Dear Parents/ Carers,

I hope this email finds you all safe and well.

The last year has been a very uncertain time for all of us. Human beings thrive when life is predictable and safe, and the last 12 months haven't felt like either of those!

Now we know that schools will open to all on March 8th, children will be feeling a range of emotions. They may have lots of questions and be really excited. They may also be quite anxious. Children might have worries about all sorts of things: friendships, teachers, work, catching up. These emotions are all normal in these very unusual circumstances. The best thing to do is to talk to your child and let them tell you how they're feeling. Listen to what they say and acknowledge their feelings.

I hope that this email will make some things more certain for them because certainty helps us to feel prepared.

The basic message is that the school will be running the way it was during the Autumn Term. The only difference is that staff now have lateral flow tests twice a week.

Bubbles

The children will still work in year group bubbles. If there is a positive test result, any children in the bubble will be sent home to isolate for 10 days. This is to try and limit the spread of the virus.

Hand hygiene

Children and adults will still be asked to wash their hands regularly and use hand sanitiser at the main entrances.

“Catch it, bin it, kill it”

This will still be an important message for us all. Children should cough or sneeze into a tissue which is put into a lidded bin. Children then wash their hands. If they cannot reach a tissue, they should sneeze into their elbow NOT their hand.

Illness

If your child is ill, please do not send them to school.

Use of personal equipment

We will still ask children to bring their own pencil case which contains their personal equipment. They should avoid sharing equipment as much as possible.

PE Kit

On PE days, please send your child to school wearing their PE uniform. This is not their favourite sports kit- it's their uniform. Plain blue jumper and plain blue or black leggings or joggers. NOT football shirts.

Social distancing

Adults in school need to distance from each other and from parents. We would ask you to distance from each other at home time. Please follow the one-way system to avoid bumping into other people. If you can wear a mask, please do so when talking to a member of staff.

Staggered home time

We will continue with our staggered home time system which is outlined below in case you can’t remember what time your child is collected or where from!

• At 3 o’clock:

Year 5 and Year 6 will be at the bottom of the playgrounds (furthest away from the school).

The gates at the bottom will be opened for the children to leave from.

PLEASE DO NOT COME IN THROUGH THE BOTTOM GATES UNLESS YOU ARE ALSO COLLECTING

CHILDREN FROM RECEPTION OR YEAR 1 AS THE SIDE GATES WON’T BE OPEN FOR YOU TO

LEAVE FROM.

Year 2 will be collected from the back gates/ 2B classroom. There is no change to this, except

collection is now at 3.00pm.

• At 3.15pm:

Year 3 will be collected from the back entrance- next to the leisure centre.

Year 4 will be collected from the back park entrance.

One of the main pinch points at home time is outside Reception and Year 1, so we are going to spread out the classes and set up queuing points so that each class will have a queue. Please

don’t worry: senior leaders will be around outside to show you where to queue and there will be signs up to assist you.

1S will be dismissed from the main school doors-by the office (they will sit in the foyer).

1N will be dismissed from the classroom.

RH will be dismissed from the Y5/6 doors (at the top of the steps next door to the classroom).

RA will be dismissed from the classroom.

ACCESS TO THE SCHOOL.

We hope to minimise the numbers of parents needing to be around the school grounds.

• Year 2 and 3 parents will use the back exit next to the leisure centre.

• Year 4 parents will use the back park exit behind the hall. Please queue on the path and teachers will send your child to you.

• Year 5 and 6 parents will use the bottom gates. Please queue on the path and teachers

will send your child to you.

• Only parents collecting children from Reception or Year 1 will need to come up to the school, either through the bottom gate or the side park gates. You will need to leave through the Stratford Road exit.

We have tried hard to help families with children leaving from different gates. If you have really struggled, please let us know so that we can try and sort it out for you, particularly if you have a child using the back gate by the leisure centre.

I hope this helps to answer some of the questions you or your children may have. I am very excited about welcoming you all back next week (although in a socially distanced manner-of course!)

Best wishes,

Mrs Seymour