The Head writes to the Abingdon Prep community every week during term time.
Letter from the Head, 18 September 2020
Friday 18 September 2020
Dear Parents
It was lovely to see so many of you via Zoom on Tuesday this week and I hope that you enjoyed finding out a little more about routines and expectations from your son’s form teacher. The boys have continued to impress both in and out of the classroom and it was wonderful to hear our Year 6 boys singing beautifully in their music lesson this week, whilst socially distanced – a sound that has been missing at school for many months.
I would like to thank all of you for your vigilance with regards to any illnesses that your sons may be experiencing. Clearly it is a worrying time but it is so important that we all follow the government guidance when it comes to symptoms. Please could I remind you all that it is vitally important that if your son is undertaking a Covid-19 test (or is off school for any other reason) that you let school know as soon as possible, contacting the form teacher and copying in the school office. If your son has taken a Covid-19 test, once you have the result of that test, then please also let us know as we must record all tests taken as Public Health England will want to see that data should they need to speak with us about a positive case. We will not share any names of boys who have taken these tests as we are not permitted to do so. Keeping us updated with all absences will allow us to follow our protocols and ensure that those children who are well enough to work from home are provided with the relevant work.
It is clearly very difficult at this time to distinguish between normal seasonal cold symptoms and those that could be Covid-19 related. With this in mind, I have added below the official list of Covid-19 symptoms for which you should get your son tested according to PHE guidance.
- new continuous cough
- fever/high temperature
- loss of, or change in, sense of smell or taste.
In light of some recent articles from medical bodies regarding symptoms and children, some parents have asked what to do if their son has symptoms that are most likely cold related (sore throat, runny nose etc) and would not normally keep their son off from school. The official government advice, if your son has symptoms that would normally be considered as a cold, is to phone 119 and get their advice on whether your child needs a test and if they should be kept off school. Clearly given the difficulties around availability of testing currently, it is important to speak to those with the knowledge and expertise to advise you.
On a different note, I wanted to share with you a little more about our hot packed lunch offering. Whilst we cannot have all children in the dining hall every day given bubble restrictions and timings, we are very aware of the importance of sustainability within the school and with this in mind, I wanted to reassure you that all packaging and cutlery that is being used to serve these meals is fully compostable and being disposed of in this way. We are taking sustainability very seriously within the current guidelines and will continue to do so in all areas of school life.
Our senior science club is about to embark on an air pollution project with diffusers being used to record air pollution levels on the school site. It is a really exciting project to be involved in with 11 other local schools also taking part, helping to collect data for a local government project investigating air quality around schools. Having written my dissertation many years ago on air pollution, I will be following this project with keen interest, and the boys are really eager to get going with it all.
Year 4 are making excellent use of the terrific weather we are experiencing on their geography field trip today walking along The Ridgeway. Map reading skills and land use will be key aspects of their trip and I look forward to hearing about what they have learned on their return.
It just remains for me to say that I hope you all have a good weekend and enjoy what may be the last of our Indian summer.
Best wishes
Craig
Letter from the Head, 11 September 2020
Friday 11 September 2020
Dear Parents
It has been a lovely first week back in school and the boys have certainly come back full of energy and enthusiasm. I imagine most of them will sleep well this weekend after being so active during their first week! It is great to see how quickly the boys have settled back into school life and are working with the routines that we have set up for them. The separate play areas seem to be working well and the boys are enjoying a range of break time games.
I wanted to thank you for your patience as we work through our new systems at school. We continue to tweak some routines and as of Monday, we are introducing a drop off for Year 6 – 8 boys on Cox’s field to try to alleviate some of the exit queuing times from the site in the mornings. The boys can then walk across the bridge to their respective entry points. There will be a member of staff on the field to guide and support with this. Entry will only be from the A415, directly opposite the main drive, and exit only from the gate by the pavilion on to the A338. Rachel has sent out an email to parents with further details of this new system including an option to park over on Cox’s Field at 4.10 pick up.
Please could I ask that you continue to be vigilant with regards to developing Covid 19 symptoms and if your son does develop any symptoms then get him tested and let us know as soon as you can. There is a flow chart of actions to take included in this week’s mailing which hopefully is clear when it comes to dealing with symptoms and what you should do. It is really important to let us know if your son does develop symptoms at home or a member of the household is contacted via track and trace. Please do contact us if you have queries over any of this.
I am looking forward to greeting everyone virtually on Tuesday at our parents’ start of term gathering after you have dialled into your form teacher’s Zoom room – details of these links will be shared with you on Monday. This will be a great opportunity to meet the form teachers if you have not already done so, hear how the boys have settled back into school and also for you to get any questions answered that you might have.
Work in and out of the classroom has started straight away and the boys have shown they are ready to learn and keen to progress. I was treated to a very long conversation about healthy snacks and their importance in Reception earlier in the week and I have also been delighted to hear about some creative writing in Year 5 focusing on the use of powerful verbs whilst Year 4 were writing postcards and also learning to use a dictionary to improve their language skills. Year 8 Science was extracting DNA from strawberries, whilst Year 8 Geography was discussing the Alpide belt and the Circum Pacific belt (plate tectonics). It was great to see all the classes so focused on the task in hand.
I hope that you all have a good weekend and that the excellent September weather continues through the coming week.
Best wishes
Craig
Letter from the Head, 4 September 2020
Friday 4 September 2020
Dear Parents
It has certainly been an interesting and slightly different summer and I hope that you were able to enjoy some time at home, or on a staycation, or indeed abroad if you decided to travel for your summer break.
It is incredibly exciting to have the boys coming back into school to start the new academic year. It will be great to welcome 37 new boys and their parents to the Abingdon Prep community and I know they will all be warmly welcomed as they settle into life at school.
School will be a little different in terms of routines and remaining in bubble groupings but the essence of school will be the same and the boys will quickly adapt to any new routines that have been set up for them to follow and the teachers will all be there to support and help them settle into the new term. I hope that you have all been able to read through the Q&A document and all the other information that has been shared prior to the start of term.
I have put together a video for the boys to watch before they return on Tuesday (Please click here to view). Please could I ask that your sons watch it before they come back to school as it gives them a few details of key changes they will need to follow on Tuesday and gives them an idea of what to expect. Please be reassured that the teachers will be helping them to become familiar with any new routines over the course of the first few days.
It has been wonderful to have all the staff back in school today ensuring that the classrooms are all set up and that we are fully prepared to welcome the boys back to school. It has been a while since we were all back on site and it will be fantastic to have a full school again on Tuesday after such a long time.
I have no doubt that for some, the return to school is being eagerly anticipated whilst for others, there may be a few worries. We will look after all of them and support them as they get back into the routines of everyday school life and pastoral care will be at the top of our agenda as we start the new academic year.
I look forward to seeing many of you in the car park on Tuesday and thank you in advance for all your help in getting the boys safely into school on day one. If your son is using the bus service to come into school, then please could I remind you that they will need to wear a face covering on the minibus. There will be plenty of staff in the car park to welcome the boys back and guide them to the right entry points via the external hand washing basins.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Best wishes
Craig
Letter from the Head, 3 July 2020
Friday 3 July 2020
Dear Parents
It seems a long time ago that I was writing to inform you all that the school was to be closed for the final week of the Easter term. So much has happened since then. This was not the summer term that any of us could have foreseen at the start of the year, and we should not forget the tragic loss of life, hardship and worry that has occurred, and continues to occur, both here in the UK and across the world. However, I could not be prouder of the Abingdon Prep community, boys, parents, teachers, support staff, and the way they have dealt with the last few months. It has truly had to be a team effort in every respect. The boys have, quite simply, been fantastic and continued to work hard and learn. Indeed, it would be fair to say that in many subjects, we have been able to get through more of the curriculum as there have not been the trips and celebrations that would normally mean fewer lessons for the boys to take part in. They have, of course, missed out on so much that is vital to a child’s development in terms of social contact and play.
It has been great to have so many boys catching up in school during their Year group sessions over the past two weeks and I have thoroughly enjoyed it, as have all the teachers involved; chatting to them and generally catching up on their experiences in lockdown. They have shown resilience and fortitude, and certainly continued to learn, albeit in a very different format.
This week at school has seen our virtual garden games take place which was great fun and congratulations to Phoenix House for coming out on top here (retaining the sports day cup from the real sports day last year!), and I have been especially impressed at the recreating of famous paintings / images via photos that have been sent in by some of our older boys, and indeed teachers!).
We have said goodbye formally in assembly yesterday to a number of our wonderful staff, all of whom will be greatly missed and also to our boys who are leaving us. I know that they will be leaving with great friendships and memories for life.
It will not have escaped your notice that yesterday the government issued new guidance for the return to school of all children in September. Please may I ask that you give us time to digest this guidance and produce our plans for this to happen. As I said last week, we will be very much looking forward to welcoming all of the boys back into school and doing this as safely as it is possible for us to do. We will be writing to you on Friday 21 August with more detailed plans, but I for one cannot wait to have the noise of a full school echoing back through our buildings.
Finally, I hope you enjoy reading through our second edition of APS News (and watching the videos too). Looking at this, it would have been hard for me to imagine back at the start of April quite how much fantastic work the boys would have produced over the course of the summer term. The boys should all be very proud of themselves. Thank you too for all of your amazing support during these past few months. Receiving thoughtful and heartfelt messages has made such a difference to everyone and cannot be undervalued.
I hope that you are all able to have a great summer break and enjoy staying at home, going somewhere in Britain or even managing to go abroad if that is what you have planned. For me, I will be watching the announcements from the ECB (English Cricket Board) carefully to see if I will be able to play at least one game of cricket in August!
Best wishes
Craig
Letter from the Head, 26 June 2020
Friday 26 June 2020
Dear Parents
It has been fantastic to see almost all of the boys back in school this week, even if just for a short window. I know that they have really enjoyed the sessions and been able to spend time chatting to each other and to their teachers. Such simple pleasures, but I hope that we do not forget how important these aspects of day to day life are when we return a more normal daily routine.
It has been a scorching week and the boys are definitely glad to be in their PE kits whilst in school. Despite the high temperatures and the fact that we have now been learning remotely for so long, some of the work being produced by the boys is exceptional. I was blown away by the terrific presentations given by 8R for their Science Crest Awards. We had subjects ranging from the size of a solar farm needed to power Oxford to a new design of a take away pizza box and its thermal efficiency properties. The boys had to create experiments to test their hypotheses and the level of knowledge and understanding on show was incredible.
Year 5 will be taking on the challenge of French cooking this weekend and I was very fortunate to see the most amazing creme caramel video which was sent in. It certainly puts my cooking skills to shame!
Over the past few weeks, we have been able to build a new play area for our Pre-Prep boys in their playground at the back of school. I cannot wait for the boys to be able to use it next term and I know they will love having their own equivalent to the fort (but with a bigger slide!). This has been a project we have been working on for some time so it is great to have it finally come to fruition.
We continue to plan for next term and with the government’s announcement (just after I sent my letter last week) that they are aiming for all children to be back in school for September, which was welcome news. Clearly many things can change in the coming months but we are working hard looking at key details for the logistics of this that would enable all the boys to be back. I will be in touch again later next week with further details.
I hope you all have a terrific weekend and I look forward to seeing the boys back in for their sessions next week.
Best wishes
Craig
Letter from the Head, 19 June 2020
Friday 19 June 2020
Dear Parents
We have been dodging the downpours here at APS this week but I am looking forward to some sunshine next week. This will be welcome as we are starting to get all the year groups back into school for some pastoral and social interaction over the course of the next fortnight. I am really looking forward to this as for many it has been a very long time since they last stepped onto the site.
I thought with this in mind, it was a good opportunity to share with you our thoughts about what school may look like in September and the planning that we have been undertaking.
We will continue to be led by the government guidance regarding the reopening of schools but this guidance has, as yet, been limited so we are looking at two possible options and how we can make them work best for Abingdon Prep. We will of course be monitoring the situation throughout the summer and we will continue to communicate to parents when we have information to share, so do please keep an eye on your emails during the holiday.
Our overriding concern is the safety of our pupils and staff. We already have a very comprehensive risk assessment which we put together for the reopening of the school. This has been shared with you previously, and for those parents who have boys returning for sessions in the final two weeks, I have shared it again earlier today with some additions referencing this return. Please do take the time to read this along with a new Q&A document, which was again shared earlier with the relevant year groups.
The two options we are working on for the return to school in September are:
Option 1: The School reopens with all pupils in every day.
This is clearly our preferred option. However, if this were the case, we may well need to adapt some of our events if large gatherings were still not permissible, for example, we may not be able to have sports fixtures, whole school assemblies or social events after school. The Other Half would continue wherever possible.
We are evaluating the health and hygiene implications for all aspects of school life from the Joint Bus Service and lunch provision, to medical protocols, uniform, use of shared facilities, changing rooms and cleaning.
Option 2: We provide a combination of remote learning and lessons in school for pupils.
Should the government guidance indicate that group sizes in school must be limited, we will put in place a rota system whereby pupils would be in school for the majority of time, and accessing live lessons remotely when at home.
The logistics for this option are complicated and would work differently depending on the year group of the child. Although this would be a challenging scenario, we are confident that we can find a genuine solution that will allow the boys to spend most of their time in school, receive excellent pastoral care, academic teaching and continue their involvement in the Other Half.
I am sorry that we cannot provide more clarity about the arrangements for September as yet. We will keep parents updated on our plans as and when further government guidance becomes available.
I would like to say a heartfelt thank you for all the kind messages of support that have been shared in recent weeks. The teachers, support staff and I are all greatly appreciative and feel proud to be part of such a close knit school community.
I hope you all have a good weekend.
Best wishes
Craig
Letter from the Head, 12 June 2020
Friday 12 June 2020
Dear Parents
At the start of the week, the government announced that they would not be recommending all primary year groups return to school before the summer break, and I wanted to give you an update on our thoughts over this.
Whilst it is clear that maintaining the bubbles in school negates the possibility of further year groups returning under current social distancing guidelines, we are investigating the possibility of getting Years 2 to 5 into school for a couple of afternoons (different days for each year group) during the last two weeks of term to spend time with their teacher and each other. We feel that this would be a positive step for the boys to have some pastoral contact with their teachers and also with each other. This would, of course, be in strict bubbles and whilst the whole year group may be in, the two groups would need to be kept separate. We are currently working on the mechanics of this and I will let you know more once we have been able to put a clear and fully risk assessed plan in place.
As it currently stands, according to government guidance, Years 7 and 8 are not going to be allowed to return to school this term. We will, of course, keep a close eye on any changes that might be made to guidance and keep this under review.
This week, I have been delighted to see some wonderful videos uploaded by our Year 3s singing their ‘Rainbow Song’ and some fantastic artwork and CDT projects being shared. The boys are clearly enjoying the creative subjects as well as maintaining their efforts with the remote learning for their other subjects. At school, with the new England Cricket Board guidelines, we have even been able to have our first socially distanced cricket nets for some of the boys.
The boys who have returned to school seem fully settled into the new routines and are continuing to work hard. It was typical that this Wednesday afternoon it decided to rain which then restricted what sporting activities the boys could get involved in.
On a different note, as I have explained to the boys in my Friday video message, please could I ask that you remind your boys that if they have a live Zoom scheduled for a lesson, the boys are expected to turn up to it. The teachers are there to support and help them with their work and the live sessions are vital for ensuring that the boys fully understand the task set and are able to get any questions answered or additional guidance.
I hope that you are all still well and able to enjoy a little more social interaction with others now that there has been a small relaxation of the lockdown protocols regarding outside gatherings.
Best wishes
Craig
Letter from the Head, 5 June 2020
Friday 5 June 2020
Dear Parents
This week has seen a welcome return to school for those year groups that have been directed by the government and for those of you who are interested, I have attached my video for the boys that I shared today as a link at the bottom of this letter. Hopefully it will give you an idea of what the classrooms look like and what they have been getting up to in break times.
It has been lovely to hear the sound of laughter and see the camaraderie back in the school buildings and at break times. The boys in school have taken the social distancing measures very seriously and been swapping stories about their lockdown experiences. It is so important that we do continue to maintain the clear bubbles that are helping to protect the Abingdon Prep community. Huge thanks too should go to parents for being so supportive and patient with the new routines at drop off and pick up times.
Reception and Year 1 seem to have been up on their feet dancing every time I have seen them at work this week, either in their maths sessions or PE. I would imagine both boys and teachers have been going home rather tired at the end of the day!
For those boys who are not back in school, it has been great to see more of their videos being uploaded and also to look through some of the great work that is being submitted. The Year 7 ‘toilet roll challenge’ video is well worth a watch if you have yet to see it and the cereal box advertising campaigns in Year 6 maths also brought a smile to my face.
I hope that you were all able to enjoy the half term break and that the boys are ready for a final push with their remote learning over the coming weeks. One of the differences this year, compared to all others, is actually that the boys will be focused on their work and lessons for a longer period of time as we are not able to run the trips and celebratory events that always take up such a significant portion of the second half of term.
We will still run our end of term prize givings remotely to recognise the efforts and achievements of the boys but lessons will continue all the way through into the final week of term, allowing the boys to continue to work through the curriculum for all of their subjects. My Tuesday assembly message of focus and practise will stand them in good stead as they navigate through the next four weeks of term.
I hope that you are all still well and that the slight easing of lockdown measures this week has enabled you to catch up with loved ones that you have not seen for the past two months.
Best wishes
Craig
Letter from the Head, 22 May 2020
Friday 22 May 2020
Dear Parents
We have reached half term and it has certainly been a period in my educational life that I will never forget. Today, I have sent the boys a video thanking them for the way that they have approached their work this term. It has been an entirely new way of learning and could certainly be described as uncharted territory for them, as well as all of their teachers and their parents. The boys have, like their teachers and parents, risen to the task and I am so encouraged to hear from teachers how well most of the boys are working and I have seen some amazing examples this week of fantastic work from Pre-Prep all the way through to Year 8. Resilience and perseverance have needed to be shown by the whole Abingdon Prep community and I am very proud to have seen this from all quarters.
Today, in this letter, I am sharing with you our risk assessment for the phased reopening of the school for year groups Reception, 1 and 6. Assuming that there are no changes to government guidelines, we will welcome back boys in these year groups on the 1 June. I would ask parents with children in these year groups to read the risk assessment carefully so that you can be reassured that we have put in a raft of measures focusing on keeping your children and our staff safe. You can download the risk assessment here (it takes a few seconds).
I have also included a link to our Q&A document in which we answer questions that were raised from the survey that you all kindly completed last week. There were many key questions and I hope that by reading this Q&A, in combination with our risk assessment, it will help you to gain a more detailed understanding of the way we have planned to reopen to these year groups. You can download the Q&A here.
Next week, we will be sending through some further specific communications to those year groups regarding the return to school with key reminders for the boys. I will also be sending out a video to Year 6 boys explaining what the school day is going to look like. It would be appreciated if you could talk through these measures with your sons so that the boys are aware of what they will need to bring into school and the fact that it will not be a return to the ‘normal’ school day. I should also add that we will be picking up emails over half term so if you do have any questions, then please get in touch so that we can answer them for you.
Once parents have been able to read the Q&A and the risk assessment, please can I ask those parents of boys in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 to complete this form to tell us whether or not your son will be returning to school. Please complete the form by Tuesday 26 May so that we can finalise groupings and ensure that we have the right technology available. I know we asked the same question in the survey last week but we would appreciate all parents of boys in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 to once more confirm whether or not their son will be returning on 1 June.
It may be of interest to parents to know that from the survey last week, of those parents of sons in the year groups set to return, 60% said that their son would be returning with 10% saying they would not, 20% were undecided. Across the rest of the school year groups, the figures were almost identical, with 60% saying they would return, 15% saying they would not and 25% saying they were undecided.
I must thank you all for completing the survey last week. Not only has it been very helpful in terms of planning for the children who will be returning, but it has been really important for us to get feedback from you about how remote learning has been working for you as a family. I was so heartened to read so many kind and positive messages about the provision and I have passed these on to the teachers who have been working incredibly hard to produce their lessons, mark work and feedback to the boys, whilst looking after their own families as well under lockdown. They really have appreciated the kind words.
It would be fair to say that our knowledge and use of IT systems has vastly increased in a very short space of time and there are many positive aspects that we will be hoping to take forward from this, once school life is able to fully return to normal – whatever normal means! The boys too have clearly found their feet with so many aspects of working with IT and I have no doubt that what they have learned in recent weeks in this regard will stand them in good stead as they move further along their academic journeys and eventually into their working lives.
I thought that it would be good to share with you the key findings from the survey and indeed the headline figures. 91% of you said that you were either extremely happy or quite happy with the remote learning offer with 9% saying that you were quite unhappy. We have looked carefully at the reasons that were given for this and also for the constructive suggestions on possible areas that we could further improve. These comments are very helpful and will enable us to make adjustments to some of the points raised. The relationship between parents and the school is vital and we certainly appreciate the time so many of you took to write about your and your sons’ experiences so far.
71% of you felt that the amount of work being set in class was about right, whilst 15% felt it was too much and 14% too little.
Homework was seen to be an area that teachers could set a little less of in the younger year groups whilst 50% of the older year groups felt that we should not reduce the level of homework for the boys. We really feel that parents should do what is right for their families in this regard and communicate with the teachers if they are finding that their boys are struggling to complete any homework set and we are happy to make allowances for this.
Finally, 97% of you felt either extremely happy or quite happy with the use of Google Classroom and Zoom as the learning platforms. We have certainly seen the boys becoming far more adept in their use and understanding of its key features but please do continue to use the email helpdesk should you have any queries.
If you have not done so already, please do take a look at this half term’s special edition of Abingdon Prep News online which went live this week. It is quite amazing how much has been accomplished this term and I hope that you will enjoy seeing some of the videos as well as the pictures and stories.
I hope that you are all able to enjoy the half term break and I will look forward to seeing some of the boys on Monday 1 June, assuming that there are no changes to government guidelines. My message to the boys today stressed the fact that they had been undertaking a lot of screen time in recent weeks, understandably so, but that this break should be used as an opportunity to completely get away from their screens and enjoy the wonderful outdoors in the warm weather that has been forecast, and spending time playing and chatting with family. Oh yes, and don’t forget to ask them to help with the chores!
Best wishes
Craig
Letter from the Head, 15 May 2020
Friday 15 May 2020
Dear Parents
It has been an incredibly busy week for us here with the announcement from the government of their plan for a phased reopening of schools. Today, you will all have received an email from me containing a letter regarding our plans for this phased reopening, in addition to requesting feedback regarding our current remote working offer. I would really appreciate you taking the time to complete this as it will help us to prepare further for the second half of term.
The boys have continued to work hard at home and I wanted to say thank you to all of you for the support that so many of you are giving to your sons with their work. I know that this is not always easy given your personal commitments and work. I have had Quinn, who has just started to work out how to open a door, sneak into a number of my Zoom meetings, generally demanding ‘play duplo’ or ‘out garden’, and then start a meltdown when I have to tell him Daddy is a bit busy. The mute button certainly has its uses!
If you do not follow our Twitter feed or other social media outlets, I really would encourage you to do so as it is an easy way to see what some of the boys have been getting up to and have been sharing with us.
This week it has been great to see the very creative side coming out in our boys with some of their VE day creations to celebrate last Friday and some Year 3 performance poetry in drama. I was lucky enough to be in school to see the youngest key worker children taking part in their French lesson by dancing and singing along to ‘Frère Jacques’ in the Hall. They were having great fun. I was also particularly pleased to see so many cover driver uploads on the sports pages, with some boys taking it very seriously and changing into whites to do their practice!
I will be encouraging the boys to really focus on the work in hand next week in the lead up to half term and they will certainly have earned a break, but I will also be encouraging them to continue to step away from their screens when it comes to the break times and some of the wider curriculum lessons. Moving around and ‘resetting’ is really important before they then settle back down to work.
Once again, I have included a link to my assembly which I shared with you on Tuesday.
I hope you have a good weekend ahead and that for those who are able to, in accordance with the guidelines, that you may be able to meet up with individual family members and friends outside for the first time in many weeks.
Best wishes
Craig
