We have been immensely proud of our students, staff (and parents!) as the first week of Westbourne Online draws to a close. Whilst planning for online learning has been taking place behind the scenes for some time, the hasty implementation necessitated by current events has seen the initiative embraced by all, for which we are truly grateful.
Early feedback has been extremely positive and with all constructive feedback being considered, we very much look forward to rolling out Phase II after Easter.
In times of social distancing, human contact remains incredibly important, albeit in the virtual sense. Ensuring our students still retain that sense of being part of the wider community we have made very good use of video conferencing app Zoom this week, hosting student consultations, class reading time and for the first time ever, a virtual school trip.
Thursday afternoon saw our sister Prep school, Yorston Lodge in Cheshire pay an online visit to Westbourne. Our Prep team, led by Mrs Chinnock welcomed their new class into the online learning forum, culminating in quiz and storytime with their virtual classmates at the end of the day.
It is an incredible opportunity that we are able to engage children in such a unique way and keep making sure they learn and develop, even when staying at home.
Our PE teacher, Mrs Allen is dedicated to not letting students skip PE, classes even while practising social distancing.
Before our last day in school, those in years 3, 4 and 5 were given two tennis balls each to take home. Mrs Allen created a video especially for them to show them the types of exercises they could be doing.
She has also been setting a great example by taking part in the 9am online PE classes with Joe Wicks and encouraging all students to do the same.
Story time still remains a key part of the school day, particularly for our younger pupils. Special shout out to Mrs Morgan for not only helping students set up online but individually reading to 21 Year 1-3’s!
For more ways to keep story time going, make sure to also check our blog with useful tips on supporting your child during social distancing: https://blog.westbourneschool.com/studying-from-home
Continuing small acts of kindness within the Westbourne community!
Last week we were grateful to Nils in year 5 for thinking of the pupils in the boarding house by making two huge plates of rocky road! Later, Michael in year 5 and Sofia in year 2 also baked brownies for the boarders! These acts of kindness mean so much to our boarders and all of us in these challenging times.
While learning has moved from the classroom to Google classroom Westbourne’s core values have not changed – we are still encouraging our pupils to get involved with their local communities and help those who need it.
We were so pleased to hear about Safia’s amazing work helping a family of six from Syria who relocated to Cardiff recently.
Read more about it here.
