I trust that this letter finds you well as we approach the end of what has been a very different sort of summer break. All our staff are back in school on 1st and 2nd of September for planned INSET work on safeguarding and training on teaching writing.

We have been very busy in school during the last week of August preparing for reopening following the Government guidelines, ensuring that the school is COVID-19 safe. We are very much looking forward to welcoming children back to site next week.

As explained in the communication with parents last summer term, we will be staggering the start and finish times for each year group. All children will be starting back on Thursday 3rd September 2020. There will be plenty of staff around to remind children where to go until they feel confident with the new systems.

Year 3 - Arrival 8:45am / Finish 3:00pm

Year 4 - Arrival 9:15am / Finish 3:30pm

Year 5 - Arrival 9:00am / Finish 3:15pm

Year 6 - Arrival 8:30am / Finish 2:45pm

Centre - Arrival 9:00am / Finish 3:15pm

We appreciate some children have not been in school for many months, and that our new year 3 children have not been able to participate in the full range of transition activities that we would usually provide. We are therefore planning a ‘restorative start’ to the new school year, with a focus on settling in, rebuilding friendships and establishing routines and expectations.

We have carefully considered how to keep the school community as safe as possible and have completed a detailed risk assessment of all areas of school life. Our guiding principles to ensure a safe routine have been as follows:

• Keeping health, safety and wellbeing at the core of our work. 

• Carefully reviewing Government guidance and going beyond the minimum expectations in order to minimise the risks to our school community. 

• Regularly reviewing our arrangements and being open to change where necessary • Acknowledgement some things will need to be different during this ‘season’ as we address the challenges currently faced by the whole country. 

Key actions that we are taking to minimise the risk posed by COVID-19 include:

• Focussing on personal hygiene (eg hand washing, Catch It, Kill It, Bin It)

• Physically separating the children into class sized ‘bubbles’

• Keeping children within their class groups wherever possible and keeping each class to its own unique room

• Where mixing between classes is absolutely necessary, this will only take place between classes in the same year-group and where risk mitigation measures are in place (eg during outdoor play, or in small groups with social distancing in place)

• Limitation of the use of intervention rooms and cleaning these between use by different groups

• Reduction of movement around the school through operating a one way system with specific doors used by different year groups as entrances and exits.

Back to School Rules:

• Keep to your own class group; stay at least 2m away from other classes

• Wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, especially after using the toilet and before eating

• Catch it, kill it, bin it

• Be kind to each other

• Stay in your classroom and allocated play space

In order to keep everyone safe at school, please be aware of the Government’s guidelines regarding quarantine and self-isolation (see attached table). In particular, children should stay at home if:

• They, or any other member of the household, has symptoms of COVID-19

• They have returned within the last 14-days from a country that is not currently on the Government’s ‘Travel Corridor’ list

Please remember to contact the school office if your child is not attending school for any reason using the Studybugs app.

I attach a further information document that contains more detail and answers to questions that you may have. If you have any queries that we have not addressed, then please contact us via the school office.

We look forward to seeing you all again from Thursday.

Kind regards,

Debbie Brown.

 

Table 2: Self Isolation Advice for Parents:  

What to do if…	Individual action needed	Return to school when
My child has COVID-19 symptoms	Do not come to school  Contact the school daily  Self-Isolate  Get a test  https://self-referral.test-for-coronavirus.service.gov.uk/antigen/name  Inform the school immediately of the test result	The test is returned as negative.    If positive, please see next line.
My child tests positive for COVID-19	Do not come to school  Contact the school daily  Self-Isolate for at least 10 days  Inform the school immediately of the test result	10 days have passed since the positive test and the child is feeling better.    A child can return after 10 days even if they still have a cough or loss of sense of smell / taste. These symptoms can last for several weeks once the infection has gone.
Someone in my child’s household has COVID-19 symptoms	Do not come to school  Contact the school daily  Self-Isolate  Household member to get a test:  https://self-referral.test-for-coronavirus.service.gov.uk/antigen/name  Inform the school immediately of the test result	The household member test is returned as negative.    If positive, please see next line.
Someone in a child’s household has tested positive for COVID-19	Do not come to school  Contact the school daily  Self-Isolate for 14 days (even if the child has tested negative for COVID-19)  Inform the school immediately of the test result	14 days have passed since the family member tested positive.    The child must continue to self-isolate for the full 14 days even if they personally test negative for COVID-19.
NHS Test and Trace have identified a child or staff member as a ‘close contact’ of someone with COVID-19	Do not come to school  Contact the school daily  Self-Isolate for 14 days (even if the child has tested negative for COVID-19)	14 days have passed since the individual was contacted by NHS Test and Trace.    The child must continue to self-isolate for the full 14 days even if they personally test negative for COVID-19.
A child is planning to travel / has travelled to a destination requiring quarantine	Do not take unauthorised leave in term-time  Consider quarantine requirements and FCO travel advice when booking travel; consider possibility of quarantine requirement, even if not in force at the time of booking    If returning from a destination requiring quarantine:  Do not come to school  Contact the school daily  Self-Isolate for 14 days (even if the child has tested negative for COVID-19)	14 days have passed since the child returned from travel.    A negative COVID-19 test does not remove the need for a 14-day quarantine.
A child has received medical advice that they must resume shielding	Do not come to school  Contact the school as advised by the Headteacher / Pastoral Team  Shield for as long as recommended by medical advice	When restrictions are lifted, or medical advice is that your child can attend school again.
A member of my child’s household has been asked to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace    Or    A member of my child’s household is in quarantine at home following travel	Your child may continue to attend school  If any member of your household has symptoms of COVID-19, you should self-isolate immediately and the ill person should get a test:  https://self-referral.test-for-coronavirus.service.gov.uk/antigen/name	Provided that your child has not been asked to self-isolate or quarantine, and no member of your household has symptoms, your child can attend school.

Version 1.0 (updated 27th August 2020)