aim to convey calm on the outside.

To do this, we need to think about:

• What we say (and definitely what they overhear)
• Our tone of voice
• Our body language

Routines for sleep

In most families, routines around kids' sleep have become more... flexible! Bedtimes have drifted until later in the evening... and our kids are getting up later in the morning as a result. To move immediately from these routines to 'normal running' and getting into school for your staggered start could be jarring.

So start moving your child's bedtime back towards normality now.  Do this gradually, over the weekend as well as all of next week before they get back to school on Thursday.  If you have managed this already – a house point for you!!

Because if we leave it to Tuesday, it's likely our kids won't have time to adjust, and won't be able to get to sleep at the earlier time.

And then your child won't only have to cope with going back to school on the first day back - they'll be managing exhaustion too.

Be kind to yourself

Everyone has been through an emotional rollercoaster over the last few months - that includes you and your child/ren. And if you've felt overwhelmed or worried about sending your child back to school, that's okay.  It's entirely normal.

So be kind to yourself.

Make sure you:

• Build in time for activities you find de-stressing  
• Get some exercise (even if that's just walking)
• Take some time alone, if you need it

All of these activities will help make sure you're in an emotionally strong place - so you can support your child with their emotions too.

Key takeaways

Lockdown was a massive change for all of us - including our children.  And now they're going back to school, we need to help them prepare for another big change.

So:

• Talk through what school will be like - and what will happen during the day - so your child knows what to expect using the Q and A document I have sent out.
• Make time to talk about any worries they may have
• Let them see you looking calm and in control (even if you feel differently on the inside)
• Ease them back towards normal bedtimes now (so they're not exhausted on their first day back)
• Take care of yourself (so you can take care of your child)

 

Take care everyone,

Ms Rogers

Headteacher

Dear GBP Children,

This time next week, you will be at school! We cannot wait to welcome you all back as a whole school because we have missed you all so much. Our teachers and support team are really excited about having you all back and have some really inspiring activities planned for you. There will be plenty of opportunity for you to chat to your old class mates and staff too – you all have a lot of catching up to do!!!

 

Please don’t forget that you have a special time to arrive at school and you have a set entrance gate for your year group too (see our Q and A document emailed to your parents for finer details of this). I have attached the map again for you too, to remind yourselves of where to go. Mr Quilter will be putting new gate signs up next week. It is really important that you arrive on time to keep everyone safe as we do not want huge groups arriving at the same time. Also try and walk to school if you can – safe social distancing as you travel in. See this link: https://www.greatbinfields.co.uk/travelling-to-school/.  If your family have to drive in because you live far away from school, I am pleading with your parents/carers to park in the Hampshire Court front tennis courts or in Tescos car park (Dominoes Pizza end) and avoid coming down Binfields Farm Lane and the surrounding roads around school. There will be lots of children walking to different entrance gates and we want to keep everyone in our school community as safe as we can – after all we really care about one another don’t we?!

 

A September start is always full of excitement and there is also a little apprehension too due to being in a new year group, a new class, with a new teacher and learning support assistants.  So far 2020 has been the strangest year ever hasn’t it? For some of you, apart from the ‘catch up with your teacher’ session in July, you haven’t been in school since March which is a very long time indeed. But there is one thing that has not changed, your class buddies are going to be the same as they were last year. This is the first year ever in GBP history (since being a larger school) that we haven’t changed the classes around! This is because we thought there has been so much change happening, it is good to have some things just the way they were.

 

We know that this September will be a little strange to start off with due to these really unusual times. However, I would like to reassure you that we have planned how to best meet your needs when you all come back and you are all so important to us, that we have put lots of things in place to keep everyone safe. These are outlined in the Question and Answer letter I sent out to your parents/carers at the end of term (email sent on the 20^th July and 27th August). We are continually updating something called a ‘risk assessment’ too. This process makes us think carefully about what we need to do when the government changes things.   

 

Please do not expect everything to just ‘go back to normal’ when you return but we promise we will try to make learning as enjoyable and fun as possible for you all – as happy children are really good learners. You can see what topics your year group will be doing by going on the website class pages and the curriculum pages too. https://www.greatbinfields.co.uk/topic/class-pages and https://www.greatbinfields.co.uk/topic/curriculum

We will send you an email at the start of term to let you know when your PE days will be as on those days you will be coming in your PE kit. We will also send out a dates letter but only for a term at a time for this academic year.

We hope that you have been keeping your skills fresh by working through your CGP work books we handed out in the Summer 2 term. You still have over a week to work on them as we would like you to bring them back into school on Monday 7^th September. Next Thursday and Friday are planned transition days (to get to know your new teacher and LSAs plus rekindle your friendships) so you will not need those workbooks then. Which reminds me, you can find out more about your new staff team by checking out this link on our website. https://www.greatbinfields.co.uk/whos-in-my-year-group-team-2020/ You can find out about their favourite things and even find out some top gossip about them!

 

Lunchtimes and break times – important parts of the day for you. We have got playtime equipment boxes for each class and this will be rotated so you do not get bored about what’s on offer. You will play in a set zone and we will swap these over regularly so again you don’t get bored of playing in the same area. You will have your lunch in your classroom – you can still have a packed lunch or a school lunch and they will be delivered to your classroom!

 

Due to ever changing guidance, when the staff are not in their classrooms, they will now be wearing face coverings for example when out on the gate entrances at the beginning and end of day. They will also wear them when we have meetings in school and when visitors are in. This is not something to be worried about – it is to keep them and your families safe!

 

Make sure you look smart in your school uniform and your bookbag/backpack has to be able to fit on the back of your chair along with your coat. Mrs Robinson has sent a quick email to your parents/carers about another secondhand uniform sale that is being held early next week at school if you are having trouble getting hold of a few things.

 

I know you have been away for a long time but I hope you have not forgotten how much school cares about you, and what a strong community we have. School doesn’t really look any different apart from our tables being in rows. Mr Quilter has been busy since March – what wonderful new areas will you spot?? We have had to change some routines in school and put measures in place to ensure that you can wash your hands regularly to help combat this nasty virus from entering our school.  

 

Our values (think our Values Tree) haven’t changed, we will still bang on about growth mindset, our curriculum topics are the same (but we will assist you to catch up on learning missed in the summer term). We will be doing Jigsaw PSHE and Mrs Irons is looking forward to teaching music as is Mrs Vaughan for Year 3's Listen 2 Me sessions. There will still be Forest School throughout the year, PE and Games will happen, as will a form of Golden Time at the end of each half term (but it will be in your year groups not whole school) and the mobile farm is still coming in for Year 1 at the beginning of September! See lots and lots of things are sounding familiar aren’t they? We just have to make lots of adaptations to make it all work safely.  I want to be honest with you all - some things may not happen straight away and sadly some things will not be able to go ahead next year because we can't make it a safe activity/event ...but as listed above lots of things will nearly be the same as it has been in the past. We will all practice our values of resilience and creativity to make sure our school’s curriculum is as broad and rich as it can be for you all.

 

Right that is it from me, for now… if I think of anything else important then I will of course contact you via your parents/carers’ email again… but thanks for reading this letter - please follow those web links above and get your parents/carers to read through the Question and Answers letter with you before we start back. If you feel informed and knowledgeable about what is ahead, you will feel more at ease about the start of term next week.

Once again, I can’t wait to see you all on Thursday 3^rd September – I think my face will ache because I will be smiling from ear to ear all day… our school will feel so much happier again with you all there.

Take care and see you soon,

 

Ms Rogers, 

Headteacher