St Andrew's C of E VC Lower School

From the 6th January 2021 we will be open to the children of critical workers and other eligible children.

Home Learning and Home Communication

Children who are at home can access Home Learning through their class KidBlog page.

Details of how to log on are available from office@standrews.beds.sch.uk. This is also the email to use if you have any problems with Kidblog or need password re-sets.

Each day the teacher creates a post on the page with the learning for the day. The learning will mirror what is being taught in school as closely as possible.

The learning will be in the form of formal lessons and exploratory activities. The school is currently developing video lesson introductions where appropriate, using resources such as Oak Academy, White Rose, Hamilton Trust and BBC resources, as well as making our own clips and adding voice overs to PowerPoints. The teacher will adjust Home Learning Plans for individual children where needed.

We are very aware that all families have different situations and pressures to deal with such as looking after older and younger siblings and/or parents’ own work commitments. There may also be different pressures on different days and children may be able to engage in more Home Learning on one day and less on another. There is therefore not a fixed timetable for the day from us. We would recommend that you make a timetable for your child, that suits your family and can be altered as needed.

When your child has completed any work or carried out an activity please photograph it and upload it to the Kidblog page. It can be uploaded for all to see or uploaded privately for just the teacher. The teacher will respond and give feedback as soon as possible. Children can also use the page to communicate with the other children in the class.

Teachers will also be calling to talk to parents and children. These calls will be virtual face to face calls. This way parents, children and teachers can talk about well-being and work and give encouragement and help and support. The invitations to the calls will come to parents by email.

We are also looking to develop face to face group chats so that children can communicate with each other more and have a sense of belonging.

The school is also supporting some pupils with paper packs that are collected from school or dropped off at home. The school is also allocating government laptops in accordance with the government guidance.

ASPIRE BELIEVE CELEBRATE

At St. Andrew's School we develop aspiration, strength and self-belief

through the support we give each other and the way

we live our values.

Don't be afraid, I have called you by name, you are mine.

I have marked your name on the palms of my hands.

(Isaiah 43:1 and 49:16)

The parable of the lost sheep tells us that God is like the Good Shepherd and he loves and cares for every single one of us.

School Closures

We do our best to remain open in snowy weather and will only close if we do not have enough staff in school or there is a heating problem. We make our decision fairly late, as if we make it too early, we are more likely to close. You can register for alerts from Central Bedfordshire at:

https://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/info/9/schools/717/school_closures