Week 2 of remote learning has brought its own challenges to everyone I am sure. We would like to say thank you to you all for your ongoing support. It is wonderful to see all the work being put onto pupil portfolios and seeing new skills being developed by children at home such as cooking and sewing. Teachers are learning new technology skills too so please bear with us as we all get used to this new way of working.
Please just do your best. The main thing we ask is that you keep in touch with us and let us know how you are getting on with anything that you are doing—not just your home learning. It is important that we stay connected as a community and we love hearing from the children.
I hope you all managed to have a peaceful and happy Christmas. Another lockdown and partial school closure was not what we had planned for the beginning of 2021 but the school community have pulled together and we are proud of what we have achieved as a school over the past week.
We were prepared for, and committed to, a full opening on Tuesday, albeit cautiously, knowing what the current situation was. With less that 24 hours notice we managed to re-open school with a small group of key worker children and provided remote learning to everyone else.
Teachers need to be commended for ensuring that your children are being well provided for with their remote learning and for caring for and teaching the children who are coming into school. The Dojo is buzzing with amazing work and I know that teachers are enjoying seeing the work and getting messages. Your positive feedback has been especially heartening to read so we want to thank you for supporting us and your children so brilliantly.
Hedgehogs have displayed some amazing pictures and writing on their Dojo page. They’ve started to explore some animal stories too. Squirrels have been learning about Pinocchio this week and have been learning about money.
Fox class have chosen a famous person to write about and there has been some fabulous maths problem solving. Owl class have been writing formal letters—I’m wondering if anyone wrote one to Gavin Williamson about cancelling Y6 SATs this year?!
What a busy week we have had. Christmas dinners, Christmas parties, a visit from Santa Claus and a determination among our school community to finish strong. Well done everyone.
Another busy week here in school with lots of Christmas preparations going on! The Reception and Key Stage 1 children amazed us with their Nativity on Tuesday. They performed in front of the camera and we broadcast the show live over Teams to the Key Stage 2 classrooms and parents. Everyone was impressed by the acting, singing and dancing. Well done!
Fox class have been busy making mosaics this week—they are really proud of their work. Owls have been working on Christmas number problems and are producing some beautiful Christmas cards.
In assemblies we have been talking about how to make our school inclusive. Children have tried really hard to understand what this means and it has been wonderful to see some children joining in with activities that they may have previously avoided. Someone in Fox class was able to explain to me exactly how the game they were playing was being adapted so that it was fair to everyone. They demonstrated real maturity and it was heart warming to see.
We are moving swiftly towards Christmas here at Dorchester St Birinus Primary School and rehearsals for the show next week are in full swing. We’re all looking forward to watching Squirrels and Hedgehogs in their Nativity next Tuesday.
Fox class enjoyed a Roman feast this week as a culmination of their Roman topic. They had food, weapons and even a Roman hair salon!
Owl class have been mummifying apples and getting stuck in to calculation of area using multiplication. The long awaited Egyptian exhibition is on this afternoon.
We have been considering honesty in our assemblies this week. We talked about being honest with ourselves and feeling pride in our achievements and knowing when to challenge ourselves. Reverend Sue told the story of the boy who cried wolf and linked it to the advent shepherds around the village. Look out for our advent scene at the front of the school.