Instrumental Music Lessons at School

 

If you're having music lessons in school you can now access a digital classroom through Hwb which will help you further with your learning and improve your performance skills.

Type the following address into your web browser search bar and use your Hwb login to access the digital classroom for strings (Violin & Cello)

 

https://hwb.gov.wales/go/4qqa8d

 

Type the following address into your web browser search bar and use your Hwb login to access the digital classroom for Brass.

 

https://hwb.gov.wales/go/915dyg

 

Please be aware that we will be making no charges for any on line music lessons over the summer term

 

 

On Friday there is a special Bank Holiday to mark the 75th Anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day. I'm marking the event on our website by sharing the images that can be found on the new edition of stamps from the Royal Mail. These stamps will be released to mark this very important anniversary, The images are from events at the time and I think they give a very real impression of what it was like for everyone seventy five years ago. Do have a look - they'll pop up as a slide show for you.

Dear Parents /Carers

 

Update from Croesty Primary School                          24/04/2020

 

We at Croesty Primary School hope you are all well and managing with the many difficulties faced by families in this period of lockdown. In many ways the coronavirus crisis can seem so very remote and unreal. Then suddenly, there is the news that someone nearby has lost a loved one to this awful disease and this reminds us why social distancing, the washing of hands and staying at home are all so important. In many ways I think this period has brought people together – there is that marvellous ten minutes every Thursday evening when we all go out to clap hands and bang saucepan lids for the NHS. I’ve never seen so many people going out for a walk, a run or riding a bicycle and there is a wonderful calm in the evenings when the traffic has at last died away for the night.

 

Continuous learning is the focus for this update. It has been five whole weeks now since our school was closed on Friday 20^th March. Straight away, we set to work so that our online classrooms were ready to use the following Wednesday, so that continuity in learning for our children could be secured. We accept that for both parents and children this form of learning brings many challenges and that it cannot replace the learning experience your children have when they are in school. Those parents who have had children with us for many years will remember when Hwb was first introduced and how awkward and clunky it was. Things have moved on and the children of Wales now all benefit from a National, Government backed digital learning system which is safe and reliable.

 

Schools in Wales are expected to provide a comprehensive learning programme for their children over the lockdown period. This is to be achieved through Hwb and we have been asked to take all reasonable steps to ensure that our children engage and continue with their learning. We have therefore been providing four learning activities each school day to develop skills in literacy, numeracy and the wider curriculum. This is being delivered through our digital classrooms to you our families at home. You can be flexible with these activities; your children can complete these at a time and day of your choosing. A daily routine is good but will simply not be possible for some families. Handing in completed work can be quite a challenge. Some of our year 6 children are experts at this and their teachers are able to give them regular marking feedback. Handing in work, however, is not so easy a task especially with younger children and we applaud the tremendous efforts some of you have made to share your child’s learning with us. We are exploring ways to make handing in easier for everyone.

 

At this stage we are now asking for some feedback from you and your child about how you feel the online classrooms are working. Your feedback might help us to improve our programmes, but we may not be able to please everyone. What might be too little work for some children might be far too much for others – we’ve got to try and strike a balance and by completing our online questionnaire you can help us to achieve this.

 

You can access our questionnaire using the link bellow:

 

https://forms.gle/NJmVGD584QSutviF7

 

We would be very grateful if you could complete this for us by 12:00 next Thursday (30/04/20). The survey is very short, and we think it can be completed easily in five minutes.

 

We look forward to hearing from you

 

Kind regards

 

Mr M Kaye Headteacher

I hope that you have all enjoyed a bit of time over Easter and that everyone has remained safe and well. 

You will be aware that all schools in the UK will remain closed for at least the next three weeks. We will be re-opening our digital classrooms for each class from 10:00 am on Monday 20th April. A range of new learning activities for your child will then be added to each classroom for every weekday.

This Wednesday is Earth Day (22.04.20) and many of our activities on Wednesday will be linked this. Every Friday we intend to set up a practical science and technology (STEM) activity for families to take part in.

Don't forget, if your child is receiving additional learning support Mrs Williams has a classroom with learning activities which are specifically designed for your child.

Whereas a great many families and children are engaging very well with our digital classrooms some of you have not as yet engaged. If you are having difficulties accessing your child's digital classroom, please have a look at the information below as this may well help: 

If your problem is related to finding and accessing your child's classroom on line help is available at:

hub.gov.uk  Find the section - Distance Learning Through Hwb and click on this. The page opens up and you will see the contents in blue on the left hand side. Click on the Parents/Carers link

At the bottom of this sort section you will see the following menu in blue. You need to click on the G Suite link

Hwb     Office 365    Minecraft:EE    G Suite    Just2easy

We are running our digital classrooms through G Suite and when you open up this link you will find a range of excellent videos that will help you access your child's digital classroom.

You will need your child's hub email and hub password to enter your child's classroom. If you don't have these, you do need to request them from us via admin.croesty@bridgend.gov.uk Please remember that the passwords as case sensitive. Once successful asking your computer or device to remember the password is worthwhile.

If having gone through the above steps or if your problem is not related to the above please contact us on admin.croesty@bridgend.gov.uk stating your difficulty and we will try and help. Please allow 5 working days for us to get back to you.

Finally please continue to check our website: www.croestyprimaryschool.co.uk and your emails for any updates from Croesty Primary School

 

Essential Childcare Applications for Key Workers After the Easter Break

If you are a key worker and need to make an application for emergency childcare after Easter you can do so from the bridgend.gov.uk website. Applications must be made by Wednesday 15th April. 

COVID-19 Update 19/03/20

 

Dear Parent/Carer,

 

I am writing to confirm that all schools in Wales will close on Friday 20^th March at 3:15 pm as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic. The full written statement from Welsh Government can be found using this link:

 

https://gov.wales/statement-minster-education-kirsty-williams-school-closures-wales

 

As we find out more with regards to what role schools and school staff will play in supporting other sectors, I will continue to update you at every point moving forward. Please ensure that you have access to your school email account, our school website – www.croestyprimaryschool.co.uk  and your child’s Hwb email and password.

 

Pupils’ home learning plan

 

It is clear now that schools will be closed for some time and our staff have been working hard this week to set up opportunities for the continued access to learning on line for our children during the closure. Each year group will have an elearning classroom on hwb which will be updated on a daily basis with engaging learning activities which will be appropriate to move your child’s learning on. At this stage I would familiarise yourself with the help video that we have posted on our web site if your child is unfamiliar with logging on at home. This can be found from the top drop down menu: Parents – Learning during School Closure. We will email everyone when the elearning classrooms are ready to access. There will also be an elearning classroom for children who receive additional support from Mrs Williams and we strongly encourage children with Lexia or Mathletics accounts to continue working through their programmes. Children on Lexia should complete 3x 20 minute sessions each week.

 

We will be sending a copy of your child’s hwb email and password home with them on Friday together with their mid- term report. For those not present on Friday we will endeavour to send out the key log in details to your child.

 

Whilst this extended period of absence presents a challenge, it also provides a real opportunity and time to spend on really important aspects of educational development and life skills more generally. For these reasons, we would really like to emphasise the importance of taking pride in the work completed. We would also welcome evidence of completed work although this is not an expectation. Class teachers will endeavour to provide feedback on any work submitted if they’re able to do so.

 

Many thanks for your continued support and cooperation

 

Kind regards

Mr M Kaye Headteacher & the Staff at Croesty Primary School

We have put an access video to help you use our online learning classrooms during a school closure. You'll find this under the Parents Drop Down Menu.

We will ensure that all children have their passwords and emails for Hwb on Friday together with their mid term reports.

We will notify you when lessons are online for your child to use.

 

If someone in your house hold becomes symptomatic of coronavirus: with a new dry cough, a high temperature and headaches then everyone in the household should self- isolate for 14 days.

You will need to notify us in school if children are not attending because of self-isolation and must contact us on the first day, the first day of each subsequent week and on the 13^th day prior to your child returning to school to confirm that they are fit and well and have no remaining symptoms. If your child has not made a full recovery they should not return to school.

 

If your child is currently off school on self-isolation they cannot return to school before 14 days.

 

Some families are keeping children off school who are perfectly well but there is a health concern with another family member. These decisions are taken by you as a family. In such cases we advise that you contact us and explain your concern. We can then make a note on your child’s attendance record. We will ask you to then contact the school at the beginning of each week to confirm that your child is safe.

 

Nearly all appointments and visits to school by outside agencies have been cancelled. Such agencies include: Early Help, Barnardos, Access & Inclusion, The Educational Psychology Service and School Nurse etc. If you have an appointment expect it to be cancelled.

 

The school is also now cancelling any non-critical meetings with parents and we will not be offering any new appointments for the foreseeable future. We ask that you don’t gather for any length of time on the yard at the end of the day and leave the premises promptly.

 

In school we are currently preparing to deliver learning via the Hwb digital Learning Platform so that our children can access learning activities online from home. This will be important if schools are directed to close in the future. We will provide further information on home learning in due course.

 

All of our after school clubs are now cancelled until after the Easter Holidays. We will arrange the return of payments for Superstars Club for the sessions that will not now be run.