The best start in life for all our children.
CARTERHATCH INFANT SCHOOL
Issue 12: 3rd April 2020
Office email: office@carterhatch-inf.enfield.sch.uk Website: https://www.carterhatchinfants.com/
Dear Parents and Carers,
It has been a challenging two weeks to say the least. The current situation brings dramatic changes to our everyday lives. However, what has shone brightly is our ability, as a Carterhatch community, to respond calmly and with kindness. Our thanks to Staff
Staff have been working hard to ensure that the school is open for children of key workers, to co-ordinate free school meals, to provide ‘Felix Project’ food parcels and provide learning materials for the children. We would like to thank staff who have worked incredibly hard in order to do this. Especially our Business Manager, Sharon, who has been opening our school each day and coordinating many things going on in the school.
Key Workers
At Carterhatch we are committed to supporting the key workers in our community and we would like to publicly thank them all for their hard work and dedication, putting their own health at risk to care for others and keep the country going. You are phenomenal and we can’t thank you enough!
We have taken the decision to provide childcare for those key workers that play an essential part during these challenging times. We have joined with another local school, Suffolk’s Primary School, to provide this service. This week the children have been enjoying their time at Suffolk’s School and next week they will be based at our school.
We are now able to offer extended hours from 8.30am to 5.30pm. However, we also need to protect staff that work at Carterhatch and Suffolk’s School and reduce the number of staff needed so that they too can stay at home and protect themselves and their families. We are therefore requesting that you only send your child(ren) into school if you meet the criteria below.
*BOTH Parents/Carers are Key Workers, or you are a single Parent/Carer and Key Worker as set out by the Government. We make this heartfelt plea to please think of the following each and every day:
*Do not send your child if there is someone else at home who can look after them.
*Do not send your child if you have a day off. *Please pick your child up once you have finished your shift.
*Do keep them home if they, yourself or someone you have been around has the symptoms of coronavirus. The current guidance is 7 days if you have symptoms and 14 days for others in your household (even if they do not have any symptoms).
If you meet the criteria above and you require childcare you will need to e-mail support@carterhatch-inf.enfield.sch.uk so we can send you a parent’s response form to complete. Please do not come into school unless you have been advised to do so. Home Learning
You should have all received a home learning pack with activities your child can do at home. In your pack you also received details about an app called ‘J2Launch’. Staff are posting on the blog as a way of keeping in touch with your children and supporting them with home learning. Instructions on how to log on are in your pack along with a personalised QR code. The instructions are also on our website – You need to click on the ‘News’ tab and then ‘Home Learning’ for the year group your child is in. Staff are also e-mailing parents as a way of keeping in touch so please do not forget to check your e-mails.
We hope you do not feel overwhelmed with home learning activities and advice you are receiving. It is just guidance and we do not expect your child to be working for hours on end each day. Enjoying other family moments and just spending quality time together are just as important. Children spending time with their family and learning to do everyday tasks, as well as having downtime, (which is so important for well-being) are just as important as any academic work. Turn this change into a positive and take time to notice and appreciate the little things in life; cuddle up watching a family movie together, watch the birds, look at the trees budding, read a story to your child, dance together to your favourite music, bake some cakes, play fun games with your children and enjoy watching them laugh and smile. This will help you and your child/ren stay grounded and support your mental health. Each week we are trying to do something with our children that we have never done before. This week Sarah baked bread and played hopscotch. Her children didn’t know what hopscotch was until this week!
These are difficult times and we know that many of you will be worried about what lies ahead in the following days and months. We think it is important that we stay in touch as a community and support one another so we will attempt to produce a newsletter each week to keep you updated. We do hope that you and your family are safe and well.
Adrienne and Sarah
Year 2:
Year Two children are really enjoying exploring J2launch and there are some examples of the amazing work they have been doing in our gallery and in the main newsletter.
Year 1:
Hello from the Year One team! We hope you are busy completing your home learning packs and enjoying all the activities on J2 launch! Please keep in touch via emails and remember you can send us some lovely photos of activities you have been doing at home from P.E. to Art to Maths to Reading!
Stay safe and remember Responsibility Roo is very proud of you.
Reception: Thank you to everyone who has uploaded photos to Tapestry and kept in touch with school. We love seeing what you are doing with your families. Please continue to send photos and we will upload them to our gallery and publish in our main newsletter.
Nursery: Thank you to all the parents who have been uploading different activities from home onto Tapestry. The team are really enjoying seeing what you have been up to. Some of the uploads have been based on suggestions we have emailed out, but many of them have been through the children's own ideas and play, which is lovely to see.
If you are struggling to access Tapestry, then please email nursery@carterhatch-inf.enfield.sch.uk for help or just send pictures and captions straight here for the Nursery Team to upload for you.
We are really missing seeing you all every day, stay safe and look after each other.