Wave Goodbye Say Hello

Wave goodbye to Year 6...

It was a fond and tearful farewell to our Year 6 bubbles last Tuesday and Friday. Even with the necessary restrictions, we managed to say goodbye in the Morda way with arches and a blast of “We are Morda”. We will definitely be welcoming them back for their VIP Disco at some point in the coming academic year. Until then we wish you all the best of luck in your new schools. A special goodbye to those families whose youngest children are leaving this year. It has been a privelege to get to know you over the years, we're going to miss you. But don't worry we'll be thinking of you, we always look out the news of the children's achievements, and (cheekily) we like to share a little bit of the credit with you.

Say hello to the new year ...

Many parents will be wondering how it’s all going to work in September. At our last staff meeting we discussed the main issues. It is a little early to finalise the detail of our procedures, but we can give you a heads up about the main points.

The government’s advice is to expand the bubble system we have been using in the Keyworker Provision. We will therefore be operating class bubbles. The practicalities of educating and caring for a large number of children mean that bubbles will be broken in some ways (with Maths and phonics groups for example) . The DfE guidance clearly accepts that this is the case but that the efforts we make to keep the groups as tight as possible will help limit the spread of the virus.

Here’s a summary of the important changes: we will let you have the detailed risk assessment towards the end of the holidays.

Arriving at school

• No staggered start

• Classroom doors will open at 8.40 - no one should be on the school site before then

• Entry through the playground gates for all classes except Snowdonia

• Snowdonia entry through carpark gate (if you have older children, take them in via Snowdonia and send them off to their classes from there)

• One-way system with parents leaving via front gate

• Gates open early to avoid queues

• Children to wait outside classrooms: Himalayas to wait in Hall

• Temperature and symptoms checks on entry

• Parents to avoid coming into school where possible

• Where possible parents should allow children to walk into school on their own especially those in KS2

·Contact with office

• Use phone or email where possible

• One in one out policy for essential contact with office staff

·Toilets

• Class bubbles will have allocated toilets

Assemblies

• Assemblies will be held outside weather permitting

• No indoor assemblies

Lunchtime

• Children will eat lunch in their bubbles

• Lunches will be eaten in the Hall and Himalayas class allowing staff to clean between each bubble sitting

Playtimes

• School house garden and field to be used at playtimes on a rota to allow bubbles to be separated

• Children will need wellies in wet weather

Ventilation – preventing airborne transmission via aerosol droplets

• All windows and doors will be open most of the time

• Temperature indoors may be as low as 16C (legal minimum) as a result

• Staff and children will need to wear additional clothing

Cleaning

• Frequent cleaning of frequently touched surfaces by all staff

• Additional cleaning in toilets

Resources

• Children to have personal pack of pencils, rubbers etc

• Home reading books to be quarantined for 72 hours

• Bubbles have allocated stock of playground resources

• Any shared resources to be cleaned frequently

Handwashing

• Children encouraged to wash hands as often as possible

Illness

• Parents to check children are completely well before coming school

• If they need medication such as Calpol they must stay at home

• Children showing symptoms of any kind of illness will be sent home

• Parents should check with NHS Track and Trace to see if a test is required

• The school will follow NHS Track and Trace guidance following a positive test

• If there is no test or the result is negative, the child must be completely free of symptoms before they return.

Leaving School

• Gates open early to avoid queues

• As many KS2 children as possible to walk home or to a meeting point (school will keep a register)

• Snowdonia adults to enter via carpark gate and use one-way system to collect older children and/or to leave

• Alps and Andes parents to wait on yard

• Rockies adults to wait on ramp

• Himalayas adults to wait in Hall

So, there will be a few strange elements, but as a staff, we are feeling confident about the system and we are really looking forward to being back in school with your wonderful children. We’ve underlined a couple of things for you to think about. Wellies are great as long as you have nice thick socks and the best way to keep warm is a good base layer. The children will need a bag big enough for wellies too. If this causes a problem for anyone, let us know and we be able to help.

In the meantime, we hope you’ll be able to relax and enjoy some downtime together after what has been a hectic few months for many of you.