SNOW.
Here we go again…
Due to receiving close to 200 emails last year in a huge community effort of taking part in the St Peter’s Snow Day Challenge; I am loathed to say there will not be another set SNOW CHALLENGE from me this year.
Sad times.
However to remind you of the fun we all had, here are six of my favourite photos from the few days deluge of the white stuff.
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Now, do not get me wrong – I’m not wishing it upon us – believe me we have a lot of work to cover this term and can ill afford weather disruption on the tight schedule that we set for our curriculum. However with snow being threatened in many a weather report these last weeks I thought this article might be most timely.
Last year I was left wondering about any research that might have been carried out into the academic effect of extreme weather incidents such as the Beast from the East of 2018.
I wondered if it might put our children behind and be disadvantageous or actually boost their achievement?
I spotted this article written by By Matt Pickles, an interesting read and it did make me smile.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46871555
This extract might illustrate why I found it amusing:
‘The study examined seven years of school results data and could not find any impact from snow closures. What caused more disruption was when schools tried to stay open in bad weather, even though many staff and pupils were absent. But weather can make a difference to school results, according to another piece of Harvard research published last summer. It’s hot weather that has the negative impact. The results of 10 million school students were examined over 13 years and researchers found a “significant” link between years with sweltering weather and lower results.’
I don’t think we will panic about sweltering weather for a minute and likewise we can relax if extreme weather events do strike – your child’s progress will not dip with the temperature!
I am not being lazy by not setting a SNOW challenge this year (honest). In the event of extreme weather, we will be handing over the study opportunities to your child. Below are just some of the ways that your child can continue their learning at home independently.
| Educational Tool | Short Description |
 | Purple Mash: The all-in-one Edtech solution for schools. Embed computing and digital skills across the whole curriculum with award-winning teaching and learning software for KS1 and KS2. Pupils in Yr 1-6 have Purple Mash logins. |
 | Linguascope: Award winning language learning website. Easy instructions to follow for a number of different languages. Pupils in Yr 3-8 have logins. |
 | Abacus is packed full of features designed to help children achieve mastery in maths,these online tasks boost children’s mathematical fluency, and the use of consistent models throughout the programme to help children to visualise abstract problems. Pupils from Yr 1-6 have logins. |
 | MyMaths is an interactive online teaching and homework resource for all the UK National Curricula. It has been written and developed by experienced teachers for teaching, practising and assessing children’s maths fluency across the school. Each interactive lesson is matched with corresponding online homework to easily allocate homework, which helps teachers assess the impact of each lesson. Pupils from Yr 8 have logins. |
 | Typequick is the preferred keyboard training solution. It teaches many thousands of university, college and TAFE students how to touch type using ten fingers every year in Australia, Japan and all over the world. Ten finger touch typing is the essential skill that will ensure that they get ahead in today’s business world. Only individually identified children have access to these login details, but they are easy to set up if you require a log in. |
 | IDL has been proven to increase pupils’ reading and spelling ages. IDL uses sight, sound, touch, and voice to improve reading and spelling. Links are made between the visual, auditory and tactile pathways. IDL automatically generates a starting point for pupils based on their individual reading and spelling ability. The program can also meet individual visual needs – pupils can choose their own page background and text colours to make tracking and place finding easier, helping to combat visual stress. Only individually identified children have access to these login details, but they are easy to set up if you require a log in. |
 | Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D representation of Earth based on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and GIS data onto a 3D globe, allowing users to see cities and landscapes from various angles. All pupils can access this tool. |
 | Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, and Google Forms constitute a free, web-based office suite offered by Google and integrated with Google Drive. It allows users to create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online while collaborating in real-time with other users.Any pupils with an email address can access these tools. |
 | Google Classroom is a free web service developed by Google for schools that aim to simplify creating, distributing and grading assignments in a paperless way. Students can be invited to join a class through a private code, or automatically imported from a school domain. Teachers will use this tool a lot for Extreme Weather events so do check all your Google accounts. Any pupils with an email address can access these tools. |
So to our pupils; make sure you take your prep diaries and reading records home each evening because your login details are stored here. Make sure you keep your Library book and daily reading book refreshed so you always have a good book to get stuck into. AND lastly if you think you are missing some login information and not fully accessing these wonderful resources then ASK your tutor for support (that is BEFORE any extreme weather arrives).
If parents are in doubt of what to do in extreme weather then you can refer to our Extreme Weather policy here:
https://stpetersprep.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Extreme-Weather-Policy.pdf
L Ball
Deputy Head Teaching and Learning.
