Dear Parents and Caregivers

The global events of the past couple of weeks have really given cause to pause and think. Our primary teams have been taking the time to stop and reconnect with the learners. With a focus on:

• Re-engaging

• Revisiting essential agreements

• Reminding learners they have trusted adults in school

• Focusing on kindness and empathy

If you are worried about your child and any additional stress or anxiety they may be feeling at this time, please don't hesitate to reach out.

On a different note, I hope you have taken the opportunity to engage with your child and their homeroom teacher through our Learning Conferences. The conferences are a real opportunity for you and your child to have a genuine learning focussed conversation facilitated by their homeroom teacher, I hope you have found them valuable.

As we continue to unpack the IB PYP framework we have focused on our ATLs (Approaches to Learning) this week in our 'News from the Year Groups'. The ALTs are the skills learners use for learning, they are grouped as communication, social, self-management, thinking and research. These skills are explicitly planned for, and taught, through our units of inquiry and form a common thread that runs through our PYP framework and beyond into the MYP (Middle Years Programme). As an example, research skills could well be the focus of a history based Where We Are in Place and Time unit inquiry into migration. The ATLs build the toolkit that learners need to explore, inquire and then share their thinking and perspectives. I like to think of these skills as future proofing our learners, enabling them to apply themselves and be versatile learners.

We will also be running a Parent Workshop on Tuesday, 15 March where we will dive deeper into the Approaches to Learning and the importance of these skills. Please go to our 'Upcoming Events' page for further information.

I hope you enjoy the Learning Conference activities on Seesaw with your child this weekend.

Best wishes

Fiona Lewis

Head of Primary