After hoping that 2021 was going to be an easy year for our children and families, we have again found ourselves in another challenging situation. Despite the challenges this week I would firstly like to thank all our families for your amazing response to remote learning. Seeing children in live registration every morning at 9:00 (year 2 to 6) has been uplifting and I think has given the children attending a real sense of solidarity and ensures that they keep in contact with their teachers and class. Secondly, I would like to thank all the staff at Brownhill. In less than 24 hours from the decision to close school teachers had mobilised remote learning and every child from year 1 to year 6 had a device ready to loan. At times like this, I am reminded of the wonderful community our school has.

Free School Meals

If you are entitled to free school meals and your child is not attending school, from next week you will be entitled to a weekly food hamper. This will need to be collected by a member of your family from school (Date to be confirmed) All families entitled to FSM should have received communication on this already but if you are unsure or would like to order your hamper please contact the school office.

Remote Learning

All learners from year 1 to Year 6 should have now received their device for remote learning. It is important that every child is learning and we hope that through on-line learning children will be able to access work easily and independently. Attending live registration and live tutorials daily will mean that your child is able to get guidance on their learning from the teacher and receive feedback about their work (Please see guidance on the school website about accessing google classroom and how to keep safe with communicating digitally) It is vital every child attends this. For any families concerned about attending the live sessions Please note your child does not need to have their camera turned on during these sessions if you are having problems connecting or turning off cameras please do not hesitate to contact the school. In addition to the live sessions, teachers will upload support videos and work for your child to complete daily, your child can receive feedback on this throughout the day. Please note work submitted outside of school hours and comments sent by children outside school hours will be picked up by teachers the following day. Also, can we kindly request that children do not use google classroom as a social media platform as this can take teachers attention away from the focus of teaching and learning.

For pupils in Nursery, Reception and year 1, teachers will be uploading learning videos through tapestry or on purple mash. All parents should now have received an email to gain access to this. We would love to see photos of your children’s work so feel free to upload pictures and send them to the class teachers. You can also request a paper copy of work for your child. Your child’s class teacher will contact you weekly to ensure you have everything you need.

Mobile Data

Many of the major networks have come together to provide additional mobile data for families learning from home. This offer is for families without broadband. If your mobile data runs out school can help you to apply for access to this free additional data. Please contact the school office for support.

Co-op Champions / Twitter Champions

Please join our Twitter community and post pictures of your children’s work at home we would love to see them. From next week we will return to awarding pupils in school and at home Coop Champion certificates and as in the last lockdown, we will also be celebrating our Twitter champions.