Dear Parents,
The transformation of Bridgewater Prep in to a ‘virtual’ school in just 5 days has been miraculous. It has been extremely heart-warming to see how all sectors of our Prep community have contributed to this new chapter of our wonderful school.
As a parent who has had to work from home many times in the past I can fully sympathise with families who have to find a balance of meeting work deadlines, home schooling deadlines and keeping the household ticking over. Please remember that virtual learning does not have to follow strict school timings. Please allow your children to enjoy the outside where possible. I have taught dozens of twilight lessons on school residential trips over the years and have often found them to be productive after an enjoyable and energetic day outside.
It is our intention to have 100% interaction with our pupils before the Easter break. If you are struggling with any technical issues please contact your class teacher and they will signpost your issue to the appropriate person. I will personally contact any parents of children who are not working daily by the end of the week to offer support.
It is important that I use this opportunity to ensure that everyone is aware of the initiatives provided by Prep staff for education, interest and fun over the next week and in to next term.
Google Classroom: All our teachers, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils have had excellent training from Mr Suter in preparation for this challenging time. Daily lessons are taught and work is marked by teachers. Please contact your class teacher if there are any issues with this.
Prep Blog:. The Prep Blog: https://bridgewaterprep.org/ is of course a platform for news and information but is also provides so much more. Mr Suter has been building this excellent resource for learning over several years. It is full of useful activities, links, websites, activities and suggested reading lists (Amazon are providing stories that are free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet using the following link https://stories.audible.com/start-listen ). Early Years have used the Prep Blog to provide a daily message from their teachers packed with challenges and work for their young learners.
All these pages can be found in the Blog menu at the top of each page. The blog also contains every news page from several years back if people would like to reminisce about ‘normal’ times in days, weeks and years gone by. We look forward to adding many ‘normal’ features in the years to come!
Bridgewater Newsletter: This was emailed to all parents on Thursday March 26th. It is also contains many suggestions for activities for the whole school.
As you can see in the department has provided a wealth of challenges, teaching and learning in less than a week. We have many more exciting teaching aids available to us which we will introduce gradually.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Rooney
Head of Prep Department and Deputy Head