Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,

I hope you are all well and managing to remain positive and optimistic as we enter more weeks of significant chance.

Thank you to everyone who has been in touch either via email, phone call or in person as you drop by to collect things; it certainly lifts my spirits to be talking to members of our school community.

School remains open for some children, but I must mention our Key Workers' children, who I have to say are the best bunch of children you could wish to work with- thank you to mums and dads for having such amazing children!

News from school:

Miss Bailey has a new puppy, who I have met via Zoom, she is totally gorgeous, Mrs Scull has inherited a large cockerel in her garden, it just seems to have appeared, Mrs Folks has an addition to her family by way of a rescue dog called Luna. Mrs Jones is anxiously waiting the arrival of her first grandchild, Miss Mac Kellar has been allocated an allotment and is busy gardening and planting and Mrs Foster ( yes me) is waiting for members of her household to learn to tidy up after themselves!

Thank you also for your feedback on our Home Learning Packs and materials; we have made some tweaks and changes which we hope will make life easier for you. As a busy mum myself, I know what life is like in a mixed age household, I know you will be doing an amazing job supporting members of your immediate and extended family, please don't feel you have to do any more than keep yourselves safe, fit and well. Some days are better than others, and when the weather is good, make the most of it in the spaces you have, don't fret if your children are not 'learning' for hours each day, the reality is far from that and that's OK. I am taking one day at a time and that is as much as anyone can do.

On Monday, we will be launching our new 5 Star Challenge for home learning where children have the opportunity to earn points for completing certain challenges. The expectation is to achieve your 5 stars each week. Challenges are linked to the core subjects reading ,writing and maths as well as  practical activities which will help you and your household. 

 All are achievable for all families whether you have online computer facilities or not. We have adjusted our Home Leaning packs to meet the needs of limited or no ICT resources.

You will be able to collect from school on Monday a learning pack that does not require any on line device. You will also be able to access a HLP from our website and you can either print it yourself or use it on line. Both packs contain very similar materials so all children have fair access to learning. As always please contact me or your class teachers for any additional or supplementary work, should you require it.

Your child's class teacher will be emailing you about this in a little more detail tomorrow in their end of the week check in. If anything is unclear after that, please get in touch.

If your child left trainers, coats and other personal items here before the shut down, you can collect any item should you be passing school as part of some  daily exercise or when you pick up a pack. Please let us know what it is you require so we can put it by the front door for collection. 

That is all for now, keep going everyone, I know it is tough, but every day we get through, is a day closer to the end of all this!

All the very best and stay in touch,

Wendy Foster

20^th March 2020

Dear Parents,

As a school community, we all need to do what we can to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

That is why the government has taken the very difficult decision to close schools and asked parents to do everything they can to keep children at home.

Learning from Home

Your child should have received a starter home learning pack which should provide enough work for the next week. Please ask a friend to pick up a pack on your behalf if your child is absent from school. Packs will be available from 3.00pm today and from Monday morning at the school office.

Please do not come to school if you are unwell.

We strongly recommend you structure the day to accommodate some dedicated learning time. Your child is used to following a daily timetable and is capable of working independently. Please follow the instructions in the packs and where possible provide some quiet time and space for your child to work. In addition to the home learning packs, your child’s class teacher will regularly post activities for learning on the class page on our school website. We are in the process of setting up Google drive as another place where we post on-going school learning. On our website you can find examples of educational websites which offer endless resources for children of all ages in a multitude of subjects. We strongly recommend that you factor in some computing time and daily exercise as children find this fun as they are learning and benefitting at the same time.

We will put together the second home learning pack next week. We ask that you stay in email contact with your child’s class teacher, so we can gauge how much work you require and in what capacity.

It is so vitally important that learning doesn’t start to slip. If you manage nothing else, please encourage your child to read as much as possible. There are books to read on Oxford Owl website and I know logins have been given out.

We look forward to hearing how you are going about your home learning and please send in photos to your class teacher showing your creative ways for learning.

Childcare provision at school

As a school we are being asked only to provide child care for a limited number of children. We have already identified children with particular needs who should be in school for all or part of the week and we have spoken to those parents. All other children should not attend school on Monday unless you have been pre-notified by the school that your child can attend.

A register of children will be in place and further communication will be sent out to families of children who are eligible to attend.

Every child who can be safely cared for at home should be.

If you are unable to make arrangements for your child to be cared for safely at home and you are required to be at work because you are critical to the country’s Covid-19 response, then please contact the school office as soon as possible.

If workers think they fall within the critical categories above they should confirm with their employer that, based on their business continuity arrangements, their specific role is necessary for the continuation of this essential public service.

If there is any question as to whether you fall into the categories above the school will request evidence of this from your employer.

Final thoughts......

As children leave our school today, we have to give them a sense of optimism, especially our Y6 children, who may be feeling a little ‘lost’. We have told all pupils that our aim is to follow the guidance from the government, so when the weather is warmer and the sun is shining we will all return to school and carry on with the wonderful summer activities we love so much. We sincerely hope that if we all do our bit to stay safe, we will return to Cirencester Primary School before the end of this academic year.

Thank you for your continued support in these very difficult times.

Yours sincerely

Wendy Foster

Well done to three of our Year 4 pupils who have taken part in Jujitsu competitons and a three km fun run in Fairford. Thank you for sharing your successes with us.

We look forward to hearing from more pupils as you take part in hobbies and activities outside of school.