Dear Parents,

I can’t believe how quickly the time has flown by this holiday and now we need to focus on the return to school. I had been waiting to see what the latest advice from the Department of Education was before contacting you. As we have found out previously, guidance can change quite quickly and I wanted to make sure we were certain about our plans for September.

There will be no more staggered starts or pick up times and so from the start of term, September 7th 2021, pupils will all come into school at the original start time of 8:45am and pick up time is 3:15pm. Please can parents drop pupils off at the main school and car park gate? Pupils may come onto the site and staff will be at the gates to ensure site safety. Parents may not come onto the site at this time. Year 3 parents, we will make sure that there are a range of staff and signs to ensure the children find their classes with ease.

At the end of the day, teachers will bring pupils out to their designated pick up areas and hand the children over to their parents. Please can we ask that you allow staff to carry out this task without approaching them for conversations as they need to focus on pupil safety as a priority.

Any pupil who walks home alone will have to have a letter/ or email sent to the school office, from their parents, to authorise this.

Pick up points for classes 

Top Gate: Pine and Elm Classes (Parents can wait on the tennis court for children to be brought up, this will lessen the congestion on the pavement by the traffic lights)

Main Gate: Willow, Rowan, Hazel and Oak

Car Park Gate: Holly, Fir, Cedar, Sycamore, Ash, Yew

If you wish to communicate with a member of staff you can through the Class Dojo sites but please be aware that teachers may take up to 2 full working days to reply to you and will not reply over the weekends. Any urgent messages can be emailed to the office.

Changes to COVID-19 measures

The children will no longer need to be in strict bubbles but high standards of hygiene such as hand washing, using tissues for sneezes and high standards of ventilation will remain in place. Assemblies where the whole school gathers together can go ahead, as can the wider mixing of pupils and staff.

We will be updating and sharing our new school risk assessment and if we feel it is required we may need to introduce contingency plans if we feel there are significant enough cases to warrant a return to some of the previous COVID-19 measures. We will share our contingency plans for stepping up and down measures in due course.

The DFE guidance states (17/8/21):

“Individuals are not required to self-isolate if they live in the same household as someone with COVID-19, or are a close contact of someone with COVID-19, and any of the following apply:

• they are fully vaccinated
• they are below the age of 18 years and 6 months
• they have taken part in or are currently part of an approved COVID-19 vaccine trial
• they are not able to get vaccinated for medical reasons

Instead, they will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace, informed they have been in close contact with a positive case and advised to take a PCR test. We would encourage all individuals to take a PCR test if advised to do so.

Children and young people aged under 18 years 6 months who usually attend school, and have been identified as a close contact, should continue to attend school as normal.”

What should I do if my child shows symptoms?

DFE guidance states that:

“They should not come into school if they have symptoms, have had a positive test result or other reasons requiring them to stay at home due to the risk of them passing on COVID-19 (for example, they are required to quarantine).

If anyone in  school develops COVID-19 symptoms, however mild, we will send them home and they should follow public health advice.

Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms or a positive test result should stay at home and self-isolate immediately. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should arrange to have a PCR test as soon as possible. This still applies even if you have received one or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine.”

For further guidance please use this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

We will keep you updated on any changes that might occur as soon as we are made aware of them.

Given that the past 18 months have been so “unique” we are all hoping that the coming months and years will see us return to greater normality for our children’s education. However, with winter coming we will need to be aware that things might change.

I will write again soon and I hope to see you at the school gates and to have some parent coffee mornings where we can talk about the school, your children and our futures together.

Take care and best wishes

Ms Fiona Airey

Head Teacher