Possible Re-opening

Detailed Information (Whole School - 22/05/2020)

Dear Parents & Carers,

The Prime Minister has said that he hopes schools will begin to reopen from 1st June 2020. This period of lockdown has been challenging and stressful but now we are finally seeing some light ahead. As welcome as this is for some, it is vital that our schools proceed very carefully and seek to put the health and safety of our learners and staff first. In turn this will enable us to do our best to try to ensure families are safe. To achieve as safe an environment as possible, you will understand that our schools cannot operate as they did before lockdown. Hopefully, our schools can emerge incrementally and over time return to the structures and routines with which we are all familiar, but we cannot know when this might finally be accomplished, and safety must continue to be our first and paramount consideration. I know parents and carers will appreciate this position. We wish to thank all of you for your continuing support and understanding.

Our second objective is to ensure we provide the highest standard of education possible, being one that will help our learners make the greatest progress with a view to ensuring that none is disadvantaged by circumstances outside their control. Our school has spent a considerable amount of time analysing, considering and planning what and how learners will experience when they return to school. For most learners this will likely be a blend of school-based teaching and home-based learning. This is a new way of working for everyone and we will all need to adapt swiftly to maximise the prospects and opportunities for our learners.

This letter gives details of how we currently intend to provide schooling for our learners. Please read the details carefully. You may have further questions and a Frequently Asked Questions sheet has been produced from your survey responses. This can be found here

Keeping Safe

The trust requires schools to follow procedures that ensures all are safe in every school environment at all times during Phase One (1st June – 28th June 2020). As you will be aware this is an area of contention with schools caught up in the centre of a debate over scientific evidence of what is safe. This is a very challenging area for everyone, but especially so for families and staff. To maintain any level of effective separation, the number of learners in each classroom must be limited. In most cases this will mean about 8 learners depending on the size of the classroom and the number of pupils attending. Full classes will not presently be possible. This will have a significant impact on how our school will be able to deliver learning to every learner.

Initially, we intend that learners will stay in one classroom for all of their lessons with the same teacher. This will ensure minimal social contact. Each classroom will be given a deep clean before learners arrive for their lessons and after they have left. Upon entering a classroom every learner will be required to use hand gel to reduce any possible transmission of the Covid-19 virus.

Learners may wish to wear a face mask or a similar face covering but, if they do, their families will need to provide this. We will not require our learners to follow the school’s uniform policy. We ask learners to wear a top that is easily washable, e.g. a T-shirt/Polo shirt. The government recommends that where there has been social contact with others, the person should wash their clothes and they should shower or take a bath. We ask everyone to support this guidance to keep everyone as safe as we possibly can.

If your child is feeling unwell, please DO NOT SEND THEM TO SCHOOL. We appreciate this can be a difficult assessment to make but, for the time being, we need, and we ask you, to act with caution and, if in doubt, please keep them away from school for the sake of the safety of their fellow learners and the staff. If any learner begins to present with symptoms that indicate they are unwell they will be sent to the school’s medical room and parents/carers will be asked to collect them immediately. Our school will regularly take non-contact temperature checks on learners, especially any who appear to be unwell.

Lunchtimes will be highly supervised. Learners will be given a meal but will eat the food whilst observing social distancing rules. There will be no food available from the school for breakfast or at break times so learners are asked to bring their own snacks and drinks. Break times for learners will be staggered to minimise accidental contact.

Toilet facilities will be open and regularly cleaned during the school day. Once again, we will permit learners to use the facilities in small numbers to preserve social distancing, avoid accidental contact and keep everyone as safe as possible.

Getting to and from school is a critical area of concern for schools as the risk of social distancing rules being forgotten or ignored is greatly enhanced. Where a learner walks to school we ask parents/carers to issue clear guidance.

What will learning look like?

In order to provide the best possible quality of education for our learners, within the demands of social distancing, we have needed to construct a very different learning regime for our learners. The education we provide will be based upon a very simple model:

SIT, LISTEN & LEARN

In simple terms our teachers will deliver the knowledge and understanding of the topics being studied. This will be taught directly by the teacher or presented through visual resources. They will then set tasks for the learner to complete at home when they are not in school. Regrettably, until social distancing rules are relaxed, learners will need to operate with a higher level of independence. Teacher support will be restricted to that which can be delivered from the front of the class. For this learning system to work it is vital that each learner accepts a very high level of personal responsibility and completes their home-based tasks. Support materials will be available through our school’s website. It is crucial that parents and carers monitor and support this.

If this system of learning becomes semi-permanent next term, we will ensure as many learners who need I.T. support are able to access equipment and associated resources as we possibly can. Staff will not handle paper given the risk of cross contamination. Work to be marked will be sent as electronic files or, if on paper, in A4 plastic covers.

Key Workers & Vulnerable Children

We will continue to support the provision of learning facilities for vulnerable learners and those learners who have parents/carers who are designated key workers. Our schools will be contacting these families directly to explain what this package of support looks like for their children.

Attendance & Behaviour

Attendance at school during the directed session times is expected unless a learner is unwell. We appreciate that for some learners attending school may present health risks to them or their immediate families. Please contact school if this is the case.

Our new way of working will be demanding for learners and staff alike. It is important that everyone follows our trust’s expectations:

Work Hard; Be Kind

We ask that every learner act and behave in a socially responsible manner and respects the guidance our school has set out governing conduct and behaviour. We will contact parents/carers if we have concerns regarding any child’s behaviour.

It is plain that what has been described in this letter does not conform to ‘normal’ schooling as we have all known it in the past. Nevertheless, we will do our very best to support your child’s learning and ensure they receive the very best education possible. The school, as always, relies upon your active support during this difficult and challenging period.

If you have any concerns or questions, please contact the school through our website or by phone/email.

Yours sincerely,

R Gray SJ Latus

Head of School Chair of the Governing Body