Monday 24^th August 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

We wrote to you last week with some arrangements for the reopening of school. We are looking forward to welcoming all children back to school  next week. This letter gives greater detail on reopening. A YouTube video will also be available on the school’s YouTube channel on Wednesday. A link to view this will be emailed to you.

Please also visit the Leicester City website that holds information for parents regarding the return to school which includes advice regarding children that are currently shielding or have a parent/carer that is shielding.

https://www.leicester.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/school-and-colleges/returning-to-school-for-the-autumn-term/

The school’s risk assessment is also able to be viewed on the school website.

Key Dates

• Tuesday 1^st September – Year 2, 4, 6 start school only
• Wednesday 2^nd September – Year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 to attend school
• Foundation stage – separate information will be sent to you regarding visits and start dates etc

How the school day will be managed

All parents and children will enter the site from Compton Road and leave the site onto Heyworth Road, this is to ensure social distancing can be maintained. Therefore, if you park your car at the Compton Road entrance, you will have to walk round from the Heyworth Road exit to collect it. The only exception to this will be people that have a disabled badge and who have access to parking on school site.

Only one parent is permitted on site per family to ease congestion – parents are expected to socially distance and to leave the site straight away after drop off and pick up. Year 5 and 6 pupils are asked to enter and exit the school site unaccompanied if possible; again, this will help with managing the flow of parents/children.

Children in KS1 will line up outside of their classroom door in the mornings and at drop off will be released from the classroom door. Children of KS2 – parents will drop/pick up children at the playground gates. It is important that parents social distance at all times and where possible wear a face covering when on school site.

Year 3/4 will enter/exit using the double gates on the junior playground and then line up outside classrooms. At pick up, Year 3 and 4 will be collected from the playground gates not from outside the classrooms.

Year 5/6 will enter/exit through the usual junior playground gate where they will be taken up to the classroom by their teachers. The YouTube video will explain this in more detail.

Staggered start and finish times will allow the school to manage the flow of parents and children safely. These timings need to be adhered to.

If KS2 pupils need to go to the KS1 playground to meet parents (due to drop off/pick up timings) KS2 teaching assistants in class bubbles will take them.

The school have been working with PlayFit and have organised pick up and drop off points with them so that pupils do not congregate altogether.

All classes will operate as bubbles and have staggered break and lunchtimes. The key stage 1 playground has 2 play zones and KS2 playground has 4 play zones which are socially distanced. Each class will have a box of equipment that they can use; this will not be mixed with other bubbles. Lunchtimes will be separated into 30 minutes eating time and 30 minutes outside playtime.

KS1/EYFS children will eat in the hall at lunchtime. KS2 children will eat hot meals in the studio and packed lunches in classroom; all tables will be forward facing and class bubbles will not mix. Tables and chairs will be cleaned between sittings. The school menu for hot dinners has been sent out to parents/carers and is also available on the school website.

In KS2, each year group will use a set of toilets – these will be timetabled so that class bubbles do not mix. Toilet use will also be timetabled in KS1 where toilets are shared as a key stage. If a child needs the toilet outside of these times a teaching assistant will check that the toilets are empty before they are allowed to use them.

What to bring

Hygiene; how will the risk to pupils and staff be managed?

The school has followed all government guidance regarding hygiene and managing risk – this is all contained in the school risk assessment.

The school has a rigorous handwashing and hygiene routine in place in line with government guidance. Children will wash their hands at regular intervals in the day for 20 seconds for example, when arriving/leaving school, before and after break/lunchtime and before and after PE. Before leaving the classroom to use the toilet, the children will use hand sanitiser, wash hands after using the toilet and then reapply hand sanitise when they enter the classroom.

The premises team will clean throughout the day and will focus on toilets and frequently touched areas such as door handles, banisters, light switches etc. Tables will be cleaned before and after lunch and between sittings. All classroom areas will be cleaned thoroughly at the end of each day.

All children from Year 2 upwards will be provided with a pencil case with writing materials that will be kept in the individual drawers. All shared resources will be wiped down before and after use ie IPADs, laptops, reading books.

The EYFS have a routine in place for cleaning shared resources once children start school.

If children are unwell and we suspect them to have Covid-19 symptoms, we will call you to collect them immediately. We will isolate them away from others and will continue to supervise them caringly. In line with guidance, staff will wear PPE during this time. You can access an NHS test for your child. If the test result is negative, children may return to school, if the test is positive, the school will inform Public Health England and follow their guidelines; for example asking bubbles to self-isolate for 14 days. The school has clear guidelines in place for this – please see the school risk assessment for details.

Communication and site access

As stated above only one parent/carer per family will be allowed on school site to ease congestion. If parents need to access the school building for example to see the office, please ring or email to make an appointment. All non-essential visitors/contractors will be unable to be on site during this time.

We appreciate that contact with teachers is not as readily available at the current time due to the pandemic, therefore class emails will be in use for time being. These can be found below and will able to be accessed from Friday 27^th August.

Teachers will check the year group email regularly and will respond where appropriate. Please be mindful that they will be teaching so will not be able to respond to emails immediately. If there is an urgent message that you would like passing onto a teacher, please contact the office.

You can also contact the school office if you would like to speak to the school family support worker, arrange a meeting with a teacher and to arrange a meeting to see myself or Mrs Nott. All meetings held in school will be socially distanced and we ask that parents wear a face covering where possible.

In the second week back all year groups will be holding remote welcome meetings, where they will discuss the curriculum and what experiences can be expected this year.

Learning and support for children

Where children are not able to attend the school due to shielding measures or in the case of self-isolation, the school will provide remote education. This will be through Google Classrooms. Teachers are being trained in the software on Friday and virtual training will be offered to parents in the first few weeks of term. Children will be taught how to use the system in school and log on details will be sent out in due course. Where children do not have access to the internet, paper work would be provided.

The lockdown period will have affected children differently and it is important that we provide support for all children’s mental health and well-being. The school have a 7 week recovery well-being curriculum that will be followed by all year groups and will focus on different areas each week. Children will have access to our team of mental health first aiders where appropriate and we will work with you where concerns arise. This has been an anxious time for everyone and it is important that as a school community we are supporting all of our pupils and staff.

Children have obviously missed a significant amount of schooling and we have plans in place to help children catch-up. This will be implemented in a range of ways including the use of the governments catch-up funding for disadvantaged children, intervention groups, and booster classes.

Policies and attendance information

The school behaviour policy has been updated to include expectations of behaviour during the coronavirus pandemic. This will be explained to children on their first day back. The behaviour policy can be viewed on the school website. Where children are deliberately breaking the behaviour expectations, parents will be informed. The school’s child protection policy is in the process of being updated in line with government changes and this will be added to the school website in due course.

All children are expected to return to school next week however, if a child cannot attend due to shielding advice received from a medical practitioner, the absence will not be affected. Absence will also be authorised where children are in self-isolation. However, the school are unable to authorise absence where parents are anxious about sending children back to school and choose not to. We appreciate that everyone will be anxious about the return to school and we ask that you contact the school with any concerns or issues you may have this week so that they can be discussed before the school reopens next week. 

We are here to support you and all decisions made have had the health and safety of children and staff at their heart.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Dulieu                   Raj Gill-Harrison

Headteacher               Chair of Governors