Further information on our plans from Monday 6th September.
We are all looking forward to welcoming all of your children back to school next week. Our Risk Assessment and planned model for all pupils returning have been reviewed and approved.
As you may be aware, we have new guidance from the government which encourages us to get back to a more normal arrangement rightly putting the education of children as our first priority. This is most welcome, however, due to our successes last year, we plan to take a cautious approach.
The school day
If your child is attending breakfast club, they will be taken to their class at 8:30am. If your child is attending after school club, they will be taken to after school club at 3:15pm.
It is important that you are on time to ensure a safe drop off and collection. However, please do not arrive on the school grounds before 8.25am unless arriving for breakfast club.
The school attendance policy will be followed which indicates that children arriving after 8:50am will be marked as ‘Late’. The school gates will be locked at this time and the children will need to sign in at the office. We will continue to work with all of our families during this transition period as we get used to the new routines.
We will be asking for children to be dropped off and collected by one adult only and following the one way systems.
Due to changes in the timing arrangements, please could I ask that parents and carers leave the school grounds as soon as they have collected their child/ren.
The guidance states that ‘From 16 August 2021, children under the age of 18 years old will no longer be required to self-isolate if they are contacted by NHS Test and Trace as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case’.
Instead, children will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace, informed they have been in close contact with a positive case and advised to take a PCR test. We would encourage all individuals to take a PCR test if advised to do so.
If your child has any of these symptoms, it is vital that your child gets tested for COVID-19; this can be arranged online: The main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:
As there is currently no self-isolating for children you should only keep your children at home if they have had a positive PCR Test or are unwell or have any symptoms of COVID-19. Children should not come into school if they have symptoms, have had a positive test result or other reasons requiring them to stay at home due to the risk of them passing on COVID-19.
If a member of your family has symptoms or a positive test you should all get a test but only adults who have not been vaccinated should isolate until they have the results;
If anyone in our school develops COVID-19 symptoms, however mild, we have been advised to send them home and they should follow public health advice.
Our school and nursery will continue to have a role in working with health protection teams in the case of a local outbreak. If there is an outbreak in our school or if central government offers the area an enhanced response package, a director of public health might advise us to temporarily reintroduce some control measures.
If anyone has to self-isolate, there will be learning available to individuals.
Please click here for a parent/carer leaflet we have created. If your child has to go home, we will give this to you on collection of your child.
If a child has symptoms they will be moved to the 'Rainforest Room' (our additional medical room in response to COVID) and you will be asked to collect them immediately. Any person with symptoms must get a PCR test. Depending on the outcome of the test result, your child may need to isolate or return to school.
From September, the government have said that all children must attend school. We will continue to follow our school’s attendance policy which was in place before the response to COVID-19. Mrs Pitts, our Attendance Assistant, will be following up any non-attendance. It is important to remind you that holidays will not be authorised and leave of absence forms must be completed. Please contact the office via Studybugs so that we can arrange a safe collection or delivery of this form.
Our cleaning and premises staff have given the school a deep clean. A cleaner will be in school each day so there will be regular cleaning of toilets, door handles, light switches and hard surfaces during the day. Each day there will be thorough cleaning of the school. Cleaning materials are available in every classroom for staff to use if necessary.
Children should not wear masks or face coverings. Staff will not wear masks or face coverings unless they are supporting a child with symptoms, who is waiting to be picked up or they are delivering intimate care.
Regular hand washing will take place throughout the day. Children will be encouraged to follow good respiratory hygiene - ‘Catch it, bin it, kill it ’. Regular toilet breaks will be built into the day and access to toilets will be carefully managed. The number of children in toilets at any one time will be limited to children from the same year group at any one time. Toilets will be cleaned regularly throughout the day.