Dear Parents,

 

As you know, some pupils will be returning to school on June 1^st. This is a tricky thing to organise. I’d like to add some detail to help you make your decision based on what it will be like in school. Please remember that the return only applies to children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6. All other children – apart from those in our key worker group (who will continue to attend as they have been doing) – will still stay at home for the time being.

 

Once you read this information, hopefully you will be able to make the decision about whether you intend for your child to return on June 1^st or not. If you know your decision it would benefit us greatly if you could email the relevant year1@yardleyprimary.co.uk , Reception@yardleyprimary.co.uk , Year6@yardleyprimary.co.uk email addresses to let us know what your decision is. On Tuesday 26^th and Wednesday 27^th May, staff members will begin to phone parents of children in relevant year groups where we have not had an email from to check whether their child will be attending or not. We will also contact Nursery parents by phone. PLEASE BE AWARE that you will not be able to bring your child into school without previously informing us that they are coming. This is because we need to stick to strict group sizes of less than 15.

 

 

Dropping off and collection

 

All children who come to school at this time will have to be delivered and collected by an adult. This includes Year 6 children who may be used to travelling to and from school on their own. We can only accommodate children who are brought to school and collected by an adult. This is to avoid the risk of any symptoms spreading from one group to another on the journey home and to prevent children gathering in or around the school grounds.

 

If your child wears a face mask on the journey to school, please make sure that you remove it before they come into class. Children will forget to look after them and we cannot have used face masks left on desks or chairs or needing to be picked up and thrown away.

 

The school day will be slightly altered to allow for staggered start and finish times. Each group will have staggered break times and lunchtimes. The start and finish times are likely to be;

 

8.30am – 2.15pm – Year 6 groups

8.45am – 3.30pm Years 2 to 5 keyworker children

9am – 2.30pm – Year 1 groups

9.15am – 2.45pm – Reception groups

 

The Nursery times will be decided once we have confirmed numbers.

 

It will be really important that parents stick closely to these drop off and collection times. We are lucky to have a large site but we need to limit the amount of adults coming into the grounds at any one time.

 

Whenever possible, only one adult to bring in children and to collect and no siblings to come onto the ground unless in a pram or buggy. Staff and markings will guide you around the ground

 

Group Structure

Children will be in the same group of between no more than 15 children with the same (in most cases 2) members of staff. Each group will spend the day together – including their break and lunch times. Children and adults from one group will not mix with children from another. This is to avoid the danger of any symptoms spreading from one group to another.

 

This means that not all children will be able to be with their current class teacher and some of their friends may be in a different group. Please take the time to explain this to your children before they return. It’s important that they understand that they may not be with their teacher and that they might not be mixing with some of their friends. I know that this will upset and disappoint some parents and children but it is unavoidable under the conditions we are being asked to work.

 

Social Distancing and hygiene

The government advice recognises that fully socially distancing small children is impossible. Instead, within their groups we will take every precaution at keeping them safe and operating as many hygienic controls as possible. These include but are not limited to;

 

• Remaining in same group of children each day with same adults and no mixing across groups
• Hands washed on entry to school, before and after each break and lunch and after any toilet breaks
• All soft toys removed from classrooms. Any equipment used to be washed after use.
• Increased cleaning of classrooms in use
• Each group to have own set of play equipment (balls, hoops, skipping ropes etc) which are cleaned daily
• No contact games, such as football, allowed
• Pupils to have labelled drinks bottle brought in from home
• Pupils to have labelled seat and desk and individual stationary (provided by school)
• Groups to move around school grounds using outside routes rather than internal corridors
• Lessons to take place outside when possible
• Classroom windows to be open whenever possible to aid ventilation
• No external visitors/contractors onto site unless there is an emergency

 

Year 6 pupils will be instructed to follow more rigid social distance measures.

 

Curriculum

After an initial short period of resettling and reassuring the pupils whilst they get used to new routines and arrangements, the children will be following the school curriculum as per normal. Teachers will continue to support the learning of those pupils who are not physically attending through Seesaw, regular phone calls and email.

 

 

Any suspected cases of Covid19

Pupils must not attend if they or their family member are showing any of the symptoms of Covid 19 including a new continuous cough, a fever or loss of smell and/or taste.

In the event of a pupil or member of staff showing symptoms, that person will be isolated until they can be collected and members of that group will be contacted. We will then follow advice from Public Health England on how to proceed.

 

 

Other notes

Pupils will be able to have a hot meal (usual charges will apply for Year 6 pupils having a school dinner). Groups will enter the canteen at staggered times, sit spaced apart and leave via the rear doors. We will continue to use disposable plates, cutlery and cups as we have been during over the last few weeks. Alternatively, pupils can bring in a packed lunch, which they should take with them to their classrooms.

 

School uniform to worn as normal and normal levels of behaviour will be expected.

 

It is recommended that pupils remove uniform and it is washed on a daily basis. Pupils should wash hands on returning home as per national guidance.

 

If possible, please avoid travelling to and from school by public transport.

 

We will not be able to provide Breakfast or After School Club at this time (apart from our key worker group). This is to avoid the risk of any symptoms spreading from one group to another. All children will need to be delivered and collected on time.

 

The school office will operate on an appointment only system. Appointments can be made via phone or email but otherwise it will be closed. Please do not go to the office without an appointment as regretfully, we will not be able to see you. Parents will not be able to enter the school buildings – nor will they be able to speak to the teacher in the morning or at home time. Please make an appointment, send an email or use Seesaw if you need to speak to your child’s teacher – this includes their group teacher or their usual class teacher.

 

I send you all my very best wishes and look forward to seeing some of you at least, very soon.

 

Mr Evans

Headteacher