Glenealy School Newsletter
25th February 2021
Message from Phil
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
What an amazing week it has been! It has been wonderful to see all of our students twice in school this week. Teachers and children are settling into our new routines well and, whilst we appreciate this is still far from ideal, we are really happy to see the students more often and for longer in school. The laughter of children around the site is a reminder of how great it is for them to be in school with their friends and teachers.
We know the blended learning approach continues to be a challenge in balancing home learning with other commitments, and we are grateful for your positivity and support throughout this latest return to school model.
Return to Site - Temperature Checks
Please can parents ensure that your child’s temperature is taken before you leave home on each morning they attend school, and recorded via the ESF App.
Please can you also continue to be cautious and vigilant about illness, and do not send your child to school if they have any of the following symptoms:
Fever of >37.5 forehead skin temp
Vomiting
Nasal congestion
Runny nose
Sneezing
Sore throat
Cough
Headache
Muscle aches
Generalised malaise
If any child displays or reports any of the symptoms above whilst at school, we will ask for them to be collected as soon as possible. Please remember that if your child has a fever at home they must be fever free for 48 hours before returning to school.
We have set up a reminder which some of you may have noticed over the last couple of days. This reminder will be sent to all parents who have not completed the daily temperature check at 7:45am each day. Thank you for continuing to fill this in on a daily basis and for helping to keep our community safe.
Zoom Parent Conferences
We will be holding Zoom Parent-Teacher Conferences in order for you to connect directly with your child’s class teacher. These conferences are an opportunity to meet your child’s class teacher and share information about how they are progressing during this blended learning period.
Years 1 and 2 will be following the same Parent Teacher Conference model that we followed in September, where children are not required to attend. Our Year 3 - 6 classes will be following a three way conference model where all children must attend as they will be sharing their learning.
The bulk of these conferences will be held on Wednesday 10th March (for Years 2, 3 and 4) and Thursday 11th March (for Years 1, 5 and 6). The first thing to do is to book a time for your conference. You are able to do this by going to your Gateway homepage and clicking on the ‘Communications’ tab followed by ‘Parent Consultation’. You will see the time slots that your class teacher has available. Next, choose an available slot that suits you. A separate communication will be sent to you after the time slot has been booked.
You will also see that there is an opportunity to choose to meet with your child’s Mandarin teacher if you would like to, but please be aware that their availability will be limited on the main days as they are responsible for three classes. They will be happy to arrange an alternative meeting with you if you contact them directly by email. If you would like to meet with your child’s PE or Music teacher please email them directly to set up a mutually convenient time to meet.
Please note that on your child’s Parent Teacher Conference day (either Wednesday 10th or Thursday 11th March) learning activities will consist of accessible, independent learning tasks. Educational Assistants will be available throughout the school day should your child require any support.
Fantastic PTA activities
Finally, don’t miss the wonderful PTA contribution to this Newsletter below. Learn how the ‘Live Dumpling Cook Along’ with Lisa Wang and Grandma Yun went for our budding chefs. You could even watch the video and try it out yourselves too if you missed the live session! Also, check out the pictures from the Glenealy Nature Walk and Fun Run. It was wonderful weather and great exercise! Thanks to everyone who took part and to our wonderful PTA for putting both of these fantastic activities together.
Thank you for your flexibility, resilience and support this week. I hope you all have a good weekend and a great week to come.
With best wishes,
Phil
PTA News
Live ‘Dumpling Cook Along’
It was wonderful to see so many families taking part in Glenealy's first ever live cook-along. Our thanks to PTA member Lisa Wang and Grandma Yun who taught our budding chefs how to make delicious Chinese dumplings. See the padlet here to view the finished dumplings. If you weren't able to join the dumpling master class you can find the link to the video here.
Nature Walk & Fun Run
We absolutely loved seeing you on the trails in Aberdeen Country Park this holiday. The Nature Walk and Fun Run were popular activities over the break. As well as spotting most of the items on the scavenger hunt list our families also came across wild boar, turtles, fish, butterflies and giant frogs.
Well done to the families that took part in the fun run around Aberdeen Upper Reservoir. The fastest time was clocked by Flora and Sam Brown who completed the circuit in 48.33 minutes. Well done team Brown!
Dates for your Diary
Wednesday 10th March
Parent Teacher Conference Year 2
Three Way Conferences Years 3 & 4
Thursday 11th March
Parent Teacher Conference Year 1
Three Way Conferences Years 5 & 6