Head's Blog

Half term has arrived

As half term arrives there are a few things that I would like to update you on.

• Unfortunately we have confirmation of another case of covid which has meant that some Nursery children will need to start isolating from today. They have all been informed separately.

• As we have had a number of cases, we have been liaising very closely with the Local Health Protection Team (LHPT) and even though we have had a number of cases, they are impressed with our procedures and have not recommended any changes. As you know, our area is an area of very high case numbers.

• I will continue to liaise with the Local Health Protection Team over the holidays and so I must ask you to inform us straight away if your child or someone in your household develops symptoms. This is so that we can make sure we are all working together to stop the spread which is already a concern in our area of Bradford. We can help to make sure that you know the date it is safe to stop isolating and return to school. Please inform us on covid@beckfootheaton.org preferably or phone 01274 363070 between 8a.m and 4p.m. Email is easier please.

• A note re symptoms - the three symptoms of - a high temperature (hot to touch on chest and back), a new cough, or a loss or change in taste and smell are the main symptoms. People feeling cold and shivery and achey has also been quite prevalent in the confirmed cases so please be cautious if someone in your house develops these also.

•  If we work together on this, we will reduce the chance of schools having to close again for a long period - which I know the majority of you want to avoid.

The most important thing to say is THANK YOU. Seriously, every day I feel grateful for the truly amazing families and staff we have connected to our school. We are a team and a team who have stuck together through these challenging times. I really do appreciate the emails of support but also the emails of concern, giving me the opportunity to explain and reassure where possible. Teams who work together achieve great things. Please do get in touch if you want to say ask / suggest anything at all - I will always be open and honest in my response.

I hope that those of you who are dealing with isolation in your house are OK - I know it's tricky. I hope everyone manages to have a rest and spend some time as a family this half term - either in the house or out.

Thank you and see you soon

A fantastic start to the year

Hello everyone and a very warm welcome to my first message on our new school website.

As I write this, I am sitting here reflecting on what a fantastic start to the year we have had and more importantly why that has been the case and I have come to the conclusion that the main reason is our strong community built on strong trusting relationships.

It hasn't been easy.  Trying to make sure that we are following the Covid guidelines as closely as possible while at the same time keeping the fantastic feel of our school was always going to be a challenge and I am sure that it will be for some time to come.  However, together we have worked through what each of our roles are in making the return to school for all children be as successful as it can be.

Staff have worked hard to make the school building and grounds as safe as possible as well as redesigning the way things like lunches and breaks can work.  Teachers have cleverly thought about how to make sure the return for children is caring and safe as well as exciting and motivating.

Families have carefully listened to the new routines and have not moaned once about the long loops that now exist in our long thin grounds.  You have put your trust in us and have been grateful for our regular updates.  This communication has been a two way thing and we have appreciated the suggestions you have made to further improve any aspects of the return.

The children - well - you would think that they have never been away.  It has been wonderful to see the children, whether loudly or quietly ease back into school and quickly show that absolute love of learning.  We have been impressed with the amount of support you have provided them over lockdown to make sure that they didn't stop learning while they were away from the school building.  

All of these things would not have been possible if we weren't such a great team.

Teams happen when trust happens.  Trust happens when we openly work together and understand each other.  Thank you.

We want to keep making sure that we keep working together and would love to see you at our first Parents Forum of the year on Zoom next week.  We will send you an invite via Ping and would love it if you could join us.

Thank you

Zoe Mawson