Newsletter May 29th 2020
School opening June 1st 2020.
You will all be aware that Boris Johnson has confirmed that schools will start to reopen as of June 1st. Therefore, we are going to move forward with our plan as follows: –
Monday and Tuesday – Reception, Year 1, and Year 6.
Wednesday and Thursday – Years 3, 4, and 5.
We will also be providing spaces for Key Worker children and for respite as well as for identified vulnerable children.
Friday the school will be closed to all of our children, other than new children who will be transitioning into the school as from September. This will reduce the contact that our current children have with any visiting families. It will also allow for the school to be deep cleaned ready for the following week, with two rest days over the weekend, prior to children coming in on the following Monday.
Transport
Numbers in each vehicle will be greatly reduced to allow for social distancing. Taxis will carry one child, unless there are more children from the same household attending school. Other vehicles will carry between two, three and four children, depending on the size of the vehicle. They will be bringing the children in for 9.00am and collect the children at 3.00pm onwards.
Parents are asked to drop their child off at 9.30 and collect at 2.45pm. This means that the taxis and minibuses are off the premises before parents arrive and again stopping any potential transmission of the virus.
Safety in School
On arrival at school all staff and children will have their temperature taken. If it is high, the member of staff will be asked to return home, checking their temperature at regular intervals and self-isolating if their temperature remains high. Children will be asked to go to the isolation room and their temperature checked again after a 15 minute period. If the temperature remains high, we will be asking parents to collect their children and advising them to self-isolate.
Both staff and families can now book a test for Covid-19, if they are displaying any of the symptoms: –
High temperature
A new dry cough that is persistent
Changes to their taste or smell.
Children in school, will be allocated a class base, their ‘bubble’, which is where they will remain throughout their time in school. We know that the spread of the virus is greatly reduced when outside, therefore, children will have access to outside areas for play and for outside learning. All areas have been timetabled so that the groups do not mix or mingle, with staggered breaks and lunch times.
We understand that our children will find it difficult to social distance. Staff have been allocated to the groups so that all children will have one to one support, with the member of staff taking responsibility for the child’s social distancing. There are additional staff to support personal hygiene routines or to support the children in self-isolation.
Breaks and lunches will be taken in the ‘bubble’ with staff support.
Hand Washing
On arrival at school, all staff and children will be asked to wash their hands. All rooms are equipped with hand sanitiser, with a full handwashing protocol in place with regular handwashing throughout the day, before breaks, after breaks, before snacks and after snacks etc.
We know that the virus stays on fabric for up to 6 hours. As a result, the classes have been stripped back and all soft furnishings and soft toys have been removed. Please do not send in any soft toys as they will not be able to take these into the classrooms.
All classroom areas have sanitising wipes and sprays. All equipment will be sanitised after use, with regular cleaning of tables and resources throughout the day.
Clothing
All staff have been asked to wash their clothes every evening, and to take a shower as soon as they get home. We are asking you to do the same for the children. Unless you have several changes of uniform available, there is no need to send your child into school in their school uniform, but they will need to be in clean clothes each day. Again, this limits the transmission of any virus.
Personal Protective Equipment. (PPE)
All staff will be wearing PPE. This is in place to protect the children. The PPE consists of an apron, a face mask (in some cases a full-face visor) protective glasses and gloves when needed.
The masks are to stop any moisture droplets from being spread and the face masks also stop staff from touching their faces.
If your child wishes to wear a mask they are welcome to do so, but this is not essential.
I hope this reassures you about the safety measures we are taking to protect the children and staff from any spread of the virus.
We look forward to welcoming back those children that have been identified and hope that in the near future we can start to expand this provision for more families. In the mean time please stay safe.
Cherie
Headteacher