Thank you

Thank you to all our children, parents, staff and supporters for your tremendous efforts over the last week or so as we have all been learning about digital resources to stay connected.

My simple message today is not to worry. You’re doing what you can do with your family in your space and using what is to hand. Everything you are doing is making a difference and supporting the children to do what they can.

Focus on happiness and success. Do what makes you and the children happy – read, listen and talk, sing, dance, draw…. Teachers and online providers are setting up takeaways but you don’t have to take everything. Take only the activities that work for your family. Please do not feel that you have to do everything that is suggested!

Stay in touch with a ‘hi’ on the Google classroom, an e-mail or a Hi5 reply to a Marvellous Me message. Children can send direct e-mails to teachers via their GMail on the Google classrooms. Parents, please send direct e-mails to stpeters@aberdeencity.gov.uk.

Listen to your child and do what interests them today. We will be catching up on the curriculum when we all get back to school.

Learning is not just taking place at the computer or on a table. Please involve children in household jobs and teach them the cooking, cleaning and organising skills that will help them all through their lives.

Thank you for making sure that the children are sleeping well and eating well.

This may be the time to do the things we never get time to do because we are busy rushing to school, work and activities. We’ve hit the ‘pause’ button and can share family stories, play games, enjoy favourite TV programmes or box sets

There are links to helpful sites here.

https://www.parentclub.scot/ has some fantastic links – talking to your kids about coronavirus, staying at home with children, tips for learning at home, working from home, coping with being a parent………

Have a look at https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/songs-and-rhymes to listen and sing along to Scottish rhymes.

Aberdeen City Council have set up a very helpful hub for children, parents and teachers – https://sites.google.com/ab-ed.org/digitallearninghub/home

Many children enjoy using Text Help Read&Write at school. It has facilities to translate text, read it aloud, highlight and move text around or look up a picture dictionary or thesaurus. Your child may enjoy showing you what they can do with it. It is FREE for home use on any device. Just download and sign-in with your ab-ed.org Google account to get started.

Our faith sustains us and, as we come into the last week of term and approach Holy Week, there will be activities suggested on the Google classroom to support this high point of the Church’s year.

Thank you for your kind messages and for the feedback you have been giving to teachers about what is most helpful. Keep healthy, keep washing hands, keep social distance, keep praying and keep in touch…….