Return to school for Reception Year1 and Year 2 children

Dear Parent/carer

CC Governors and staff

I am finally able to share with you the plans for the phased return to school after half term. Apologies for the delay but this comes from new guidance delivered to school today.

Welsh Government have decided that, based on the most recent scientific evidence, there is “sufficient headroom for us to begin to bring learners back to school.” They have decided that Foundation Phase children will return first – that is Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes only.

The children currently accessing school as children of key workers and those who are vulnerable will still be able to attend, if in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 they need to arrive at the same time as their bubble, if they are KS2 they need to arrive at 9.15am. Please make sure that your child is only attending on the days/times that you work. Evidence of work pattern may be requested. This is vital to keep the numbers in school to a minimum to reduce the rates of transmission within our school setting and the community.

The timetable is as follows

Monday 22^nd February – Preparation day for school and staff

There will be NO blended learning for any children during this day and those attending school as key worker children will be on a childcare basis only. This will allow the school risk assessment to be updated and shared with all staff.

Tuesday 23^rd February onwards – All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes will be expected to return to school. In some schools this is staggered but we feel we can have all children in together from the Tuesday,

Online learning will resume for Years 3-6.

Classes will be bubbles, and there will be NO mixing between them for staff or children.

We will need to stagger our start and finish times in order to ensure social distancing guidelines are followed and there is no mixing of bubbles before or after the school day. Therefore, there will be no entry into school for parents/carers, children will be dropped off and collected from the car park at the following times

Reception class arrive at 8.50 and collect at 3.10

Year 1 class arrive at 9am and collect at 3.20

Year 2 class arrive at 9.10 and collect at 3.30

Specialist centre staff will contact parents directly regarding the arrangements

If you have more than one child returning please arrive at the latest time.

Children will be accompanied by staff at these times, so please do not turn up earlier or later as it will mean you could be standing around in cold weather waiting for your child’s bubble.

We also request that face coverings are worn when dropping off and collecting children as per the Welsh Government guidance.

A reminder to all parents that Level 4 restrictions remain in place and households should not be mixing outside school. This is vital in ensuring we keep children, families and staff safe.

Please note If a child has received a shielding letter they must NOT attend school.

For children in Years 3-6 who will continue to access online learning at home. Due to concerns around screen time and the fact we can’t deliver PE lessons online for Health & Safety reasons, a Wednesday afternoon will become a “Wellbeing Wednesday” afternoon where no online lessons will take place. We hope that this gives the children a screen break, and/or a chance to complete work without a planned lesson. It may also give those working parents a chance to catch up on work!! A massive thank you to you all who are supporting your children in this ongoing situation.

Staff will be having a Lateral Flow Covid test twice weekly. In the event of an indication of a positive result, school may be unable to cover the class while the staff member obtains a second PCR test. In this case parents may be asked at short notice to keep their children at home until the result is received. We will do everything we can but ask for your support in the event this happens.

The school charter for the Foundation Phase return has been amended and is attached as a reminder of some of the finer details.

If you have any queries please call school, we will be happy to answer any questions you have.

NB The school office will not be manned on Friday as it is an INSET day.

Welsh Government and the Local Authority have given us the following priority for school to manage with available staff

The children of key workers and those deemed to be vulnerable
Face to face learning for Foundation Phase children
The provision of online learning for KS2 children.

We will of course do all that we can to maintain our current provision, however, with potential staff shortages from self-isolation and/or cases, we may need to make difficult decisions in how staff are deployed within school. Fingers crossed that we all remain safe and well, you can help us with this with following current restrictions outside school. Thank You.

Regards

Ms Jenkins

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Return to school for Reception Year1 and Year 2 children