Dear Parents and Carers,
It’s been quite a week at Beaford. The hot weather certainly brings some challenges to school leadership.
Although I’m sure many of you will have had enough of hearing about the fact that it’s been hot, I would like to explain the decision-making and actions we’ve taken this week to meet the challenges presented.
The biggest decision this week was obviously around a potential school closure. Although the news was full of schools that did close, the vast majority stayed open and made adaptations to keep the children safe and comfortable.
School closure is not a decision made alone. At Beaford, I work with leaders from the TEAM Multi-Academy Trust to make these decisions, and the trust takes advice from the local authority and Department for Education.
The message from these organisations was clear. School closure, or partial school closure, should be a last resort, and schools should strive to stay open and make adaptations to keep children safe. This was to ensure that working parents could continue their roles and that children would be supervised during the hot weather.
Fortunately, at Beaford we have a school building and grounds that are suitable for hot weather. The playground has large sections that are never in the sun, and it opens onto open fields, which means there is always a breeze. At lunchtimes, during the hottest part of the day, children have stayed in the shade and played quieter, less energetic games than usual. Our OPAL provision has helped hugely with this because we have a range of activities to call on. The musical equipment has been out, as well as Lego, toys and water play.
The main building of the school is well ventilated, so there is a breeze in the corridors and the classroom temperatures have been in the low 20s during the mornings. We also had fans in all classrooms to help keep them cool. This environment has allowed us to continue our normal lessons in the morning.
In the afternoons, the classroom temperatures do creep up. With this in mind, we’ve come off our usual curriculum and made sure lessons are task-orientated, so children can work through activities at their own pace.
The Early Years has been where I’ve directed most of my focus this week. The EYFS building is hotter than the main school, and young children are more susceptible to the heat. These children have made the most of the cooler outside spaces this week. They’ve had their lunch and spent most of their afternoons in the shadiest and breeziest parts of the grounds, either in the nursery garden or indoors surrounded by fans. We’ve also increased the number of water activities to help keep them cool, and Reception was kindly loaned a paddling pool to play in yesterday. Nursery children do not have the same statutory attendance expectations as those in the main school, so parents were also given the option to collect them early.
These adaptations, along with the reduced uniform expectations and regular reminders to the children to drink plenty of water and refill their bottles, have helped keep the school a safe and pleasant environment despite the heat.
I’d like to thank the children for their resilience this week and for adapting to the changes so admirably. I’d also commend many of them for their positive attitude and for looking on the bright side to make sure they enjoyed the lovely weather we’ve been having.
Next week
Assessment week – We postponed assessment week this week due to the weather. Children from Years 1 to 5 will complete their Summer assessments.
Tuesday – Children from Owls will join other trust schools at a basketball festival.
Wednesday – There is an amazing opportunity to go and see some international sport!
For just £15, the children in Otters and Owls can go to Taunton Cricket Ground for the day to watch the Women's T20 international A match between England and India. We still have tickets available. Please contact the school if you would like your child to attend.
Thursday – Early Years have arranged for a paramedic to come and talk to the children as part of their topic on people who help us.
Friday – It’s Break the Rules Day! Our annual PTA fundraiser, which is always much loved by the children. See the poster in the newsletter for more details.
Let’s hope the fine weather continues into the summer, but we’ll ask the weather gods if they can perhaps shave a couple of degrees off the next heatwave.
Kind regards
George Myers
Head of School
