Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• More support for home learning

  Fri 08 Jan 2021 Debbie Colley

  Information for parents to support home learning

  BBC support

  • On the 5th January, the BBC announced the biggest education offer in its history,

   • Starting on Monday 11th January, each week day on CBBC will see a three-hour block of primary school programming from 9am.

  • This could be useful for those families without internet or computers as some lessons will be on the television.

  • Bitesize Daily primary will also air every day on BBC Red Button as well as episodes being available on demand on BBC iPlayer.

   

  How to access online learning on an Xbox

   • Plug a keyboard in to the Xbox USB slot

  • Go to ‘my games and apps’

  • Find Microsoft Edge and select.

   • Type in Office 365 or Google Classroom (or the name of your online learning platform) and log in as you would in school.

   • You can then access your work and use key packages including: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and emails.

  • To move around you could use the Xbox controller or plug in a mouse.

   

  How to access online learning on a PlayStation

  • Plug a keyboard and mouse into the PlayStation’s USB slots (on the front).

  • Identify the PlayStation internet browser icon (www with dots around it).

   • Press the PlayStation logo on the controller.

  • Go to the library and find options for games and applications

   • Go into applications and you will find the internet browser

  • Type in Office 365 or Google Classroom (or the name of your online learning platform) and log in as you would in school.

  • You can then access your work and use key packages including: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and emails.

   

  We have keyboards available for your use if you need one just phone school.

• Learning at home during Lockdown

  Thu 07 Jan 2021 Debbie Colley

  I hope that you are all keeping safe. All staff are in school working and are here to help. We have over 90 children attending school each day, children of key workers or those considered to be vulnerable. Teachers and teaching assistants have telephoned every parent/child this week. Thank you to those that have answered the phone. I know that many positive conversations have been had. 

  Please be aware that the school number sometimes shows on your device as 'unknown' or 'withheld'.

  Please pick up if you can in case it is school trying to contact you.

  The reason for school contacting you is so that we can direct your child to the work they are expected to do on the J2E learning platform, to offer a paper work pack if preferred and to check on their welfare and see if there is anything else school can support you with in these challenging times. If your child is using a paper pack of work, please return it to school so that it can be marked by the teacher and filed away. You will then be able to collect the next week’s work. If you are using the remote platform but are also doing some work on paper you can take a photo and upload it to the platform or simply email it to the teacher. Again, this is so that the teacher can give feedback to your child. We will contact you at least once  a week and of course you can contact your child's teacher as often as you like via email. Remember, if your child is entitled to a free school meal you can order packed lunches to collect each day. Just phone the school office to arrange this. Please take up this offer to support you over coming weeks. Our school kitchen staff are here and want to provide food for the children. 

  We understand that supporting home learning is not easy, especially if you have more than one child at home and are also trying to work from home yourself. 

  We would ask that at a bare minimum you keep your child reading and writing and practicing their basic number bonds and times tables. If children do not keep these basic skills going for the next 6 weeks there will be a huge detrimental impact on their ability when they return to school. We are already trying to catch up from the impact of last year's lockdown. If you need an exercise book and school pen/pencil for your child to practice these skills please phone school and arrange to come and collect one. Reading in particular suffered massively last year - please make sure your child reads every day. There is a wealth of free reading material on the internet as well as whatever books you have at home. If you are really struggling to find material speak to your child's teacher and they will arrange for a book to come home. This must be returned before it can be replaced with another one. 

  We have a number of spare USB keyboards. These can be plugged into an Xbox or playstation which can then be used to access remote learning instead of a laptop or tablet. If you would like one so that your child can access the remote learning in this way, please phone school and arrange to collect one.

  Remember, we are here to help and can't wait to have everyone back in school together safely to continue our journey learning together. 

• Partial Closure of School from Tuesday 5th January

  Sun 03 Jan 2021

  Urgent Letter to Parents    

                                                                                                            

  Sunday 3^rd January

   

  Dear Parents,

   

  It is with regret that I am writing to inform you of changes to school opening on Tuesday 5^th January. Although this is short notice, we are letting you know as soon as we have been able to. You will probably be aware through media coverage that there has been much discussion around the safety of reopening primary schools.

   

  The scientific evidence suggests that the infection rate in children is rising. In Birmingham cases among five-to-nine year olds has risen from 93 per 100,000 on 7^th December to 174 per 100,000 on 27^th December. The most recent advice from SAGE is that schools should not open in January mother than for children of key workers and vulnerable children. This is because the scientific advice is that it is not safe for schools to open. There are new variants of Covid-19 that are highly infectious and infection rates have increased significantly since schools closed.

   

  Based on the above, teacher unions do not believe that it is safe for teachers to return to full classes. This advice means that Woodgate Primary School is not able to open to all pupils from Tuesday 5^th January until further notice. Remote learning will happen every day through the J2E platform. All pupils have a login for this. It is expected that ALL children will complete the work and staff will be following this up regularly. Staff will feedback to work directly on the J2E platform and may make contact by phone to give support.  If you are unable to access this online learning you must contact your child’s teacher for a paper copy of the week’s work. If you need to contact your child’s teacher, all staff email addresses are on the school website on Class Pages.

   

  If your child is eligible for free school meals and you wish school to provide a packed lunch, please contact the office to arrange this.

   

  School will remain open for children with Educational Health Care Plan, children of key workers and those children considered vulnerable.

   

  If you are a key worker and wish for your child to attend school you must email school on enquiry@woodgate.bham.sch.uk providing your child’s name, class, your job role and the name of your employer before midday Monday 4^th January. This will allow us to prepare for opening on Tuesday 5^th January.

   

  If we consider your child to be vulnerable and, therefore, would like them to attend school we will contact you on Monday 4^th January. If you feel that your child is vulnerable, please contact school on enquiry@woodgate.bham.sch.uk stating your child’s name, class and the reason. Please do not send your child to school until we have got in contact to discuss the situation.

   

  If your child is attending school – the same start and finish times apply, and entry and exit points as before Christmas. It is crucial that your child arrives to school on time. Breakfast club is available as usual.

   

  Please do not hesitate to contact school if you have any queries. We appreciate that this situation will cause disruption and inconvenience and hope that it is not too long before it is deemed safe to welcome all children back to school.

   

  Yours sincerely,

   

  D. Colley

  Head Teacher

• Return to School January 5th.

  Thu 31 Dec 2020 Debbie Colley

  We are pleased to be opening for all children on Tuesday 5th January.

  We want to avoid a bubble closure for as long as we possibly can. The children desperately need their routine and education. 

  Please support us by doing the following: Keep your child at home and arrange a test if they are at all under the weather or unwell. Even if they are not common covid symptoms. We have had some children that have tested positive that have only had a runny nose, sore throat or poorly tummy. 

  If the test is negative, your child can return immediately. If the test is positive you may have helped to avoid a closure by keeping them at home. At the very least you will have helped to reduce the transmission to others in the bubble.  We will X code the absence, meaning it will not affect your child's attendance figure. Test results are coming back within 24-48 hours so your child should not be out of school for too long if they are negative. 

  Please wear a face mask when on the school site. There are still some that are not wearing them. We appreciate that some may be medically exempt, but others are just choosing not to wear a mask. Please help to protect others and keep our school open.

• Confirmed Case in Yr 3

  Fri 18 Dec 2020 Debbie Colley

  This morning we were notified of 2 confirmed cases in Yr 3. The cases are from the same household. The Yr 3 classes and staff members are now isolating for 10 days from their last contact with the cases. 

  If during the Christmas holiday your child tests positive for Covid please inform school using the email address covid@woodgate.bham.sch.uk

• Confirmed Covid Case in Year 3

  Mon 23 Nov 2020

  This morning we were informed of a confirmed case in a child in Year 3. This bubble is advised to self isolate for 14 days from Saturday 21th November.

  The staff will be making contact with Year 3 parents and providing work on J2E and in paper form if required. Remember if your child is entitled to free school meals, we will also provide a packed lunch for your child. Just phone school before 10am and order one. 

  If you need any support or have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the staff. We look forward to seeing the children back in school on 7th December.

• Confirmed covid case in Reception

  Wed 18 Nov 2020 Debbie Colley

  Yesterday morning we were informed of a confirmed case in a child in Reception. Unfortunately we were not informed until almost 10am. This meant that the children had already been brought into school.

  Thank you to all of those parents that were able to arrive at school and collect their children  quickly and were supportive of the very difficult situation. We do fully appreciate that it is disruptive and challenging for you, especially if you are a working parent. 

  The staff will be making contact with you and work is already available on the website, on J2E and in paper form if required. Remember if your child is entitled to free school meals, we will also provide a packed lunch for your child. Just phone school before 10am and order one. 

  If you need any support or have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the staff. We look forward to seeing the children back in school on 30th November. 

   

• Confirmed case of Covid 19 in Yr1

  Tue 17 Nov 2020 Debbie Colley
  Today, we have been notified of a confirmed case in Year 1. This means that we have to close Year 1 until Monday 30th November. Year 1 children should self isolate. They must not leave the house. This means they can not come to school to bring siblings. The rest of your household can carry on with normal activities, unless your child develops symptoms. In which case your child should get a test.  If they test positive you must then isolate following government guidelines. Teachers will provide work on the website and will contact you at home to offer support. 

• Confirmed case of Covid 19 affecting Yr 2

  Wed 28 Oct 2020 Debbie Colley

  Today we have  received confirmation of a case of Covid 19 in a lunchtime supervisor in Yr 2.

  This means that Yr 2 children must self isolate for 14 days from their last contact with the case, this takes them up to and including Friday 6th November. They can return to school on Monday 9th November. 

  Yr 2 staff will be putting work on to the Yr 2 class pages each day for the children to access. They will also make telephone contact with you to offer support. If your child is entitled to free school meals and you would like a packed lunch for them next week, please phone the school office to order one and arrange collection. Your Yr2 child must not come to school to collect work or a meal or to bring siblings to school. The rest of your household do  not need to isolate. If your child becomes symptomatic, please get them tested and let us know the results.  Thank you for your support.  Please contact school from 7:30am on Monday if you have any questions. 

• Confirmed single case of Covid 19

  Thu 22 Oct 2020 Debbie Colley
  This afternoon we have received confirmation of a positive case of Covid 19 in Yr1. We have closed the year group for 14 days. Year 1 children should now isolate for 14 days. All other children should attend school as normal. Any questions please contact school.