The COVID-19 virus has meant that we have all had to make changes to the way we live our lives. The most important thing is to help everyone in your household to stay safe and look after the health and well-being of all those you live with. Follow the latest guidance on the Welsh Government website.

Secondly you can support your children to stay learning. As a parent/carer you are not being asked to take on the role of teacher or to deliver the school day in your own home. Children will need different support depending on many things, including age and learning needs. You and your children’s teachers know your children best.

Please remember that your children are learning all the time and being in school is just part of that. There may be days when you are working and when you have other people to care for. There may be days when you or your children are tired, someone is ill or when it just isn’t possible to help your children with their learning. This is fine. During these difficult times it is important to try to keep some structure and routine to your days.

Try following these steps.

Finding family routines

• These can help provide security and support well-being.
• There are no rules for this – do what works for you and your family but they will include things like getting up, getting dressed, mealtimes, etc.

Connecting with others

• Keeping our social connections with others is one of the most important things we can do to help our well-being at this time.
  
• Try to find ways for your children to connect with some of the people they will have spent time with during a school day – school is a very social place and your children may be missing this at the moment.
• Enjoy the time you spend supporting your children’s learning – we learn best when we are relaxed and having fun.

Being active

• Physical activity and movement is not just good for keeping fit, it also helps with how we are feeling.
  
• It is important that your children are physically active throughout the day – they move around a lot during a school day.
• Try to get outside daily in accordance with the latest guidance from the Welsh Government. Learning happens outdoors as well as indoors and being in the fresh air can make us feel better.

Keep learning

• Learning something new or getting better at something can give us a sense of purpose and achievement.
  
• Decide how best to make distance learning work for you and your children – not every day needs to be the same.
• Look for times when you can learn together – your children will be used to learning with others.
• Allow your children to be independent – let them do things on their own sometimes.
• Real learning takes time – do not feel that you have to get everything done.

Taking notice

• Noticing what is happening here and now helps stop us worrying about things which are out of our control.
  
• Talk to your children about their learning and listen to what they have to say.
• Try and find somewhere quiet for your children to do some of their learning – sometimes they will need a little bit of peace and quiet.

Giving

• Doing something kind for somebody else makes us all feel better.
  
• Encourage this in your child as would happen in school.

​We are preparing to start 'distance learning' for ALL pupils on Monday 20th April. Planning for this is being assisted by GWE (whose guide to online tools can be accessed here).

Teachers in Foundation Phase (Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) will mainly be making use of SeeSaw to support online learning. Teachers in Key Stage 2 (Years 3, 4, 5 and 6) will be using Hwb and Google Classroom.

Over the next few days we need to know who can access online tools. Please can all children attempt to access Hwb or Seesaw. If we do not make contact with you, we will be making phone calls to establish what we can do to help with online access and/or distance learning. It is VITAL that, as far as possible, that there is equal and fair provision for all our pupils.

We will not be providing 'school online'. We will be, firstly, maintaining school contact, secondly helping to support every child's wellbeing and, finally, providing resources and ideas to encourage learning.