Week beginning September 28th
Drop off and Pick up
I hope that our use of signs at the beginning and end of the day is helping to keep things organised and safe. I would like to clarify how our sibling arrangements work, as some parents seem unsure.
The Orchards do not have a staggered start to the day and they accept children from all year groups any time between 8:30 and 8:45. If you have a child at the Orchards, this means you can choose the best time for them to arrive to shorten your wait with us. For example, if you have a child in reception with us, you can drop the older child off at 8:45 and you will then have no longer than 10 minutes to wait. We consider this reasonable.
We do however acknowledge that if you have more than one child at Field Place, there needs to be a process for dropping them off at the same time. This is why we have our 8:40 Field Place sibling drop off time. In reality we normally allow this group of children to enter from 8:38 to ensure our year ones can come in promptly at 8:40.
At pick up time, like us, the Orchards have a staggered end to the day. We have always acknowledged that this could lead to significant periods of waiting. We have mitigated this by offering a 2:20 or 2:30 sibling pick up to reduce the waiting time at the Orchards. These arrangements were made via a parent survey and we would ask that you please arrive at the time you requested.
I am sure you can appreciate the thought and effort that has gone into managing the orderly start and end to the day. Although some parents may feel we should offer further options, this is not possible and the current arrangements will remain in place unless we receive new guidance or the Orchards change their arrangements.
If you arrive before the time your child can enter or be collected, can you please join the queue of parents along the pavement rather than stand at the gate. Some parents are feeling anxious about the lack of social distancing. Joining the queue avoids groups congregating and stops any bad feelings when parents join the middle of the queue once it is moving. We will make sure no one misses their slot by walking down the queue to let you know when the next group of children can enter. If you really do not wish to queue, there is a 10 minute window for each group and you could choose to arrive at the end of the window to avoid waiting at all.
Once you have collected your child at the gate, can you please avoid checking bookbags or lunch boxes, by the main gates, as this does hold the queue up. These can always be checked once you have reached the car park.
Class emails
There have been some technical issues with class emails that we are working to sort out asap. If you have contacted the teacher in the last week, they have not yet been able to access this so apologise that they have not yet answered. This should be sorted very soon.
Home learning
We now have a home learning page on our website again. This is only for children who need to self isolate but are not unwell. You will need to phone the school office if your child has been advised to self isolate so we can ensure they have the right work set. We will then email you with their login details etc. Please see below attachment for more information.
Online Reading Festival
Over the next week there is an online reading festival which has lots of different readings of stories by different authors along with some fun videos to go with them. Parents/carers just need to sign up (which is free) and then the videos can be accessed live or after they have been released.
The link for infant children is below - hope you enjoy.
https://www.readingismagicfestival.com/events?tag=Ages%204-7
Weather
Following our rainy exit on Thursday, I think autumn has arrived! Please remember the children need to bring a warm, waterproof coat to school every day. Even if the sun is shining in the morning, it may not be by playtime. Zip up fabric jackets are not suitable as school coats as they are not waterproof or warm enough for the cold weather.
School Photos
Individual school photos will be taken on Monday 9th November. The company have informed us that they are not able to take sibling photos this year as this could impact on COVID safe groupings. They will offer families a 25% discount if buying two family photos or more.
With Thanks
Theresa Alford
