Dear Parents and Carers,

 

All children to return to school in September

 

We truly appreciate all your support and understanding during this difficult time. We understand how difficult this has been for our families. We are delighted to be able to welcome all children back to school for a full-time timetable from September.

 

As you are aware, the Government have released new guidance for how schools can open to all children in September and mitigate the risks of COVID19. This guidance can be found here.

 

Over the past two weeks we have carefully risk assessed our options against the Government guidance, consolidated and worked with local Headteachers in the Bath Hub, worked with our Local Governing Body and also the Central Team at the Bath and Wells Multi Academy Trust. Our risk assessment will be published by Friday 17^th July on our website for you to read, and will be found here.

 

Each school in the Bath and Wells Trust is developing plans for:

 

• all children to return to school full time from the start of the Autumn Term
• children to be taught by their class teacher wherever possible
• health and safety expectations to be of the highest standard in line with Government advice and each school’s risk assessment
• curriculum planning to be informed by an assessment of pupils’ starting points and focused on addressing any gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills, in particular making effective use of regular formative assessment
• adapting the curriculum to respond to pupils’ learning needs and providing additional support when required
• focusing more time on core skills and providing support for all children to recover any lost ground
• pastoral support for all pupils to:

- rebuild friendships and social engagement

- address and equip pupils to respond to issues linked to coronavirus (COVID-19)

- further improve their physical and mental wellbeing

 

The plans outlined in this communication could be subject to change if Government guidance changes, or, for example, we experience a ‘local lockdown’.

 

1. Will the children be in protective ‘bubbles’?

 

The Department for Education (DfE) states the following:

In this guidance for the Autumn Term, maintaining consistent groups remains important, but given the decrease in the prevalence of coronavirus (COVID-19) and the resumption of the full range of curriculum subjects, schools may need to change the emphasis on bubbles within their system of controls and increase the size of these groups.

 

The Dfe also says:

‘Both the approaches of separating groups and maintaining distance are not ‘all-or-nothing’ options, and will still bring benefits even if implemented partially. Some schools may keep children in their class groups for the majority of the classroom time, but also allow mixing into wider groups for specialist teaching, wraparound care and transport’.

 

Bearing these two statements in mind, we are going to create class bubbles groups in the Infant School (this will include, the Nursery as its own bubble and the new Reception unit as its own bubble) and year group bubbles in the Junior School. This means that classes will remain separate from each other for the majority of the day. However, we will bring groups together for period of times, for example, phonics lessons, wrap around care (breakfast and after school clubs) and playtimes. We will mitigate this risk with high expectations for hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene and increased cleaning.

 

2. How will the start and the end of the day work?

 

In order to ensure reduced ‘traffic’ on our school sites, we will have a gradual staggered start and use multiple entrance and exit points. This will help adults and families social distance when dropping off and collecting their children.

 

This approach will reduce the number of families on our sites. We understand that children and families from different ‘Bubbles’ will meet, this has been evaluated as low risk by the Government.

 

Please can families observe the new yellow markings around our school sites, which include one-way systems and social distancing waiting areas.

 

The plan for this is below:

 

Infants

 

Juniors

 

4. Uniform and equipment

 

The DfE have stated that:

Some schools may have relaxed their uniform policy while only certain categories of pupils were attending. We would, however, encourage all schools to return to their usual uniform policies in the autumn term. Uniform can play a valuable role in contributing to the ethos of a school and setting an appropriate tone.

 

Uniforms do not need to be cleaned any more often than usual, nor do they need to be cleaned using methods which are different from normal.

 

With this statement in mind we have decided to reintroduce our normal uniform expectations and are asking children to attend school in uniform and bring their PE kits from September. Information on uniform can be found here.

 

5. Lunchtimes and playtimes

 

We are pleased to confirm that both school kitchens will be reopening in September and serving hot food. Playtimes and lunchtimes will be staggered to keep bubble groups separate and children will be eating in the school halls. The timings of lunch will be change slightly for some of the children but we will ensure that lunchtime eating still happens at an appropriate time.

 

They will be able to order a hot lunch in the normal way or bring a packed lunch. The menus for September can be found here.

 

6. Home Learning

 

As part of our planning we are considering how we would respond to another lockdown. We will work hard to be able to respond immediately and will offer a combination of streamed teaching, remote learning and work packs.[CH9]  The Government expect all schools to have this in place by the end of September.

 

The Bath and Wells Trust are interested to reflect on home learning provision across all Trust schools and are currently in the process of creating a Trust wide survey that will be sent to families during the Autumn Term.  

 

7. Curriculum in September

 

When the children arrive back in school there will be an increased focus on well-being, Thrive and PSHE activities to support all children’s mental health. In line with Government policy we will be teaching our full curriculum from September.

 

8. Will my child be taught by more than one teacher.

 

The DfE states:

All teachers and other staff can operate across different classes and year groups in order to facilitate the delivery of the school timetable.

 

With this statement in mind, we will be asking our staff and other providers that support our curriculum to come into school and work across classes. They will follow our strict hygiene and cleaning systems to mitigate the risk of transmission and where possible they will observe social distancing measures.    

 

9. Breakfast Club and After School Club

 

Breakfast Club will restart from Thursday 3rd September at both schools.

 

After School Club (SuperPirates) will restart from Monday 7^th September.

 

Breakfast Clubs can be booked through Schoolcomms (School Gateway) in the normal way and will be run from the two school halls. Children will be in year group bubbles and have set spaces in the halls and outside.

 

SuperPirates will run one club across both schools with their main base being the Infant School hall. They will change their approach and will be predominantly an outside and adventurous club that will support a ‘bubble’ approach with children in either an Infant, Year 3 & 4 or Year 5 & 6 group. Please make sure your children has the appropriate clothing for the weather. Bookings will be made directly with SuperPirates for September and beyond. More information will be sent out ASAP.

 

Our other clubs offered by outside providers and school staff will restart as soon as possible after a Term 1 review. The earliest these clubs will return is Term 2.

 

10. The School Office

 

Both school offices will be open in September with reduced staffing due to social distancing. There will only be one member of staff available per office at any time. We encourage parents and families to contact the school office by phone or email rather than visiting the office. However, if you do need to visit the office, we ask that you follow the social distancing guidelines and the rules below:

 

1. As you approach the school please stop at the line outside and wait to be approached by a member of staff. Please be aware that if the office staff are busy, for example, running a message to a classroom, you may have to wait.

 

2. Please do not approach the door or press the buzzer.

 

3. A member of the team will come and meet you at the door from a distance of at least 2 metres.

 

4. Only one family group will be able to wait in the ‘holding area’ so please be prepared to wait outside (even if it is raining).

 

The office will be able to help you in the following ways:

 

What the office staff CAN do:

1. Help you with concerns and questions (please email or phone these through if possible)

 

2. Organise for someone to get back to you if you have a question they can’t answer

 

3. Allow you into school for a pre-arranged appointment

 

We hope you understand why we have had to put these measures in place. Please do not hesitate to contact the Office Team if you have questions. We are always very happy to help, but would prefer to do this on the phone or by email during this time.

 

11. Attendance

 

The DfE states:

Attendance expectations

In March when the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was increasing, we made clear no parent would be penalised or sanctioned for their child’s non-attendance at school.

Now the circumstances have changed and it is vital for all children to return to school to minimise as far as possible the longer-term impact of the pandemic on children’s education, wellbeing and wider development.

 

Missing out on more time in the classroom risks pupils falling further behind. Those with higher overall absence tend to achieve less well in both primary and secondary school. School attendance will therefore be mandatory again from the beginning of the autumn term.

 

This means from that point, the usual rules on school attendance will apply, including:

• parents’ duty to secure that their child attends regularly at school where the child is a registered pupil at school and they are of compulsory school age;
• schools’ responsibilities to record attendance and follow up absence
• the availability to issue sanctions, including fixed penalty notices in line with local authorities’ codes of conduct

 

We understand that families may be nervous and concerned about their children returning to school. If this applies to you, please contact us as early as possible so we can work with you to overcome your concerns. We will only use fines as a last resort.

 

Thank You

 

As always, we thank you for your understanding and continued support. If you have any further questions, please let us know.

 

The last day of term for the children is Friday 17^th July. The first day of term 1 for the children will be Thursday 3^rd September (September 1^st and 2^nd are staff INSET days).

 

On behalf of everyone at St Saviour’s, I hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable summer and we can’t wait to welcome your children back to school in September.

 

Best wishes,

 

Mr Joe Beament

Executive Headteacher

St Saviour’s Infant Church School and St Saviour’s Junior Church School

Web: www.stsavioursbath.co.uk

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