Full reopening of School March 8th 2021

As you know from 8th March the expectation is that all the children will be back in school unless you have been advised by their clinician that it is not safe for this to happen. The children will be in class bubbles and in order to keep everyone safe during the pandemic the bubbles will be kept as separate as possible.

We are very lucky that the children returning to school has been prioritised. In order for schools to remain open it is vital that we all follow the guidelines even though it is tempting to cheat a little. We do not want to go back to home learning.

The routines we have adopted to minimise the risks; lots of handwashing, catching, binning and killing coughs and sneezes, well ventilated spaces and staggered playtimes will continue.

In the classrooms the children will be encouraged to keep apart from each other.

Equipment the children use a lot will be kept as personal equipment. Other equipment will be regularly cleaned.

Most of the children will continue to have lunches in the classrooms, it is working really well, our lovely kitchen staff have helped us make this possible. The only children who will be eating in the hall are the Reception children.

Things the children will need to keep in school

We are asked to minimise the number of things going back and forth between home and school so please can the children leave these things in school.

PE Kit

A water bottle – please do not send in a bottle every day with juice in, we ask that children drink water during the day apart from at lunchtime.

Wellies

Waterproofs if you have them – if not please can they bring a waterproof coat in every day.

Morning routine

The morning has worked well with a steady flow of parents and children arriving at school. (Thank you for all your support to help this happen). For this reason, we are going to keep using the system we have been with the one-way system around school. We will also ask you to continue to limit the number of adults who drop off or pick up your children to one.

The children will go in through their normal door and wash their hands.

We will continue to stagger the start times alphabetically by surname, so families only have one time.

8.40-8.45 A-F

8.50-8.55 G-M

9.00 – 9.05 N-Z

If you talked to us about the time you drop your child off and arranged a slightly different time that is still fine.

Please do not come onto the site before 8.35 as we are trying to limit the contact between people.

After school routine

We are also going to continue to stagger the pick-up times. We reverse the one-way system at the end of the day so parents go through the carpark and round the back of school. We then ask you to pick up any key stage 2 children from that yard and then continue round to pick up any younger children. This makes sure the children always walk on the path rather than on the carpark.

As soon as you have picked up your children please can you leave the site. I know this has been the hardest thing as everyone wants to stand around and chat at the end of the day but we are trying to limit the contact between people. I know it is tempting to visit the park with other families on the way home, please resist the temptation and follow the guidelines, the stay at home ruling still applies.

Please do not come on to the site more than a couple of minutes before your pick up time as we are trying to limit the contact between people.

3.15 A-F

3.25 G-M

3.35 N-Z

In the case of illness

If someone in your household tests positively for Covid 19 your child must stay off for 10 days.

If your child shows symptoms of Covid 19 (high temperature, persistent cough, loss of taste or small) you must keep them off school and get them tested. If the test comes back negative they can come into school. If it comes back positive they must stay off school for 10 days.

If your child develops symptoms at school we will isolate them from the other children, don’t worry an adult will take care of them, and phone you to pick them up in order to take them to be tested. They will need to remain off school until the result of that test.

If there is a confirmed case in school we will contact Public Health England who will help us carry out a risk assessment and advise us what to do. If they ask us to close a bubble or the whole school we will support remote learning until we can get the children back into school.

I hope I have managed to cover all your questions. If I have missed anything or you have any concerns do contact me.

Alice Littlehailes

Headteacher