Issue 17 - Tuesday 5th January 2021 - School Partial re-opening Information

School Partial Reopening Information

Dear Parents and Carers,

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for having to close the school today. I found out about the national lockdown at the same time as yourselves and we were not in a position to open immediately to children of critical workers and those classed as vulnerable.

We have spent the day planning and preparing for a blended learning approach where children will be taught both at home and at school by their class teachers. Please note that the plans in place from a school perspective are very different to the previous lockdown and currently will take us to February half term. Thanks so much to all that completed the questionnaire to help us with our planning.

If you stated on the questionnaire that your child is attending because they're either a child of a critical worker or classed as vulnerable they can attend from tomorrow. We will contact people individually if your child does not meet the criteria and you've said you would still like your child to attend. Unfortunately, we have to follow the government guidelines to keep our numbers low at school which ultimately keeps the staff and children within school as safe as possible.

Information for those attending Parkfield

For those children attending school, Parkfield will mainly function like it has done since September but with fewer children attending. This includes:

  • Children attending full time. There is no option of part time hours.

  • Children being taught in class with their usual class teacher in thir class bubble.

  • Children wearing their usual school uniform.

  • Children wearing their PE kits on the appropriate days.

  • Before and After School Club continuing (Y6 SATS morning booster is now cancelled).

  • Dropping off and picking up of children arrangements as per usual.

  • Dinner times will run as usual but with a slightly smaller choice on the menu with hot food still being served for those attending (see lockdown menu below)


Information for those that remain at home

For those pupils and families that remain at home, school will provide an ambitious blended learning approach where pupils will access learning via live video lessons and complete work through the online learning platform Showbie (Y1-6) or Tapestry (Reception).

We understand the pressures and challenges for families that remain at home and although we do have ambitious expectations set out below, we appreciate that for some families it will be very difficult to get pupils to complete all the learning set during this period of lockdown. Government guidelines that we must follow insist that a minimum of 3 hours of learning is set on a daily basis for primary aged pupils. All we ask from yourselves is to try your best and we will be here to support in any way that we can.

Please see the information below regarding our home learning offer:

Whether children are at home or at school for the next half term, they will be taught quality, exciting and ambitious lessons live by their class teacher and here’s how…

If your child is at home, they must access the home learning three times per day. (There will be one day where they do not need to access it three times a day, but twice that day instead). They will have the same Zoom link to click on for every lesson. We can support you with getting online if you have any issues then please contact school. Each class, from Reception to Year 6 will have a Maths lesson, an English lesson and a topic lesson to access each day. The resources for these lessons will be uploaded to ‘Showbie’ (years 1-6) and ‘Tapestry’ (Reception) before each lesson.

Each child will need a quiet space and their own device that is linked to the internet in order to access their learning. They will also need a pencil and paper/an exercise book to write on. If you need support with this, then please contact school.

In addition to live lessons, there will be other resources uploaded to Showbie or Tapestry that the children will be used to using in lessons. For example, spellings and maths passports. These can be completed in their own time as additional tasks. Please visit the Showbie account every day and check that your child is completing and uploading tasks. It is possible to annotate tasks on Showbie, take pictures and upload work, or print off if you have access to a printer. (This is not essential). Or you can simply look at the screen and write answers down. The teachers and teaching assistants will try their best to acknowledge work when they can. On many occasions, answer sheets may be shared so that children can check their own answers.

Please see the information below for timings of live lessons. The zoom links will be sent to separately to pupils via Showbie and to parent's email addresses.

  • Reception: Daily @ 9.30am, 11am, 1.15pm (Please note there will be no live lesson on a Wednesday afternoon for Reception)

  • Year 1 and 2: Daily @9.15am, 11am, 1.20pm (Please note there will be no live lesson on a Thursday afternoon for Y1 and 2)

  • Year 3 and 4: Daily @ 9.30am, 11am and 1.40pm (Please note there will be no live lesson on a Monday afternoon for Y3 and 4)

  • Year 5 and 6: Daily @ 9.10am, 10.45am and 1.30pm (Please note there will be no live lesson on a Tuesday afternoon for Y5 and 6)

  • Assemblies: Mondays and Fridays @ 10.30am

Please note that we will constantly be reviewing our home learning provision and these days / timings may change.

If you feel your child has additional needs and you feel they need further support, then please speak to the class teacher or Mrs Whalen. For any technical or logging-in queries please email shaughton@parkfield.rochdale.sch.uk.

For those children that are entitled to Free School Meals the school will provide a daily grab bag to those that would like to collect. Please call the school office and let us know if you would like a grab bag on a daily basis. Currently, the government isn't starting back the voucher scheme it used during the previous lockdown but we will update you with further information if anything changes.

Additional Information

  • We still don't know what will happen with SATS for children in Y2 and Y6 but will let you know as soon as possible

  • Learning Logs will not be sent this half term

  • The school office remains shut to parents and carers

  • Please contact the school via telephone or email


Thank you for your continued support at such a difficult time. Stay Safe Parkfielders and we hope to be back together as a whole school community in the not so distant future.

Mr Kemp

School Dinners

Our exciting, new school menu can be found here: https://www.parkfieldprimary.com/website/dinner-menus.html

Dinners cost £2.30 per day or £11.50 per week.

Our menus during lockdown will be as follows:

Week 1

Monday Fish & chips

Tuesday Sausage & mash

Wednesday Omelette, herby diced potatoes

Thursday Pie of the day & accompaniments

Friday Panini & sauté potatoes


Week 2

Monday Fish goujons & potatoes noisettes

Tuesday Sausage rolls & waffles

Wednesday Pizza & chips

Thursday Quorn dippers & herby diced potatoes

Friday Cheese burger & wedges


Available daily: jacket potatoes with a selection of fillings. Seasonal vegetables on offer daily, assorted desserts & a drink.



Early Birds and Busy Bees

Spaces are still available. Please contact the school office to book a place.

7.30am - 8.45am = £2.50, 8.15am - 8.45am = £1.50, 3.15 - 5.30pm = £8.00

https://www.parkfieldprimary.com/website/before-and-after-school-club.html

Safeguarding

Mrs Whalen is our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) supported by Miss Steele (Deputy DSL). If you have any concerns about the needs or welfare of a pupil, please don't hesitate to contact the school. We all share a responsibility to our pupils safety and wellbeing.

As a school our promise is: We will listen, we will support and we will take action.

Health and Safety

  • Unfortunately, Parents and Carers are not allowed to drop off and pick up from the school car park at any time.

  • Children are not allowed on the play equipment before and after school. Please keep them off.