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Week ending Friday 30 June 2017

Newsletter

10th April 2020

Useful Links

Parking Expectations 2019-2020

Uniform Information

Term Dates St Thomas of Canterbury School 2019/20

Term Dates St Thomas of Canterbury School 2020/21

Key Dates Autumn 2019—Summer 2020

UPDATED for 2019 Safeguarding Our Children

Dear Parents/Carers,

Just a brief message from me this week! I hope that you are all well and you are following the Government’s guidelines of staying at home and on the occasions that you need to go out, you follow the ‘Social Distancing’ guidance. As the number of recorded deaths from the coronavirus grows each day it is important that we all continue to follow the guidance for our own good and for the good of others. I hope that you have been managing to access the work that teachers have made available for the children. Thank you for the support you have provided for your children and for following the instructions for returning completed work in one e-mail (KS2 children). I took the following extract from the BBC website: How much should you be doing? "Children can't be expected to be able to study full-time with online resources," National Education Union joint-general secretary Mary Bousted said. "Similarly, parents - many of whom will also be working from home - cannot be expected to be supervising heavy school workloads for their children." The joint-guidance recommends no more than three hours' work a day. For some, who are able to be at home with children, that might be a relief. For others, who return late from a shift in a supermarket or hospital, three hours may seem like an impossibility. "This isn't about parents replacing the teacher," says Professor Becky Francis, a big player in education and academia. “It's about encouraging parents to help their children create regular routines and study habits." My expectations of you are to do the best that you can! Your children are all different and what may work for

one family may not for another. Any help/time that you can give to your child is never wasted. Don’t worry if your child can’t complete all the tasks set. Do what you think is a reasonable amount of work for your child. You probably saw on the TV News the threat to children’s safety that working online can cause. However, with the right guidance and appropriate controls being put in place these risks can be reduced significantly. Please see these two links for keeping children safe when working online. Resources and Support for Parents when Educating Their Children at Home. SIX TOP TIPS To Keep Primary Kids Safe Online During School Closure Along with the comprehensive guidance on the school website. This week we said goodbye to Mrs Lafferty and

Mrs Darbro who have both retired as teachers at

St Thomas’ after many years of faithful service.

We will welcome back in time to thank them

properly when things return to normal.

Services for Holy Week and Easter Sunday can

be found through this link. Happy Easter and God Bless.

C.T. Birtles