Dear families,

I hope you are well. As it was half term last week, there was no newsletter from us.

We began this week with an INSET day for staff. There has been an enormous re-organisation required again in order that we can deliver our 3 tier school; Key worker provision, “school” for Year R, 1 and 6 and online learning. Staff spent Monday in socially distanced groups working through planning and risk management in response to extensive government guidance on the wider opening of schools. Smartplay helped us out in our Key Worker provision for 3 days this week enabling us to have as many school staff working together as possible and again have been an excellent partner in this process. They are a hard act to follow!

All the complexity and planning has been worth it however to see our first cohort of Year 6s back yesterday and to watch them re-settle to school. They commented that despite the classes looking very different and the “rules” being different, they were glad to be back with their teachers and friends. More Year 6 and Reception groups return next week and then Year 1 from the 15

th June.

With a significant number of children at home still it has been important to think carefully about our learning from home offer and the arrangements for the Key worker children.

Phone calls will be made home and interactive online learning / social opportunities are being planned by the staff from this coming week. We will experiment with a variety of online group tuition sessions through this half term. As you know we have different technology in both schools and we are working as quickly as we can now to create these sessions and new routines.

Key Worker provision

Due to an increased demand for places and a very limited number of staff, the provision is from 8th June only offered

to families who meet the following criteria. In the case of a single parent/carer family – that adult must be a critical key worker; in the case of or a 2 parent/ carer household, both adults must be critical key workers. We have enlarged the groups/ bubbles slightly and will run a waiting list of any eligible children if we are oversubscribed. Children follow their learning from home work in the mornings with arts, crafts and sports activities at other times. This information has been circulated to our current registered families. Please contact the Junior office (office@mosshalljnr.barnetmail.net) if you believe you are eligible for a place.

Year 2 & 6 transition

This is the time of year when we start to prepare our Year 2 and 6 children for transition to Year 3 and 7. Our staff teams are creatively thinking of ways to make the experience meaningful for the children and for parents. In the next 2 weeks we will be sharing more information and plans with you. We have started discussions with Moss Hall Nursery too and begun to think about virtual tours to support transition to the Infants for our new Reception classes.

Congratulations

We are delighted to let you know Mrs Mitchell gave birth to a baby girl last week. Mrs Mitchell and the baby are doing very well. We are also wishing Mrs Rathod good wishes for her maternity leave starting this week.

Thank you for the kind messages and support we have received from many of you leading up to this week. The staff are working very hard to create a welcome return to some children whilst maintaining home learning for all other children. It can feel as if we are running to keep still at the moment and your understanding as we make further changes is appreciated.

With warm wishes,

Laura Wynne Executive Head teacher

Moss Hall Schools Federation Weekly News (Summer Term Issue 1)

5 June 2020

Making Contact… Junior School teachers from Years 3, 4, 5 and Y6 children who are still learning from home will be making phone calls home over the next few weeks to chat to the children, find out how they are getting on, and to get their comments for their annual school reports. Please expect to get a call from an unidentified or private number, and when we call please put us on loudspeaker so everyone can hear us!

Your Photos

Half Term Smart Play Photos

Thank you to Smart Play for another fabulous half term provision for our Key Worker Children!

Our Photos

It’s been a real joy to welcome back some of

our Year 6 children along with our Key Worker children this week. We are looking forward to seeing more Year 6 returners on Monday and

Tuesday!