12th June 2020
Dear parents/carers,
COVID-19 Update 12.6.20
Hope you are all well and had a restful break. Thank you for continuing to engage in the home learning activities this week. It has been quite a different week for us as we have seen the welcome return of our year six children in both schools and the opening of our keyworker/vulnerable provision at Germoe School. All children who have returned have spoken positively about their experiences and are enjoying being back with their friends/staff, they feel they have overcome their initial anxieties of returning to school, as have the staff. The learning environments have been as safe as can be, with cleaning stations, clear 2 metre social distancing in place and staggered break times. I would just like to say a great big thank you to all involved, including yourselves in preparing them with the guidelines we provided. If you are a parent of a year 6 or a keyworker/vulnerable family and require a place then please email me to request one. You will only be able to access this provision with a confirmation of a place and with 48 hours notice because as you can imagine, a lot of planning is involved for an extra child. The government guidelines are still to stay at home if at all possible. We are unsure as to when we will expand provision but will keep you updated, the government has lifted their original plan of all children returning to school before the Summer term ends.
We do not yet have any idea what September will look like, we will know more in the coming weeks but I imagine it will be a case of having two, three or maybe more scenarios planned then scientific evidence and data will determine which one we follow. What we can say is that we know our children have gained so much from working independently and that they have not “lost out” on education, they have been learning new ways of working and living which will prepare them even more for future life and employment. We won’t be cramming them with catch up programmes but supporting them as they make their next steps and helping them to fill gaps. I’m sure that whatever the government decides, we will once again be allowed the flexibility to make it work in a way which best suits our learning community.
On a Safeguarding note, I have been informed that there is a huge concern around the game of Roblox. If your child uses this then please speak to them as some people are offering gifts to users of a camera. When the camera gift is accepted and the child clicks on it, it takes a photo of them from their webcam/phone camera. There is then no way of getting that photo back.
This weeks’ star of the week videos can be found on the FROGS and FOBS pages and on the individual school websites. A big well done to all, if you have any queries or concerns, please email me on head@germoe.cornwall.sch.uk . Have a great weekend. Take care and stay safe.
Paula Blackburn
