Dear Parents/Carers,
Hope everyone is well and continuing to cope with the ongoing situation we are all facing at this time. Again just a quick catch up and some updates to share with you. We have lost the lovely April weather this week but hopefully it will return as we go into the month of May. Every day I check my school diary to remind myself what we would have been doing if we were still fully open and saw that next Monday the Year 6s would have been going on their residential trip to Gilwell Park on top of the last minute revision for the SATs that will not now be taking place!
School Opening
School continues to be open for vulnerable pupils and children of key workers and as before, 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. I know you will all be wondering when and how schools may re-open and there remains a lot of speculation in the media. I am attachingAdult and Community Services, the Director of Learning in Waltham Forest who is providing updates about several things including possible school re-opening and home learning.
Meanwhile we continue to run school for some pupils, including the bank holiday next Friday. Over the last 6 weeks of lockdown, we have had a regular group of pupils coming each day plus some staff children. I was commenting to someone last week that we are becoming an all through school these days! With staff children here, we have had ages ranging from 3 to 16 but it has been wonderful to see how well they have mixed in and worked together. Some children who were eligible to come to school have not been in for a variety of reasons or children who did come at the start are no longer attending. If your circumstances have changed recently and you would now like a place for your child in school that can be arranged. I was contacted by some parents last week who were enquiring about their children coming to school and I have been able to offer some of them places from this week. All I would ask is that if you would like a place for your child from next Monday onwards, can you please contact the school by e-mail or by phoning us by 3:00pm tomorrow. This helps us to plan ahead, particularly for staffing. The revised school day runs from 9:00am to 3:00pm and we offer a free school dinner for everyone who wants one. The children need to be in school uniform on Mondays and Wednesdays, PE kit on Tuesdays and Thursdays (we have the services of a Leyton Orient sports coach on those days) and Friday is non-uniform day (but no need to bring the usual £1).
Home Learning
Of course the vast majority of our children will remain at home during the current lockdown. We aim to regularly contact parents guiding you towards updated and revised home learning resources. These include additional links, a suggested timetable for a typical day of home learning and some good advice on staying safe online.
Parents and Children – Messages and tasks will be posted up on the Year Pages Message Boards via the main School Web-site. Please ensure that you both check these regularly.
www.stjosephsjun.waltham.sch.uk >> classes
Children – as well as reading the messages, always check j2homework, which is accessible after logging on to myUSO. We recommend that you always logon first via myUSO in order to access all resources including j2e and EducationCity.
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.
Bimpe Fuwa RIP
The funeral of Bimpe took place today near her home in Kent. I know it would have been an incredibly difficult day for her family, particularly her husband and children. I keep in regular touch with her brother in law and he has kept me updated both about the arrangements for today and what happens next. Obviously the funeral was limited to immediate family, so earlier today we held our own small prayer service for Bimpe in school at the same time as her funeral service was taking place. This was for the staff and pupils who were in school today but as I have mentioned before, it is our intention and hope to hold a full memorial service later in the year when everyone has returned to school.
Again everyone please remain safe and healthy and let’s help and look out for each other during these difficult few weeks until God willing we get through this.
Yours sincerely,
J Alexander (Head teacher)
