Newsletter w/c- 15/06/20
Dear Parent/Carer
We continue to miss all of your wonderful children, and hope you and your family are safe and well. Please see below for some important notices about school life:
Announcement from the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson
By clicking here, you may read a BBC news article that refers to a speech made by the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, in the House of Commons this week where he stated the government's plan to have all primary school children back in school before the summer holidays has been dropped. However, he did state that if schools had the capacity to accept children from Years 2-5, they should try.
We would like as many children back in school as is safely possible, knowing it's in their best interests given the extended time away from school many of them have had due to the pandemic.
We are waiting on more guidance from the local authority, and, once it's received, and we have had time to review it, we will let parents/carers know our plans.
Thank you for your ongoing patience and support in this regard.
Bedtime & Morning Routine
Through the weekly telephone call we are making to children and families, it has come to our attention that sadly many children are waking at 10:00am or later. This suggests they are going to bed very late. If your child is awake very late at night, they could be accessing unsuitable material on the television, laptop, tablet or smartphone, and also, if your child is in the routine of going to bed late and waking late, they will find it very hard to wake earlier when school reopens to all, causing problems with their learning and their behaviour.
The NHS recommend that a child in Reception needs 11 hours sleep, a child in Key Stage 1 needs around 10 hours 30 minutes sleep, and a child in Key Stage 2 needs around 10 hours sleep.
All children should be in bed and asleep by 9:00pm at the very latest as then they will be ready to rise at 7:00-8:00am.
If your child has a smartphone, you should consider taking it away from them at bedtime to avoid them using it when they should be sleeping. Also, the blue light omitted from a smartphone screen affects humans' ability to sleep so it's best you ensure your child is not using their mobile phone in bed.
We realise it is difficult, particularly for families with more than one child, to manage having all the children at home. However, we need you to keep a good bedtime and morning routine so that when your child does return to school, they will be well rested and able to learn well to make up for all the lost learning time caused by school closure.
We thank our families who have maintained a good bedtime and morning routine and we hope others will take on board our advice, recognising that we only say it because we want to make sure the children are ready and able to learn when they return to school.
Home Learning
If your child does have access to the internet and the use of a laptop or tablet, please use the Oak National Academy which is an on-line school set up by the Department for Education and led by qualified teachers. Click 'Classroom' and then 'Find Lessons' and select your child's year group and a subject to find a suitable lesson.
If you would like a workbook, we still have some available in school. Please visit between 10:00am and 2:00pm to collect. Parents/carers are welcome to send a different adult to school to collect the workbook, they just need to know the child/ren's year group/s
Reception 2020/21
Parents/carers of a child starting Reception (all being well) in September 2020 will receive some post from us this week: a letter from the Headteacher, a guide for parents/carers about our school, a social story about our school for the children, and a leaflet regarding packed lunches.
Yours sincerely,
The School Office Team
Hurst Drive Primary School
admin@hurstdrive.herts.sch.uk
01992 624099