Return to School in September

Dear Parent/Carer,

As we reach the end of another school year, I am sure you are looking forward to the summer break and enjoying time with your families and friends.  I would like to thank you all for your continued support and patience over the last year, which has brought many challenges for all of us.  Thinking ahead to September, I wanted to write to you now about our current plans for the new school year.

Our key priority is to make sure that our curriculum remains ambitious and broad, offering all children the best possible opportunity to make up for the time they have lost in school and to be successful.

We are planning a cautious and phased return to ‘normal’ as we continue to follow Government guidelines, the latest being issued on 19^th July; and expect the following Covid-19 controls to remain in place for September:

• We will continue to use the separate KS1 and KS2 entrances/exits to ease congestion at the school gates.
• We will promote good hygiene for everyone, through:
  • Frequent and thorough hand washing.
  • Good respiratory hygiene habits (‘catch it, bin it, kill it’).
  • Enhanced cleaning, subject to review at half term.
• We will keep occupied spaces well ventilated, with windows open where possible.
• Individuals who are displaying symptoms of Covid-19 or who have been advised to self-isolate should not attend school.
• We will fully engage with Public Health and Test and Trace and will use seating plans in indoor spaces, so that we know where pupils were, in case we need to share that information.
• We will continue to permit visitors to the school, including parents/carers via prior appointment only. Please use email and telephone where possible.

Within school we are looking forward to returning to whole school activities, such as assemblies and sporting activities, but in the short term will continue with staggered break and lunchtimes, in year groups, as the children get used to mixing and being in large groups again.  We are looking forward to our KS2 children returning to eating lunch in the hall and are excited to welcome our new catering contractor, Aspens.  The new menu will be available very soon.

We will return to our original morning ‘drop off’ times, whereby children can arrive between 8.30am and 8.45am. This will allow for the ‘free flow’ of the children across the site. At this stage, we would ask parents to continue to leave children at the school gates in the mornings. There will be plenty of staff on hand to aid transition in the first few weeks.

At the end of the day, classes will be escorted to the front playground or side gate for dismissal, as close to 3.15pm as possible.

For our families who rely on our ‘out of hours’ provision, before and after school club arrangements will continue unchanged in September, with a small increase in capacity.  Bookings for September will be available shortly.

Thank you again for all you have done to support our school community during this time. We are all looking forward to seeing our children again every bit as kind, curious and determined as ever.

I wish you and your family a happy and healthy summer break.

Yours faithfully

Sam Hodder

Principal