“AS we approach the final week of this half term, I can imagine that there are a few yawns as learning continues at home, and I certainly saw a few at ‘car gate’ this morning! It is only natural at this point for children and indeed adults to feel weary, so be kind to yourselves before we get the opportunity to press the refresh button over half term. Do not feel the full curriculum and all of the live ‘zooms’ are necessary if a bracing walk or play in the garden would better raise the spirits.
“In that vein, I hope you enjoyed our low tech initiative yesterday afternoon and were able to look beyond screens and emails. I look forward to viewing our online gallery, entitled ‘Express Yourself’, as we receive pieces to add to the site. As I walked around school, children were discussing their thoughts and how they wanted to express themselves and it really was thought-provoking and demonstrated the very warm feelings our children consider. Reflections ranged from happy memories of birthday parties, going on holiday and playing in the park to painting an image that ‘my mummy would be proud of’.
“To conclude our series of weekly assemblies next Friday, I have invited King’s Ely’s Heads of School, Ben Marshall and Beth Carberry, to join us. A role of such responsibility may seem far removed from the school lives of our young Eleans, however in a time of social distancing and remote learning, it will remind us of our place in the bigger picture of the whole school and make connections to those who have experienced so much of King’s Ely school life. Please email me with questions that children at home may want to ask and please indicate whether they would like to ask the question themselves.
“Whilst we are keenly waiting for further clarification as to when children can return to school, our numbers of keyworker children learning inside school increase gradually. There will have to be a couple of logistical changes in order to accommodate social distancing, however these will not impact the quality nor quantity of the delivery of our home learning programme, and I thank our teachers for their enormous commitment to ensuring that all our children, whether at school or at home, are very well supported.
“With best wishes for a joyful and relaxing weekend.”