Stanmore Post - 9 October 2020

Dear Parents,

As we all continue to settle back into school, we are beginning to collect a picture of the affect that the school closure has had on children’s wellbeing and school performance. ‘Hello Yellow’ day has come at a good time and the children have enjoyed a day of special activities focused on wellbeing. Hello Yellow is a day where we think about how we can look after ourselves, particularly our minds and our bodies to make sure that we are content and healthy, so that we can all be the best that we can be.

Today the children have been concentrating on their thoughts and feelings, how those feelings can sometimes make us feel and behave differently, and most importantly, how we can look after ourselves. Unsurprisingly, some children have been experiencing big emotions over the past few months. This may be different from day to day and you may be feeling worried that your child is struggling to control their emotions. Part of our return to school is equipping children with the resilience to cope with whatever life throws at them, helping children to grow into well-rounded, healthy adults. Being listened to and feeling a sense of belonging helps with this. We often say to children ‘Use your words’ praising and encouraging this as an alternative to letting those big emotions and behaviours take control. By wearing yellow, we want to show each other that everyone has mental health and that no-one is alone if ever they are dealing with really big feelings. Thank you for supporting Hello Yellow day by sending your children into school wearing yellow clothes. They looked great and we raised £218.55 towards supporting ‘Young Minds’ which is fantastic.

As you would expect, there has been an impact on children’s learning. This is also a mixed picture, with many children returning to school with new skills and interests. The teachers now have a good understanding of any gaps that have opened up in children’s learning. They are able to target particular subject areas and individual children where necessary in order to catch up. This week I have looked at work in all of the classes. You would be extremely proud, as I was, of the amount of work in children’s books and the care that they are taking to complete work accurately. The expectation is that children should have caught up with any lost learning by the end of this term. This is why it is important that we get the remote learning process up and running for all children as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who managed to log on and complete the task last week. There will be a task on Google Classroom to complete again this week. Please contact the office or let your child’s teacher know if you are experiencing any difficulties.

As usual at the beginning of the school year, we are looking to get your views on how well the school is running at the moment so that we can complete our school improvement plan. I hope that you feel able to address any particular issues that you have with me directly (Mrs Taylor – Headteacher) or with Mrs Atkins (Assistant Headteacher), Mrs Fenton (Inclusion Leader) or your child’s class teacher and trust that we will do our best for your child. It is helpful to get a broad view from parents so please take a few minutes to complete our survey. 

https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/parent-survey

Best Wishes

Sharon Taylor