Dear Parents / Carers,

Re: possible reopening of school to more pupils in June

We know you’ve seen in the news that schools may reopen on 1 June to reception, year 1 and year 6 pupils if the government thinks it’s safe then.

We’re waiting for further guidance and clarification from the government right now, which will hopefully help us create an action plan for our phased reopening. We’ll share this with you as soon as possible so you know what the school’s reopening will look like in practice.

It’s a very unsettling time for us all, but rest assured that we’re going to be doing everything we can to make sure we’re ready to receive these year groups if it’s safe for our school to reopen in the coming weeks.

However, we’re also not going to be pressuring anyone to send their children to school, since you know your children and personal situation best. We’ll keep you updated with all our preparations for making sure the school is as safe as possible, so you can make an informed decision.

In the meantime, the school is still open only for vulnerable pupils and the children of critical workers. We know some employers will be encouraging you to return to work, but we’re not in a position right now to extend places to other children until we receive further government guidance.

We’d like to thank you for your continuous support in helping your child learn from home. We’ll need to keep going with this for a while yet, so please do continue to do what you can and stay in touch with us about how your child is doing.

If you have any questions, or want to share any information, pictures or videos, please contact the school via email on P2259.admin@durhamlearning.net or on 01207 610358

Warm regards,

Mr M Watson

Head Teacher

Leadgate Primary School

reopening letter on letterhead

Dear Parents / Carers,

I hope you all had a restful Easter break and welcome to our very first remote summer term!

We’ve all had to adapt to new ways of working, so I wanted to take the opportunity to say what an amazing job you’re doing supporting your child’s well being and learning during this time.

It’s definitely been a strange and challenging time, so it’s ok if you and your child feel wobbly and worried at the moment. We’re here for you every step of the way as we figure this all out together. Remember, if you have any concerns about helping your child learn or you need any other support from the school, please let us know by leaving a voice message on the regular school number (01207 610355) or direct to myself on 01027 610358, if urgent. You can also drop us an email on p2259.admin@durhamlearning.net at any time.

We miss the children very much, but we must follow the government’s guidance to keep everyone in our community safe. So, we’re carrying on with supporting parents/carers and children as best we can. This includes opening the school for critical worker children and families, provision of online resources, websites and materials, regular contact through welfare calls for identified families and children, FSM vouchers and Free school meal provision of breakfast resources (coming soon), where requested linking families with our behaviour intervention support worker and school nurse.

We have already shared timetables and log in details on our website and via text for the following online platforms :

You should have all of your log ins with you now and the following links can all be accessed on computers, laptops and tablets:

• Spelling Shed through spellingshed.com
• Mathletics through mathletics.com or the Mathletics app for Apple & Android devices
• Duolingo through duolingo.com or the app
• Once Upon a Picture onceuponapicture.co.uk (you can use this for creative writing prompts and reading skills without a login)
• Purple Mash purplemash.com (most classes can access using their Duolingo passwords, year 3 use spelling shed logins)
• TB Sport – PE Home learning Hub (no login required) tbsport.uk
• Easy Peasy for Early Years Parents (Nursery and Reception)
• Lexia (limited to some classes only) lexialearning.com
• Durham Music Service – Youtube Channel
• History – English Heritage https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/members-area/kids/

Soon you will also have access to :

• BBC bitesize (Monday 20^th) and a wealth of video lessons bbc.co.uk/bitesize
• Lalilo – Year 1, 2, 3 only – Comprehension and Phonics (parent codes via text message this week) https://lalilo.com/?language=en
• Fiction Express (details via text message this week years 1 to 6) fictionexpress.com

But just because we’re not all in the same building, doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun together! Your children will have lots of activities they can get stuck into over the summer term – so keep a close eye on our school website not only in each Year Groups Class page but also the website Blog and News where we will provide additional updates and information.

We also love seeing the children’s fantastic learning at home – please keep sending their work/pictures in on an email to p2259.admin@durhamlearning.net. It would really help the children also to see their friends and know that they are out there safe and doing just as well as they are. And where we can, we will add it the website gallery pages in due course.

We can’t say yet when we’ll be able to open the school fully, but rest assured that we’ll continue doing our utmost to keep your child learning and our school community connected.

Let’s get cracking with our summer term!

Warm regards,

Mr Watson

Headteacher

Dear Parent / Carer

I am writing to let you know that we have arranged with the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) to provide some additional support for children in receipt of Free School Meals.

From the week commencing 20^th April we will have a limited supply of additional breakfast food to distribute to families from our Lower School Site every 2 weeks. This means we will only be able to provide to each household every alternate 2 weeks. If however you do not want a delivery please let us know via phone, email or text. In order to reach as many families as possible we have divided the total number of households into 2 groups, if you do not receive a delivery by the end of today your delivery will be in the next 2 week cycle.

We will arranging to have the food dropped off at the home address we have on record and our first delivery will be today.

What food will we have?

We will have the following items (one set per child).

• One pack of 5 New York bagels. These are not frozen, but are exactly as they are sold in supermarkets. This makes them much more convenient for onward distribution to homes. Each packet is fully labelled as per the supermarket packs.
• One box of cerealand/or instant porridge sachets – as far as stocks allow.

Please note:

• We cannot at this time guarantee that we will have a box of cereal for every child.
• The cereal you receive could be one of their usual range of cereal, but it might also be Weetabix or a new Kellogg’s cereal. We ask that you FULLY check ingredient and allergen lists for the foods supplied to ensure your safety. All cereals that are sent will meet School Food Standards.

Yours sincerely

Mr M A Watson

Headteacher

The DfE released a series of guidance and announcements overnight. Please see these below.

From the press release:

Disadvantaged children across England are set to receive laptops and tablets as part of a push to make remote education accessible for pupils staying at home during the coronavirus outbreak.

In addition, to support the hard work of schools in delivering remote education, the Oak National Academy is due to launch on Monday 20 April. This brand-new enterprise has been created by 40 teachers from some of the leading schools across England, backed by government grant funding. It will provide 180 video lessons each week, across a broad range of subjects from maths to art to languages, for every year group from Reception through to Year 10.

See full press release

My thanks to all those Parents and Carers who have kept me updated on the current situation in respect to the e-code meals vouchers the school has purchased through the National Voucher Scheme. I am aware that the vouchers have still yet to be emailed out to parents and have spent a lot of time to resolve this both yesterday and today (7th April). I have made contact with the company via email and they have replied that they are experiencing exceptionally high volumes of enquiries resolving issues that have arisen from rolling out this programme across the whole country. I have also been in contact with other Heads and the Local Authority about this issue and it would appear that this is an issue being experienced nationally.

I would ask that you continue to check your email and especially your junk/spam boxes for an email from EdenRed.

Gov.UK  have brought together an initial list of online educational resources to help children to learn at home.

These websites have been identified by some of the country’s leading educational experts and offer a wide range of support and resources for pupils of all ages.

They are currently being offered for free.

Individual resources cannot replace a school’s properly planned curriculum, and the resources in this list are not intended to do so.

They will review and update the list over time.

To check out resources : Click Here

Friday 3rd April 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

During these challenging times, many families have been concerned about how they will receive the financial support they need to feed their children at home without the free school meal entitlement during the partial closure of schools.

To help deliver this support, Edenred UK are working with the Department for Education (DfE) to deliver supermarket vouchers to those families.

You will receive this support in the form of an eCode that you can redeem online from a selection of supermarket ‘eGift cards’.

You should soon be receiving an email from the Department for Education/Edenred UK which will contain all the information you require to request and redeem your supermarket vouchers.

Each eligible child is entitled to £3.00 a day (£15 a week).  We will be providing a £15 food voucher which will ensure you are able to provide lunches for your child/children following the Easter holiday, Every Monday starting Monday 20^th April. The voucher covers the cost of a free school meal for the week days (5 days), weekends and school holidays are not included.

The Department for Education does not provided free school meals over the Easter Holiday – however, we are aware that this is a difficult time for all families and in order to support you we will be making an additional one off voucher payment for £15 to help cover your costs over the Easter Holiday

The situation is ever changing and if school closures remains the place, we will be back in touch later this month regarding vouchers for May 2020.

We hope this helps you to provide essential lunches for your child/children.

Please continue to stay safe at home whenever you can.

Yours sincerely

Mr M A Watson

Headteacher

 

Also Check out:

Parent / Carers frequently asked questions

https://www.edenred.co.uk/Documents/DfE/DfE_FreeSchoolMeals_ParentCarerFAQs.pdf

National voucher scheme launched for schools providing free school meals

Children eligible for free school meals can benefit from a national voucher scheme whilst they stay at home. This delivers on the Government’s commitment to provide ongoing support for the 1.3 million children that would receive benefits-related free school meals at their school.

Schools can now provide every eligible child with a weekly shopping voucher worth £15 to spend at supermarkets while schools are closed due to coronavirus.

Schools can continue to provide meals for collection or delivery themselves, but where this is not possible, the scheme will allow schools to provide vouchers to families electronically, or as a gift card for those without internet access.

Parents will receive the voucher through their child’s school, which can then be redeemed online via a code, or sent to their house as a gift card and used at supermarkets across the country.

Today, schools will receive an email from the Department for Education’s chosen supplier, Edenred, explaining how to access and administer the voucher scheme locally.

Full details of this scheme can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance

Stay up to date with the latest coronavirus information

You can now sign up to receive updates from GOV.​UK regarding the Government’s response to coronavirus (COVID-19). Sign up is quick, free and means you will be alerted when information is published.

Sign up here:

https://www.gov.uk/email-signup?link=/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response

Follow the Department for Education on Twitter for the latest updates:

https://twitter.com/educationgovuk

Collection of guidance for educational settings on GOV.​UK

All of the Department for Education’s coronavirus guidance for educational settings can now be found in one place on GOV.​UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings

Our main guidance for schools, the ‘school closures guidance’, will be regularly kept up-to-date. Any new advice for schools on specific issues, such as food, exams or safeguarding, will be linked from it:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-school-closures

Handwashing advice

The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and whenever you return home.

The latest guidance and video on hand washing can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Department for Education coronavirus helpline

The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:

Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday)

If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UKPRN) available when calling the hotline.

Guidance on implementing social distancing in education and childcare settings

On 24 March, we published new guidance on how to implement social distancing in education and childcare settings. This guidance also gives advice for individuals in vulnerable health groups:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-social-distancing-in-education-and-childcare-settings

It is important to read this alongside the overall guidance for social distancing:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

Resources for educational settings

We have updated our guidance for schools and other educational settings on how best to provide advice about coronavirus (COVID-19). A new poster resource is now available:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19

Collection of guidance for educational settings on GOV.​UK

All of the Department for Education’s coronavirus guidance for educational settings can now be found in one place on GOV.​UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings

Handwashing advice

The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and travelling on public transport.

The latest guidance and video on hand washing can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Department for Education coronavirus helpline

The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:

Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday)

Please note, we are currently experiencing high volumes of calls. We appreciate your patience at this time and apologise for any wait that you may experience. To ensure that we answer your calls as quickly as possible, we have now extended our opening hours to cover weekends and are increasing the number of call handlers available to answer your calls.

If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UKPRN) available when calling the hotline.

Staying at home guidance

Yesterday, the Prime Minister addressed the nation on coronavirus (COVID-19) and asked people to stay at home, except for very limited purposes.

There is no change in guidance for education settings, which remain closed except for the children of critical workers and vulnerable children. We continue to ask that parents keep their children at home, wherever possible.

The full stay at home guidance is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-guidance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others

Employer support in response to coronavirus (COVID-19)

The government has published a full range of support measures for UK employers and employees:

https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/

The information outlines how to access the support that has been made available, who is eligible, when the schemes open and how to apply.

Collection of guidance for educational settings on GOV.​UK

All of the Department for Education’s coronavirus guidance for educational settings can now be found in one place on GOV.​UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings

Handwashing advice

The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and travelling on public transport.

The latest guidance and video on hand washing can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Department for Education coronavirus helpline

The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:

Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday)

Please note, we are currently experiencing high volumes of calls. We appreciate your patience at this time and apologise for any wait that you may experience. To ensure that we answer your calls as quickly as possible, we have now extended our opening hours to cover weekends and are increasing the number of call handlers available to answer your calls.

If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UKPRN) available when calling the hotline.