18th June 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

Firstly, we hope you are all keeping well in these strange times.  Now that it has been announced that other year groups will be unable to return before the summer holidays, we felt that having some face to face time with those classes would be beneficial both to connect the staff with the children and for the children to see each other too.  Having considered the options available, we have decided to hold some zoom meetings.  We know that this has been a really challenging time so the Zoom sessions will be focused on a fun activity e.g. sharing a story/quiz.  The zoom meeting will last 30 minutes.

We have considered carefully how to do these meetings so that they meet out safeguarding standards.  We have chosen therefore to use Zoom.  The safety settings of this app have been improved recently and we will also be putting other safety measures in place.

Safeguarding Measures:

* Two members of staff will run the meeting.

* There will be a virtual ‘waiting room’ where we can check a child’s identity before admitting them into the meeting. 

* All cameras must be switched on so that we can see the pupils – these must remain on for the whole meeting.

* Children must have their real name as their screen name otherwise they will not be admitted.

As a parent, by allowing your child to access the meeting, you are giving your consent for them to take part.   We also ask that you talk to your children about appropriate behaviour when online.

If you have not used Zoom before then you can download the Zoom app onto your phone and tablet or simply google it on your pc or laptop. Your device will need to have a camera and the microphone turned on.

What happens to access the meeting depends on whether you have a Zoom account or not, either situation will work. Initially, you will receive an invitation with the date and time of your allocated Zoom session.  You will receive your email link to the meeting by Friday 19th June.

• If you have an account, this email will include a link to click on. At the time of your session, you just click the link and your teacher can accept you into the Zoom session.
• If you do not have an account, you will not get a link ahead of time. Instead, at the time of your session, your teacher will email a meeting ID and password. You will then need to access Zoom on your device, click ‘Join a meeting’ and enter the ID and password. Your teacher can then accept you into the session.
• If you want to set up a Zoom account ahead of time, either install the app on a phone/tablet or download the program to a pc/laptop and ‘Sign Up’. It is free to do so.

Each year group will be having their meetings on the same day but at different times.  We have done this to reduce the possibility of sibling clashes in meeting times and days. There will be two meetings held before the end of the academic year – one in the WB22/06 and another in the WB06/07.

I know the teachers are looking forward to having this chance to connect with their class.

Kind Regards

Mrs Spooner