Hello Parents and Carers! Planning for Week 3 25th Jan – 29th Jan

· We are moving to another classic Fairy Tale for the next 2 weeks ‘ The Billy Goats Gruff’! The planning shows you some of the activities we are planning on Nursery Floor in the coming week. We’ll extend our ideas next week.

· We have an activity pack ready for you to be collected at Nursery – we’ll also put up some activity sheets on the website and on our Twitter and Instagram pages.

· You will also get another call from your Key Person. If your child isn’t attending Nursery, we will be asking you about the progress you see in your child and how your feel they are working towards their Targets… because in a few weeks, we’ll be wanting to start setting new Targets!

· We are continuing to post videos up on Instagram and Twitter each day – keep visiting

Stay safe and well everyone !

 

29th January

Dear Parents and Carers,

Please see the following planning for Billy Goats Gruff Wk 2 for 1st to 5th Feb. If you would like a hard copy of the new activity sheets and games please call Anna to arrange pick up. We also have the activity packs with Week 1 BBG waiting here!

Your key person will be calling to talk to you if you need anything further.

Take care and Stay Safe,

Wendy and the DG Team

EPCS WEBINAR LAUNCH:

The Educational Psychology Consultation Service has developed a series of webinars for all Bi-Borough schools and settings focusing on supporting social and emotional wellbeing– see details and YouTube links below. These webinars provide a short (up to 30 mins) introduction to each area and have been developed for all staff working in early years, school and youth sector settings. The webinars can also be shared with parents and carers. Your link EP can offer a wide range of follow up online workshops e.g. drop in sessions for staff or parents and carers / Q&A sessions / further training etc.

 

Building Resilience

Do you and those you work with need a bit of time for self-care? This short webinar looks at the ways to build resilience within yourself and leaves viewers with practical ideas for your self-care toolkit. It explores what resilience is; explores optimism and thinking traps we can find ourselves in and finally gives a range of strategies the viewer can take with them into their daily lives. This webinar will leave you feeling relaxed, hopeful and ready for anything!

Building Resilience - YouTube

 

Supporting Social and Emotional Development in the Early Years in the Covid-19 pandemic

Children in the EY may not be able to remember life before COVID-19, and staff working with these children have the task of supporting their well-being and social development in extra-ordinarily difficult times. This short webinar explores how the pandemic continues to impact on transitions, and why this is important for young children. It provides practitioners with information about young children's wellbeing, and how best to support it in these difficult times. It offers opportunities to reflect on practice with a reminder for practitioners to focus on their own wellbeing too.

Supporting Social and Emotional Development in the Early Years During the Covid-19 Pandemic. - YouTube

 

Helping Children to understand and manage their feelings

This short webinar aims to help parents and teachers learn how to use an “emotion coaching” approach with children. This technique aims to help children to understand their own feelings and emotions; to empathise and read the emotions and social cues of others; to control impulses, self-sooth and self-regulate; to motivate themselves and cope with life’s ‘ups and downs’; to better understand how they can express their emotions in healthy and appropriate ways.

Helping children to manage and understand their feelings. - YouTube

 

 

The YouTube links above will also soon be accessible via our Services2Schools webpage Bi Borough Educational Psychology Consultation Service | Services to Schools | Bi-Borough Children's Services (services2schools.org.uk)

 

Wednesday 6th January

Dear parents/carers

Firstly I would like to apologise as I would have liked for this letter to have been shared yesterday. However, I spent most of the day in meetings with the local authority, teaching unions and other headteachers regarding the move to opening for critical workers and vulnerable children.

This decision was not taken lightly and I would like to share why and how I made my decision.

What we currently know

· The two weeks leading up to the 30th December infection rates went up by 70%

· 3 out of 10 hospital beds are now occupied by COIVD patients.

· 1 in 50 people in England have the virus, this is even higher in London

· We are in lockdown and adults are asked to stay at home to save lives.

· We have a new variant. Imperial College London says the variant increases the rate of infections by up to 0.7.

· Infections rates and deaths are steadily rising.

· Despite the continue rise in infections and death rates, we have not hit the peak of this pandemic.

· Several staff members have tested positive for COVID and the prevalence of this correlates with the rising infection rate in London.

· Several staff members have been told to shield and are not available to work.

· Nursery schools cannot socially distance and if one person tests positive then the whole nursery will have to close for a prolonged period of time.

· Teaching unions have shared SAGE data with staff that includes statistics such as:

- Teachers are 333% more likely to get COVID than the general public

- The rate of infection for 2 year olds to 11 years olds doubled in the 2 weeks from the 1st December to the 15th December

· Professor Calum Semple (SAGE virologist expert) stated - ‘It may be that a political decision has been made here that nurseries are essential. But it’s not a scientific one.”

Risk assessment

With the above information a decision was made based on reducing the risks to staff, pupils and the wider community while understanding the need to provide a sustainable service to critical workers and vulnerable pupils.

We have organised two teams, one in school with pupils who are eligible to attend and one delivering on line learning. This means that should a member of staff test positive for COVID we can bring in the second team.

I have organised access to rapid lateral flow tests so that staff can be tested in such an event and we will be working with other nursery schools so that in the event of teams having to isolate, on line lessons will still continue and critical workers children and vulnerable children will still be educated (as long as they haven’t been exposed to COVID).

What we are doing

You would have been contacted and offered a place if you fit the criteria as outlined by the government. It is absolutely essential that these children are prioritised so that the country can continue to function during this lockdown period.

It is also absolutely essential that the health and safety of staff is prioritised. By reducing contact with other people I hope to reduce the likelihood of staff contracting COVID and further serious illness.

I ask for your understanding during this time. I understand it is unprecedented times so we are trying to enhance our online offer.

Our extended offer

Mental Health videos and support

Collaboration with Westminster nurseries so that a varied and easily accessible on line offer is available.

Free school meals

The government are not providing vouchers. The school will provide weekly food parcels for pupils who are eligible for benefits related free school meals who are not attending school. You must register on parent pay if you want a food parcel. The food parcels will be available every Friday from 12:00 and you must register your interest by 2pm every Wednesday to receive a food parcel.

For example:

If you would like a food parcel for Friday 8th January you would need to register by Wednesday 6th January (2pm).

A food parcel example

· 1 loaf of bread or pack of rolls / 10-inch wraps

· 2 baking potatoes

· 1 cucumber

· 3 large tomatoes or 1 pack of cherry tomatoes

· 1 standard tin sweetcorn in water

· 5 portions of fresh fruit (e.g. apples, satsumas, bananas) or 3 portions of fresh fruit and 1 tin fruit in juice (e.g. pears, peaches, fruit cocktail)

· 2 items from the following: 1 pack sliced cooked meat (e.g. chicken, ham or vegetarian alternative) or 1 tin meat or 1 tin tuna in water or 6 eggs

· 200g block of cheese or 3 cheese portions

· 1 tin baked beans

· 1 500g pot plain low-fat yoghurt or 3 individual serving yoghurt pots

· 1 litre / 2 pints semi-skimmed milk

 

With regards,

Mr B. Commins,

Executive Headteacher,

Ms. Rose Parle and Ms. Wendy Jenkins,

Federation Deputy Head Teachers

Dorothy Gardner Centre

Mary Paterson Nursery School

Queens Park Children’s Centre

4th January 2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

 

PLEASE READ THIS LETTER TO THE END – IMPORTANT INFORMATION ENCLOSED

I hope that you are well and have had a peaceful and safe holiday so far.

Yesterday, the National Education Union met to discuss the reopening of schools in England. SAGE has advised the Government that schools should move to remote learning in order to help reduce the rate of spread of the Covid 19 virus. As a result the NEU has advised members that it is unsafe for staff to attend the workplace at present.

Therefore I have taken the difficult decision that from Wednesday 6th January the school will be open for critical workers and vulnerable children only. For all other children we will move to remote teaching from this date. The nursery will be open from 9am until 3pm. Children attending will come for their usual session whether that is FT, morning or afternoon. We ask that children are picked up and dropped off on time, as we have a limited rota of staff and for safeguarding purposes we cannot open and close the door throughout the session.

We anticipate that this closure will last up until the 18th January, when the evidence will be reviewed.

 

Vulnerable Children

We will contact those families of children as identified as ‘vulnerable’ on Monday 4th January to notify you.

 

Children of Critical Workers

If parents fall into one of the following categories, and in the case of two parent families -both parents, they are identified as a child of a ‘Critical worker’ and your child can attend school from Wednesday 6th January 2021. Please contact the school office to let us know if your child falls into the Critical worker category by 12:00 on Tuesday 5th of January. If we do not hear from you I will assume that you do not require a place for your child. Critical workers are defined as follows:

Critical workers and vulnerable children who can access schools or educational settings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

Critical workers

Parents whose work is critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors outlined in the following sections.

 

Health and social care

This includes, but is not limited to, doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributors of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

 

Education and childcare

This includes:

• childcare

• support and teaching staff

• social workers

• specialist education professionals who must remain active during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response to deliver this approach

 

Key public services

This includes:

• those essential to the running of the justice system

• religious staff

• charities and workers delivering key frontline services

• those responsible for the management of the deceased

• journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting

 

Local and national government

This only includes:

• those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the coronavirus (COVID-19) response

• or delivering essential public services, such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arm's length bodies

 

Food and other necessary goods

This includes those involved in food:

• production

• processing

• distribution

• sale and delivery

• as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods

 

Public safety and national security

This includes:

• police and support staff

• Ministry of Defence civilians

• contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak)

• fire and rescue service employees (including support staff)

• National Crime Agency staff

• those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas

 

Transport

This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.

 

Utilities, communication and financial services

This includes:

• staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure)

• the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage)

• information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response

• key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services)

• postal services and delivery

• payments providers

• waste disposal sectors

 

 

If you have questions regarding your eligibility under the above criteria, you will be able to contact the school from Monday 4th January.

Free school meals

The government are not providing vouchers for free school meal children. The school will be providing a packed lunch that can be picked up from outside the school office from 1pm. If you are eligible for free school meals you will need to email Michele on Wednesday 6th January 2021 to let us know that we should prepare a lunch.

When collecting a lunch please make sure that you adhere to social distancing rules.

 

Remote Learning

From Wednesday 6th January we will be providing remote learning via our twitter page @qpfed and our Instagram page @qpfederation. Where you will find stories, games, cooking and many more activities by our staff team.

Thank you in advance for your ongoing support and cooperation. I wish we were all returning as usual to school, but if we continue to work together in partnership, I hope that we can keep the community safe for all.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Commins

Executive Headteacher