• Parentline 07520 619919 – Healthy Family Teams confidential texting service to provide parents and carers advice around feeding, child development, parenting advice and support, emotional health and wellbeing, behaviour difficulties and family health.
• Chat Health 07507 329952 - this is a confidential texting service for 11 to 19 year olds in Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. 
• ChildLine 0800 1111 www.childline.org.uk   
• Kooth - www.kooth.com - this is an online counselling service.
• Health4teens - www.healthforteens.co.uk - this is an NHS site supporting young people around emotional wellbeing.
• Health4kids – www.healthforkids.co.uk – this is an NHS site supporting young children and parents.
• Notts Help Yourself – www.nottshelpyourself.org.uk – this is a site for advice, information and local services available.
• CAMHS crisis team  - Tel 01158542299 or 01158440560 or email CAMHSCrisisTeam@nottshc.nhs.uk
• Young Minds – www.youngmids.org.uk

Friday 20^th March 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

Today is a very sad day for all of the staff team here at William Gladstone. We are all living through very unusual times that are difficult for us all to navigate. Thank you all for working with us, for being so considerate and supportive. Your kind words have really lifted the spirit of the team here!

We have asked the children to focus on the happy day ahead when we can open our school gates once more to everyone. What a great day that will be! We all met at 3pm in the key Stage 2 playground today and said goodbye for now. We joined elbows instead of hands and cheered the teachers for their hard work and kindness. This was very emotional of course but I wanted them all to know that we are all in this together.

Children who are eligible for a Free School Meal will have a lunch delivered to their door on Monday. The staff will knock on the door and then walk back to keep a safe distance away from you. Please let the children give us a wave from a window – we will be missing you!

Christ Church has a Facebook page – Christ Church Newark-on-Trent. Please keep an eye on this as Paul and Liz are thinking creatively about ways that they can support you all through these difficult times. They are a real hub in our community.

Parents of children that are able to come into school will have been notified before I finish work today. If you do not hear from me, it is because the eligibility form has not been completed in full or because you do not qualify as a key worker. Please ring school on Monday if you have any questions about this. I am very grateful to all parents that are making provision for their child to stay home as much as possible. Many parents who are keyworkers are still managing to do this in the interests of everyone else. Thank you!

Children who are coming into school may wear their own clothes each day. We are planning to keep a small section of school open to reduce the areas that we need to clean. We will create a routine every day for the children which will remain constant - regardless of which adults are working with them. We will only be opening the main reception door. Please collect children from here as well at the end of your shift. If your job requires you to change your working pattern, please let us know so that we can make sure we have a good ratio of adults. If anyone in your household starts to show symptoms of the Coronavirus (a persistent, dry cough or a temperature) please notify us straight away and arrange for someone to collect your child from school.

For those of you working from home the teaching team will keep the Teams folders well stocked with work for your child to work. We will make extra work packs, and deliver them, if the period of time becomes extended. You may find that creating a new kind of routine will help with children learning at home. Structure and consistency will help them to manage in these unusual circumstances.

I would like to thank all of my staff team for their amazing team spirit and sense of duty. I am so proud of their ability to rise to the occasion and go above and beyond. They do this because they love your children and are committed to our community. They would all like to join me in saying that we sincerely hope that this period is short-lived - we will all miss everyone so much.

I will, of course, keep you all updated as the days go by - please check our usual forums for newsletters and updates. I would love you all to stay in touch too – please let the teachers know how the children are doing and ask for help with the home learning should you need it.

You will all be in our thoughts and prayers.

With sincere best wishes for your health and well-being,

Sarah Clarke and the staff team at William Gladstone CofE Primary Academy

Wednesday 18^th March 2020

RE: School Closure

Dear Parents/Carers,

As I am sure you are all aware, this evening, the Government has instructed all schools to close to most pupils this week. This means we will sadly have to close school at 3.30pm on Friday 20^th March. I must stress that it is highly likely that this closure will be for a long period of time. We are sorry that this is the case, but now is the time to put in place the procedures we have been planning.

Thankfully, the school will be open to the children of those who are identified as a key worker during this pandemic. The cabinet office will be issuing further guidance as to who these workers are tomorrow and I will update you as soon as I know the full details. We shall also remain open for children who have an allocated social worker or an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP). Again I will clarify this tomorrow with the parents that this concerns.

We are keen to ensure as little disruption as possible to learning for all pupils, especially for those who are at home. Health permitting, all staff will continue to work with children who are at home by setting learning tasks on class teams and with work packs.

Should you need to, you are able to contact staff via the school office email address which is office@wmg.snmat.org.uk Your email will be immediately forwarded to them so they can respond. Staff will not be able to respond to emails that do not come directly through the school office email account.

We plan to staff the office between 8.30am and 3.45pm each day and welcome phone calls and emails in particular. Breakfast provision will be available for the children of Keyworkers. Please let me know if this applies to your child so that we can staff the provision accordingly.

We would appreciate it greatly if you could avoid coming to school to ask questions if your child is not at school, as this will increase the risk of spreading the coronavirus further.

Children Eligible for Free School Meals

The local authority is yet to announce what arrangements are to be put in place for the provision of food for children eligible for free school meals (whether they are at home or at school), but we hope to be able to share more information on this in the next 24 hours. We are, of course, making plans to ensure this is in place as soon as possible.

What to do if you are concerned about something

If your child is not one of those in school and there is anything at all that you think we can help you with, please contact the school office who will forward your email to whoever you wish it to go to. We will aim to respond as soon as possible.

Tasks and activities for pupils

We would like to ask parents and carers to support their children in doing the following tasks for the duration of the closure:

1. Read a book of your choice for at least 15 minutes each day and keep a diary of what has been read.
2. All children in Year 1 and upwards have been given a login to ‘TTRockstars’. This is a personalised online system of learning for maths that we have chosen to use with pupils both in school and at home. Many children are also able to use ‘Nessy’ a spelling and reading programme.
3. For all classes other work/activities/tasks will be set using Outlook Teams as shared in the ‘Working from Home’ document. This can be found on the school website and was shared by ParentMail a few days ago. Teachers will respond to the work set by pupils and give them feedback and further learning tasks.
4. Work packs were sent home yesterday in readiness for this eventuality. Children can do a little of these each day. Please talk with your child about what they are learning.
5. Extra tasks and activity ideas will also be put on Facebook and the website. This will continue to be populated so please keep checking what is on there.

N.B We know that the internet can be inaccessible at times for many people, so we are trying to find alternative ways of working for those who need it.

If your child was not in school today, you are welcome to come to the school office tomorrow to pick up your child’s resources or arrange for someone else to pick them up on your behalf if you are self-isolating.

Children who complete all of the set tasks will be rewarded on their return to school.

Just because the school will be closed to many children, it doesn’t mean we are no longer there to help and support. We are more than aware that this is a very worrying time and that financial difficulties will affect many of our families. Please ask if you think we can help.

We hope that you are able to keep safe and look forward to the day when the school is once again able to open to all pupils.

With sincere best wishes,

Sarah Clarke and the staff team at William Gladstone CofE Primary Academy

Dear Parents and Carers                                                                             17^th March 2020

In light of the recent Government updates and recommendations, it is now imperative that anyone with a cough or a temperature must self-isolate for 14 days, along with their whole household.

As you will be aware, the government have also given strong advice that people who fall into the vulnerable category or who have relatives who are ill, must also stay at home to distance themselves. This means that we are running on a reduced staffing in school. Please bear with us as we continue to open school despite the many challenges that we are all facing.

I have made the decision, based on all DFE advice, to limit movement and large gatherings. For this reason, and due to staffing difficulties, we are having to cancel all clubs and sporting activities for now. This includes swimming for Year 4. I am sorry that this is the case but the school day has to end at 3.30pm for all children.

We are working on contingency planning for in case we have to close the school. This will only happen if the Government tells us we have to or if there are insufficient staff able to work. Please familiarise yourself with the online portal that is already populated with work for all children in each class Years1- 6. Please let the school office team know if you are unable to access the internet at home through wither a computer, tablet or a gaming console. If this is the case for you, we will make sure home learning packs are made available for your child.

As always, we are keeping things light and happy in school. The most important thing for the children is that we give them a happy, carefree environment in which to learn and socialise and feel safe. They are amazing, as always, with their good humour and kindness – they are a real credit to you.

Mrs S Clarke

Head Teacher

Working from home

Teams Login                       

1. Open internet browser                 https://portal.office.com
2. Enter your class followed by @snmat.org.uk             eg            butterflies@wmg.snmat.org.uk

1. Type in your password                  All are William2020            

1. When in office click on Teams  

1. You may be asked to login again!

1. To get your work click on files.

1. When the work is completed, the children should then re-upload. Please enter your name as the file’s name so we know whose work is whose. This will be logged in activity.

Note:

What is the risk of catching coronavirus in the UK?

The UK Chief Medical Officers have raised the risk to the public from moderate to high.

Symptoms of coronavirus

The symptoms of coronavirus are:

• a cough
• a high temperature
• shortness of breath

But these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness.

The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common, such as cold and flu and most people can continue to go to work, school and other public places.

Dear Parents and Carers                                                                             13^th March 2020

Last night, a student teacher who was working at William Gladstone has self-isolated as a precaution following the governments guidance. She has a mild cough and a slightly raised temperature but otherwise feels well. We are all very hopeful that this is just a normal cold virus but have taken the extra precaution to close school for one day to facilitate a deep clean in all areas.

This student teacher cannot be tested as the government has said that they will now only test people who need hospital treatment. This leaves me in a very difficult position. I cannot either confirm or disprove if this is a case of Covid-19.  Following Public Health England guidelines, and contact with the Department for Education, there is no need at this stage for the school to take further action, and your child should continue to attend school as from Monday. Their advice is to monitor the situation in school and seek further advice if we have concerns. The safety of your child is always at the forefront of our priorities in school.

I have been asked by the Department for Education to reassure parents that they are happy with the steps we are taking to minimise the chances of the virus spreading in school but also that if any parent has any concerns, to encourage them to contact the DfE direct on: 0800 046 8687

I can confirm that areas of the school have undergone a deep clean and we have already implemented more thorough cleaning practices across the school since returning from the half term break. All the children and staff are washing hands regularly.

I will of course update you on this and all matters concerning Coronavirus regularly as the picture develops. I am hopeful that this is an over cautious move on our part; we want to be extra vigilant and hope that you will support us in our efforts to follow guidelines.

Mrs S Clarke