Letter from Mrs Cook

Dear Parents / Carers,

We hope you and your families remain safe and well. Firstly, can we thank you for your support and patience. We are now able to update you with our plans for the 1st June. In doing so, we are seeking to give you an overview of what our provision will look like for Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6, if, based on the Government’s 5 tests, we open to these year groups from 1^st June. Every decision that we are making is to keep the children and staff safe.

Children in N, R, Year 1 and Year 6 will be expected to attend school on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
School will not be open on a Friday to enable the cleaning staff to do a deep clean.
Children in Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 will continue to access home learning via the school website.
Where parents are choosing not to send children in Year 1 and Year 6 back to school, we ask that they access the BBC Bitesize lessons online (www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/daily lessons) or contact the school for a Nursery and Reception pack.

Arrival at school:

We have staggered the initial return day and start time of the school day to keep us all safe. This will help us to abide by social distancing rules. Therefore, we plan to give you a day and a time when your child’s group will start their school day. This will mean that all of the children will have a shorter day.
Regrettably, only one adult will be able to drop off your child at school. Could we also ask that siblings do not attend the school site, unless absolutely necessary and there is no one to care for them during this time.
Government guidance specifies that adults should drop their child off at the school gate. Staff will be available to take your child to their classroom, ensuring that social distancing is adhered to on the way to the classroom. Please do not gather around the gate and ensure that you are following the 2m social distancing rule.
Your child’s temperature will be taken before they can access the school site. Please ensure that if your child is ill, you DO NOT send them to school but inform the school of their absence.
Whilst normally, we would be only too happy to have a chat and catch up about your child’s learning on arrival to school, please could we ask that if you have any concerns you phone or email the school office; a member of the team will call you as soon as possible. The school office will only be open for e-mails and phone calls. You will not be able to physically enter school to see staff. Again, please can you phone or e-mail if you need any help.
Children should wear their school uniform but can we request that they wear trainers as they will be outside as much as possible. PE kit will not be required.
Could we request that for now children do not bring any items from home such as book bags, P.E kits or even reading books. They should only bring items of clothing such as hats and coats depending on the weather and lunchboxes and a water bottle with their name on it.

Inside School

Our class sizes will be a maximum of 10 pupils in a group. Each group will be assigned a teacher and teaching assistant, who will support them with their learning and playtimes throughout the day. This will limit the number of interactions that your child has with both other children and adults wherever possible.
The vast majority of children won’t be in their usual classroom as we will need to utilise classrooms throughout the school. Furthermore, your child might not be taught by their own class teacher; however, we will ensure that they have everything they need for their learning.
We understand that for some children there may be a little anxiety about returning to school. Equally, many will be looking forward to seeing their friends. Please be assured we will focus our efforts on making sure our children feel safe and happy. Well-being will be at the heart of our approach.

Lunchtime

The children will remain with their designated group throughout lunchtime and will be given a space to play as a group. Their teachers will encourage them to play games that support distancing rules as much as possible.

A separate communication will follow about school dinners for the families of our children that are coming back to school. Parents are of course, able to send a packed lunch with their child, but please could I ask that you ensure that this is in a wipeable lunchbox. We will not be using the hall for lunch and our children will remain in their learning space for their lunch.

End of the School Day

To ensure the safety of everyone on site, the end of the school day will be staggered as it was in the morning. This will mean the first group of children being dropped off will be collected first. We will follow the same systems outlined in the ‘Arrival at School’ section and more detailed information will be sent out later this week.

Keeping us clean and safe

To ensure that our school is as safe an environment as possible, we are implementing a regular and thorough cleaning schedule.
Children will wash their hands at regular intervals throughout the day.
All shared resources, especially in Reception and Nursery will be wiped down after use.
Each evening, our Amey cleaners will be on site as usual to prepare our school for the next day of learning and on a Friday a deep clean will take place. We are taking every step possible to ensure that our school is as clean as it can be for our children and staff team.

Your Child

Finally, but most importantly, we want to ensure that your child is prepared to come back to school and the changes that will meet them. Their safety is our priority and we will spend time each day reminding them of how they need to look after themselves, their friends and teachers. Please could we ask that you talk to your child about the importance of social distancing.
Please remember that if your child feels unwell or shows any of the symptoms outlined on the NHS website your child MUST stay at home and contact the school office as soon as possible.

Next Steps:

In this letter, we have outlined the strategy that under the current guidance we are implementing to achieve our key priority of keeping our children and staff safe.
Later this week we will send out more detailed information about arrival and departure times for children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1, Year 6.
These guidelines will be in place for three weeks from 1^st June until we receive Government advice around the next steps for schools.
We will let you know whether the school will reopen on 1^st June as soon as the Government have made a decision and on the advice of Campfire Education Trust. We hope to let you know by Friday 29^th May.

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely

Ceri Cook

Headteacher