Dear Parent / Carer,
Since my last letter, myself and the governing body have made several decisions on the reopening of school given the current guidance we have. Whilst the guidance can change and at short notice we are moving ahead with what we can and that currently is an understanding that potentially all children will be returning to school in September and that means all years being open at the same time. Whilst this will continue to mean some logistical changes like rotas for using the hall, playtimes etc there are some decisions that we can progress with now.
Firstly, that when school reopens staff will also require time to re-establish classroom settings, resources and prepare for a new curriculum. Therefore 2 staff training days have been moved from elsewhere within the year to allow for this and this will also remove having part weeks later in the year.
Secondly, that EYFS and new starters will still require a phased transition to deal with returning and changing rooms settings, teachers etc.
Thirdly, we recognise that returning to school after such a longer period of absence will be difficult for many children, not least our youngest in Early Years Provision, therefore we have made the decision that when our youngest children return they will move to their new class with the same teacher. This means that Mrs Bowe will move up to take Reception class and Mrs Nesom will move up to Year 1. Mrs Pedro will take over within Nursery for both 15 hr and 30 hr children whilst Miss Weaver will remain in Year 2.
Along with some initial staffing changes we will also introduce a new Recovery Curriculum that will run, for at least, the first half term (7 weeks) and focus upon re-establishing school procedures, deal with coverage of curriculum areas lost since March and assess where the children are socially, emotionally and academically when they restart. The intention of our Recovery Curriculum is to provide opportunities to rebuild relationships and a sense of community, space to re-establish a sense of self and to relearn behaviour for learning skills. The focus will be gently returning to some semblance of routine whilst enabling play, outdoor exploration and physical development. In between and in addition to these sessions, there will be timetabled sessions of physical activity and assessment of English and Maths skills to ensure children reengage with learning in a positive manner and teachers are able to ascertain clear starting points to move children forward. Planning for this can be extended or reduced to suit the needs of the class. However, every child and class is different so they may need more or less time to get back to ‘normal’.
Class Teachers will therefore have enough flexibility to apply and use a Recovery curriculum within the first 2 weeks of the new term to focus upon rebuilding and developing social, emotional skills and so children feel safe and nurtured. The following 5 weeks will then focus upon review and recovery of the previous Year groups Summer term key objectives revisiting, reviewing, learning and assessing these Key Objectives before moving on.
In addition, other changes will need to be made including removing class and whole school assemblies, limiting visits and visitors, the full implication of how we might return will of course depend on the release of new guidance over the coming days and weeks.
Each afternoon, from the first week, lessons would retain coverage of your child’s year group foundation subjects – with obvious adjustments in order to maintain progression within each topic.
An example of our First 2 weeks Recovery Curriculum
Recovery Curriculum Plan will be based on social emotional development alongside revisit, review and assess of the previous curriculum
By starting with what we can do we can share with you how we hope the school will look and feel in the new academic year. However, all of this is subject to change given any new guidance from the Government.
Please continue to stay safe at home.
