16th June 2020

 

Year 6 return: procedures & guidance

 

Dear Parents/Carers,

 

School is now open to Year 6 children returning from June 22^nd 2020. The following information outlines procedures in place for this.

 

We will continue to provide childcare for the EYFS - Y5 children of key workers and identified vulnerable children only, where prior bookings have been confirmed.  

 

School hours, entry and exit for YEAR 6 only

 

The school timings of 9am - 3.15pm will be in operation for Year 6 although we will operate a flexible arrival and exit system to support this, as follows.

 

 

Please arrive/exit using the time window above and enter school via the main gate on Alison Road. 

 

The gate on Alison Road will be open from 9am-9.15am and then 3pm-3.15pm with a staff member on duty. Parents/children when entering the yard should observe social distancing by using the 2-metre distance rule until children are invited into school by staff. The same applies to the end of day. 

 

Any arrival after 9.15am should be via the school office. 

 

Please note: the entrance/exit arrangements may be subject to change as we adjust during phased return and growing numbers. We appreciate your patience with this as we try to ensure that we get this absolutely right. 

 

How to bring your child to school (if accompanied)

Parents will be unable to enter the school building, beyond the school yard. If accompanying children, please adhere to the following:

 

• Keep 2 metres apart when queuing
• Only one adult to enter the yard to collect children
• No siblings to be brought to pick up (if possible)
• Quick drop off/pick up – no information to be passed on to staff at this point – this should be emailed to the school office. Staff will need to focus on getting children in and to allocated rooms as quickly and safely as possible. 

We ask that parents do not visit the school office for any reason other than to drop off/pick up children and all communication should be via telephone or email, unless urgent.

 

No child, staff or visitor will be allowed to enter the school under any circumstance if they are displaying any symptoms of coronavirus.

 

Child groups (bubbles)

 

We now have a well-established system of grouping/accommodating children, which has worked well with children of key workers. Children will be in groups of no more than 7 in a bubble, with 1 member of staff; this will not necessarily be their usual class teacher but we hope, as far as we can foresee/plan, that familiar staff will be present during some of the time across the final weeks. We will endeavour to group children with friends as much as we can. The children will stay in the same bubble for the remainder of the term, this is extremely important so that we minimise cross contamination. 

 

We have organised for additional classroom spaces to be used to accommodate each of the bubbles. Bubbles will not meet up at break times, as it is essential that they stay as a group for the week, to minimise risk. Use of spaces around school has been carefully timetabled to keep distances between bubble groups. 

 

Uniform and equipment

 

Children should wear clothes of their choice. These should be clean on each day to minimise risk of transferring the virus. 

 

No school bags or equipment of any kind (including mobile phones) should be brought to school apart from a packed lunch (in a disposable bag) and a labelled drinks bottle (and a sun hat/sun cream in hot weather). Please note, we will label any bottles that are brought in without a name. Children will also be given personalised resources/stationery to use and keep on their own workstations so that these are not shared between them. 

 

School lunches

 

All children should bring a packed lunch in a disposable bag. 

 

Attendance

 

Current DFE advice is that no action will be taken against either parents or school if parents decide not to allow their children to attend. 

 

PPE – face coverings

 

In line with current scientific advice and guidance, children are not required to wear face coverings. Unless our staff are involved in 1:1 care, they will not wear them either. If this guidance changes centrally, we will inform you. However, if you would like your child to wear a face covering please provide one. 

 

 

 

Good hygiene practices

 

All children will be asked to clean their hands upon entering the school building and frequently throughout the day. Tables, surfaces and equipment/resources will be regularly sanitised throughout the school day as well as regular cleaning of communal areas and toilets by hygiene staff. Hand sanitiser products will be available for use by staff and children around school and in rooms. 

 

Child activities and teaching/learning

 

From 22^nd June, staff will return to providing a range of curriculum activities such as basic skills in English and Maths, topic-themed learning such as History, creative activities such as Art/Design or Music as well as French, PE and PSHE.  PLEASE CAN CHILDREN BRING THEIR WORK PACKS INTO SCHOOL ON THE 22^ND JUNE AND LEAVE THEM THERE EACH DAY.

 

Home Learning - not attending school

 

If your child is not attending, we encourage you to keep in touch with curriculum activities by accessing the home learning packs set by teaching staff. 

 

We hope the above is clear. Getting procedures and routines in place in a time of ever-changing circumstances has been a huge challenge. If arrangements and directions change at short notice, we fully apologise in advance but such is the nature of the current situation. Thank you all so much for your patience, understanding and overwhelming support with this.

 

You can also see FAQs for parents on the website under Key Information.

 

Finally, I know that there is a huge amount above to take in, but we want you to be reassured of the steps we are taking to minimise the risks to keep everyone as safe as we can. We will continue to remind you of the key messages above by email and by text. Should you have any questions that you feel have not been answered, please do not hesitate to contact school.  

 

We are really looking forward to warmly welcoming our Year 6 child back to school for the last few weeks of their Primary School journey and we are grateful for the opportunity to spend this time with them. 

 

Kind regards,

 

Karen Hutchings 

Headteacher