Matt's Page

Comic Relief!

Dear All

Thank you all for digging out your best red garments for today. The children and adults looked great and thank you to Jill and her kitchen team for getting in on the action with an awesome cake and cookie selection for KS1 .

The jokes that have been coming in as well, and certainly have a good range to them, from the proper groan inducing to the full belly laugh causing. Make sure you all have a look on Twitter and Facebook for the best ones, not sure my effort about Atoms was fully understood by Foundation and KS1!

Still some opportunities to come and help at the school in the notices below and I am looking forward to being allowed to have parents on site again for some fun work parties!

Have lovely weekends

Matt

Couple of reminders

The last day of term on Thursday 1st April is a half day with staggered leaving times being:
- - Reception @12.55,
  - Y1 @1.05
  - Y2 @1.10
  - Y3 @1.20
  - Y4 , Y5 & Y6 @1.30
I realise that lots of us are we are still in lockdown haircut mode so a reminder that long hair needs to be tied up out the way.
Pencil cases also seem to be growing in size and complexity again as the term moves on so please could you make sure at the moment children are bringing small, easily wipeable cases in.

Help with Lunchtime

We are looking for a volunteer to help us temporarily in the lunch hall between 11:45 and 12:45. We need one more pair of hands to help clean the floor and tables between bubble sittings, especially while our littlest pupils are learning how to eat in the hall!

If you would be available please let lucindag@evendons-primary.co.uk know.

Thank you.

Help with some jobs......

If you have an experience in carpentry, plastering, fitting windows etc or are even considered to be fairly handy with a tool kit - there are a few jobs remaining that it would be fantastic if someone could come in and help with. Please ring the office for details and to volunteer.

Coming Back!

Dear All

A quick note then to say how excited all of us at Evendons are to see you all on Monday! The staff have been working really hard over the last week to make sure the school and grounds look fantastic and that everything is ready for the children to return.

Please make sure you have one last glance over my return to school letter, check timings for drop off and pick up and try on uniform if you still haven't done so! Don't forget to bring your chrome books back either!

Enjoy your weekend and we will see you bright and early Monday morning!

Matt

Planting in the Grounds

We are looking to keep adding more greenery to our wonderful grounds. We are looking for any donations of summer flowering bulbs, shrubs, buddleias, and loads of compost so we can start our planting for this year. If you have anything to donate please contact lucindag@evendons-primary.co.uk

There is a lot of work to do in the grounds. If you are able to help us at all please contact Jane, Lucinda, Stacey or Matt.

Help with some jobs......

Half term!

Dear All

We have made it to half term and I am sure that everyone is looking forward to some time away from our screens and the 'zoomification' of life!

This term the school community has embarked on 1986 live online lessons , 567 in-school lessons, 28 online assemblies and numerous other 1-2-1 sessions including tutoring, reading and well-being catch ups! I think we definitely need to give our eyes, brains, backs and anything else that is worn out a rest!

I get a lot of feedback from different areas: parents, pupils and staff. The overwhelming message from all is that we have all pulled together brilliantly to support the ongoing education and well-being of the children at Evendons. For that I would like to say a huge thank you from me and the rest of the leadership team. The positive intent that everyone has shown and assumed in each other has meant that we have made the best out of a difficult situation. I have no doubt this will continue to be the case whatever Boris has in store for us next term!

Please make sure you all get some rest next week, take the opportunity to get outdoors, get some fresh air and let your eyes focus on something further than a few feet away!

Have lovely half terms!

Matt

Year 3 Egyptian day!

Great to see everyone in Year 3 getting carried away into an Egyptian adventure online and in school. The Mummy making competition was very tightly contested and all the costumes looked fab!

World Book Day 2021

Dear Parents and Carers, We would like to mark World Book Day 2021 in a creative way this year and envision a fun day which will inspire children to read for pleasure.

The morning's zoom sessions may include; book character guests, role play and drama from children and teachers and even masked readers!

We ask rather than dressing up in costumes this year, that the children may bring along a prop or props to their zoom session as clues for their book character they have picked. This session will be confirmed by the class teacher.

During afternoon zoom session, teachers will be sharing a whole school matrix of fun reading, creative and storytelling activities. Children will be able to pick activities they are interested in.

There will be a whole school focus on book reviews and children sharing their favourite books. Half term may be an opportunity for children to think about this and get reading!

If you have any pictures from this day that you would like to share. Please can you email them to your year group email.

Here is the World Book Day Token for your child. Please read the terms and conditions for this token carefully.

Thank you for your continued support with home learning and have a restful half term and that the children read lots next week!

Emma Barley

A Week of Wellbeing

Dear All

It has been a great week for well-being and it has been wonderful to see so many faces on the zooms in the afternoon engaging in all sorts of activities and crafts. At one point this week I got to play Lego with over 70 children at once over zoom which was the best wellbeing 'pick-me-up' I have had for a long time!

Thank you for all your enthusiasm and support!

We have noticed that an increasing number of children are turning their cameras off during the live session, please can you make sure that children's cameras are on during the lessons. It is really important for teachers to be able to 'read' the class, the children's enagagemnt and their comprehension in order to provide the best support for them.

Thank you for supporting us with this.

Matt

3M Young Innovators Challenge

This is a short note from 3M to let you know we have not let the cancellation of this year’s 3M Young Innovators Challenge stand in the way of our other schools activities and I would like to draw your attention to some great home schooling resources that have been created by the British Science Association in the run up to British Science Week (5-14 March), of which 3M is, once again, a Major Partner:

Please see links below for activity packs:

Activity packs

Early years

Primary

Secondary

Wokingham Civic Awards

Huge congratulations to Rob and Sue who were nominated and recognised at this years Wokingham Civic Awards.

Officially nominated for their tireless work with both Young Carers and Evendons Primary School, we would like to extend our thanks for all the hours and effort that they have put into the school over the years. It is hugely appreciated and the award is thoroughly deserved!

More Wellbeing

As we move into our second month of a second lockdown, it is important that we look after ourselves as well as those around us. Below is a link to the Governments information and resources for wellbeing and below that, an offer from talking therapies to the school community.

Mental health resources for children, parents, carers and school staff

Hello Evendons Primary School,

We hope you are well and having a good week.

My name is Sarosh Khan and I work for NHS Talking Therapies within the Patient Engagement and Communications Team.

Talking Therapies is a free NHS service here to support the residents of Berkshire who may be struggling with difficulties including; low mood, anxiety and stress. With the current situation we are all facing, it is to be expected many people may be struggling and in need of some support at this time.

With that in mind, I have contacted you today to let you know Talking Therapies are here not only to support the parents and carers of Evendons Primary School but also your staff members.

We would be grateful if you would consider sharing the below in your upcoming parent and staff newsletters together with the attached leaflet:

Talking Therapies is a free NHS service here to support the residents of Berkshire aged 17+ who may be struggling with difficulties including: low mood, anxiety and stress at this unprecedented time.

We are currently offering a 4 week Stress Less course which you can access via the comfort of your own home. Please see attached leaflet for more information. If you would like to book onto the next available course please click on this link.

To find out more about the services offered by Talking Therapies please visit our website.

Thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Sarosh

Sarosh Khan

Patient Engagement Support Officer

Talking Therapies

Answer Phone: 01344 415947

Working Hours: Mon – Fri 8am – 4pm

Planting in the Grounds

There is a lot of work to do in the grounds. If you are able to help us at all please contact Jane, Lucinda, Stacey or Matt.

Story Sacks Project

We would like to start making story sacks in school. Story Sacks Creating can make story time more interactive and multi-sensory. Props can be used help tell each part of the story. These ‘props’ can be toys, objects, noises or textures to feel – anything that fits with the story! This interactive and multi-sensory approach can help children to participate during story time.

We already have some small handmade cotton bags that somebody has already kindly made for us, but would like items to go inside each sack. The books that we would like to make sacks for are: Oi Frog, The Gruffalo, Kitchen Disco, We've going on a Bear Hunt, The Snail and the Whale, The Hungry Caterpillar, and Dear Zoo. If you have any donations for the story sacks please contact lucindag@evendons-primary.co.uk Thank you!

LEGO Session

Please put your creations on my LEGO slides!

LEGO Slides

Snow & Wellbeing

Dear All

I hope you all managed to get out of the house and enjoy the snow this weekend. I can't imagine better timing as it broke the monotony of lockdown, providing for some excellent snowy walks, snowman making and sledging! It is just what we all needed and a reminder of what we all have to look forward to once this is all over.

We have been considering everyone's wellbeing over the last few weeks as we get used to online learning and everyone begins to put new routines in place. Gathering feedback from pupils, parents and staff a few trends have been highlighted:

Headaches from screen time
Back and general aches from prolonged sitting
Sleepy afternoons
Finding it harder to fall asleep (especially in children)
The general amount of screen time children are exposed to.

Taking all of this in to account, I want to encourage you all to take some daily exercise outside during lunch time. The children are used to running around outside for 40-50 minutes at lunch to prepare their minds and bodies for the afternoon and I know I benefit from the fresh air and movement at midday too. To make this a viable option we will be extending lunch to 1:30 so there is sufficient time for families to eat lunch, get outside and return in time for afternoon zoom sessions. This change to the timetable will come into effect next Monday 1st February.

Please do make the effort as I really do believe you will reap the benefit of children ready to concentrate better in the afternoon and tired and ready for sleep in the evenings.

Some other feedback to make online learning easier and more effective is:

Please could you consider purchasing a whiteboard and pen for your child to hold up and show working/answers on during zoom lessons. Its a quick and cheap fix and would make a big differences to teachers ability to assess quickly who is understanding and who needs a bit more support. They can be found cheaply on Amazon for around £4.
Please make sure you check in regularly with your children on their learning and zoom calls, especially children in Year 4 and below. Although staff can facilitate a lot through the screen, your children will need regular support during lessons. The live lesson usually lasts around 25-30mins and at this point children may need help beginning their independent work.

I am so proud of how it's all going and conscious of the huge amount of effort going into making the whole online learning process as successful as possible.

Thank you for your continuing support!

Matt

More Wellbeing!

Remember our family support email address is here if you need us:

familysupport@evendons-primary.co.uk

Other news:

The BBC 1 broadcasted a programme on Wednesday called "The truth about mental health". This looked at the science involved in maintaining wellbeing and was really interesting and easy to digest!

It can be accessed on catch up, but they also had a link afterwards: bbc.co.uk/truth - look on there for ideas/tips in a practical self care guide. You can also phone for free to access pre recorded messages about practical wellbeing - 08000 155998.

I was pleased to see the programme highlighted our school wellbeing concept of EEZEE life , but added new science to it!!

E- eat well. They talked about the link between the gut and the brain and how consuming probiotics can boost mood.

E-exercise. They acknowledged exercise is so important but especially exercise which works the brain and body together, for example dancing.

Z- looking at sleep. New research all the time about different brainwaves. But for now establishing a pre-bedtime "routine" still a good idea.

E- enjoying hobbies and engaging with others where possible.

E- everyday. Try to use the above as a guide to how to look after ourselves like a toolbox, then if there are times when we feel less resilient and feel anxious/have racing thoughts we can use the strategies as a guide to help us, especially reaching out and connecting with others.

ONLINE LEARNING- Mental Health Wellbeing Afternoons

1st February- 5th February

More Details to Follow.......There will be a mixture of live sessions children can pop into and a Wellbeing matrix for children to choose THEIR ACTIVITIES.

This week there is a Wellbeing session for Year 5 & 6 which the teachers are aware of from Luckley Wellbeing Zoom Meeting: In case they miss that here is the link

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83550829840?pwd=TzBWZ2M1VEJSN1M0WXRMNDhTeFk4Zz09

Meeting ID: 835 5082 9840

Passcode: we11being

Y5 Saxon Day

On Monday, Year 5 had a wonderful time chatting to some Anglo-Saxon villagers from West Stowe (on zoom of course!). They were able to see lots of artefacts made more than 1000 years ago and were shown how to use different tools and even some weapons! The children had so many of their questions about Anglo-Saxon daily life (about food, clothes, houses, wars and kings) answered by Liz and Russell. Later in the week they wrote diaries which included so many brilliant details that they had learned from this great experience.

Y4 Greek Day

In Year 4 they had a online Greek day. The Children dressed up at home and took part in activities such as; cooking flatbread, creating their own monster top trumps and making labyrinth designs out of Lego, pillows, chocolate cake and cardboard.

Story Sacks Project

Planting in the Grounds

The Evendons Jigsaw

Please download and print your jigsaw piece from this link: Jigsaw Piece

Remember we all make up one big Evendons jigsaw but we are all unique pieces!

Decorate your piece with the things that make you, well You!

Make sure your name and class are in your design somewhere but you could also include:

Hobbies
Passions
Family
Pets
Favourites

Put your finished piece up on your windows until we are able to bring them all in to school and complete our giant Evendons jigsaw. I look forward to seeing all your different ideas!

Matt

The Evendons Jigsaw

Please download and print your jigsaw piece from this link: Jigsaw Piece

Remember we all make up one big Evendons jigsaw but we are all unique pieces!

Decorate your piece with the things that make you, well You!

Make sure your name and class are in your design somewhere but you could also include:

Hobbies
Passions
Family
Pets
Favourites

Put your finished piece up on your windows until we are able to bring them all in to school and complete our giant Evendons jigsaw. I look forward to seeing all your different ideas!

Matt

Lockdown: Part Deux!

Dear All

Just a quick message to say well done to all the children, parents and staff at Evendons who have made the very best of what is a very difficult situation. Feedback from everyone has been that the online learning is going very well, with the live element allowing children and staff alike to feel much less isolated than before.

Thank you also to everyone who has messaged in support and thanks - I have kept them all and will forward to staff. Thank you also to all of you who emailed in to offer help with chrome books etc. I really appreciate the sense of community and it does really feel like we are in this together.

Last, but not least, well done also to the children coming into school still. They have settled brilliantly and are so pleased to still be involved with their classes online.

I hope you all have very restful weekends (make sure you enjoy your outdoor exercise!)

Matt

Christmas!

Dear All

We've all made it to the Christmas break!

It has been a long term and everyone has done amazingly to still be arriving every day with a cheerful attitude, ready to make the most out of whatever 2020 has had to offer!

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the staff for maintaining such a standard of excellence this year whilst faced by an ever changing landscape, the school community for being so supportive and the children for being brilliant during a very difficult time.

I hope you all get plenty of rest and really enjoy your Christmas breaks.

Merry Christmas!

Matt

CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCES

The children and teachers have been spreading Christmas Joy, by putting together Christmas Videos for you all to watch.

We hope you enjoy them!

Year 6 - This version is a bit crackly (The children called it the rock version) - Year 6 parents will be sent another version.

The staff also put together a lip-sync video for the children which we thought you would like to see.

A special recording of the The Night Before Christmas Video by the Staff at Evendons will be shared with you on Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

What's on locally

Christmas Eve at the 'Two Pops'

People are welcome to gather in the 'Two pops' car park at 6pm on Christmas Eve to ring some bells and celebrate the coming of Christmas Day.

Key Dates

Monday 4th January

INSET day

Tuesday 5th January

Term starts

So now we all want a goat for Christmas!

Dear All

Short newsletter today as we'll do a big Christmas one next week. Obviously the highlight of the week, and possibly the year, was the visit of Farms for Ewe to the school yesterday. The goats in particular went down incredibly well and the whole day brought a very real lift in Christmas spirit to all the children and staff.

My highlight of the day was listening in to an intense conversation between two reception children who couldn't quite agree on which one of them "loved the goats more".

It was a great success and we plan to have the animals back in the summer when the farm has all it's baby lambs, rabbits and ducks!

Have a scroll down for a bumper message from the PTA and information on Christmas activities and services at St Pauls over the Christmas period.

Have lovely weekends

Matt

PTA Update

Happy Christmas Jumper Day!

Firstly, thank you to everyone who joined our PTA AGM last week, it was lovely to 'see' you all on Zoom. It was a good meeting and a great chance to be able to recap and reflect on what has been an interesting year.

Minutes of the meeting and the Chair Report will be available shortly and sent to all families.

Although sadly, we did also formally say goodbye to the lovely Kerri Hollis who, after two and a half years has decided to step down as Chair. A huge personal thank you Kerri from us in the team and I'm sure from everyone who has supported the PTA. We will miss you!

If you fancy joining the PTA or even love the idea of being Chair, we would love to hear from you! We are a friendly bunch and would love to grow. pta@evendons-primary.co.uk

Christmas Wreath Kits

Your support with all things Christmassy this past month has been amazing – thank you! The feedback from the Christmas Wreath kits has been so positive and we have loved seeing everyone's creations.

Tea Towels

Tea towels are due to be delivered on Monday 14^th December and we expect everyone to have their orders on their child's pegs by Wednesday 16^th. Thanks so much to everyone for supporting this fundraising activity. E-mails have been sent to those with outstanding payments – thanks for replying so quickly!

*If anyone would like to join the tea-towel folding army next week please get in touch!

pta@evendons-primary.co.uk

Christmas Gift Room

In normal circumstances, today would have been the day of our Christmas Gift Room where children can choose and purchase a special gift for a loved one. Unfortunately, this can't happen this year but we have put together a little online brochure for children to browse through and purchase virtually if they wish. These will be shared on the Facebook families page over the weekend so keep an eye out for that. Get in touch directly if you would like a copy sent to you instead.

Virtual Fair – 12 Days of Christmas

We have some fantastic local businesses who have been promoting their products and services these last 12 days and this weekend is the final weekend.

Please do take some time to browse through the different posts and offers and hopefully they have given you some gift ideas (or treats for yourself!).

The Main and Children's raffles have been selling well – thank you!

The fair closes with our raffle draws – timings of the draws are below.

If you haven't bought your tickets yet, you can comment on one of the raffle posts in the event or on the families or PTA Facebook pages (they have been pinned or you can search 'raffle'), send us an e-mail, a messenger or just drop one of the team a line directly.

DEADLINE TO GET YOUR RAFFLE TICKETS IS 12 NOON SATURDAY 12TH DECEMBER.

LIVE draws will take place at the following times this weekend:

Saturday 12^th December 6pm – Children's Raffle Draws

Sunday 13^th December 6pm – Main Raffle Draws

Click on the link to see the latest prizes on offer – and select 'going' to the event to watch the live draws - good luck!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/262837780555016/permalink/1579111538927627

Thanks so much again, it all wouldn't have been possible without you and we can't wait to hopefully get together properly next year!

Have a lovely Christmas

The PTA

Christmas already...

Dear All

In the spirit of a very strange year the Christmas tree seems to have appeared in the school's atrium with decorations also starting to pop up all over the place. Normally this would seem way too early, but it has brought a welcome cheer to a wet and dark term that has been exasperated by lockdown.

Usually at this point of the year I would be giving you details of a busy run up to Christmas full of plays, pantomimes, PTA events and other seasonal fun. As a staff we have thought hard about how to keep the seasonal spirits high and plans are in place for a few treats such as a visiting farm (possibly with reindeer) and a virtual pantomime. The PTA have also been working hard to provide a Covid friendly Christmas so keep an eye out for details on their events.

Parent Work Party

I would like to take the opportunity of lockdown easing next week to fit a parent work party in next Saturday 5th December. We still have a huge amount of wood chipping which needs wheel barrowing about to recover our outdoor paths and a few other jobs that need more hands to get done. This should set us up nicely for the Christmas holiday, We will be at school from 11am to 4pm when it gets too dark to keep going. Unfortunately we can't invite children due to the restrictions but it would be great to have as many parents pop along as possible. Thank you.

Have great weekends

Matt

DO YOU KNOW HOW JUMPERS CHANGE LIVES?

Christmas is amazing because you can stop being such a grown-up and see the world like kids do. Even boring things turn into awesome things: like when a smelly old curtain turns into the best donkey the school has ever seen.

But the thing is, that magic is there all the time! You 've just gotta look harder, people! Simple medicine saves lives; food helps kids grow up strong and smart; and books help kids see a whole new world. So that £2 donation might look like just £2. But it could warm some tummies, save some lives, and change the future. That’s big.

Here's some amazing examples of what Save the Children can do:

£2 could pay for hand sanitiser to help fight coronavirus in one of Save the Children’s medical clinics
£6 could buy a face shield for a superhero health worker i n Yemen
£10 could buy antibiotics to help five children beat malnutrition
£20 could buy a back-to-school kit for a child in Indonesia
£60 could buy toys and books to support children from struggling families in the UK
£100 could buy a first aid kit for a health worker in Somalia

Sports News

BPET Around The World Challenge and Orienteering Challenge

Well done everyone for such excellent progress with our BPET Around The World Challenge.

At school, our newly appointed Sports Leader Teams set up an exciting 1km Orienteering Course for the children at Evendons. Our Sports Captains filmed a promotional video explaining the reasons why we are doing the challenge (see details attached for Strava and Just Giving links) and giving instructions on how to work in teams to complete the course.

What's on locally...

Notices & Reminders

Managing your child's anxiety

Online course

Learn more about anxiety. Identify the causes and effects of anxiety, signs of anxiety in children and simple tips for families to use to manage every day worries. This interactive, tutor led course is aimed at parents of primary school aged children.

3/12/20

11:00 - 12:00 or 13:00-14:00

To book a place email adulteducation@wokingham.gov.uk or call 07785314603

Lunches

Week commencing 30 .11.2020 is week 1 lunches. Please note the deadline to order lunches is the Wednesday the week before. Any lunches ordered past this will not be included and a pack lunch will need to be provided.

Music Lessons

George the guitar teacher has lesson spaces as does Music Guru for piano, drum and singing. Please contact the office for further details, or you can contact Music Guru direct;

themusicguru4u@gmail.com/ https://www.facebook.com/musicguru4u/ / http://www.musicgurulessons.co.uk

Key Dates

Friday 11th December

Christmas Jumper Day

Friday 18th December

Autumn term 2 finishes-1.30pm (staggered times TBC)

Monday 4th January

INSET day

Tuesday 5th January

Term starts

Remembrance

Dear All

The children were immaculately behaved and respectful for our silence on Wednesday and I realised it was the first time we have all been together (distanced of course) as a whole school since last March! Each class has been reflecting on what remembrance day means to different people and there are some lovely displays of poppies up on the school windows that you may be able to see from the gates!

I would also like to say a big thank you to everyone for such successful parents evenings over the last two days. Feedback from staff and parents has been very positive and it is great to see everyone embracing new ways of doing things at this time. Hopefully, we will return to meeting face to face by the end of the academic year, but it's good to know that useful and meaningful meetings have been had online. Well done to the teachers also, as they were very long zoom sessions to have after a whole day teaching!

I hope everyone gets a deserved rest and has great weekends

Matt

Sports Leaders and Sports Captains 2020-2021

Following a rigorous interview process, I am delighted to introduce our new Evendons Sports Captains and Sports Leader teams. I was extremely impressed by the children’s ability to demonstrate their suitability for the role in the interviews and it was wonderful to see their enthusiasm for Sport. Over the time that I have known the children, they have demonstrated many skills that will make them all valuable members of the Sports Leader teams.

The Newton Sports Leader Team will be captained by Mikey Dando and Holly Page. Mikey is an excellent all-around sportsman but he always takes time to be inclusive. During lessons, sports matches, after-school clubs, and Sports Days, he always helps other children to achieve their goals; whatever their ability. Holly always gives 100% and she recognises the importance of self-development; whether it be by suggesting ideas/helping to plan for school events or after school such as applying for Blue Peter Sports Badges. She is always a great team member.

The Sharman Sports Leader Team will be captained by William Dempsey and Millie Hughes. William has a positive attitude towards all PE and Games at Evendons. He is always happy to ‘give it a go’ and take part in events/learn new skills and he is able to encourage others to do the same. Millie is a great role model in lessons and sporting events. She is a good listener and communicator; demonstrating her skills and helping others.

Saturday STEM Spectacular

The event is being organised by the ASE working in collaboration with the University of Wolverhampton. It is an online STEM engagement event for people of all ages. The event is on November 21st 2020 from 10-2pm. There will be live and online presentations, will a range of activities aimed at primary children in the morning followed by an amazing lab tour. There will be a visit by presenters from Wales and NI around midday. The afternoon session will include presentations 5 or 6 aimed at older students and this will be followed by a provocative panel discussion to finish the day.

This Saturday STEM Spectacular is now live on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/saturday-stem-spectacular-tickets-126207362619

Big thank you to Rob & Sue for our lovely new home -built planters out the front of the building! Bringing some much needed colour!

Our fantastic new mud kitchen, built by Luella's Grandad for Year 1. As you can see they have wasted no time in making sure it lives up to its name!

Notices & Reminders

Managing your child's anxiety

Online course

26/11/20 and 3/12/20

11:00 - 12:00 or 13:00-14:00

To book a place email adulteducation@wokingham.gov.uk or call 07785314603

Lunches

Week commencing 16.11.2020 is week 2 lunches. Please note the deadline to order lunches is the Wednesday the week before. Any lunches ordered past this will not be included and a pack lunch will need to be provided.

Music Lessons

George the guitar teacher has lesson spaces as does Music Guru for piano, drum and singing. Please contact the office for further details, or you can contact Music Guru direct;

themusicguru4u@gmail.com/ https://www.facebook.com/musicguru4u/ / http://www.musicgurulessons.co.uk

Key Dates

Thursday 26th November

Flu Immunisations-Please ensure that you have completed the online form regardless of whether you will be consenting or declining.

Friday 18th December

Autumn term 2 finishes-1.30pm (staggered times TBC)

Monday 4th January

INSET day

Tuesday 5th January

Term starts

What's on locally....

PTA Update

Happy World Kindness Day – what have you done to spread a little kindness?

Before I give you an update on what's coming – I wanted to say a huge thank you to every single parent, child, family and friend that has supported the PTA over the last couple of months, to be honest, we are overwhelmed at the results we have achieved in such difficult circumstances – you are all absolutely fantastic! I loved doing the Halloween trail with Summer, Thea and Molly (as well as Emma C) and seeing the incredible investment in both time and money that you had all put into your displays. The camaraderie around Evendons and Luckley was just wonderful and made me feel proud to be part of this awesome community that we have all worked so hard to develop. So what are we doing next?

Tea towels - final order deadline is now Sunday https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-Z5A-E4rumR1s0M4scIDHyC3EH6WdoAGn0TY4VAXoRRXGLA/viewform

Wreath kits – we have a couple of spots remaining- order here https://forms.gle/zNrropd6xCREMUes7 with payment either via bank transfer (Evendons Primary School PTA, 77-49-30, 00387268 Ref: Wreath) or via PayPal money pool https://paypal.me/pools/c/8tw7e7doKa.

Raffle donations – we will be collecting donations for our 12 days of Christmas raffle on 4^th December – box will be left outside the gates.

Virtual fair – our first virtual fair – more details will be coming soon, but watch this space for news on buying Christmas gifts from local businesses. We thank those that have volunteered to support so far. If you have a business that you would like to position, then please do let me know.

Christmas Cards - You can find your child’s art work through the following links www.mychildsart.co.uk/fundraise/home and by choosing the View School Artwork button (or directly via the link https://mychildsart.co.uk/fundraise/school-login/)

School Username: Evendons

School Password: Tg6kPGhv

PTA Organisational Update – I just wanted to let you know that as of December 2^nd, I will be stepping down as Chair of our wonderful PTA. Of course this is a tough decision, however, the time is right and with the many demands my children make on my time I need to repurpose my time to playing full time taxi driver, chief instructor and cleaner or all things muddy! I wanted to thank you for all your support over the last few years, I have had a wonderful time, learnt many new skills, laughed until I have cried, made new friends and seen the reaction of the children when they receive new things as a result of all of our work – one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever had the pleasure of doing – thank you for trusting me to lead the PTA.

AGM – we are legally obliged to hold an AGM, we delayed from our normal September timeslot in the hope that we would all be able to come together, but alas no… We have therefore scheduled the AGM for December 2^nd at 8pm and would love as many of you to join as possible – please do register here

https://us02web.zoom.us/.../tZUkcumhrDooHNTuu...

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you again for being so wonderful

Kerri

Ready for a break!

Dear All

8 weeks is a long time for little people to keep going and the children have done a magnificent job of continuing to work hard and remain cheerful right up to their half term break. The staff too have worked tirelessly to keep everything as normal as possible for pupils whilst still providing an excellent education. I know from my own home that we parents too are ready for a break from daily routines and a chance to catch our breath, turn the clocks back and prepare for the run up to Christmas!

Helen M has put some wellbeing and relaxation resources onto the wellbeing page of the Hub, but however you choose to, please make sure everyone gets a good rest. I look forward to seeing everyone on the Monday back.

Have great breaks!

Matt

Evendons' Wrap-around Care Update

I am really pleased to announce the recruitment of Alex Hawtin to our new role of Clubs and Provision Manager here at Evendons. Alex has 5 years of experience working with Get Active providing before and after school care, as well as facilitating lunchtime and after school clubs across many Wokingham schools. He is passionate about giving children new and exciting opportunities and is a great fit with the Evendons' way!

Unfortunately, Alex is not available to join us until January so I have decided to push back the launch of Evendons' care to the February half term. I want Alex to have the best possible start here and he needs time to recruit his team and plan provision.

I am working closely with Angela and Craig from EnergyKidz and they have kindly said they will continue the existing provision until Friday 12th February. Please continue to book with them at the moment and we will provide all transition information in the new year.

I am really excited about Alex's appointment and am confident that his vision of extra-curricular provision matches ours.

“Hi, I’m Alex! I’ll be managing the clubs at Evendons Primary School and beginning my adventure in January! I’m really excited to begin this journey and embark on a new adventure at Evendons Primary School! I’m an enthusiastic and easy going person that loves being active. I have an active lifestyle and have a general love for sport. I also love visiting new places, listening to music and seeing my friends and family.

My vision for Evendons is to see children given rich and varied opportunities and experiences as well as the chance to grow within a safe and friendly environment. To me working together is extremely important in all forms of life and I can’t wait to begin working here and embarking on this new journey together! “

Final Goodbye!

Today we said our final goodbye to Dave. Dave has been an integral part of the school since March 2016. His welcoming smiley face has been the forefront of the school gate on numerous mornings. His questionable jokes and sense of humour making even the most miserable of mornings entertaining for both the parents and children!

During his time with us no job has been too big or small. Dave also raised a huge amount of money for the Princess trust, after shaving off all of his hair and famous beard!

Thank you for all you have done during your time here at Evendons Primary School. You will be missed by colleagues, students and families of the school. Enjoy your time getting stuck in with all of your home projects and the best of luck in your new venture.

Have a look out for his new project: recycling and building bespoke furniture.

‘Around The World’ Challenge

- October 24th to December 4th

Dear Evendons,

This is the first time all schools in BPET Trust have come together to achieve the feat of ‘Run The World’; looking to undertake 5000km per school to travel the 40,075km around the World.

We are hoping that all families will take part to run, walk, scoot, or cycle. You can join our new Strava Club with this link https://www.strava.com/clubs/764234 to log activities or you can manually input a run, walk, scoot or cycle - think half-term or Sunday strolls.

We are using this challenge as a way to raise funds for Cancer Research UK, as this is a cause close to our hearts, as cancer has touched so many in our community. You can donate at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/eps-around-the-world-challenge

Thank you so much for taking part - exercise is such an important part of our physical and mental wellbeing. This challenge is taking place from 24th October through to 4th December, so please keep logging your km. We will be sharing our progress weekly to see just how far we have reached and the location.

Over the next couple of months, the Evendons Sports Leader Team will be running some exciting sponsored events in school, where the children will have a chance to run in their classes. More details to follow.

Thank you in advance for your support

Best wishes,

Claire Threlfall

Notices & Reminders

Work Party on Sat 7th November

Please could any Mums & Dads who are free, come and help do some tree clipping and woodchip moving around the school between 12 and 4 o'clock. Unfortunately we won't be able to have children on site because of covid restrictions but it would be wonderful if we could still have plenty of hands on deck!

Thank you

Macmillan's Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning

Well done everyone for the fantastic decorations of your Cinnamon Swirls and generous donations to help make World’s Biggest Coffee Morning a huge success. Together we raised: £459.00 and the money will now help Macmillan support patients during treatment and give people back their get up and go.

Local Advisory Board Opportunities

The Local Advisory Board which is part of the governance structure of the school , is looking to recruit new members over the academic year. We are looking for parents and members of the wider community to join us on a voluntary basis. If you are interested or would just like to find out more about what we do and how you can help, please email the Chair of the LAB, which is Leesha - leeshaw@evendons-primary.co.uk

Lunches

Week commencing 02.11.2020 is week 3 lunches. Please note the deadline to order lunches is the Wednesday the week before. Any lunches ordered past this will not be included and a pack lunch will need to be provided.

Music Lessons

George the guitar teacher has lesson spaces as does Music Guru for piano, drum and singing. Please contact the office for further details, or you can contact Music Guru direct;

themusicguru4u@gmail.com/ https://www.facebook.com/musicguru4u/ / http://www.musicgurulessons.co.uk

Key Dates

Monday 2nd November

Autumn term 2 starts

Thursday 26th November

Flu Immunisations-Please ensure that you have completed the online form regardless of whether you will be consenting or declining.

Friday 18th December

Autumn term 2 finishes-1.30pm (staggered times TBC)

Monday 4th January

INSET day

Tuesday 5th January

Term starts

Donation requests for the school

Please can we have any old car toys and any old play food toys
Please can we have donations of bulbs such as daffodils, bluebells and tulips
We would also like donations of old aluminium sinks and saucepans for a mud kitchen in the front garden.

Thank you!

PTA Update

That’s it – we’ve made it to half term!

Just a quick update

Half Term Week – Evendons Bikeathon – a great excuse to get out and get active – cycle a mile or cycle 100 miles – simply share this sponsorship link with friends and family https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/evendonsbikeathon and get out pedalling! Please do post your cycling adventures onto the families Facebook page – make sure you stay safe by wearing bright clothes and a helmet

Saturday 31^st – Virtual Balloon Race – we have arranged to join an environmentally friendly “Schools Out” balloon race – visit here to find out how to take part https://www.facebook.com/events/1552093978308737

Saturday 31^st – Evendons Halloween Trail – things are going to get spooky round here – for all those children participating (thank you – entries have been staggering!) your children should have arrived home with their bags – have an amazing evening – please post your photos to the families page. Please note we have asked all the houses to NOT put out sweets – I will be taking my own for my children

And finally watch this space for news on how to pre order your wreath making kit – exciting!

Thanks so much for all your support – it is much appreciated!

Kerri

Work Party Imminent

Dear All

Just a quick note from me this week as there are lots of messages and notices below for you to read.

You may have noticed an ever growing pile of woodchip by the sports court and usually by now we would have had several work parties to look after the grounds and keep the paths and play areas freshly 'woodchipped'!

This year of course is different but it would be great if after half term I could have some Mums and Dads come for a work party and help us keep the grounds looking amazing! I wouldn't be able to let children come as well so it wont be as fun as before but it would be a really useful way to spend a couple of hours on a weekend. I will send out details next week so you can all book it in!

Thank you all and have lovely weekends

Matt

Notices & Reminders

Local Advisory Board Opportunities

Lunches

Week commencing 19.10.2020 is week 2 lunches. Please note the deadline to order lunches is the Wednesday the week before. Any lunches ordered past this will not be included and a pack lunch will need to be provided.

Music Lessons

George the guitar teacher has lesson spaces as does Music Guru for piano, drum and singing. Please contact the office for further details, or you can contact Music Guru direct;

themusicguru4u@gmail.com/ https://www.facebook.com/musicguru4u/ / http://www.musicgurulessons.co.uk

Key Dates

Monday 19th October-Friday 23rd October

Travel survey week (more information below)

Wednesday 21st October

Deadline for school lunches

Thursday 22nd October

Individual school photos

Friday 23rd October

Term finishes
Individual school photos

Monday 2nd November

Autumn term 2 starts

Thursday 26th November

Flu Immunisations

Donation requests for the school

Please can we have any old car toys and any old play food toys
Please can we have donations of bulbs such as daffodils, bluebells and tulips
We would also like donations of old aluminum sinks and saucepans for a mud kitchen in the front garden.

Thank you!

PTA Update

Its FRIDAY!

A brief update from me this week and a reminder of the fun we have approaching

Saturday 31^st – Evendons Halloween Trail – things are going to get spooky round here – we have a number of WONDERFUL parents who have committed to decorating their houses for us to follow a trail. Simply complete the Google Form and a Goody bag will be delivered to your children’s classroom – bargain at £2. https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSedUvG7m.../viewform... Please ensure that we have your orders by Monday latest to give us time to put the bags together.

Thanks so much for all your support – it is much appreciated!

Kerri

Travel Survey Week

Dear All

Next week is Walk to School Week and we are recording the mode of travel that parents and children use every day with a QR code. Evendons currently has Mode Shift Stars' Silver accreditation for our school travel planning and impact. This year we are aiming to get Gold so please scan the QR code on your phone each day next week as this will take you to a short survey to complete on whether you have walked, cycled etc and we can get that gold!

Happy walking, cycling and scooting!

November is usually the time we would be inviting you in to meet your children's teachers for parents evening. Having looked into attempting some form of socially distance meetings and talked to other schools about their experiences we have decided to conduct this term's meetings via zoom.

Dates for your diary then are either Wednesday 11th November (3:45-6:15) or Thursday 12th November (4:45-7:45).

You will be able to book your slot/s on Arbor when booking goes live on Monday 19th October. Booking will be open for two weeks and close on Friday 30th October.

I will bring you more details about all of this closer to the time.

Thank you all and have lovely weekends

Matt

Harvest at St Paul’s Church, Wokingham.

To celebrate harvest this year, there will be a chalk path outside St Paul’s Church. Come and join the hopscotch, alphabet prayers and floor stained glass chalk, with room to add your own chalk drawing if you’d like to. We will also be making a picture on the grass made out of conkers, acorns, twigs and leaves, so please bring lots of interesting natural things so you can add your bit to the picture too.

There will be chalk and hand gel, please do use the hand gel before and after you touch anything and remember to keep a safe distance from anyone else on the path.

Autumn Arrives

Dear All

It seems Autumn has arrived so please make sure that the children are coming into school with suitable coats etc to keep them warm and dry as we will continue to be using our lovely grounds even if it is a bit wet and cold.

Boris announcements last Thursday have not had too much impact on how we are running the day here at school but they do mean we need to tighten up social distancing and safety precautions at drop off and home time. Just a reminder then to:

Keep 2m apart where ever possible
Move quickly through the playground without stopping to chat
Follow the paths
Keep the exit gate clear
Consider wearing a mask if possible

Thank you all and have lovely weekends

Matt

Parent Meeting Recording 24.09.20

Below is the recording of yesterday's Parent Meeting where I set out the schools development plan for this year and talked a bit about what would happen in the event of a full or partial lock-down. It would be great if you all put aside half an hour to see the direction I want the school to be continuing in.

Please skip to 3minutes 30seconds in the video as this is when the meeting started.

Parent Meeting 24.09.20.mp4

We need your Old Laptop!

The lock-down, and subsequent need for children to access work at home, has shown how lucky we are to have a chromebook per child at Evendons . 1 in 3 students in the UK are without access to a laptop at home and many schools have struggled to provide the kind of provision that Evendons’ children have been enjoying.

We now have an immediate need in 2 of our BPET MAT schools that serve two very deprived parts of London. Not only to they face a greater risk of bubble and local lock-down but the schools and community to not enjoy the resources that we do.

Our plan is to provide as many converted laptops as possible for the families there to use should they go into quarantine and lock-down.

If you have any old laptops with chargers please send them into school.

(Basically, any computer running Windows which is less than 10 years old)

PC Requirements:

The computers to donate will be wiped and reimaged, they should meet these minimum requirements:

- 64-bit x86 processor or equivalent

- At least 2 GB of memory (RAM)

- Hard drive (4GB or larger)

- Please provide the correct power supply

(Basically, any computer running Windows which is less than 10 years old)

Data Security:

In an era where protecting sensitive information is so important, the ability to ensure user data is securely erased from a data storage device is critical. HP has implemented a disk erase feature for ALL hard disks/SSD’s in the HP Refresh Software which meets the NIST SP800-88r1 “Clear” level requirements for the cleaning of disk media.

For more information on the HP Refresh Programme we are following please visit: https://www8.hp.com/us/en/solutions/education/refresh.html

Settling in

Another week gone and we are finally a full school. Reception have completed their first full days and have settled into Evendons life brilliantly! Daily life here at school is as normal as it can be and we're even back to enjoying our music and movement sessions (socially distanced on the sports court of course!)

Below all my usual messages you will find an update from the PTA. Kerri and her team have been working really hard thinking about how to continue the amazing fund raising the PTA does within the new rules and guidelines. Please have a look through the documents I have sent out from them and pencil all these wonderful events into your diaries. The PTA provide the school with essential financial support and allow Evendons children access to resources and equipment which would be far beyond our reach without it.

The school is incredibly lucky (and grateful) for the support we receive from parents, so please have a look at how you can all continue this support in such interesting times!

Have great weekends

Matt

Virtual Year Group Meetings

I am sorry we can't invite you in to your year group meetings but you will find virtual meetings on the Hub today in your year group areas. They should help answer many of the questions you have at this time of year. Remember you can always contact class teachers using their year group email address.

Social distancing at Drop off and Pick up

On the whole the systems we have put in place are allowing for a smooth beginning and end to the day and much of the credit goes to you, the parents, who have been very supportive in turning up at the right times and following the guidelines in place.

I would just remind you to please keep your distance from each other in the car park and lines (where possible!) and remember to stay aware of those around you who may be feeling vulnerable. Although masks are not mandatory I would encourage their use as we do have several areas where keeping a social distance is more difficult.

Home work

Home work will be set via the Hub when possible so that the children can access it there from home. Home work is an excellent opportunity for children to consolidate what they have learned and teachers will always look and go through homework with children during class time. This is when they can pick up on any misconceptions or praise good work at this time. However, there is no requirement for teachers to comment or mark each piece of work.

Snacks

A reminder that all snacks coming into school must be healthy!

World's Biggest Coffee Morning

World's Biggest Coffee Morning is Macmillan Cancer Support's biggest fundraising event. Each year, people in the UK and worldwide host their own Coffee Morning. The donations received go towards Macmillan services. Unfortunately, due to Covid we are not able to host an event on site this year but look out for a special fundraising pastry that will be coming home with every child next Friday 25th September. Details of how to get involved will all be included.

PTA Update

Welcome back everyone – I hope your children are all enjoying being back into the school routine!

With this constant state of change at the moment, this will come as no surprise to you that all in person events are currently not being scheduled – please find attached our schedule of events for the first term. We recognise from feedback that you like to have all events at the beginning of the year, I am sorry, this year this has just not been possible.

Most urgent, we have bags for school next week – Friday 25^th. There will be a bay reserved from Wednesday – the gates to school will be open until around 6.30, so please do try to drop off your things after school hours or indeed before. We want to avoid having too many parents on site during the school day. I attach a poster of what can be donated

I would also ask you to review the fundraising document as this offers lots of way we can boost funds through things you are probably already doing.

As a registered charity, we are now having to look at new ways to raise those vital funds, we hope that you love the activities we have managed to put in place – please see the attached letter about considering a standing order (we hate to ask)

Finally, we have thought long and hard about this, we would like to ask parents to consider making more formal contributions to the PTA, either as a one off or a monthly payment. We also recognise that with the current economic situation, this may not be possible – I would hate any of us to feel under any pressure, but if you are able to our bank details are as follows:

Our bank details are:

Account Number: 00387268

Sort code: 774930

We have some exciting projects that we are working towards including upgrading our PA equipment, installing outdoor electric points, further enhancement to the KS2 trim trail, outdoor lighting and so the list goes on.

I thank you for your support and wish you all a fantastic weekend

Kerri

A successful return!

Dear All

First full week back then and a massive thank you to everyone for making it such a calm and successful one. As always at the start of term, there are lots of messages for you to read through so I will be brief.

I just wanted to bring back to our attention the concept of the assumption of positive intent, essentially always ‘thinking the best of someone’. I mentioned it in my last newsletter before the end of term and I want to open the new year with the same message.

I believe that a key ingredient of the hugely successful way in which we as a community have managed both lockdown, and the return to school, is the trust that you as parents have put in the school’s planning and decision making. In short you have assumed positive intent on our behalf even when faced with difficult or demanding requests and situations. The existence of a common problem, in this case Covid-19, has made this process easier, but I want to assure you that staff at Evendons always try to make the best decisions they can. However, we will make mistakes or decisions that you disagree with or don't understand. It is at that point that the assumption of positive intent, the believing of the best in each other, will help us to move swiftly back to a consensus on how to move forward for your child and for all the children at Evendons.

Thank you all again for such a positive start to the year.

Have lovely weekends

Matt

New play equipment

The children have been very excited this week to have their new Trim Trails to play and exercise on. The PTA have kindly funded not one, but two, excellent Trim Trails so that both KS1 and KS2 can enjoy and benefit from using them. Located in the Y1 outdoor area and the front woodland they are a brilliant addition to our outdoor resources and in the words of one Year 3 pupil “seriously amazing!” As the PTA begins giving details over the next few weeks of virtual and socially distanced fund raising events: please remember how vital those funds are to the school!

Class Videos

Usually at this time of year we would be inviting you into school to meet your child’s new teacher and attend a class meeting to find out what topics and experiences they will be doing. To make sure you still feel up to speed with what's happening, the teacher’s have been recording Year Group videos which will be released onto the Hub next Friday 18th September.

Reading Diaries

Quick reminder that all pupils need to be reading regularly at home and recording this in a reading diary that they bring into school. New reading diaries can be ordered from the office and paid for on sco-pay. Thank you.

Virtual Parent Meeting Thursday 24th September @ 8.00

We will be holding a virtual parent meeting on Thursday 24th September to set out this year's School Development Plan. It will give me a chance to set out our priorities for this year and Mark Greatrex (CEO) and Laura Gregory (Educational Director) from BPET will also be attending to talk about Evendons continual development within the MAT. A link to the meeting will be sent out nearer the time. It would be great to see everyone there!

Musical instruments

Message from Lucinda: It is great that I am able to return to teaching the children music again. To minimise the transition of resources to and from school, I have decided to keep musical instruments at school at this present time. I will be teaching both classes the ukulele, guitar and keyboard at the same time and will be cleaning instruments in between different classes using them. Any problems please contact me. Unfortunately we are still missing 6 guitars and 8 ukuleles, meaning some children will not have one next week. Please look high and low for them and return them to school ASAP. In Year 2, myself and Sarah N, will be teaching topic based music, and return to learning the recorder when guidance advises us to

PE Kits

A reminder that on days that your child has PE they should come to school in their kit and stay in it all day.

Computer Games

As teachers have chatted to pupil’s about what they have been up to over the holidays it has become clear that quite a few have been playing computer games that may not be appropriate for their age. Obviously, as parents this is ultimately your decision but I would urge you to think about the suitability of games such as ‘Grand Theft Auto’ and ‘Call of Duty’ (both rated PEGI 18) for primary aged children. I doubt any of us would consider showing 18 rated films to our children and it would be great to give the same consideration to the games we allow them to play.

Mini Mayor

Stanley Shambrook from last year's Year 6 has finished his stint as Wokingham’s Mini Mayor and the outgoing Mayor, Cllr Lynn Forbes, had this to say:

“It has been a delight to work with Stanley as our Mini Mayor, his enthusiasm is contagious, as is his smile. He has done an outstanding job and Evendons school must be proud of him, as proud as I am. I hope he has enjoyed his year.”

We are very proud of Stanley and hopefully he won't be the last Mini Mayor that Evendons provides the local community!

Bracknell and Wokingham Swimming Club

The swimming club is currently in the process of setting up their second trials night which will take place on Monday 19th October at Lambrook school. Their first trial night was a big success and they managed to take in over 30 new kids both into their academy programme and into the main squad programme. With the availability of swimming being uncertain for the foreseeable future this may be a great opportunity for some of our pupils. Please see the clubs poster attached for details.

We need you! (and your laptop.....)

Dear All

Two things I want to highlight this week as we come closer to the end of the academic year.

The first is a big thank you to the PTA who have worked incredibly hard this year to raise funds for a variety of school resources and materials. The most obvious of these is our new library of course, but orders have also gone in for a new ‘Trim Trail’ for Year 1, portable floodlights for the sports court and we are currently looking into leasing a minibus for the school which will hugely increase our ability to access opportunities off site. All of this is possible because of the hard work he PTA puts into organising and running events and the generosity of you, the parents.

Covid19 has obviously halted much of the PTA’s work this year and we estimate that we have lost £10,000 in potential raised revenue and a further £10,000 we would have received through business matching our fundraising efforts.

This £20,000 is money we would have used as a school to continue to make sure that the best resources and equipment are available for our children’s education and to allow us to continue to broaden the provision we offer.

If you feel that you would have normally contributed to the PTA events that have had to be cancelled and would still like to have the opportunity, I have asked the PTA to provide their bank account below for any donations. Thank you in advance for your support.

PTA Funding - bank account – 00387268 : sort code - 77-49-30

Grow a £ - Please ensure that all of your £’s and proceeds are returned either by bank transfer or into the bucket by the end of the school day tomorrow (10^th). The PTA will then be working with the school to divide between PTA and classes.

Bag2School – 17^th July – if you would like to drop off on Wednesday you will be able to do this – collection will be taken on Friday morning.

We need your Old Laptop!

I also wanted to share an exciting opportunity that Tony Eames (Evendon’s parent and LAB member) has brought to my attention and that could have far reaching effects not just at Evendons but at many other schools also.

The lockdown, and subsequent need for children to access work at home, has shown how lucky we are to have a chromebook per child at Evendons . 1 in 3 students in the UK are without access to a laptop at home and many schools have struggled to provide the kind of provision that Evendons’ children have been enjoying.

Whilst the government is launching various initiatives to support tech in schools, it is a slow process and Evendons want to leverage our community and gather unused computers, safely wipe the data using HP software, and donate them to students in need.

From Monday we will be hosting a computer drive to collect laptops you no longer need at home, or at work or even perhaps from a local business you has unused personal computers stashed in a storage room.

There will be a labelled container by the main school entrance to put them in.

These devices don’t have to be fancy – all the students need is browser capability. We will use HP Inc. Refresh Software to securely wipe data from all devices and re-image the devices by installing browser-based software. If you choose to erase data and install the software at your own location, follow the HP Refresh Software instructions found on the HP Refresh website. If you prefer to drop off the PCs and have Evendons erase the data, we will be responsible for erasing data from the PCs and installing the browser-based software within the school.

Help us spread the word. If you know any families or individuals that have unused computers to donate please ask them to donate.

This is a really exciting project for Evendon’s to get into and I look forward to seeing it grow! There are a few more technical details below!

Where the devices will go:

Once collected and the new web browser enabled devices are ready we will look to support children across the school and beyond should the supplier be available, starting with those most in need of a device. We have already started to discuss this opportunity with BPET who are looking to leverage this programme across their other schools.

PC Requirements:

The computers to donate will be wiped and reimaged, they should meet these minimum requirements:

- 64-bit x86 processor or equivalent

- At least 2 GB of memory (RAM)

- Hard drive (4GB or larger)

- Please provide the correct power supply

(Basically, any computer running Windows which is less than 10 years old)

Data Security:

For more information on the HP Refresh Programme we are following please visit: https://www8.hp.com/us/en/solutions/education/refresh.html

So, plenty to do in the last few days this year and it looks like the sun will return for our last 7 days together. It has been wonderful to have all the children back in and I am sure we will all see the benefits when everyone comes back in September.

I wish you all lovely weekends

Matt

Sports Day Fun and Return to School

We were delighted to welcome half of the school back to their classes this Thursday and Friday and very much look forward to seeing the other half on Monday and Tuesday. The happy sounds of children playing and enjoying their learning filled every classroom once again and the children have understood the 'bubble' system well. Thank you for supporting us with staggered drops off and pick up and for all the encouragement and gratitude so many of you have expressed at the gates.

Sports day

Congratulations to all the brilliant Evendons children who took part in our first ever Virtual Sports & Games Day! You are all Super Sports Stars!

There were many different events from Shuttle Run, Tennis ABC and a Cricket Challenge to an Olympics challenge made up of Volleyball, Fencing, and a Biathlon. Thank you to all the parents, brothers, and sisters who helped as scorers and timers.

For each event, there was an opportunity to win medals and points for your house team. I have been sent lots of results so far (thank you) and I am delighted to see so many of you winning bronze, silver, and gold medals- well done! Once all the scores are in, points collected for each house will be calculated and the winning house team announced in a Virtual Sports Assembly.

As always, the most important thing is taking part and having fun. Thank you for the messages and photos that show that you all tried your best and enjoyed the activities and thank you Claire T for organising this all for us.

Staffing News for September

We are pleased to announce that Anna Bailey will be joining the Evendons team in September as SENCO. Anna is Primary School Teacher with 20 years experience and has been volunteering at Evendons for several years , she has also helped to organise the Fantastic STEM fairs. Her children Evie and Issac attend Evendons and are in Reception and Year 3.

We are also delighted to announce that Sam Grimes is expecting her first child in November and so will be supporting us with planning and teaching in the Autumn term but will not be class based. We wish her the best of luck.

One of the reasons we were so keen to see all our children this term was so that we could start preparing the children for transitioning to their new teachers in September. We will be doing this via zoom stories and zoom Q &A sessions into each bubble over the next few weeks. This will give the children a chance to see and speak to their new teacher and also to hear what their current class have to say about them!

Please see this linked document that details the staff for each class for September 2020. We are happy to be welcoming Victoria to our teaching team in Year 1: Victoria is a qualified teacher and has been working as a TA at the school for the past 3 years.

We are also really sad to say farewell to Tom who has brought much laughter and music to Sharman class this year and has been great fun refereeing on the courts at lunchtime. Tom is moving to Bristol with his fiancee.

We also sadly say goodbye to Holly Shuter who has been teaching Gade class this year and is moving to the Acorns, Westende's SEN unit.

We wish them both the best of luck in their new positions.

I hope you have fantastic weekends and look forward to seeing some of you for the first time in a long time on Monday!

Matt

Heat!

It has been a hot week here at Evendons with everyone very thankful for the amount of shade our lovey grounds have. The children have been running through the sprinkler and finding lots of other ingenious ways to keep cool, as well as enjoying ice pops kindly donated by Charlotte G's parents.

The focus at home and school this week has been on preparing our time capsules and it has been fascinating to see the different things chosen to go into the ground. We have had photos, favourite stickers and cards, loom bands and sweeties. I have also bumped into a few Liverpool fans this morning who were making sure that their accomplishments would be remembered! Thank you to Catherine R for organising such a great week and having such a brilliant idea in the first place!

More exciting news this week as I continue to put a clear leadership structure in place here at Evendons. When I arrived in September the leadership team were fantastic in helping me to settle and hit the ground running and I have endevoured to reframe and clarify roles so that both staff and parents know who is responsible for what areas of the school. The first part of this occurred back in April, with Stacey taking on the Deputy Headship, focusing on Teaching & Learning and Jane becoming Office Manager overseeing the huge administrative side of running a school. The final piece of the jigsaw was completed today as Lucinda interviewed and was successful in becoming Assistant Headteacher for Inclusion & Behaviour. Lucinda is already making a huge impact in these areas of the school and I know that she is hugely keen to continue developing our core vision here at Evendons, that all children receive the provision they need to flourish. Congratulations Lucinda!

Thank you again to all parents who responded to the BPET survey and if you missed my letter responding to that the link is here: BPET Survey Letter

Just a reminder then that next week we are closed completely for cleaning on Wednesday before the very exciting prospect of welcoming all year groups back on Thursday.

We cant wait to see you all!

Have lovely weekends

Matt

Re-Reopening!

An exciting week here as we put together the plans to bring back as many children as we can before the end of term.

Response from parents of the returning year groups has been incredibly positive as you can imagine but I would like to acknowledge the huge support I have received from Reception and Year 1 parents who, despite seeing their provision reduced, have been 100% behind getting all the children back in. It has made making difficult decisions easier knowing that I have the full communities support in this!

From July 1st then, 92% of Evendons pupils will be back in to access at least 6 days of something closer to normal before we break up for Summer. I think we will all see the benefits of this over those 6 weeks and when we return in September.

Please also read this letter from Mark Greatrex, CEO of BPET, which he has sent to all Evendons parents today.

Mark's Letter to Parents

Couple of other points this week then:

Summer Club/Provision - I have been in contact with EnergyKidz and asked them to plan a summer club at Evendons this year. They, like us, are currently awaiting government guidelines on summer provision but we will bring you details as soon as we have them.

Time Capsule Week - Reminder that next week is Time-capsule week so check out the page below mine on the Hub. There is a single matrix for the whole school. We encourage the children to choose activities from the different columns, so that they end up with a combination of photos, crafts, collectibles, writing and drawing. It is not an exhaustive list, so if you have an idea not on the matrix then go for it! It’s up to you how many activities you complete. Some may take minutes, some hours or even days. I really look forward to seeing the interesting things children choose to keep!

So lots to look forward to over the next few weeks and perhaps we are nearing the easing of restrictions and the beginning of a return to normalcy. Today you should receive the groupings for children and then it's about giving the children the best 6 days we can!

Quick reminder that the school will be closed to ALL children Wednesday 1st July as we clean and prepare for everyone returning the next day.

Wishing you all hopefully a sunnier weekend!

Matt

Keep Calm and Carry On!

Dear All

A big thank you to all the children and parents who have returned to school this week. Everyone has done a brilliant job of making it as smooth a transition as possible and the little Reception and Year 1 pupil's have been amazingly grown up and have taken the changes in their stride.

A huge thank you too, to the parents who are still home-learning with the year groups still at home. I realise it may feel that the Government have forgotten you, but I can assure you we haven't! Although the majority of Staff are now back in school running the many 'bubbles' required to socially distance the school, Teachers are continuing to plan and upload exciting matrices to the Learning Hub each week.

So for the foreseeable future (around 3 weeks in the current educational world), there is the same expectation that work is completed and uploaded into the files or onto the slides each week. All work is looked at by a member of staff and as before it is easier for staff to look at work when it is uploaded during the week rather than just at the end of the week. A couple of other points to remember are:

All work is looked at by staff however they are just commenting on one piece of work each week due to the fact that they now have double the number of children's work to monitor.
If work is not uploaded each week then the teacher will contact parents.
Teachers will continue putting work on the feedback/ celebration pages of the Learning hub each week.
Assemblies will continue to uploaded regularly for the children to watch.

Staff really value all the hard work and effort that is going into homeschooling and enjoy seeing the photos and documents that are being uploaded each week. We are also planning another themed week coming up - so watch this space!

As the nation begins to reopen and we start functioning 'normally' again it is important that as much data as possible is collected to aid the government's response. The Covid Symptom Study app is a crucial early detection tool which helps us understand if there is a risk of a second wave of the virus. It is free and easy to use and collects data on you and your children/s health each day. Please consider downloading and updating this yourselves.

Claire T has been keeping me up to date with the Pentathlon efforts going on over half term. It was brilliant to see so many children and adults taking part and I know Claire and all the staff here are very proud of everyone's efforts.

Claire has put together a presentation with individual results to watch.

Well done everyone who took part!

Pentathlon2020.mp4

Before I wish you all a lovely weekend, I would like to thank a couple of parents who have been coming in during lockdown to help us keep the school grounds not just under control, but looking fantastic. A huge thank you then, to James and Emma Armitage who have been in frequently to mow, cut, prune, sweep and tidy! It has been a huge help and we really really appreciate it! Thank you also to Louise Brown who has been working really hard in our pond area in particular and we now have a very healthy tadpole population busily growing into a healthy frog population! I am looking forward to the time we can restart our regular work parties!

I hope you all have great weekends

Matt

STEM Week fun!

I hope you have all enjoyed STEM week as much as my family have and have been busy exploring different activities and getting your creative juices flowing. It has been amazing to see just how many projects have been going on this week and the celebration page is brimming with brilliant work! So well done everyone!

It has been a very busy week planning for the reopening after half term so it has been a real joy to turn my mind to some more practical problems and explore them with my children - keeps the brain young!

Next week is half term but Emily R has a fantastic art project to get our teeth into and keep little (and big) hands busy over the break.

Half Term Art Project

Make sure you check out the half term activity page for a fun art project to do over half term. It is a world wide art project where you are encouraged to create artwork to show what life is like at the moment and what you think the future might look like. Any artwork can be added to a virtual gallery and may even end up in a real gallery somewhere in the world once the museums reopen again. We would also love to see any artwork you create, so please email it to your year group email and it may even get included in our own Evendons virtual gallery!

Just a reminder then that as it is half term next week, I have been clear to staff that they need to rest and recharge as we prepare ourselves for the next phase of learning from June 1st. I hope you all get some rest over half term as well and enjoy the great weather we have been having.

Have lovely breaks

Matt

Partial reopening

Dear All

I have spent much of this week with the Senior Leadership Team trying to produce a practical plan of fulfilling the government’s ambition of some year groups returning to school from June 1st. I was hoping to bring you some details today, but having spent a week producing a plan, the DFE released fresh guidance last night which means I am not currently in that position.

What I can assure you of, is that we are working very hard to produce a plan which staff and parents can have confidence in.

Much of our ability to safely follow the government guidelines rests on what the increase in Key worker provision looks like from June 1st. If you are now considering taking up the key worker provision from June 1st (having not been doing so currently), please complete this survey.

Key Worker Survey

The government have asked us to prioritise pupil groups coming back to school in this order:

Key worker children & children with an EHCP
Foundation Stage
Year 1
Year 6

I hope to be able to offer more detail on which pupils can return, how we manage the health and safety of staff and pupils and what home learning will continue for the other year groups towards the end of next week. We will also be thinking carefully about how to explain all of this to the children and giving guidance to you on this.

Sleep

Sleep is very important and the lockdown does seem to be disrupting both the children’s and our normal patterns. Helen Masters has put together an Encouraging Sleep document to help any of you that are finding this a problem at home. She has also provided this Mindfulness Journal which you can download and use at home.

STEM Week

Next week is STEM week and the staff have been busy making lots of videos and instructions for all the different STEM activities. A reminder then that one single Matrix is being used by the whole school and it would be great to see some brilliant collaboration between siblings! I am really looking forward to seeing what you all come up with, it certainly won’t be difficult to better my Balloon Car attempt!

Wishing you all lovely weekends

Matt

VE75 Bank Holiday

The 75th anniversary of the end of the second world war in Europe has arrived and despite finding ourselves in unusual circumstances it seems the nation is still determined to remember and celebrate appropriately. In my house we shall be decorating with bunting, building an air raid shelter and eating a celebratory cream tea at some point as well. Stacey has prepared a VE75 assembly which you can find on the HUb's VE75 page. There are also lots of suggestions for activities for the day and different ways to commemorate. I hope you all enjoy commemorating and celebrating in equal measure tomorrow!

This seems a good moment to put forward a request from Father Richard who visits us at Evendons regularly. He has asked if the children at Evendons could write letters or draw pictures to send to the local Care and Nursing homes which are seeing some of the worst of recent events. Many of the occupants will have memories from 75 years and it would be great if the children could brighten up their current situations with some letters and drawings. I have put his message below:

I would encourage people to write to any Nursing Home they know or live near, to be honest, or have links with and send some pictures too. Write to the staff saying well done or write to the residents saying you’re thinking of them and hope that they are ok. If you want to be specific then the two nearest to you are probably:

Alexandra Grange, Oaklands Drive, Molly Millars Lane, Wokingham, RG41 2RU

The Berkshire Care Home, 126 Barkham Road, Wokingham, RG41 2RP

And could they also think of dropping round any old magazines or some new bottles of lemonade or some fruit or chocolates as well? That would be super. Father Richard

We are now finishing our 7th week of lockdown and unsurprisingly it is not getting any easier. I know from the home learning going on in my own home that keeping everyone motivated and sane is a full time job and that juggling this, work and everything else in life is becoming wearing. Please make sure that you take a moment to recognise your own achievements in all of this: all our children are safe and well and the work being produced each day on the Hub is phenomenal! As proud as I am of the staff here and the provision they are producing daily, I am equally proud to be part of a school community that has reacted so positively to such uncertain times.

We are continually evaluating the provision on the Hub to make sure not only that it is of the highest quality, but that it is also sustainable and manageable for pupils, parents and staff. Having reviewed again this week here are a few tips, requests and changes:

Marking and feedback: teachers have been endeavoring to comment and give feedback on every piece of work but this is proving difficult because of the amount of work the children are producing. Going forward, teachers will continue to read and look at every piece but may not mark or comment on every piece.
To aid in this it would be useful if pieces of work were submitted across the week rather than all uploaded at the end of the week when teachers are trying to put together celebration pages etc
A reminder that teachers can't always respond straight away to questions and emails. As well as providing feedback for pupils, they have to plan for the next week, as well as all still coming into school on a rota to provide for key worker children and looking after their own dependents at home as well.
Don't forget to re-watch the explanation videos as many times as your child needs. We repeat ourselves a lot in a school!
Keep sessions short: 30mins before a movement break, play or exercise is easily enough.
Don't be afraid to take a well being day and do something completely different! (I have done this with Sim & Martha and it did us all a lot of good!)
Have a read of Parents Guide to Motivating Children for more tips on motivating your child to learn at home!

Most importantly remember that the health and well being of you and your children is the most critical thing at this time and protecting this is more important than academic progress at this time!

Just a reminder then that the school is closed tomorrow for the bank holiday and that it looks like it might actually be a sunny one! Make sure you all get out and enjoy the fresh air and, if its safe to do so, visit some of the local blue bell spots. They've all come out in the last week or so and walking among them almost makes life feel normal!

I hope you all enjoy the VE75 celebrations and the extra days rest and have lovely weekends.

Matt

Home Learning Superstars!

We Can Do This Together!.mp4

Another week...

Apologies for the unimaginative headline, but it is getting more and more difficult to think of headlines for my newsletter as each week goes by!

Also, did you know a recent survey found that the British talk about the weather 40% more than any other nationality! So, bearing this in mind, and another study's findings that 60% of statistics are made up - I am definitely not going to talk about the slight downturn we may have all noticed this week in the weather. I hope it hasn't dampened anyone's spirits anyway!

A few notices and things to look out for:

VE75 celebrating 75 years since the end of the second world war is coming up and we will be planning a few extra ways to celebrate it
Today is the last day to send a home learning photo to lucindag@evendons-primary.co.uk
The learning on the Hub continues to look amazing and it is great to see the effort being put in by you all at home. Please keep it up!
Remember to use the email familysupport@evendons-primary.co.uk if there is anything you feel you may need the school's support or advice on.

Celebration time!

This week's congratulations go out to Zanthe, Harriet and Willow Cumberland who took on the 2.6 challenge and jogged, cycled and scootered 26 times around their block! The grand total distance of their effort was over 8 miles and they have already raised over £600!

I love the 26 over-layed laps of the block in the tracking picture on the right! It must have taken some real determination to keep going!

Huge well done from all of us here at Evendons and I look forward to hearing of other fundraising exploits going on!

Just a reminder then that celebration pages and next week's work will all be uploaded onto the Hub from lunchtime on Sunday and that Friday 8th May is a bank holiday, so although the school will remain open for key worker children, the teaching staff will not be giving feedback or responding to emails from 5:pm Thursday until Monday 11th May.

I wish you all sunnier weekends!

Matt

Busy, Busy, Busy............

I hope everyone has got back into the swing of home learning this week. Don't worry if its felt slow going as the first week back is always hard as children relearn routines and expectations. Remember, don't try to replicate what we do here but try to find your own rhythm and patterns of work as a household. Don't forget, you know your children best, and you know when is the right time to down tools and go get some fresh air!

I hope everyone enjoyed the assemblies and matrix videos this week and that our faces weren't to distant a memory! If you haven't checked out Stacey's latest assembly then it went live this morning on the assemblies page and has a great message around the resilience you are all showing at the moment! In line with Wokingham's current guidelines around online safety we will be continuing to use pre-recorded videos, and we are continuing to explore how we can best support you with an ever evolving situation. To this end we will now be publishing next week's work and videos over Sunday lunch time to allow you all some preparation time before Monday morning starts.

To continue to support you as best we can, from today we have a new email address, familysupport@evendons-primary.co.uk, which has been set up to allow anyone who feels they need some additional support to contact our pastoral team. Helen M has also produced a useful parenting information sheet which outlines some tip for coping with the challenges of home learning alongside everything else going on. Please feel free to share Parent Information beyond the Evendons community!

In other news, Lucinda has another of her amazing musical plans up her sleeves and would like as many pictures of you all home learning as possible sent in by next Friday to lucindag@evendons-primary.co.uk, (If you are not happy for your child's face to be in it perhaps a photo from behind would still be great!)

Celebration time then: First off I am delighted to announce that one of our pupils has made it though to the next round of the national 500 words competition! Lauren Powell's excellent short story The Crumb is well worth a read and has been selected from the initial 135, 000 entries to go to the next round of only 5000. Well done Lauren, we are very proud of you and good luck!

Evendons itself has made it into the local paper! Apparently they had heard on the grape vine of excellent home learning going on and wanted the full scoop!

Another amazing story this week from Emma and Lynn Steiner who worked incredible hard over Easter to design, make and hand deliver (socially distanced of course) 48 Easter Cards to the residents of local care homes. Amazing job girls and a real example of Kindness Matters! We are all very proud of you!

So that just leaves me to remind you to check out the celebration pages of all your fantastic work on Sunday and look out for more assemblies on the assemblies page from Monday next week.

Wishing you all a restful weekend

Matt

Summer begins!

So Monday is officially the beginning of our Summer term and it looks very much like our 'new normal' will continue for a bit longer!

I hope you have all enjoyed some form of break and are looking forward to a little bit of structure in the day again! The Hub will be full of work again and I know lots of children will be excited by the new topics being started this term. I look forward to seeing all your hard work!

Please make sure you watch my first attempt at a Picture News assembly some time on Monday (Picture News Page) and be kind as children's TV presenter was not my first choice of career - although it turns out perhaps it is not so dissimilar to what we do here at school!

Week 3 work will be published on Monday morning to the Year group pages. We are working on moving the publishing date to Sunday to allow a days preparation at home before the week starts. I hope to do this from next week.

And lastly, as we embark on another month or so of home learning I would reiterate a few simple points:

Please don't try to replicate what we do here at school - use the hub to guide you in tasks and activities but make sure it is manageable for you as a household. Catherine brought this website to my attention and I think it would be a useful read to any parent grappling with home learning at this time.

https://sites.google.com/stem.org.uk/science-of-learning-at-home/?utm_campaign=mc

Keep movement, exercise and music at the forefront of your day - its what keeps us human!
Read, Read and Read some more!!!!

Have a great week

Matt

We're even better when we're dancing!

Term ends - kind of...

Well we have all made it to the Easter break and usually we would all be looking forward to spending some time with our families and maybe getting out and about. I would imagine many of your homes look like mine with makeshift offices having been built and everyone trying to use the WiFi at the same time! At least our dog Red is enjoying having us all at home all the time! As a family we are looking forward to slowing down over the next few weeks and trying to take as much of a break as is possible under the circumstances. It is equally important for you and your families to take a break from learning too. With this in mind there will be no new work posted on the Hub until Monday 20th April and teachers will not be checking class emails until after the Easter break. The celebration pages and a new Easter Section on the Hub with plenty of ideas and fun activities will be published on Sunday and Helen Masters has also added two new sections to the Wellbeing page: one with ideas for Easter and the other with some thoughts around combating any anxiety that may be growing in both children and adults at this time.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my staff publicly for their enthusiasm to adapt to change and to tackle these uncertain times with such commitment. I spent some time this week looking through the children's wonderful work folders and I was so impressed with the dedication being shown by staff to comment on as much work as possible as well as move the children's learning on. Also, the school will be remaining open to key worker children over the Easter break and Bank Holidays and I have been inundated with staff willing to volunteer to make this possible!

Amongst everything else going on there have been some exciting developments at school as we continue to develop our staffing structure and recruit for September.

I'm excited to introduce Hannah Chamberlain who will be joining our KS1 team from September. Hannah has just gained her Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and we are really thrilled for her to begin her career with us here at Evendons.

Some of you will recall that I would be re-framing the leadership team to both reflect the experience of my senior leadership team and respond to the needs of the school now that it is full. I am delighted to tell you all, that after a successful interview process with myself and Laura Gregory from BPET, Stacey is now Evendons Deputy Headteacher and will be taking on the role straight away! Stacey will be focusing on developing teaching & learning across the school and the appointment of a new SENCo in September will free her up to concentrate on this area.

Also this week, Jane has accepted the post of Office Manager at Evendons. I am really pleased as this role now fully reflects the huge contribution Jane makes to the smooth (and safe) running of the school and BPET allowed me to tailor her job description to incorporate the huge strategic role Jane plays as part of the senior leadership team.

I feel it has been a successful beginning to my Headship, and a huge factor in that is the continuous support I have received from these two colleagues. I know that you will all recognise more than me the importance of their contribution to the school over the past few years. I hope you will all join me in offering them both huge congratulations and I look forward to continuing to move Evendons forward with them both.

That leaves me with one last thought before wishing you all a happy Easter. It seems that at this time memes and quotes are everywhere trying to give meaning to what is happening around us. I'd like to add one more to the mix. This is a little quote from a wise old wizard answering a friend unsure of what to do:

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

I hope you all find ways to enjoy this time that has been given so abruptly to us and take advantage of the situation as best we can.

Have lovely Easters,

Matt

Congratulations!

Wonderful news this week that William Anthony Morris was born at 1:05pm on 25th March weighing 7lbs 5oz. Mum and baby are both well and we look forward to (eventually) meeting him in person!

I'm sure you will all join me in sending Michelle and Ryan huge congratulations!

Week One down!

Dear All,

I hope you are all keeping well and managing this different way of life!

It is wonderful that the Evendons Learning Hub is being used so effectively and it has been fantastic to see the children’s work this week. We can see music and movement being taught by children to their siblings, art work being created, calculations being completed and some wonderful story writing. Well done children and parents!

Celebration and Feedback pages for Week 1 will go live at noon on Sunday. Although it is not possible to celebrate all the children's work from last week, it will be great to see what some have been up to.

From talking to parents and homeschooling my own children, it seems work expectation is a key question at this time. There is an expectation that the children complete a selection of the work given to them following the time guidelines, but we do understand that there are various factors that can impact this. Please email your teacher if you should need support and let us know if we can help in any way.

yearr@evendons-primary.co.uk

year1@evendons-primary.co.uk

year2@evendons-primary.co.uk

year3@evendons-primary.co.uk

year4@evendons-primary.co.uk

year5@evendons-primary.co.uk

year6@evendons-primary.co.uk

Teachers are continuing to work hard: reading and commenting on work on google drive and planning home learning for future weeks. Please remember to use the year group emails to communicate with staff and note that when work is saved to the designated folder, the teachers can see it, there is no need to also email or to share with the teacher. Also, a quick reminder that I do not expect teachers to respond to emails over the weekends either.

We are very fortunate to have such great systems already in place in school and I’m sure you are learning more and more about Google Drive every day!

During the Easter Holidays, the teachers will not be setting teaching tasks, but instead look out for the Hub’s Easter Page arriving which will have plenty of fun activities to do. We have also added many useful links to the Hub which families can access during the break.

At present, the critical key worker children will still be able to attend school during the Easter period. But again please make sure that this is only used if you have no other means of looking after your child. I would like to thank you all, as it is clear you have thought carefully about this and I know not all schools have been as lucky. This helps us to keep our staff in school each day to a minimum, which reduces risk all round. With this in mind, we are not accepting any visitors to the site from now on except these key workers and the staff looking after them.

Many thanks for your continued support at this extraordinary time.

Keep up the good work!

Matt

Home school PE with my children this morning!

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary learning!

Welcome to The Evendons Learning Hub.

Here you should find everything you need to continue learning while we can't all be together in school. The teachers have worked really hard to make sure you have access to everything you need to not only keep brains working hard, but also your bodies and minds in a healthy state.

Each year group has their own area and this will be kept updated by teachers on a weekly basis.

Work the children complete can be saved to their Google folder (except for Reception, who are expected to complete their work in their exercise book) which teachers have access to and they will then give feedback to move learning on across the week. Please follow the advice and guidelines from your child's relevant year group page. If you have any questions please email your year group email address.

yearr@evendons-primary.co.uk

year1@evendons-primary.co.uk

year2@evendons-primary.co.uk

year3@evendons-primary.co.uk

year4@evendons-primary.co.uk

year5@evendons-primary.co.uk

year6@evendons-primary.co.uk

As well as the academic resources please make sure you make use of the physical, musical and outdoor learning resources too. The coming weeks hold a lot of unknowns and it is important to continue to exercise bodies and minds. I would encourage you to sit and eat together and make conversation an important part of the day. Much of the learning we do here at school is social and continuing this through playing games, working on joint projects and simply talking is vital.

I am so proud of the whole community for the calm and collected way everyone has carried on and I am confident that this will continue into the coming weeks. Please remember that all of this requires a flexible approach as staff members balance their own family situations and possible health implications. I will continue to update everyone as and when information is shared with me.

I look forward to seeing all the wonderful work you produce!

Matt

Advice

Do you need a timetable?

We advise you to work together a s a family to draw up a timetable with a short-term daily structure.

You don’t have to stick to this rigidly but it helps everyone to know what’s next.

Be sure you have timed breaks in there with things you like to do and to include opportunities to do exercise and to go outside. Agree on this and put it somewhere visible.

Encourage children to get dressed in the morning so that the day is purposeful.

Should you give rewards?

A clear positive reward system that everyone can buy into and which is visible to all will help motivate children. These rewards don’t have to cost money and they don’t have to be edible!

Any other tips?

Some other things you could do are:

write/email/call elderly relatives or people you know who are isolated
look at old photos
get everyone involved with the household chores
teach children domestic tasks such as some cooking or using the washing machine
rearrange bedrooms and have a clear out
grow your own vegetables
get the beach games out!

Try to avoid......

Loneliness/isolation – having children in their rooms all day will have a negative effect so drag them out, they won’t realise it but they will happier after some activity, usually after they have done it!

Siblings arguing – probably had too much time together! Separate and give them time to cool down. We call it ‘time out’ in teaching

Over exposure to media reports on COVID-19 to avoid anxiety etc.