Love Library

• Year 6 Return

  Thu 21 May 2020

  Dear Parent/Carer,

   

  RE: Reopening of school in June

   

  Following on from the government’s announcement last week to reopen primary schools from June 1^st, I am writing to inform you of how we are planning to do this in the second half of the summer term.

   

  The staff and governors have considered the government’s published guidance very carefully in the formation of this plan. You can view the guidance for yourself via this link.

   

  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/reopening-schools-and-other-educational-settings-from-1-june

   

  Every effort has been made to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and staff when they return. We want to see our children back at school and I hope this plan gives you the necessary confidence that this can be achieved.

   

  When will children the return?

   

  Our Year 6 children will return to school on Monday 1^st June. Children of key workers and those invited for specified reasons will also continue their provision. Children in Years 3,4 and 5 will return to school from Monday 22nd June. Further details about how these year groups will return will be announced after the half term holiday.

   

  How will the children return?

   

  In accordance with the government’s guidance, children in Year 6 will return to school in smaller class groups. These will be no larger than 15. The children will be taught by the same teacher and teaching assistant. They will also be taught in just one dedicated classroom. The groups will be organised by Mr Wallis and Mrs Healy to ensure that every child has a friend and someone they are used to working with.

  The rationale behind creating smaller group sizes is to ensure maximum social distancing between children can be achieved and to reduce the number of social contacts that the children will have. The children and staff in a group will form a small ‘bubble’ of people that they will only come in to contact with each day.

  The school timetable will also be slightly staggered to avoid different groups coming in to contact during the day. Your child’s specific group, timetable and teacher will be announced tomorrow evening. Please look out for that separate letter.

   

   

   

  How will it work in the classroom?

   

  Every classroom has been decluttered to provide each child with their own desk and tray. Each of the desks is separated by two metres. The children will be asked to keep everything they bring to school in their own tray. Where possible we would like children to keep pens and pencils in their own separate pencil case too.

   

  The children will be carefully taught how to maintain distance from each other and from staff. There will be frequent handwashing and hygiene reminders too. Every group will have their own dedicated toilet.

   

  How will children play and eat their lunch?

   

  The children will eat their lunch at their table in the classroom. School lunches will still be available in disposable cardboard boxes that will be brought to the classroom. The children will then play outside, with only their group members, in a dedicated zone in the playground. The playground has been fenced off to create separate areas for the groups. The children will be supervised carefully by teaching staff and again reminded of their distance.

   

  How will hygiene be managed?

   

  All staff and children will wash their hand on arrival to school. They will continue to wash their hands or use hand sanitiser at different points during the day. At lunch time, when the children are outside playing, a team of cleaners will disinfect desks, surfaces and the children’s toilets. The school will also be cleaned thoroughly, in all areas, at the end of each day.

   

  Will parents be allowed on the school site?

   

  All parents will be kindly asked not enter our school site. To minimise contacts between parents we would like parents to wait in their cars, if they are driving, or to stand outside the school gate at a distance between each other. If parents wish to speak to a member of staff, a member of the senior leadership team will be on gate duty each day. There will also be a safe box for parents to drop payments or slips to the school office.

   

  What will the children be taught?

   

  Parents have done a great job with home learning but the children have now missed a considerable amount of their formal schooling. Teachers will do some assessment to ascertain where children have gaps in English and Maths. We will then focus our teaching on trying to achieve areas of need that the children have before they move on to their next year. This is particularly important for children moving to secondary school.

   

  In addition to this, we really want our children to have some fun. This crisis has had a terrible effect on us all including our children. We will be making the most of our outdoors to enjoy some sunshine, creative projects and to play games too. We will be supporting our Year 6 children to celebrate their transition from primary to secondary school. This is a key milestone in a child’s life. We will be making plans for them to enjoy this at the end of term.

   

  What will my child wear?

   

  We would like children to return to school in their uniform. If a child is doing P.E for the day, they may come to school in their P.E kit. We don’t want parents to worry if a child has outgrown uniform or school shoes. We will make some practical allowances for this.

   

  What do I do if I still feel worried about my child coming to school?

   

  All parents will feel a sense of anxiety about the prospect of their child returning to school whilst this crisis continues. Many of our staff are parents too and will empathise with this predicament.

  There is no school that can absolutely guarantee the safety of children and staff from this virus. Unfortunately we all must learn to live with an element of risk from the virus within our lives.

   

  We are confident though that our school is and will continue to be a very low risk environment. The safety measures and professionalism of our staff have already ensured that we have safely operated with children throughout the worst weeks of this pandemic. If you are worried, please talk to us and we will do everything we can to assure you in your decision making.

   

  If you are a Year 6 or key worker parent and you would like your child to return to school on June 1^st, please can you confirm this using the survey link below or by contacting the school office by 12pm tomorrow.

   

  https://forms.gle/xec3UrZ2F85vGkLQ8

   

  We will then be issuing another letter to confirm your child’s timetable, group and teacher. This will be for Year 6 and our Key worker groups only. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us. Staff are in school to answer your calls today and tomorrow.

   

  I would like to thank you in advance for your continued support in this difficult time. We look forward to providing our children with much needed learning but more importantly, with some joy and happiness for the remainder of this summer term.

   

  Yours sincerely,

   

   

   

  Mr Tim O’Brien

  Headteacher

   

   

• Phased Reopening

  Thu 14 May 2020

  Dear Parents, 

   

  RE: Phased Reopening of Schools

   

  I hope you are all safe and well.

   

  Following direction from the Department of Education (DfE) this week, we are looking at plans for reopening to more pupils in addition to the children of key workers and other specified groups currently attending. The DfE have specified that this is only for YR, Y1 and Y6 from June 1^st.

  However they have also stated that;

   

   ‘We hope that all primary school children can come back to school before the summer holidays, for a month if feasible, although this will be kept under review.’

   

  We are currently formulating a plan to enable Year 6 children to return to school on June 1^st in groups no larger than 15. Please be assured that we will be doing everything under our control to minimise risk to pupils, staff and the wider community. It is also worth noting that we have not closed our doors throughout the ‘lockdown’ period and have already successfully managed the hygiene and social distancing of children in school.

   

  I appreciate that you may have numerous questions, however please do not ask any yet as we are unable to fully answer them at this time. We will be sharing a comprehensive plan and guidance next week, after which there will be time for you to ask for clarification.

   

  Thank you for your continued support at this most challenging time.

   

  Yours sincerely,

   

  Tim O’Brien

  Headteacher

• Home Learning Update

  Mon 04 May 2020

  Friday 1^st May 2020

   

  Dear Parents/ Carers,

   

  RE: Home Learning Update

   

  I hope that you are all well despite the frustration of a further week of ‘lockdown’. As a parent and as a Headteacher, I understand the pressure of keeping your child at home during this time. In particular I know how challenging it is to encourage your child to continue with their learning! I would like thank you for your support and to say we how delighted we have been to see so many children sharing their work with their teachers.

   

  In the past couple of weeks I am sure you will have noticed a change in the tone to the work and tasks teachers have given to the children. We are conscious that although our children are at home it is still our duty to try to deliver key aspects of the national curriculum. The national curriculum is compulsory and we are very mindful that children do not fall behind in their educational journey which could inhibit their future success. I am sure, as parents, you are concerned about this too.

   

  To this end, I would like to help make it clearer to parents which tasks and work we view as having the most importance for your child’s learning. We will now grade future work and tasks as A, B or C.

   

  A=This is important to learn

  B=This is good to learn

  C=This is fun to learn

   

  The aim of this grading system is to help parents understand which work is the most valuable at this time. We also hope this will make it clearer to parents where you may wish to support your child.

   

  On Monday we will be issuing a new pack of work which can be collected from the school from 9:00am. The pack can be considered as ‘A’ work. Please complete the survey below so that we can safely organise the your collection.

   

  https://forms.gle/yRjtUdmGDYDn1ZAQ6 

   

  Last week we also launched a new online resource called SeeSaw. This application enables our teachers to give your child feedback about their work. We have had some great response. However, please only send your child’s written English work to the teacher via SeeSaw.

   

  I again would like to thank you for your continued support with children’s home learning. If you can encourage your child to work at some point each day it is greatly appreciated. If you are finding things challenging and would like more support, please contact the school office and we can arrange for one of our staff to telephone you.

   

   

   

  Hopefully we will be welcoming the children back to school in the not too distant future.

   

  Yours sincerely,

   

   

   

  Mr O’Brien

  Headteacher