Welcome Back – Term 3

Dear Parent / Carer

As we welcome everyone back to school for the start of Term 3, I would like to wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year.

I am sure you will all be aware of the increasing rise in COVID-19 rates across the UK and many of us may have experienced personally, the effects of rising local cases over the holiday period.  Although the picture is changing rapidly, at this time the Government’s aim is for all children to continue to attend school.

As a school, we have already implemented a range of protective measures to keep everyone safe and I would like to reassure you that we are continually reviewing and adapting these in line with Government guidance and local area restrictions.

In school, the following measures will minimise the risk of infection for everyone in our community:

• Frequent, thorough hand washing as part of everyday routines
• Good respiratory hygiene habits – ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’
• Enhanced regular cleaning arrangements
• Active engagement with the NHS Test and Trace service
• School day arrangements that reduce contacts between groups of pupils as far as possible
• Maximising distancing between those in school as far as possible.
• Operating in individual class ‘bubbles’
• Parents/carers/visitors will not be permitted onto the school grounds without a prior appointment

North Somerset is currently on Very High Alert – Tier 3.  This means you must not meet socially indoors with anyone outside of your household and you are only able to meet in a group of up to 6 outdoors in certain public spaces.  To help minimise contact with people outside your household we are reminding you to adhere to your child(ren)’s pick up and drop off times (see attached) and refrain from congregating and mixing outside the school gates.  Only ONE parent/adult should accompany children to/from school.

We strongly encourage the use of face coverings in the collection areas to help keep everyone safe and to enable important conversations with teachers/teaching partners.  If you need to approach a member of staff to discuss your child or ask questions, please ensure you are wearing a face covering.

In order to help reduce the spread of the virus please ensure you follow the government guidance on self-isolation.  We are asking you all to be extremely vigilant and, should any member of your household shows signs of COVID-19 symptoms (high temperature (fever), a new continuous cough, loss of smell/taste) the whole household must self-isolate.  In this situation, your child(ren) must not come to school and you should contact us as soon as possible.  Anyone showing symptoms can and should get a test as soon as possible and you must report a positive test result to the office immediately so that we can follow the NHS Test and Trace guidance.

As local cases rise, it is inevitable that we may have to close down class ‘bubbles’ at short notice, including Breakfast and After-School Clubs.  This could be as a result of close contact with a positive case but it is also likely that we will experience staff shortages which make it difficult to operate safely.  In these situations, we will inform parents through our usual email and text communication channels as quickly as possible and thank you in advance for your understanding and support.

Please continue to contact us on [email protected] or telephone on 01934 626769 with any queries you may have.

Yours faithfully

Sam Hodder

Principal

Staggered Start/Finish Timetable –  from 5^th January 2021