A Message From Us 23.10.20

Dear Parents, Carers and Children,

We have been just so pleased to have the children back with us at St Matthias.

This term has been filled with joy, laughter and a serious amount of learning. We are aware of the missed learning over lockdown and everyone is working hard to close any gaps. The children are a credit to their families- they have adapted brilliantly back into the classroom and have shown real focus and determination.

We are pleased that we haven’t had to send any bubbles home this half term. We can report that we have had no positive tests to date amongst St Matthias children and staff. We do understand that this is likely to happen at some point but hope that all the precautionary measures we have taken will ensure as few people as possible are impacted. We know that if we were to have to send a group of children home that we will be able to provide online learning for them that reflects as best as possible what they would be getting in the classroom. We continue to ensure the children wash their hands and use the hand sanitizer provided around the school.

As a school, we looking at ways to ensure we are delivering an anti racist curriculum rooted in equality. Black History month has been exciting, although we were unable to host you in the church, we saw children engaging with black history units, writing from texts about black people who have made a difference, using their voices to share opinions, dressing up and even enjoying a black history inspired menu. We are adamant that we move away from Black History Month and acknowledge all Black history as part of British history, all year around. Our job is to decolonise the curriculum and ensure representation is a driver in everything we do. We are proud that our reading curriculum across the whole school are representative too, which you can take a look at by clicking here.

As part of this, this half term, we have made a holiday project for all children to complete at home, which has been sent out today. This is to be done as a whole family! We hope you enjoy it.

We plan to do a parents evening next term- this is most likely to be a telephone conference rather than a face to face meeting in order to be in line with our risk assessment. We will make sure we send learning home for you to see before this.

We do miss having you on site- please do feel you can still speak to your teachers on the gate and contact the school with any concerns or questions. You may not be in our playground but you are an incredibly important part of our school!

Since being back at school we have worked hard to develop a school vision that reflects our values at St Matthias. We would be interested to know your thoughts. We have chosen to focus on four key areas that we will weave through our curriculum.

St Matthias EmpowerED 

Our identity, Our world, Our voice, Our Future 

At St Matthias we are committed to empowering our children to become independent life-long learners who:

• Know who they are
• Ask questions about the world around them
• Use their voices to make a difference
• Aspire to greatness

Our Christian values nurture a safe, caring and inclusive environment where Together we ‘have faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love’.

We look forward to continue to build our curriculum with our children at the heart.

Wishing everyone a restful half term. Looking forward to seeing you all in a weeks time.

Blessings,

Mrs Blewett

A downloadable version of our newsletter can be found here.