Dear parents and carers of Stepney Park Primary School
End of Term 1
As we are approaching the end of the Autumn term, we are also marking the end of the very first ‘Stepney Park Primary School’ term. What a roller coaster it has been....! We have had many successes and many challenges along the way, but ultimately, staff and children have bonded, got to know each other and have started to develop the beginnings of a very good new school. A supersized school, ‘born’ in the most challenging of times, Covid times, but still a school with a ‘primary school’ feel to it.
I would like to express my gratitude to all staff who have worked together to make this possible, who have gone the extra mile, who have been unwell with Covid and recovered, who have been supportive, patient and flexible in times of adversity- they are all heroes!
1 pm finish on Friday Dec 18th
Please remember to pick your child up from school at 1 pm this Friday. Please note that the children will have had their lunch already.
Free lunch vouchers
Children who are entitled to a benefits related statutory free school lunch will have a voucher in their book bag. Please check their book bag where relevant to ensure that you can purchase lunches for your child over the Christmas holiday period.
Extra inset day on January 4th
We have been advised by Tower Hamlets Council that they will support Tower Hamlets schools to introduce an extra inset day on January 4th. This is to ensure that schools will be ready to reopen, given the level of information schools will have to process at the beginning of term, both in relation to any positive tests at the end of the holiday period, and any further Department for Education and Public Health guidance that there may be by that point. The school will therefore re-open to children on Tuesday January 5th.
Contract tracing in the school holidays
If your child tests positive for Covid during the holiday, please email us using the following email address: admin@stepneypark.towerhamlets.sch.uk. We will check our emails daily until December 24th and will ensure we will email parents of relevant classes if there was to be a positive case in their class, advising them to self isolate where appropriate. Please check your emails daily, so we can make sure everyone stays safe during the holidays, and so we can make sure that we stop the further spread of Covid.
Changes to our timetable due to Covid 19
We will revert back to our previous timetable, which means that we will not have class but year group bubbles. Thank you to all staff who have given up almost all of their breaks to make the class bubbles possible.
Making up for lost learning time
Our children have all lost a large amount of face to face learning time since March, which has impacted on their learning progress. We are in the process of arranging extra support for children. We will start with a focus on Year 5 and Year 6, as well as on Reading skills in Year 1 to Year 4. In Early Years we will be focusing on spoken English. The children will all be taking part in teacher assessment at the start of January, and we will arrange mid year reports to be shared with parents towards the end of February / Early March.
Family Homework:
Our heroes and heroines include Spiderman, Supergirl and of course our teachers! Please check our website www.stepneypark.towerhamlets.sch.uk for some lovely family homework ideas around ‘Heroes and Heroines’.
Digital Learning
Keeping children safe online
Please make sure you know what your child is doing online. We will leave Google Hangouts open over the holidays to allow our pupils to chat to their friends. Please make sure that you know who your child is talking to and that you are aware of all interactions. If you do not wish for your child to take part in Hangouts chats with their friends, then please explain this to them. If there is any inappropriate behaviour we may have to review this decision, and disable Google Hangouts for some children.
Youtube
Sometimes children set up their own YouTube sites without their parents’ knowledge. This means that the videoclips that children make can be uploaded and can be viewed by the public anywhere in the world. We have spoken to all pupils about the potential dangers of this. Please ensure that your child understands that they cannot set up a YouTube channel without your knowledge and permission. We do not recommend that children set up their own channel, although there are no real age restrictions.
Below is a link for parents’ information with some useful ideas and worksheets for parents and children to do together.
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/parents-guide-being-social-online/
Learning at home
There are plenty of opportunities for your child to continue their learning from home during the break from school. This may be useful if you are concerned that he/ she has missed a lot due to self isolation this term.
There are materials for every year group on the Student Hub for English, Maths and other subjects and we have added links to websites that are especially useful.
Year 4 Swimming
We hope to restart swimming lessons early next term. Year 4 children will be getting a letter soon, explaining the process and how we can do this safely. Physical exercise, including swimming, is very important for physical and mental health , and we are very keen to ensure we are enabling children to develop important and potential lifesaving skills.
Self isolation
Please do not allow your child to return to school if a family member or a close contact has tested positive and if you have been told they need to self isolate.
Good news
Both David ( Yr 5) and Natalie ( Yr 3) have welcomed a new baby in their families. Congratulations to all!
Christmas break
I know that this holiday will not be like any other holiday, as London finds itself yet again in a near lockdown. However, I hope you will all have a restful and well- deserved family break, with time to relax, do fun family things and in hopefully good health.
Kindest regards,
Edith Philipsen
Headteacher- Stepney Park Primary School.
