Wider Re-opening of school in March 2021
On this page we hope to set out as much information as possible to help support our families and their children with the wider opening of school in March 2021. These systems and timings will be very similar to the re-opening plan we put in place in September following the last national lockdown.
This will include arrangements for dropping off/collection, how the school day will run and information about our curriculum. School will reopen to all children on Monday 8th March.
Please note: this is an ever changing situation and we will have to review, adapt and update our practices regularly in light of new guidance from our Trust, PHE (Public Health England) and the Government. We really appreciate your help, support and patience during this challenging time.
Arrangements for March 2021
We have put together the following Adobe Spark slide show to outline the key information about what school will look like, timings of the school day, details about uniform etc. To access this, please click on this icon to load:
These plans are subject to change and we will keep you updated if this should happen. We have tried to include as much information as possible but please do let us know if there is an area we have not covered.
Face coverings and social distancing
To help keep everyone as safe as possible, we ask that any adults entering the school site, unless you are medically exempt, to wear a face covering. We also ask that you maintain social distancing and follow the markings and signs on site. Thank you for your support.
Details of our one-way systems
Here are two short animations to help outline the one-way systems in place to support social distancing when all classes return in March:
Foundation 1, 2 and Year 1
Please can families bringing children in these year groups access the school site via the Main Driveway. This will be coned off to maintain safety. The driveway will have a line dividing it into two with arrows indicating which side to walk along. Please ensure you stay on the designated side to help with social distancing.
F1 - Please walk children down to the very bottom of the driveway. Children will be handed over to staff who will take / direct them through the F1 door.
F2 - Children will enter via the normal F2 door. Staff will be available at this point to support and another staff member will be in the cloakroom to assist.
Y1 - Children will enter via the F2 door and then walk through the library directly to their classroom. Staff will be in the corridor to guide and support children.
Year 2 to Year 6
Children in these year groups will enter via the main pedestrian gate on Wellfield Crescent. There will be a queue in place along the pavement. Please try to keep 2m apart when queuing. We are asking, where possible, for parents not to come on to school site. This could be by allowing children to walk to school themselves or with friends if safe to do so. If this is not possible, please can parents either follow the queue and then send children through the gate to be met by staff (thus reducing the number of adults on site) OR walk them on to the top yard, hand over to staff and then follow our one-way system to leave the school site.
Staff will be positioned around the site to help guide and support children to their classrooms.
Please take care when following the one-way system. We have put "Please wait here" reminders where paths may cross to help maintain social distancing. We will be operating a staggered drop-off and collection system. Initial times have been included in the Adobe Spark presentation but these may change once the system is up and running - the aim being to having everyone in school as quickly and safely as possible. Please note: we will do all we can to support families with children in different year groups or with working patterns.
Timings
Details of the arrangements for the start and end to the day can be found in the Adobe Spark presentation at the top of this page. We will be operating staggered starts and endings to the school day to help reduce the number of people on both Wellfield Crescent and the school site. This worked well during the Autumn term.
Start times are as follows:
(We appreciate that staggered start times may present a challenge when you have more than one child or due to work. If this is the case, please know we will do our best to be as flexible as possible and accommodate you. Our aim with these times is to simply reduce congestion and help to keep everyone as safe as possible).
End of day times are:
(Again, we can offer a degree of flexibility with these timings. For example, if you have a child in Y1 and Y5, you can come at the later time to collect both children. This means that neither child will be removed from a lesson early and miss out on their learning).
Please note: Due to the need to keep consistent 'social bubbles' to reduce the risk of virus transmission, we are unable to offer breakfast or after school clubs at this time. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and will keep this under review.
Our 'Recovery Curriculum'
Following the last national lockdown, we launched September with a transition project and a recovery curriculum. This included looking at the work of Professor Barry Carpenter who proposes the model of a "Recovery Curriculum" to help support children. Teachers will be re-visiting many aspects of the recovery curriculum that we created for September to help ease the children back into school when they return. This will include a focus on mental health, wellbeing, growth mindset as well as quickly identifying any academic gaps and addressing these.
Please use the links below to find out more about our recovery curriculum and the ways we are planning to support the children when they return:
Supporting with the first day back
Whilst this will be the second time children have returned to school following a lockdown, we know that the first day back will still be a little unusual for them and they may have questions or worries about it. Here are a few tips that may help:
1) Talk to your child about how they are feeling about going back to school. Ask them if they are worried or feel scared about anything, but also if they are excited about or looking forward to something. No matter how your child feels, let them know that it is completely normal to feel a mixture of emotions and that everyone will be in the same boat.
2) Provide your child with as much information about their new routine and school day as you can. This will help them to prepare for any changes that have been made to the timings of their day, the layout of their classroom, playtimes etc. Why not share with them the presentation above to help them.
3) Reassure your child. During the lockdown we have been told to stay at home, remain socially distant from others and wash our hands regularly. This means children may find it difficult to go back to school because it will be a huge change from what they have been asked to do during the pandemic. Talk with your child about ways they can stay safe at school, such as washing their hands before and after eating, and reassure them that the school are putting measures in place to keep them safe.
4) Re-establish a routine to help ease into school life. During lockdown it is understandable that your family’s routine may have changed. Children are likely to have been waking up later or going to bed later. To help them get ready for school, try to gradually get them back into their usual morning and bedtime routines as they get closer to their return date.
5) Don’t put pressure on yourself. The transition back into school is likely to take some time. Lots of children will experience ups and downs. Try your best to support, reassure and comfort them, without putting pressure on yourself to make sure their homework is done or they settle into a new routine straightaway.
6) Think ahead. As well as reflecting on what has happened during the past few weeks, it is important to help children develop hope and a sense of excitement for the future. At a time like this, it can be hard to feel positive, but identifying the things that they can look forward to will help them to realise that the current situation won’t last forever and their feelings will change.
7) Seek support if you need it. Transitioning back to school after being in lockdown is no easy task. You may find that your child struggles to get back into school or experiences difficulties while they’re at school. If this is the case, reach out to us as soon as you can so that we are aware of the challenges and we can work together to support you and your child.
Mr Ross has created the following presentation which may also help in preparing children for their return to school:
Key Documents
Here are some key documents relating to Covid-19:
Welcome back messages
Whilst we have seen many of the children during the remote learning sessions, staff wanted to welcome children back into school and so have recorded these brief video clips to say hello and express how pleased they will be to have them back in school.
