OAK BITES 30th March 2020
Dear Fair Oak Family,
Happy Monday Fair Oak Family!
Please follow us on Twitter @FairOakJS
I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Our YouTube Channel is now live – please search for Fair Oak Junior School and hit subscribe to stay up to date. At lunchtime today over 655 people had viewed our videos. Please try to get your child’s learning onto the Purple Mash blog. If you haven’t got log in details, please contact the school office by email.
As you know, a pack of home learning was sent home with each child on Friday 20th March 2020. Each year group page also includes links to home learning websites. However, we are now able to offer a bit more. When visiting the website, click on parents and home learning tabs to find links to other websites, which can provide more learning to support your child – should you wish. This page will grow in time, as more learning websites become available to us. All of our YouTube videos are accessible through the Fair Oak online learning tab.
As always, we are always here to help. Look after yourselves and our children.
Mr De Silva
OAK BITES 27th March 2020
Dear Fair Oak Family,
Happy Friday Fair Oak Family!
Please follow us on Twitter @FairOakJS
I hope that your first week has gone well. School definitely doesn’t feel quite right without all the children in.
Home learning
I am now delighted to announce that we have launched a YouTube channel. Click here to watch the video on how to access it.
So what do you need to do?
What will be available?
Playlists have been created for each year group and will include:
The whole school playlist will include introductory videos and extra activities, including:
Please note that children at school will complete the same learning – especially in English and Maths.
Purple Mash - Teachers have been busy creating blogs on Purple Mash. Please contact the school office if your child hasn’t got his/her log in details. It is fabulous to hear from the children via the class blogs and to see evidence of their learning, including activities they have completed with their parents. Please note that teachers won’t be responding to blog entries over the weekends and when they are taking their Easter ‘break’ (at points throughout the next 14 weeks), so there may be times when teachers do not respond. Please could parents speak to their children about how the blog is a positive learning platform, and should only be used to show work, and to support and encourage friends. If your child makes unsuitable ‘bloggin choices,’ they may be removed.
Lunches – If your child receives free school meals, please contact the school office if you would like to collect a packed lunch.
For those in school – classified as Vulnerable and Key Worker
If you have not registered as a Key Worker with the school (and if you qualify), please contact the office. Please note that the school office will be open from 8.15am each day, not 8am.
So, who’s finding it difficult to spin all the plates at home? If so, …you’re not alone. Whilst timetables are out there, please remember that the current situation we are in is far from normal and you, as I’ve said before, need to be kind to yourself. If you are struggling, try this link:
This situation is also going to be strange for your child.Children sometimes need more time to process things. Mrs Cooper sent out some information about explaining COVID 19 to children. Please see the links below:
As always, we are always here to help. Look after yourselves and our children.
Mr De Silva
OAK BITES
25th March 2020
Dear Fair Oak Family,
Happy Wednesday!
I hope you are all okay and that you are able to balance work/parenting/education and children. So firstly…please don’t let educating your child become a battle. As much as possible, try to make it fun – but equally you need to realise that you are probably spinning quite a few plates – so remember to be kind to yourselves.
In terms of home learning, the staff team are busy creating resources to support parents and children. A Fair Oak Junior School YouTube Channel has been created and I look forward to sharing information with you on an extra Oak Bites – to be sent on Friday. In the meantime, a video has been launched on our Twitter Feed (@FairOakJS). To access our Twitter Feed, create an account and follow @FairOakJS. Alternatively, follow the link from our website – however, this isn’t always updated quite as instantly. The video explains how to use Purple Mash. If you haven’t got login details for Purple Mash, please contact the school office.
At the moment, Home Learning will continue to be on the Year Group pages, but I will also add information on the Latest News part of the Website.
Thank you to all of those who completed the survey detailing whether your child meets the Vulnerable criteria or whether you (as parents) are classified as Key Workers. If you were not able to complete the questionnaire, please contact the school office to share your details.
To those who did complete the survey, an email will be sent out with a link to register your child for next week. Please complete this register by 2pm on Friday 27th March.
Just to confirm breakfast club is available this week (although no food is being served). After School Club is not available this week. Both of these will be reviewed for next week.
Currently, the school site is being closed by 4pm each day.
Please also find attached a document, which you might find useful when trying to support your child/ren and their mental health at this time. It contains a range of links and resources from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Educational Psychology Service and there are some great resources, which you can use with your children, to ease their anxiety and help to reassure them.
Take care,
Mr De Silva
Please click here to watch Miss Coxhead's introductory video to Purple Mash. Do contact the school office if your child needs their login details.
OAK BITES 23rd March 2020
Dear Fair Oak Family,
All pupils
Happy Monday Fair Oak Family!
Firstly, thank you all for your support and kind words over the weekend and today. As Head, I want to ensure that your child is learning, but most importantly, that they are safe – hence the message about school not being the first choice for childcare during these times for those parents who believe that they are Key Workers. That being said, we are there for those whose roles are critical. For the remainder of this week, I will be on the main gate checking evidence for those who were unable to attend today. If this applies to you, please come to school with your child in the morning and with your evidence. Thank you. Some Key worker parents may not need to send their child for the whole of the school day. If this is the case, please let the school office know. I am planning to create a weekly attendance register on survey monkey by the end of the week, so that Key Worker parents (who have shown me their evidence) are able to register their child for the following school week. Thank you.
In order to maintain social distancing, Fair Oak Junior School will run a skeleton staff until further notice. As I’m sure you agree, this is important to ensure that your child – and my staff...and their families – are safe and that we have significant capacity to recall staff if colleagues are not well.
During today, staff have been busy planning and creating our learning videos – soon to be made available on our YouTube channel. All teachers are also planning to have their Purple Mash Blogs ‘live’ by the end of the week – so watch this space!
Take care,
Mr De Silva
Further to my letter sent out yesterday (19.3.20), I am writing to inform you of the latest update. The government has made it clear that it wants children to stay at home, wherever possible and has issued the following key principles:
As you know, Fair Oak Junior School will only be open to children who are classified as Vulnerable or who are the children of Key Workers. There has been a lot of misinformation given to parents via various means, but, as I have always said, I will only give you facts. Therefore, I am now able to confirm the following classifications:
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Vulnerable Children
Please complete the questionnaire: |
Key Worker categories Only 1 parent needs to qualify as a Key Worker Please complete the questionnaire: |
*This includes Children In Need (CIN) Children who have a Child Protection Plan (CP) Children who are Looked After by the Local Authority (LAC) |
Health and social care This includes but is not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.
Education and childcare This includes nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach.
Key public services This includes those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting.
Local and national government This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms length bodies.
Food and other necessary goods This includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines).
Public safety and national security This includes police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.
Transport This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.
Utilities, communication and financial services This includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure), the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors. |
If the above categories do not apply to you or your child, do not send them to school from Monday 23rd March 2020 until further notice. Firstly, I am so sorry. This seems like an incredibly unfair situation for you and your families, and I fully understand the impact of this decision, however, social distancing is an important part of our national effort against the spread of COVID 19. Please click here to see the Stay at home guidance from the government. If your child will not be returning from Monday 23rd March…fear not! We have plans:
Please do remember to collect your child’s PE kit, water bottles, books bags etc. at the end of school today.
FSM – children in receipt of the Pupil Premium Grant
As you can see, children in receipt of the Pupil Premium Grant are not on the list above. The school will continue to offer lunches to children who are not in school. How will this be done?
We are still waiting for guidance from the government regarding supermarket vouchers if the school kitchen closes.
The following points are required for those who are eligible to send their child into school from Monday:
People keep referring to this time as unprecedented and as uncertain. Whilst this is the case, we must all ensure that we look after ourselves as adults, so that we can look after our amazing children. As a school, we will try to innovate to make this challenging time…into an opportunity. I, like the rest of you, don’t know how long this will go on for, but what I do know is that I have huge faith in every member of the Fair Oak Family.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew De Silva
Head Teacher
OAK BITES 18th March 2020
Dear Fair Oak Family,
In light of the current climate, Oak Bites will be sent daily.
Thank you so much for your support and for your kind emails. We will endeavour to keep you informed.
Mr De Silva
OAK BITES
Dear Parents/ Guardians,
In light of the current climate, Oak Bites may be sent more frequently with updates and information as required.
All pupils
Dear Fair Oak Family,
Firstly, I must thank you for all your support over the past two days. The situation is changing rapidly, but we will endeavour to keep you informed. As you know, my key priority is to keep the Fair Oak Family safe. Please note that I do absolutely understand the impact of your child being off school for 14 days if they are poorly. As per the letter yesterday, we are following guidance. There are a few extra points:
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Home learning |
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NHS 111 Online - What to do coronavirus (COVID-19) Get coronavirus (COVID-19) advice. Find out what to do if: you think you have symptoms; you might have been exposed to the virus when travelling; We'll ask you a few questions and tell you what to do next. 111.nhs.uk |
Thank you for your continued support.
OAK BITES
Dear Parents/ Guardians
Oak Bites is our twice weekly bulletin (Monday & Wednesday) that includes all general school communications, spilt into either All Pupil news or specific Year Groups. The fortnightly newsletter will continue as normal.
All pupils Please see details below of our approach to the latest health recommendations and the school actions being carried out.
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Following the letter sent out on Friday 13th, I would like to give you a few updates about operational changes to the school.
As you can see, Fair Oak Junior School is taking your child’s safety incredibly seriously. My duty of care is to your child, and we will update you as and when information is available to share. In the meantime, and as per government guidance given to schools:
Thank you for your continued support.