Return to School

It has been wonderful to see so many smiling faces return to school this week. A huge thanks to staff, parents, and of course the children, for making the safe return as smooth and happy a process as possible. Hearing the laughter and chatter around the building has been a pleasure!

To those children not returning during the summer term, we miss you all and can’t wait to catch up with you in person in September. In the meantime, a member of staff will be contacting families to offer support during the remainder of the summer term. Once again, it needs to be made clear that any decisions made concerning a return to school are completely respected, with every family dealing with different circumstances.  If you have any concerns or require any advice, please get in touch with us!

Home Learning

Home Learning will be updated weekly for the remainder of the term. PTA fundraising has allowed us to invest in ‘Reading Eggs’ for pupils in Reception to year 5. You will be receiving instructions on how to use the package this week. Please note that Nursery pupils will be included from September. As always, if you have any queries regarding Home Learning, contact your class teacher or Mr Evans directly.

September plans 

We are awaiting further guidance from Welsh Government on how schools will be organised in September. We will contact parents as soon as we have any concrete information. With the possible need for further alterations, Tuesday September 1st will be an INSET DAY. 

We are currently organising classes for September and we will be trying to minimize disruption and potential anxiety as much as possible. Very few pupil groups will need to be adjusted. Those groups that will need adjusting will be contacted this week for pupils to provide us with an idea of their preferred friendship/working groups. Children will be notified of their new class and teacher during the week beginning 13th July.

Nursery

Unfortunately, in line with county guidance, we were not able to offer our Nursery pupils a return to school during the summer. We will be checking in with you before the end of term. Mrs McDonnell and her team are busy developing material to prepare current pupils and new starters for September. We can’t wait to see you all!

Remember if you have any concerns, queries or feedback you can contact us via the school phone line or email address. Alternatively, you can contact Mr Evans directly:

evansj737@hwbcymru.net

As always, we thank you for your ongoing support!

 

 

 

 

Another huge thank you to our wonderful PTA. With funds raised we have been able to invest in an online reading platform called ‘Reading Eggs.’ From September, all our pupils will have access to this excellent resource! A big thanks from all the pupils and staff!

It was decided yesterday by the City and County of Swansea that schools across Swansea will only be opening for 3 weeks. Please see the attached letter to parents from the director of Education for Swansea.

All staff at Waunarlwydd have been working extremely hard to prepare for a 4 week opening. Today, we have managed to adapt our plans to enable pupils to return to school for 4 days over a 3 week period. Information regarding the plan for individual children will follow shortly.

NJW 22 June 20 Letter to parents

In order for us to plan efficiently and safely for the school to re-open, we require firm intentions from all our families. We completely respect your right to make a decision based on your own circumstances. However, I’m sure you will appreciate the need for us to have the following information from ALL our families in order to plan the way forward to the best of our ability. We would appreciate it if you could complete the attached form by 10am on Thursday 18th June.

 

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Ug4_TzS3ZEGUCRtgHRR5ky-3ror68PNBmJnjcCxjtZtURVJGMDZMOEtHN0xZMjVNVkJKN0k0TjhLNy4u

Many thanks, Mr Evans

I am sure you will have seen today’s update from the Education Minister for Wales regarding a return to school. We have begun planning for a SAFE return to school. We are awaiting further guidance from Welsh Government. We appreciate your patience at this time and can assure you that your voice matters. Further information will be provided next week. In the meantime, the following message comes from Swansea’s Director of Education:

Message from the Director of Education // Neges gan y Cyfarwyddwr Addysg

Dear Parent/Carer

We have already been working closely with schools and other partners to plan for a safe re-opening of schools in Swansea.

Now that the Minister has announced the Welsh Government’s intentions we will continue this work to finalise our arrangements and when ready, schools will be contacting parents and carers directly.

We will also be publicising our plans and will have a helpline available for parents and carers well before the planned opening date.  We will have consistent guidelines and will be utilising these once they are received from Welsh Government. We will also be sharing further guidance from the Welsh Government on managing facilities and logistical arrangements.

The key points that the Minister has said are:

• All schools are to re-open from June 29 for a trial and transition period.
• Pupils may need to be brought into schools in very small groups due to social distancing and it is anticipate that no school would have any more than a third of pupils in school at any one time.
• The plan is to extend the remaining term by one week that means schools will be open for 4 weeks before the summer break.
• All schools are being asked to make available a check in and catch-up session for every child to attend over the 4 week period.
• Attendance will be voluntary and there will be not be any fines should pupils not attend.
• From June 29 the children of key or front line workers will attend their normal school.

Since schools closed in March the majority in Swansea have been operating as emergency childcare hubs providing childcare for around 500 vulnerable young people or pupils whose parents are key workers and this will continue in the meantime.

Distance learning via the channels used by our schools during the lockdown will also continue.

Thank you for your continued support as we continue to respond to these challenging times.

Please follow the link for initial information regarding transition, including a message from the headteacher and a link to view this year’s transition booklet. More information will be available as time goes on! I can assure you that we haven’t forgotten about our wonderful Year 6 children and the fact that they have entered their last half term as Waunarlwydd pupils. Watch this space!

https://gowerton-school.j2bloggy.com/key-stage-2-key-stage-3-transition/

 

 21st May 2020

It has been a pleasure to view the awesome work that children have been producing at home. I know that it will be a juggling act for many trying to balance home learning with other commitments. You’re doing a great job! Please keep sending any pictures you want to share with us. Teachers are working extremely hard to provide varied opportunities for the children during a time that none of us have experienced before. If you have any feedback regarding home learning or are struggling to access the work through the lack of a suitable device, please contact Mr Evans directly.  evansj737@hwbcymru.net

You should have received an email outline the changes to the FSM system. If you have not received an email or had a problem registering, please contact the school as soon as you can! Please note that deliveries will be taking place on Tuesday next week.

Thank you all for your continued support! Working together, we will come out the other side! 

15th May 2020

As a school we have been trying to make contact with as many of our families as possible to check on well-being. This has not always been the class teacher, but a member of school staff. We have not managed to make contact with everyone yet and, if this is the case, please don’t hesitate in giving us a call at school to catch up on how your children and family are getting on in these strange times.

As our director of education has indicated (see letter on previous website post), no date has been set for returning more pupils to school with the emphasis on ensuring a safe return to school when the time comes.

We continue to provide an emergency childcare facility for critical workers. If you need any advice regarding this service, please contact the school.

The wellbeing of our children and families remains our priority. This time will be affecting everyone differently and our overriding message continues to be stay safe, stay well and stay happy.

If you have an issue accessing home learning due to a lack of suitable device at home, we may be able arrange the loan of a device. Please complete the form attached if this is the case. Please remember that we are here to help and don’t hesitate in getting in touch with your class teacher via email for any advice regarding home learning. Alternatively contact Mr Evans or phone the school during school hours.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Ug4_TzS3ZEGUCRtgHRR5ky-3ror68PNBmJnjcCxjtZtUNEJGUTdJNFJXVlMwVUFXM0M5TE1CNlBaTC4u

Free school meals are currently being delivered every Monday. We have been trying to make contact to ensure we have up to date email addresses as you will be receiving information about free school meals in the coming days. If you have any concerns regarding FSM please contact the school or Mr Evans.

You should all have received the email address of your child’s teacher if you need any advice regarding home learning. The school phone line is open during school hours and the school’s main email address can be found on the website. Alternatively, if you have any concerns at all, you can contact Mr Evans directly: evansj737@hwbcymru.net

Thank you all for your continued support!

12 05 20 Letter to parents

If you are struggling to access home learning due to a lack of wifi or device such as PC, chrome book or iPad, please complete this form.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Ug4_TzS3ZEGUCRtgHRR5ky-3ror68PNBmJnjcCxjtZtUNEJGUTdJNFJXVlMwVUFXM0M5TE1CNlBaTC4u