Dear Parent/Guardian,

 

RE:  COVID-19 HOME LEARNING

 

We understand that this is a very difficult and concerning time for all within our school community.  Pupils, parents, staff and families are all naturally anxious about what the next few weeks could potentially hold.  At Victoria Park, we put the safety and welfare of all our pupils and staff at the forefront of all that we do.  As indicated by the First and Deputy First Ministers this evening, school will close on Friday afternoon at 2pm for all pupils and remain closed until further notice.  We will continue to provide education for our pupils through a home learning strategy which we have provided some more details about below.

 

This will take the form of our Home Learning Zone, which is accessible through the school website, under information for parents section, or using the link at the end of this letter.  At the moment, only the structure of the zone is there, but be assured that staff have already begun compiling a wide selection of resources, that will then be uploaded to the relevant year group pages on this section.  This zone will become live on Monday and will be updated with work for our pupils on an ongoing weekly basis.  All teachers will be working from home and we will be providing you with contact details for them for the duration of the closure, as well as providing technical assistance to parents as much as we can.

 

During the instructed closure, teachers will be updating work weekly to their relevant year group pages.  Within each year group, this work will further be organised into your child’s normal learning groups.  This work will include Literacy activities, Numeracy activities, weekly spelling and maths facts or tables, Bug Club reading, Maths with Parents activities, World Around Us activities and a section on activity, health and well-being.  There are also further links that parents may wish to allow pupils to explore. 

 

Daily Routine

A daily routine is vital for pupils during the closure.  Each day some time should be given to academic work, physical activity, being in the fresh air and being creative.  As every household is totally different, how you structure this will depend on your situation.  We would suggest that generally pupils should;

• complete one Literacy task and one Numeracy task a day, in addition to their spellings, maths facts and reading. 
• complete World Around Us activities or learning as instructed by the class teacher. 
• have time to be physically active each day and as far as is possible and safe, to have some access to fresh air. 
• be encouraged to be creative each day.  This might be through art or craft activities at home or through the Using ICT section of the home learning zone, exploring coding opportunities. 

 

Whilst we appreciate that to provide ease of access to all, we will be using our school website to communicate this work, we would suggest that other screen time is limited, and that work on digital devices is broken up with regular brain breaks and time away from screens.

 

Teachers will still be contactable throughout the closure.  These details will be shared at the relevant time.  Parents should ensure that they have registered within the School App, by clicking the link previously sent by school.  If you haven’t done so already, please contact school so we can sort this for you.  Teachers will be communicating through the School App.

 

We trust that you will find all these plans helpful as we all navigate through this unusual and difficult time.  Please be mindful that these plans could change moving forward, based on either government advice or the health of our staff.  Throughout the closure we will be using the school website, School App and social media to keep parents up to date as much as we can.

 

We trust that all these strategies will prove useful for you and your family, and will help to ensure your child will be able to continue within their learning.  Through close partnership, we will endeavour to do our best for all pupils and families within the school community. We do hope that you and your family stay safe and healthy in the coming weeks, in what continues to be a very difficult and worrying time.

 

www.victoriaparkprimaryschool.co.uk/home-learning

 

 

A. Gourley             J. Bleakley

Principal                ICT Co-ordinator