Blog Post
Wynstream News & Events
Educational Activity Update
March 27, 2020
Good Afternoon,
The teams in school have all been working over the past few days to plan how to support parents at home, with ideas for educational activities, as well as provide very limited childcare for essential workers children in school.
I have been working as a teacher for 29 years and throughout this time I have learned that the one thing parents have significantly widely varying opinions on is home learning activities. At one end of the spectrum some parents want regular worksheets and tasks which are marked, while at the other end of the spectrum, parents want no activities at all to be sent home. I hope that what we are able to support you with is a reasonable solution, given the current restrictions and practicalities we are all managing.
In preparing the weekly educational activities, I have asked Heads to work with their teams to provide suggestions for you to use with your children, if you wish. Heads are working with their teachers to ensure that each year group receives weekly suggestions for online activities and practical activities. These will be uploaded to the schools’ website, or sent to you via email each week.
A few points to note regarding these educational activities, to support your time at home with your children:
1) The online educational activity suggestions we are providing are not intended to be used to turn your home into a home school. We are not expecting you to plan, deliver and engage your children in learning all day. What we are providing is at best, activities to keep children educationally occupied.
2) You are, and always have been, your child's most important teacher. If you decide that your child isn't going to engage with anything sent home and is going to spend the entire period playing, baking or watching TV, that is your choice. There is nothing to stress or feel guilty about if you choose for your child not to do the educational activities we set. Equally, if you choose for them to engage in some learning, that’s fine too.
3) It is absolutely not possible to engage in a school days’ worth of educational activities with your children at the same time as you are trying to work from home. To teach children you need to be able to explain, set tasks, resource them and ask appropriately timed questions; repeating activities several times. This needs careful planning and sequencing. Please don’t attempt to do what others may say they are doing on social media. The activities you will receive are intended to be relatively self-explanatory, engaging and you should be able to have a good conversation with your child about what they have done, practiced or learned.
4) If you do not carry out the suggested activities, your child will not fall behind. The activities are revision of work already carried out or activities teachers think will interest them. We will resume teaching when we return to school later in the year. If we are not able to return until the new school year, their new teacher will have had lots of discussions with their current one. Teachers will assess your child and meet their needs, resuming teaching, even if they have forgotten a few things.
5) Lego, cooking, baking, jigsaws, board games etc are all educational. Skills such as taking turns, compromise, counting, measuring, mentally amending recipes to make larger or smaller quantities and discussions are all involved in daily life are also educational. The most valuable thing you can do is spend focused time with your child for a period of time each day. If you can find time to laugh together and have some fun together, they will remember this for years to come in a positive way.
6) If there is only one thing you do with your child each day, or encourage them to do, it's reading! If you can keep reading going at home, we can pick up the learning of knowledge later. The skill of reading takes practice, this is the backbone to our teaching, you can help us by keeping your child reading, talking about the stories they have read and the knowledge they have learned.
You are doing enough. You are providing for your children and supporting them through a difficult time. Look after yourself. Minimising stress is absolutely vital in a time like this for both your mental health and theirs. Don't let the educational activity suggestions be something that stresses you. Together, we will get through this!
Martyn Boxall
Executive Headteacher
Wynstream Primary School has hosted a Gabrieli Roar workshop this month for three other schools, ahead of their performance at Exeter Cathedral on the 9th of December. Gabrieli is a choir and period instrument orchestra founded and led by Artistic Director Paul McCreesh. They perform and record choral, vocal and instrumental repertoire from the renaissance to the present day and have cultivated an international reputation for excellence, innovation and ambition. They offer first-class performance opportunities to young people through their education programme, Gabrieli Roar. Pupils from Montpelier Primary School, Ide Primary School and Ermington Primary School came along to join Wynstream’s choir of 45 pupils to prepare for the concert. This initiative is supported by the Devon Music Service whose representative at the rehearsal thanked Wynstream Primary School for hosting and said that their cooperation, organisation and choral preparation of the young people was “exemplary.” The children will be performing at ‘A Grand Georgian Christmas’, the show will be a festive exploration of English music for parish churches during the Georgian period. It has been designed to offer the perfect platform to encourage young singers to connect with choral and classical music. Tickets can be purchased here. Elise Redman, Headteacher at Wynstream Primary School said: "We are so proud of our choir and the dedication they are showing. We know that musical education is really important for children and supports their development in many ways. Rehearsing, working together and performing in front of an audience are all things that help build their confidence and that will help them flourish in every area of life." Matthew Shanks, CEO of Education South West said: “I am so pleased to hear that Wynstream Primary School played host to its neighbours for this exciting workshop. At Education South West we strongly believe in both the power of collaboration and the importance of promoting the arts and this initiative achieves both of those things. I wish the choir all the best with their performance next month.”
Steve Race MP visits Wynstream Primary School
Wynstream Primary School is holding a summer fayre on Thursday the 11th of July.
As you are aware there is currently an amber weather warning in place as storm Ciaran moves towards Devon. An amber warning presents a risk to life, but there is also a large amount of uncertainty about this weather front which means it could increase to a red warning overnight. The combination of wind, rain, and the storm moving over warm sea waters increases risk of very high wind speeds, flooding and trees falling. An emergency strategy meeting has taken place today and it was agreed that we need to ensure school leaders fully appreciate that the current weather warning presents a risk to life and could worsen. Based on the information we have, Devon County Council have taken the decision today to ask all staff where possible to work from home. We are asking all schools to consider the high level of risk presented by this storm and make a decision today about their operations tomorrow. This potential risk to life means that we have taken the regrettable decision to close schools tomorrow. We do not do this lightly. The school will be shut to all pupils and staff. Information on work provided will be sent out later this afternoon Schools will be open as normal on Friday 3rd November. Thank you for your understanding.
On Wednesday 19th April our children began to think about ‘rights’ and what being a ‘Rights Respecting School’ means. We will be looking for parents, carers, staff, governors, and children to help us on this journey. Please speak to Ms Redman or Miss Humphreys if you are interested in helping. Please look at the following for more information: What is a Rights Respecting School? - UNICEF UK
A message from our Chair of Governors. Hello. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you all back to the school after the Easter holidays. As you are aware Wynstream is now part of Education South West Academy Trust. The school has already been working with the Trust for the past year. Together we are continuing to deliver support, exciting opportunities and high quality of teaching and learning across the school and the community. I hope you will all join me in embracing this new journey of Wynstream's future. Your sincerely Michaela Young Chair
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Do you know anybody who would make a great Community (Co-opted) Governor for our school? There is a vacancy on Wynstream's Local Governing Body and we are inviting nominations. Governors are welcomed as valued members of the governor team and play an important role. Life as a governor is interesting and varied. Meetings are at least once every half term. Training and support will be available. Please do let friends and family know, and ask anybody who is interested to pop into school for more information, or call 01392 284990. More information as well as the nomination form can be found by clicking here. Thankyou.
