Important information for Parents / Carers of children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6
13th May 2020
Dear Parents / Carers
I hope you and your families are all well and we look forward to welcoming your children back to school in the safest possible way in the near future. As you will be aware, the Government has recently set out the initial guidance for schools to re-open from 1st June and I have outlined below how we plan to implement this for whom it applies.
Who will be eligible to attend?
We are currently planning for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 to start attending school from Monday 1st June. We will also continue to have provision for Critical Worker Children and vulnerable children who are not part of these year groups.
Nursery provision will be available from 2nd June.
How will the children be organised to be as safe as possible?
The children will be organised into ‘family groups’ of up to 15 with adults who will stay with that group only. These ‘family’ groups will be made up of children from the same year group. Where possible, children will be with be with their current teacher.
The ‘family groups’ will be allocated a room which, ideally, will be their normal classroom although this may not be possible with all year groups. In classrooms, children will be allocated an individual desk to enable ‘social distancing’ to take place. Breaks and lunches will be taken at different times so that ‘family’ groups do not interact. Toilets will be allocated to a family group and will be refreshed during the school day.
Children will continue to be reminded of the hygiene rules and will regularly wash their hands throughout the day. Whilst it will be challenging, every effort will be made to maintain social distancing rules throughout the day and staff will constantly reinforce the key safety rules.
We are pleased to say we will be able to provide school meals again.
What next?
We would encourage all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 to return to school on 1st June and nursery children from 2nd June, but we need to know how many will be returning. I’m sure you will appreciate that this information is essential in helping us to plan effectively and I would be grateful for a prompt response to assist us in our planning.
We will need these numbers by Monday 18th May. Please indicate, via Parent Pay (preferred), telephone 01299 823454 (between 0800 and 1300) email: office@sbp.saet.co.uk or text 07786 208889 if you would like your child to return to school. No reply would indicate that you do not want your child to return to school on 1 or 2 June 2020.
Once we know who is returning, we will be able to allocate children and adults to ‘family’ groups. Please note that our nursery provision requires a smaller staff to pupil ratio therefore we may need to limit the number of our youngest children at any one time, which may mean different start and finish times for some children. Once we know the expected number of children we will be able to make a decision based on our staffing availability.
Attendance
For your information and clarity, eligible children are strongly encouraged to attend unless they are self-isolating or they are clinically vulnerable (in which case you should follow medical advice). No one with COVID 19 symptoms should attend for any reason.
Whilst all schools have a duty to maintain attendance registers, parents will not be fined for not sending children back to school.
Thank you very much for your continued support and understanding. We will of course send you more information as we have it.
Yours faithfully
Ian James
Headteacher