Possible re-opening

Overview (Copy of Email from Mr Gray) (Whole School - 22/05/2020)

MOST CHILDREN WILL NOT BE RETURNING TO SCHOOL IN JUNE

On Wednesday June 3rd, we will welcome back our children of keyworkers and some other individual children to school. If your child is in the “others” group, you will receive an email from Mr Gray and a call from Lorraine Whistler to confirm. This will be a return to school, not to childcare.

When the government asks us to begin to re-open for whole year groups, the first year group back will be YEAR 1. Year 1 will attend school for 2½ hours only on a morning. The earliest date this might happen will be Thursday 4th June BUT this is only if the government asks us to re-open.

A week or two after that, YEAR 6 will attend school for 2½ hours a day – some in the morning, some in the afternoon, Monday to Thursday only.

We will NOT be re-opening Nursery or Reception Classes in June because we believe that the changes to the school rules and the way classrooms now look and feel is not in the best interests of our youngest learners.

WILL SEESAW STILL BE WORKING?

Yes, Seesaw will be running for all year groups, although there might be a little less contact from staff as many will be back in school working with children for some or all of the day.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF I DO NOT SEND MY CHILD BACK TO SCHOOL?

At this moment in time, the school will not be monitoring attendance in the usual way.

If we have not heard from you, we may call to confirm that your child is safely at home. The government has said that they will not impose fines on families who choose not to send their child back in June.

WHAT DOES THE SCIENCE SAY?

The scientists who give advice to the government have today said that "evidence on how likely children are to transmit the coronavirus remains ‘inconclusive’".

Children in school on June 1st have a 4% chance of catching coronavirus.

Children in school on June 15th have a 2% chance of catching coronavirus.

Children in school in September have a 0.5% chance of catching coronavirus.

WHY SO FEW CHILDREN?

Our classroom sizes are quite small. To keep around a 2 meter distance between everyone in a classroom means we can fit between 7 and 9 children in a room. Most of our year groups have between 50 and 60 children. Year 1 and keyworker children alone will use 11 of our 15 classrooms.

HAS SCHOOL BEEN CHANGED LIKE I’VE SEEN ON THE TV?

Parents, family members and visitors will not be allowed on the school grounds. Children will be in a “Bubble” not a “Class”. Each Bubble will have between 6 and 9 children and 1 or 2 adults depending on the size of the room. Start times, which gate to use, break times, lunch times and end times have all been staggered so that children and staff will not come into contact with anybody who is not in their bubble throughout the whole school day.

Classrooms have been stripped of beanbags, cushions, soft toys, fabrics and anything else which might be shared and spread the coronavirus. Rooms with shared resources such as the IT Suite and Library are closed and out of bounds.

Each child has their own chair at their own desk with their own tray containing their own paper, pencils, crayons and resources.

Children might be wearing face masks and teachers might be wearing face shields.

Cleaning regimes have been increased to match the threat of the virus.

WHEN WILL YOU LET US KNOW THAT SCHOOL IS OPEN FOR A YEAR GROUP?

The government does not give schools advanced warning of their announcements. When you hear an announcement on the news, it will take us a little while to get everything into place but we will contact you as soon as we can. This will always be by email and then posted on the school website.

A more detailed letter can be found on the school website. Full details of plans will be given closer to re-opening for our keyworker and other children ahead of June 3rd.

Mr Gray

Head of School