Dear Parents/Carers,
I wanted to get in touch with everyone as we approach the Easter weekend. I hope you are all coping with the situation whether at work or at home and the pupils are keeping busy and most importantly that everyone is staying safe and healthy. We should use this special weekend to pray for everyone in our society who is being affected by the on-going health crisis and that we will all get through this.
School has re-opened this week for vulnerable pupils and children of key workers and I will manage the staff who are able to be here each day to ensure that the children we have are safe and getting as close to a normal day as possible, while at the same time protecting the welfare of the staff and their families. We will remain open for the Easter break including Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday and for as long as we need to afterwards. The Church has asked Catholic schools to continue to play a full part in supporting the national effort and in particular key workers from the NHS and other vital services. I will also ensure that any staff who come in to school over the Easter break get some time off themselves to be with their families.
Holy Week and Easter
As I mentioned on Monday, it seems particularly strange to be in school during Holy Week and Easter. We are not going to be able to mark the most important week in our church year in the usual and traditional manner e.g. going to church; however there are still many things we can do as families etc. to take the children on their journey through Holy Week towards the great celebration of Easter Sunday. Tomorrow I will be doing a “Stations of the Cross” Service for the pupils and staff who are in school. At this time with everything going on around us it is even more important to remember the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the Cross.
Home Schooling
We are providing homework, specific to your class, using the on-line tools that your child should already be familiar with.
Details of this are on the message board for each Year Group accessible here:-
https://stjosephsjun.j2bloggy.com/classes/
The teachers are posting notices most days, so please check regularly.
You and your child can communicate with their class teachers via the temporary email boxes detailed on each Year Group’s front page.
On-line we are also listing some useful web-sites for you and your children to access.
If you have any problems accessing the work, please ring the office or e-mail the school e-mail and we will endeavour to support you.
You should be able to access most of the Home Learning on any device that has a built-in browser and an internet connection, whether it be games consoles, tablets or even smart TV’s, as well as computers and laptops.
Free School Meals
During the partial closure of schools, the Government and Local Authority are keen to continue to support families eligible for free school meals, including the recent introduction of a national voucher scheme. It may well be that with the economic effect of the current crisis, more of our families may now be eligible for free school meals. We have put a link on our school website for parents to check if they might be eligible and to apply for it. Even if you have not been eligible in the past, if your circumstances have changed it would certainly be worth checking.
Consultation on Proposed Hard Federation
Yesterday, the governors communicated their decision to all parents, staff and the wider community not to go ahead with the proposed federation with St Joseph’s Infant School. I know it was a difficult decision for the governors. They considered the many genuinely positive reasons for pursuing a federation but in the end they had to take account of the many concerns that were also expressed. They will meet with me in the next few days to consider our other options for the future leadership of the school and will continue to keep our school community informed of any decisions.
As was stated in the communication, I have agreed to stay on beyond my planned retirement in September. I actually made this decision about three weeks ago when it was clear that the Coronavirus outbreak was going to lead to major upheaval in our society including the full or part closure of schools. At this time no one really knows when we will be ready to re-open fully. I truly hope and pray that we will be able to get back before the end of the summer term, as much for our Year 6 pupils who deserve to a have a proper ending and farewell to their time here. Whenever we do re-open, it is going to be incredibly challenging for everyone and the longer it takes to re-open the bigger this challenge will be. In all honesty I couldn’t leave St Joseph’s in this uncertain situation so will wait until we are back and running as normally as we can before I finally hand over. Whatever decision had been made regarding the federation, it was going to take the summer term to prepare for any changes and effectively we are now going to lose all or most of this transition time. The autumn term will in all probability now be our transition period, just in time to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the opening of the original school next January!
In finishing this letter I would remind everyone to make sure you are following the Government guidelines on social distancing etc. With the Easter weekend upon us and the promised fine weather, it would be tempting to get out more than is wise or safe to do at this time. The more restraint we show now and the bigger sacrifices we can make both as individuals and as families, the quicker we will get through this crisis and start to get back to some kind of normality, including getting all our schools fully open again. I personally know how challenging this is, sharing as I do a household with 4 key workers and 2 young children.
I thought I would finish this letter by sharing some thoughts on the current situation which were sent to me this week by someone I work with remotely and who is working from home in lockdown with his wife and three young children. His reflections on how things are at the moment really struck a chord with me, particularly the freedoms we take for granted until suddenly they are not there:
– “You only know how precious something is, once you lose it. Like many people I feel a bit ashamed that I’ve always taken “freedom” for granted. Freedom to go where you want, do what you want, whenever you want. That kind of freedom hasn’t existed for most of human history and for many people in the world doesn’t even exist today. It’s something I’ve always known and taken for granted. That freedom is precious and fragile. That freedom is an unusual state of affairs for humans – and so when we have it – we must really respect it, be grateful and appreciate it. Enjoy the little things in life… because one day we will realise they were actually the big things.”
Something perhaps for us all to think about and reflect on this weekend.
I would like to wish all our families a happy, safe and blessed Easter and will catch up with everyone next week.
Yours sincerely,
J Alexander (Head teacher)
