Our 2m distancing lines

Mr Gilbert has been busy getting school ready for when some children return next week.

There will be a STRICT one way system in place form Monday 8th June – in through the front gate and out through the back gate.  This is to ensure social distancing when on the school site for everyone’s safety.

Dear Parents,

I hope you and your family are safe and well.

We hope you were able to have an enjoyable ‘half term’ and a nice Bank Holiday Monday.

School is beginning to get ready to open to more pupils this half-term, the children from Nursery, Reception, Years 1 and 6 in addition to continuing to offer care to the children of Key Workers.  School will remain to be VERY different for the children who return to school and the parents of children in these classes should have received additional information about how school will be different – including different timings to the ‘normal’ school day, lunchtimes, smaller classes and a VERY different way of working.

We will continue to get in touch by phone to see how the children are getting on with their online activities and to keep in touch.   For those that don’t have internet access or access to devices we will make arrangements to provide paper packs of work if you need them.  You can request these when we give you a call.  For those that do have access, please continue to use our recommended daily online learning sites: BBC Bitesize, educationcity.com and The National Academy.  If you have any questions or need any advice please give the school a call.

First Holy Communion and Confirmation (Year 3 and 6)

As I’m sure you’re aware, places of worship are closed and gatherings forbidden.  This means that First Holy Communion and Confirmation is postponed indefinitely at this time.  We will contact you to let you know when it can be rearranged but this is unlikely to be for some time yet and certainly not before the end of the academic year. We will work together with the Church and let you know the new arrangements as soon as we can.

Keep in touch!

I really mean it when I say we miss you all terribly and can’t wait until it’s safe to be back together.  School is certainly not the same without all the children and their families.  In the meantime you know where we are if you need us and we’ll be calling you to say hello again soon.  Please again accept our kindest wishes if you have been affected by illness and our most heartfelt sympathy and care if you have lost a loved one.

We keep you and all of your families in our prayers all the time.

Take care,

Mrs Chapman

Head of School

Dear Parents,

You should have received a letter through the post from us about the
arrangements we have made in case schools reopen to some year groups
in June.

It’s your choice!

We know you will want to think about what to do and so we will get in touch
after half term to find out if you wish to send your child to school or not. As a school we can’t wait to get back to some kind of normal when it’s deemed safe enough to do so but we absolutely respect everyone’s right to decide what is best for their child/ren and family.

Please remember at all times it’s your choice and you certainly don’t have to send your child to school if you choose not to. You won’t be challenged in any way if you choose not to send your child back to school and we will continue to support you with regular calls and online activities.

School will be very different to normal

We are busy changing the school layout and systems in order to comply fully with the government guidance. Before we reopen we will publish all of our risk assessments and organisational arrangements on our website for you to read.

It is important to remember that if and when we reopen, the school will be a very different experience for everyone. We will do our very best to make school as stimulating and enjoyable as we can but the safety guidance in place means there are big restrictions on what it will be possible for the children to do. We will do all we can to make school as nice as we can but it will be very different and the way we work and play will be very restricted.

Opportunities for playing normal playtime games will be greatly limited as close contact and proximity between children won’t be allowed. Whilst schools are not expected to maintain social distancing of 2m between pupils, we will be doing all we can to keep everyone as far apart from others as possible. This will become a new ‘school rule’ that we will have to reinforce. If you are considering sending your child back to school please speak to them about this.

For our very youngest children in Nursery and Reception class, school at this time will seem very different and may be difficult for them to get used to at first. There won’t be any play equipment or climbing equipment and again the children will need to be kept apart as much as possible. They will be seated at individual desks.

There will be a strict one-way system in place for parents to follow

Parents and carers will need to allow extra time for dropping off and picking up as 2m social distancing for adults will be very important. There will be a strict one-way system in place whereby parents have to enter the school through the front gate, drop off their child/ren and exit school through the back gate.

Times of day will be different and we will finish at lunchtimes on Friday

As you know the times of the day will be different to stagger the number of people dropping off and picking up. We will finish straight after lunch on Friday and the children will go home earlier than before. The children will have to sit at separate desks and will only be with half of their class as a maximum. The children won’t be able to mix with other groups of children and will have separate playtimes spent only with their group of up to 15 children.

We will need to ask you to ‘book’ your child’s place in class each week

It’s vitally important we know from one week to the next who is expected in school and who isn’t. This can be done by phone or email and we’ll explain what to do when we call you after half term. Please note that we have places for everyone – nobody will miss out on a place if they need one.

Please also remember that the Prime Minister is yet to give the final go ahead for schools to reopen. An announcement is expected on Thursday 28th May. We will contact you by no later than Tuesday 2nd June either way to confirm if our plans are going ahead. We’ll also call you week beginning 1st June whatever happens. The Board of Directors will not go ahead with the reopening if there are any safety concerns or staff shortages. We will keep you fully updated and at the moment none of the plans are confirmed.

Thanks so much for reading this letter. We’ll continue to prepare the school and we will be in touch after the half term holiday. Please make the best decision for your family and be assured we will support you as best we can whatever you decide. Please also bear in mind you will be able to book your child in and book them out a week at a time – we don’t expect you to make a decision that binds you for the whole half term – there will be the flexibility to book a week at a time.

Our very kindest regards to you and your entire family,

Mrs S Chapman
Head of School

Spelling winners!

On Friday 28th February the spelling and Phonic winners for last half term were presented with their wining gift vouchers!

Children are given weekly spellings to learn and then tested the week after.  If you get full marks the children are given a raffle ticket to put in the jar and at the end of every half term a winner is drawn!

Well done winners!

Our FairAware status!

On Tuesday 28th January we successfully renewed our FairAware status!

Receiving the FairAward Status shows that we are aware of the Fairtrade organisation and the work they do to help people all over the world!

In addition to assemblies about Fairtrade and learning in lessons we also run a daily Fairtrade tuck shop which helps us to support and understand the work of the Fairtrade organisation.