LIKE all schools across the country, at Livingstone Primary we have been delighted to welcome back all our pupils since September so the Livingstone family is together once again.
However, the school day is now very different. Children are part of a class bubble in which they remain throughout the day, with staggered start and finish times, play times and lunchtimes and allocated playground zones ensuring that bubbles do not mix.
Some children eat in classrooms so the use of communal spaces is minimised and all areas of school are regularly cleaned and sanitised.
Children have returned to school happy and excited to carry on with learning. We have been pleased that any gaps in learning do not seem to be as bad as we feared following lockdown and children are already making good progress in lessons.
We hold a regular Zoom assembly where all classes participate while remaining in their bubbles.
The children enjoy this opportunity to be part of the larger school, see their friends and siblings from other classes through the interactive white board, and wave and smile at each other. We also award a ‘Star of the Week’ for each class and this chance to celebrate achievements as a school is highly valued.
Although there are lots of new procedures the classes are having to abide by due to Covid-19, and this has brought challenges for us all, the children are happy and enjoying learning again.
The curriculum continues to be varied and interesting and children are engaged and active in their learning. For example, Year 3 have just participated in a virtual Spanish day which they thoroughly enjoyed and sessions on our Forest School site in our grounds are delivered every week with Nursery, Reception and Year 1.
When we came back in September, we launched our revised curriculum which we planned in detail prior to lockdown. This is now arranged across the school year through ‘umbrella themes’ which link topics across year groups into broad themes.
For example, ‘Time Travellers’ classes will learn about subjects such as the Great Fire of London, the Stone Age, the Norman Conquest and the Victorian age. These themes are launched via an assembly where children are introduced to their new topic area, and share previous learning between classes.
We believe this will support children to make links between their learning in previous years and look forward to their learning in future years.