Yew Tree Community School

Home Learning 

Please click the links below to access the year groups home learning.

Year 1  Year 2  Year 3  Year 4  Year 5   Year 6  Friday PM 

Lockdown Newsletter 25th January

Dear Parents

I am very upset to be writing this letter but I feel I must.

Our lovely children are open and honest and they tell us about their lives and activities.  Currently a number of them are telling us that they are visiting friends, neighbours and family which is against the law.  Our teachers and support staff are putting their own safety at risk to look after your children and they should be confident that you are doing your bit to follow the lockdown rules.  I am afraid that I will have to withdraw the offer of a place in school to children whose parents are putting us in danger.

To everyone who is doing the right thing I want to say a huge thank you.  I know that this is most of you.

I know that home learning is nigh on impossible for too many of you and we all sympathise and feel for you.  We will get over this much quicker if we all follow the rules.

Yours sincerely

Martine Buckley

EXECUTIVE HEADTEACHER

Lockdown Newsletter 21st January

Dear Parents

We are getting more and more requests for children to come back to school and we know that some of this is because it is incredibly difficult to home school.  We feel for you and all the teachers are doing their best to support you.

The government guidelines clearly say that if children can be at home they should be in order to stop the transmission of the virus and get us out of this mess as quickly as possible.

In consultation with governors we have decided that we will have to review the status of the families who are attending school.  This may mean that I will have to ask for evidence that both parents are critical workers and where they are not, places will have to be withdrawn.

I realise that this will be an unpopular policy but I have the health and safety of all our staff to consider.

Yours sincerely

Martine Buckley

EXECUTIVE HEADTEACHER

Lockdown Newsletter 18th

Dear Parents

You may have seen in the news that testing for the virus is going on in schools.  Up to now, this has been for staff and pupils in high school.

From Monday 25^th January staff in primary schools are expected to test themselves twice each week using the lateral flow tests that give a result in 30 minutes.  Children are not included in this.

I am letting you know because these tests are designed to pick up people who are showing no symptoms, so staff who didn’t know they have the virus are likely to test positive and need to isolate.  This means there is an increased risk of us having to shut down class bubbles.  Remote learning via Zoom is unlikely to be affected, which is great because we are doing so well.

Later this week I expect to be able to give you good news about the Free School Meal vouchers for children who aren’t in school.

Take care and stay safe.

Martine Buckley

EXECUTIVE HEADTEACHER

Lockdown Newsletter 15th

Dear Parents/Carers,

Thank you for supporting your child/ children to access the Zoom lessons and also the year 2 storytimes. We would like to extend the storytime provision to Year 1 next week. From Monday January 18th, at 2.00 pm, the year 1 staff will be live on Zoom reading a story to the children in their class. This will run every day except Friday. To access this provision, click on your teacher's link on the year 1 home learning page and enter the password. The password is year1. It will be fantastic to see as many of our year 1 children as possible.

Furthermore, we want to continue to develop the reading skill of the children, during the time spent at home. The school has subscribed to a reading site called Epic Reading. This is a digital library where the children can access a huge range of e-books, at their age-related level, to read independently. For the younger children, the website also gives you the option for the book to be read to them. At the end of each text, there is a small quiz to support the children’s comprehension skills. 

To access this provision, google “epic reading” and log in as a student or educator. You will then be asked for a class code. The class codes are listed below. Once on the class page, access your name and chose any book to read. There is a link on the school website to access the learning as well as a how-to video to support you to log on.

As teachers, we can monitor the children who are accessing the reading provision and see the books they have read as well as their attainment at the end of text quiz. Prizes will be allocated to the children who have read the most books.

If you require any technical support logging onto the system, please ring the school. 

Martine Buckley

EXECUTIVE HEADTEACHER

Class codes 

Lockdown Newsletter 12th January 2021

Dear Parents,

Congratulations to all of you who are doing your very best to support home learning. We have tried to organise it so that your children are not trying to be on line at the same time but we know this won’t work for everyone. Just do your best and let us know if we can help. On Friday afternoons there won’t be an Zoom lesson for years 3,4,5 and 6. There will be a link called Friday afternoon and this will be a video lesson.
There are lots of home learning packs in the entrance – some of them are because you have asked for them and some the teachers will have contacted you about. Please pick them up if you can.

We are keeping our eye on the free school meal situation. Currently we are offering a packed lunch to any child who is entitled. This is because we have to pay for them as we are tied into a contract. As soon as the Department for Education lets us know that vouchers will be funded we will sort the processing system.
In both schools we are having problems with the heating systems. Parts have been ordered but please send your child in layers that can be taken off and on. In addition we have to keep the buildings well ventilated to reduce the spread of the virus, which can be uncomfortable at this time of year.

Finally, let’s hope people sticking to the rules and the roll out of the vaccine gets us out of this mess as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

Martine Buckley
EXECUTIVE HEADTEACHER

 Lockdown Newsletter 06th January 2021

First of all, can I congratulate you all on supporting your children to access home learning.  We are doing really well and the numbers of year 5 and 6 children joining Zoom lessons is impressive.

From Monday 11^th January years 3 and 4 are moving to real-time on-line learning.  This means that we will need to tweak the times so that we don’t overload the internet and you are not trying to cope with children needing to be on the same device.

These are the times your children need to be online and ready.

Years 3 and 4

English         9.05

Maths           10.30

Topic            1.30

Years 5 and 6

English          9.40

Maths          11.00

Topic            1.00

After the input, the children will have a task to complete and we expect the children to email a picture of their work using the class teachers’ Gmail account.  The addresses of all teachers can be found on the front page of the school website.  If you need a device to access home learning, or data, we may be able to help.

Years 1 and 2 will continue to find pre-recorded lessons on the school website under the year group home learning tab.  There will be English, maths, spelling and topic.  Once again, we expect the children to complete the work set each day and email it to the class teacher using the Gmail account.

From Monday the year 2 teachers will be reading a story to their children on Zoom every day.  This will be at 2 o’clock.

Nursery and Reception are using Tapestry which you are all familiar with.  Class teachers will help if you still haven’t managed to access Tapestry.

If you have taken up a school place as a key worker or a parent of a vulnerable child then the expectation is that your child attends each day.  This is because we are providing quality education every day (unlike the last lockdown when there was an element of child care) and we need continuity.

We continue to provide packed lunches for children who are entitled to a free school meal.  If we get advice from the government about a re-introduction of the voucher scheme we will action it immediately.

Finally, by the end of tomorrow, I need to finalise numbers of children who are coming to school.  If may be difficult for us to offer places after that.

Good luck with all of this.  If we work together we can keep our children learning and not slipping further and further behind.  Any technical issues, contact the office and we will get you some help.

Yours sincerely

Martine Buckley

EXECUTIVE HEADTEACHER

Lockdown Newsletter 05th January 2021 - Tomorrow's Provision

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your understanding as we get ourselves organised. It has been a busy and stressful day, however, your support and patience have been greatly appreciated.

Moving forward, from tomorrow, Year 6 and Year 5 will be receiving learning via live Zoom lessons. the link to access these lessons can be found on the school website under the home learning tab. There will be 3 teacher inputs per day and we expect all children who are working from home to access the learning. It is vitally important that children are accessing the link at the correct time and accessing the link for the correct teacher.

English - 9.30

Maths - 11.00

Topic - 1.00

After the input, the children will be given a task to complete and we expect the children to email a picture of their work using the class teacher's Gmail account. The addresses of all teachers can be found on the front page of the school website. We are hoping to extend this provision to the Year 4 pupils next week. If you require an IPad to access the home learning please contact the school, we may be able to help.

Tomorrow, in Year 1,2, 3 and 4, a series of pre-recorded lessons have been created and added to the school website. These can be found on the school website under the year groups home learning tab. Each day the children will receive an English, maths, spelling and topic input. Once again, we expect the children to complete the work set each day and email it to the class teacher using the Gmail account. If you have more than one child in school, you might want to log onto the website at times other than the times allocated to the older children.

Finally, if you have taken up a school place as a key worker or a parent of a vulnerable child then the expectation is that your child attends each day. Unlike the first lockdown, we will not be facilitating part-time places. The children, if able, need to be in school as much as is possible.

 We have been forewarned that this lockdown will last at least until the February half term. The children have already missed enough schooling this year and the gap between their chronological age and academic ability is growing each day. It is vital that as parents, you engage with the home learning and support your child as much as you possibly can.

Once again thank you for your continued support. If you have any technical issues, please contact the office and you will be directed to someone who can help.

Yours sincerely

Martine Buckley

EXECUTIVE HEADTEACHER

Lockdown Newsletter 05th January 2021

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your understanding as we get ourselves organised.  We had the news that we would not be open to most pupils at the same time as you did.

This is the plan for home learning as it currently stands, although things may change and evolve.

From tomorrow Years 5 and 6 will be taught on-line by their teachers.  We will expect them to be on-line at 9.30 each morning.  Instructions about this will be sent later today.  If you do not have a device get in touch and we may be able to help.  We cannot do this without an email address.

For years 1,2,3 and 4 we will be using the teaching videos and contact through Gmail accounts as we did when we closed bubbles.  This is not ideal but we appreciate that if you have more than one child it will be difficult to get them on-line at the same time.  I hope to include Year 4 in on-line learning from next week and progress from there.

Nursery and Reception children will be using Tapestry for contact and learning. 

Information about Free School Meals is not available to us yet but for the next few days packed lunches will be available at the school office.  The voucher system may be set up again but we don’t know yet.

All children with a social worker and children with Education and Health Care Plans are expected to be in school.  Children of key workers can attend school if their parents cannot work from home.  The definition of who are key workers can be found on the GOV.UK website.  School opening times will be 9am to 3pm.

That’s all for now.  I will write again as soon as I know more.

Yours sincerely

Martine Buckley

EXECUTIVE HEADTEACHER

Please find below the email addresses of the staff. If you would like to raise and concern, ask any questions or arrange a meeting with your class teacher,

please could you contact them first via email.