Ark Oval Primary Academy: Our week 3rd - 7th January 2022

Sunday 09 January 2022

Principal's Summary

Dear Parents and Carers,

We hope this finds you all in good health and fairing well in a challenging period for all of us. Recognising that we all depend on goodwill and cooperation for successful education for our children is a massive part of being a successful school.

The unknown is still very much the predominant feeling of the time - we have prepared as many alternative scenarios as possible. We have remote learning, school, and hybrid approaches planned, resourced and ready to go.

There are, however, some important considerations when we talk about these approaches:

Remote Learning: this scenario surmises a full school closure, which at this stage is unlikely. We would provide a hybrid of Seesaw/Microsoft Teams lessons to cover as much of the curriculum as possible. We are experienced in doing this. However, we are also aware of the shortcomings of such an approach. We will support parents in closing the gaps in children's knowledge and competencies that we have found in analysing the outcomes from the previous two lockdowns.

In-School: this would seem the easiest; however, we see a considerable challenge in school at the moment. Attendance for both pupils and staff is at the lowest point it has ever been. The world is short-staffed, so we would ask you to be kind and understanding of those who are here! We are doing our best with full tutoring and curriculum adaption to close the gaps. The most important support you can be to us in this period is engaging with the homework we set and keeping your children in school as much as possible.

Hybrid Approach: This is the situation we find ourselves in at the moment. This is the most difficult; we are trying to balance low staff numbers and teach the internal curriculum and gap closing interventions. While we are also ensuring we provide suitable remote learning for those isolating. Currently, our attendance rate sits at the lowest point this year, and we are trying to provide the quality of learning the same as in the school; the mix is a huge challenge. Please have patience with our staff as we try to make this work, and if the balance of in school/out of school numbers shifts significantly, we have an adapted plan to provide a more significant allocation of staff to remote learning.

Attendance Champions

Achievers of the Week

The Coming Week (s)

Below is the events caledar for the Spring Term. As its stands we are trying to hold as many of these in person as we can but they will have to flex as the situation develops.