September Guidance for re-opening

Dear Parents/Carers,

Thank you again for your continued support, in what has been a testing time for all of us. As we enter the next part of the recovery phase of Covid-19, we are now in a position to re-open the school for ALL children from Thursday 3rd September.

Robust risk reduction measures will be in place to ensure that your children and our staff aren’t put at any unnecessary risk and although the information provided here may sound a little clinical, we know it will work for everyone if we all follow it carefully and play our part in making sure that we work as a school community.

Key information:
Start and end of the day:
In order to ensure that children are kept working in smaller bubble groups to prevent cross infection, they will be kept within their class or year group at all times.
Therefore we won’t be offering breakfast club or after school clubs until further notice.

If you bring your child to school then you will need to follow the one-way system that we have introduced in order to promote social distancing. You will need to come through the KS2 entrance and then walk around the school. For Reception and Nursery parents only this is different (staff will be out in the car park to guide you)
Only one parent/ carer per child.
Stay 2 metres away from other parents and children (not in your family).
Keep to the arrow guidelines.
No bikes or scooters on the playground (leave in the stands and walk round).

Start and end of the day – we need to stagger our start and end times to reduce the amount of people on our school site at any time.

Reception: 8.40am – 3.15pm

Y1 and Y2: 8.50am -3.25pm

Y3 and Y4: 8.50am -3.25pm

Year 5 and Y6: 8.40am -3.15pm

KEEP TO YOUR ALLOCATED TIME AS WE WON’T OPEN GATES EARLY OR LET YOU IN BEFORE YOUR TIME SLOT, YOU WILL BE ALLOWED IN 5 MINS BEFORE THE START TIME BUT NO EARLIER – we HAVE to reduce our numbers coming in and out at any time as we have a one way system for 400+ children. We MUST ensure we all remain SAFE.
No parents will be allowed into the school building when dropping off or collecting children.
If you have siblings in different year groups, drop off at the first time slot and pick up at the earliest .
Staff will be outside to greet your child and welcome them into school so they know which class to go into.

Will my child be socially distanced 100% of the time?
The government has been clear:
The focus is on bubbles of children in a class or year group.
Our children will be encouraged to remain apart from each other and staff at all times. However, I am sure you can appreciate that at times this might not always be possible.
If your child needs medical attention that will be dealt with in the usual way, i.e. not socially distanced and staff will have the suitable protective clothing to wear.
The focus is on:
· Minimising contact and not mixing children between bubbles – lunch and play times will be staggered.
· Avoiding contact with anyone with symptoms.
· Frequent hand washing and good respiratory practices.
· Children will have their temperatures checked when arriving at school and have their hands sanitised.
· Regular enhanced cleaning of equipment and the school throughout the day.

Equipment needed in school:
Each child may bring a book bag, coat and packed lunch (if in KS2). No rucksacks please.
PE kit can be brought into school and it will remain in school until the end of the Autumn term.
School will provide all hand sanitiser required.

Uniform
Full school uniform needs to be worn (as outlined on the school website/Weduc). This includes school shoes and NOT trainers.

School meals
Due to the changing of guidelines we are now only able to offer school lunches in September 2020 to Reception, Year 1, Year 2 (known as Universal Free School Meals) and Free School Meal eligible pupils in KS2.
If you fit into this criteria, lunches are available to book on ParentPay and the deadline to book lunches for 3rd and 4th September and w/c 7th September is Monday 20th July 2020.
A notice was sent out regarding ALL pupils booking lunches for September. Unfortunately we are no longer able to offer this for those who do not fit the above criteria. If you have already booked and paid for a meal for September your bookings will be cancelled and refunded.  This only applies to pupils who are NOT Free School Meals.  Pupils in KS2 and are NOT entitled to FSM will need to bring a healthy packed lunch and drink from home.
As a parent how can I help?
· Take your child’s temperature before you come to school; we will also take temperatures when your child arrives at school. If your child has a temperature then they will not be able to attend school that day.
·  If you are unsure about your child’s health then please ring a doctor or 111 for medical advice.
·If your child is at all unwell, or has a temperature above 37.8, keep them at home but ring school to explain why.
·Ensure your child has washed their hands before coming into school.
·Be on time and stick to your time for the staggered start to the day.
·School adults will not be routinely wearing face coverings, so please socially distance from the teacher, and other adults.
·Drop and go, please keep moving and do not stop and chat in the playground or outside the school gates.  At pick up time, please be prompt, but socially distanced while waiting.
·Send any messages for teachers via the school office phone number/email rather than on the playground.
·Use the KS2 gate as an entrance only. The KS1 gate will be used as an exit.

How can I communicate with the school office?
· For the safety of our office staff, we ask you to communicate with the office via email and phone, even if you are on the premises.
·If you have to come to the office, only one person in the lobby at a time and please stand at least two metres from the office window.

Infection Control:
· All parents/ carers must be contactable during the school day.
· You MUST keep your children at home if they are unwell. Follow the NHS guidance if symptoms are Covid-19 related.
· If children show or develop symptoms during the school day they will be taken to a designated isolation room and made comfortable while they wait to be collected.
· If your child has a confirmed case of Covid-19 then you must let us know and they must isolate for 14 days. School will inform you of confirmed cases within your child’s class bubble. ALL members of the bubble (staff and children) will then need to self isolate for 14 days before they return to school.

PPE
Following DfE guidance, we do not encourage the use of face masks in school. PPE is only needed in a small number of cases:
· If a child becomes unwell and shows symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19).
· Where a child needs assistance with intimate care.
· If a member of staff has been shielding and needs higher levels of risk reduction to ensure they remain safe when mixing with groups of children.
In these situations, staff will wear PPE protection

Many thanks for your continued support and understanding while dealing with the pandemic. We are looking forward to seeing everyone back in school in September and have robust hygiene measures in place to reduce the risk of infection. We are also working hard as a staff, to ensure that we quickly reassure and settle your child back into school so that they can ‘catch up’ on any learning missed.
If you have any questions or queries then please ring the school office and we will try to answer. In the meantime, have a fantastic summer break and keep looking out for any updates in light of changes to government guidance (these will be shared on the school website, via Weduc and the school Facebook page).

Kind regards,
T.Brown
Head of Academy