The Reception Foxes have been learning a new song this morning…Suki Over the Ocean! They enjoyed adding some actions and also making up their own verses!

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We thought it important to share amongst our community that we had a possible attempted break-in on Tuesday evening.  The school alarm was activated at 9.45pm which alerted our security company who immediately send out an officer to the school site to investigate.  They arrived on site within 15 minutes and carried out an external and interval patrol.  There were no obvious signs of a breach or damage, but on further investigation in daylight on Wednesday, we found some suspicious damage to a number of door frames.

We have notified the West Mercia police and the local Police Community Support Officers will be increasing their patrols in the area.  We felt it important to share this information to make our neighbours aware and to help us all be vigilant, and we have been advised to inform you that if you do see anything suspicious then please report to the Police on 101.

We thought we would also let you know about Smartwater.  It is a forensic tracing liquid which can be used on all valuables, allowing them to be traced if stolen.  We use it in school to protect all our valuable equipment.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday I introduced you to Archie’s Kenyan Safari Challenge – where he has set a challenge for us all to travel the distance of the Kenyan border to raise money for Karibuni Children.  This is going to be a mammoth team effort and will need everyone to join in and work together to see if we can cover 2141 miles in 7 days between us!

So I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to think about teamwork, and why it’s “teamwork that can make a dream work” –

So take a moment and have a think – how can you help to make Archie’s dream of helping those children in poverty in Kenya – what could you do to help his Kenyan Safari Challenge?  Could you run or walk a mile a day?  Could you persuade your family to all join you in cycling 10 miles? Could you share the challenge with all your family and friends?  We know that Archie can’t do this alone – but he is part of our team, so let’s support him and see if we can all help to make a difference!

https://youtu.be/pDt_39G8214

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Help us to work together as a team.
Help us to remember that sometimes we need our friends to help us to do things better.
May we not be afraid to ask for help.
Please help each of us to play our parts in the community and wider world.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

We have been thinking about Respect, Diversity and Kindness the past few weeks, and today I would like to share a story that Jesus taught his followers, about The Good Samaritan.  You can find it in the Bible in the book of Luke in the New Testament.  Jesus was asked “what is the most important commandment?” He responded saying that the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and the second to “love your neighbour as yourself”. He was then asked who counts as a neighbour and he told this story that is an example for everyday life.

What do you think Jesus was trying to tell people through this parable?  Could it be to love others as you love yourself – be kind to others as you are kind to yourself?  We are all equal and equally deserve to be respected?  What are your thoughts?

Here is a song to share about being ‘Together’…

https://youtu.be/LpMWOZZfki0

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you that you made us all differently.
Thank you that you love every one of us.
Help us to show care for all people.
Help us to learn to appreciate differences.
Help us to be inclusive and always to make others feel welcome.
Amen.

Good morning Brown Clee!

I’d like to carry on with our theme of Respect, Diversity and Kindness with a funny cartoon fo you to watch. As you watch it think about what words you would use to describe the small birds and the big bird. Also, see if you can pick a message from the story….there are lots of different ones…

Can you describe the small birds’ behaviour? What about big bird?

What messages did you pick up from the film? It made me think about how important it is to be kind and friendly to everyone, even if they are different, and that we should never make fun of people just because they look different.  I also think that there is a message about ourselves…imagine being big bird. The smaller birds laughed and made fun of him because he was taller, and had lots of feathers sticking up in different directions. But he didn’t get cross or upset, he just wanted to be friends. So I think it is teaching us that being different does not matter and we should all be like big bird and be happy and proud of who we are….

Today is a special day for Ollie – HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLLIE!

Also, we missed Isabel’s birthday on the 12th – we do apologise! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISABEL!!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you that you made us all differently.
Thank you that you love every one of us.
Help us to show care for all people.
Help us to learn to appreciate differences.
Help us to be inclusive and always to make others feel welcome.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

We have been thinking a lot about Respect, and how important it is to treat everybody equally – no matter what the differences, and that being kind is often the easiest way to show respect.

Kindness is very powerful – because often by simply doing something kind to someone else, it can have the magical affect of making you feel better about yourself too!  Watch this short video and see what it makes you think about…

Can you create a spark of kindness today?  If you do, have a think about how it makes you feel?

It is amazing how often, one little act of kindness can really make a difference – YOU can make a difference!

https://youtu.be/JBKxfad2G-s

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
You have made us all different
And given us to each other for friendship and support,
To share with and enjoy each other’s company.
May we always value each other
And always look for opportunities to improve the lives of those around us.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

This week we have been thinking about Respect, and how it is important that we treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves.  Sometimes we can forget this, and sometimes we don’t treat everybody equally or fairly, sometimes we can be disrespectful, especially if people look or behave differently to us.  In the Bible there are many stories that help to teach us how we should behave, and how we should follow Jesus’.

This is a picture of  Paul, who was one of the first friends of Jesus. Paul travelled all over the ancient world telling people about Jesus and wrote many books about being a Christian which are found in the Bible. Paul wanted everyone to hear the good news that Jesus loves them – old and young, men and women, every race, religion, nationality – no-one was left out when Paul was speaking!  Jesus loves everyone!

In a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Rome, he said:

“Each one of us has a body, and that body has many parts. These parts all have different uses. In the same way, we are many, but in Christ we are all one body.”

What do you think Paul means?  I wonder if he is trying to say that we may all look different, and be different, that we may live in different places across the world, but we are also all human, and as Christians, we are all part of God’s team. Therefore, we should be respectful and treat everyone equally, irrespective of differences. and we should celebrate and appreciate our differences and work together to help make the world a wonderful place.

Here is a video of children from across the planet who wanted to connect the world through music, as they share the belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for all of our differences here at this school.
Thank you that you created a whole world full of different people.
Help us to know that this makes the world a beautiful and interesting place to live
Because we are all special to you.
Amen.

In the statement made by the Secretary of State for Education this afternoon, Gavin Williamson announced that there was no longer an expectation that all Year 2,3,4 and 5 children should be in school for a month prior to the summer holiday.

This was a relief for us, as we do not have the capacity to extend the school to receive more children unless we operated on a rota basis, and the government guidance currently states that rotas are not to be used.  Therefore, we will continue to remain open for children of Critical Workers and children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 until the end of this academic year.

We will continue with our remote learning activities for those children at home, and are always here to answer any queries.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we listened to a story about diversity and thought about how wonderful it is that everybody is different!  We also talked about RESPECT and how important respect is to enable people to work, play and live together in harmony.

Today I have a video that focuses on Mutual Respect. The word mutual means shared between people’, and in this video you learn find out what two pupils, Amelie and Shaeya, discover when they asked people in their school community what respect means to them.

In this video, children offered different ideas on the word Respect, including: ‘showing tolerance’, ‘listening to others’, ‘being open to their opinions and beliefs’, ‘treating others as equals’, ‘playing by the rules’, ‘being polite to others’ and ‘being loyal to your friends’. All the interviewees agreed that it is important to treat others with thoughtfulness and consideration, in just the way that we would wish to be treated ourselves.

Here are some questions to help you think about your thoughts about Mutual Respect…

When is it easy to show respect?

When is it harder to show respect?

What do you need to do to show respect?

Do you have to earn respect? And if so, how do you earn it?

Here’s a song that we have sung before, about showing a Little Bit of Kindness – as being kind to others, is always a good way to earn respect!

https://youtu.be/iGUABWgeA1Q

Prayer of the Day

Dear God

We thank you for giving us the patience and understanding to reach out to others and treat them with dignity and respect.

Help us to remember that everyone is equal, to value other people, and to treat them well, just as we wish to be treated.

Amen.

Thank you to the Keyworker parents who have been keeping us informed of the need for child care.  We are aware that with more relaxing of restrictions, that the demand for Keyworker Child Care might increase, so we thought it would be helpful to provide the following information:-

• We can offer Child Care for children who have a parent with a job that is classified as being on the “Critical Worker List”  – Click here to see the guidance.
• The government also states the following principles for Critical Workers who are seeking child care in school:
  1. If a child has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be available for them.
  2. Parents must do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially outside of school. They must observe the same social distancing principles as adults, as far as possible.
  3. If your work is critical to the COVID-19 response, or you work in one of the critical sectors listed in the guidance, then your children will be prioritised for education provision.
• Our child care is available from 9am to 3.15pm and needs to be booked in advance, ideally by Midday on the Friday of the week before needed.
• We have a maximum capacity of 8 children, due to social distancing rules and staffing ratios.
• Children access and exit school using the main school reception door.
• Children can bring their own toys/resources in to play with, as well as a packed lunch if required (school packed lunches are available – please ask if required).

Good Morning Brown Clee!

I hope everyone had a good weekend, even though it was rather blustery!

Last week we were focusing on our Christian Value of the half term – Courage, and we learnt how we can be brave in so many different ways, and we don’t need to be a superhero to be brave!

As a school, we have 6 core Christian Values, one of which I think is kind of an umbrella that encompasses all values – and that is Respect!  We talk about respect a lot in school – as it comes in many different forms: Respect for yourself, Respect for others, Respect for School…..and when we discuss it and children explain what it is – they often say “Respect is treating other people how you wish to be treated”.  Which I think are wise words!

In school we learn about other countries and cultures and we discuss how we are all different, but yet all the same and we celebrate the diversity of the world.  We appreciate that this wonderful world is amazing because of it’s diversity, and because of it’s differences.  So this week I would like to think about differences and diversity – and here is a story that makes a good introduction…as stories can help us to understand the world!

Here are some questions for you to think about from the story:-

What is the main problem in the story?

How is the problem solved by the end of the story?

What is the message and lessons learnt in the story of “Mixed”?

For me, the story has made me think what a boring world it would be if we were all the same, and how wonderful it is that we are all different, in so many ways!  But that we should always treat each other respectfully, irrespective of our differences. Here is a song that helps to teach us how to get along …

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,

Thank you that you made us each different from each other,
yet each the same in some ways.
Help us to love the differences in other people.

Help us to be kind to those around us.
Help us to think about the needs of other people.
Please help us to seek to live in peace.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

We have been thinking about courage this week as it is our Christian Value of the half term, and today I would like to share a story from the Book of Daniel, Chapter 6 in The Bible, about a very brave man called Daniel.

Daniel was a man of God, who always put God first in his life. He was also a clever and important young man who helped King Darius to rule his kingdom. Daniel was so good at his job and so trusted by the king that he was in line for a big promotion. Sadly, this made the king’s other helpers jealous. The king’s helpers got together to hatch a plan to bring Daniel down.

Why was Daniel brave?  Was it just for facing the lions without fear? …….  I think he was brave for staying true to his faith that God is the only one God – rather than doing what everyone else was doing.  He knew it was wrong to worship Darius as he was not a God.

When Daniel decided to continue praying to his God, the true God, he didn’t know what the outcome of his decision would be. He must have been scared of the lions, but he had faith in his God,a God who had promised never to leave him or to forsake him. He knew that it was right to continue to trust in his God.

Sometimes it is hard to stick with what you know is right when everyone else is doing something different and wrong.  It is hard to be the ‘odd one out’.  But we should maybe take a leaf out of Daniel’s book, and be brave and have faith.  Maybe we can make a difference and encourage others to follow our lead, and lead them down the right path….

https://youtu.be/pDt_39G8214

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you that you promise to be with us always.
Thank you that you promise to be with us in every situation.
When things are hard to understand, please give us strength, faith and perseverance.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

We have been thinking about COURAGE this week as our Christian Value of the Half term.  We have thought about how sometimes we can be afraid of the unknown but that maybe we should be brave and think positively about it as we might be pleasantly surprised!  We have learnt about Derek Redmond, a courageous athlete who never gave up despite being in agonising pain, and as a result he achieved so much more than a medal!

Today I have a video asking ‘What is Courage?” showing that you don’t have to be a super hero to be brave, and that sometimes you can be brave in a very quiet mouse-like way!

Can you think of a time when you showed courage in school?

How can you find and use your courageous voice today!?!

Sometimes it helps to sing if you’re feeling a bit worried or scared, so here’s a song you can sing along to any time to help you feel brave!

Prayer of the Day

Let’s say our School Prayer together, so those of us at home and at school can be together in spirit…

Dear God

Thank you for our wonderful school.

Help us to be good learners.

Help us to look after each other.

Help us be respectful and kind and to make everyone welcome.

May our school be a happy, safe place where learning is fun.

Where we all work together to be the best we can be.

Amen

A quick reminder that our half day is Thursday, where Reception finish at 12.30, Year 1 at 12.45 and Year 6 at 13.00, every THURSDAY.  Children will have their packed lunch at school before being collected.

We would just like to say thank you to parents and children for helping us to make today successful! The start and end of day procedures worked well, and now that we have trialled them for a day, should run smoothly in the future.

The children have hopefully had an enjoyable day despite the social distancing measures, and we have all been so impressed with their positive response to the new systems. It has been so lovely to see the smiley faces of everyone around school!

A couple of learning points…..it is really helpful for children to have their belongings in one simple big bag to allow them ease of carrying and cleaning hands. Also, thank you to parents for collecting children and leaving the playground promptly at the end of the day (Reception and Year 1).

We did notice that children got a bit hungry mid morning, so please feel free to send a hard fruit eg apple, pear, in within your child’s packed lunch, that they can have as a morning snack.

Good evening,

It has now been confirmed that schools will be opening further on Monday 1^st June for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils.   Thank you so much to everyone for letting us know if your child would be returning on 1^st June if we opened, as that has really helped us with our planning.

You will have seen that the school looks very different, and those children that are returning will find it rather strange – as will we!  But we will ensure that they are happy and as safe as we possibly can.

You have also received all the information on procedures, and again we would like to draw your attention to the Start and End of Day Procedures, as this is where the risk of mixing is greatest.

Children only need to bring their packed lunch (if they are not having a school packed lunch) , waterbottle (the water fountain is not in use) and coat (we will be getting children outside as much as possible, and coats make a great picnic blanket!).  They can also bring one toy for use at playtimes.  Please keep it as simple for children as possible, as they will have to carry their own belongings from the reception gate and into class 4 cloakroom on their own.

Remember that school uniform is not a requirement, but a new set of clothes each day is.  If it is PE that day then children may come to school in their PE kit and stay in it all day – keeping things simple is definitely the key!

Please note that for safety, parents are not to enter the school (sorry!), so if you do need to see any member of staff, or have any questions, please ring or email to make an appointment.

Please be patient and bear with us on Monday, please be punctual so that children can arrive in their year groups and follow the one-way system using the ‘yellow circles’ to keep everyone at 2m spacings! We will have staff out on the playground and I will be there to meet and greet at the front of the school to help and support the children.  We will all soon get used to it I am sure, but it will seem very new and different to start off with.

Keyworkers requiring Child Care – I will be emailing to provide arrival and collection procedures tomorrow…and we really appreciate as much notice as possible of any Child Care needs for these critical keyworkers – who we really appreciate everything that they are doing!

In the meantime, enjoy the fabulous weather and if you have any questions please just ask!

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Today we ‘break-up’ for May half term, and we will be halting the remote learning activities for a week so that we can all get outside and enjoy the wonderful weather that is forecast! We will also be thinking about June 1st, when we may be opening for some children.

It has been 10 weeks since we closed to most children, and we are so proud of our school community for all working together and putting children and their families safety first. The wonderful communication and involvement with the work that the teachers have been setting each day and the sharing of photographs have been a real treat, as we are all missing seeing our school team!

I am quite sure that everyone has been experiencing a mixed range of emotions, and also now, with the potential broader opening of school for some children, there could be feelings of worry and anxiety.  We always talk about feelings in school and how all feelings are valid and ok! It is ok to be happy and it is ok to be sad….and likewise it is ok to be scared and it is ok to be confident. What matters is how we manage those feelings.  Here is a short video…see if you can guess the emotions!

Today I am feeling excited as I will get to see the fabulous Brown Clee school staff team, as we  getting together, in a socially distanced manner, to ensure that we are all prepared and ready to possibly welcome more children into school on June 1st.  However I am also feeling sad, as I know that the warm, welcoming, ‘cosy’ school environment has temporarily changed in order to comply with the necessary guidance to ensure that it is as safe as possible for everybody.  But I appreciate that the safety of our community is the top most priority. Have a wonderful half term week, stay safe, and also please keep in touch with the website and emails, as we will be sharing further information to keep you informed with all that we are doing to make school a happy and safe place for children.

So here is a little song for you to enjoy whenever you just fancy a sing!

https://youtu.be/ut5_ZaEAS3s

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for all the feelings we have and that each one has its place.
It’s right to be scared if we’re in danger.
It’s great to be happy when we can.
Please help us to control our bad feelings and not be overwhelmed by them.
Amen.

We have been asked to share the following documents that have been sent out by our Local Authority, Shropshire Council regarding the current situation.

Position Statement

Parents and Carers letter

Good afternoon and we hope everyone is enjoying the sunny weather!

We are working hard behind the scenes to prepare for a possible opening of the school for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children on the 1st June.  This involves a lot of changes and organisation, and we really appreciate your understanding, and openness with letting us know if you are planning to send your children back to school if we are told to open.  This has really helped us with our planning, so thank you!

This letter provides some information on the classroom organisation and structure, as well as staffing planning and days/timings if we open:

Letter to parents Class Organisation Staffing Structure

We will also be posting further information to be more detailed about the Start and End of Day procedures to minimise contact between groups and maximise safety.

If you have any questions please do email me: head@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk

These are unprecedented times, and I’d just like to reassure you that we are doing all we possibly can to prioritise everyone’s safety and well-being.