Dear Parents and Carers,
With January behind us I am hoping we will start to benefit from the longer days, the nicer weather and the prospect of Spring and Summer ahead of us. It has been yet another hard winter, and as we are all facing challenges, we also benefit from supporting each other. So once again I thank you for supporting our staff as we endeavour to put every learner through our recovery curriculum. A huge thank you to all those parents who support their children with home learning. This has been enhanced within the older pods, and although we may not have got it quite right yet, we are very keen to work with you, and our pupils to support progress. Pupils who engage with home learning will find the transition to comprehensive school far smoother. As I have said before, it is not just "what we learn" but "how we learn" that is important when developing positive attitudes to learning. Here are the headlines this week:
Covid Letter from the Director of Education - This week you should have received an important letter from the Director of Education. If you have not seen this please click here. This letter outlines information regarding LFTs and isolation, as well as explaining that schools are still operating within the "very high" risk level. More local decisions will be made on February 11th, however, we have been informed that "School case rates have increased in Swansea every week since the start of term".
St David's Day - One of our favourite days of the year! As always we will be having fun while we learn about this traditional day. We will be singing, dancing, reciting poetry and eating welsh cakes! We may even let the children join in! :) If you can dress your child in a Welsh costume, rugby shirt or something red we would be very grateful. As always we will be showcasing our work on twitter, so please follow us and like our tweets!
Reading Books - Please can we ask parents to return books on the allocated days. We need to re-circulate the books for other pupils, and we are finding this difficult when books are not returned. (We also have to quarantine books for 48 hours). Likewise, if you have any good quality books pupils' books thatyou no longer need, please can we have them for our CAPER system and our reading band boxes.
Llanrhidian Marketplace "Reduce, Re-use, Recycle" - The financial squeeze will be hitting us all, but if we can recycle and recirculate resources it will hugely benefit our pupils. Many of you drop us an email asking if we can make of unwanted items. Often we can! So please consider us before you throw away! But please do not be offended if we cannot make use of it, as we do not have much storage space. Examples are good quality toys (not soft toys), books, lego, construction, cars, stationary, art equipment, paper, card, indoor planters, outdoor pots, gardening tools, compost... Likewise, if you have something to offer or sell other families, we are happy to forward an email out to our community. This could be our very own "Llanrhidian Marketplace" that benefits our community and our families.
Health & Safety - Please can we ask parents to switch off their engines at the "Drop off Zone". It is so easy for the car to roll forward and cause an accident. Better still, if pupils can alight on the side of the school gate, they will not need to pass in front or behind the car. We are having a smart new sign next week.
Have a great Weekend.
Mrs Caswell