Dear Year 1 Parent / Carer,
I hope that you all remain safe and well. Further to my previous letter on the phased reopening of school I am pleased to say that we will be reopening Year 1 to confirmed pupils on the Monday 29th June. Following last week’s Welfare Calls, on Monday a text message and email was sent to those parents who had yet to notify us as to whether their child required a place or not in order to confirm final numbers and this has now been followed up with individual telephone calls today.
I can now tell you that we will be opening 1 bubble for Year 1 lead by Mrs Pedro along with Miss McLean and Miss Hamilton. A text to confirm if your child has been allocated a place will be sent out tomorrow Wednesday 24th June at 1pm.
Although some guidance has changed since my last letter (the development of ‘Support Bubbles’) much remains the same. This means there will still be some changes to how we do things but we will ensure that the children’s emotional wellbeing comes first and we will be including lots of positive messages about hygiene, keeping ourselves safe and discussing feelings about change.
Keeping children in their own class and with some familiar staff will help to lessen any worries or fears about returning to school and still allows children to be part of a friendship group whilst maintaining safe group sizes.
The children will be based in the Year 1 classroom and main outdoor yard and not in any other part of the school. Your child will need to be dropped off at 8.45 and collected at 3.00 using the main external Entrance door as you would normally on a morning (please see Phase reopening booklet).
Click here for Phase reopening and Updated Parent Protocol
Please ensure that you adhere to social distancing rules with other parents when waiting for your child.
Please note that this provision will only be available Monday to Thursday from Monday 29th June until the end of Term. School will be closed to all staff and pupils every Friday – this will also allow a sterile 72 hour period before reopening each week.
Below is an outline of other important changes to note:
- Children need to be brought to school and collected from school by a member of their household / support bubble (please notify the office if this is the case) :
Using a support bubble for informal childcare
From 13 June, if you are a lone parent you can form a support bubble with another household to provide informal (i.e. unpaid) childcare for them or for them to provide informal childcare for you. You should not form a support bubble with more than one household.
You must not:
Form a support bubble with another household if neither you nor they are in a single adult household
- Children can not be collected by a childminder or family member that do not live with them (unless they meet the criteria to form a ‘support bubble’). This may change if the government relax their guidance on social contact in the future
- Each “bubble” will have access to an indoor and outdoor environment every day. We will be allowing the children to play in the same area of the environment but will give age-appropriate reminders about social distancing and over-crowding an area. There will be staggered outdoor play and lunchtimes, with very limited contact between different bubbles. Each child will eat their lunch within their room with the same staff each day
- We will be making as much use of the outdoor play environment as possible as medical research shows there is less risk of infection when in the fresh air. We anticipate that the vast majority of our curriculum will be delivered outdoors until the end of the summer term. Please ensure that your child comes dressed appropriately for the weather each day
- If a person within the bubble family tests positive for Covid-19, the whole group MUST self-isolate for 14 days
- There will be limited access to resources to reduce the possibility of cross contamination. We have been advised to remove certain play equipment e.g. playdough, water, sand, etc from all our environments. Certain resources will have to be cleaned by staff each day. To minimise the spread of the virus, children will be encouraged not to bring any resources to or from school
- Children will be reminded regularly of the needs for frequent handwashing throughout the school day (at least 5 times a day)
- Staff administering first aid or care needs will be required to wear PPE
- Unfortunately, parents will not be permitted to enter the school building at any point during the school day so we kindly request that all communication is done via email or telephone, and only in exceptional circumstances the school office.
- Children will have their lunchbox cleaned with anti-bacterial spray when entering school and they need to bring their own water bottle into school – they must be named and taken home for cleaning and refilling each day – those receiving a school dinner will be provided with a packed lunch / hot meal option each day.
- Please could you ensure that your child wears clean clothing each day – this does not have to be school uniform as long as it is practical for indoor and outdoor play
- Unfortunately, there will be no whole school events such as sports day, leaver concert, parent evening etc.
- Parents will need to be contactable at all times while their child is in school and must be able to collect them within a half hours’ notice if they or another school member displays symptoms of Covid-19
- If a child is being collected before or after their allocated beginning or end time, parents must not enter the school site but ring the school office on arrival.
We know that there are lots of changes and they can seem overwhelming for parents, but there will be many things staying the same too. We will do everything we can to make sure your child is kept safe and happy. As you have chosen to send your child back, we know that you are supporting us in this unfamiliar time. We are very much looking forward to welcoming back your child for the last few weeks of term and will strive to make this a positive experience for them.
Please continue to stay safe at home.
Yours sincerely
Mr M A Watson
Headteacher
Click here for Phase reopening and Updated Parent Protocol
