Dear Parents/Carers

As the fourth week of Remote Learning draws to a close, we would like to congratulate all children, parents, staff and governors for their heroic efforts and commitment.  Staff in school have been astounded by the quality of the learning, both in and out of school, and without your support this would not have been achieved.  Wembury Primary School Community is a very special community. It has been the highlight of our days to meet with the children (and their pets!) on Teams and to see how enthusiastic they are to see everybody. We are under no illusions about how difficult it is to juggle so many areas of our lives at the moment; please contact your child’s teacher if you have any queries or need any support and we will do our very best to help.  We are always here for a chat and we can signpost families to services on a strictly confidential basis.

Reading 

At Wembury Primary, like yourselves, we value regular reading highly – not only for the exceptional, overall impact this has on a child’s outcomes at all stages of his/her education but also for the pure joy of letting the imagination run free and the thrill of discovery that runs alongside this. We know that children still have access to their accelerated reading accounts at home and ‘bug club’ is used for many but we would like to share a few links below that may help: 

• Some Plymouth Libraries are running a ‘select and collect’ service’ for the public.  Plymstock library is one of these.  Please click the link below for more information. 

     https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/libraries/coronaviruscovid19informationaboutlibraries

• Please follow the link to see a list of recommended books from ‘Book Space’ with links to authors reading extracts from their books and other information:

• https://www.wemburyprimary.co.uk/home-learning-during-school-closure-spring-2021/

• Jolly Learning are sharing free Jolly Phonics E readers at the moment; please contact your child’s teacher for your child’s band if you would like to use these.       

Please click the links below for a range of free readers online:

Pupil Feedback During Remote Learning 

As provision has evolved, our feedback procedures have crystalized: 

• For pupils to access their points in Teams: Along the horizontal ribbon at the top of the screen select grades; go to activity (top left hand side of the screen); in the feedback column, if there is a comment from the teacher to the child, it will be in the blue speech bubble; there is also a points column  

• Awarding Points: Points will be awarded for each assignment that children have clicked ‘turn in’ to show they have completed the assignment; if a child is in school, points will be awarded in school  

• Feedback: Sometimes there will be written feedback in the blue speech bubble in the grades tab on Teams and points will be awarded; other times the points will be awarded to say teachers have seen the ‘turn in’ and any associated work uploaded but there won’t be any written comments; verbal feedback and shout outs may be delivered during daily teams meeting  

• Teachers will award certificates periodically for engagement/achievement  

• At appropriate points in the teaching sequence, teachers will provide more in-depth feedback to recognize achievement and guide next steps  

Contact tracing over February half term  

Schools during the half term holiday will continue to play an important role in contact tracing for those pupils and staff who continue to attend school. If your child tests positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) before 15:30 on Sunday 14th February please contact the school via admin@wembury-primary.devon.sch.uk and we will assist in identifying close contacts and advise self-isolation.   

Build update

 Over the last couple of weeks our school field has undergone a dramatic transformation.  Tonnes of earth have been removed and foundations have been laid. We are now looking forward to seeing the structure rise up out of the ground and staff have begun the exciting part- choosing furnishings and colour schemes!  Photos are being taken and the journey mapped and we will share this with you in more depth in the future.  

Children’s Mental Health Week

 Next week, we would like to support and mark Children’s Mental Health week. This year’s theme is Express Yourself.  Expressing yourself is about finding ways to share feelings, thoughts, or ideas, through creativity. This could be through art, music, writing and poetry, dance and drama, photography and film, and doing activities that make you feel good.  During the week, we will be encouraging children (and adults) to explore the different ways we can express ourselves, and the creative ways that we can share our feelings, our thoughts and our ideas. To mark the end of the week, on Friday during our morning Teams calls, we would like to invite children to ‘Dress to Express’.  The idea is simple – use colour to express yourself by wearing a colourful outfit. Our lives are full of colour and we can use colour to help make sense of how we’re feeling, who we are and the world we live in. Your child could wear his/her favourite colour or choose  a range of colours that express how they are feeling.  Colour can be very personal and mean different things to different people, so this is a great opportunity to encourage self-expression and celebrate a diverse range of emotions.  

Bulletin from Devon County Council    

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKDEVONCC/bulletins/2ba3e80 

Finally, from all of us to all of  you, we send you a warm smile and we wish you a peaceful weekend in these very difficult times. 

Warmest wishes

Lyn Chamberlain and Susie Jackson

Acting Headteachers