Yardley Hastings Primary

Head's Blog

Federation Day 2020

As I mentioned in a previous email, on Friday (11^th), we will be holding our third Federation Day. This event normally means that the children from both schools get together and work collaboratively; last year it was for sporting activities. This year, we obviously cannot get together in person. We will, however, do so remotely with each year group collaborating over Zoom. Our day will focus on art, specifically around the theme of trees and the colour green.

At the moment, many of the classes are sharing a lovely book about personal and social development called ‘Can I build another me?’ In the section about individuality under the heading ‘I’m no one but me’, it states:

“Grandma once told me that everyone is like a tree. Trees come in all different shapes and sizes. You can’t choose what kind of tree you are, but you can choose how to grow. And you can decorate yourself in any way you like!”

This is a lovely concept that will underpin our art through the day and supports our key values of respecting individuality and celebrating difference. We will look at how trees differ in shape, colour and size and how different artists have represented them. We will then experiment with many different materials to paint and draw trees including paints, chalk and oil pastels, inks and watercolours. Children will also learn how to mix different tones of green. Children will then ‘paint’ their own tree using a material of their choice to then be decorated using collage. All the finished tress will then be displayed in a central location.

During the day, each year group will share their pictures and ideas across each school via Zoom.

The day could get a little messy with so many different art materials and a lot of green! For this day (Friday 11^th), if you would like to send your children into school in old ‘non- uniform’ clothes, then that is absolutely fine. We do have art aprons, but probably not enough for the whole school and the ability to share them across classes is now limited.

Finally, thank you for all you amazing support with our flower day. We have yet to total all the donations as the money is currently being quarantined! I will let you know when we have a total but really appreciate your generosity!

Welcome back!

We are delighted with how all the children have settled in to school. They have adapted to all the new routines brilliantly. It is lovely to have all the children back in school and to welcome our new reception children who have settled in so well!

Despite the hugely positive return, we are being very vigilant about any potential anxiety. Each day, the children are using the ‘feelings flowers’ to express their mood when coming into school. We catch up straight away with anyone who is feeling unhappy or anxious. As you are no doubt aware from last year, this approach, along with our resilience work, is supported by the charity ‘Mindmap’. Many of you attended the workshops that they ran last January. All the resources and time that they have provided has been free, in return for us holding a fundraising day for them. This had been scheduled for last term and, obviously, could not take place. We have therefore decided that next Tuesday 8^th September we will ask the children to wear a flower for a day in return for a small donation. It could be a single flower or a complete flowery outfit; it is entirely up to you. The idea is that we keep it fairly low key but take the opportunity to stress the importance of the ‘feelings flowers’ and recap some of the previous work on resilience and expressing emotions.

This year, we are once again holding curriculum information evenings for each of the key stages. Under the current circumstances, we will not be able to hold these in school and the number of parents involved will potentially make a large Zoom meeting impractical and not give you adequate opportunity to ask questions. We have therefore decided that, this year, we will pre-record a presentation with the information that would have been shared at a meeting and then provide a link for you to watch it at your leisure. We will then hold a Zoom question and answer session in place of the information evening. The dates are on the diary on the website and each session will start at 6.30pm.

On 11^th September, we will be celebrating our annual federation day. This year, we will not be able to collaborate with Denton in person but will share our activities remotely. We will be following an art theme based around trees and the colour green! More details to follow…

Parents’ Evenings will take place Monday 9^th and Wednesday 11^th November. It is highly likely that these will be held remotely, as per the end of year transition meetings, but we will take a view on this nearer the time. We are holding them slightly later this year so we can give the children time to settle in and provide you with a more accurate picture of where your children are academically, socially and emotionally.

Of course, you do not need to wait until Parents’ Evenings to contact us if you would like an update or have any concerns about your child. We may not be able to welcome you in to the school but myself and the teachers are still available to chat outside, via Zoom or on the phone. Please get in touch if you have any concerns or need any clarification about any of the above.