Dear Parents/Carers of children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6,
Again, thank you for your patience whilst we have been planning for the safest return to school for pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 from June1st.
I hope the information contained here will help you understand more clearly the measures we are taking at School of Christ the King to re-open next week, to those wishing to attend our Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 classes from the 1st June, on a phased basis.
Plead read the information below and feel free to ask any further questions by phoning or e-mailing the school office.
In normal circumstances, we welcome parents into our office area with queries, but for now we request that all contact with the school is via email or phone. We will be introducing a cashless system for all school payments very soon.
Social distancing
The organisation of the classes has social distancing at its heart. However, there is no absolute guarantee that children will never come within 2 metres of each other, especially in Reception. Children in Years 1 and 6 will work at their own desks, spaced apart, and playtimes will be taken in a specific zone under close supervision. Strict control in the toilet areas, including management of queuing, is aimed at enabling children to maintain social distancing.
School Crossing Patrol
There will be no crossing patrol next week. Please take care crossing the road.
Movement inside and outside the school building
There will be very limited movement inside the school building by the pupils. Different start, play and finish times for the 7 groups have been timetabled to minimise contact. Corridors have also been changed to a one way system with 2m spaces marked out. When dropping or collecting your child you will be asked to use a one-way system and wait in a queue with 2m marked spaces, to prevent people passing in close proximity.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Current government guidelines are that PPE should not generally be worn in schools by staff or children. However, we do have supplies of PPE available for staff who may need to use this in certain situations to protect your child and themselves. It is not advised that children wear face coverings to attend school as incorrect use may exacerbate the risk of further infection. If children come to school wearing face coverings they will have to remove and dispose of them before they can enter the building.
Hand-washing
This is the most important thing all children and staff can do to minimise the risk of spreading the virus. Therefore we have strict hand-washing procedures and expectations for each group in place. Each morning, and throughout the day when necessary, children will be trained in how to wash their hands thoroughly and effectively. Please help us by spending time now practising hand washing procedures with your child, following the government guidelines of washing hands for at least 20 seconds or whilst singing the whole of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song. Here are also some good resources online to demonstrate:
Children will wash their hands on arrival at school, before and after eating, and after sneezing or coughing. We will encourage them not to touch their faces, as far as possible. We will also use the ‘Catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach to use of tissues.
Cleaning of the school
This is something that is a priority when it comes to reducing risks for pupils and staff alike. A timetable for members of staff to disinfect surfaces regularly during the day (when pupils are not in the rooms) has been drawn up. We will also ensure all spaces are well ventilated, in compliance with Government advice.
We are also applying the following measures:
- Leaving lights on to minimise contact.
- Keeping doors and windows open all day, with the exception of fire and external security doors.
- Cleaning toilets and desks regularly.
- Friday afternoons will be used for extra cleaning and preparation for the following week.
- All bins have been replaced with new lidded ones
Pick-up and drop off of children
To ensure parents do not gather outside the school building and can follow social distancing guidelines, each group will have a different start and finish time. Please stick to the time your child is allocated as groups of children are not to come into contact with each other. You may be asked to come back later if you are late and another group is being let in when you arrive:
- 2 metre markings will be on the fences outside of school for parents and children to wait by.
- Children will enter school via the main entrance or the kitchen entrance (see timetable below)
- If at all possible, just one parent/carer to drop and collect children.
- If possible, do not bring younger siblings in buggies.
- Children must not bring bags – just their packed lunch in a plastic box or disposable bag, water bottle, sunhat and sun cream, if necessary.
- Please stay outside the school gates and please pass on any concerns or queries via the office email address or phone.
- Current guidance is that it is best not to use public transport if at all possible. For those families for which this is unavoidable, we will provide further guidance from Public Health England on how to travel as safely as possible.
- To help avoid extra congestion around school we ask that as many families as possible walk, cycle or scoot to school.
Timetable for drop off and pick up
To make the start of the day as safe as possible, when children enter and leave the school. We will be using two entrances:
- The main entrance
- The black door next to the kitchen (near the school hall)
There will be markings on the railings outside so that children and parents can line up, at a social distance, at the start and end of the school day.
Lunches
There will be no cooked lunches available on site. Packed Lunches will be made in school and will be available for all Reception and Year 1 children, unless you decide you want to send your child in with a packed lunch from home. They will also be provided for Year 6 children eligible for Free School Meals and Years 2-5 Key Worker children attending school who are eligible for Free School Meals. All other children should bring a packed lunch. We will inform the catering team of dietary requirements. On Fridays, children will eat lunch in school before they go home. They must all bring their own clearly labelled water bottle which needs to go home daily to be washed.
Uniform requirements
Children will not be required to wear full school uniform when they attend school. We ask instead that children wear clean clothes each new day and recommend that clothes are washed at the end of each day. We will be using the outdoor space as much as possible to do physical learning, so please ensure clothing is sensible, safe and good for active PE lessons.
Break time and lunch time arrangements
We have organised a strict rota for playtimes and lunch, to ensure groups can access their play zones without contact with other groups. Children should have sun-hats, sun cream or waterproof coats if needed.
Transition
Arrangements are being made by the secondary schools who will be in touch with Year 6 parents during Term 6.
Home Learning
Activities will continue to be uploaded on to the school website for children to complete at home during Term 6. School will be closed to all pupils every Friday afternoon, except those of key workers, to ensure that teachers can upload work for their own classes whilst supervising the groups returning to school. There will be no additional homework for Years 1 or 6 during this time.
Children with health concerns of children living with very vulnerable people
There are specific warnings for those pupils who live with the most vulnerable groups. Please let the office know if this applies to your family.
Important health reminder
Children must not attend school if they have symptoms or are self-isolating due to symptoms in their household. If your child were to become unwell at school they would need to be collected promptly and would remain in an isolation room until collected. The previous self-isolation restrictions will apply: 7 days for anyone with symptoms and 14 days for anyone else in their household. Parents should contact school immediately if their child begins to show any symptoms and we can advise on testing and inform other parents in the group. If a child, or adult, in the cohort tests positive then the whole group would need to follow appropriate self-isolation guidelines.
Preparing our children
You can see from these pictures that the school now looks a bit different:
I also feel it is important to prepare your children for this big change from their current circumstances. I ask all our parents to take time to ‘manage their children’s expectations’ and prepare them psychologically for Term 6. For those children coming back into school, it is a case of explaining that this is not returning to school in any ‘normal’ sense. There will be fewer children in each group, they may not be with their friends or their usual teacher and they may also be in a different classroom from usual. We will do all we can to support children’s emotional well-being in school. Our Year 6 pupils will not be able to experience the usual social activities which make Term 6 such fun, and this may cause upset.
You know your child and your family best and whether returning to school under these new arrangements will be the best option. We are happy to discuss further any information contained here with individual parents over the next few days
Please continue to stay safe and well.
Matt Condon
Headteacher
