16th July 2020 Dear Parents/Carers, As you will know by now, we are all back in school on Monday September 7th, 2020 – unless the government dictates otherwise!  September 2nd, 3rd and 4th are all Inset days.  All of the following information is relevant right now but may change as September approaches.  As always, we will follow government guidelines. MAIN POINTS: School will not be dramatically different, in September, to what it was like before we finished in March.  We will have additional hand washing and personal hygiene in place and we will be encouraging the children to not touch each other or the staff.  By that time, which is still over 7 weeks away, we may have even less restrictions in place.  For now, we have devised a plan based on the government guidelines and here are the main points:
  • We will still be doing staggered starting and closing times so that we don’t have any congestion outside and can maintain social distancing
  • We will have 3 bubbles initially – EYFS/KS1, LKS2 and UKS2 (classes D and C, class B and class A)
  • We will have breakfast and after school clubs, but the timings have changed slightly
  • Children will still have staggered break and lunch times – they will also need to clean apparatus they have used at the end of each session
  • We will not have assemblies or hold other whole school gatherings
  • Julie Bland, our Specialist Support Service worker, won’t be back straight away in September
  • Some specialist services will be back in (e.g. music)
  • Swimming will not start for our year 4 children in September – it will either start in November or January – we will give you plenty of notice
  • RWI will start in September (for EYFS and kS1) and children will stay within this ‘bubble’
  • A risk assessment will be written and available to view, on the website (a dojo will be sent when it is available).
BUBBLES: A ‘Bubble’ is a group of children and adults that stay together throughout the week and don’t mix with other bubbles. BREAKFAST AND AFTER SCHOOL CLUB: We are unable to allocate a member of staff to each bubble before and after school.  The government states that, if this is the case, we should have a group that is a small consistent size.  We will do this, and we will also have a set table allocated to each bubble.  We will not be having sports after school clubs for the first term and will let you know when this will change. We are changing the timings of the clubs, temporarily.  Timings and prices are as follows: Breakfast club
  • 7:45 to start of school – £3.35
  • 8:00 to start of school – £2.85
After School Club
  • 3:10/3:20 to 4:00 – £3:35
  • 3:10/3:20 to 4:30 – £4:35
  • 3:10/3:20 to 5:00 – £5:35
We have temporarily reduced the time at the end of the day to 5pm.  Please speak to us if this is a concern for you. SCHOOL DINNERS We have had school dinner provision throughout lockdown.  Additional cleaning and social distancing measures have been put in place.  These will continue in September.  Children can order a school meal in the usual way. The price of school dinners is £2.20 per day, an increase of 10p – still free to children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. PAYMENTS TO SCHOOL Debts should not accrue on your ParentPay account.  Payments for school dinners, breakfast and after school clubs should be cleared each week.  They can also be paid in advance or on the day.  The governors monitor the budget closely and they are not allowed to have a deficit budget. OTHER SERVICES: Children in Class B will be learning how to play the clarinet, this year.  Sports providers will be with us during the daytime and will do the additional cleaning of any equipment used and adhere to appropriate social distancing. UNIFORM Children will be expected to be in full uniform and have the correct PE kit. Parents of younger children can purchase trousers with elasticated waist and/or Velcro shoe fasteners if this helps children to be independent when dressing and undressing. ILLNESS Should anyone have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, or someone in their household does, do not attend school. All other illnesses should be treated in the usual way, for example, children should be absent from school for 48 hours from the last bout of sickness or diarrhoea. The following link explains, in detail, what parents should expect in September: TEACHERS Teaching staff next year, will be the same as this year: Nursery and Reception – Miss Nicholls; Year 1/2 – Mrs Cioffi and Mrs Parry; Year 3/4 – Mrs Guy; and Year 5/6 – Mrs Cole and Mr Waring. HEALTHY SNACKS Children in KS1 are entitled to a free snack each day.  However, since lockdown the deliveries haven’t been arriving.  I’m assuming that, in September, all KS1 children will have a snack provided.  It might be worth sending the children in with a piece of fruit for the first few days just in case it’s not here. KS2 children are not entitled to a free snack but can bring one in.  It must be healthy and low in sugar and fat.  We strongly encourage fruit, as it has natural sugars and is not processed.  Children will be asked to take unhealthy snacks back home with them. TRANSITION INTO RECEPTION This year, the vast majority of our children have been in our nursery, which means they have already got off to a flying start.  They will enter school in exactly the same way as they currently do – through the side gate.  Staff will be at the gate to welcome them.  Please remember to socially distance from staff and other parents at the hand over time.  We have always welcomed parents into school for the first term, however, this won’t be possible this year (and probably not necessary either).  Miss Nicholls will arrange reading mornings, etc. when it is safe to do so. BELONGINGS Children are not encouraged to bring belongings into school.  However, there are essential items that have to be brought in.  PE kits should be brought in each Monday morning and taken home each Friday.  Book bags should be brought in daily but, to stay in line with our risk assessment, they should only have essential items in them – reading books, reading record book, glasses, etc.  Homework books should be brought in once a week – the class teacher will let you know which day they should come in.  When children bring in their own stationery, they look after it much better than our stationery and are far less likely to share it.  For this reason, children are allowed to bring in their own pencil case.  If anybody hasn’t got one, we will provide the necessary resources.  The pencil case should stay in school all week but may go home at weekends.   Book bags and pencil cases should be small – no large bags or rucksacks, please! GOLDEN MILE Currently, this will not take place as it will involve mixing the bubbles.  However, each bubble will have regular PE slots in order to keep fit and healthy.  Children should bring their PE kit to school on Mondays and take it home for washing on Fridays. TIMINGS OF SCHOOL DAY The start and end times of each day need to be staggered to avoid congestion and maintain social distancing.  This has implications for parents with different children in different bubbles starting at different times. Class A:            arrive 8:50       depart 3:20     HT Office Class B:            arrive 8:50       depart 3:10     Main top door Class C:            arrive 9:00       depart 3:20     Main bottom door Class D:            arrive 9:00       depart 3:10     EYFS side entrance Please remember to social distance when dropping off and collecting children.  If you need to get a message to teachers, please get in touch using Dojo, by email or by calling school (leave a message if nobody answers). CONCERNS Many parents/carers will have been shielding themselves or family members.  Please speak to us if you have concerns about the safety aspects we have in place. FACE COVERINGS Staff will only wear face coverings as outlined in the risk assessment (please see Letters to Parents page).  The following guidelines are from the DfE: When staff, pupils or visitors arrive at school wearing face coverings, they should be removed and disposed of in a covered bin or if the face coverings are reusable, they are placed in a sealed plastic bag to be taken home.  After removing the face covering, individuals must wash their hands immediately. REPORTS Reports will be available electronically either today or tomorrow.  Please look out for an email with your password to access the area ‘REPORTS’ on our school webpage. Teachers have based each child’s end of year results on where they were heading before we went into lockdown in March.  As we haven’t seen many of the children, we can’t be sure this is where they are currently up to.  Please bear this in mind when reading the report. The staff and I would like to thank you very much for your support, it’s been an incredibly difficult year, and we have felt very supported by members of the community.  We’re excited to see everyone in September and can’t wait to get back to some sort of normality. Have a lovely summer break. Best wishes Carol Taylor