Worple Primary School
Dear Parents,
We are delighted to welcome you back to the spring term which begins on Monday the 4th of January 2021. I do hope that you have all had a restful and safe Christmas break. You will be aware by now that the government have made the decision that secondary schools, and some primary schools will not be able to open from Monday the 4th of January as previously planned. Unfortunately we have been identified as a local authority where primary schools will not be able to open until the 18th of January. The reason that the government have made this decision is because rates of coronavirus are of concern, and particularly high in some Tier 4 areas, Hounslow has been identified as one of these areas. This will mean that learning will go ‘online’ for the majority of our children. Details regarding how to access the online learning and the timetable of lessons are identified in the second part of this letter.
Vulnerable children will be eligible for a school place over the next two weeks. Those who are eligible for a school place will be contacted by a member of our school staff over the next few days. The school is open to children of critical workers and if you do wish to access this provision you will need to contact us at absence@worple.hounslow.sch.uk outlining your position and requesting access to this facility. Please be aware, we will only have very limited spaces for critical workers being a small school, and we would therefore ask that you only request this provision if it is absolutely essential. If your child is entitled to free school meals, we will be working closely with the local authority to ensure that you continue to receive vouchers. Given the pressure on the local authority in trying to manage this at short notice, we do ask for your patience. Lunches will be available to children who are on site over the next two weeks. We are also aware that many of you would have purchased school lunches in advance, we are working with Chartwells to look at how we can ensure that you are refunded over this period.
Having had very few positive covid cases last term, we are mindful that in a small school, even one positive case can lead to quite some disruption. It is therefore important again this term that we try to do everything we can to keep all staff and children safe in the school community, and avoid further disruption this term. If your child is in school over the next two weeks, and when the majority of children return to school, I would ask that you are particularly mindful regarding your child’s health and ensure that they remain at home if they display any of the covid symptoms, or else anyone in your household does. There is much more information coming through public health about other symptoms which have been linked to the virus, particularly being picked up in children. These include stomach upsets and headaches. I would ask, that if your child does display these symptoms particularly at the start of term and is unwell, you do keep them at home. Please contact us in the normal way, via the school office, to inform us, and of course we will be here to answer any of your questions if you are unsure.
When we return to school, we will continue to ask all parents to wear face masks at drop off and pick up. In the mornings and during drop off we will continue to use the same route used in the winter term in order to avoid congestion. I know that at the start of term many of you will be looking forward to catching up with other parents, please be mindful that the biggest growth in spread is the virus moving from adult to adult, and therefore keeping as much distance as possible will be critical once the school returns on the 18th of January.
Online Learning 4-18th of January 2021
From Monday 4th January, learning will take place via Google Classroom. The children should be ready to begin their learning each day at 9:00am in school uniform. The day will begin with registration and a morning activity followed by live inputs from the teacher as well as a number of online activities and assignments that the children should complete. The teaching will follow our spring term curriculum, therefore it is vital that your child participates to ensure that they do not fall behind in their learning. Live inputs will be delivered via Google Classroom through Google Meet. A help sheet has been attached explaining how you can join a Google Meet. Your child’s teacher will be available throughout the school day, with the exception of lunch and break times. Please do contact us if you are not able to access Google Classroom or if you require any other advice. The online learning timetable which will be followed by the class teacher has also been attached.
Starting a new year is always a good time to reflect on the year that has been. I don’t think any of us would have imagined that 2020 would have turned out the way it has. That being said, we must all be grateful that as a community we have all pulled together, and whilst there may have been challenges, we remain as strong as ever. Whilst the children are still smiling, excited and happy to be here, who could ask for anything more!
I know that you and the children will be disappointed about not being able to return to school as planned, we are hopeful that this will only be a very temporary measure before things begin to look a little better. We are all really looking forward to working with you over the coming year and are hopeful that the picture ahead of us seems to be looking much brighter!
Happy New Year.
With best wishes,
Marais Leenders
Executive Headteacher
