Dear Parents and Carers

You may hear the news coming out from the media that schools are closed from the end of day this Friday 20 March. This is for “most” children. However there is also an important need to continue to provide schooling for some of our children if required. For example the children of parents who work in what the government is calling a “key” job: NHS workers, Delivery Drivers and other groups.

We do NOT know all of the details yet but will hear more from the Government and Local Authority tomorrow. As soon as we know the plan, we will give you the details. Please allow us time to consider all the details and we will let you know as time progresses tomorrow and Friday.

These are unusual times for everyone but please know that we are here to support the children of HPS and their families where we can.

We will be in touch again tomorrow.

Many thanks,
Elaine Lynch
Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers,

We are very aware that these are difficult times for you. The information from Public Health and Government regarding Coronavirus will continue to change on a daily basis. Please know that we are supportive parents’ actions, whatever is decided for children about school attendance on the grounds of health. We know that every situation is different. However, if you do wish to talk a situation through, please do phone and ask to speak to me.

Some parents have asked about Home Learning. Staff are preparing for this in the eventuality that the school closes. As the school is still open, with the vast majority of children still attending, their priority is teaching and learning in school at the moment.

If and when we receive any different advice from the Local Authority or DFE we will let you know straight away.

Thank you so much for your continued support.

With thanks,

Elaine Lynch
Headteacher

You may already be signed up to Seesaw as a parent. However, to support home learning we need your children to be able to access their own account from home in case of a school closure. This will allow them to post work to their portfolio and have it properly recorded, and also allow them to receive feedback from teachers. It will give them access to the same seesaw tools that they get in school. Your parent account does not have access to these features.

Each child has a special login code that they can use on the seesaw website to log in, or on the seesaw Class app. This is different from the seesaw families app that you probably already have.

These special codes will be coming home today or tomorrow. The codes can be used like a password by your child to sign in as many times as needed over the next few months to submit work, on as many different devices as needed.

Here’s a little video on how to sign in using these codes:

Booster sessions end today:
Year 6 SATS boosters as well as Phonics boosters for our younger children are finishing today. They will be on today, but will not be running after today.

Dear Parents and Carers,

It is that lovely time of year when the first signs of spring are upon us and Easter! This year on Friday 3rd April 2020 we will be having an Easter hat/bonnet competition for the children and a parade. Please could you support your child in designing and making an Easter hat or bonnet. A winner from each year group will be chosen and will receive an Easter prize! Your hat could be made from card, paper, or use a baseball cap/sunhat/woolly hat as a base. Then allow your child to decide what they would like on their hat, it could be flowers, signs of new life such as Lambs, chicks and chocolate eggs. It can be anything linked to Easter. Please send the hat in with your child on Friday 3rd April.

We look forward to seeing all the wonderful hats and bonnets! Thank you for your support.
Mrs R Edwards

As a precaution, given current circumstances, we have reluctantly decided to cancel swimming lessons for the foreseeable future.
This means that Y5 will no longer be swimming on Friday afternoons and other year groups timetabled to start swimming will currently not be doing so.

In the event that your child feels unwell for whatever reason, please can we ask you to be extra cautious that he/she is fully recovered before returning to school. Whilst the illness may not be directly related to the Coronavirus feeling unwell may mean that people are likely to be more vulnerable to picking up other bugs and viruses.

Preparing for possible school closure:
Have you registered on our digital learning platform Seesaw? In the event that school is required to close for an extended period of time we would be providing a learning program from home so that your children can still take part in their learning. To access this you will need to be registered for Seesaw.

If you are not already registered, please ask your class teacher for a Seesaw code.
You can access Seesaw using any device that has internet access including most phones, tablets or computers – to watch videos, complete worksheets and use other learning materials at home you
may find it easier to use a device with a larger screen like a laptop or tablet.

For Early Years:
Our early years use a similar system to Seesaw called Tapestry. To register for Tapestry you will need to supply your class teacher with an email address so that you can be sent an invitation.

Tomorrow we will be testing our emergency text system. We need to see if we have the correct contact number for all parents. We will send a test message tomorrow.

Please note that the message will only be sent to the PRIMARY contact that we have on record for each chid. It will not be sent to all the numbers we have.

If you do not receive the message (and you are the primary contact for your child) please contact the school Office so that we can check your details. If you need to update your number you must do that in person.