September re-opening

We are looking forward to welcoming the children back to school on Thursday 3rd September.  The summer holiday draws to a close and we have worked hard to prepare the site and staff to protect everyone from infection.  The detail of our risk assessment and action plan will be published via SchoolPing message.  Please note that each plan and RA is subject to review and all planning is very fluid at the moment, things can change with short notice, depending on updates and guidance from the government.  

The planning detail  is based on the latest guidance from the DfE.  All updates have been monitored throughout the summer holiday to ensure our plans are in line with current instructions.  There have been no significant changes to the school plans since the last update in July, as the DfE details has not changed either.  

Here is a summary of the key aspects for you to note:

• all children are expected to return to school at the usual times on Thursday 3rd September
• we will reverting to our usual school hours at that point
• children will return to their new class groupings with their new teachers
• details of the new classes and teachers were published on the blog on Monday 13th July - please see earlier post for details

To prevent a spread of infection in the school we will be taking the following precautions:

• At the start of the day children will enter the school by the playground gates but must say goodbye to their parents at the gate, parents will not be allowed to enter the school playground in the morning
• A member of the SLT will be present at the gates to greet everyone each day and to be on hand to answer brief questions
• Members of staff will be present at the entrances to the school to ensure each child finds their correct classroom
• all children are expected to return to school
• children are not expected to socially distance in the school
• Seating arrangements in the classroom will be as they were originally
• we are organising children into year group bubbles, as per government instruction.  They can mix with other children only from their year group at playtimes and lunchtimes.  The playground and break timetable has been written to ensure year groups do not mix.
• children will be collected as usual at the end of the day, all parents are asked to keep 2m apart from members of staff
• at home time, parents may enter the playground to collect children.  A signpost for each class will be in place in the playground, each parent should proceed to the one relating to their child.  A line will be marked across the playground - parents are asked not to cross this, to keep distancing from our members of staff.  Parents are asked to line up at the posts to collect their children, please wait your turn and allow the teacher to instruct your child to cross the line to meet you. 
• we will be suspending the following during the autumn term - hall assemblies, parent visits to the school, educational visits, swimming lessons, singing and contact sports
• we are minimising the need for children to move around the building during the school day
• children will be expected to wash their hands each time they re-enter their classroom
• tables, chairs and door handles will be cleaned by our premises team during the lunch break
• a full clean of the premises will be completed at the end of each day
• children will be expected to wash hands frequently during the day, in the classrooms, soap and sanitiser will be available in each room
• year groups will be kept apart as much as possible - there will be separate playground spaces for each year group
• our existing precautions to manage suspected infection will continue, including testing, and track and trace.   Any child exhibiting symptoms will be isolated and sent home to be tested.  Any child sent home will only be allowed to return once a negative test result is shared with the school.
• we are trialling staggered lunch breaks for the year groups for the first two weeks, and these arrangements will be reviewed after this period to ensure our procedures are robust.
• children should wear their uniform to school, they do not have to wash this each day 
• children should not wear face masks in school, though are recommended to wear one on their journey to and from school
• parents and children are asked to socially distance themselves from others on their journeys to and from school

Our learning content for the beginning of the autumn term will be in response to the children's needs.  The curriculum planning for KS1 and KS2 will consist of two-week blocks: our bespoke recovery curriculum to heal the children and address well-being,  a sequence of revision lessons, re-assessing English and Maths, and then newly differentiated lessons to address the children’s new levels of attainment.  We hope to be back to normal timetabling by the half term.  We will be considering options for the best use of the new funding that has been promised by the Government for catch-up and tutoring.  At the moment the DfE have not confirmed any key details for these initiatives.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back in September and hope you will all trust the school to take the very best care of your children.  Their health and happiness is our top priority.  If you have any further questions please send an email to the school office, we hope to able to respond as soon as possible.