Dear Parents
Once again our children have shown how adaptable, positive and resilient they can be. They have managed the change back to online learning with relative ease and whilst, I’m sure, they would rather be back in school, I have been so proud of their efforts to engage in online learning. As parents can imagine, it’s been a rather quiet month in primary with regard to events and special occasions. The teachers and assistants are all in school but the corridors and classrooms are so quiet and not how we like it!!
In school, we are beginning to get ready for the next academic year, and with this in mind, we are planning transition events for our pupils and parents so that the move to the next year is as smooth as possible. More information on this will follow. This year, we have decided it is in the best interests of our pupils to move them up to the next year as a class, so there will be no mixing up. The pupils have spent very little time actually together and this will also make information sharing between the current and the new teacher much easier. As soon as we have finished our recruitment process I will be in a position to share the class teachers for the new academic year with you.
If you have any Safeguarding or Wellbeing concerns please feel free to contact either our Designated Safeguarding Officer, Mrs. Murphy, at Georgina.murphy@oryxschool.qa or our School Counsellor, Mrs. Tobun, at Oluwabunmi.tobun@oryxschool.qa.
As the children continue their learning online via zoom and canvas sessions, screen time can feel overwhelming and we would like to reassure you that we are always looking for ways to educate our students whilst also taking into account how much screen time they will be doing. Where possible staff are planning activities that the children can complete without the screen and with a more practical approach. This being said, it is very important that the children attend the zooms at the times specified on their timetables.
Primary assessments will commence in the week beginning 30th May. For FS-Year 1, teachers will be using continuous assessments: work submitted via Canvas and feedback from students in zooms. Year 3-Year 5 will sit their assessment online and this information, plus work on canvas and zoom feedback, will form the teacher judgement for the term.
The end of key stage year groups, Year 2 and Year 6, will be invited into school to sit their assessments. Teachers will also use work from Canvas and interactions on zoom to form their judgement. More information will follow once the dates have been confirmed by the Ministry.
Well done to everyone who took part in our Safer Internet Day activities back in February. As part of our commitment to this, we ‘pledged’ our support to Purple Mash, our Online cross-curricular resource. As a result, we helped them break the world record for ‘Most Pledges' received for an internet safety campaign in 24 hours. The global theme for Safer Internet Day was “Together for a better internet” with this year’s campaign entitled “An internet we trust: exploring reliability in the online world”. Keep an eye on our social media platforms for weekly advice on how to stay safe online.
Kind regards,
Andrea Smith
