Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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Greswold badges
Thu 13 May 2021It has been a pleasure to continue to award bronze, silver and gold badges across school. You can visit the Roll of Honour on our children's section of the website. Mrs Scott has also awarded 3 very special 'Greswold Gold' badges to three pupils in Sycamores who have achieved 20 credits this year already. Well done to Havish, Arushi and Alyssia.
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Sharing a smile for Comic Relief
Fri 19 Mar 2021Thank you to everyone who supported Comic Relief today by wearing red or bright clothes, making a donation, sharing a joke or laughing at someone else's joke. Here are some of our favourite jokes from across school.
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Final Remote Learning update
Thu 04 Mar 2021Dear Parents and Carers,
Hopefully, this should be the final whole school remote learning update for the foreseeable future, as we look forward to welcoming all the children back on Monday 8th March. As a school, we would like to express our admiration and gratitude for all the efforts yourselves, your family and particularly your children have shown to remote learning over the past eight weeks. It was a new and challenging experience for everyone and something we can collectively celebrate, as a prelude to the transitioning of pupils back into full time education. I feel the hard work and dedication of all will enable pupils to settle back into school routines and embrace their learning more smoothly and positively than before.
However, in the event of any future bubble or pupil isolations, the remote learning provision will revert back to stages 1 and 2 of the Remote Learning Policy.
Also, thank you to everyone who took the time to review Greswold’s remote learning provision and I’d like to take this opportunity to share some of the results. Overall, there were 127 responses and below is a summary of the feedback:
- 74% of families rated the amount of weekly remote learning work as ‘About Right’ with 20% feeling it was ‘Too much’.
- 90% of families described their child(ren) as being at least ‘Somewhat engaged’ in remote learning with 48% feeling their children were ‘Engaged’ or ‘Very engaged’.
- 91% of families felt the audio/video recordings were ‘Helpful’ or ‘Very helpful’.
- The live ‘drop-in’ sessions were rated as ‘Somewhat helpful’ or ‘Very helpful’ by 85% of families.
- 95% of families felt work was acknowledged.
- 85% of families felt concerns were suitably resolved.
- 96% of families felt communication was ‘Fair’, ‘Good’ or ‘Very good’.
- Finally, out of 5, on average Greswold families rated the provision as 3.78.
Thank you so much for the constructive feedback. The policy itself is to be reviewed this month and the results, along with the comments shared, will help to further develop the provision.
Many thanks and stay safe
Mr Hornsey
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Returning to School - 8th March 2021
Thu 25 Feb 2021Dear Parent and carers,
After receiving confirmation from the government earlier this week, we are so pleased to announce that all pupils will be welcomed back to school from Monday 8th March 2021. The whole staff community are both happy and eager to make the return as enjoyable, exciting and most importantly, as safe as possible for all pupils and their families. We are also pleased to confirm the reopening of our Greswold Greyhounds Childcare facility for before and after school clubs and wrap around.
However, it is vitally important to maintain our stance of safeguarding the school community while abiding with the strict guidance laid out by the government. This is why the vast majority of procedures adopted from September 2020 will need to continue from the 8th March. These expectations will be communicated again to parents early next week.
Even though an updated parent protocol will be communicated to families very soon, below are some other important headlines regarding reopening:
- Attendance from the 8th March is mandatory, unless a child is in receipt of an official NHS letter stating they are clinically extremely vulnerable. Therefore, unauthorised absence marks will be reinstated where necessary, but obviously not for pupils who are required to self-isolate as per government guidance.
- Hours for all Nursery pupils will revert back to their original sessions as agreed for the start of the academic year in September 2020. Any Nursery children that accessed wraparound care prior to the January lockdown should look out for further communications from Greswold Greyhounds.
- Parents of children who wish them to attend Greswold Greyhounds before and after school club should look out for a survey from Abby Hall to establish need.
- Similar start and finish times as September will be used:
Year
Location
Drop-off
Pick-up
Y6
KS2 pedestrian entrance
8:30am
3:10pm
Y5
Double doors to right of main school office
8:30am
3:10pm
Y4
KS2 pedestrian entrance
8:30am
3:10pm
Y3
Double doors to the left of the library
8:30am
3:10pm
Y2
Greswold Greyhounds
8:40am
3:20pm
Y1
Double doors to the left of the library
8:40am
3:20pm
Reception
Early Years’ entrance
8:40am
3:20pm
Nursery
Early years’ entrance
8:30am
3:30pm
Parents will again be allowed to pick up their children from outside classrooms at the end of the day.
- With regards to school uniform, children are expected to wear uniform as usual. However, results of the recent uniform review will be communicated to parents shortly. Class teachers will notify pupils and parents through the app of PE days so that children can arrive wearing their kits for the whole day.
I’m sure that parents will understand the need to continue communication with school via email to the school office in order to reduce face to face contact with staff and other adults. All other protective measures will remain such as regular handwashing, sanitisation, increased cleaning routines, social distancing, as well as adults wearing masks in communal areas. Thank you in advance for your co-operation.
Take care and stay safe.
Mrs K. Scott
Headteacher
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Remote Learning update (Week 6)
Fri 12 Feb 2021Dear Parents and Carers,
I would like to convey my personal gratitude at the patience, understanding and support shown and given by Greswold families during this latest school closure, particularly with regards to remote learning and home schooling. Your efforts under very challenging circumstances are very much appreciated by all staff associated with school.
Tuesday marked this year’s Safer Internet Day which perfectly coincides with our desire to inform parents of web page set up by Solihull Local Authority to provide families with information about online safety and other aspects of remote learning. To access this, please copy the link below.
https://www.solgrid.org.uk/education/remote-education-information-for-parents-and-carers/
Also, after some recent mental training undertaken by staff, a gaming platform called Avakin Life was flagged up for some serious safeguarding concerns. There is more information about the platform through the link below:
https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/greswold-primary-school/UploadedDocument/7b48d7c80df04fbaa52ffd307e2887be/ineque-anakin.pdf
As we arrive at the end of this half term, I feel it a sensible time to seek feedback from parents on their thoughts of the current remote learning provision. Therefore, if you would like to complete a short remote learning survey, please click on the link below. Your feedback is an incredibly important element of our school self-evaluation.
Thank you and have an enjoyable half term.
Mr Hornsey
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Remote Learning Update (Week 5)
Fri 05 Feb 2021Dear Parents and Carers,
As we approach the final week of this half term, I’d like to give families a friendly reminder that Friday 12th February is a non-pupil day (INSET), meaning live ‘catch-up’ sessions will be scheduled on alternative days instead. This vital training day will enable staff to start strategically planning for the return of all pupils in March, depending on clarification from the government on 22nd February.
In respect of remote learning, this past week has seen the introduction of live sessions for Reception pupils, along with the launch of Assignments in years’ 2-6. As always, staff are constantly reviewing their remote learning, and the provision as a whole, enabling senior leadership to plan ways to adapt, develop and improve elements of it further.
An aspect of remote learning that isn’t always ideal, but necessary, is the regular use of a device to complete tasks, upload work, view recordings and participate in live sessions. The need to look at a screen for prolonged periods of time is something that we have been deliberating for some time, due to the obvious implications on physical wellbeing. Therefore, for the final week of term, school staff have decided to generate tasks which will help reduce the amount of time children spend on their devices. Although several live sessions will continue, your children will encounter a slightly adapted approach to next week’s provision, with an emphasis being placed on more practical and creative aspects of learning.
Recently, school have received a number of emails from families enquiring about the possibility of school publishing a week’s learning in advance and, while we acknowledge the advantages to some households in doing so, there are several reasons as to why we’ve chosen the system we currently have.
In order to resource each individual lesson properly, staff require time to generate impactful content, resources and recordings and this can only be achieved on a day by day basis. Also, government guidance recommends a system which ‘enables teachers to adjust the pace or difficulty of what is being taught in response to assessments, including, where necessary, revising material…’ Supplying at least two days of work a week initially, which will then be added to according to evaluations, will continue to be school’s preferred system for the time being.
To conclude, a handful of other updates from the last week:
• If your child is having any sort of difficulty with the learning or task set for them, they should be accessing the daily ‘drop-in’ sessions for support. An indication to parents of a need for this would be your child requiring instructions clarified or simply a question they have.
• School would like to encourage pupils to complete their daily tasks as much as possible during school hours. There have been instances of work being uploaded into the evening and we would prefer to promote these times of the day for rest and sleep.
• Next week, staff in years’ 2-6 will be monitoring the chat function of live sessions closely to ensure it is used appropriately. Children are not allowed to use the chat function during live assemblies either.
• A reminder that the instructions on accessing Assignments in Microsoft Teams using an Ipad is located in the Video Resource Centre of the school website in Children.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this update. Take care and stay safe.
Mr Hornsey
Deputy Headteacher
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Remote Learning update (Week 4)
Fri 29 Jan 2021Dear Parents and Carers,
As we reach the end of the fourth week of school closure, I wanted to give you another weekly remote learning update. I would like to convey my admiration and appreciation at the efforts of the all pupils who are remote learning at present, along with the support they’re receiving from families under immense pressure themselves. I believe the efforts our school community are currently making will help to make the transition back into fulltime education smoother and quicker.
From recent government headlines, it seems remote learning will continue for at least four more weeks (excluding half term). In order to maintain motivation therefore, an additional element of Microsoft Teams will be introduced gradually from next week in years’ 2-6.
At present, feedback on uploaded work has been done collectively through live ‘Catch-up’ sessions or through comments added to published work on website year group pages. This will be adapted slightly with the introduction of a couple of tasks a week being set through the Assignments function of Teams. This enables pupils to edit work set for them and hand work in directly to their teacher who can then add personalised comments before returning it. These will be anonymous and only for each individual pupil. A guide on how to use Assignments for pupils and parents is located in the Video Resource Centre or by clicking on the link below:
https://greswold-primary-school.primarysite.media/media/accessing-assignments-using-an-ipad
On the subject of uploaded work, it isn’t our intention to create additional stress or anxiety to a situation which is already challenging enough, both for pupils and parents. While school will always encourage pupils and parents to undertake tasks and complete work on a weekly basis, we understand that there will be times where home life dictates that a task just can't be completed or a live session couldn’t be attended because of extenuating circumstances. That’s okay. We’re here to work with you for the benefit of your children and your family as a whole, particularly in these type of situations. If we do have genuine concerns, maybe where a child hasn’t engaged with their learning for a prolonged period of time, we will always contact that family to enquire as to how we can be of help.
Finally, just a couple of additional updates. Staff have asked if photographs can be converted to JPEGs, rather than PDFs before being uploaded please. This is so work can be easily published on the website without having to change the format. Also, following on from a point raised in last week's update in relation to communal spaces being used by pupils during live sessions, where possible, could children not change their backgrounds during these meetings? Thank you.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this update. Take care and stay safe.
Mr Hornsey
Deputy Headteacher
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Remote Learning update (Week 3)
Fri 22 Jan 2021Dear Parents and Carers,
Once again, thank you for the support and understanding you have shown both your children, and school, in relation to remote learning this week. Staff will always attempt to respond to parental queries at the earliest opportunity, through the office email, and this line of communication will remain vital over the coming weeks. Also, thank you so much to those parents who have taken the time to send messages of support and thanks. Those very kind sentiments really do make a difference.
Our updated Remote Learning Policy and Remote Learning Offer to Parents has now been approved by the Governing Body and has already been uploaded onto our school website, in the policies section of ‘About us’ for parents to view. Although the offer itself details how the school will provide remote learning, we’re increasingly aware of requests from some parents for more live sessions to be introduced. While our offer does contain that option, we understand that it’s common place for people to compare Greswold with the choices taken by other local schools in relation to this feature. However, there are some justifiable reasons as to why we have adopted a more considered approach to start with.
At present, Greswold is accommodating 13 different bubbles across the school, with up to 32% of the school’s pupil population attending at any one time, a significant increase from the average of 4% during the first lockdown. With the vast majority of these bubbles requiring at least two members of staff, there are inevitable implications for remote learning. However, the majority of Greswold pupils are still working from home, a key fact that has driven the staff’s determination to devise an approach which best meets the learning and pastoral needs of those home learners.
After sourcing feedback from teachers, and parents, from other local schools undertaking multiple daily live teaching sessions, it is clear that the amount of pupils onsite heavily dictates what can be offered. On any given day at Greswold, a teacher working remotely at home may have to teach a live session for not only their class, but also the class of a colleague who’s having to teach an onsite bubble. This scenario raises the question of how impactful such a session could be for up to 50 pupils.
Indeed, recent guidance highlighting the use of remote learning, published by Ofsted, states ‘live lessons are not always more effective than asynchronous (recorded) approaches’. As senior leaders, we endeavour to strike a balance which accounts for family circumstances, maintains the physical and mental wellbeing of staff, and most importantly, meets the long term needs of a pupil’s education. It’s also pertinent to add that for every parent who requests more live sessions, there’s another who requests more recorded or paper based activities, and even more who feel that the balance is just right, especially families with multiple children, limited devices or working commitments.
Having said that, education is an investment which never stands still, things evolve constantly, and Greswold has always strived to continuously evaluate its provision to meet the changing needs of its community. The review date for both documents is only a couple of months away, a clear indication that school staff are forever looking for ways to improve approaches, systems and provision. Indeed, several year groups are already looking at ways to adapt the daily ‘drop-in’ sessions in accordance with its current usage and impact.
I have so much admiration for the way the staff have ‘pulled together’ since the closure was announced, amid worrying circumstances for themselves and their own families. They have devoted their time and energy above and beyond what’s usually expected of them, in order to generate a sense of comfort, familiarity and purpose for all pupils during these unprecedented times. Personally, I feel extremely grateful to be able to work with such a talented and caring team, on a daily basis.
To conclude, I wanted to feedback on a handful of queries/issues from the past week of remote learning:
- School would like to remind parents that children should be wearing their school uniform during live sessions and parents should also be aware when their child is participating in such a session.
- A communal space would be an ideal environment for a pupil to take part in a Teams session, such as a dining room or living area.
- Teams sessions are scheduled through the pupil’s email account only. Username or password problems should be communicated through the school office email.
Thank you for taking the time to read this update. Take care and stay safe.
Mr Hornsey
Deputy Headteacher
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Remote Learning update
Thu 14 Jan 2021Dear Parents and Carers,
We would like to say a massive thank you to all parents for the continued support you’ve given to Greswold this week, in encouraging your children to engage with remote learning, for helping them to access resources and sessions, and for the constructive feedback we’ve received from several of you over the past couple of weeks. Considering many of you are having to balance this support with your own working commitments, or have multiple children, some attending different schools, it makes your efforts all the more impressive.
Whether at home or on site, staff have been working tirelessly to provide pupils with impactful learning opportunities. At the same time, they’ve been developing new systems, improving remote learning approaches and refining their use of technology, in order to fully meet the needs of a school community enduring a very challenging situation.
As a result of their endeavours, pupils will begin to see new editions to their weekly lessons as school starts ramping up its provision. The use of live sessions, amongst other approaches, will increase next week with more ‘drop in’ sessions being made available in years’ 2 – 6, to help personalise learning for pupils as and when needed. These sessions will be signposted on the weekly timetable available on year group website pages.
Year 1 and Reception parents will also be receiving pupil usernames and passwords over the next week, enabling them to eventually participate in live Teams sessions when their classes begin trialling them soon. On the subject of usernames or passwords, if any have been forgotten, mislaid or locked for any reason, for any of the platforms we regularly use at school, please contact the school office by email and these will be reset.
Parents may also have noticed already that for some children, several of their live sessions don’t actually involve their own class teacher. This is because a significant number of our school staff are still required in school to teach the pupils of critical workers, vulnerable pupils and Nursery children, which understandably reduces their chances to co-ordinate a live session if teaching a bubble at the same time.
Finally, Greswold’s updated policy and Remote Learning Offer to Parents will soon be available online once approved by the Governing Body. The school community will be notified immediately when these documents are published on our school website.
Thank you for your continued support, patience and understanding and please stay safe.
Mr Hornsey
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Urgent - Greswold closed on 5/1/21 to all pupils.
Mon 04 Jan 2021Dear Parents and Carers,
School and Greswold Greyhounds will be closed for all pupils on Tuesday 5th January. This is to allow time for school leaders and staff to strategically plan our response for the rest of the term, in light of the sudden Government announcement of school closures across England. Rest assured, we intend to send a detailed update to all families at the earliest opportunity tomorrow. If you need to contact the school office, please send an email to office@greswold.solihull.sch.uk rather than make a phone call.
Thank you for your understanding and stay safe.
Yours faithfully
Karen Scott
Headteacher
