Dear Parents/Carers,

Additional emergency childcare hubs will be opening after the Whitsun half-term and as a direct consequence this will now require all school staff across the LA to beattending hubs on a far more regular basis.  This increase in hubs is to address the growth in demand for emergency childcare across the County Borough. Please note that there is no official confirmation on when the re-opening of all schools in Wales will take place.We have however been provided with reassurance by the Minister of Education that a three week notice period will be given prior to any phased re-opening of schools. All national and local decisions will be informed by the current medical advice and guidance so that the health, safety and wellbeing of our children, school staff and communities is protected.  

Please be aware that because of the increased demand on staff time to work at the emergency childcare hubs weekly, there will be a need for all staff to ensure the quantity of distance learning is balanced fairly against their hub commitments so they are able to successfully achieve the requirements of both these roles.

Your support in this matter is greatly appreciated.  

Timescales for the next round of applications for emergency childcare:

Applications for emergency childcare for the week commencing 25^th May is live on the Council’s website from 8.00 am this Sunday (17^th May). 

Parents/carers have until 11:59 pm on Tuesday 19^th May to apply.

2.    Emergency childcare for the Whitsun half term week (including Bank Holiday Monday 25^thMay) is available to key/essential workers ANDvulnerable learners.

3.    People who must apply:

·Key/essential workers must re-apply weekly, as requirements/shift patterns etc. change regularly and we need to ensure the numbers of applications/hub attendees are as accurate as possible so that the hubs can be staffed appropriately.

·Parents/carers of vulnerable learners and parents/carers of special school pupils who are already attending an emergency childcare setting do not need to formally re-apply via the website, but must let their setting know if they will be attending during the Whitsun half term week, so that accurate numbers will be known for staffing purposes.

·Any parents/carers of vulnerable learners and parents/carers of special school pupils who are not currently attending one of the hubs must make an initial application for a place and complete the appropriate registration documents.

Get involved with the Joy of Moving Home School Festival!

Next Thursday 21st May get involved with the Joy of Moving Home School Festival! Join schools countrywide and your friends here at Alaw to take part in a festival of fun activities designed to get you moving! 

The festival is for children in Years 3-6. 

On Thursday morning, your teacher will send you a message on Seesaw with a pack full of activities for you take part in around your home on Thursday afternoon. The pack will also be posted here on the school website.

Applications for emergency childcare for the week commencing 18^th May is live on the Council’s website from this morning (Sunday 10^th May). 

Parents/carers have until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday 12^th May to apply. 

Dear parents and carers,

We have taken the unusual step of writing to you directly in order to thank you for the fantastic work you are doing to support distance learning with your children. It has been a privilege to see some wonderfully positive examples of the way young people of our region have approached the current situation, despite its complexities. Please remember that distance learning cannot be expected to mirror the school experience – to try would be detrimental to yourselves!

We want to take this opportunity to reassure you that we are working hard in collaboration with schools and organisations across Wales, to support yourselves as parents. There is a growing area of supporting materials for parents and carers hosted on the Hwb website. To make it easier for parents to find all of the advice and guidance we have created a Parent area on the CSC website. All of the information can be found here.

You will find advice and guidance on how to access and support learning. Additionally, you will find guidance around online safety and a range of additional learning materials which are freely available. Communications for parents and carers have already been released by Welsh Government and will supplemented over the coming weeks. Parents are also able to download a range of software for free via the Hwb platform, follow the links in the parent area.

As you are aware your school and indeed schools throughout the region are working tirelessly to ensure your children have access to distance learning materials. Our education professionals are, as always, endeavouring to ensure the wellbeing of each and every pupil is at the forefront of the response to Covid-19. We also know that schools are maintaining contact with children and young people across the region, this will be carried out in a variety of ways. Please remember that it is likely the phone number will be withheld, so please make sure you know the arrangements for your school.

Once again, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support. Please stay safe and well at this difficult time.

Best wishes

Good morning,

Applications for emergency childcare for the week commencing 11^th May will be live on the Council’s website from 8.00 a.m. this morning (Sunday 3^rdMay). 

Parents/carers have until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday 5^th May to apply.  

Nb.     People who must apply:

·Key/essential workers must re-apply weekly, as requirements/shift patterns, etc. change regularly and we need to ensure the numbers of applications/hub attendees are as accurate as possible so that the hubs can be staffed appropriately.

·Parents/carers of vulnerable learners and parents/carers of special school pupilswho have already applied for a place and are already attending an emergency childcare setting do not need to re-apply on a weekly basis.  Their attendance will be ongoing, but they must e-mailschoolplanning@rctcbc.gov.uk if they no longer require a place.

·Any parents/carers of vulnerable learnersand parents carers of special school pupils who are not currently attendingone of the hubs must make an initial application for a place and complete the appropriate registration documents.

Many thanks,

 

 

You do not need  to subscribe to the packages to use these resources. The site can be found at https://speechandlanguage.info/parents

 

 

Update on paediatric speech and language therapy service:

We have redesigned our service to children and families with speech, language, communication and dysphagia needs to reduce the risk of harm during the ongoing crisis. Our service is based on the reduction of harm and management of risk .Our paediatric therapists will continue to:

•           Manage new referrals of children triaged as in urgent need of support

•           Offer support to families for both dysphagia and communication based on their level of risk

•           Offer advice and support to professionals.

Almost all our work is currently through telephone consultation using a hub model.

We would welcome telephone contact from anyone with a concern.

Please encourage families to phone for support as required.

If you wish to speak to a speech and language therapist please phone 01685 351300. If you leave a message with our admin team, the appropriate therapist will get back with you.

Thank you

Chris Dowle.

Head of Paediatric SLT services.

Applications for emergency childcare for the week commencing 4^th May is live on the Council’s website from 8.00 a.m. Sunday 26^th April.

Parents/carers have until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday 28th April to apply. 

Nb.     People who must apply:

·Key/essential workers must re-apply weekly, as requirements/shift patterns, etc. change regularly and we need to ensure the numbers of applications/hub attendees are as accurate as possible so that the hubs can be staffed appropriately.

·Parents/carers of vulnerable learners and parents/carers of special school pupilswho have already applied for a place and are already attending an emergency childcare setting do not need to re-apply on a weekly basis.  Their attendance will be ongoing, but they must e-mailschoolplanning@rctcbc.gov.uk if they no longer require a place.

·Any parents/carers of vulnerable learnersand parents carers of special school pupils who are not currently attendingone of the hubs must make an initial application for a place and complete the appropriate registration documents.

Many thanks,