​My Dear Parents and Carers

We have come to the end of one of the most difficult weeks in my whole career. I started teaching in 1985 and so that is a statement on what we are facing and will face for at least the next few weeks.

Staff have been expecting to get back in classes, teaching our children and that is what you were expecting too. All change!!! with less than 18 hours before the new term was to begin.

Can I express my thanks and respect to everyone in the St. Margaret's community for once again, getting on with it. From Monday, the school will move to remote learning for those at home. The children in classes will be able to access this as well so that we are able to have classes working together as far as is reasonable. Staff have put what they are doing each day on the class pages. If you are unsure about what your child's class is doing please contact their class teacher so that you will get the best answer

Please keep safe and well.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs. Perry :)

Dear Parents and Carers

It has been lovely to welcome the key worker children back today :)

Already we have had to make some changes due to the large number of key worker children. So, from tomorrow the children will be in their own classrooms and from Monday the teachers will deliver remote learning from the classroom.

It is very important that all parents sign up for Google Classroom so that the children can access the work and the teaching. The difference now, from the last lockdown is that the children are expected to complete the work set, it is not optional.

From tomorrow morning, children in Willow, Lilac and Oak will go back to using the entrance and exit that they used before Christmas.

Under lockdown conditions, children should only bring their water bottle and packed lunch.

As we are unable to change reading books, please see below a link to Oxford Reading Owls, which provides free on line reading books for children of all ages.

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/

keep safe and well.

Mrs. Perry

Dear Parents and Carers

Due to the unexpected large number of key worker and vulnerable children , the school has reached capacity in terms of the number of children we can receive in order to keep to the directive on social distancing.

As a result we cannot accept any more children. We cannot make any changes to existing arrangements at this time.

If you are a family with only one key worker please can you give consideration to keeping your child at home for remote learning. I am sorry to ask this of you. Times are difficult enough. However, the directive is clear about the rules that need to be adhered to in school, to keep your child(ren) and staff safe, and we are struggling to keep to them because of numbers.

The Government guidance is very clear, 'Stay at home'.

Keep safe and well.

Mrs. Perry

Dear Parents and Carers,
 
As you can imagine today has been interesting!! We have now received notification of all key worker and vulnerable children who require a place in school and all your individual requests have been accommodated. If any changes are required, please notify the school office at the earliest opportunity.
 
The arrangements for this week are as follows:
1. Remote learning this week will be English / Phonics and Maths and can be found on the class pages daily.
2. This week there will be no Zoom or Google classroom provision, this is to allow school to prepare for this unexpected last minute lockdown.
 
In terms of class arrangements for those children attending school this week:
1. Willow and Lilac Classes will be Bubble 1 in Willow Class.
2. Oak and Hawthorn Classes will be Bubble 2 in Oak Class.
3. Years 3, 4 and 5 will be Bubble 3 and will work in the hall on separate tables. If the numbers in these classes increase significantly, we can split the classes into their year groups.
4. Year 6 will work in their own classroom.
 
Each Bubble will not worry about doing remote learning from the class pages on a laptop for now. The work will be printed off and staff will support the children in their bubbles to complete it.
 
I am sure that there will be many changes in the coming days and I thank you in anticipation of your continued support.
 
Tomorrow, all the children will come through the front door at 9am and be guided by the staff at hand to their bubble. This may change according to numbers in the coming days. Please remember all children are required to wear their school uniform. Unfortunately, we have made the decision to keep Smarties closed for the moment and will review regularly. The school day will finish at 3:30pm.

Lastly, we have just received confirmation from our catering team that the kitchen staff will be in school from tomorrow and children who usually have school meals can continue to do so.
 
Keep safe and well.
 
Mrs. Perry x

Dear Parents and Carers,

It is with deep regret that I tell you St. Margaret' s will not re-open on Wednesday. School realises the distress and inconvenience this will cause. As you know we aimed to re-open, but due to the fact England will move to national lockdown, this cannot happen. School has tried everything to stay open but this would now be illegal.

I have been told that the school MUST move to remote learning from tomorrow. Staff will move to this but since they were expecting to teach face to face, this will take till Monday to implement in full. We will be working on this tomorrow. Please bear with us, as you always have.

Provision will be made for key worker and vulnerable children as soon as possible. I am meeting with school staff imminently to ensure that arrangements are as smooth as possible for you. 

I will be back in touch tomorrow to let you know the arrangements as they unfold. 

Please keep safe and well.

We are shocked, as are school staff, that we are now unable to see our children until after half term. As I say, there will be more information tomorrow. 

Lots of love,

A very distressed Mrs. Perry

Dear Parents and Carers,

I am sure that you are hearing a lot about the re-opening of schools on the TV and in the media. St. Margaret's will be open on Wednesday 6th January as planned. The infection rate is decreasing in our locality for now. Despite the fact that the infection rate remains high, the numbers are not as high as in November. 

Obviously there are major concerns about the new strain of COVID, especially since the infection is high in the 10 to 14 year old age bracket. The situation is very fluid and school may have to react to any changes, and any actions necessary may need to be swift. Any changes regarding the re-opening of school will be communicated to you as soon as possible and will be on health and safety grounds. However, for now I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday. 

Keep safe and well.

Mrs. Perry. :)

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope that you have had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed some happy family time. I am writing to give you an update on the issues that you will no doubt be hearing about in the news and on social media.

I am very happy to hear that Primary Schools can re-open as normal. That, for us is January 6th. It is my firm belief that our children are better off in school, learning alongside their classmates. Your child's teacher keenly wants them there so that we can all learn and grow together. Our staggered entry and exit to and from school will be maintained as will the risk assessment that we have in place.

You may have heard that mass testing will be rolled out in schools. I am keeping up to date with developments here and will learn more in a Schools Advisory Group meeting tomorrow afternoon. (More details to follow!).  What I do know is that the programme will start in High Schools FROM the beginning of term. The timescale and arrangements for Primary Schools are unclear at this time. If mass testing was to be offered in Primary schools, it is a parents decision whether to give consent or not.

I will keep you up to date with new information as it becomes available.

I hope that you have a lovely New Years Eve.

Lots of love.

Mrs. Perry :)

If you need to report a positive case of Covid for a student between the 19th -23rd December , please email stmargarets@bury.gov.uk.

You should only get in touch if;

- Your child developed symptoms within 48 hours of being in school and they have received a positive test result up to and including Wednesday 23rd December.

In all other situations over the holidays , parents should get in touch directly with Track and Trace.

A big thank you to the PTA for arranging some amazing raffles prizes, and thank you to everyone who bought raffle tickets, we raised £505.00 which was amazing .

Below is a list of all our winners !!

St Margaret’s Christmas Raffle 2020