important - opening school

Dear Parents and Carers,

Opening School

May I take this opportunity to firstly thank all my staff who have provided the superb childcare provision to the eligible pupils since we were told to close the school because of the Covid-19.  Whilst they have created a happy environment for up to 50 pupils, they have also set up and run an online home learning community.  Additionally they have regularly phoned all the pupils in their classes to check in with them.  I am extremely proud to be part of this team and acknowledge many have achieved this whilst managing their own anxieties around Covid-19 and balancing their own childcare needs and home learning requirements.  I would also like to thank you, for your ongoing support of the school and for providing safe learning environments for your children.  I am sure they will look back with fond memories of when home became their school for a short period of time.

Whilst we have successfully met this initial challenge, the recent Prime Ministerial announcement that Reception and Year 1 would reopen from, at the earliest 1 June, has now provided us with a new and significant one.  The Senior Leadership Team have worked tirelessly to create a local solution to what has been asked and I am writing to outline how we will open our school.  We have decided to follow the guidelines provided by the Government last Friday and what is proposed here is non-negotiable.  I am sure by working together, and supporting one another, we can meet the requirements laid down by the Government to make the best of this situation.

We want to be honest about how the school will operate so you can make an informed choice about whether you want your child to attend.  I therefore apologise if you find the following frank.

The fundamental point to make is that, in line with Government guidelines provided for primary schools, we are not expected to make the children socially distance from one another in school.  Whilst we will do this where we can (e.g. arrange seating in the classroom to be 2m apart), invariably the children of primary school age have, and always will be, in contact and play with one another.  That is why childhood illnesses spread so easily in school.
In the absence of social distancing, l therefore want to share with you what we will do to mitigate the risk of the virus spreading across the school.  This follows the advice from the Government.

• Create small pupil / teacher ‘bubbles’ of up to 15 pupils that will operate in isolation from one another. 
• These bubbles will not be allowed to mix at any point during the day e.g. they will have separate playtimes.
• Each bubble will have their own toilet facilities. As some of the classrooms at Harris Way have communal toilets we have split the pupils across the 2 sites. Preschool and Reception will be accommodated at Harris Way and  Year 1 will be accommodated at Bedford Road in classrooms with toilets in them or next to a designated communal toilet that will be only used by that group of children.  Keyworker children will now be accommodated at Bedford Road under the same arrangements.
• There will be breakfast and afterschool clubs only for critical worker children.  Critical worker children in Reception and Year 1 will be with their year group and so these facilities will run across both sites.
• Children and staff will have to wash their hands on arrival, before and after eating, and regularly throughout the day.
• Children should bring in their own water bottle which should have a clip opening function and not one where they will pull open the mouth piece with their hand.
• Facemasks can accumulate the virus and so under Government advice, they will not be permitted in classrooms for adults or children.
• Members of staff will not travel between bubbles so it is possible your child will not see their normal class teacher.  Indeed some teaching staff and support staff are classified as ‘Clinically Extremely Vulnerable’ and will not be in school.
• There will be no hot dinners. A packed lunch will be provided by Caterlink  for Reception, Year 1 and those children entitled to free school meals. This will be eaten in the classroom. NB: Pupils can bring in their own packed lunch.
• Twins will be in the same bubble to reduce family connections to more than one group of pupils.
• It is likely that your child will be in a bubble that doesn’t include all of their friendship group.  They will therefore not see all their friends at school.
• The curriculum will be very different and will be based on the home learning (which will still be available on-line).
• We will adopt some new behaviour rules and sanctions (e.g. need for handwashing, appropriate play, what happens if a child is spitting).
• It is unlikely, but the school may close on Fridays from 1pm to enable staff to have their statutory non contact time.  Normally we would cover this in the working week with other staff teaching the class, but under the bubble system this would increase the risk of transferring the virus between bubble groups by using multiple staff.  We will know what the week will look like once we have closed the registers and we have created the structure.  We will confirm this next Thursday (28 May).
• Under Government guidance we will not operate a rota system so pupils will return full time.
• To reduce the transfer of the virus on objects:
  • Soft furnishings will be removed from the classrooms.
  • Reading books will not be used or sent home.
  • No book bags to be bought into school.
  • No PE kits in school
  • Pupils will have a designated place to sit and will have their own equipment (e.g. pencil and book).
  • We will have an intraday cleaning programme in each class. 
• To reduce the transfer of the virus between adults:
  • There will be a staggered start and end of the school day for each class.  Times will be allocated during the normal school day and must be adhered to.
  • Handover will be made at a safe distance. Therefore there will be no face to face contact with the class teacher at drop off or collection.  If there is anything that needs to be discussed, this should be done over the phone where possible.
  • Parents will not be allowed in the school buildings.
  • Only one adult will be allowed to drop off and collect.
  • We will not accept pupils from child minders as they will be already socially mixing with other children.
• To reduce the transfer of the virus in the school community:
  • Pupils should wear clean uniform everyday.
  • When a child or staff member develops symptoms compatible with coronavirus, they will be sent home and advised to self-isolate for 7 days. Their fellow household members should self-isolate for 14 days.
  • All staff and pupils who are attending an education or childcare setting will have access to a test if they display symptoms of coronavirus, and are encouraged to get tested in this scenario.
  • Where the child, young person or staff member tests negative, they can return to their setting and the fellow household members can end their self-isolation.
  • Where the child, young person or staff member tests positive, the rest of their class or group within their childcare or education setting should be sent home and advised to self-isolate for 14 days. The other household members of that wider class or group do not need to self-isolate unless the child, young person or staff member they live with in that group subsequently develops symptoms.
  • Pending on demand and whether we have any excess staff, if staff members become ill (not covid), we will close the bubble until they return to avoid any cross bubble contamination.
  • There will be no visitors in school.

 
I do apologise if this letter seems blunt, but I needed to communicate with you with clarity over how we intend to keep the school community safe.  We care dearly for your children and their safety has always been, and will continue to be, our main priority.  We want nothing more than everyone to return to the school we all loved to be part of but recognise this is not possible at this time.  For every child that comes back to school we will do our very best to make it an enjoyable experience.  There is a lot of debate about the mental wellbeing of our children and I have my own concerns how children will cope in coming back to our school in this new and twisted reality.  That said I have every confidence in my staff to make this the best it can be.  Please take some time to carefully consider whether you want to send your child back to school in this format. It is your decision and you have the option not to.

As a next step I would like you to complete an online registration form only if you would like your child to return to school and they are in Reception or Year 1 or on the approved Key Worker list.  (There are currently no places for Years 2,3 or 4 pupils who are not key worker children). To do this please click on the button below. Please do this by midday on Monday 25th May so we can plan groups and allocate drop off and collection times.  To ensure we plan the opening effectively, we will only accept the pupils booked in by this date for the next 4 weeks. We will not add to the list during June but will run a similar process for July.  NB: Key workers do not need to specify which days they want,  just that they need a place.

We propose to have the 1st June as training day for all staff covering these new procedures.  The 2nd  June will then be used to set up the revised school and pupils will be welcomed back on Wednesday 3rd June.  That said, the School will be open as normal for critical care worker children at Harris Way on the 1st and 2nd June.

The Government has a bigger ambition that all year groups should return before the Summer break, but pending the demand from these initial groups, this may not be possible.  I know that some Year 4 parents were also keen for a transition to Middle School, but speaking to the Middle School Head Teachers, this will only be virtual.

Following Government guidelines, priority will be given to allocate school places to key worker pupils and vulnerable pupils and then to pupils in Reception and Year 1 (in this order).  We will confirm whether your child has a place by midday on Thursday 28th May.

We will continue to evaluate our position and we will keep you updated if things change.  At the Full Governing Body last night we discussed the current risk assessment in detail and an updated one will be published on our website next week.

Thank you for your patience and understanding at this incredibly difficult time.
 
 Mr Chris Tavener
Head Teacher

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