Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you and your families are all safe and well. As we reach the end of January, we have been reflecting on how much our pupils and staff have adapted yet again to the current restrictions and impact this has had on education. Our online learning provision is constantly evolving and we are now delivering live lessons to compliment the online learning provision. Last week, we recorded our highest number of pupils that have engaged with online learning yet. This is fantastic and demonstrates the hard work that our pupils and their families are putting in. We also recognise that there are considerations with this. Some pupils are finding the workload a challenge and beginning to feel overwhelmed by their online work. We encourage them to contact their teachers if this is the case. We want to reassure you that we are constantly reviewing our practices and taking on board all the feedback we have had. Whereas it is incredible that there is the technology available for us to be able to deliver education temporarily online, we also recognise that with all the online learning taking place, pupils’ screen time will have increased.
With all this in mind we have decided that Friday 5th February will be a day that focusses solely on pupil wellbeing. There will be no live lessons and no work set online for this day. Instead, pupils will be asked to focus on their wellbeing and will be given activities that they can do at home. These activities will be given in the form of a ‘wellbeing bingo’ and will be sent to the pupils in advance. Pupils are encouraged to not engage in any screen time and instead, focus on doing activities that promote positive health and wellbeing.
Next week is Children’s Mental Health Week. Our pastoral teams are working hard to support our learners but as we continue to live our lives in the midst of a global pandemic, mental health continues to be a growing concern for some of our learners. Please visit the wellbeing section on our website which is regularly updated with information, activities and advice. If you have any concerns about the mental health or wellbeing of any of our pupils, please get in touch with our pastoral team. We want to reiterate that pupil wellbeing and mental health concerns come before the completion of work. Pupils must remember to do what they can and not at the expense of their mental health.
Many thanks for your continued support and hard work.
Yours faithfully
CLTurner
Mrs Claire Turner
Deputy Headteacher