Gwersyllt CP

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope this message finds you all well. Though there is very little to update you on I thought I would write a message to keep you up to date on what little I can. Many of you will have heard or read about Kirsty William’s speech yesterday. She has said, despite rumours to the contrary, that nothing will change for schools in Wales on June 1st. This would indicate that we will continue as we have been doing for the foreseeable future. Of course, if this changes we will let you know as soon as possible.

As a school we are trying to provide as much opportunity for the pupils at home as we can. The facebook page is constantly updated with ideas on a more non educational front (though still extremely worthwhile) where as the class teachers are working with each other to ensure that there are opportunities for the pupils to continue learning at home. As well as this we are putting out a hard copy pack every fortnight for those that can not access work digitally. The latest one is available today from the reception.

However, we understand and sympathise that this can be difficult to work through and daunting for many. A lot of the staff find themselves in similar situations and home schooling can be extremely challenging. Though we wish to provide as much opportunity as possible, please don’t feel that the expectation is to complete it all. Every family is in a different situation and expectation should be adjusted as such. Health and well being is the priority, and if you are managing more on some days then others and bits of work when you can then you are doing a wonderful job (and on a personal note- a better one than me, most days).

We will continue to provide as we have been doing, but please feel free to do what you can and prioritise other aspects of family life when possible.

Please also keep an eye out on other resources we are making available through the school. Over the last week or so we have gained access to  (and bought into) White Rose maths, Real PE and free training from Solihull on childcare. Hopefully this presents further avenues to explore should you wish.

If anyone is struggling to access these opportunities for any reason please do not hesitate to contact the school and we will see what we can do.

Stay safe and hopefully we will see you soon.

Gwersyllt CP have manged to secure the use of Real PE for free over this difficult period.

It supports collaborative opportunities for the family to be active. Each school has their own unique email and password. you can find them at the bottom of the message. Once logged in the daily and weekly timetable is visible when you log in and families can also choose to explore and go on their own adventure. Even more content will be added over the next couple of weeks too!

We just ask that you don’t pass the details on to non Gwersyllt families- Many thanks.

real PE at home – online learning resources

real PE at home includes an online programme which supports families to be active, play and learn together. It includes a programme specifically for children in Early Years and Key Stage 1 with 12 themes, 6 areas, over 250 activities and challenges and 1000s of hours of fun and activity.

For children in Key Stage 2 there are carefully selected personal best challenges, skills and games designed for the home and garden. Daily and weekly guidance is provided for both programmes in addition to an option to choose your own themes and activities.

Dear Parent / Carer,

Free online courses for residents of NORTH WALES:

·         Understanding your pregnancy birth labour and your baby

·         Understanding your baby

·         Understanding your child

·         Understanding your teenagers brain

The Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board Public Health Team have invested in a multi-user licence for 4 award winning, quality marked, evidence based online courses by the Solihull Approach (a national NHS organisation).

These courses are for ALL parents-to-be, parents, grandparents or carers of any child from the antenatal period to age 18 years. These courses are relevant for parents of all children, including those with special needs, autism, ADHD etc.

We believe that parents are their children’s first and most important educators and we are delighted to share this growth and learning opportunity to you as parents and carers.  We would encourage you to take advantage of this time limited opportunity. These courses are FREEto all residents of North Wales with the access codes below.

The licence is valid until 30 November 2022 so please take advantage of this fantastic resource while you can. Once you have accessed the courses using this code you will have non-expiring access.

Go to www.inourplace.co.uk and apply the NWSOL access code:

·         Understanding your pregnancy, labour, birth and your baby

·         Understanding your baby

·         Understanding your child

·         Understanding your teenagers brain

You will be asked to create an account so that you can resume the course where you last left off. You will also be asked to verify that you are legitimately entitled to use the access code by entering your postcode.

Personal information supplied by you remains private. Your responses to the monitoring questions are anonymised. You will not receive any marketing emails. You will receive congratulatory emails when you complete a module.

The Solihull Approach may very occasionally email you to tell you about updates to the course. We welcome your feedback.

For further information about the course visit www.inourplace.co.uk

For technical queries email solihull.approach@heartofengland.nhs.uk or ring

0121 296 4448 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm 

For any local questions or queries please contact in Welsh or English to nwsol@wales.nhs.uk

Best wishes, BCUHB Public Health Team

Among many other creative ideas, the pupils this week have been working very hard at some photography. I think you will agree that the results look extremely effective- Da iawn pawb!

As I mentioned in my communication previously, please find a letter from Ian Roberts the Chief Officer; Education and Early Entitlement, regarding the proposed initiative for free school meals.

Dear parent/carer

Firstly, can I thank you for your efforts in providing learning opportunities and supporting your children at home during these difficult and unprecedented times.

Since schools were closed for educational purposes on 20th March, the Council has been providing “Grab and Go” packed lunches for children eligible for free school meals through twelve distribution centres across the County Borough.  This system was introduced as an interim measure to give time to develop a system which will reach more families whose children receive free school meals when attending school and will continue upto and including Friday 1st May.

As from Monday 4th May, the Council will be introducing a Direct Payment system where parents will receive a payment into their bank account on a monthly basis equating £19.50 per week for each eligible chid in the family.

This will enable parents to purchase food for their children and reduce the necessity to make daily visits to the distribution points and also reduce travel across the Borough. For the children of critical workers and vulnerable children in receipt of free school meals who are attending school and are currently in receipt of free school meals, this scheme will also apply and parents will be required to pay for the meal in school should they wish their child to have one or alternatively provide a packed lunch though using the finance provided.

Parents with children who receive free school meals are strongly encouraged to register through completing the registration form accessed through Council’s website at  https://myaccount.wrexham.gov.uk/en/service/Free_School_Meals_____Direct_Payment_Application   https://fynghyfrif.wrecsam.gov.uk/cy/service/Free_School_Meals_____Direct_Payment_Application

Applications will open from 9am on Monday 20th April, and will close on Friday 1st May 2020 at 5pm. Payments for those who qualify will be made on Wednesday 6th May. Applications made after the closing date above, will not be paid in May.  Should there be any queries, please contact  freeschoolmeals@wrexham.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Ian Roberts

Chief Officer; Education and Early Entitlement

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Firstly, I hope this message finds you all safe and well and all of you were able to enjoy some of the Easter period.

Just a message from the school to keep you abreast of any news over the previous two weeks and moving forward. The truth is that there has not been any real change in how things are being implemented and the role that the school are being asked to play in this pandemic. The school remained open over the Easter period for Key Workers and will continue to do so until the situation or advice changes. The staff are working on a rota system providing care at the school and suitable work for the pupils of their classes from home. I do encourage you to look at what work is available on the online facilities such as Seesaw, Hwb and Mymaths. For the small amount of pupils who cannot access this work online we are looking to provide further hard copies this Friday in Reception to pick up as an alternative.

Of course, as you are aware, their has been a lot of speculation as to potential dates for the schools to commence a reopening strategy. There has been no official word as far as I am aware on a date. The Minister for Education, Kirsty Williams had announced last week that “schools will not re-open for statutory education next week (20-4-2020) and any change to that is not imminent”. Of course, we will inform you as soon as we know anything more concrete.

You may also be aware that Free school meals have been available to pick up Gwersyllt Estate offices between 11.30am-1pm. We have had communication to say that this process may end and a revised initiative will be set up by May 4th. Again, as soon as we know more we will let you know.

Finally, can I point you in the direction of a free book which may be of use to you in explaining the current situation with pupils.

Click to access Coronavirus-ABookForChildren.pdf

Many thanks and stay safe.

Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to all parents and guardians for your understanding and response to the last couple of weeks. Of course, there are much larger things happening but the last couple of weeks have been amongst the strangest and most unpredictable schools will have experienced for many years. We have had to get information out to relevant parties as and when it has been given to us. This has occasionally been mere minutes prior to a deadline. The patience, good will and understanding shown by all has made a potentially difficult situation much easier to negotiate.

As we move forward school is continuing to provide care for those that need it most over the Easter break and beyond. Due to the call for this, the next 2 weeks will see some staff in school to ensure this provision continues. However, I must stress for those staff that are not in school during these days and weeks that the Easter break will provide a much needed opportunity to have family time and take a break from school work. As I am sure many of you will know this is increasingly difficult when working from home as those lines become a little blurred. With this being the case can I ask that there is no expectation for teaching staff to reply or respond to queries or questions about work or other aspects of school life during this time. Staff will be available again from 20th April and onwards.

Finally, can I wish you all a positive and, most importantly, safe two weeks. Our thoughts are with you all during this difficult time. We miss having the pupils in school but understand that this is all part of something bigger then those daily routines. A text will come out in the second week regarding the school provision after Easter and how to contact the school. We will also keep you updated with any changes.

Stay safe,

All at Gwersyllt CP

We have been asked, as of tomorrow, to implement the following ruling. This has come from Welsh Assembly Government and Wrexham County. We ask that you help us to implement this and keep pupil numbers in school as low as possible. Thank you once again.

“Every child who can be safely cared for at home should be and only where there is no safe alternative should provision be made in schools or other settings. If you are classed as a critical worker but are able to perform the critical parts of your job effectively when working from home, then you should do so. If one parent is a critical worker but the other parent is not then the other parent should provide safe alternative arrangements at home when possible.”

We understand that the vast majority are already working ot the guidance and we thank you for this.

All at Gwersyllt CP.

We are towards the end of an unusual week, in school and out. The school is on its 4th day of being repurposed to provide essential day care for those Keyworkers that cannot find alternatives. Firstly, I would like to thank you all for only bringing the pupils to school in cases where it is absolutely necessary and there are no safe alternatives. It is a priority that the numbers are as low as possible to lower the potential risk of any virus spreading for the children and the staff.

Welsh Assembly Government have made it clear that if there is one Keyworker in the family, unless there are exceptional circumstances, if there is another adult in the household they should be looking after pupils at home.

Further information about the schools purpose has been slow coming and we are still unsure as to what the plans will be over the Easter holidays and after (currently we are looking at putting on a paid holiday club, Monday to Friday for 2 weeks, from 4th April to the 20th April. However, watch this space for updates as this may change.)

We can tell you that we will continuing the provision as it is for next week. School will be open only for the pupils of key workers.

In order to allow us to plan for the week properly, we ask that you ring the office by 3pm tomorrow to make us aware of the days your child will need to be at the school. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation over this difficult period. We will update you as and when we learn anymore.