North Primary School headteacher Alan Garnett says more pupils are doing more work than during the first lockdown and staff are going to great lengths to support both the children and their parents.

Monday, January 25

WEEK four of Lockdown 3. Last night, staff self-administered lateral flow tests for the first time. Not the most pleasant of activities, swabbing your tonsils and nostrils. All test results have to be reported online to the Government and recorded by the school. No positives.

The Nursery re-opened this morning. Five children attended the morning session. These families are entitled to 15 hours in the Nursery. Five others, entitled to 30 hours, are in the Reception class bubble. The remainder of parents prefer to keep their children at home.

The food voucher system was launched without a hitch this time. Eligible families will receive three weeks’ worth of vouchers, which will take them up to half-term.

After school, senior leaders meet via Zoom, as is usual now. We discuss the findings of the teacher survey. It is clear more pupils are doing more work than during the first lockdown. There are a few families who are of concern. Staff have been working hard to make contact and provide advice and support. What is obvious is that the teachers much prefer having all the children in school. We also discuss other ways that we can help families – resource packs will be prepared for collection.

I report these findings to the governors’ curriculum committee in the evening. The parent governors fully appreciate the lengths staff are going to support the children and their parents. One governor emailed me afterwards, saying "it's easy to have kind words for exceptionally wonderful, dedicated and caring people".

Tuesday, January 26

THE DfE announce that schools will be closed during half-term but we will be expected to monitor emails and report positive cases to Public Health, as we did over Christmas.

Six laptops were collected today. This will make a difference. The children will be able to work with greater independence and ease. Parents had to sign a loan agreement. They must obviously take care of it. It must only be used by the child for their school work and it remains the property of the school. A kind and generous grandparent had offered to pay insurance costs for a number of these devices. She had read that this is what needed to have happened. I rang her and thanked her but said that it was not necessary. She will make a donation to the school in another way.

Wednesday, January 27

THE day is spent eagerly awaiting a statement from the PM. When will the lockdown measures be eased? At 1.30pm, I was listening to a talk online. I felt very sorry for the speaker as he knew his audience were only half listening to him because they were also listening to Mr Johnson, addressing the House of Commons.

We now know schools will not be fully opened before March 8 and that will depend on certain factors. More precise details will be announced on February 22 – the first day after the half-term break. Let the speculation begin.

Announcement - Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Thursday, January 28

I SEND an email to parents to make sure they know the situation. I also remind them of how staff are helping them support home learning –

"So, in the meantime, the teachers will continue to teach remotely for the majority of children. I know you and your children appreciate the feedback and comments the staff give – on average, in total, the staff are posting over 1,000 responses a day. That is a remarkable effort – matched by your commitment to home learning while juggling all the other balls at home.

"There are other ways that the teachers are doing their very best to help you help your children with their home learning. Teachers try to put themselves in your shoes by trying to limit the amount of resources and equipment you would need at home for the children to complete their work. Nevertheless, you will always need some things.

"At the start of Lockdown 1, staff prepared resource packs for the children. We are planning to do this again, upon request. Your children’s teachers will contact you directly with the list of resources they will include in the packs. You can then let them know if you would like one. You will be able to pick up the packs the first week after half-term. This will be timetabled and we will let you know nearer the time the collection times. Look out for the messages from the teachers."

I receive an email from the chair of the North School Association. A parent has contacted him to say she made and sold festive wreaths at Christmas and would like to donate the proceeds to the school. Lovely.

Friday, January 29

THERE has been limited take-up of the laptop loans. Staff make contact with some families. One dad said they would love a laptop for their son but they felt other families might have a greater need. Another parent cries in gratitude and relief when she is offered a laptop for her son. Laptops will be collected on Monday.

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