It has been 4 weeks, two of those school weeks, since we were instructed to close our school to all, other than those who are key worker children and those who are most vulnerable.  It has been very strange not being able to see you all face to face and myself, and the staff at Spa, are missing you all very much.  We hope that you and your family have managed to enjoy Easter and the lovely weather we have been having.  I wanted to write to update you as parents in relation to the ongoing position we are in.  We heard this week, from the Government, that there would be a further 3 weeks of lockdown and it is likely that opening of schools will not happen immediately after this date.

We will continue to provide emergency childcare for children across the Trust, but with your further help the numbers have continued to reduce during the Easter period. The policy that all students are contacted by phone or email, at least once a week, has been well received and gives us an accurate picture of what is happening in our community. It continues to be essential that places are booked so that we can staff accordingly and therefore instructing staff not to attend and protecting them further. As before if you are classed as a critical worker and need your child to access the emergency childcare provision please let us know by emailing info@legereducationtrust.com  

Home Learning

As we enter this further lockdown period, we have been exploring ways to best support families with their children’s learning. From speaking to many of you, we understand you are accessing the home learning tasks on the website and on the online systems we use, such as My Maths.  It is also clear that many of you appreciated the home learning packs we originally sent home.  We have loved seeing your posts on Twitter and your engagement with the more creative activities we have challenged you with on our social media pages. 

Moving forward we will be continuing to set weekly tasks for Writing, Reading and Maths as well as more creative tasks linked to our topics and other areas of learning.  We will be supporting you with this by using a free online resource called ‘Seesaw’.  Seesaw is an online classroom that will allow us to set activities and communicate with you but also to support you if needed.  Teachers will be contacting you over the next week to guide you through signing up to Seesaw but you can download the app now ready for when you receive your password.

Just to remind you, student work can be found on the ‘Home Learning’ link of the Spa Academy website:

www.spaacademyaskern.com  If you have concerns with any aspect of home learning you can email us on admin@askernspa.doncaster.sch.uk

We have also published some new home-learning packs for every child in every year group.  These ‘Learning Beyond the Classroom’ booklets feature open ended tasks and cover all areas of the curriculum.  They will be available to collect from Spa Academy week commencing 27^th April and will be available from Campsmount Academy afterwards.  We will be texting you with the details of the dates and times that you can do this safely and we will of course by observing social distancing guidance when arranging this.

To help you support your child with work at home, here are some hints and tips:

• Make a timetable for the day that suits your child, with a mixture of different short work tasks
• Take regular breaks in between (at least 15 minutes)
• Do activities that they enjoy to support their mental health and wellbeing
• Take some exercise every day
• Students should also log in regularly to their online learning if possible

Y6 Pupils

For those students who are currently in Year 6, we have been informed that this year’s SATs will not take place, however, we are still awaiting further information from the Government regarding end of Key Stage 2 assessments which we will always share with yourselves.  In the meantime, we are working with our Y6 teachers to assess our Year 6 pupils using the practice tests we had completed during the year as well as our own teacher assessments and pupils work in books. This will enable us to pass on accurate information to secondary schools and to communicate to you your child’s attainment at the end of the year.

Class Teachers
Your child’s teacher will be making contact either online, through Seesaw, or a weekly phone call, to have a chat and answer any questions you may have. The children may even want to speak to their teacher. This regular contact is so important for everyone, keeping us all connected. Please ensure that we have your up to date contact details; again, please contact the Duty Team at Campsmount if updates are needed on the above number.

Free School Meals

For those in receipt of Free School Meals, we have now moved to the Government supermarket voucher system.  Many families have already received their vouchers, but for those who are not able to access emails, vouchers can be printed and collected from Campsmount Academy.  If you have any queries about this please contact the team at Campsmount on 01302 700002.

Leger Education Trust Project

Leger Education Trust is this week setting up a facility where families can receive books, clothes, and toys completely free to support their families during this difficult time. The LET Project welcomes donations of high quality working toys, books and clothing which may be of use to other families. At the end of next week when we have potentially got items to share with families we will make them available and have safe practices for distribution. Any donations can be delivered to the school during opening hours in a safe, social distancing environment.

We will continue to provide a weekly update for all parents and please take care during this time.

Yours sincerely,

Emma Anderson                                     

Headteacher