Well, we got through Week 1! From all the staff, a massive thank you for the good wishes, emails of thanks and the chocolate food parcels which have been dropped in this week – everything is greatly appreciated.

We know that every family is affected by this National Crisis, whether it be by employment, illness, worry about elderly relatives, worry about your own health, managing childcare and work in the same house, and many, many other reasons. It is affecting everyone in different ways.

The learning children are involved at home is amazing  – keep it coming in, as well as the general communication with staff – we are missing being with the children.

Remember though, everyone is trying to work out how to survive in the new ‘norm’ day to day. There is no expectation on the quantity of learning which happens at home. The most important thing for you as a family, is to survive and be there for each other: pick your battles! The children will be missing their peers and will be feeling isolated, as well as missing the general structure and routine they generally crave. It is OK not to do learning all day every day, it is OK to sit in the sofa and enjoy a film together, it is absolutely OK to bake and play! Make sure you recognise your needs as a family and don’t feel pressure from the joys of ‘perfect parenting’ on social media!

Please remember that the learning set out is there for you to opt into, or not. Many of you are not teachers, and those who, are are discovering it is impossible to teach your own children!!! The learning opportunities are there to give parents the choice, not to add an additional layer of stress. Through requests, we are continuing to set learning opportunities throughout the Easter ‘break’ for you to use if required.  Staff have timetabled in the equivalent to their Easter breaks over the space of 4 weeks, so they will be accessing emails and responding to learning requests, but it may not be immediate!

The focus remains to stay safe, remain virus free and maintain good emotional wellbeing. Please do not worry that you may not be giving them ‘the best’. Look after yourselves, and by doing this,  your children will get what they need.

Here are some examples of what our TMS team have been up to – we can’t put up everyone’s contributions, but hopefully it gives you a flavour and an opportunity to see some familiar faces!

Stay safe – Ms Teagle