Dear Parents and Carers
As we reach the end of the summer term, now is a good time to say thank you.
Firstly, thank you to you, who have been supporting your children through this most extraordinary year. It is obvious that so many of you have been working very hard with your children to make sure they carried on making progress while the school wasn’t able to have them in. It has made a huge difference to their ability to slot back into the way of school at the end of this year. I know that for many of you it has not been easy, assuming the dual roles of teacher and parent, but if I were to be writing reports for you, it would definitely be A for effort!
Secondly, I would like to thank the staff. Throughout the last four months, they have been working very hard and in a very different way from usual, with the teachers planning for work to be done at home as well as fulfilling their teaching commitment in school, and to the support staff, including Mrs Pike, who have been in school every day making sure the children have as normal a time as possible.
Finally, I would like to thank the children. Remarkably, we have had 83% of our children returning to school at least part-time, Although some have only been able to be in school a few times most recently, they have settled back into their routines and really seemed to have enjoyed a bit more normality. It has been lovely for us to have so many of them in, and to see them playing in their groups on the field it has almost been like the old days! I would also like to congratulate them on their adaptability, as they have followed our new rules astonishingly well, with even the youngest realising how important it is to keep their distance from their classmates and those in other groups, as well as being very well-practised in the art of handwashing…
We have some good-byes to say, too. Obviously, we will say goodbye and good luck to our Year 6. They have been a wonderful year group who have made great progress and are truly ready for the next stage of their education. I am sure they will fondly remember their time here; we do hope they will come back and visit us and let us know how well they are getting on. Thank you, then, to our oldest children, who have been super role models to the younger children and have done such an amazing job of maintaining the strong, caring, family atmosphere at Stower Provost School.
We also say goodbye to some of our valued staff. Mrs Hillam and Mrs Crossman both finished at Easter, but we didn’t have the opportunity to officially thank them for their work supporting in the classroom, at breakfast club and at lunchtimes. We also thank Mrs Cheeseman and Mrs Batten on the teaching staff who will be moving onto pastures new. They have both shown a huge commitment to the school which is greatly appreciated. To all of them, thank you, and every good wish for the future.
The school has an INSET Day on Monday, so Friday, 17th July is the last day of term for the children. We also have two INSET Days at the beginning of September, so the first day back for the children will be on Monday 7th September.
In September, Miss Buxton will be teaching our new Reception and Year 1 children, with Mrs Bettiss and Mrs Cross covering non-contact time. Miss Gale will be teaching Years 2, 3 and 4 as before, with me covering Fridays, while Mrs Clasby will continue teaching Years 5 and 6. We are having to arrange this in a fixed way to start with as the children will not be able to move groups during the week, but hopefully as the year proceeds we will be able to adopt a more flexible approach in order to ensure any catch-up and challenge is managed as effectively as possible. When we return, we will continue the current arrangements of the younger children using the door by the bike rack and having separate cloakrooms, with Oak Class using the main front door at all times. The children will be wearing full uniform and having PE kits in school, but please send these in plastic bags rather than rucksacks so we can keep the clutter to a minimum. We will also continue to provide all the pens and pencils the children need, so no pencil cases will be permitted. As the guidance on how to keep safe is updated, it is impossible for me to predict all the arrangements at this stage, so full details will be sent home before the beginning of term.
Please be aware that quarantine regulations may still be in force, so to help your child make a smooth start in September, do avoid foreign travel in the last fortnight of the holiday to countries not on the government’s list: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-travel-corridors.
It will come as a considerable disappointment, but perhaps no surprise to you, that we have had to change our plans for the Key Stage 2 residential trip in October. With day visits still allowed, but no overnight stays permitted, we are looking into seeing how we can provide some of the excitement of PGL at a more local setting so we can manage day trips. We also will not be able to include Year 4 children in these activities due to the need to keep our groups separate, so are refunding the deposits to these families. I will share details of our plans for Year 5 and 6 day trips as soon as we have been able to make arrangements, and hope that our re-booked trip to PGL in October 2021 will be able to go ahead. Please accept my apologies and explain to your children that this decision is completely out of our hands.
Thank you for letting us know your requirements for Breakfast Club and After School Club, we will be running Breakfast Club from 7.45am till 8.45am and After School Club from 3.20pm till 5.30pm starting Monday 7th September.
Please remember to order your school lunch at https://my.localfoodlinks.org.uk/ meals for pupils in Reception, Year 1 and year 2 are free and some pupils in Y3+ may be entitled to means tested free school meals. Meals must be ordered 7 days in advance. If your child has allergies or special dietary requirements please contact barry.dovell@localfoodlinks.org.uk.
If you need to contact us please use the office email office@stowerprovost.dorset.sch.uk the class emails will not be monitored during the school holidays.
I hope you all have a very happy and relaxing Summer Holiday and we look forward to having a full school when we return on September 7th.
With best wishes
James Stanford
Headteacher