Dear parents and carers,
This week, Stephanie and I have completed meetings with teachers and phase leaders to review home learning. It has been wonderful to hear how families have engaged with this and examples of home/school relationships strengthened. Another highlight of the week was the PTA quiz – thanks to the wonderful Rob and all the families who were able to join in.
We have been busy preparing for the return of more children to Brookfield after the half term break. It is natural for children, parents and staff to have mixed feelings about this transition. Our school has been well supported by Camden in the writing of a comprehensive risk assessment and robust plan to welcome children back. We are excited to have children coming back.
Thank you to families for confirming if their child(ren) in Nursery, Reception, Y1 and 6 will be attending after half term. With strong staff support, we have been able to create 10 bubble classes of up to 15 children with two or three assigned staff. Staff will not mix between classes and socially distance from each other in school. Home learning will be maintained for children at home by staff working from home. This will mean that your Google Classroom may be run by a different member of staff, if your child’s class teacher is at school, or perhaps virtual classes combined. Thank you in advance for your understanding and appreciation to this change in provision.
Children must not attend school if they are unwell, particularly if they have a temperature or cough, or a member of their household does. Children and staff are eligible for swift testing for coronavirus through Camden or Islington NHS. Please be aware that bubble classes may need to close at short notice if there is a confirmed case of coronavirus in the class or staff shortage. Communication will be particularly important at this time. Our office will be reopening between 8am – 4pm for phone calls (020 7272 9627) and email contact (admin@brookfield.camden.sch.uk). Parents will not be able to visit the office in person, however much you are missing Carole!
Bubble class teachers have written to parents to let them know when their child will be returning as we are introducing year groups one day at a time. We have staggered start and finish times and introduced a one way system in the junior playground for drop off and pick up. Parents will be expected to socially distance from each other and staff, using the playground markings as guides. We will need to be on time so we do not come into contact with the next class who will be arriving or departing 15 minutes earlier or later. While there will be other children and classes at Brookfield, they will only see each other when using different areas of the playground. Unfortunately, we have had to suspend breakfast and after school club as we cannot mix children from different classes.
The day will begin with hand washing and we will schedule this regularly throughout the day. Bubble classes will enjoy time outdoors and extra PE lessons. Packed lunches will be provided, or brought in from home, to be eaten in classrooms or as picnics. We will be providing routine, structure, care, teaching and learning and can’t wait to see more Brookfield children as the weeks progress. Please take the time to talk to your child(ren) about all the things that will stay the same when they return, and some of the changes.
We will be thinking of all our children, and in particular our Muslim families as they prepare this weekend for Eid celebrations, without the usual closeness of family and friends. We hope you are all able to share experiences over this half term break that bring you closer to loved ones.
Yours, Laurel
Wellbeing
Here are some links and ideas to help look after children’s well being during half term:
Mindfulness meditation or relaxation activities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk_qU7l-fcU
https://positivepsychology.com/mindfulness-for-children-kids-activities/
The government have published advice on supporting children and young people’s mental health. This includes information on supporting children with SEND and social and emotional needs:
For government advice click here
Stars of the week!
Nursery Catkin: In Catkin Class our learner of the week is Ollie who has been really enjoying our growing topic, planting lots of seeds and getting creative this week making a face from fruit and veg!
R Acorn: Acorn Class would like to nominate Leanrda for Star of the Week. She has settled really well into home learning and even takes on extra tasks! Picture of her making her own clock attached!
1 Bluebell: Deacon has shown such a huge improvement in his home learning over the past few weeks – he should be so proud of himself for growing into such an independent learner! He has even learnt some amazing new skills like cooking meatloaf and gardening!
2 Dandelion: Tristan – He’s been really busy with his home learning and I’ve been so impressed with his effort this week. I particularly enjoyed his self portrait.
3 Heather: Star of the Week is Lincoln for keeping up with his reading and even writing a special book review.
4 Ivy: Star of the week is Kareema who is trying incredibly hard with her learning and is showing positive encouragement towards her peers on google classroom!
5 Willow: Joel is Willow’s star of the week because he is putting so much effort into all of his home learning. I am particularly impressed with his desire to learn new words to expand his vocabulary; I had to Google some of them when reading his poetry!
5 Ash: Star of the week in 5Ash goes to Marie who is working extremely hard and completing all activities set on our Google Classroom. I particularly liked her beautifully presented plan she then used to produce a great piece of writing.
6 Oak: Flory- For a brilliant effort in maths yesterday! Olly told us you did 5 days worth of year 7 maths in one day! Excellent effort and a brilliant end to the week. Well done Flory – you superstar.
6 Elm: This week, our star of the week is Jasper for being really consistent with submitting his home learning work and showing his creativity with his Tudor portrait
PTA news
Thanks to all who took part in the Quiz last night. The Zoom format worked well once we got the hang of it.
The winners were The Antibodies, with The Winners [sic] and past champions Brookfield of Dreams close behind. A taste of the questions are in the links below – feel free to use in your own quiz, if you like. If you need answers / info, email Rob.
Normally the quiz is a fairly big fundraiser for the year, so if you might buy a quiz ticket or two, please consider a PTA donation. While currently we can’t do any events we still want to be able to fund educational and socially-enriching activities for all Brookfield children post-lockdown. Any support is hugely appreciated.
Thanks
The PTA team