Dear Parents/ Carers,

The beginning of term was only two and a half weeks ago, but it seems so much longer than that. In the chaos of early January I forgot to tell you all some fantastic news! Miss Forrest got married and is now called Mrs Marakova. Mrs Marakova is a brilliant teacher, currently in 2F, and I'm sure you would like to join me in passing on our congratulations to her.

I want to also thank you all for supporting your children so brilliantly with their home learning. I have been working from home for most of this week, supporting my family with the change to home learning, and I know first hand how challenging it can be to keep children motivated and on task- not to mention dealing with the technical glitches that can happen just at the moment they need to log into a Teams meeting! It's hard enough to do that full time, but some of you, like me, are trying to fit that around your own work too. It's a difficult time for all of us, and I want to encourage you that if your children are engaging in the lessons- whether that is on or off-line, then you are doing a great job.

I always say this- and it's really true: The most valuable thing you can do for your child, is to read to them and with them. Whether your child is 3 or 11, reading with them is the key to success. Talk about what is happening in the story, talk about the difficult words that you find, practise using phonics, guess what might happen next. If you're not sure, have a look at this page on our website: https://www.st-johns-pri.bham.sch.uk/reading-2/

I hope that you are all managing in these difficult times. If we can help you, please do get in touch with us:

Email: enquiry@st-johns-pri.bham.sch.uk

Telephone: 6751469

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/St-Johns-CE-Primary-School-B11-104884978246132

Take care.

Best wishes,

Mrs Seymour