Birkrig, Skelmersdale, Lancashire WN8 9BN. Telephone: 01695 724730.
www.bishopmartin.lancs.sch.uk Headteacher:
Mr IJ McDonald
Thursday 11th February 2021 Dear Parents/Carers, Bishop Martin closes for half-term today and will re-open on Monday 22nd February for Critical Worker/Vulnerable families and Online Teaching will begin again that day too. We have done brilliantly this half-term in keeping the teaching and learning going as effectively as possible during this Lockdown and that could only have been achieved with the incredible effort you have all been making from home! A few areas to highlight are:
All staff have continued to attend the school site (in a fully risk managed way) during this lockdown and this has meant pupils attending school have been able to go to their own classrooms with their own teachers each day We have had NO reported Positive cases of COVID-19 within school since we returned after Christmas (showing just how effective the measures we have taken in school have been). 35-40% of pupils have continued to attend on a daily basis under the Critical Worker/Vulnerable categories and we have been able to do this safely under the school’s robust risk management strategy Of the pupils staying at home, over 90% of them have been accessing online learning each week! This is down to your efforts as parents and I can only thank you yet again for the amazing effort you have put in. My own 14 year old son is working remotely from home during this time and my wife tells me each day of the struggles and effort it takes to keep him on-task…so you must congratulate yourselves and recognise the brilliant work you’ve done from home!
Your child’s account for Microsoft Teams will be disabled this afternoon. This is because the Class Teams will not be monitored over the half-term break. We need to carry out some maintenance on Teams and the teachers need to prepare the learning content for next half-term. Therefore, pupils will not be able to log on to Teams from this afternoon until the morning of the 22nd February. They will still have their ‘Bug Club’ and ‘Times Table Rock Star’ logins and links to things like the national ‘Oak Academy’ will still be available through the school website BUT I have to encourage you all to take a break from online learning next week and let your children be children (as much as is possible in these strange times!).