Dear parents/carers,
Thank you for your continuing support, patience and understanding at this time of unprecedented challenges. I sincerely hope that you and your families are able to remain safe and well and that your children are able to access the learning resources which our school has worked hard to provide.
A quick update about home learning. Staff at St Joseph’s have been working tirelessly to try to ensure our home learning is updated and accessible for both you and for your children.
We now have these things in place to support your child:
We have recently launched our new School Blog to make it easier to contact teachers for additional support.
If you have a question, please post it on the blog by commenting. Once your comment has been approved, it will be listed on the blog. A member of staff will be notified and do their best to provide you with an answer. Please note that all posts can be viewed by anyone who is accessing the blog. It is for this reason that we ask that you do not provide any personal details when posting. When commenting, please write your initials in the name field.
In Key Stage 2 there are reading, reasoning and procedural past papers that the children should be working through. At the bottom of each page they have their 'Global Project'. The children should be completing their 'Daily Reading Challenge' by clicking the link and then navigating to Encyclopaedia Britannica on Hwb to conduct their research. Once these activities are completed, the children have been instructed to produce a (paper-based) booklet about the continent that they have been learning about. They should also be producing a presentation about one specific country on Microsoft Teams.
All children should be using Just2easy (navigate to j2blast) on Hwb to practise spellings, times tables and arithmetic.
Come and See (RE) activities are now available on the class pages. In Key Stage 2, these can be completed on Microsoft Teams.
Reading comprehension activities have also been uploaded to Teams this week.
Additional resources will be uploaded to Microsoft Teams (Assignments in Hwb) for children in Key Stage 2 over the coming weeks.
As the children are working online, please look at the following resources related to e-safety to keep your children safe when engaging in home learning:
https://hwb.gov.wales/zones/online-safety/
You can upload pictures of the work you are completing at home to the assignment titled ‘Home Learning Photos’ on Microsoft Teams. Upload photos into the PowerPoint document for your teacher to see. Please do not include any photos of you or your family in the PowerPoint. We only need to see pictures of the work you have completed. This assignment is not mandatory. However, if you would like your teacher to see your work, click 'Insert' and then 'Pictures' to upload your work. You need to create a new slide for each piece of work.
Alongside the work that has been set, each year group area has an overview of Topics we are covering this term. This will be updated with next term’s topics.
By using the same online platform, we will not be complicating matters or expecting pupils/parents to look in lots of different places to save work. Children can save their work/photos and Teachers will have a record of it when we return to school.
For children in Foundation Phase, please continue to complete the projects sent home before school closed. All work should be written inside the home learning book, as evidence of the work completed. Please also include any fun experiences you have had, photos of you playing/baking/gardening – spending time with your family.
Please continue to read every day on Bug Club and continue maths learning on Mathletics so your teachers can continue to monitor your progress. There are spelling lists on the class pages, please practise these at home.
Regularly check your child’s class page on the St. Joseph’s website, as new fun activities, ideas, experiences and work will be uploaded frequently. Please record these inside your home learning books as well. Come and See (RE) activities are now available to access on each class page, as well as phonics support, maths links, password support and links to the projects sent home.
On the Year 2 class page, there are reading, reasoning and procedural past papers that the children should also be working through.
Should you need to contact staff urgently or need to disclose sensitive information, a further email has been set up, please email:
support@stjosephsprm.cardiff.sch.uk
As you know, Staff are continuing to work both at home, on a rota basis to care for Key Worker children at Whitchurch Primary and to distribute meals at St Joseph’s at lunchtime. (though this provision of meals will cease on Friday 3rd April 2020) I would like to take this opportunity to thank staff for leaving their own families and coming in to provide this vital service to our fantastic front line key workers. I would like to also take this opportunity to thank parents. You have all been truly amazing. It is you that make our pupils the bright, curious polite and wonderful children that they are,
Thank you,
Take care and stay safe,
Alex Riordan