Return To School
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope you have had an enjoyable and relaxing summer. We are incredibly excited to be welcoming you back to school and cannot wait to get started. I wanted to take the opportunity to inform you of a number of things you will need to be aware of as we start the school year.
School Times
Children will return to school on Wednesday 1st September and we have removed the staggered starts and finishes to the school day. Classroom doors will open at 8.45 for all pupils, apart from Nursery, and registers will close at 9.00 as will the school gates. This means that anyone arriving after 9.00 will be late for school. The end of the school day will be 3.05 for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children, and 3.10 for Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 children.
Attendance
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic children have missed a significant amount of time in school. It is incredibly important that children attend school regularly and that they are punctual. We understand that some parents have concerns or issues around children attending school and we would urge you to work with us. We will do all that we can to support parents and children so that they can attend. If your child is not in school we cannot teach them and they are missing out on the opportunity to achieve their potential. Please feel free to discuss any issue or concerns you have around attendance with us.
School Uniform
Our school uniform policy has remained in place throughout the pandemic however we have been more relaxed with this due to difficulties parents have faced. In September we will return to applying the school uniform policy as we did prior to the pandemic.
PE Kit
Wearing PE kit for the whole day will remain in place. Children and parents that I have spoken to have felt this to be a positive change and this is something we will keep.
COVID Protocols
Although we have relaxed a few of the protocols around school including removing the staggered starts and ends to the day we are going to be keeping many in place. This is to ensure we can do all that we can to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 around school in order to keep children, staff and parents safe. A few important points to note include:
• Children will spend the majority of the time in class bubbles however the whole class will not have to isolate if one pupil tests positive.
• Only children who test positive will need to isolate. Those who are identified by NHS Track and Trace as close contacts will be encouraged to take a PCR test.
• Staff will continue to complete LFD tests twice weekly.
• We will still have onsite cleaning taking place throughout the day with all touchpoints regularly cleaned.
• All classrooms will be well ventilated throughout the day in order to ensure good air flow.
• We will be installing CO2 monitors throughout the school in order to ensure ventilation is effective.
We are looking forward to having all of the children back in school next week and excited about the year ahead.
Mr S. Mason
Head Teacher