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Wellfield Avenue, Neath, SA11 1AQ 01639 642938
Gnoll Primary School
5th January, 2021 Newsletter
Dear Parent, Carer or Guardian,
Happy New Year to you all. I sincerely hope that you all had a
relaxing and enjoyable Christmas, albeit under very strange
circumstances.
Can I apologise for all the changes in our daily operations and
procedures here at Gnoll Primary for this Spring Term. I fully
understand and appreciate the difficulty in keeping abreast with
all of the changes and time needed to reorganise your plans for
education, home learning and childcare. As a school we aim to
filter the material provided to us and share the relevant
information in a timely and concise manner. (Letter from Welsh
Government on school website)
News broke late last night that all schools in Wales were to
close for face to face teaching until the earliest Monday 18th
January.
Therefore, I am writing to try and explain how we plan to
support you and your children during this period. I appreciate that
that the constant changes you are notified of are unsettling to
everyone and I hope this letter addresses any questions or concerns
you may have.
Message I wrote back in my newsletter last April 2020.
We are now one week in to our summer term and over the past week
I have been busy trying to think of the best way to communicate and
work with you better. Today we are launching a new flexible
learning area on our school website. A new web area has been
created and can be found on the school website - "Gnoll Flexible
Learning Area". We have called this flexible learning and the aim
is to continue to support the learning whether online or not. If
you have any problems getting online to find it, or don’t have the
right device for your child, please let us know and we will try and
help. We will continue to communicate with you as parents during
this time via text message, Twitter and the Gnoll Primary School
website.
On this website we have tried to provide the information you
need in order for you to understand the approach we are taking and
the expectations we have for your distance learning. Of course we
may need to adapt things as we go along. The aim of this area is to
support you and your children during this time. We have tried to
give you an area where you can find relevant information and
support rather than trawling the internet looking for information.
There is so much out there which can lead to confusion and/or
raised anxiety and concern. There are specific pages on
information, wellbeing and learning which will offer the relevant
support. I hope this will be useful and I would welcome your
feedback or ideas of what is needed on here. The staff have also
been busy this past week, creating new learning opportunities and
phoning all of their class children. I have been really pleased
with the positive feedback given by all and thank you for your
continued support.
Remote or Flexible Learning Opportunities:
Since the first lockdown, we as a school have tried to establish
worthwhile opportunities for Remote Learning and we have
continually tried to evolve and better the experiences. Recently we
delivered “Live” lessons which had a positive impact with the
families that engaged. The interaction with families was very
positive indeed. As a result we will continue with these for the
next few weeks. There is an expectation that all children will
access the learning whether remotely or through the school learning
Hub. The Hubs will have a greater emphasis on learning this time
around.
After the last lockdown we saw standards in some areas dipping
and we have spent much of the Autumn Term playing catch up with
some of our children. The aim this time is to remain focused on the
learning opportunities offered. As a result we are adapting our
practice and trying to make the learning opportunities engaging and
easier
https://gnoll-primary-school.j2bloggy.com/blog/message-from-welsh-government/https://gnoll-primary-school.j2bloggy.com/gnoll-primary-virtual-learning/https://gnoll-primary-school.j2bloggy.com/gnoll-primary-virtual-learning/https://gnoll-primary-school.j2bloggy.com/guidance-on-distance-learning-for-both-pupils-and-parents/https://gnoll-primary-school.j2bloggy.com/wellbeing-2/https://gnoll-primary-school.j2bloggy.com/virtual-classrooms/
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Wellfield Avenue, Neath, SA11 1AQ 01639 642938
for you to manage at home. I too am a parent and these
activities can be quite daunting and challenging at times. Often my
children were sent out to the garden to have some time out!
I also appreciate that this is not the same as face to face
teaching and this will also not have the same results . However,
with your help and our support we can give it a real good go. This
will also help in keeping your child/children motivated, engaged
with their friends and applying their understanding through
Teams/Zoom with school staff and access to digital platforms such
as Hwb where you can access TTBlast and Spellblast and Oxford Owl
Reading. All pupils have had experience of using these applications
and from working this way via Hwb. We will provide you with
explanations on how to access them. We will also keep open lines of
communication throughout the school day to support you. Class
teacher will be in touch daily providing online and live sessions,
tasks and providing feedback on pupil’s work. Staff will also be
available online via email to answer any questions you may have and
aim to reply as soon as possible.
During the last lockdown and from feedback from families, many
of you were unable to participate due to the lack of digital
equipment or not enough devices for everyone to use. We were
successful in supporting around 54 families and those devices are
still in those homes. I’ve also been made aware (through You Tube)
that some pupils have been able to access the remote learning via
their Xbox/PlayStation. This again is something that may help with
home access and if you are sharing your device with your
child/children. If you are in this situation please contact the
school and we will do our utmost to try and support you.
Key worker Families in need of a place at school
If you are a KEY WORKER (NHS, police, fire/rescue, ambulance,
military staff, teacher, school worker, social service staff,
catering/ front line council staff) and there is not a suitable
carer at home to look after your child, we have provision here at
Gnoll Primary as Learning Hub. We are very proud to support our
parents who are working in these vital roles and it is a privilege
to support you and your children. For further information and to
book places (if absolutely essential), please follow the following
link: Gnoll Primary Hub access. Please complete the following
questionnaire by 9:30am on Friday 8th January.
As a childcare setting, we will...
Offer breakfast club between 8.15am and 8.30am. Please use the
back entrance to school to access the school hall.
Open our Learning Hubs at 8.50am and close at 3.20pm. Drop off
and pick up will be as normal at the same doors as before
Christmas. Please adhere to the school procedures of last term.
We request that all children wrap up warm and wear our school
uniform.
Create new childcare bubbles. o Year 5, Year 5/6, Year 6 Classes
– Upper Key Stage 2 Learning Hub (UKS2LH) o Year 4, Year 3Sm, Year
3JJ – Lower Key Stage 2 Learning Hub (LKS2LH) o Year 2, Year 1/ 2,
Year 1 – Upper Foundation Phase Learning Hub (UFPLH) o Rec &
Year 1NJ, ReceptionSC & Nursery classes – Lower Foundation
Phase Learning Hub (LFPLH) o Rainbow Rooms Learning Hub (RRLH)
Where possible the children and staff will be consistent within
these bubbles. However, we cannot guarantee how many children will
attend or from what friendship, age or gender groups.
Provide halfl day childcare for our nursery pupils. Provide
daily hot meals. Please purchase through ParentPay. Provide free
daily hot meals for our FSM families.
As a school we will…
Deliver daily Live sessions for each class.
Share on School website (Flexible Learning Area) weekly home
learning activities for all pupils.
Provide a weekly BACS payment for the FSM families who do not
attend the childcare.
Keep in contact with our families via school website, text,
twitter feeds, emails via HWB and / or phone calls.
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Ug4_TzS3ZEGUCRtgHRR5k8AYn4Eb6hlIkpNyP67NSydUNExG%20MlJUUFVTMkRTVU9JTFU1MVpaRzA0OC4u
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Wellfield Avenue, Neath, SA11 1AQ 01639 642938
Dates for the diary:
Below are lists of important dates for your diaries.
Monday 4th January 2021 - Buffer Day for School (No
Children)
Tuesday 5th January 2021 - Buffer Day for School (No
Children)
Wednesday 6th Thursday 7th Friday 8th January – School open to
keyworker and Vulnerable families only
Monday 18th January - Reopening of school to all pupils.
15th – 19th February 2021 - Half Term Week
26th March 2021 - Last Day of Spring Term
12th April 2021 - First Day of Summer Term
31st May - 4th June 2021 - Half Term Week
16th July 2021 - Last Day of School Year
2nd September 2021 - Start of new school Year.
NB dates will be added to this list as and when they are
organised.
Once again, these continue to be difficult times for us all,
together we are making a difference and keeping everyone safe and
secure. We are all finding this time very challenging but I have
been quite blown away by how well you have adapted and also how
resilient you all have been. The staff are also adapting to the way
we are working whether as childcare officers or distance learning
facilitators. I can assure you that none of us ever received
training in this way of working and it is all new to us too. One
which is taxing us at times. We will continue to support you as
best we can and the communication is so critical to us all. I look
forward to see the work which is being shared with the staff and
hopefully we will find a way to share this with each other. If you
would like to discuss anything on these matters please contact the
school office. Here’s to a healthy and stable New Year and 2021.
Diolch o galon pawb.
Rhys Harris
Headteacher
School Email: School Website: Twitter:
[email protected] http://gnoll-primary-school.j2bloggy.com/
@GnollPrimary
http://gnoll-primary-school.j2bloggy.com/
