Dear Parents,

We are keen to share information with you so that you can prepare for the return to school on the 29^th of June. We appreciate that some schools have sent information out long before us but we have tried to ensure that we send simple and consistent messages. We know that some schools have needed change the advice given several times as the message from government has changed.

You may have heard on the news that schools may be open for three weeks instead of four. Please be assured that this news is as frustrating to us as it is to you. Please also know that none of our staff have at any point to date said that they will not work. This is a discussion and decision that is being made at Government / Local authority / Trade Union level. As soon as we have clarity we will let you know. At present we are being told to prepare for three weeks with the option of a fourth.

Having thought about how to share what is a lot of information we have decided to share it as 3 separate sections rather than one long letter, so that you can find them again in the future should you need them. The sections are as follows…

• This overview letter
• What will learning look like?
• Expectations of pupils and parents

A separate ‘Digital Learning strategy’ is being finalised and we will be publishing it and an overview as we clarify our approach. Our intention is to simplify the range of software and ensure that you and our children know how to access learning activities, share the learning being done at home and keep in contact with the teachers and the school. We see this working over the rest of the Covid period and beyond, enhancing learning as we move to the ‘new normal’.

As previously stated, children will return on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We have split the classes into three groups using two categories. First by age and then we have amended some lists so that children from the same family attend on the same day. 

Each group has been given a specific day and that day will remain the same over the 3 or 4 weeks so that the children and their families know which day is theirs and can plan around those days. 

In the first instance we have to stick to these lists. I am sorry we cannot consider personal requests such as who wants to be with friends, it is impossible to organise in this way. We appreciate there may be issues for some parents who are working and where parents have emailed the school with an outline of the issues faced we are working to try to resolve this but please understand that we may not be able to adapt the timetable.

We are unable to publish lists of names for each group due to GDPR regulations and so on Monday 22^nd and Tuesday 23^rd we will be texting families to say which day the children will be able to come in to school. Obviously, this has to be based on the numbers we hold for you so if you have changed number recently it is imperative that you let us know.

To ensure the children enter and exit the school safely we have needed to stagger pupils’ entry and exit times and doors. We have managed to do this using just 2 separate times for each part of the day. 9:00 and 9:20 to enter and 2:20 and 2:40 to go home. We have needed to shorten the day in order to set up and in the morning and clean at the end of the day. The exact doors and times can be seen in the “Entry and Exit” timetable. 

Please be on time to ensure the smooth running of these operations, as this will minimise the risk to you and your children.

Please be aware that parents and guardians will not be permitted inside the main reception or any other part of the school. We kindly ask that you communicate with us via telephone or email. If it is deemed necessary for you to come to school an appointment will be made.

What have we been doing to make it as safe as possible to return to school?

Whilst it might sound a bit boring our first step was to read all the guidance and risk assessments schools have been given in order to understand what we needed to do.

We investigated spacing desks at 2m in the junior classrooms to understand how many pupils we could safely have in a room and we explored what desk arrangements might look like in the Infants given that we wouldn’t expect them to sit at desks in rows. 

We have looked at how we make the classrooms easy to keep clean and have removed all non-essential resources and furniture. Sadly, the classrooms look far from the inviting and comfortable rooms they were before lockdown but we know we can keep them clean and we will work with the children to improve how they look as we return to school.

We have cleared the corridors wherever possible to ensure the maximum passing space. This has meant the removal of cupboards and furniture in the Juniors and resources in the Infant corridors.

We have to store all our resources somewhere and so the Junior hall has become a giant store room which will be out of bounds to pupils.

Entry and Exit timetable