Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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Gilberts @home Update Letter
Mon 30 Mar 2020Dear Parents / Carers,
I hope this letter finds you and your families well. I am intending to upload a regular letter to the school website to update you on the work we are doing to support your children during this difficult period of time.
Gilbert’s @Home Learning on the Website
All teaching staff are setting work for the children in their class, daily via our school website www.gilbertheathcote.derbyshire.sch.uk .
This can be accessed on any mobile device or through the internet on a PC/laptop. If you require any support with this then please let us know.
School Twitter @gilbertinfant
We have been sharing pictures and photographs and other helpful links on our school twitter page to help you plan and arrange activities for your children. Please have a look on there for a list of websites you can visit for free. Many paid subscriptions have made access to their resources free over this period.
Keeping Active
It is important during this period of isolation that both children and adults stay active. Again, teachers are sending out advice using the school website and twitter but there are also free daily workouts from the body coach, Joe Wicks, on YouTube.
Parent/ teacher consultation meetings
After the Easter Holidays we will be arranging for the class teachers to give your children a telephone call. This will be just to say hello and to hold a brief conversation with parents about how things are going. Please be aware - this is not an academic conversation about your home-schooling provision, this is a caring Gilbert’s family call to check in and see how we all are. The staff miss the children too!
Free School Meals
Caterlink are currently making our FSM school sandwich packs to last for two days at another trust school and delivering these meals to schools for collection by families who require them. There are no current plans to change this arrangement. The Government have stated that they are looking at putting a national scheme in place but there has been no further announcements at this stage.
Open and Easter Provision
As directed by the Government, Gilbert Heathcote School is open with the minimal amount of staffing to oversee the daily provision and areas of responsibilities for our school family. The school will continue to do this over the Easter holidays, with the exception of Good Friday and Easter Monday.
Social Gatherings
We are aware that in some areas of the county, a significant number of children have been gathering in social groups whilst not being at school. It is important that the guidance given by the Government is followed and that they stay at home where possible.
SATs
All statutory tests for this academic year have been cancelled by the government. This means there will be
- no phonics screening check for year 1 pupils
- no SATs for year 2 pupils
We understand how disappointing this may be for the children. We have not received any further
information regarding the cancelling of the tests but once we do I will update you all.
Acts of kindness
During this stressful time, it is lovely to hear about some of the acts of kindness people have been displaying in our community. Helping one another out and being neighbourly is crucial and it has been heart-warming to hear of friends shopping for one another, prepping meals and being at the end of a phone for a chat.
Contact details
Please use the info@gilbertheathcote.derbyshire.sch.uk email to keep us informed of any concerns, worries or questions. You can also contact the school office each morning and if needed you can leave a message, someone will get back to you.
There is also a new link on the school website under the PARENT section called SUPPORT DURING COVID-19. Under this page is a range of information and local services you can contact for support. Please take a look at this.
Don’t forget the school twitter @gilbertinfant page to share pictures and work to keep our spirits up. We will get through this and be together again very soon.
Look after each other,
Joanne Mappin
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Coronavirus - School Closure
Fri 20 Mar 2020Dear Parents / Carers,
We have been informed today by the Department of Education that as from Friday 19th March 2020, schools are to be closed as part of the ‘delay phase’ of the Governments four-part response to the Coronavirus.
Therefore, Gilbert Heathcote School will be closed on Monday 19th March until further notice for most children*
As a school we have been working incredibly hard in order to be ready for this. Teachers will be setting work via the school website by 9am each morning from Monday and children will be bringing a workbook home today. If your family has been self-isolating, please can you make arrangements for someone to collect this on your behalf.
*There are some children that may fall within the categories for ‘vulnerable children’ and ‘have parents who are key workers’ and they will be able to come to school on Monday. We will be discussing this with identified individuals regarding this tomorrow.
We will also be speaking to our Catering provider regarding provision for Free School Meals, and you will be updated as soon as we have more information.
As you know everything we do at Gilbert’s is based around your amazing children with the aim of giving them fantastic learning experiences, fun and laughter. I do not have the words to say how devastating this is to us, to not know when we will be together again just seems so surreal but we will work extremely hard to ensure that our Gilbert’s school family stays together and stays strong.
Please use the info@gilbertheathcote.derbyshire.sch.uk email to keep us informed of any concerns, worries or questions and the school twitter @gilbertinfant page to share pictures and work to keep our spirits up. We will get through this and be together again very soon.
Look after each other,
Joanne Mappin