In English & supported throughout all subjects, we aim to empower & enrich our children’s vocabulary & so prepare them for the next stage in their educational journey (& beyond) so that no child is hindered or held back by a deficit of language as a result of deprivation. We want them to be able to articulate themselves & their learning through a wide bank of subject specific terminology as well as being creative & innovative in their speech & writing. We aim to inspire our children to become fluent, confident life-long readers who can discuss the joy of literature as well as develop their own style & expression through wide opportunities for writing.
Coronavirus
School Closure Home Learning
As a result of the third National Lockdown due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, St Mary's is now closed until further notice to all children apart from those who are classed as vulnerable or whose parents are critical / key workers. All other learning for children will be delivered remotely through online teaching & activities. This webpage should give you more information about our remote learning and other activities you could do
To find out what our online / remote learning provision is at St Mary's, please click on the following links
Remote Learning Information at St Mary's
Online Learning review document
DSAT Virtual Learning Strategy
Home Learning
You can access all of your child's home learning using Class Dojo. Below outlines what a typical week of virtual learning will look like:
* Each Friday afternoon, the classroom teacher will post the timetable for for the follow week onto Class Dojo and below. Please check as you may need to sources additional resources for the session.
* Each day your child will have 3 or 4 live Zoom teaching sessions and a follow up activity to complete after each Zoom session.
* Pupils need to upload their learning into their Class Dojo Portfolio so their teacher can give feedback.
* FS1 will have daily Zoom sessions as well as being open. Please contact school if you wish for your child to attend.
Mental Well-being
For ideas on how to support your children’ mental well-being during these difficult times,
why not have a go at these Coping Calendar ideas & download the
Wellbeing booklet updated for Coronavirus.
You can also access Healthy Minds / NHS Sheffield #BeatTheBoredomSheff to help
children and young people plan their day & to support them to engage in activities
which we know will best support a healthy lifestyle. Please click: Healthy Minds planner to
find out more information as well as their planner of activities:
How to support home learning:
Follow this guidance to create a positive learning environment at home
Be realistic about what you can do
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You’re not expected to become teachers and your children aren’t expected to learn as they do in school. Simply providing your children with some structure at home will help them to adapt. Use the tips below to help you make this work for your household
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Experiment in the first week, then take stock. What’s working and what isn’t? Ask your children, involve them too
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Share the load if there are 2 parents at home. Split the day into 2-3 hour slots and take turns so you can do your own work
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Take care of your own health and wellbeing. This will be new for your entire household, so give it time to settle. Take a look at the links below for some advice on mental health and wellbeing
Keep to a timetable wherever possible
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Create and stick to a routine if you can. This is what children are used to. For example, eat breakfast at the same time and make sure they’re dressed before starting the ‘school’ day – avoid staying in pyjamas!
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Involve your children in setting the timetable where possible. It’s a great opportunity for them to manage their own time better and it’ll give them ownership
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Check in with your children and try to keep to the timetable, but be flexible. If a task/activity is going well or they want more time, let it extend where possible
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If you have more than 1 child at home, consider combining their timetables. For example, they might exercise and do maths together – see what works for your household
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Designate a working space if possible, and at the end of the day, have a clear cut-off to signal school time is over
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Stick the timetable up on the wall so that everyone knows what they should be doing when, and tick activities off throughout the day
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Distinguish between weekdays and weekends, to separate school life and home life
Make time for exercise and breaks throughout the day
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Start each morning with a PE lesson at 9am with Joe Wicks
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If you have a garden, use it regularly. If you don’t, try to get out once a day as permitted by the government (households can be together outdoors but 2 metres apart from others)
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Get your children to write in a diary what they did each day– this can be a clear sign that the ‘school’ day has ended
Other activities to keep children engaged throughout the day
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Where you have more freedom in the timetable, make time for other activities. Add some creative time or watch a dance video from Go Noodle to get the heart-rate going
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Get your children to write postcards to their grandparents or to pen pals
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Ask grandparents to listen to your children read on FaceTime (or ask grandparents to read to younger children)
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Give them chores to do so they feel more responsible about the daily routine at home
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Ask them to help you cook and bake
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Accept that they’ll probably watch more TV/spend time on their phone – that’s ok but you might want to set/agree some screen time limits
