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.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

We are approaching our May half-term break and at the end of the month, on Sunday 31st May the Church celebrates the festival of Pentecost that celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus after his ascension.  This day is also called Whit Sunday – and is often referred to as the birthday of the Christian Church.

The Bible describes the Holy Spirit in different ways. It speaks about the Spirit being strong like the wind, but gentle like a dove and as bright, warming and powerful as fire.

What would it have felt like to have been with the disciples in that room on that special day of Pentecost? It would have been amazing!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
We thank you for sending the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Thank you that you keep your promises and can turn sadness to joy.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

It is a funny old world at the moment – and I am sure that everyone is experiencing a whole range of emotions – from fear and anxiety to joy and excitement – all of which are perfectly human and normal.  I think the one emotion that I am experiencing at the moment is Hope – hope that the cases of coronavirus will continue to decrease, hope that all our families are safe and well, hope that one day we will be back in school together again in a ‘normal’ happy school. Hope is an important word that can mean many things – have a watch and listen to this short video about Hope.

The week is forecast to be quite a sunny one, so as the sun comes out, lets enjoy listening to this well known song about the Sun Coming Out Tomorrow!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
When things go wrong, help us to keep hoping.
When we are sad, help us to remember that happiness will come.
When we are lonely, help us to remember that people care for us.
When we are worried, help us to trust that you will never leave us.
Please help us to live in hope.
Amen.

Good morning everyone (it is just about the morning!) – today is a special day for Hugo – it is his birthday – so let’s join in and sing together!

With the potential opening to Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 on the 1st June, we would like to reassure the critical keyworkers that we can still offer child care if absolutely needed.

This Care will take place in the hall, between the hours of 9am to 3.15pm and children will be kept separate from the other children in school in line with the protection measures that we have to follow. The child care would need to be booked in advance, by the Friday the preceding week, as we have been doing since March 23rd.

If we open on June 1st, we will not be able to offer wrap around care before the school day or after the school day, as we have to ensure we keep children in their groups to minimise any risk of spreading the virus. We appreciate that this may be tricky for working parents, but we have to prioritise the protection of children, families and staff.

You are probably aware that, dependent on how the government assess the progress in controlling the coronavirus, the school may open on 1st June for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children.  We have been given lots of guidance on how this could happen, and are, and have previously been, putting plans and procedures together of how we could safeguard children and staff if there was a phased opening of schools.

The government have also provided guidance for parents which you can find here:-

Opening Schools and Educational Settings to more pupils from 1st June: guidance for parents and carers

The school has an action plan in place, and this will be a working plan as we move forwards.  We will be implementing hygiene procedures, cleaning procedures, social distancing procedures and drop off and pick-up procedures, amongst others.  I thought it would be helpful for parents to understand what school will be like for children if we do open on June 1st. So these are some bullet points:

• Children will be sitting at desks that are 2m apart. Year 6s will fit into class 4, Year 1s will be split between Class 3 and Class 2, and Reception Children will be in Class 1 and The Pod.
• Each group of children will have a teacher or a HLTA delivering the lesson, and this adult will stay with the children each day, to minimise contacts, as per the guidance.
• There is a one-way system through the practical area (middle of school open area) with 2m spacings marked on the floor.
• Children will socialise within their own group, and there will be staggered playtimes and lunchtimes, so that the groups don’t mix.  There will also be the expectation that children stay 2m apart at playtimes.
• Children will have their own stationery equipment and trays, as guidance is for children not to share resources. This will also impact on playtime equipment and classroom resources – so children can bring their own toys in to play with during breaktimes.
• Children and staff will be advised to wear different clothes each day, so we will be allowing children to wear their own clothes if they wish, to reduce washing demands at home.
• We will need to share drop off and pick-up procedures to ensure that parents and children are not clustering at the start and end of the school day, and this might involve a staggered start for different year groups. We do not yet know if the school buses will be running, and are waiting to be informed.
• We will still be providing critical keyworker care, and this would be in the hall, so lunch may well be in classrooms, with a packed lunch.
• The remote teaching activities may change for year 2 and 5.

There will be further detail, and there is still a lot to sort out, but I felt it important that we are open and transparent with parents, and that you are fully aware of what school will ‘look’ like if we go back on 1st June.  We are working very hard to ensure that we have clear and safe procedures in place to ensure we can do all we can to protect our school community, so please share with friends and keep an eye out on the website.

I would like to reassure you that we will be ensuring we provide children with the teaching and support that they need, and help them with understanding and coping with these different routines and procedures.  We will also be ensuring that we offer reassurance and comfort in this somewhat different environment.

We are aware that as parents you may have concerns and worries about your children being in school; worries about their or your families physical safety and protection from the virus, or their mental well-being when working in such a strange and distant environment.  We very much appreciate this, and also do not look forwards to working in this way, as it is totally against how we operate as teaching staff. However, we have to follow the guidance we have been given in order to protect the children, staff and families.

We would very much appreciate your feedback and so will be emailling out a survey to all parents (including Year 2,3 and 4) so please keep an eye out on your inboxes.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, please do email at head@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk

Good afternoon – we hope you are having a good day, despite the significant temperature drop!

Following on from yesterday’s broadcast, and in preparation for opening for children at some point in the future, it would be really helpful if parents could keep us informed if for whatever reason you are ‘Shielding’.  The guidance on shielding for vulnerable people can be found here:-

Guidance on Shielding and Protecting People who are Clinically Vulnerable

Shielding simply means putting extra protection in place for people who are most likely to get very poorly from coronavirus, and it involves a whole family being shielded or protected.

This would also be a good opportunity to remind you that if you have any worries or concerns about your child returning to school, please feel free  to contact me on: head@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk  – we may not have an instant answer, but it will mean that we are aware of what parents issues may have and we can either reassure you that we will have procedures and routines in place, or hopefully find an answer for you.

Dear Parents/Carers,

I am sure that after the Prime Ministers statement tonight, you may well have lots of questions.  We have lots of questions that need clarification too!

At the moment there is no change to the guidance. We will continue to provide care for those parents whose work is critical to the Covid-19 response. The message is still that it is safer to stay at home.

We have not received any information to support us with this new plan to start the phased reopening of some year groups, and we expect that we will receive further information from the Department of Education shortly, hopefully with some clarification of how these plans are expected to be implemented.

We will need clear guidance to plan how it is possible to social distance in schools and keep our children, staff and families safe; how we might start to phase groups of children returning and what this looks like.  Please be assured that there is no way we will reopen until we are 100% prepared.

As always, we will keep you informed, but for now, please try not to worry.  A lot hinges on what happens in the next few weeks.  Our plan for now is to continue to provide learning activities for you to access at home, to be here if you need to contact us, and help support you in these difficult and uncertain times.

The teachers have been working hard behind the scenes, and as well as planning the daily activities, sharing photos and responding to emails have been writing the annual school reports.  Rather than email them out, we felt it more appropriate to post them so that you can have a hard-copy in a binder – so please look out for them in the post.  They were posted yesterday (Monday).

Good Morning Brown Clee!

This morning I have been thinking about all the things that I am missing at the moment – meeting all the children of Brown Clee as they arrive with their smiles and tales at the start of a school day, sharing a coffee and a laugh with the staff at lunchtime, Friday team-chips, teaching Year 1 phonics and helping them with their handwriting, Fun-Day Fridays when I have the pleasure of being in Class 1 all day, assemblies when we are all together as a team, sharing our thoughts and prayers.

All of these things I am missing at the moment, and I know that everyone will have their own lists.  But these strange times, when we are stuck at home, is also helping me to really count my blessings and appreciate so many other things – spending lots of time with my daughter, seeing the garden change every day as new plants and flowers grow, enjoying a daily dog walk , watching the birds as they build nests, and enjoying the beautiful Shropshire scenery. I also count my blessings that we are fit and well, and that my friends and family are too, as so many people in the world right now are suffering from loss.

So yes we are missing lots of things – but I know that those things will be back at some point in time – and in the meantime, let’s count our blessings that we are with our families, that we are fit and healthy, and our thoughts be with those that are ill, or have lost loved ones.

Have a listen to this beautiful song – The UK Blessing – that has been created by 65 churches and movements, representing hundreds of others, have come together online to sing a blessing over our land. These are their words: “Standing together as one, our desire is that this song will fill you with hope and encourage you. But the church is not simply singing a blessing, each day we’re looking to practically be a blessing. Many of the churches included in this song have assisted with supplying over 400,000 meals to the most vulnerable and isolated in our nation since COVID-19 lockdown began. This alongside phone calls to the isolated, pharmacy delivery drops and hot meals to the NHS frontline hospital staff. Our buildings may be closed but the church is very much alive!”

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,

Thank you for everything you provide for us day by day.

Help us to appreciate what we have and to remember to say Thank you.

Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we learnt about VE day, when the world celebrated peace across Europe. I thought you might like to watch a video clip from 1945 showing you the celebrations so that you can see how important a day it was for everyone.

VE Day 1945

Unfortunately, we live in a world where conflict and war still exist. As we think about the seventy-fifth anniversary of VE Day, we should stop and think about how we can remember people who fought in the war to bring about peace.

Across Europe, many events have been planned to celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day and many places had organised street parties, which sadly now cannot take place.  Or could they?  Maybe you could have your own VE Day garden party, with bunting and flags?  If you do, please send us your photos and then we can have a school VE day celebration!  Don’t forget also, to send in photos of you dressed in red, white and blue by midday so that we can put our school VE day montage together!

We have another celebration today, as Pippa is celebrating a very special birthday!  So if we could all join in and sing loud enough – you never know she might even hear!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PIPPA

Prayer of the Day

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.