Dear Parents and Carers,

Half term is here! Time for a breather and a pause to home learning activities. There will be no further activities set for the next week, so I hope everybody has a lovely half term break. May the sun shine and may your barbecue sizzle!

Over the last few months we have been hosting Clemence, a young French lady on an internship as part of the project / link between Briec in Brittany and Ruthin. Not only was she an invaluable asset to Rhos Street in the weeks before school shut for mainstream pupils, but she has also been a godsent to the Childcare Hub and has attended every day, supporting the children of Key Workers. It will be such a shame to lose her, but we wish her well and I’m sure a bright future in the French education system awaits. Au revoir!

The Betsi Cadwaladr health board have sent a certificate template for our pupils, recognizing them for staying home, for being brave and for being little superheroes! Please print them off, pop their names on the certificate and send us / tweet us a photo of them proudly holding it, so I can share it. It’s lovely to get to see pictures of the pupils as we miss them so much! The template can be found on Twitter, and has been emailed to the mailing list.

Huge thanks to all of you for your efforts over the last few weeks. A lot has been achieved and I’m very pleased with the development of Google Classroom as a teaching platform. I look forward to seeing it develop further after the half term break. Please keep sending in your tweets and photos of your activities, be they educational or leisure. As we try to bridge the gulf between us, it is a lovely way to stay in touch.

Education Minister, Kirsty Williams has been very clear in saying that any news regarding the roadmap to reopening schools will come directly from her, so if you give her a follow on twitter, you will be among the first to know. As it stands, there is no date set, so we continue to wait for the details.

Have a wonderful Bank Holiday.

Yours sincerely,

Bryn D. Jones, Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

One thing that is very clear from our recent experiences, is that the ICT skills of our pupils, parents and staff have been very much tested over the last few weeks. Speaking personally, I’ve learned so much about online platforms, video conferencing and collaborative networking, so I can strongly argue that many of us have been taken out of our comfort zone and despite the circumstances, sometimes that’s not a bad thing. We held a Governors’ meeting this week, via Microsoft Teams online and it was great to be able to discuss the many ongoing issues that schools face at this current time with them all. Another new experience!

I’m extremely indebted to the school staff for their efforts over the last few weeks. I have asked much of them, as they’ve developed their skills in using Google Classroom from a standing start and have successfully managed to engage so many of our pupils through this platform and despite the unconventional nature of its introduction, it has been brilliant professional development for them. Google Classroom will also be a fabulous teaching tool when we return to school, with staff and pupils having had a significant amount of experience using it. One thing this crisis will have done, is develop digital competency skills all round!

I’m sure you’ll appreciate, it will not have been easy for school staff, as they’ve been encountering many of the problems you will have experienced at home. Many of our staff have children of their own and have had to juggle their home learning, as well as that of their own pupils’, while sharing temperamental equipment and juggling responsibilities with partners who are also working from home in their own professions. Everybody has pulled together in such a positive way. On top of this, we’ve had a number of our staff volunteering in the Ruthin Hub, providing vital childcare to pupils of Key Workers in tandem with staff from other schools. Their valuable contributions are very much appreciated.

There’s been an increasing amount of talk in the media about schools reopening and sadly it’s now becoming more and more of a political football to be kicked about, despite the fact that strictly speaking, Rhos Street like many of our schools, hasn’t even closed due to its repurposing as a childcare hub. The debate of course, centres around the return of mainstream pupils and I wish more than anything, that there was a switch we could flip and return to normal. For those of us in good health, we can embrace returning with more confidence, knowing that the virus should not affect us adversely, were we to contract it. However, we must think beyond ourselves and consider carefully and plan meticulously for only opening our doors if we feel that the most vulnerable, most at risk person in the school community would be totally safe if we did. I look forward to seeing the proposals and guidance from Welsh Government, which I believe are imminent and I’m sure everybody will work together on a realistic timeline, to see a safe return to school for some of our pupils, their families and my staff, whenever that may be.

Once again, may I remind you all that we are here to support in any way we can. If you’re struggling, please reach out. If you need advice, please get in touch. Please continue to look after yourselves and say a hello from me to your children please. I speak for all of my staff in saying that we’re missing them very much.

I’m hopeful we’re seeing some light at the end of the tunnel now, so please; stay safe, stay at home, stay strong and dare I say it, stay alert!!

Yours sincerely / Yn gywir,

Bryn D. Jones, Headteacher / Pennaeth

Dear Parents and Carers,

With the VE Day Bank Holiday taking place, it seems ever more a shame that school remains closed, denying us the chance to provide some really rich opportunities for our pupils this week, to remember the end of the Second World War. I am sure however, that you will all find a way to recognise this anniversary and I’m aware that some tasks have been set by our teachers along these lines.

We reach the end of another week and await a roadmap from the UK Government, in respect of the relaxation of measures put in place to keep us all and particularly the most vulnerable around us, safe. While those of us in education currently remain in the dark as much as everybody else, we of course are considering carefully the best means of managing the transition back to normality safely, putting the wellbeing of all first and foremost. There is a lot of conflicting evidence out there and we all know it’s easy to pick and choose which evidence is valid, but despite indications that young children are less susceptible to Covid-19, serious considerations need to made on how to protect the large amount of families we have with vulnerabilities in the household, the large amount of staff with vulnerabilities around them and make sure we protect everybody in the school community, children and adults alike. I am very hopeful that those making the decisions in Wales about the transition period will be mindful of these factors. Nothing would please me more, than being able to open the doors of the school to all pupils again, but we all want it done as safely as possible.

I also wanted to pass on my thanks once again to you all for the efforts you’re making to support your children with home learning. I mentioned wellbeing above and it continues to be a great comfort to me in these times that our pupils remain safe, happy and well. We remain extremely eager to support you in any way, but I am very grateful for everything you are trying to do through your engagement with the distance learning. I’m enjoying seeing the enthusiasm in the comments on Google Classroom and am heartened that, while this kind of learning will never be the same as being in school, our pupils will return buoyed by your efforts and we will be able to pick up the baton of their schooling and continue their educational journey with little disruption.

Something that will no doubt lift the spirits of everybody, is the message posted to Twitter from one of our old pupils; ex-Swansea, and current Aston Villa footballer, Welsh international, Euro 2016 semi-finalist and local hero, Neil Taylor. He gives our pupils some great advice and I’m really grateful to him for taking the time to send a message. Huge thanks to Will Jones, another ex-pupil and current parent for sorting it all.

Another bright spot this week, was the news that Maya had won third place in an art competition run by local chartered accountants Hill & Roberts. Well done to her!

Mia-Rose has been making some rainbow candles and would like to sell them to help raise money for the NHS. She is asking for a minimum donation of £2.50 per candle. If anyone would like one, please get in touch and I’ll pass you onto mum!

Enjoy the bank holiday weekend and please continue to stay safe.

Yours sincerely,

Headteacher, Pennaeth

Dear Parents and Carers,

May is here, although I’m sure you’ll agree, current circumstances make knowing what time it is, what day it is and indeed what month it is less of a priority! I can confirm it is Friday though, hence this newsletter and the weekend awaits, with no need to log into Google Classroom for a couple of days!

Many of you will be aware that we have been contacting our families this week, to check how you are, to offer support to you in being able to deliver our home learning activities and to see if there’s any other way we can be of assistance. We want to be able to give you any guidance you need to overcome any difficulties you may have faced, whatever they may be. Having spoken to many of you myself and also gained feedback from the other teachers, we are extremely reassured that our pupils are happy, safe and well, if a little bored and dare I say it, missing school! It’s a relief, knowing their wellbeing is really good because we then know it also puts them in a good place to approach their home learning with enthusiasm (although I acknowledge that many may need a nudge to do so, as they would if they were here in school, which is where your efforts are much appreciated!) Not all phone calls have been made as yet, so bear with us. We will hopefully have reached out to everybody by the end of Monday.

It was also a relief to hear directly and also through feedback from my staff, your gratitude for the efforts we are making to facilitate positive learning experiences for our pupils, despite the obvious constraints and challenges on many levels. We are doing our best and are constantly learning ourselves. Your resilience and positivity as parents and indeed pupils, to overcome the barriers that have been put between us are heart warming and I appeal to all of you to keep going, do your best and above all keep smiling. Distance may well have been put between us in the partial lockdown we experience, but from the phone calls I made, I got a sense of community existing between our pupils be it via Facetime, WhatsApp or indeed on the X-Box! I’ve also seen it myself on Google Classroom this week and it is a delight to see this resource develop and blossom in its use and its potential. Throughout the school, it is a perfect platform for direct communication between teachers and pupils. Pupils are able to comment and that link through their work and the interactions between them is something really positive. If you are still encountering difficulties logging onto Google Classroom, please let me know and I will phone you to try and walk you through the steps of enrolling. If you have any ICT problems and we can help in any way then please let me know and I’ll see if we can assist.

Once again, we met as a staff this week in a virtual online meeting (which remains an interesting experience!) and discussed Google Classroom at length. We agreed going forward, that we want Google Classroom throughout the school to be the focal point of the pupils’ home learning experience from now on. From there, activities can be set by teachers, feedback given and positive interaction between teacher and pupil can take place. It is also a way that pupils’ learning can develop more independence, putting less pressure on you as parents to be directing the home learning. Pupils can get on with tasks, needing less input and intervention by yourselves, which I’m sure you’ll agree can only be a good thing! It is not without its problems, so please remain patient as staff are also developing their expertise in setting tasks. When pupils have finished their work on Google Classroom, if they want, they can go on to their activities on other platforms like Purple Mash, Manga High and so on. This then gives you the opportunity to manage the time spent doing the home learning yourselves and make it work for you better. As I said in my twitter post yesterday, please keep in touch as we’re here to help!

There are also some other snippets and news I’d like to share with you.

Firstly, young Daniel Roberts in Year 2 came a cropper off his bike, fell heavily and had to undergo an operation to manipulate both the radius and ulna in his arm. That’s a proper injury – I saw the pictures! I’m pleased to say he is on the mend and home with his family. I am sure I speak for us all in hoping his recovery is quick!

We have some good news to share, because Luna and Mollie in Nursery now have a baby brother each. We extend our congratulations to the families.

Betsy Cadwaladr Health Board are providing free online courses for parents, called the Solihull Approach. They come highly recommended and I have provided the information you need, as an attachment to the email which is also to be found on the twitter feed.

Have a good weekend and please continue to stay safe.

As ever, my best wishes to you.

Yours sincerely,

Bryn D. Jones
Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

We’ve reached the end of the first week of the Summer term and it provides me with another opportunity to update you regarding the resources available for home schooling. Last week, I refreshed the information I wanted to share with you in terms of the online resources, which my teaching staff and I are eager for you to support your child in accessing regularly. As the lockdown period lengthens, this becomes ever more important in order to ensure the transition between this period and their return to school happens as smoothly as possible. Like I’ve said previously many times, the challenge is maintaining the balance for all concened in the household!

This week we have rolled out Google Classroom to all classes from Reception up to Year 6 (Reception added as of today). This is an really innovative resource, which allows teachers to interact regularly with their pupils by setting work, giving feedback and then allowing the child to respond to that feedback. Unfortunately, we still are missing quite a few pupils from each respective class. I understand enrolment is not straightforward, but I’d be grateful if you could inform me if you are experiencing log-in problems, so that I can try to address them with you. If you are experiencing difficulties, please follow the steps in my email on Tuesday. Additionally, it may be useful for you first of all check that you are not logged into any other Google account on Google Chrome and that you are logged into Google correctly, via your child’s Hwb log-in and password. This is very important in order to be set up correctly. Here is a link to a video we’ve made that may be of use in overcoming problems. https://twitter.com/rhosstreet/status/1253606372937211905?s=20

Here are the codes for each class. Please ensure that your child is enrolled by Monday, so that he or she can start following the activities.
All characters are lower case letters or numbers:
Reception: xglni3k
Year 1: lcllwvt (lower case L)
Year 2: hkkfzd4
Year 3: 6hs6xn5
Year 4: boyhoru
Year 5: 67sehet
Year 6: vzght6y

Please see the information below the newsletter, regarding the agreed protocols for staff, pupils and parents that I’d be grateful could be followed.

Other resources shared this week in addition to those in last week’s newsletter include a COVID-19 time capsule document, which seems to have been well received, as well as some great resources put together by Chester FC, for Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2 respectively. All these resources are attached to the email sent home today. Also, on our Twitter feed you can see links to a competition run by North East Wales Archives for the best ‘Letter to Future Children’ written by school-age pupils living in Denbighshire & Flintshire. In addition to this on Twitter, Freya’s mascot ‘Scooch the Pooch’ has been shortlisted in a competition poll best Mascot for the Welsh Schools FA, so please pop along to our Twitter feed to vote for her entry.

Please continue to share on twitter and please continue to liaise with me directly by email if you have any need for support, advice or want to share something.

Have a great weekend! May the sun continue shining and may you all be safe, well, happy and in good health.

Yours sincerely,

Bryn D. Jones
Headteacher

Google Classroom Protocols
Staff
• To regularly monitor the classroom comments
• To set work regularly
• To mark work, respond and guide appropriately.

Pupils
• To remember Internet Safety rules
• To not post silly inappropriate comments
• To only comment under the guidance of the teacher’s instructions
• To complete the work according to the instructions given and on time according to deadlines set
• To respond to any suggestions given by the teacher in his/her feedback.

Parents
• To appreciate that this is a forum for pupils not for them
• As comments are viewable to everybody, any parental concerns / questions should not be aired via this forum, rather by email to BDJ
• To support their child in completing activities as instructed by teachers and on time.

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you’re all continuing to cope with the situation in which we find ourselves, are keeping safe and have been enjoying the lovely weather over the last few days, while exercising social distancing protocols of course!

We’ve now nearly reached the end of the Easter break and you’ll be aware that the current arrangements for lockdown have been extended by at least another three weeks. This means that school remains closed other than for Key Worker childcare purposes, so I continue to appeal for your support in ensuring that the pupils access the range of home learning resources that we have prepared for them.

Once again, I acknowledge that there are challenges for all families with regard to home learning. However, there is an expectation from my teaching staff and indeed from myself that pupils are committed to applying themselves to the tasks set by their teachers. The teaching staff are also committed to monitoring the work submitted, responding to it and ensuring that there are new tasks set on an ongoing basis.

May I appeal for your support in ensuring that time is set aside for them to log-in and focus on the activities in order to ensure that their ongoing progress can be interrupted as little as possible. This of course needs to balanced carefully with keeping everybody’s physical and mental wellbeing as a priority. Perhaps a timetable for the day could be planned that helps you manage your approach to this.

Once again, I will share with you below the bank of online resources which are available for your child to access in order to support their learning. For many of these online platforms a user name and password is required and these were shared before school closed.

I fully understand that the level of access to the resources below is dependent on the ICT equipment you have at home, but most of them should be accessible via laptops, chrome books, tablets and smartphones.

1. Google Classroom
We are trialling Google Classroom in Years 4 and 6 initially.
Unfortunately, the setting up of Google Classroom has proved problematic for some households. This is because machines are becoming confused with multiple Google accounts and multiple Hwb accounts’ details in the computer’s browsing history.
Messages like ‘Class Cannot Be Found’ are seen, even though the class is there and functioning.
In order to ensure that Google Classroom works correctly please make sure you have followed these steps:
• Press ctrl H
• Clear all browsing data
• Shut down Google Chrome
• Restart Google Chrome
• Log into Hwb with child’s user name and password
• Open Office 365 in Hwb to access emails
• Follow the link from the email invitation
• Log into Google Classroom using the Hwb user name and password
Hopefully, following these steps will ensure safe passage into Google Classroom.
I’d be grateful if you could support your child if they are in Year 4 or 6 in following the above, so they can join the online classroom.
We are in the process of setting up a Google Classroom for Years 2, 3 and 5 and I will provide information regarding this early next week.

2. Manga High – https://app.mangahigh.com/en-gb/login
This is a Maths based learning environment, which is structured according to the curriculum. There are many age appropriate resources, which pitch the difficulty of questions according to ongoing answers given by your child. Tasks will be set by each class teacher from Reception up to Year 6. Within each topic, there are ‘teach me’ features which help explain concepts and processes. This is a perfect tool for home learning and I highly recommend it.

3. TT Rockstars – https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student
This is another tool, familiar to the children which focuses on times-tables. Regular brief visits to this website is what I would recommend. This for the use of Year 2 – Year 6.

4. Purple Mash – https://www.purplemash.com/sch/rhosstreet
The pupils also have had plenty of experience using this online environment. On this website, teachers from Reception up to Year 6, will set a series of ‘to-dos’ which are activities and tasks for the children to complete tallying with their thematic or Science work. Within Purple Mash, there are also a whole range of resources across the curriculum, which they can access and choose activities themselves. There really is a wealth of material available here! Please ensure that when work is completed, that pupils click on the button ‘Save and Hand in’ in order to submit the work.

5. HwB – https://hwb.gov.wales/
The Hwb platform is a Welsh Government learning environment, which again gives access to a range of resources. On logging-in, you will see that there are endless possibilities for home learning and through Office 365, which is available via HwB, resources such as Word Online, Power Point, Excel and Sway are available for the pupils to access for any written work or presentations they may want to put together as part of project work (see point 6) and these save automatically onto their ‘one drive.’
Other resources include Just2Easy and the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
You can also install Minecraft for Education for free via the homepage.

6. Paper Based Project Work – Pupils in the Juniors, have also come home with a workbook for them to produce a project of their own choice inside. There are guidelines included at the front of the workbook, with a list of possible activities they can complete in relation to their chosen context. They can use online tools as well if they wish via Hwb and/or Purple Mash. As this will be open ended, pupil led work which will of course be overseen by yourselves, we appreciate that there may be a variety of approaches and that is fine. All I ask, is that the pupils are guided to stick to the success criteria, but otherwise make the activity work for them, their interests and their preferences.

7. Reading – Foundation Phase pupils have had a selection sent home. Junior children will be expected to access their own collection of books at home and to read as regularly as possible. It would be beneficial to provide opportunities for them to talk to you about what they have read. On Twitter, I have also signposted links to some free online reading resources.

8. Twitter – There has been a wealth of content shared online that pupils and parents can access. The danger of course, is that there is so much out there that it can become a little overwhelming. However, I have endeavoured to try and pick out highlights that I have spotted or had drawn to my attention by staff, to share on the school’s Twitter account @rhosstreet. I will continue to do this from Monday and hope that these ideas are used as an opportunity to keep things fresh in tandem with the above activities.

It has also been a pleasure to see so many of you share activities on Twitter with us and I know that other families and pupils have greatly appreciated being kept connected via these means. Please continue to send photos and news for me to share with everybody. It really does lift our spirits. You may have seen that a tweet about Alys’ ‘Bedtime Welsh’ activities has caught the attention of Carol Vordeman, so you never know who is watching out there!

I very much hope that the structure and framework provided above gives our pupils the opportunity to continue their learning in an effective way, through these challenging times. Any ongoing queries you have, can be emailed to myself and I’ll refer them to the appropriate staff member. bryn.jones@denbighshire.gov.uk
Please remember that the relationship between our school and the families of its pupils remains a partnership, even if the nature of that partnership has become very different of late. My staff and I remain here to support, advise and help in any way we can, so please do not hesitate to get in touch with me and I will do whatever I can to help, or ask somebody else (usually Mr Davis!) if they are better placed to do so.

Yours sincerely,

Bryn D. Jones
Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

In normal circumstances, I would be writing to you acknowledging the Easter break is upon us. While that fact remains true, we also all know that for the vast majority of pupils, school has now been closed for a fortnight. However, we also know that the site will continue to remain open over the Easter break, to provide emergency care for pupils with only Key Workers as carers in the household. These are strange paradoxical circumstances for strange times.

Now that the Local Authority has been able to gather a picture of the emergency provision needed across Denbighshire, the model of care is now shifting to a local hub as of Monday for the Easter break and beyond. The hub for the Ruthin area is to be housed here at Rhos Street along with Pen Barras. Parents and carers of the pupils who have been attending over the last fortnight have been requested to re-register for this provision and I have emailed all of those families with details.

If any further families meet the criteria of emergency care; that being that all carers in the household are Key Workers, have nobody to care for their child and need to access this emergency provision, then please urgently email me directly. I will provide you with a copy of the Local Authority’s letter that includes all the details you need in order to apply for a place. Please do not send your child to school, unless you have a confirmed place for this provision as the person in charge will not allow them to attend. The initial registrations made via the link I sent out when the school initially closed, are no longer valid. Once again, I appeal to you to stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.

We’ve reached the end of a second week of home learning and from the feedback I’ve received from teachers, it’s clear that some of you have engaged very enthusiastically with the range of materials, resources and activities that have been provided. Twitter has once again been a delight to keep an eye on from my point of view. We have now reached the Easter break, so where home learning is concerned, we will pause for a while, not set any new tasks, refrain from sharing new ideas and give everybody a much deserved break – pupils, staff and yes – parents! If pupils want to keep ticking along with their activities, that’s fine. After all, we’re all pretty restricted in terms of the range of things we can actually do! Please also feel free to continue to share on Twitter. In times of lockdown, this is such a positive way to keep connected. In two weeks, we will start afresh and rejoin this new and unpredictable journey that is home learning! This includes all the pupils, including the ones who haven’t yet engaged as much as they should! You know who you are kids and so do we! 

I would like to extend my gratitude to those staff members who have been in a position to come into school and care for the children. Their efforts do not go unappreciated and their contributions over the Easter break in supporting the childcare here at the Ruthin hub are crucial, as we try to support our Key Workers. Likewise, I’m grateful to the teaching staff for also supporting our learners from afar, setting and responding to pupils work. We will look at ways to develop the engagement further between teacher and pupil following the Easter break as we experiment with the potential of Google Classroom. I also want to thank Chair of Governors, Chris Johnson for his support and he has penned a message to the school community, which you will find overleaf.

I mentioned Google Classroom above and pupils in Years 4 and 6 have been set up to explore, interact and see what teachers have left for them. Google Classroom is accessible through Hwb and in their email inbox a link will take them to the resource. Follow the instructions in the email, but please ensure you are logged out of any other Google accounts on the device first, as the link will not work otherwise. I fully anticipate and expect there to be gremlins, but please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. Between myself and Mr Davis, we will try and iron out any problems with this issue or any other log-in problems you have with the other resources. As I’ve said many times, any, queries, problems or support you need – just email me and I’ll do my best to help you out or find somebody else that can.

I think it’s pretty clear by now that it will be a while before we are in a position to welcome everybody back to school and return to normal. This is especially sad for our Year 6 pupils who could well be denied many of the opportunities afforded to them in their final year here at Rhos Street. However, thanks to Jo Jones, Ffion’s mum, Leavers’ Hoodies are being organised and she would be grateful if any parents yet to contact her with their order, do so at their earliest convenience. I look forward to presenting them all with their hoodies whenever that may be.

We all have a challenging few weeks ahead of us. I can think of so many times in the past, when the school community has pulled together in an amazingly positive way. I have no doubt we can continue to support one another once again as we face these uncertain times.

Look after your loved ones. Stay at home, stay safe and stay strong.

Yours sincerely,

Bryn D. Jones
Headteacher

Dear Fellow Parents,

In these challenging times I am sure I will not be the only parent who finds it strange to see school so quiet, when it is usually such a vibrant and happy place. I have enjoyed seeing on Twitter all the different and imaginative ways everyone has been adapting to the change. To see so many smiling faces as our children respond to the new situation has been great. I also know that this isn’t an easy time for anyone, and accepting that sometimes the days are so difficult is often very hard. However, I am constantly reassured by everyone’s support and know that we are not alone. We will continue to support each other and the Rhos Street Community will come out the other side together.

With that in mind I would like to express my deep thanks to all the staff who continue to look after the children both in school and online. I would also like to thank Mr Jones for keeping our spirits up, and keeping us connected to the life of the school via Twitter.

As we head into the next few weeks where the Easter holidays were supposed to be (I am not sure what we call them now), I would like to wish everyone all the best. Stay home, and stay safe. We are in this together and will get through this together.

Best wishes

Chris Johnson
Chair of Governors