Wednesday 21st October 2020
Dear Parent/Carers,
As we approach the end of the first half term, I am writing with some updates, information and slight changes to arrangements in school for the next half term.
INSET: We have an INSET day planned for the 2nd November so school will restart for pupils on Tuesday 3rd November.
Change to timings/entry points:
Having re-evaluated the processes in school we need to make some slight changes to 2 classes in the Infants.
These are as follows:
Reception (Miss Hawes class) will now start school at 8.45am and finish school at 3.15pm. They should be brought round the back of the building and taken to the Reception classroom door. They will not use the main entrance from the 3rd November.
Year 1 (Mr Fitchett’s class only) will continue to start school at 8.45am and finish school at 3.15pm but they will use the main entrance to enter and leave school. Parents should queue inside the bollards that are put out, ensuring they socially distance. The children will be brought to the main entrance at 3.15pm to be collected.
Dropping your child off and picking them up:
Due to the staggered starts and ends of the school day we have worked hard to be as flexible as possible. However, as the term has gone on we have found that the number of children being picked up and dropped off over a range of times has caused issues in many classes. This is because staff have to be by the door to let children in and see them out. This means they cannot be supervising/teaching the rest of the group. In some classes this has meant the first and last half hours of the day have been disrupted.
In addition, social distancing in the playground is more difficult if children are not being dropped into school/collected at the allocated times.
As a result, all children should be dropped off and collected at the times in the table below. If you arrive early you will need to wait in the allocated place in the playground taking care to socially distance from other families. The only exception to this will be for pupils with siblings who have an earlier start or finish time. It is essential that you let your children’s class teachers know via dojo or by ringing the school office if this is the case. They will then arrange a time for your child to be brought to you.
| Year group | ARRIVAL
|
LEAVING
|
| Reception | 8.45AM
Reception classroom door (at the back of the infant building) |
3.15PM |
| 1JE | 8.45AM
Usual door |
3.15PM |
| 1MF | 8.45AM
Main Infant Door |
3.15PM |
| 2 JB | 9.00AM
Usual door |
3.30PM |
| 3KR | 9.00AM
(Year 3 door) |
3.30PM |
| 2/3LM | 9.00AM
(Main Entrance) |
3.30PM |
| 4AT | 8.45AM
(Year 3 door) |
3.15PM |
| 4LG | 8.45AM
(Main Entrance) |
3.15PM |
| 5DG | 8.45AM
(Upper Playground door near to hall)
|
3.15PM |
| 5SP | 8.45AM
(Upper Playground door – Year 6 area) |
3.15PM |
| 6CN | 8.30AM
(Upper Playground door- Year 6 area) |
3.00PM |
| 6AC | 8.30AM
(Main entrance) |
3.00PM |
| 6BG | 8.30AM
(Upper Playground door near to hall) |
3.00PM |
Frequently asked questions:
The rules and guidelines change so regularly that we are all struggling to keep up. Below there are some of the most frequent questions we are asked:
My child has a new dry cough and/or a fever. Should I keep them home?
Yes please keep them home for 10 days self-isolation. If you receive a negative test result they can return earlier but only if they do NOT have a continuous cough, high temperature or loss of taste or smell. Please let the school know what is happening.
Another member of the family has a new dry cough and/or a fever. Should I keep my child home?
The advice at the moment is that your child should remain at home, in isolation with the rest of the family for 14 days. If the family member receives a negative test result your child can return earlier but only if they are well. Please make sure you inform the school about any symptoms at home and test result, positive or negative.
My child or someone in the household has been asked to self isolate? Do we all have to stay home?
No, if you have been asked to self-isolate the rest of the family can carry on as normal UNLESS anyone becomes symptomatic. If this happens the whole household should self-isolate for 14 days. Please inform the school immediately.
How will you cover staff absence?
Staffing is very difficult at the moment. We have had as many as 13 staff off on one day- most of these staff members are well but are self-isolating, have family members unwell or have issues with childcare, due to Covid19. Covering staff is challenging so please bear with us if there are any difficulties due to this. If a member of staff is absent we will;
- Continue with the day as normal with the remaining member of staff covering the ‘pod’. If necessary, myself or Mrs Bridgman will support this;
- Contacting our regular supply teachers to see if they are able to cover;
- As a very last resort, shortening school days or closing the ‘pod’ for that day.
We will not combine ‘pods’ of children in the case of staff absence.
How can parents help? What expectations do you have of parents?
With increased numbers of cases our main concern is to keep school safely open for children and staff. To help us with this we need to ask the whole school community to comply with the following:
- Please keep the school informed about any absence at all. We have a duty to report all possible cases/symptomatic children to the LEA every day. We also need to know if a household member is symptomatic, waiting for a test or has tested negative or positive. This is very time consuming and it really helps if you have messaged us/phoned with the reason for your child’s absence;
- Please pay dinner money on time. It is very time consuming to ‘chase’ non payment and the school office is extremely busy in these unprecedented times;
- Please ensure that your child is in school at the correct time and collected at the right time. Please do not wait in the playgrounds before and after school;
- Please follow the one way system in place;
- Please do NOT come into the school building unless it is an emergency or by prior arrangement;
- Please keep in contact with us. If you have any worries or concerns, let us know. This could be about your child’s wellbeing or work. We will do our very best to help.
If you have any suggestions, questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please rest assured that your children’s wellbeing is always our top priority. I hope you all have a safe and happy half term holiday, despite the lockdown. We look forward to seeing all the children back on the 3rd November.
Yours sincerely,
Helen Woodford (Headteacher)