Beecroft Primary School

Dear Parents, Carers,
On Friday when you picked up your school work packs I had a wonderful day, despite the circumstances, and I was able to speak to so many families. On Friday, almost every family came to school – a 99% turn out. There was a real feeling that we are all in the current situation together. I felt proud to be part of Beecroft. During our conversations I heard about:

• Children able now to ride their bike without stabilizers – Well done!
• Families following children’s interests outdoors.
• Children drawing and painting.
• Reading and distanced book swaps.
• Baking.

There was a real buzz about your home child-centred and interest driven curriculum. Keep this time positive and be grateful for what we have that is good – support and help others, look after your loved ones, look after your mind and body. Above all do things that you and your family will enjoy. Remember that whilst we remain apart, we are sticking together. With our best wishes,

J. Turner
Headteacher
PS Don’t forget that you can now click on the Beecroft home-learning zone on our website. If there is anything that we can support you with send an email to info@beecroft.leeds.sch.uk

We are pleased to let you know that your child can receive a daily phonics lesson whilst schools are closed. Phonics is the way we teach children to recognise the sounds in words. It helps your child to learn to read and is an essential part of your child’s education.

From Monday 27 April, a new phonics lesson will be uploaded every day, Monday to Friday.

Click on the document for more details.

This LEGO calendar is a great way to really challenge children to create something new with their LEGO bricks.

A very useful site which brings together local and national resources and activities for children and young people while we are all staying at home.  Its aim is to help support parents and carers around the city with hints and tips on ways to keep their children entertained whilst the schools are closed.  It includes online family-friendly events, the award-winning Leeds Curriculum from the council’s museums and galleries team and 21 top tips for keeping children entertained at home.

Hello to parents and pupils

Keep safe and healthy and join in our summer Headteacher challenge. I am looking forward to seeing your ‘beautiful’ ideas. Look on our home learning zone on Monday 27 April for more details. Keep smiling!

Miss Turner

David Walliams has announced that he will be reading one of his World’s Worst Children stories every day for 30 days, which will be free for children to download and listen to.

We know this is a difficult and worrying time for everyone, especially for adults and children living with domestic abuse and the professionals working hard to support them.

There is support available to help you through this time. You can still:

-call the police on 999 in an emergency (press 55 after the emergency number if you’re in danger and not able to speak for help)
-find accommodation from Leeds Housing Options or Leeds Domestic Violence Service if you are a victim of domestic abuse and need to escape
-find a safe place to stay with social distancing in place to protect you
-telephone or webchat for support

Safer Leeds have updated their website to include useful information for victims of Domestic Violence and people delivering services.

https://www.leeds.gov.uk/domesticviolence/Pages/default.aspx

In the light of school closure, we wanted to provide a range of advice and resources for parents/carers. We are keen to signpost you to resources that start valuable conversations with your children and young people, providing tested tools to maintain wellbeing at a time of concern and anxiety for many families. At the end of this document we have included some resources that will allow children to continue learning at home.

Wellbeing Resources for Parents/Carers

Responsible use of technology to learn, communicate with friends and family and access support will be really important as the opportunities for face to face communication are restricted.

We want to ensure that pupils and parents/carers understand how to ensure young people stay safe online. Please read our April 2020 Online Safety Briefing Sheet.

Safeguarding concerns have been raised about an APP called House Party in respect to live streaming. The House Party is taking social media by storm. It’s from the same company that created Fortnite. Over the last 48 hours there has been lots of misinformation over social media about it. As with all live-streaming platforms it can put young people at risk.

If an uninvited guest joins a room they can easily ‘friend’ others taking part in the live stream.

It appears that when a friend is invited, their friends can also join a ‘room’ without the invitation and therefore potentially increase the opportunity to cyber-bully and troll others.

Please follow the link to read the published guidance for parents.