Dear Marlborough Families,
I would just like to take the opportunity before the half term break to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your support and co-operation this term. Despite all of the barriers, the children are safe, happy and flourishing back in school. I know that many have had to overcome your own fears and worries in sending the children back to school. You have all been incredible in supporting us, in keeping the school community safe; even though this has often caused great inconvenience for you. I don’t think that you realise just how much your support, encouragement and kindness means to the Marlborough Team.
I am pleased and relieved that despite the new Circuit Breaker Lockdown from Friday 23rd October – Monday 9th November, primary schools will remain open as usual after half term. I hope that despite the lockdown restrictions, you all have a chance to recharge your batteries over the half term break. Please remember, Monday 2nd November is an Inset day, we look forward to seeing the children back on Tuesday 3rd November.
my very best wishes,
Geraldine Foley
School lunches
We are pleased to announce that School Meals will resume on Tuesday 3rd November 2020. We will no longer accept cash or cheques, making Marlborough a cash free environment.
If you would like your child to have a school lunch you must pre-book your child’s meal a week in advance of the session through the ParentPay Booking Service. You will be able to book your child’s lunch from Friday 16th October 2020.
If your child is entitled to Free School Meals, you will still be required to pre-book your child’s meal at least a week in advance through ParentPay.
If you have not yet registered for ParentPay, you would have been sent your account activation details to your email address (if you have not received this, please contact the school office to update us with your new email address so that we can send this to you again).
The Menu Option will be:
- Ham Baguette or Sandwich
- Cheese Baguette or Sandwich
- Tuna Baguette or Sandwich
Each meal comes with:
- A piece of fruit
- Yogurt or Cheese & Crackers
- A Bottle of Water
All items will be placed in a Grab-bag
How to book your child’s meal
- Go to www.parentpay.com and log in
- Select the child to make bookings for
- Select Bookings > Make or view bookings
- Select the time of day that you wish to make a booking for
- Select the week to view
- Select Make or view bookings
- You will then be presented with a booking screen.
- Menu Selections: Book a meal by selecting from the menu choices shown
- Make the required bookings
- A summary will be displayed at the bottom of the page with any previous unpaid bookings shown in red
Warning: Any bookings must be confirmed and (if required) paid for within 2 hours of Selecting them. Failure to do so will result in the bookings being automatically cancelled.
- Review the booking summary, and select Confirm booking
- Any credit in your Parent Account will be used to pay for the meals. Any remaining cost can be paid by Bank Transfer (if enabled), Visa Checkout or other payment method
Staggered Start and Finish Times
Thank you for your support with the trial to altering the staggered start and finish arrangements. The changes have been received and we will continue with these times. I.E.
- Foundation Phase – 8:50 a.m. – 3:20 p.m.
- Key Stage 2 – 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
We will try and reinstate opening the second gate on Agincourt Road as soon as possible to help ease the bottleneck as families leave the Blenheim Road entrance. In the meantime, Y5M, Y6M, Y6MC will wait to be collected by the shelter and my senior team and I will help to direct the flow at the end of the playground at home time.
Pupils and Staff – warm clothes
The windows in all rooms in the school need to be kept open to maintain a good flow of circulation, as detailed in our Covid-19 Risk Assessment. This does mean that school will be colder than usual. With autumn upon us and winter drawing in, I am relaxing the school uniform requirements for pupils and dress code for staff, to ensure that everyone can wrap up in additional warm layers and feel comfortable.
Staff News
- Mrs Hannah Cashin is currently working from home until her maternity leave starts. We welcome Mr Ross Williams who is covering Y6MC for the duration of Mrs Cashin’s leave.
- We welcome two new Teaching Assistants, Mrs Heidi Fortt and Miss Alex Hodges-Oakes who are supporting pupils with recovery of learning.
Breakfast Club
Playworks are planning to restart Breakfast Club from Tuesday 3rd November. As with the After School Club, pupils attending will be kept in their zones (i.e Foundation Phase in the FP Hall and Key Stage 2 in the KS2 Hall). Please contact PlayWorks if you wish for your child to attend.
Blended Learning Plans
We have been incredibly fortunate that no class has had to self-isolate yet, however, we want to ensure that we are fully ready for when this situation arises.
Mrs. Sally Hodges has been leading a team of teachers in updating our Blended Learning plans. The team have taken on board your feedback from the recent survey on your experiences of home learning during lockdown. The team have ensured consistency and progression across the school. The Blended Learning plan, as well as ‘how to’ videos for parents, will be shared with you after half term. The staff will use part of the Inset day on Monday 2nd November to iron out any final details.
Parents Evening Consultations
You will have received communication last week about the Parent Consultation meetings that will take place in November. You will understand that we are unable to hold face-to-face meetings in school at present. However, I hope that you find the online video consultations useful. Mrs. Lloyd has produced a helpful guide on how to join the meeting. Information regarding the booking system can be found on the website.
Remembrance
Can you believe that it is almost 12 months ago that our wonderful Marlborough Lest We Forget project came to an end. November 11th this year, will see the launch of a very special film, watch this space …
Christmas
Whilst the Christmas festivities will no doubt have to be adapted this year, I would like to reassure you that we are drawing up plans to ensure that the children still get to celebrate this year. This year, more than ever, we wish to create a magical Marlborough Christmas. I will share these plans with you as soon as they are finalised.