Year 5 Parents Consultations – October 2020
Dear Parents
Parents Consultations are due to be held w/b 19th October. In line with a number of other local schools, we are intending to hold these by telephone due to the current restrictions.
We know that parents have appreciated the phone calls home that teachers have been making since April but also that as these are unscheduled they may not be at a convenient time for you to chat in depth, or that you may miss them altogether! We will therefore be making the calls by appointment, as you would normally make your face-to-face appointments. Calls will be for a maximum of 10 minutes and will offer parents the chance to discuss their child’s progress and well-being, as well as to raise any concerns you may have and for teachers to let you know about your child’s future targets.
Unfortunately we are unable to provide you with access to children’s books at this time but we will be sending home a sample of their learning to you so you can see some of what they have been doing. We will also be sending home the data sheets with details of this term’s assessment levels so far.
The times your child’s class teacher is available to make these calls is shown below. Please complete the form with at least three preferences of time slots for your child; we will try to give you the appointment time you have requested but certain times may be oversubscribed. Please note that different classes have different time allocations and so if you have children in other classes you will need to complete the separate form for their class on their class website page. We will get back to you to confirm your appointment time nearer the time.
Kind regards
Mr C Turtle
Headteacher
Residential Opportunity 2021
Dear Year 5&6 parents
Our visit to the Isle of Wight with our Yr5&6 children each summer has long been a highlight of the school year. Not only does it provide the children with the opportunity to take part in a high-quality range of outdoor adventurous activities which meet their PE curriculum requirements, it is also a chance for them to spend an extended period of time with their friends developing their personal and team skills – and having fun!
Some of you may have heard the news last week that our usual travel operator, PGL, have announced job losses of a quarter of their staff due to the current situation and their financial losses. You may also be aware of the very difficult process and length of time that our office staff had to take to secure refunds from the company from this year’s cancelled trip when PGL initially refused to refund these. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, the government are continuing to advise against residential educational visits with no indication of when these will be possible.
Because of these factors we are reviewing our options for 2021 but are anticipating hopefully that restrictions on going away are lifted. We have already come to the decision we are unlikely to be booking through PGL this time – this is a precautionary measure in light of the factors in the previous paragraph but also because of the very large numbers of other schools which are usually on the sites at one time – there are sometimes up to 600 people attending from schools all over the country – and the distance that we have to travel. We are also aware that in the current financial climate the estimated £550 cost is significant and out of reach to many of our families. We may consider a return to PGL in future years but we do not feel it is appropriate for 2021.
We are therefore currently seeking alternative venues and providers which can still offer an exciting opportunity for the children but which would allow us to stay somewhere where we can come into contact with less other groups, which is at less cost and which is nearer to home. Because of the changes it may be that we are not able to secure a booking at the same time period as usual, ie end of June. For 2021 we are also proposing that we do not include our Yr5 children in order to keep restricted to one, smaller, class group; we know that this may be disappointing to some of the Yr5 children but uptake is usually very small from this year group and hopefully they will get their chance in 2022! Children who do not participate will remain at school and would have “Activity Week” opportunities similar to previous years.
I know that it is difficult for families to make decisions in the current situation and that this year, if anything, has taught us that we can’t predict what will happen in 6 or 12 months’ time, but it would be very useful to have your initial view on this as we make our plans. We will, of course, keep you updated with further information as soon as this becomes available but we would be very grateful if Year 6 parents could please complete the form below to indicate whether or not you may at least be interested in your child attending a Year 6 residential opportunity next year as this will help to inform our choices – this is only a statement of interest at this time!
Kind regards
Mr C Turtle
Headteacher
There is no form for Yr5 parents to complete!