August 27th 2021
Dear Parents/Carers,
I trust you are all having a great holiday, despite the rather varied Summer weather!
As promised, I have put together some useful information which I hope will reassure you of our ‘return to school’ plan.
I have been reading all of the guidance and looking locally at the Covid infection trends over time. Our plan during this pandemic has always linked to the best possible advice from the Department for Education and the Local Authority Health Protection Hub. It is clear from the latest guidance that the emphasis is now thankfully on continuity of education and the importance of children attending school.
We are adopting a sensible approach that allows us the ability to keep risk as low as possible, as well as following the clear advice given. Controls such as good ventilation, handwashing and cleaning will remain in place to help control the spread of the virus (and reduce the rates of other infectious illnesses).
The Health Protection Hub (HRH) will continue to monitor COVID-19 cases and to provide help, support and guidance to schools dealing with cases or outbreaks of COVID-19.
What do I do if my child is displaying symptoms or is not well?
Children should not attend school if they have main symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, new persistent cough, lack of taste/smell) – they should isolate, get a PCR and only return if the PCR is negative and they are better (and 24 hours free of any fever and 48 hours free of any diarrhoea/vomiting). If we identify a child in school with the main symptoms of COVID-19, we will ring you and advise you that they need to be picked up and should not attend school – they should remain off school and a PCR test should be carried out. If the PCR comes back negative and they are well, they can return to school straight away. Positive cases will continue to self-isolate for 10 days.
If children have ‘precautionary symptoms’, which is basically any cold, flu or stomach bug symptoms, they should take a PCR test, but we would not expect them to miss school unless they were too ill or if there were linked factors such as them being the known contact of a positive case. It should be noted that school can take the decision to refuse a child in school if we deem it necessary to protect other pupils and staff from possible infection with COVID-19. Clearly, we want all children in school, everyday and hence the decision to refuse entry would be based on high levels of risk to others.
What do I do if someone in my house tests positive?
We ask that you inform the health teams and us immediately if there is a positive case in your household please. It should be noted that school is no longer expected to carry-out contact tracing; this will be done by national Test & Trace teams – We still need to know though please. Whoever has been identified as close contacts will be contacted by national test and trace teams. They will be advised to take a PCR. If you are contacted by Track and Trace and told your child is a close contact, please tell us straight away. Pupils who have been identified as close contacts will be allowed to attend school if they do not have any symptoms.
Even though a lot of the responsibility has moved from schools to the health teams, it is still important that we are as informed as we can be concerning cases, as this information may affect our risk assessments and the day to day running of our school.
Will children at school be allowed to mix and will ‘bubbles’ still exist?
It is no longer considered necessary to keep children in consistent groups (‘bubbles’). This means that bubbles may not need to be used in schools from the autumn term. As well as enabling flexibility in curriculum delivery, this means that assemblies could resume, and we may no longer need to make alternative arrangements to avoid mixing at lunch. We have decided to gradually move to a less restrictive system over the first two weeks. Some year groups however, will mix for certain subjects from day one.
Will Parents be allowed in school?
We are going to ask you to continue using the email newdale.primary@taw.org.uk or calling us on 01952 387720 for the first fortnight whilst we assess where we are with cases and risk. We will then review our procedure on parents entering the school for differing reasons. You can email your class teacher through their class email which they will clearly post on the website. You can also use the Home/School Communication book to relay messages to the adults in school. Mrs Powell, Mrs Bishton and I will be out on duty at key times and are more than happy to pass messages on in the short term. If it is essential to talk ‘face to face’ to adults in school, please remember to keep your distance. We are very much hoping to get coffee mornings for parents set up again. Please give us 2 weeks to assess our risks before we proceed with events such as this.
What happens if there is an outbreak of Covid 19 in our school?
We are required to have an outbreak management plan which outlines how we would operate if there were an outbreak in our school or local area. In the event of us having to deal with an outbreak, we would undoubtedly have to rapidly reintroduce many of the more formal measures we had in place before the summer, until the cases were brought under control.
Are face coverings needed in school?
Face coverings are no longer advised for pupils, staff and visitors either in classrooms or in communal areas. The Government has removed the requirement to wear face coverings in law, but expects and recommends that they are worn in enclosed and crowded spaces where people may come into contact with people they don’t normally meet. If you are invited into school for a meeting, you may be asked to wear a face covering for the duration of the meeting. This requirement will alter depending on the cases locally and hence the risk. Face coverings may also be required as a response to an outbreak situation.
Does my child have to wear a school uniform?
Yes, full school uniform is required. On the day your child has PE, they are permitted to wear their PE kit. Please note, it must be the specified school PE kit please. If they have an after school sport club, but don’t have PE on that day, they will be expected to come to school in school uniform and get changed for the club after school.
What day does my child have PE?
Please see the PE days on the website for your child’s class.
Will the school still be providing breakfast club and after school care?
Yes, breakfast club and afterschool club will run as normal from the first day back. Additional afterschool clubs will be run by Crossbar and a variety of clubs will also be run by teachers over the year. More information to follow.
What will my child be taught?
We will be continuing to teach a broad and balanced curriculum with some ‘catch up’ sessions and interventions in place. We know that children like routine and hence teachers will be working hard to set these up quickly, so children are clear of the expectations.
What does my child have to bring to school?
We ask that your child brings in a water bottle with their name on and packed lunch as normal should they require one. We will provide all other equipment they need, so please don’t send in pencil cases and huge school bags (storage space in classrooms is very limited).
As ever, advice is continually changing in response to the cases recorded nationally and locally, as well as the roll out of the vaccination programme and its continuing effectiveness. We will remain vigilant and reserve the right to change our plans at short notice should this be deemed necessary.
We look forward to welcoming your children back to school and hope and pray that this year runs much more smoothly for us all.
Thank you for your continued support and see you at 8.40 am on the 6th September.
Regards,
Miss Cook
Headteacher
