Welcome To
Regents Park Community Primary School
Believe in Yourself - Anything is Possible!
Dear Parents/ Carers,
I hope you are all fit and well and keeping healthy and safe at home. It is very strange to be sending you this update on what should have been the first day back after the holiday at the start of the Summer term.
School continues to be closed for the foreseeable future
As I'm sure everyone is aware, the Government have announced that lockdown measures will continue for at least another 3 weeks which means that school will continue to be closed for the foreseeable future. When we are told that school will be allowed to reopen, we will contact you immediately and let you know our plans for opening safely again.
Class Teacher/ Parent contact this week
During this week, all class teachers will be ringing home to contact the parents and carers of children in their class to check up on how they are, how the family is doing and to see if you are able to access the home learning activities they are planning and sending out.
When staff ring you may see "No Caller ID" or Withheld Number" in your caller display. Please make sure you answer so you can speak to the teacher and catch up with them. It would also be good if your child could speak to their teacher too - I'm sure they would enjoy speaking to them themselves.
Please let staff know if there have been any change of circumstances at home, particularly if children or family members have been ill and affected by Coronavirus.
Arrangements for children who are vulnerable/ key worker children
For the last 4 weeks we have only been opening for children who are vulnerable or who are the children of key workers. On most days this has only been for 2 children, at the maximum it has been 4 children. As there have been so few children attending we have now teamed up with Heath Mount Primary School in Balsall Heath and, from today, the children have begun attending there instead.
If your circumstances have changed and you think that your children fit in to one of the two eligible categories, then please contact school to let us know by emailing enquiry@rgntpark.bham.sch.uk
Learning at home
It is very unfortunate that children's school learning has been disrupted but hopefully you are managing to support your child's learning at home using the activities and ideas that staff are sharing with you on the school website each week. There are some activities that children can complete online and some that may just need children to have access to pencil and paper. Please remember that children may need support so if you can help them or if there are other family members at home who can help them, then that will help their learning. The link to the Home Learning pages on the school website is: https://www.rgntpark.bham.sch.uk/home-learning
Some guidance for parents on supporting children's learning at home has been published by the Department of Education and can be downloaded here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/help-primary-school-children-continue-their-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19
Lots of new resources are being published and created to support learning at home and staff are sharing these on Twitter or on the Home Learning pages of the school website. A couple of new resources just published are BBC Bitesize https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize and Oak National Academy https://www.thenational.academy. Both include lesson ideas with video clips and are separated into age groups to help you find suitable activities.
Some resources to support SEND pupils have been published on the Sensory Projects website: http://www.thesensoryprojects.co.uk/covid19-resources
Free School Meals Vouchers
Families who have children eligible to receive Free School Meals vouchers have been contacted by Mrs Kelly. We are now using the Government scheme for providing vouchers using a company called Edenred. Mrs Kelly has organised vouchers for those eligible from now until May half term.
We understand there may be some delay in parents receiving the voucher codes as lots of schools are using this scheme. We hope the codes arrive as soon as possible but if you have any problems then please email enquiry@rgntpark.bham.sch.uk
Some parents have asked why their child is not eligible for FSM vouchers if they are in EYFS or KS1 and normally receive a free meal at school. All children in EYFS and KS1 receive a free meal at school from the Universal Infant Free School Meal scheme. This is different from receiving means-tested Free School Meals which are dependant on whether as a family you are on certain benefits. Children that are from families that are not on these benefits would then pay for school meals when they move into Y3.
If your circumstances have changed, perhaps because of unemployment, and you believe that you are now eligible for Free School Meals, then please email enquiry@rgntpark.bham.sch.uk and we will contact you to discuss this with you.
We hope that by continuing to follow safe practice regarding social distancing, we will all be able to return to school sooner rather than later. Please keep safe and stay fit and healthy and hopefully we will see you soon.
Best wishes everyone,
Mr Beale