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Home Schooling
Home learning activities are now split in to two key zones - Reception/KS1 zone for children in DaVinci and Goldsworthy, and Key Stage 2 zone for the children in Picasso, Klimt and Banksy.
Each zone will provide learning activities in the following subject areas:
Phonic/Spellings, Reading, Writing, Maths - These are the core subject areas. If you are choosing a more structured home learning approach, then we recommend your child completes one activity from each of these areas every day.
Science, Creative, Physical/Mental - There are a selection of creative, interactive and physical tasks; we would recommend your child completes as many as possible over the two week period.
Learning is now planned in fortnightly themes. This fortnight the theme is Through the key hole.
We want you to feel supported whilst homeschooling so there will be regular updates on the 'Updates Blog' below and on the individual class blogs, so please check them regularly, and remember we are here to help. For contact details and phone numbers click here.
Updates
Celebration Friday
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Huge congratulations to all those children who have received a certificate this week - a new assembly has just been uploaded.
You should also have received a letter with details of our proposed plan for reopening to Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 after June 1st.
Next week is half term. Some of you are choosing to take a well earned break, whilst others have decided to continue with the routine of home schooling.
There are plenty of activities on the website should you wish to continue homeschooling- the only activity not available is the BBC Bitesize maths as they are taking a break for the school holidays. There are plenty of maths activities on education city though so take a look there.
One of us will always be available throughout the holiday to answer any questions or to continue support with home learning however, to ensure everyone is refreshed and ready for term 6, it may not be your child's class teacher.
Thank you for all your support throughout term 5!
19th May
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Good morning,
Apologies if you experienced difficulty with some of the links on the website yesterday - these have now been resolved.
As you know, we are currently planning for the re-opening of school for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6, and will be in a position to share more details of this plan with you later in the week. There have been a number of posts shared on social media recently about 4 year olds sitting in marked areas unable to move from their allocated desk, or children being expected to administer their own first aid. Please can I reassure you that our plan includes no such detail, and everything we have planned so far is to ensure not only the safety but also the well being of your children and the staff. To support us in this planning, phone calls to Reception, Year1 and Year 6 families are being made, but if you have any further questions please do get in contact. (becky_cost@blewbury.oxon.sch.uk 07387722876)
This Friday - 22nd May at 10.30am - there is a special school assembly being delivered by the Bishop of Oxford and you are all invited to join. The Bishop of Oxford, reflecting on the powerful story of David and Goliath, will be considering some of the challenges that we all face during lockdown. The short assembly will also include a time of stilling and a song...and LEGO! The assembly will be live streamed on Facebook and Youtube (tagged with children’s content to ensure appropriate advertisements) and the links for these are below:
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=diocese%20of%20oxford&epa=SEARCH_BOX and then just click on the post which is called Diocesan School Assembly.
https://www.youtube.com/ then just type ‘The Diocese of Oxford’ into the search box, and the School Assembly should be easily found.
I hope you all have a positive and productive day .
15th May
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
I can't quite believe another week has gone by, which makes it time, once again, to celebrate the fantastic work which has been received this week. The assembly and certificates will be available later this morning!
A definite highlight for me this week has got to be the pictures of our friends in Chennai taking part in the Key Stage 1 Paper Dolls writing project. This photograph makes me realise how lucky we are to still be able to link up with friends and loved ones, albeit via technology; lock down would have been a very different experience without the internet!
You will be receiving a letter today about the partial re-opening of school. The main message of which is that we want as many children as possible to be in school as soon as possible; we exist as a school to educate your children and we are missing them terribly. We do, however, take very seriously our responsibility to keep your children safe, and to ensure that our staff can be confident to come to work knowing that we are not putting them at undue risk during this time of crisis. I will keep you updated as these plans are developed but please do get in touch if you have any questions in the meantime.
Teachers are busy planning the next theme which will be available on the website by tomorrow afternoon, so that you can plan your week ahead.
Finally, well done to Oscar and Mrs White for your fabulous wolf drawings and to Mr Mills for judging the KS2 competition.
Have a great day... enjoy the weekend when it arrives.... stay safe and stay alert!
Celebration Friday - new assembly just uploaded!
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits together that overwhelm the world.” – Desmond Tutu
I wanted, on this celebration Friday, to not only say another HUGE well done for all the amazing work that has been sent through, but to offer an enormous thank you to the Blewbury School team for the tremendous work they have been doing (behind the scenes) over the past six or so weeks, under some very difficult circumstances.
At a moment’s notice they have all been required to change just about everything in their working environment and live through something that no other educators have ever had to (at least in this country). No-one has the blueprint for this!
I am proud that the Blewbury School team have done this (as always) with enthusiasm, positivity and a determination to support every child. Not only has there been a huge amount of work put in to providing engaging learning on the website but the team have also been: planning ahead to ensure transition back in to school (or on to secondary) is smooth and any gaps in learning are quickly addressed; continuing to write the new inspiring whole school curriculum, and attend training courses; delivering food and resources to families; keeping in contact with children and families; and then supporting each other. Many of whom are then home schooling their own young children and looking after families.
We have all been thrown into such extraordinary times – I just wanted the staff to know that I feel privileged and proud to work within such an awesome team!
Soon we will need to start thinking about what reopening the school to more pupils might look like, depending on the guidance and rules provided. We expect to have more indications of government intention over the next week or so. Although we want more than anything for the school to be filled with learning and the laughter of children as soon as it is safe to do so, I also wanted to reassure you that this will only happen when we are satisfied that we have fully assessed the risks and put mitigations in place to ensure all the staff and children are safe, happy and able to work and learn effectively.
Until then, we will carry on supporting you with home learning as best as we can!
I hope you all get an opportunity to relax over this long weekend!
Stay safe
1st May
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Well done to every one for all your hard work this week.
The celebration assembly has been filmed; head across to the celebration page and find out who has been awarded a certificate this week.
Changes to daily maths lessons from Monday 4th May
White Rose will be working in partnership with BBCBitesize to provide daily maths lessons from Monday 4th May.
There will still be a link on the Key Stage pages to a daily lesson, but instead of the link taking you through to White Rose pages such as the one below:
You will be taken to the BBCBitesize maths learning page for your child's year group, which will look like this.
When you click on the lesson, there will still be a daily video to support learning, and the supporting activities/worksheets will be found further down the page.
If you need any help or support with this new format then please don't hesitate to contact one of us.
The new theme for the next fortnight will be animals. The new activities will be available on the Key Stage 1 and 2 pages from tomorrow afternoon.
Have a great Friday!
30th April
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
What to look out for on the website:
Professor Varvil's video over on the Key Stage 2 page is absolutely fantastic and well worth a watch.
Mrs Hinchliffe has set a photography challenge over on the weekly challenge page and can't wait to receive everyone's entries - grown ups are welcome to take part too!
Mr Brabin has just announced the new text for the Key Stage 2 book club - There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom by Louis Sachar. Book club has been such a huge success, it would be great if even more children joined this time.
Enjoy your day - I really can't believe it is the end of April already!
27th April
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Good morning - I hope you all had a lovely weekend.
This is the second week of the Light and Shadows theme. Whilst the majority of the tasks will remain the same, there are a couple of updates:
Key Stage 2 now have a new writing task. Last week they were writing explanations about how shadows are formed, and this week their task is to write a fact file about a prominent scientist in the field of light, such as, Thomas Edison.
Key Stage 1 teachers have added several new videos to support the White Rose planning.
Resources for this week's tasks will be printed out and added to the resource bank. Please let us know if you need anything else.
Have a great day!
Celebration Friday
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
On behalf of us all, I wanted to say a huge thank you for the great job you are doing with home schooling. There has been some absolutely amazing work produced this week! Well done everyone.
Today, over on the celebration page, why not join us for an assembly to find out who has been awarded certificates this week. If you are mentioned in assembly you will also find a certificate to download and print off.
I would like a special thank you to go to Georgina in Goldsworthy class who sent a fabulous video in of her reading the story of the Lost Sheep - you brightened up my day - it was lovely! Well done!
Have a fabulous Friday and do let us know if you need any print outs for next week. We will be delivering these on Monday so that you have exactly what you need ready for the week ahead.
Feeling inspired by Captain Tom Moore's 100 lap £18 million fundraiser?
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
£18 million fundraiser?
Well here's something everyone can join in ...alongside thousands of others, the nationwide 2.6 Challenge mass participation fundraiser...
The 2.6 challenge is a nationwide campaign,launched to help charities plug an expected £4bn income shortfall due to COVID-19.
Launching on Sunday 26 April when the London Marathon was due to take place, it aims to get you to come up with your own sponsored activities to make up for this lost income.
But don’t panic ... you don’t have to run a marathon!
Just think of your own activity based around the numbers 2.6 or 26 (the length in miles of a marathon). And anything goes, perhaps you could whirl a hoola hoop or complete 26 circuits around your garden - for inspiration watch Kerry's video on the KS2 page.
Or test yourself with a sponsored 2.6 mile walk or run; 26 sit-ups, a 26-person workout via Zoom; lifting some 2.6kg weights, sweeping the kitchen floor 26 times...you choose!
This is a marvelous opportunity to be part of something really big. Get active, have fun, and raise money to help charities.
You can donate now via the 2.6 challenge website.
Simply select the Batemans Trust, or another listed charity, as your nominated charity and it will direct you to their just giving pages.
22nd April
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Well done to Ben Daley, Ronnie and Elsie who were chosen as the winners of last week's Lego challenge and to Lexi for her superb 101 Dalmatians cake (and video) in the Easter holiday baking competition.
This week there is an emjoi quizz challenge - more details on the Weekly challenge page.
A couple of updates about the learning pages:
Following feedback, we have prepared a 'Parents guide to teaching Phonics' which will be added to the phonics page later today. This is well worth a read if your child is in Reception or Year 1.
Mrs Clark has added some online safety activity packs; these can be found under the Key Information tab. Each pack contains short 15 minute activities that you can do with your child to raise awareness about online safety.
If you require print outs or resources to support any of the activities, then please email office.3248@blewbury.oxon.sch.uk and we will arrange getting these safely to you. There is also the resource bank set up - please do help yourselves.
Have a great day!
21st April
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Good Morning,
Hopefully you remember us sharing our new school vision statement with you a while back, which is :
We believe that every child and adult shines with their own unique light. Everyone has special talents which we nurture so that we are all the best that we can be- flourishing and excelling in everything that we do as individuals and as a community.
Yesterday, Margot (a year 5 pupil in Banksy Class) emailed me this lovely painting, which reminded me about just how resilient children can be during difficult times.
(Covid may put us down but NOTHING will stop us shining our lights!)
Margot is absolutely right, we can all still shine brightly during this challenging time, yet some of you are homeschooling 4 different age groups, some are running businesses or working from home whilst trying to get your head round what a fronted adverbial is, so please do remember that IT IS ALSO OK NOT TO BE OK! These are difficult times; there will be days where you and your children feel bright and sparkly and there will also be days where you may feel stressed out, anxious or upset because you are stuck indoors or missing loved ones. This is completely normal under the circumstances which is why we have chosen not to put any additional pressure on you to complete a set amount of learning by a particular date. The NHS have also launched a Coronavirus Wellbeing page for anyone that has worries or wants some tips on working from home. You can find this advice here.
We recognise that each family is different; we value the learning that can come from cooking or gardening together, and we know that on some days getting up and going for a walk is an achievement. However, if you are opting for a more structured approach to homeschooling, hopefully the new format on the website will support you with this. We received some feedback yesterday, and have made various tweaks in response, so please do let us know if you find anything difficult to access or understand as we are here to help.
Finally, for a bit of fun, Mrs Davda has set a new weekly challenge. If your child wants a bit of fun creating an emoji quizz for the staff and children to try and solve, then head over to the Weekly Challenge page for more information. A huge well done to all those children who baked a story for Mrs Jacob or completed the lego challenge that Mrs Gregory set - there have been some amazing entries.
Have a great day!
20th April - Term 5
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
The staff have been working hard to plan home learning for the next fortnight and the website is now updated to reflect this. The theme for the whole school is light and shadows and the activities have been designed to be used in either a very structured home-schooling way or in a more creative ‘dip in and out’ way. We recognise how difficult this time must be, and the additional challenges that home schooling brings, so we are here to support you in any way that we can.
Home learning activities are now split in to two key zones on the website - Reception/KS1 zone for children in DaVinci and Goldsworthy, and Key Stage 2 zone for the children in Picasso, Klimt and Banksy.
Each zone will provide learning activities in the following subject areas:
Phonic/Spellings, Reading, Writing, Maths - These are the core subject areas. If you are choosing a more structured home learning approach, then we recommend your child completes one activity from each of these areas every day.
Science, Creative, Physical/Mental - There are a selection of creative, interactive and physical tasks; we would recommend your child completes as many as possible over the next two weeks. Let them choose the activities that interest them linked to the theme of light and shadow. This is an opportunity for them to enrich their learning about light and shadows through a range of curriculum subjects. If your family are opting for a less structured home-schooling approach, this section will support you with a range of hands on creative learning ideas.
If you are wanting a more structured approach, the following suggested timings might be useful.
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The key here is to make it a routine – not a schedule. Be flexible, but with boundaries. That means getting up at the same times and having things that you do in a regular order…it doesn’t mean timing every second of the day with military precision! Make the routine visual, factor in free time without screens and when your child is doing schoolwork, do some of your own work/jobs/chores alongside them if this is possible. The timings are just suggestions. Every child and every family is different.
At the end of the fortnight, there will be a new whole school theme and the activities will be update to reflect this but the structure and format of the website will remain the same.
Please remember that however little or however much home learning your child completes, what really matters is that we get through these strange times together and support each other wherever we can. If you need any further support or resources just email or phone (07387722876). We will also be posting regular tips and updates here on the Updates Blog and on the individual class blogs so keep checking these. Good luck and I hope you enjoy the first day of Term 5.
16th April
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Hopefully you have all managed to find some time to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather over the Easter weekend.
As we come to the beginning of a new term, albeit in very unusual circumstances, we wanted to inform you about some of the updates to the website that we have been preparing over the past few weeks. We hope that these changes will further support home schooling and will provide more structure and clarity to the learning expectations for each year group.
As we have said before, how your children feel during this difficult time will stay with them long after the memory of the work they have completed, so please do as much or as little to suit your family circumstances, and please feel under no pressure to complete a set amount. However, if possible, we would recommend that your child completes at least some of the core activities as these have been carefully planned to ensure consolidation and application of prior learning.
Updates to the website
To provide more clarity, the website will soon be split into two main learning zones – Reception/Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. These zones will provide lessons and activities planned around a fortnightly theme. Any resources or links to lessons will be easily accessible from one main page.
We will also continue with a weekly challenge.
Please continue to send work to class teachers who will respond directly, and a selection of work will be added to the website.
We want the new format to be available to you from the start of term on Monday so will endeavor for it to go live by Saturday afternoon at the latest; giving you the opportunity to look through the new resources before Monday and ask any questions that may arise.
Finally, we have had a number of requests to offer a zoom session so that classes can interact with one another. This is something we have been looking in to however, a number of schools using live streaming have encountered zoombombing, or similar, where calls have been disrupted with inappropriate images and threatening language. Whilst teachers would love more than anything to talk to their classes directly, we need to ensure all children are fully safeguarded. As soon as we find a robust means of live streaming we may add this to our plan, but until then we will be using a selection of pre-recorded sessions, and the children are still able to interact with their teachers and friends via the class blogs.
We continue to be here to support learning in any way that we can, so please don’t hesitate to contact us by email or phone 07387722876.
Book club, baking and Easter garden designs!
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Good morning,
It's great to see so many children joining in with Mr Brabin's book club over on the reading page. It's not too late to join - amazon have a kindle addition of The Legend of Podkin One-Ear for just 98p!
Mrs Jacob has also added some exciting activities for the holidays. Have a look on the weekly challenge and creative tabs for more information. There's a baking challenge and ideas for designing and making an Easter garden.
Staff are busy planning the curriculum for next term; details of which will follow next week.
Have a lovely day!
The Legend of Podkin One-Ear
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Key Stage 2 book club starts today. Read chapter one before 1pm, if you can, and then meet Mr Brabin on the reading page for further instructions!
Have fun!
6th April
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Want to keep up the daily routine over Easter? No problem! We’ll be adding the usual links to lessons over the next two weeks so you don’t miss out.
But don’t worry if you’re taking a break! From 20th April there will be a new series of engaging lessons posted, so that we can all begin the new term together.
Remember we are here throughout the holidays if you have any questions or need additional resources. Email or phone 07387722876.
Enjoy the sunshine!
3rd April
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
‘When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.’ (John F. Kennedy)
Good morning,
If like me your week is starting to feel a bit like this 
Congratulations to the winners, and runners up, of the Eggs-travagansa competition - prizes will be making their way to you in some form over the next week! Some cracking entries!
I have also received the nominations for this week's certificates so keep an eye out on the celebration page this afternoon.
As promised, for every 50 pieces of work received we will post a video for the children to help keep the motivation going. Mrs Clark's exercise video is going to be a hard one to beat, but we have been trying. We need just 13 more pieces of work...
Have a fabulous Friday, and please remember, we are here to help so do get in touch if you need anything.
2nd April
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Good Morning
Today is the day we have all been waiting for...the day The Great Blewbury Eggs-travagansa winners are announced. Good luck to everyone who entered and thank you to Father Jason for judging the competition.
We continue to be really impressed by the amount of work the children are producing however, a few parents have been in touch to say that they are running short of paper, or they have been unable to print the packs from the website. If there are any resources you need, then please email becky_cost@blewbury.oxon.sch.uk or office.3248@blewbury.oxon.sch.uk - including your address- and we will get them to you.
Have a great day, and remember to look on the weekly challenge page to join in with the 'creative ways to use an empty milk carton' challenge set by Mrs Gregory.
. 
1st April
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Good morning,
You may have noticed a new page on the website this week - Autism Awareness. It’s so incredibly important that children learn about autism so they can better understand their classmates. We had planned a week full of assemblies and activities to celebrate neurodiversity within Blewbury School, and for obvious reasons have had to rethink, but you can still get involved thanks to Charlotte Houlihan ( Hugo and Daisy's mum). Charlotte has come up with some really creative ways to explore Autism/neurodiversity. Why not try out one of the ideas on the page over the next couple of days and send through your photos.
Also...after weeks of build up, Father Jason will be choosing the winner of The Great Blewbury EGGS-travagansa at 12noon today. There have been some absolutely fantastic entries so well worth a look if you haven't already.
Have a wonderful Wednesday and watch out for all those practical jokes and hoaxes today...!
31st March
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Have you had a chance to look at the EGGS-travagansa entries yet? Some absolutely fantastic ideas so far- we are all very impressed. Father Jason is going to have a difficult time choosing a winner! Staff also found it really difficult nominating certificates under these challenging circumstances where you all deserve one just for surviving the week, however we wanted to keep this routine going to add a touch or normality during these strange times, and to hopefully keep the motivation going.
To also help with motivation we are trying to add something new to the website every few days. Today you will find a couple of new challenges - 'The most creative way to use an empty milk carton' and 'Design a crazy golf course'... head over to the weekly challenge page and the physical activities page for more details.
Also remember there are daily reading, writing and maths activities for the different age groups and individual work has been set for every child on education city. The new class pages also now contain blogs so that your children can talk directly to their classmates and teachers.
If you need anything else, please email teachers directly or phone 07387722876 and we will be more than happy to help.
Have a terrific Tuesday!
30th March
Becky Costello (beckyco) on: Updates
Good morning,
We have been so impressed by all the work received that we've decided to adapt the website slightly to ensure there is room to celebrate every piece!
Changes to look out for from today...
Each class will have a celebration page and blog by the end of toady - please encourage your child to check in daily.
Certificates for last week's work are being written as I type and will be published shortly.
Mr Brabin has invited Key Stage 2 children to join a book club! For more details head over to Mr Brabin's video on the reading page - it sounds really exciting. Also on the reading page, Mrs Jacob and Mrs Gregory have been busy turning phonics books in to PowerPoints for children in Key Stage 1 to read.
EGGS-travagansa now has its own page too. There have been some egg-cellent entires so far - well done everybody who has already taken part. There is still time to do one if you want to - I'm still working on mine! If you can't get hold of an egg, you could use a golf ball, a ping pong ball or a ball of play dough instead. Father Jason will be judging the entries for us. He's very egg-cited. Winners will be announced on 2nd April.
Hope you have a great day.
Stay safe and please keep in touch.
Happy News... A new arrival for Evie, Kian and Jai. Welcome to this crazy world baby alpaca!
HAPPY EASTER