It is with very great pleasure that I can say that we are back and up and running! At the time of writing we have been open for 6 school days and everything is going really well. Rather understandably there were a few anxious faces when we opened our doors to all of our children on the 3^rd September but there were even more smiling ones! I have really pleased with how the staff and the children have slotted in to the new ‘normal’. I want to thank everyone for their support and kind wishes during what has been a testing time for everyone connected with our school. This support has made a big difference and is really appreciated.

We have had to make some changes to the organisation of the school as a result of the Covid – 19 pandemic and the staff and children are managing these really well. Having staggered start and finish times to limit the number of people on site makes maintaining social distancing far easier. We are placing traffic barriers on the drive leading up to the school between 8:30 – 9:15 in the morning and then from 3:00 – 3:45 at the end of the day. I’d like to thank our fabulous village library for helping us with this.

Of our five core values (self-belief, honesty, respect, excellence and kindness) we are focusing on ‘Kindness’ this term and there have been many examples of this value being demonstrated by our children. Class teachers have told me about cases where children who are new to the school have been looked after by other children. Other examples include children offering to help peers with work or to help class teachers with jobs in the classroom.

We are using our recovery curriculum resources to support and ease the children back in to school life. This really seems to be working well and it is very clear that the children have settled in quickly. Staff using quizzes and short tests to see where the children are with their skills and this helps us to flex the curriculum as necessary. Children continue to enjoy their learning and the wide variety of subjects they study.

We will recommence our work with an Ofsted inspector shortly. This essential work helps us to ensure we stay on track both in the short and long term. Senior and curriculum leaders, along with many of our governors, value his training and support.

IT upgrades have taken place and a far quicker and more reliable broadband connection was installed over the summer. We still have work to do but we are moving forward with our IT provision.  A new means of contacting parents at home is on its way and, should we be faced with a second lock down, we will be able to contact more families and children more frequently. This new service will also allow us to hold ‘remote’ meetings. We can’t invite non-essential visitors in to the school, but this new facility allows us offer remote parents evening appointments. More detail on this will be sent out in due course.

Safeguarding is always prominent in our minds and all staff members have had refresher training so we can look after our children’s safety and well-being.

Work with a cluster of schools continues and this has helped us to share good ideas and practice. A number of   head  teachers from other schools are still keen to visit us later in the term to see how our new behaviour system is   working and to see how our pastoral support team work together.

 Very best wishes