Dear Parents

With thanks to my dear friend Luanne, a teacher in Ethiopia, for her wise words, I would like to share with you some thoughts:

Teachers and parents have all been thrown in at the deep end by the current situation. As teachers, last week we had to hustle to prepare authentic and relevant home learning tasks to cover the curriculum, whilst at the same time trying to teach classes and deal with the absence of almost half our teaching staff. We are open now only for the children whose parents are key workers needed on the front line.

My advice to parents worrying about home schooling is, first and foremost, relax – try not to stress – because it may become stressful. Your children may be scared by things they have seen or heard on TV and children won’t learn much if they are stressed.

Cuddle up together and read, read, read. Take turns reading. Do a puzzle. Build a fort. Bake. Set up a tent in your living room and camp out. Build a den. Look at photos of when you were a child and talk about what life was like then. Play board games. Paint. Garden. In other words, don’t fret about them forgetting everything they’ve learned at school – every child in the country is in the same boat and this will end.

This is a scary time, but is an opportunity to spend time together, and it may very well be a time that the children look back and remember as one of the good times in their lives.

Teachers have spent a lot of time creating learning opportunities which are on the class pages; make sure you’re relaxed and ready to do these tasks – try not to get frustrated – maybe do it in the tent!

We are currently working on developing a learning platform and ways in which we can develop two-way communication effectively with parents and children during this closure. Staff are all still working, so please remember that you can still contact your child’s teacher by email during working hours if you have any questions or concerns and they will get back to you.

Young children are going to remember how their family felt during this time, more than anything specific about the virus. Our children are watching and learning how to respond to stress and uncertainty. Let’s work together to wire them with the values of resilience, adaptability, kindness and courage.

Very best wishes

Sue Stamp

Please see our latest blog on anxiety from Mrs Fleming:

Anxiety blog

Welcome to our school

At Long Crendon we subscribe to an educational philosophy based upon valuing self, others and our environment. Values education is at the centre of our school vision. Long Crendon School is a place where children can grow as individuals, as learners and as caring and productive members of society. We are committed to supporting and developing the physical and emotional health and well-being of all the children and staff at our school.

We aim to offer all of our children an outstanding, inspirational, educational experience. Learning outside the classroom is a key aspect of our curriculum, giving children opportunities to identify and manage risk effectively. Promoting Growth Mindset empowers our children to always believe that they can improve.
Read what The Good Schools Guide has to say about our school.

Our Values

Our core values, underpinning all aspects of the school experience, are:

Unity – incorporating co-operation and support
Courage – incorporating uniqueness and creativity
Resilience – incorporating determination, self-belief and positivity
Kindness – incorporating friendship, loyalty, humility, love and forgiveness
Enthusiasm – incorporating curiosity, joy and happiness
Honesty – incorporating integrity, reliability and trust
Respect – incorporating empathy and tolerance
Equality – incorporating acceptance and inclusion

We also promote democracy, the rule of law, mutual respect, tolerance and individual liberty.

At this difficult time,  the values that we need to focus on on are  Courage, Resilience and Kindness

Vision and Values page

Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC)

We are passionate about LOtC

We have developed our fabulous, extensive grounds, including allotments, a bottle greenhouse, a woodland, a pond, a fort, swimming pool, mud kitchen  and the OWL (Outdoor Woodland Learning lodge), which are extensively used for learning outside the classroom. Our Eco initiatives are run by a committee of staff, children and parents and we hold an Eco Green flag and have a thriving Eco club. We hold an LOtC gold quality mark and our Foundation Stage teacher was awarded an LOtC Oustanding Innovative Eduucator award. Our LOtC practice has featured in Green Parent and Teach Early Years magazines and in the Guardian. All our KS1 and KS2 children attend regular Forest School sessions (weekly in Years 1-4 and fortnightly in Years 5 and 6).

Have a look at our LOtC page.