"It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us, in joy we face the storm and defy it!"

Looking at the calendar this week, it resonated with me about the special events which should have been taking part in our children’s lives at this time.

We have all been very aware that Friday should have been a day of celebration, bringing our Year 6 children’s week of SATs assessments to a close. Year 6 I know you have missed out and I know this is one of the things things every child looks forward to (even with some nervousness) as they travel through school but please know that we are all incredibly proud of you. You have traveled through school, learning, and growing and your leadership form September has been inspiring. I know each one of you would have shone this week and would have made yourselves and Miss Slater very proud, I know how much progress each one of you was making! I know you would have supported each other throughout and finished the week with a smile. But more importantly, I also know that you have grown into such wonderfully kind and empathetic human beings and I truly hope that we do get the opportunity to say goodbye properly and celebrate just what you have achieved. But for now, know that we all love you and miss you and have been so impressed with your home learning! I have loved seeing the quality of your work, your photographs, videos, and seeing your independence shine!

This weekend would also have marked the day when our first group of children were due to receive their First Holy Communion. It is so sad that we were unable to have this wonderful celebration but hopefully we can still complete our programme at some point in the future and will be able to celebrate with each other as we would want. In the meantime, I hope you are continuing to learn your responses for mass and joining in with Fr Jim’s masses on the church website. If you haven’t already seen the brilliant resources on this site - go and look!!!! The button on our website page will take you straight there!

Returning to school

These are such strange times for us all and I know many of you are wanting to know the plans for after half term. We have been working all week to complete our risk assessments and have been collating all information available.  Thank you so much to our Year 6, Reception and Year 1 parents who have completed the survey, I know how difficult this was for many of you; your kind and honest comments have greatly assisted this planning. NB: If anyone has not yet given a response - please try to do so as we want to take due consideration of all comments received. Next week we will be sharing our plans with you, which will place the safety of all at the forefront. Please know that whatever you decide as a parent will be respected and supported. We still have further guidance to review from our Local Authority and also a review with Governors this coming week but will inform you all of our plans as soon as possible following this. We do hope however, to implement our plans on June 8th, following our half term break.

Prayers for next week

In the meantime, the power of prayer still helps to guide us all.

Attached below are the weekly prayers which follow this weeks preparation of Jesus for the feast of His Ascension. They are prayers of hope from Pope Francis. They seem particularly poignant at this moment in time…

Also, look out on the website for Parish Mass on the Feast of the Ascension. The children have helped Fr Jim by undertaking the readings for him for this mass. Hopefully it will be something we can do more of in the future as on this feast we would have celebrated mass with the whole school.

I hope you all have a safe and happy week and contnue to look after one another.

Update on Government new strategy

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement and the further DFE advice now provided, Governors and staff here at Our Lady’s are now taking some time to review all advice from DfE, the Diocese and the Local Authority on the safest way to proceed. At the forefront of all our planning is of course the safety of both children and staff. The decisions we are being asked to make are not easy and we have to ensure that if we do extend the amount of children we welcome into school, this is only done if we can operate at the safest level possible.

As you can imagine the preparation and discussion needed to make decisions moving forward are both complex and challenging. However we proceed there will be no perfect solution for every family. We can only base all decisions on the utmost safety of our staff and children, and put in place a structure and routines which will provide the safest possible environment for the community to operate within.

To support us developing our pathway and to make those important decisions we are now asking parents in Reception, Year One and Year Six to please complete the attached survey. This will help us to gauge how you are feeling and your intentions going forward. Your responses will enable us to begin to plan staffing and effective social distancing and to judge clearly what we are able to safely provide with increased numbers of pupils:

These 2 questions can be completed by clicking on the survey button below.

Once decisions have been made we will plan to implement them on June 8th following our natural half term break. However, we will continue to follow the current situation and take on board daily advice from the government and any necessary changes will be communicated immediately.

Before we break up for half term on May 22nd we will update all parents on school organisation and the continuing plans for online home learning. Staff have worked tirelessly to ensure daily learning has been available and I know each teacher would like me to thank you for all your kind words of appreciation. Staff will spend the first week of the half-term break completing school reports which they will base largely on the time your child spent in school. The second week will be spent preparing school inside and outside for the implementation of safe distancing and learning.

The children have worked so hard under your guidance and I know this has not been an easy task for many of you trying to complete your own work at the same time. However, on a weekly basis as I see the learning and discuss progress being made with staff, I can honestly say that for so many of you this has been a great success! Together we have managed largely to keep the children engaged and learning.

Thank you as always for your patience and support as we enter the next phase of these uncertain times.

'Happiness is like change... is starts from within.'

I hope that all of you are staying well, and above all, staying positive in these challenging times!

As we are about to complete week seven, living with our own households, I know many of you are now asking what is going to happen next.

With the Prime Minister confirming that we are “past the peak of this disease”, and a commitment that this week on Sunday will see the government set out their ‘road map’ to safely reopen the country, like you, we are waiting to hear the plans for schools. Until we hear this advice it remains impossible to make decisions so please do bear with us. At this moment in time, I do not know what lies ahead, or when we will be asked to begin opening school again, and more importantly what this may look like in reality.

I do know that next week will be a time of discussion and collaboration to enable decisions to be made based on ensuring the safety of all children and staff. This will take time and important information will need to be considered. It really is a huge responsibility, and whilst I appreciate that you all want to know what will be happening following the half term, please do give school space to formulate arrangements.

These seven weeks have not been easy for any of us and I know we have all tried so hard to support each other, this has truly humbled me. As headteacher I have faced so many difficult challenges and have been upset by some of the decisions I have had to make. The learning curve has been steep but I have learned never to judge a reaction, to try and understand each perspective and always remember that we never truly know what someone else has been through.

I am missing the whole community deeply and pray that we can return safely over time.

“Somewhere over the rainbow…”

Creating smiles and music is what Blackpool Symphony Orchestra does best but without their usual Thursday evening playing sessions, members aimed to spread a little hope and bring some colour to audiences with a virtual rendition of 'Somewhere over the Rainbow.'

Miss Benson and the rest of the orchestra have worked upon the specially arranged recording which has been dedicated to key workers and has now raised more than £2,000 with funds being redirected to support the Blackpool community.

Watch the video on: http://www.blackpoolsymphony.co.uk/home

Donations have gone to Blackpool Food Bank.

If you would like to donate to the Food Bank you can click here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/blackpoolsymphony

Donations of food can be taken to the Blackpool Food Bank Office Hub at Blackpool Tower.

Any budding gardeners?

Many of you may have been spending lockdown working hard in your gardens. This is a great place to be for your mental and physical health and hopefully you have been able to grow some wonderful things in this beautiful weather.

However, I know there will be many of you who are unable to do this due to lack of (or no) garden space!

Well, that’s where school could lend a helping hand!

If anyone is looking for an allotment space, or any area to grow in, then please consider utilising our large polytunnel and garden here at Our Lady’s. We have so much space and it saddens me that it is not able to be used currently. So if anybody in your family would like to spend some time gardening, then if you let us know at school - we could let you use the polytunnel and garden to grow your fruit & vegetables at any time you like! You could access the spaces with a key, which would not need to un-alarm the school building. On site is outside water taps, compost bins, and plenty of pots. All you would need to bring is some compost an your seeds (and of course your green fingers!)

Please let us know on 01253 762833 if this is something of interest to you.

Preparing for the next phase....

With the Prime Minister confirming that we are “past the peak of this disease”, and a commitment that next week will see the government set out their plans to safely reopen schools, we are undoubtedly entering a new phase. Just like the government, schools are learning lessons every day. With a slew of changes to the curriculum, services and processes, the last 6 weeks or so has been a whirlwind.

It has been so wonderful to see the vast majority of children engaging with the daily & weekly tasks set by your teachers. Thank you so much to your parents for supporting you and helping you to continue with your learning. We hope that, when we are able to return, we will be able to continue with the remainder of our work and get ready for our new classes/schools in September, armed with the skills and knowledge we have learned during the last 6 weeks.

Although at this time I do not know what lies ahead, or when we will be asked to begin openeing school again, I will try my best to keep you updated on our website with forthcoming arrangements.

While we are still in lockdown however - new educational ideas/websites are flooding onto the market… Below is an excerpt from an educationalist regarding the use of TV channels for educational purposes for many of you who may be struggling to encourage your child to undertake the tasks their teachers have set them!

The Best Educational Documentaries on Netflix and Disney+

Victoria Thompson

We all know that sometimes it can be difficult for children to sit down and focus on work for a few hours – especially with the TV being so close. So rather than fight it, why not embrace it?

Alongside blockbuster movies, suspenseful TV shows and playful cartoons, streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ come packed with educational documentaries. With so many titles to choose, we have done the hard work for you and picked some of the best shows available.

The World According to Jeff Goldblum – Disney+

If that title isn’t enough of a reason to start watching, then we don’t know what is. The incredible Jurassic Park actor has travelled across the world in this new exclusive series – exploring everything from video games and cosmetics, to coffee and ice cream. Speaking to social media influencers and talking about his own experiences, it is both informative and entertaining.

While this docuseries may be more light-hearted than others, it is a good way to slowly introduce children to the world of educational documentaries.

Planet Earth – Netflix

Recent studies have suggested that children are now becoming more environmentally conscious. Looking up to great trailblazers like Greta Thunberg, children want to know more about the environment and how they can protect it. So, satisfy their thirst for knowledge with Planet Earth – after all, is there anything more inspiring than listening to Sir David Attenborough?

From islands and mountains to deserts and cities, the little ones will be taken on a worldwide adventure to learn about our planet and the animals that inhabit it. If they’re hungry for more once the series finished, then simply switch to Our Planet, or dive underwater with Blue Planet.

Origins: The Journey of Humankind – Disney+

With geography covered, it’s time to travel back in time for a science and history tour. Taking you from our early ancestors to the moon landing, Origins shows children the evolution of humans, including milestone discoveries and inventions like fire, medicine and transportation.

With just eight episodes, this is a good whistle-stop tour through history, enabling children to take in key information in easily digestible chunks.

Horrible Histories – Netflix

Horrible Histories has been a firm favourite for years now and many parents will have enjoyed it themselves. Starting as humorously illustrated books, the TV show follows suit with comedic re-enactments of historical events from the Stone Age to the World Wars.

With short episodes and even shorter sketches, children will learn all about the different periods, figures and themes without even realising it. Humour and modern parodies are the main focus of the TV show, piquing their interest in the past without it ever feeling like they’re learning. Until they repeat it all back afterwards!

There are hundreds of documentaries available to make learning fun while the schools are closed. Alongside this, Amazon has announced a raft of free content online, from ebooks to videos, offering parents even more resources to play with.

So there may be some things you can find which will help your child and encourage them to find out more about a particular topic!

Speech and Language Support

The SLT team has been busy trying to maintain a service to children and their families, despite not being able to see them face to face at present.

They are now offering a telephone ‘drop-in’ system until they can get back to the normal drop-in clinics and they have attached some information, which can support you with this and provide information to parents. (see below)

If you feel your child needs more than the brief advice they can offer via the ‘drop in service’, please do let us know at school as we can still make referrals as we always would have done. 

The service are continuing to make appointments for those children on their waiting list, albeit by telephone at this time.

Click HERE for Speech and Language contact details

Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Jesus, Our Good Shepherd

This weekend marks the 4th Sunday of Easter, and, as Fr Jim said at masses this weekend… ‘where has the time gone?’

This Sunday is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. We recognise Jesus as our ‘Good Shepherd’, and we are encouraged to think about how following Him helps us live our life to the full. Each day, children are given the opportunity to reflect on how Jesus, our Good Shepherd, provides us with: Food, Guidance, Help, Shelter and Community.

The daily prayers are attached to the buttons below:

Online Safety at Home

Now that everyone is getting more used to this new way of working from home; it also means that now children are spending even more time online, there are more opportunities for children to access unsuitable material or, unfortunately, for some to use the internet in the wrong way. We know this is a difficult time for most parents. The ‘ThinkUKnow’ website can provide you with support and resources to help you learn about online safety at home with your child. 

To help with this, #OnlineSafetyAtHome pack is now available for you to download, containing new activities for parents and carers to use at home! Access them here: 

4-5s

5-7s

8-10s

11-13s

14+

You can also access our new guidance for parents and carers designed to help them manage some of the key challenges we all face online.

You can also share the ‘ThinkUKnow’ new ParentInfo article which signposts to reporting, advice and support services available for children and their families.

To all our families… we miss you all and truly hope that everyone is well and staying healthy and happy.

Keep Strong & Stay Safe...

“Lord, help me to have faith in Your perfect plan for my life.  Help me to know that You are in control when life seems out of control.  In those moments, may the faith I manifest be a gift to You so that You can use it for Your glory.  Jesus, I trust in You.”

Above is a prayer reflecting on today’s Gospel - and how appropriate it is! We should always keep our faith, hope and trust in the Risen Christ and the plan He has for us, especially when things are particularly difficult. As Father Jim said in today’s mass (on website) God asks us to do what little we can with what we have and He will do the rest!

I can hardly believe we have entered another month of lockdown, in fact I do not know where the days are disappearing to; and yet, disappearing they are. Today I have been looking at some of the amazing work our children have been undertaking at home and I, like the teachers, are so incredibly proud of you all! I can hardly believe how much you have all been up to - and the standard of what you have produced is really wonderful to see!

Our thanks and praise has to go out to parents and families who are supporting your children so well during these restricted times, probably juggling your own work with helping your children. You are all doing a fantastic job. However, teachers are always worried when they have not had any contact from families as they just want to ensure that children are on the right track. Teachers also want to try to support parents in any difficulties you may be experiencing perhaps in motivating or encouraging your children to complete tasks, or how to simplify instructions etc; Please, please try to maintain contact with your child’s class teacher - even if it is simply to let us know you are ok! This will save us turning up on your doorstep if we haven’t heard from you!!!!!! We are still here to help - so please do let us know.

I also would like to say a HUGE thank you to all of Our Lady’s staff who are working so hard to ensure that children have work and activities which will (hopefully) inspire and motivate them to keep learning during this difficult time. As I mentioned before… it is due to the fact that staff care about your children and yourselves so much, that they are desperate to hear from you and try to help and support in any way they can.

I hope that when you clap for carers on a Thursday evening - you also remember your teachers too & give them and extra big clap too for all their time and efforts.

Corona Kindness

A Corona Kindness support service has been set up by Blackpool Council. It offers help with:

-          sourcing/delivery of groceries

-          loneliness and isolation

-          medical supplies

-          dog walking.

If you or anyone you know is in need of help please email helpneeded@blackpool.gov.uk or call Freephone 0808 196 3080. If you can offer help at all please email helpoffered@blackpool.gov.uk visit www.blackpool.gov.uk/CoronaKindess for more info or follow the council’s social media channels. Download Poster HERE

Prayers for the coming week

Attached are some prayers for the week ahead. They are based on the Gospel from this weekend which is the story of The Road to Emmaus where Jesus is only recognised at the breaking of bread. (A great gospel to remind our First Communion Group that Jesus is truly present when we share the Eucharist together.)

Wednesday Word

Many of you may be missing the ‘Wednesday Word’ leaflets which your child usually brings home with them on a Wednesday. These help us to begin to understand the Gospel theme for the coming weekend and give us a ‘word’ by which we can remember the theme of the Gospel.

This week’s word is “FOLLOW”. I wonder if any of you can guess what the Gospel might be this week?

Click HERE to view the Wednesday Word leaflet for this week.

And finally…

A little video which I was sent which reminds us about our wonderful world…

CLICK HERE

Have a safe and lovely week.

How beautiful it is to be Christians who offer consolation, for we are all brothers and sisters – may we bring the Easter song of life!

I hope you all managed to reflect upon and enjoy (as much as you could) the beauty that the Easter Season brings. Albeit difficult for us all at this time, the message that Christ’s Ressurection shows us all is that Jesus is the solace, comfort and real joy that we should all be in search of at this time.

I do not know if any of you managed to see/hear Pope Francis’ Easter Message and Blessing. I always find the Pope’s words very relevant, and comforting. At the Easter Vigil, the Pope spoke about the women who ran to the tomb to find Jesus…

“Those women, in the end, “took hold” of Jesus’ feet (Mt 28:9); feet that had travelled so far to meet us, to the point of entering and emerging from the tomb.  The women embraced the feet that had trampled death and opened the way of hope.  Today, as pilgrims in search of hope, we cling to you, Risen Jesus.  We turn our backs on death and open our hearts to you, for you are Life itself.”

I hope you are also managing to see Fr Jim’s masses and keep up to date with our parish news and prayer intentions. Remember the link to the church website is on our home page (on the left). There are some wonderful resources there for the children too and it has been wonderful to see many of the children still remembering to.. “Ask Fr Jim” their questions during this special time of year.

I also attach some further prayers for families from ‘TenTen’ resources which we use daily in school. Try to use them to allow your family some short times to pray together. The children are used to the format - so could easily lead the family in these prayers.

Online Safety for home learning.

We want to ensure that while you are undertaking all your learning at home that everyone pays the same consideration to internet and online safety and particularly our use of social media. We should always try to make sure this is used safely and responsibly so that we can ensure the security, happiness and wellbeing of everyone.

The local authorities have produced a helpful leaflet for families to review use of social media and the hazards we can face from this. Click HERE for this resource.

Mrs McVey always gives the latest guidance from the ThinkUknow website which is an excellent resource for parents and families. Look at Y5 page or Parents section of website for further resources.

The great gift of Easter... is hope!

We are drawing ever closer to the reflective period of Holy Week which leads us to draw inspiration through Jesus’ trials and suffering as we look forward to His triumph through the Resurrection.

Over Easter, daily lessons will pause as teachers need a little downtime to spend quality time with their own families. On Monday 6th April they will be putting various learning opportunities on class pages linked to Holy Week for you to dip into as and when you can. Alongside this, children can still continue to enjoy the ebooks and other online programs. We do ask that during this week you don’t email as teachers’ accounts will be suspended for a week. We hope you understand and the children too will need a little break themselves. Daily Learning will then resume on Tuesday 14th April.    

Within school, we are currently operating with a decreasing number of Teachers and Teaching Assistants. This has worsened this week with now 2 teachers and 4 teaching assistants self-isolating due to symptoms. I know a small number of you have accessed EMERGENCY CHILDCARE and I would ask you going forward to really consider if this is essential in line with Government advice as we do not want to be in a situation where we could not support those families who really need this provision. We urge everyone to explore all avenues before requesting this service and would ask if you are working from home to keep your children with you. The government has clearly said that home is by far the safest place and we can only agree with that.

It is clear that whilst schools are being asked to provide an important service at this time, social distancing is now being emphasised as vital for children too. Therefore, the key message is please only take up this place if you have no other alternative to ensure it is there for those who desperately need it to continue their essential work. We will only be able to provide childcare for the times when both parents are needed to be working as critical workers away from home. Anything we can do to keep the group of children as low as possible is crucial to longer-term sustainability.

As a school, we are trying to fulfill our duty both to stop the spread of the virus whilst providing essential childcare.  We all have an important role in this. We will do our best to continue to provide this care for a small number of children going forward but as a headteacher, I also need to protect my staff and ensure everyone’s safety. Therefore once school opens again on Tuesday 14th April we can at the moment only provide limited places.

To those of you carrying out this work know, we are there with you, we will support you and try everything we can to care for your children whilst you care for us.

Daily Prayers for families - Week Beginning 30th March

Weekly Update 27.03.20

I hope you are all managing well and staying safe & healthy through this unprecedented, and, very surreal time.

Our huge thanks go out to everyone who has either been, or is currently on the frontline, caring for and treating those who are ill, to all those offering support and giving of their time so freely and generously to help others and also those of you who are isolated at home. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Easter Closure

Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Primary School will be closed as planned from Monday 6th April up to and including Monday 13th April.

As you are aware this will be Holy Week.

We are putting weekly prayers onto our school website and are also in the process of attaching a Sunday Liturgy so that families can continue to share the message of the Gospel during this time. Please also click onto the Church button which links to our Parish website. Fr Jim has been busy recording masses, prayers and blessings which you can share together.

Also, Fr Jim is still eager for you to continue to ask him any questions you may have about Holy Week/Easter. Even if we cannot write them in our ‘Ask Fr Jim’ book - Father would love if you emailed him (through the church website) with your first name and year group. He will then try to post an answer to your question!

Your class teachers will also try to post a little Easter Activity for you during this very important week!

Emergency Childcare

Even where there are two key workers in the home, where possible it must be emphasised that every avenue of childcare should be explored before making the decision to send children into school.  This is in line with Government advice.  For some critical workers children will only require certain days at school as they will not be working every day or alternative childcare may be available to them on other days.

Anything we can do to keep the group of children as low as possible is essential. 

We are however trying to ascertain if any key workers will need emergency care following Easter when school re-opens for emergency care ONLY from 14th April.

If you know this is something which is essential then please email school (admin@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk) asking for a form which will be emailed for you to complete and return with any dates you may need urgent care.

Can you please do this by Wednesday 1st April.

Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones during this difficult time. Remember to follow government advice carefully to keep yourselves and others safe.

If anyone does need any further support or advice we will always do what we can to help - you can contact us during school hours in the usual way.