Dear Parents,
We come to the end of the strangest term I’ve experienced in my professional career. A massive well done to you all, parents,carers and of course our wonderful pupils who have tried to ensure learning has continued throughout this time. I am aware some of you had additional staff training days!!!!! but hope you have enjoyed and made the most of the opportunity to spend some quality time with your children.
Preparing for the resumption of a ‘new normal’ when we return in September has been stressful as the guidance changes regularly. However, as always, my priority is the safety of our children, my staff and of course our families and the measures put in place are for the first half of the autumn term and will be reviewed in October. I must stress however that they may change and urge you to keep a close eye on the blog and our facebook page for any updates during the summer break.
THIS IS WHAT I AM PROPOSING BASED ON CURRENT GUIDELINES -BUT IT MAY CHANGEReturn to School: Monday 7th September
We are very much looking forward to welcoming back pupils in years 1 - 6 on Monday 7th September.
This is a brief overview of the arrangements:
During the summer break the school will have a sterile clean throughout.
Pupils will be in Year group bubbles with the same adults. There will be no mixing of bubbles so the start and finish times of the school day have had to be changed
Entering through the Main gate
8:30-2:50 –Yrs 6 & 4
8:45- 3:05-Yrs 2 & 5
9:00- 3:20-Yrs 1 & 3
It is imperative pupils arrive ON TIME and wait in their designated areas (Staff will be on hand the first day back to indicate where this is). Please be aware that attendance is now mandatory and fines may be served on parents of non-attenders.
Pupils will attend a half day session on Fridays as the afternoon will be dedicated to Teachers PPA time (Lunchtime will be shortened to 45 mins and we have added an additional 15 mins to the compulsory school day so pupils won’t miss out on learning time).
On Fridays pupils will have lunch in school and playtime in zoned areas before being dismissed as detailed below:
KS1 -12:30 from KS2 playground
Years 3&5 -12:45 from KS2 playground
Years 4&6-13:00 from KS2 playground
I appreciate this may cause childcare problems for working parents but it is the only way I can ensure adults are not moving between bubbles and so compromising the safety of themselves, our pupils and ultimately their families.
If you have a problem with these arrangements please let me know via this
link.
Unfortunately I do not feel it safe to start our breakfast/after school clubs on our return but will review the situation once we are all back in school.
We are expecting pupils to wear school uniform in September but would remind you of the recommendation that clothes are washed daily.
Summer Activities
If you are stuck for ideas on what to do this holiday, take a look at the ‘50 things to do this summer’ list. A lot of the ideas are free, simple and can be carried out with friends, siblings or even on your own. If you manage to complete one or more of the activities make sure you take a photo and send it to us via the school Facebook page. Look out on the blog to see what all of your friends are up to this six weeks!
Term Dates 2020-21
Havering term dates for the academic year 2019-2020 can be found
here.
Autumn Term
Monday 7th September - Friday 23rd October
Monday 2nd November - Friday 18th December
Spring Term
Monday 4th January - Friday 12th February
Monday 22nd February - Thursday 1st April
Summer Term
Monday 19th April - Friday 28th May
Monday 7th June - Friday 23rd July
INSET Days 2020-2021
INSET 1 -Thursday 3rd September
INSET 2 - Friday 4th September
INSET 3 - Monday 22nd February
INSET 4 - Friday 28th May
INSET 5 - Friday 23rd July
Staffing
We have to say a fond farewell but not final goodbye to our longest serving member of staff. Mr Gowers has been at Mead for 33 years and has taught some of our parents, as well as their children. He certainly put Mead on the map as far as music is concerned, winning no end of competitions across the borough and further afield. We are very proud that, thanks to him, pupils across the school are taught to read music and play the recorder. His dedication has proved to be infectious and sparked interest in others who have progressed further, learning to play an array of other musical instruments including the piano, the violin and the trumpet. Until recent years he has coached our choir and our gifted and talented singers who have achieved many accolades over the years. We are pleased that Mr Gowers will be back for the first few weeks of next term to continue 11+ coaching as this will give us, as a school, the opportunity to celebrate all the wonderful things he has done over the 33 years with all staff and pupils present. I’m sure you’ll join with me in extending our thanks for all he has done and our very best wishes for a long and happy retirement-We will certainly miss him.
This week we are also saying farewell to Miss Pountney who is leaving us to pursue her career in another Havering School. She leaves Mead with our very best wishes. We are looking forward to welcoming 2 new members of our teaching staff Miss Maynard and Ms. Tibbot and 3 new trainees teachers Miss Adams who will be working with Mrs Rolph in year 2, Miss Burt-Davies who will be working with Mrs Hillyear/Mrs Elliott and Ms McCarthy who will be working in our Nursery. We are also very much looking forward to welcoming back Mrs Cullum who returns after her maternity leave.
Congratulations
Please join me in sending our very best wishes to Mrs Leggett who had a, not so little, baby boy during the Easter break. Mum and baby Noah are doing well and I know Mrs Leggett is looking forward to returning to school after the summer break.
All that leaves me to do is to wish you a relaxing and enjoyable summer break. For those of you moving on to secondary school we will miss you but we know you are well prepared for the challenges you will face and you go with our very best wishes for the future. If you are able to travel during this uncertain time, then I wish you a safe journey and we look forward to seeing you rested and refreshed for the start of the new school year on September 7th.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a lovely summer break from schooling.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs L Smith
Headteacher
