Friday 27^th March

Dear Parents,

We should be breaking up today for the Easter Holidays but have decided that we are going to continue with our home learning tasks and activities through this period - we think it's important to maintain a routine. We are, gradually, adapting to a new way of working and I wanted to remind you of a few things we've launched:

• Every Monday, our home learning area of the website will be updated with new learning challenges. Over the Easter Holidays these will be more creative and project based.
• We've started our weekly phone calls to children, thanks for your support with those. We are keen to talk to the children, so want to keep encouraging them to talk on the phone.
• We provide a daily update on our Facebook Page at 8am every morning with things going on within the day.
• At 6.30pm each night there is a bedtime story on our Facebook page. Next week, we'll be adding a story for older children at 7.30pm each night.
• We have the weekly challenge, set on a Monday on our Facebook page, and then the challenge takes place online on Friday's at 2.30pm.
• Teachers are setting work and children are submitting work on class dojo, which is proving a great way to stay in touch.

A lot has happened within the space of a week, and we'll continue to develop and refine our plans.

Interim Reports

In normal circumstances, we'd have sent out our interim reports by now. We'll be sending these out by email during the week commencing the 13th April.

Class Dojo

We've made a great start to using class dojo this week, but appreciate there have been some teething problems - thanks for your patience. It's clear that the children can do different things to their parents through their account, so it's worth checking that if you are struggling to upload work. If you have any issues please contact admin@holmeschool.cumbria.sch.uk

Parents Quiz Night

In the coming weeks, we will be organising an online parents' quiz night as a way of staying in touch with parents too. We know you are all doing an amazing job in really challenging circumstances, so wanted to provide you with an opportunity for a bit of fun, and a laugh, after the children have gone to bed.

Childcare Hubs

From today, following instruction from the Local Authority, our school will be closed indefinitely and will not be designated as a childcare hub. Our nearest hub for key workers will be Milnthorpe Primary School, which will be open from 8am until 6pm and will run through the Easter Holidays. Our staff will be involved in supporting this hub on a rota basis, but that will mean that there will not always be Holme staff at the hub each day - if you are using the hub, you should prepare your children for that. The Local Authority are clear, that if you are using the hub, it should be the very last resort. I will write again with final details about registering for the childcare hub as soon as I have them - please do not contact Milnthorpe directly as this is being managed centrally by the local authority.

Emergency Contact Number

For emergencies, we are available on 07503 543507 otherwise please email admin@holmeschool.cumbria.sch.uk

Stay safe, and see you soon,

Craig Dewar-Willox

Headteacher

Emergency Number: 07503 543507