Dear Parents

Please find attached newsletters for the half term holiday.   I am sure the children will enjoy having a break from schoolwork, but teachers have put together some ideas if you are stuck for fun things to do next week. 

Proposed Return to School Information

Please see below the planned organisation and protocols for drop off and collection time:

• You will be given a five minute drop off and pick up time as part of our staggered start and end to the day.
• Parents should not arrive earlier than their allotted time.
• Unless your child has a significant need, only one parent should accompany children to school.
• When you arrive, please queue along the path observing a 2-metre distance from other parents. Although there will be markings on the path, these are for guidance and the number of children + prams will mean using a common-sense approach to distancing.
• Your children should stay with you and not socialise with other families as you wait. 
• During your five minutes drop off time, the class teacher working with your child will be waiting on the playground to welcome them. 
• Children will leave you at the gate and go into school and line up with their teacher
• If you arrive too early and your teacher is not yet ready to welcome children, you may be asked to come back later. If you arrive after your allotted time, your child will need to walk by themselves to their classroom. 
• There will be a one-way system in place, which means you will leave the school through the carpark. (This will be safe as no cars will be allowed to arrive or leave the carpark during these times. A member of staff will be manning the main carpark gate)
• To keep the flow of people moving and maintain social distancing, we cannot store bikes or scooters at this time.  If your child arrives by bike or scooter, you will need to take this home with you.
• We anticipate that queues may extend onto the pavement outside the school. NO DOGSshould be secured anywhere near where parents or children are queuing. Please leave dogs at home. 
• Parents must maintain social distancing and cannot gather in groups before or after school. 
• At pick up time, class teachers will bring the children onto the playground to wait for their adult.  Parents should queue using the same protocol as the morning.  The adult on the gate will ask who you have come to collect, and your child will then be sent to meet you. We will ensure that siblings can be collected at the same time.
• If you arrive too early for pick up, you will be asked to come back later.
• Families will then leave the site using the one-way system
• Teachers will be unable to talk to parents at the beginning or end of the day.  Any concerns or problems will need to be dealt with via phone after school.  

What will my child need to bring to school?

• A water bottle
• A sunhat
• A coat (depending on weather)
• A packed lunch if they are not having school dinners

They will not need their bookbag as we will not be sending books home at this time.  They will not need to bring in a PE kit, but should come to school in their PE kit on PE days. For hygiene reasons, they cannot bring in any toys or other items from home. Things made in school will not be brought home by the children at this time.

We are aware that children in the nursery may need a transition toy.  This is a developmental stage where transition objects can be incredibly supportive, and we understand that leaving parents at the gate is going to be very tricky for such young children. If a nursery child needs a transition toy, it will be stored in the teacher’s cupboard and only used by the one child when needed.

Hygiene and Cleanliness Procedures

The children will be washing their hands regularly throughout the day – on arrival, before play, after play, before lunch, after lunch, before PE, after PE and at the end of the day.  They will also be asked to wash their hands if they cough, sneeze or are seen to specifically lick their hands or put their fingers in their mouth. Children will be told to use a tissue or their elbow if they need to cough or sneeze and then bin the tissue and wash their hands.

Children in Year One will sit at separate tables when working and will be given their own drawer of stationary equipment to use.  Stationary equipment in Nursery and Reception will be limited to a small amount that can be cleaned daily. Play equipment will not be shared between bubbles and cleaned on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Where possible, each bubble will have exclusive use of a toilet block.  This means that girls and boys will be sharing a toilet block.  Where this is not possible, no more than two bubbles will have the use of a toilet area.  These toilets will have additional cleaning throughout the day.  Staff will monitor the use of shared toilets to avoid children from different bubbles coming into contact. 

Door handles, toilets and tables in classrooms will be wiped down regularly with disinfectant during the day. Each classroom will be cleaned with disinfectant/bleach at the end of the day.  Classrooms will be well ventilated, and windows left open whenever possible.

The guidance states that children and staff should wear clean clothes each day.  You will have the opportunity to wash sets of clothes on Wednesday ready for the rest of the week.

What will play and lunchtime look like?

The large playground will be segregated into three play zones. We are lucky that we also have the small playground and the reception play area.  This means that we can successfully timetable separate play areas for each bubble of children.  Teachers will explain to children where they can play and that they cannot play with children in a different zone. As all classes can access their rooms through external doors, we will not need to use the corridors and can avoid groups needing to pass each other.  

We will not be using the Hall for lunch.  Hot dinners will be brought to classrooms and staff from the bubble will serve food to the children.  Packed lunches will also be eaten in the classroom. The children will then go to their play zone, where they will be supervised by either their learning support assistant or a midday meal supervisor. 

What happens if someone becomes unwell?

It is very important that if you or your child show any of the three confirmed symptoms of Covid-19, you should not bring your child to school.

• a new continuous cough
• a high temperature
• a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

 

After 7 days, if the person who showed symptoms does not have a high temperature, they do not need to continue to self-isolate.  If they still have a high temperature, they should continue to self-isolate until the temperature returns to normal.  They do not need to self-isolate if they only have a cough or anosmia after 7 days, as these symptoms can last for several weeks after the infection has gone. 

 

Other household members must not leave the house for 14 days.  If anyone else in the household starts displaying symptoms, they must remain at home for at least 7 days after the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period. 

 

Children and their families can be tested for Covid-19 should they become unwell.  If a child has a positive test for Covid-19, that child’s bubble will be told to isolate for 14 days.  This will mean the children, teacher and learning support assistant in that bubble will not come to school for 14 days after the test is confirmed.  This action will only be taken following a positive test for the virus.  Due to the social distancing measures in school, other bubbles of children and staff will not need to stay at home.

 

If a child shows symptoms of Covid-19 while at school, they will be isolated from other children.  A trained first aider will support the child and remain with them until an adult arrives to collect them. In these circumstances, the first aider will wear PPE while they wait with the child.  This will comprise of a facemask, gloves, and an apron.  Children who are unwell will be cared for in the first classroom, so parents can pick their child up easily from the front gate. 

 

Confirming your child’s attendance

I hope that following this and previous information about how the risks of infections will be controlled in school, you will feel more able to decide whether you wish your child to return at this time.  Until we have confirmed numbers, it will be difficult to effectively group children into bubbles.

For us to prepare for June 2^nd, we will be sending out a further survey this week asking you to confirm whether you will be bringing your child back to school at this point.  A further survey will be sent out a fortnight later to confirm if any more children will then attend. Please note, that the current guidance states that if you, or a member of your immediate family who live with you, are in the extremely clinically vulnerable category, your child should not return to school.

 

All these protocols and organisational changes will be under dynamic review as we gain more advice and trouble shoot how things are going.  Thank you so much for your ongoing support and we really hope that we will be able to welcome the children back soon.

 

With Thanks,

 

Theresa Alford