Dear Families,

Hooray! KS2 can now join us back in school!

KS2 children return to school on Monday 15^th March 2021

Here are some reminders of how we can optimise safety in and around the school through our timings and organisation:

Drop Off and Collection Times.

We will continue with the same routines to drop off in the bottom car park as usual.

The times are staggered in order that we minimise spread of the virus, so please do keep to these timings

Drop off:

 

Collection:

One Way System.

Please continue to use the one-way system at the end of the day when collecting your children - walking up the drive, around the back of the school, and leaving through the ‘curvy gate’, down the path towards the bottom car park. Please wear your face covering.

Please maintain social distancing when dropping off or waiting for pupils and keep impromptu conversations with teachers at the door brief, so that we don’t get a ‘log jam’! If you need a meeting with the teacher, get in touch and we can organise a telephone or Teams style meeting. If possible, walk to and from school as this will limit the traffic at the school entrance, and though this feels totally harsh to say, please do not linger to chat to friends, as adult to adult is the main area of virus transmission.

Entering and exiting classrooms:  All pupils will be asked to wash/gel their hands on arrival into the school and encouraged to clean them regularly throughout the day. Hand sanitiser is available in all key areas. Pupils will need to bring a labelled water bottle to school (this is important). Children do not need to bring in pencil cases.

Catering: The school kitchen will be open and any pupils requiring a meal can purchase through Parent Pay. Pupils are still able to bring their own packed lunch and children can bring a healthy snack or fresh fruit/ vegetables for break time. Breaks and lunchtimes will be staggered to ensure safety and reduce contact between groups.

Breakfast Club and ASC: The Breakfast Club will resume after the Easter holidays, and as before, is limited to those families who have no other alternative for childcare. This is because we still maintain class bubbles and we have limited space in the hall. This restriction will be lifted as soon as Welsh Government inform us that it is safe to do so. Pupils can be dropped to Breakfast Club from 8:15 a.m. Further information will be shared shortly. After School Club is also starting after Easter and details regarding its return will be shared directly from the After School Club Team.

School Uniform: School uniform will continue to be our dress code.

Attendance: Excellent attendance will be promoted as per usual but we understand the current challenges that we all face. If you have any concerns or queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch.  If your child is unwell, please contact the office on the first morning that your child is unable to attend.  However, under no circumstance should learners or staff attend school if they:

• Feel unwell, have any of the identified COVID-19 symptoms (a new continuous cough, or a high temperature, or loss of or change to their sense of taste or smell) or they have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 7 days.
• Live in a household with someone who has symptoms of COVID-19 or had tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days.

Contingency planning: It is our intention for all learners to return to school however, there may be occasions where home learning is required if we experience localised outbreaks of COVID-19.  Information will be communicated on the school website and via email if this becomes necessary.

Additional Safety Measures:

TAC and PHW advise that the existing control measures remain essential in responding to the possibility of new variants and helping to reduce transmission of the virus.

Any staff member or learner who has possible symptoms of COVID-19 must not attend the school setting.

• Lateral Flow Testing – all staff have testing kits to self-administer twice weekly.
• Pupils to only bring ESSENTIAL items to school – water bottle, snack and lunchbox.
• All adults on site will wear ‘high quality three layered masks’ and have the personal choice as to whether they wear their mask whilst teaching. It is recommended that staff do wear their mask if they are in close proximity to pupils. PPE is provided for intimate care. 
• Hand hygiene is now embedded into school life and regular and thorough handwashing takes place regularly.
• Exclusive contact groups – where possible pupils will remain in cohort groups and staff will not move between groups if possible.
• Cleaning guns- we have purchased two cleaning guns which spray rooms and surfaces with a fine mist of cleaning product. We use this frequently to provide additional cleaning and we sanitise toilet areas during the school day.

Red Nose Day

To finish on an absolute high, we are excited to say that children and adults can feel free to dress up for Red Nose Day on the 19^th March 2021. We are having the theme of Super Heroes. Superheroes are very different to each and every one of us… a person may feel, that for them, it’s a nurse, their Dad, Batman or a person from history etc. It is personal choice, and children may want to come as themselves, as they are super heroes to both you and us, and therefore would also be a perfect response to Red Nose Day.

Any donations will be collected through Parent Pay, and we will send further details shortly.

 

Thank you for your patience and support during these very unusual times and we are looking forward to welcoming everyone back,

 

Very kind regards,

 

Caroline Swann

 

Headteacher