Newsletter 1- Friday 4th September

Dear Parents/ Carers,

What a wonderful sight it was to see all of the children return to their school yesterday. The smiles on the childrens’ faces were matched by those of the parents too. In many ways, the start of the day demonstrated why school is such an important part of life. We want Tudor to be at the heart of the community and the feedback from parents about how we are responding to the current health situation is pleasing. We continue to pledge that we remain at your side and we are all determined for this academic year to be as fantastic as it can be…

Our new themes of learning

One of the things we are most proud of is our Tudor Thematic Curriculum. This was introduced in Autumn 2017 and it goes from strength to strength. To see how the teachers have prepared their learning environments over the summer is super. Whilst learning in the EYFS will be guided by ‘Familiar Stories and Celebrations’, children in Year 1 and Year 2 will be experiencing the theme of ‘Toy Stories’. Years 3 and 4 will be experiencing ‘Is it Right to Fight?’ whilst our oldest Tudorites in Year 5 and 6 have the theme of ‘A Whole New World’. We cannot wait to show you the work that the children create! To highlight how staff like to get creative, Miss Foy could not resist renaming a famous film series for her own pupils- her classroom looks like the film set!

Ensuring a super start (and end) to each day

Now that we have all of the children back in school (we nearly had full attendance on the first day- WOW!), we must remain vigilant with our expectations for ensuring that school is as safe as possible. The use of the large blue double gates for ENTRY and the smaller gates for EXIT can ensure that movement of people is easier and this certainly seemed to be the case on the first day. Please do follow these ‘directions’- even if it means you have to walk a little further.

Large Double (Road) Gates= ENTRY                     Smaller (pedestrian) gates= EXIT

To increase capacity for social distancing we request that only one parent per family comes onto the school site for drop off and collection. Children in years 4,5 and 6 are also able to enter/exit school on their own too. It was noticeable that many families arrived very early in school- maybe the children (and parents!) were just super excited that term had started! Doors to classes open at 8.45am and we ask that children/parents do not arrive at school before 8.40am. I am aware that such words sound rather ‘cold’ to write but I am sure that you recognise the need for such additional measures at the moment. Registers CLOSE at 9.05am so there is a 20 minute window for registration. Any arrival IN school after this time will be recorded as ‘late’.

To CONFIRM our approach for PE kits- CHANGE OF DECISION! (and SORRY for the confusion)

To help with the efficient delivery of PE lessons, we initially thought that children should come to school wearing PE kits on days that they had PE activity. THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE. It would have meant that half of the school would be wearing PE kit rather than their splendid school uniforms that looked so smart on the first day. Therefore, normal approaches for PE kits being kept in school will remain. The only exception is for children in Reception (red and yellow) on a Friday. This is because our younger children often need some extra help from adults when getting changed. Reception children should wear PE kit (with jumper/cardigan) to school on Fridays.

How we are adapting practice- (and responding to potential additional measures in Dacorum)  

Throughout the last few months, schools have received a huge amount of guidance from the government in respect to expectations for safer working practices in schools. As mentioned before, we are fortunate with the layout of our school and we have not required many of the measures. The fact that each class/ year group can be easily separated is a great help in the delivery of our plans/ risk assessments. I have heard some recent ‘rumours’ of an enhanced ‘tier 1 lockdown’ in the Dacorum area. Measures at Tudor means we already meet the demands/ expectations of not just tier 1 but also tiers 2 and 3. The school community working together is key. Related to this, it is fair to say that social media is not the best source of information- I pledge to ensure that all of you are updated with the key news and information. Communication is vital!

We will be introducing additional school funded ‘year specific’ breakfast clubs for children in year 5 and year 6 as it is vital that are fully prepared for life beyond Tudor. We must also consider ways to ‘replace’ the phenomenal success of the year 2 reading drive too. Evidence clearly shows that the work alongside the year 2 parents with reading since 2016 (when we introduced the reading drive) had huge impact- please remain committed to supporting your child’s daily reading. It is, without doubt, the most important ‘homework’ of all- whatever age of the child…

Supporting the ‘Tudor Office Team’

The school reception/ office area is obviously a core part of the school. When using the school reception area, we request that only two family groups are using the area at any particular time. Please queue outside of the door until you are able to enter. Thanks in advance for your understanding. Please do use the website when finding out about school information though- we are very proud of it and it has everything that you need to know!

Finding out what is in store for your child…

This time of year would usually mean you have the opportunity to meet your child’s classteacher. We will be sharing the key information via the year group section on the school website. Do make sure you look at this because it will highlight some class/ year group specific information about how things are organised. We are still planning to provide some Red and Yellow class presentations in the hall so keep an eye out for further details about attending these.

EnergyKidz- socially distanced after school care!

Our after school care provider is back at Tudor. By using our large hall, the EnergyKidz team are able to deliver their high quality provision until 6pm each day. Booking of spaces can be made online at:  https://www.energy-kidz.co.uk/breakfast-and-after-school-clubs/hemel-hempstead-tudor-primary-school/

It is a shame that there is a reduced access to the school site for parents but we pledge to share all of the super things that the children enjoy in this new year. The school site continues to be improved and the children are delighted with the upgrades including toilets, playground markings, outside learning spaces and more.

Our most important resource remains our teaching team and I believe we continue to improve here. Miss Jenny Bail brings further experience to the school and we all remain committed to improving and refining our approaches- after all, we never stop learning…     

Mr Rob Weightman/ Headteacher