As our schools prepare to expand their offer on Monday 8th June, we are so excited to see many of our families again, and looking forward to hearing all about what they have been up to at home.
‘Ready, respectful, safe’ is a fundamental principle of life in our schools, and now more than ever it seems appropriate to hold this mantra close.
Staff from all of our schools have been incredibly busy in the last few weeks, preparing for a ready, respectful and safe expanded reopening on Monday 8th June. They have done everything from ordering new vacuum cleaners, to sharpening 1,000 pencils (by hand!), to producing beautiful wall displays in their new ‘bubble’ classrooms.
The safety and well-being of our staff and children is at the heart of everything we are doing, and we have listened to our parents so that, as far as possible, we can mitigate any concerns parents might have about new environments and routines, friendship groups, familiar adults and what learning will actually look like when our schools expand their provision.
Throughout lockdown, our staff have been making videos to keep in touch with our children – so that we can continue to share funny, happy, and thoughtful times together. We have now started to supplement this with personalised introductions to bubble classrooms and our learning environments with our returning children. You can see all of the videos we have produced here.
Alongside all of this, we have continued to provide extensive home learning for all of the children who are not returning to us initially.
Here is a taster of everything that’s been going on ‘behind the scenes’ in the last few weeks!
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- Bubble spaces have been prepared to ensure children can be cared for in small groups but in rooms that still look and feel like our warm and beautiful classrooms
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- All of our children will have a tray of their own
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- The art area where resources will be changed each week. Provocations will be added that can be washed to support creative activity. Each child will have an individual sand tray & pack of individual resources to support learning in play
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- We need some easy clean resources so we’ve stocked up on space hoppers, fisbees, hoops, mini golf, and balls
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- Each child will be given their own set of individual resources
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- Each bubble will have its own tray of hygiene materials
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- Rooms for critical worker children have also been set up, including personalised resources for every child
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- Bins, bins – and more bins!
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- The preschool bubble space at The Mead Primary School is looking beautiful
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- River Mead School have bought a portable sink to teach the children how to wash their hands properly to keep themselves safe
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- New signs are laminated and ready to go up around school
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- Mrs Hill has been busy buying resources to support outdoor play for Reception children at Castle Mead School
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- Role play areas for Reception children at The Mead Primary School will enable them to learn and play safely
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- Displays in classrooms for younger children help them understand which days are school days and which days are home days
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- The home corner at Castle Mead School with resources that can be washed regularly
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- In Otters Nursery at River Mead School, rainbow spots for the normal morning song mean lots of familiar things with a bit more space in between
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- Staff at The Mead Primary School have been working really hard to get social distancing right for older children
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- Children will still be able to make choices in their learning and spots in some areas will encourage some social distancing
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