Dear Parents

This week, we have been in school getting ready for next week and it has been lovely to meet up with the staff.  We are all looking forward to the children’s return or arrival as in the case of the Nursery and our Early Years children.

We have had a few queries, which I hope to answer below:

•   Staggered Starts

•   Nursery new starter’s transition

•   Out of School Club

•   Nurture

•   Reading Books

•   Seesaw/Home Learning

Staggered Starts

The safest way of getting all the families on site and the children dropped off in their classrooms is to stagger the starts whilst Covid-19 is prevalent.

We are aware that parents are having to adjust their timings and thank you for bearing with us.  We sent out the drop off times in a previous email this week on Wednesday 26 August.  I am afraid as we are such a large school, we cannot make bespoke adjustments for some and not others.  Please drop one child and if there is a gap between drop-offs take a short walk off site so that people don’t cluster and return to drop the second child at the appropriate time.  We need to keep the site as socially distanced and safe as possible.

A reminder that:

·         We need to ensure that families do not cluster at the classroom doors at drop off/pick up times

·         Please make sure adults are socially distanced on site at all times and keep moving and remaining distanced

·         Please do not use the drop off zone as we need to keep this area clear to ensure that foot traffic can circulate safely

·         Mobile phones must not be used on site to safeguard all the children

·         Year 6 children must leave their mobile phones at the office

·         Please follow the maps around site ensuring there is one way foot traffic and do not be tempted to take a short cut!

·         A reminder that only Year 6 children are permitted to bring rucksacks.  All other year groups (Reception to Year 5) must use school book bags.

Nursery new starter’s transition

We are really looking forward to seeing our new nursery starters arriving in September. Prior to the summer, we were not able to have settling in sessions unfortunately due to Covid-19. 

We will make sure that all the new starters are signed up to Tapestry by Mrs Tarlton as soon as the term begins, if they haven’t already.  Mrs Hollingsworth has emailed the letter that we usually hand out on the home visits, which unfortunately will not be able to take place this year in the same way.  A Zoom ‘catch-up’ with the teacher, parent and child to get to know each other, will be offered to each new family. 

The staff in Nursery will create a bespoke transition with you, the parents, to ensure the children settle down quickly and confidently.  The Nursery Team have been working hard in the unit to create a very inviting and exciting environment to explore and learn in. 

There has been a technical problem with ParentMail but all Nursery children should have received the letter from Mrs Hollingsworth today and a member of the nursery team will call all parents next week to resolve any other questions you may have.

Out of School Club

At the beginning of the term we are inviting all the 660 children into school and  in line with managing the new bubbles and procedures for the increased numbers, we need to make sure our systems that we have put in place last term still operate safely with the increased numbers for drop offs, lunches, play times, toilets etc.  We need to maintain bubbles as far as possible to reduce the risk of any Covid symptoms/cases spreading rapidly across the site.

When we are confident that our systems are as safe as possible during the school day we intend to reopen the OSC before and after school, being mindful of minimising the cross contamination of bubbles as far as possible.  At present, we hope that this will be possible mid to late September, but we will keep you informed. 

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by not opening straight away, but the safety of the children and adults is our paramount focus.

Nurture

Nurture breakfasts sessions previously ran on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays when we supported children from across the school.  At this present time, we will not be resuming them as we cannot mix the bubbles; however, in time they will hopefully run again.  Again, we will keep you updated.

Nurture lunchtimes will be running in year groups and children can still receive additional support at lunchtimes if required but still remain within their bubbles.  Members of the Inclusion Team will also be in the lunch hall to support children if they need any additional help.

Reading Books

Reading books will not be sent home with children at the present time.  Reading at home will still be able to take place using the Reading Eggs and Bug Club online systems, for which we have had very positive feedback.

Seesaw/Home Learning

As Seesaw has proved to be very successful, we will be using it as a vehicle for home learning in the future and new codes will be sent out for each child soon.

If you have any more questions or queries please contact the school office, , which they will then pass onto me and we will do our best to address them as soon as possible.

Take care and rest assured that we will do our very best to look after your children with a stringent risk assessment in place to reduce the risks as far as is possible.

Best wishes and have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend.

Alison Harvey