Holly Spring Primary School

Currently, we have invited children of critical workers and vulnerable children into school. For more information on who qualifies for these categories, visit Children of critical workers and vulnerable children who can access schools or educational settings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These children are organised into small groups of no more than 20, though most groups are smaller than this. This number is both practical in terms of staffing for both face to face and online learning and allows for social distancing. If numbers increase, we will look to split groups to keep the numbers low but this will be done in a planned way. Otherwise, groups will be kept the same and mixing kept to a minimum.

We recognise there will be parents whose circumstances will change and will need to take up a place for their child. It is essential parents liaise with the office in these circumstances and they must have had confirmation before their child returns to school. Please note that due to the nature of having to support children in school as well as providing remote education for the rest of our pupils, we are not able to offer flexible attendance at school. Therefore, if you need your child to come to school, they will be expected to attend every day.

For those children invited into school, the gate will open for drop-off at 8:45 and close at 9:00. The gate will then open at 3:10 for collection and close at 3:25.

Pupils learning from home have been given usernames and passwords to access Microsoft Teams. All online learning will take place here. Microsoft Teams works on computers, tablets, phones and some consoles (including PlayStation and Xbox) and there is an app which can be downloaded. On Microsoft Teams, you will find a timetable for your child’s year group which outlines the lessons for the day. Staff will deliver both live and pre-recorded inputs and be available at the end of the lesson to take feedback. During the time when pupils are working, staff will be available via the chat function to support pupils. Work and any resources required will be set as an ‘assignment’ which can be downloaded. Completed work can then be uploaded for staff to view (you could take a photo of the work and upload that). Staff will give feedback to pupils who upload their work. It is acceptable to work in an exercise book and complete the tasks this way, however feedback will not be given.

We aim to teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, there may need to be some adaptions in some subjects.

We recognise that not all pupils have suitable online access at home. If you require further assistance with devices such as a laptop, please contact the office. These devices will be prioritised for families entitled to Pupil Premium and children with special educational needs.

If you have any questions or comments about the online learning, please contact the school office who will direct you to the appropriate staff member.

We had planned to open fully this week, so please bear with staff as they get up to speed with our online learning offer.

We will continue to offer a choice of hot meals for children attending school, though this may not be from the full menu normally available. These will remain free for children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 as well as children in Years 3-6 who are entitled to Free School Meals. Other pupils in Years 3-6 will need to pay for their meals as normal.