School Re-Opening – Monday 8th March

Dear Parents & Carers,

School Re-Opening  – Monday 8th March 2021

Welcome back to a new term and I hope this communication finds you all well and in good spirits. The February half-term was very different for all of us but I hope that you all managed to have some quality time together as a family. You have all been doing such an amazing job guiding your children at home with their learning through what has been the most difficult time we have ever experienced in education. I really can’t thank you enough for the support, positivity and love you have displayed throughout this period.

Yesterday’s announcement from the Prime Minister has clearly laid out plans for all children to return to school on Monday the 8th of March and this is what we will aim for in respect of a full return. We will utilise next week to ensure that we are fully prepared for all of our pupils coming back into school. We continue to have a robust risk assessment in place which is continuously re-evaluated and revisions will be put in place where appropriate.

As children and school staff have still not received any vaccinations then the virus remains highly transmissible. We are therefore still in a prevention phase so many of the measures and expectations that you previously experienced will still be in place when the school fully re-opens. All school staff are conducting self-testing twice a week but this is once again just a preventative measure.

From the 8th of March, face coverings will need to be worn by all adults visiting the site and all parents and carers will be expected to adhere to social distancing guidance of at least two metres. Prior to the most recent lockdown, some of our parents were continuing to mix either on or immediately off the school site which is not acceptable. If the expectations being set by the school are not adhered to then parents may be refused entry to the school site and alternative drop off and pick up procedures will be put in place.

We will once again aim to use a staggered start and end to the school day as well as additional entry and collection points. This will hopefully help us to avoid such lengthy queues but it will only be effective if parents and carers stick to their given drop off and pick up times.

Children will be expected to wear their full school uniform each day apart from when it is their P.E day. On a P.E day children can come to school wearing their full school P.E kit and trainers. If your child does not have the appropriate P.E kit then please contact www.schoolshopdirect.co.uk to place an order immediately.

Your child’s class teacher will inform you of P.E days on Class Dojo and on the school website. Please ensure that your child’s school uniform, coat and P.E kit are all clearly labelled. It is also essential that your child has a freshly filled and clearly labelled water bottle in school with them each day.   More detailed information regarding times and access will be sent out prior to the 8th of March.

Thank you for your continued support during such challenging times.

Mr Dickson – Principal

Advice to All Parents – Single case of Coronavirus in school.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Advice to All Parents – Single case of Coronavirus in school.

Unfortunately, I have been advised by the parents of a child in the family bubble Year3/4 that their child has tested positive for Coronavirus.  I have been in touch with Public Health England and they have advised me to close this bubble.  Parents of the children in this bubble have been telephoned by myself, as the children and their siblings will have to self-isolate for 10 days.  I will hopefully be able to re-instate this class bubble provision by 28th January.

I will continue to monitor the situation and will keep you informed. Please be reassured that for most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.   The school remains open for all other bubbles and providing your child remains well they can continue to attend school as normal if they are part of the keyworker groups.

What to do if your child develops symptoms of COVID 19

If your child develops symptoms of COVID-19, they should remain at home for at least 10 days from the date when their symptoms appeared. Anyone with symptoms will be eligible for testing and this can be arranged via https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test or by calling 119.

All other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 10 days. The 10-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.  Household members should not go to work, school or public areas and exercise should be taken within the home.

Household members staying at home for 10 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community.

If you are able, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly and those

with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for

the duration of the home isolation period.

Symptoms:

The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:

  • new continuous cough and/or
  • high temperature
  • a loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

Also, be aware that Shropshire council have advised that stomach ache in some cases for children may be a symptom.

For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

If your child or anyone in the household does develop symptoms, you can seek advice from NHS 111 at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/check-if-you-have-coronavirus-symptoms/ or by phoning 111.

How to stop COVID-19 spreading

There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with

getting ill with COVID-19

Do

  • wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
  • use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
  • wash your hands as soon as you get home
  • cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands)

when you cough or sneeze

  • put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards

Further Information

Further information is available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Please do not hesitate to contact the school office or your child’s teacher if you have concerns regarding this matter.

Look after each other, take care and stay safe.

Mr Dickson

Principal

Important Update

Hello everyone,
I am sure many of you will have all seen the news regarding school places for critical workers and vulnerable children. This has recently changed and I have tried to summarise where we are now, following guidance from the Local Authority and the Government, and will keep you informed of any further changes/updates.

Critical Worker – Place Allocation
The terminology has changed from ‘keyworker’ to ‘critical’ and the list of those included in the criteria that are able to access here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision. Some parents working in these sectors may be able to ensure their child is kept at home. Every child who can be safely cared for at home should be.

In addition to this, new guidance from the Government and the Local Authority, now states that children are entitled to a place at school if the family have difficulty engaging in remote/home learning because you do not have internet access or if there are not enough devices for large families-under the category of a ‘vulnerable learner’. It is important to stress that children cannot be offered a place because remote learning is tricky to manage at home. Everyone in school sympathises with you and appreciate how frustrating and challenging this situation is-it is not what any of us would want for the children in our care.

The Government and local authority advice is that, if children can stay safely at home, they should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading. That is why the Government has asked parents to keep their children at home, wherever possible, and asked schools to remain open only for those children who absolutely, need to attend.

The fewer children making the journey to school, and the fewer children in educational
settings, the lower the risk, that the virus can spread and infect vulnerable individuals in wider society. We are therefore providing care for a limited number of children – children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the Covid-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home.

We are still receiving a high number of critical worker applications so would ask you to check
the guidance carefully before applying. If you have already been allocated a place and after
reading this letter feel that you no longer need your critical worker place, please contact
myself, Mr Kenyon, Mrs Richards or the school office. I appreciate that this is very difficult but know that this situation cannot last forever. Please continue to bear with us, we are doing our best to ensure we meet the needs of everyone within the ever-changing guidelines and advice that we are being given.

Mr Dickson

School Closure from 5th January 2021

Dear Parents and Carers

I am sure that you have all seen tonight’s announcement from our Prime Minister.  He clearly stated that on Sunday, “all primary schools would remain open”, so this announcement has clearly come as an unexpected change in direction.

It is with deep regret, that I need to inform you that the school will remain closed to ALL pupils tomorrow.  This is due to the lateness of the announcement tonight, and the fact that we have limited time to establish our key worker groups.

Home learning will commence tomorrow afternoon, and we will communicate with all parent’s tomorrow to arrange our key worker provision – which will begin from Wednesday.

However, where there is an essential need for frontline workers (i.e. NHS staff – Nurses/Doctors), we will open for these students tomorrow.

If you feel that you fall into this category, please call the office at 8am tomorrow morning, so that we can make arrangements.

We will work through the day to give all other parents further information.

In the meantime, children can utilise their home learning packs that were sent out before Christmas, until an online programme of Home Learning is established.

Again, I am deeply saddened that the school has had to close, but this decision has been taken out of my hands.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support at this challenging time.

Take care, stay safe,

Mr Dickson.