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PLEASE NOTE:
Home learning folders can be found by going to the Pupil Zone HERE

Proposed opening in June new information

22nd May 2020

Thank you to all the parents who have answered the survey, and to those who have spoken to us at school.  If you haven't yet done so and need to speak to us about a place, please email school or phone us between 9:00am and 3:30pm Monday to Friday next week.  Please read the letter HERE which outlines our most recent plans.  Please note that neither the Infant School nor the Junior School are opening to new pupils until 8th June at the earliest.  More information is contained within the letter HERE.

*NEW* Letter from the Local Authority

The Local Authority have written a letter setting out their response to the proposed partial reopening of schools across the city.  The letter can be found by clicking HERE

Proposed Wider Opening of Schools from early June

Following the release of several guidance documents over the past week, we are beginning to develop our response to the Government's request that some pupils begin to return to school from early June.  Please note the following:

• Priority places will first be given to keyworker/vulnerable pupils and those with an EHCP.
• Following this allocation, Nursery and Reception are prioritised in the Infant school and Year 6 are prioritised in the Junior School.
• Although your child may fall within these priority groups, there is no guarantee that we can offer a place, as this depends on the numbers of pupils and staff available.  Please await confirmation.
• Children will be grouped into small groups (or bubbles) of no more than 15 pupils, dependent on the size of the room they are allocated, and staff availability.  These ‘bubbles’ could be mixed age, in any classroom and taught by any teacher or support staff.
• We will decide how to group the children, and we regret that these groupings cannot be changed by parental request.  These will not necessarily be related to friendship groups.
• Classrooms will have a differnt layout to normal and chdilren will be expected to sit in a specific place.  They will have their own equipment and will not be able to bring in their own belongings from home. 
• Pupils from any group will not be able to mix with children from any other group during the school day, including during breaks and at lunchtime.
• There will be a number of measures in place to try to keep your child as safe as possible.  However, we would like you to understand that schools can only minimise, and not completely eradicate the risk presented by Covid-19.  We will strictly enforce social distancing guidelines as far as possible, but please note that we cannot guarantee that children will be kept 2 metres apart from each other at all times.
• We will be following Government guidelines which state that PPE is not necessary: pupils and staff will not be allowed to wear a mask, gloves or any other PPE, other than for specific, high-risk procedures.
• There will be significant changes to all routines and expectations and a revised home-school agreement will be required before a place can be taken up.
• We, unfortunately, cannot provide wraparound care before or after the school day for any pupil.
• Teaching of the curriculum will be narrowed and will be significantly different to a normal school curriculum.
• We will be following contact tracing guidelines & working with the Government on this, as this becomes available.
• Children who display any of the revised symptoms for coronavirus along with all pupils in their 'bubble' will be sent home immediately, and are expected to self-isolate for 7 days, and the household for 14 days.
• Children are encouraged to attend, but parents will not be fined for non-attendance at this time.

FOR ALL PARENTS:  PLEASE COMPLETE THE SURVEY BY CLICKING HERE. Please complete this before the end of Tuesday 19th May.  Thank you.

Please also see national Government guidance HERE   Someone from school will contact you before 28^th May either by phone or text if we can offer your child a place, and to give you further information.

Planning for Partial re-opening from 1st June

UPDATE 12th May

Please note we are still closed to the general population for the next three weeks.  We are making plans to open partially from 1st June, as long as the Government, and our Governing Board, deem it safe to do so.  Government guidelines can be viewed HERE.  Only Year 6 pupils will be invited to attend school from 1st June, along with the children of keyworkers and vulnerable children.  Please note that attendance is expected, but is not compulsory and we will be contacting all parents of Y6 pupils over the next two weeks to discuss the arrangements.  PLEASE DO NOT RING SCHOOL, as we have no further information at this time.

Mental Wellbeing Help for adults

The Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership have developed an online self-help course to support adults who are experiencing stress or anxiety over the current COVID-19 crisis or more generally.  You can access the Silvercloud resource HERE.  The GMHSC website also has lots of infomation about mental health and wellbeing.  The main site can be accessed HERE.

free e-book

There is a free e-book to help children during the crisis through 'words and pictures to comfort, inspire and entertain in lockdown'.  It is full of short stories by famous children's authors and can be accessed HERE.

VE Day Friday 8th May 2020

"We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing, but let us not forget for a moment the toil and efforts that lie ahead."

 – Winston Churchill, addressing the nation on VE Day.

 Friday 8^th May marks the 75^th anniversary of VE day – the end of the Second World War in Europe. 

 Although the war would continue for another few months in the Pacific, the people of Europe could breathe a brief sigh of relief: their towns and houses would be safe from falling bombs; soldiers could begin to return home to their friends and families; everyone could start to rebuild their lives.

 Originally, grand plans were laid to commemorate VE day in the UK – street parties, community gatherings, sing-a-longs and remembrance services were to be held up and down the country. Obviously, this cannot happen in exactly the same way as planned, though that should not stop us remembering what a momentous and important event VE day was!

 Your teachers have worked hard to develop activities that you can do to remember this historic occasion and to get you in the spirit of the commemorations on Friday.

As well as these, I have also included a few links that you may find interesting, giving you a glimpse back in time! (These resources are suitable for all primary school age groups.)

Stay safe and stay smiling!

Mr Morris, History Co-ordinator

Links

Newsround information guide: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48201749

Photos of VE day: https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/10-photos-of-ve-day-celebrations

VE day in Manchester: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/incoming/gallery/how-ve-day-celebrated-manchester-9196158

 Churchill’s Speech (+ transcript): https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1941-1945-war-leader/to-v-e-crowds/ (https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1941-1945-war-leader/end-of-the-war-in-europe/)

Rationing list: http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/war/rationing2.html

WW2 quiz: https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/quiz/history/take-world-war-ii-quiz/

Bunting guide: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4TrqYDyf4PMdLypxzyTwGDg/great-british-bunting

Colouring sheets: https://ve-vjday75.gov.uk/toolkit/

 ‘We’ll meet again’, by Vera Lynn:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsrOhqUuPN4

‘The White Cliffs of Dover’, by Vera Lynn:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovfQjR3iU-A

VE Day Horrible Histories: https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/watch/horrible-histories-songs-ve-day-song

VE Day Video footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rePb2NadxQw ​

*NEW* POP UK singalong 5th May 2020

Our friends at POP UK are doing a song a day for the next week.  You can access their website HERE.

*NEW* Groundbreakers Assemblies

We are very pleased to announce that Mary from Groundbreakers has offered to film a weekly assembly for us.  Groundbreakers are a Christian organisation who have delivered half termly assemblies for us over a number of years.  The children always enjoy Mary's contributions, and her assemblies are always very thought-provoking and aimed at all members of our community whatever their faith or beliefs.  I hope you will enjoy these as much as we always do in school.  Links will be posted on the PUPIL ZONE page under the weekly learning folders HERE.

Update 30th April 2020

As we move into the 7th week of school partial closure, we recognise that chiLdren may well be suffering anxiety and worry.  As an Emotionally Friendly School, we recognise that the current situation can have a detrimental effect on children's mental health and wellbeing.  We would like to let you know we are still thinking of everyone and we miss all the children greatly.  Teachers are trying to telephone all families to say hello and make sure you are OK, but if you need any help, please contact us at school.  Some great resources can be accessed below to help you talk to your child about the current situation, or to help with any anxiety or worries.

Think Ninja  is an APP for 10-18 year olds speciafically about COVID-19 and their wellbeing.

SALFORD ADVICE These are the pages of Salford Council with advice and help for parents during the crisis.

EMOTIONALLY FRIENDLY SCHOOLS have pages with lots of advice and links about how to talk to chidlren about the crisis and how to stay positive.  There is also advice here about coping with illness and bereavement.

HERE is a very useful document, recommended by our Educational Psychologists, which gives information about talking to children about COVID-19

Stay Safe: Stay at Home.  Zandra Wilkinson Headteacher

Update 27th April 2020

We hope everyone is safe and well, and that you have been able to access the weekly learning packs which we are uploading into the PUPIL ZONE section of our website.  Don't forget our twitter pages too @junioroaks where you will find a video made by all the teachers just to say hello to everyone.  Hopefully, those of you who are entitled to free school meals will have received the vouchers by now.  If you haven't. or if there is a problem, please call school on 0161 921 1690.  If adults want to do a bit of learning in their free time, the Government have just launched a new website HERE called The Skills Toolkit where you can brush up your digital and numeracy skills.  Stay Safe: Stay indoors.  Mrs Wilkinson

Update 16th April 2020

*NEW*

All the learning folders have been updated ready for next week.  Go to PUPIL ZONE and find your year group folder.  We are now on Week 28.  Remember, you can upload work to our learning email address lojschool@gmail.com

Update 2nd April 2020

FREE SCHOOL MEALS UPDATE: The Free School Meal Voucher Scheme has now been released.  We are contacting parents in order to send vouchers digitally to those who are entitled to receive free school meals.  If you have not received an email from us, please contact school on 0161 921 1690.  Vouchers are for term time only and will be sent ready for the week beginning 20th April 2020.

MENTAL HEALTH ADVICE: The Government have published some useful advice to help people stay mentally well during these extraordinary times.  The advice can be found HERE.  The Emotionally Friendly Schools Team have also published a list of websites where help can be found when talking to children about Coronavirus.  Thsi can be found HERE.

EASTER: school will remain open over the easter holidays (including Bank Holidays) for children of Key Workers.  Thank you to all the staff who have volunteered to give up their holiday time to ensure we can help during this time of need.

Update 31st March

FREE SCHOOL MEALS:

We are currently waiting for the Governemnt to set up our online free school meals voucher scheme.  This was announced yesterday, and we have been informed that it will be up and running before the end of the week.  We are currently emailing all parents whose children qualify for free school meals to check the email address we have on our system.  Please look out for this eamil and respond so we know it works.  If you have a different email address or a new one which you know school does not have, please let us know via the school office 0161 921 1690 or email lightoaks.juniorschool@salford.gov.uk  or via the contacts form on the website.

UNDERSTANDING CORONAVIRUS FOR CHILDREN

A handy guide to coronavirus for children can be found HERE

WELLBEING ADVICE

Our School Therapist, Julia, is sending us advice on staying calm and mentally well during this time.  We will post these HERE

Online Learning Update 27th March

We have now streamlined our online learning to make it as simple as possible for you to find what you need.  There is now ONE PAGE to navigate to which has links for each year group and week.  The Online Learning Hub page can be accessed from the Pupil Zone Page HERE.  Our latest information about learning at home can be found HERE. 

We hope that you are all well and that you are keeping happy and safe.  Look out for extra learning, blogs and other goodies over the coming weeks - and don't forget to check out our Twitter page @JuniorOaks

updated links to coronavirus information

Click below to find useful information:

Main Government page with all links

Guidance about self isolation and possible infection

24th March 2020: Update

Dear parents/carers,

I just wanted to message you all to say we hope that all is going well at home during this difficult time.  We are busy looking after our small number of children whose parents are critical workers and are keeping our country going through this crisis.  We are also attempting to clean the whole school on a very small number of staff, to ensure that all of the staff and chidlren who are coming in to us every day can stay as safe as possible.  We are going to update our website on a Thursday with extra work for your children at home to do, ready for the following week.  In the meantime, please continue with the learning ideas which we have provided with the exercise books sent out last week, keep doing Times tables Rockstars, do the activities on BBC bitesize and read as much as possible!

Playing board games, cards or building dens and playing shop are all great, fun activities which provide learning without even trying. You could make a treasure hunt, or design a wordsearch, crossword puzzle or a quiz to try out as a family.

At this time, we are as keen to keep children happy, as we are to keep them learning - so a bit of all of the above is vital through the following months.  As always, if you need our help or advice, please phone school on 0161 921 1690, email lightoaks.juniorschool@salford.gov.uk or contact us via the webform on our website.

Zandra Wilkinson

Headteacher

School Closure

Thank you for your support

20^th March 2020

Dear parents/carers

Important information regarding student attendance – from Monday 23 March 2020

Firstly, thank you for the very supportive approach that the vast majority of our parents have taken during these exceptionally challenging times. The children have also been incredibly sensible and positive and you should be extremely proud of the way they are handling the current situation.  Our staff have been working tirelessly to ensure these unprecedented changes run as smoothly as possible, in extremely difficult circumstances.

Many of our staff have attended school, despite having conditions which should have kept them at home, and I can only applaud their courage and determination to support our community at this time. Those who have had to stay away have been working to support their colleagues and the school as best as they can – so thank you to them for all of their efforts over the past few days.

Going forward, the provision we have been asked to organise is to ensure vital front line staff can continue to carry out their hugely important roles, and to ensure vulnerable pupils are kept safe.  We are grateful to all of these key workers who are looking after us all, and would like to extend our appreciation for the work that they do, not only now, but daily throughout the year. Because we are trying to ensure that only the most essential workers are given priority at this time, we can only apologise that we have had to make some difficult decisions regarding who has been offered a place after Monday.  We recognise that some parents will feel aggrieved that their financial positions have not been taken into account, but we have had to prioritise families whose parents are on the front line serving the public, and who have no other means of caring for their children at home. 

All parents who have been allocated a place will have been notified today.  If any parents’ situation changes and they need to be considered as a key worker in the future, or you have missed the mid-day deadline for the survey, please email school at louise.buckley@salford.gov.uk or through the website.  Our school office will be open until 5.30pm this evening and from 8.00 am on Monday.

Whilst we are formally closed from Monday 23^rd March onwards, we will continue to support your child, both academically and pastorally.  More detailed information will continue to be sent to you in support of this.  Please keep checking our Twitter pages, our website and on the parent APP for up-to-date details.

Ongoing Learning Activities

We have a pack of simple learning activities for all children to be given out this evening or this can be picked up from the school office at any time.  Further activities and online links will be posted on our website weekly.

Free School Meals

All parents who are entitled to Free School Meals have been contacted and offered support.  Please phone school if you have any queries.