Alverstoke Church of England Junior School
(023) 9258 0450
March 26, 2020
Please take a look at our new home learning page. If you have any suggestions for this please email admin@alverstoke-jun.hants.sch.uk and we will share them. Thank you.
March 26, 2020
Please take a look at our new home learning page. If you have any links that you think other parents would like please email admin@alverstoke-jun.hants.sch.uk and we will upload them.
March 20, 2020
Dear Parents and carers,
It has been a challenging few days for everyone and we find ourselves heading into uncharted waters over the next few weeks.
Last night we received the guidance from the Department of Education on what constitutes an ‘essential worker’. The list is comprehensive and the reason for this is that of course every occupation is important within its context and the community’s needs. Unfortunately, we will not be able to offer every child of one of the workers on the list a place at school in the coming weeks. There are two main reasons for this: firstly, we will not always have the staff to cover that number of children as they themselves may be in a vulnerable group and in isolation or develop symptoms and therefore be in quarantine for fourteen days. Secondly, if we open to the numbers so far as indicated we will be doing very little to contribute to stopping the spread of infection as we will still have so many staff, children and parents on site.
Thank you to parents who have responded positively to the key worker support we will be offering next week, at present we will be supporting 36 children as their parents continue to do sterling work to keep the NHS and other services running smoothly. We have already exceeded the Government advice of 10% per school but feel that we need to offer these places as a matter of urgency to these parents.
It was good to see the pile of contributions for the Food bank this morning as well. At a time like this, being neighbourly has never felt so important.
Just a few things to make you aware of:
Before we close to the majority of our pupils for the foreseeable future, I wanted to share some thoughts with you. Please remember that some of our children are just as scared as we are right now. Our children not only hear everything going on around them but they feel our tension and anxiety as well. They have never experienced anything like this before and although the idea of being off school for several weeks sounds exciting, they are probably imagining summer holiday fun not the reality of being at home and not seeing their friends. Over the coming weeks, you may well see an increase in more challenging behaviour with your children. Whether it is anger, anxiety or protest that they can’t do normal things. I offer my reassurance that this is normal and expected under these circumstances.
Please do not worry about them regressing at school. Every single child is in this boat and they will all be ok. When we are back in the classroom, we will focus on their learning and meet their educational needs. At the end of all of this, their mental health will be more important than their academic skills.
Finally, on a lighter note, can I say how much I have enjoyed my time here at Alverstoke Junior school, it has been a pleasure working with such a dedicated team of staff and having the pleasure of meeting your children as well. I shall miss them when my time here ends. Mrs Slowther will begin her time as head teacher on Monday 20th April but until that time, the staff and myself will continue to keep the school running smoothly regardless of whatever is thrown at us.
Best wishes, keep safe, and well,
Mrs Zoë Dudley
March 19, 2020
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are keen to support our local community during this time. So, tomorrow (Friday 20th March) children may come into school in non-uniform – please all note that this voluntary not compulsory. If your child wishes to wear non-school uniform, in payment we ask that your child brings in an item of food, may it be a tin of tomatoes, a box of crackers or cooking oils. We will be taking these donations of food to our local food bank at ‘Caring Hands’, Gosport. If your child is bringing in an item, please ask them to bring it to the office.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Marissa Ballard
Deputy Headteacher
March 16, 2020
March 13, 2020
Following on from recent advice from Public Health England, please do not send your child to school if they have a temperature or a new cough. For any other information please refer to www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england
Wednesday 18th March 2020 update
Tuesday 17th March 2020 update
Good afternoon,
Just to keep you up to date with the current situation at school. There has been no further advice given by the DFE or Government regarding schools closing although we have been told that headteachers may need to advise parents that if staff members have to self isolate, this may have an impact on safeguarding children in school and we may need to close certain year groups. Should we find ourselves in this position and need to close certain year groups, a text message will be sent as early as possible in the morning to let parents know.
We have received notification from several of our Club providers that they will not be running their clubs until further notice and we have made the decision to stop running any of our other clubs at this difficult time. Similarly, the Year 5 outcome and the Mothers Day fair will not be going ahead.
Please can you ensure that your child has a water bottle in school at all times as we are closing down the outside water fountains for hygiene reasons. The inside water coolers will all still be available for use however.
The advice remains the same for keeping children off school : if they have a new persistent cough or a high temperature, then please keep them at home.
At the present time, teachers are putting together work for children should the school close. If you have decided to self isolate, please encourage your child to continue to read and do some timetables rockstars until this work becomes available. We will not be sending out packs of work to individual children until the school receives notification to close.
We will be contacting you again tomorrow with the latest updates.
Mrs Z Dudley
Tuesday 16th March
Latest update.
Good afternoon! At present, we are still unaware of any decision by the Government to close schools so we are continuing to stick to business as usual.
We are however taking some precautions in line with the advice given by Public Health England. On Wednesday afternoon, Year 5 will still be holding their celebration of work but we would ask that 5R parents come into school for 2.15 until 2.35 and go into class where the children will perform for you. 5S parents, please come into school at 2.45 until 3.00 and go into class for their performance. 5S parents will be able to take their children and siblings home after the performance.
The Mother’s Day sale may still go ahead although we will be looking at running it earlier in the week and ensuring that children attend in small groups rather than en masse.
At present, clubs will still go ahead and parents will be informed by text if the provider has cancelled a club. All club providers have been asked to keep using the hand sanitisers and to encourage children to use tissues if they need to.
We ask that you continue to work with us, keeping children at home should they demonstrate a new persistent cough and a high temperature. We will continue to keep you abreast of any changes, as we are made aware of them.
I will aim to send an update to you every day as matters unfold. Thank you for working with us and the support you have shown us over this matter.
Mrs Zoë Dudley.
Alverstoke Church Of England Junior School
The Avenue, Alverstoke, Gosport, Hampshire PO12 2JS.
Telephone (023) 9258 0450 . Click here to email us >
