Dear Parents/Carers,

School Reopening on 8^th March

It seems like it’s been quite a while since we have seen all of our children and families in school.  Once again we have faced an unprecedented few months but we are really looking forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday 8^th March.  All children, in all classes are expected to return unless unwell or isolating.  In the Government announcement this week, they have said that attendance is mandatory.  We understand that parents and children have experienced a difficult and challenging time and may be worried but staff will use the information shared at this week’s parents’ evenings and their knowledge of those who have continued to attend school to provide the best possible start when the children return.

You have been working really hard with remote learning and although you may still have worries about the virus, we are sure that you, like us, are wanting the children to return to school to continue their academic and social and emotional aspects of learning.

We know that parents will want to ensure their child is able to return to school on 8^th March in a safe learning environment.  We would like to reassure you that we have taken every measure to ensure your child’s health and well-being are closely following Department for Education Guidance and expectations to do this.  We will run school in the same way we did in the Autumn term, which worked effectively for us all.

To ensure a safe return to school for all children, the general principles we have followed are detailed below:

·        Staggered start and finish time for year groups and phases to limit the number of adults coming onto the school sites at any one time.  To minimise the number of adults we ask that only one parent comes onto site to collect their child.  Nursery and Reception children will be dropped off and collected from the classroom door.  Children in KS1 and those in KS2 who are collected will be brought out onto the playground by class and will be dismissed to the adult collecting, maintaining a safe social distance but also ensuring the children’s safety.  Both sites will continue to operate a one-way system with the barriers open to provide wider access ways to the site.  Members of staff will be visible at both sites to support parents with accessing the one-way systems.

·        All parents must wear face masks when on the school site, including on the playground, unless they can provide evidence of medical exemption.  All staff will wear masks when dismissing the children and when in communal areas within school.  This does not include the classroom and pupils do not need to wear masks when in school.

·        Children will continue to come into school in their PE kit on their designated PE days (see table below) to limit the number of items being stored in school and to reduce the need for staff to support changing with the younger children.

• Handwashing and good hygiene practices will be re-established.  Correct hand washing will be reinforced with our pupils throughout the day.  Pupils will become familiar with the routine of washing their hands upon entry to the school, before eating food and after break times, alongside use of alcohol hand sanitiser gel, which will only be used under adult supervision.
• Additional deeper cleaning will occur every day across the school sites, with particular attention paid to toilets, hard surfaces and shared communal areas.  All toilets and classrooms always have access to a supply of liquid soap and paper towels.
• Classes will form pods to limit the contact children and staff have for as much of the day as possible.  In Reception and Year 1, where there are Read Write Inc groups, these will still take place.  As these are small groups, should there be a need to close a class, there may be a small number of children who may have had close contact in a RWI group who may also be asked to isolate as a precaution.
• Classroom equipment and resources will be shared within classes but children will have their own pen/pencil to use.  Equipment or resources which are shared, such as PE equipment, will be cleaned thoroughly between sessions.
• Social distancing will be maintained in school as far as practically possible but parents will recognise that younger children particularly often need support and guidance which will require closer contact.  Outdoor spaces will be utilised for learning wherever possible.
• Communication between school and home will continue to be done, as far as possible, via telephone, email or Class Dojo.  Unless it is urgent, any face to face meetings will need to be arranged in advance so that appropriate safety measures can be put in place for all those involved.  Only one family will be able to come into the waiting area at any one time.
• Ensuring that any member of staff or child who is displaying symptoms is not allowed into school until they have a negative test result or have completed the self isolation period.  Please remember that if any member of the household becomes symptomatic, the whole family needs to begin isolation straight away.

You will see below confirmation of the staggered start and finish times which were in place in the Autumn term.  At the juniors, there has been a small change for a couple of year groups so please check the times below carefully if your child is in Year 3 or 6.  Due to the logistics of the sites and having a split site school, we know that the start and finish times for some year groups are the same which will cause a difficulty for parents who have children in multiple year groups.

In the morning, where there is a soft start, this should allow parents to move between the sites to drop off children in readiness for their allocated start time.  Where we know parents are moving between the sites and this causes a couple of minutes of lateness this will not be penalised.

At the end of the day when the finish times are the same, we suggest picking up the youngest child first as they generally get more anxious if a parent is late collecting and then collect from the junior site. Staff are aware that they may need to look after children for a few minutes at the end of the day while parents move between the sites.

If you have two children in different year groups at the same site, please try to arrange the drop off times so they coincide as much as possible to avoid waiting on the school site for longer than is needed but again we recognise there will be times when a short wait time is necessary.

To help us ensure the start and end of the day is a smooth process, please can we ask you not to arrive prior to your allocated start or finish time to reduce congestion on and around the sites.

Uniform

From Monday 8^th March, all children will need to wear their full school uniform if it is not a PE day for their class.  As we know children may have grown or you may have uniform that you have previously purchased that you have not been able to use, children can wear either their winter or summer uniform when we return.  From Year 1 upwards, the children are expected to wear a tie when they are wearing a collared shirt.

On days when your child’s class has PE, they are asked to come into school wearing their PE kit which they wear all day.  It is important that the children wear plain black, grey or navy shorts, jogging bottoms or leggings and a white T shirt.  They can wear either their school jumper or a plain zip up/hooded jacket.  Please ensure the children wear trainers rather than pumps as where possible, PE will be delivered outside.

Homework and Reading Books

Children will still be issued with reading books from school and be able to change this frequently.  Books returned from home will need to be quarantined before being able to be used again.

All children from Nursery – Year 6 will be set half termly homework activities which link to topics and themes they are learning about.  These will be sent home when we return and you will have a few weeks to work on these together.  At the end of each half term there will be a celebration of the work the children have completed at home.  In KS1, English and Maths activities will be set via Dojo on alternate weeks.  In KS2, the English and Maths homework activities will be set on Century Tech.  We are using these approaches to limit the number of items that are being transferred between school and different households.

All schools have taken a number of steps to make sure pupils can return safely.  We have thoroughly reviewed our health and safety risk assessments and put in place increased health and safety and hygiene measures.  We all have a part to play in this.  As well as following the arrangements we have put in place to welcome everyone back safely, you can also help by:

• Reinforcing with your child the need for good respiratory hygiene, by promoting the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach, which schools will also be doing.
• Continuing to wash hands regularly – this remains one of the best preventative measures against the virus.
• Not sending your child to school if they, or someone in your household, has symptoms of the virus.  Please notify the school immediately in these circumstances.
• Keeping your child at home if you have returned from a country not on the exempt list of low-risk countries and need to self-isolate for.  Please notify the school with details
• Taking part in the NHS Test and Trace process if your child develops symptoms so that cases can be identified quickly - this means, you should arrange for them to get a test and let their school know the results.  You can also call 119, which is the number for the NHS virus testing call centre.  You can notify us of test results out of school hours via the email address 12covid@olton.solihull.sch.uk which is monitored during weekends and school holidays.

Although there is a direction for the gradual lifting of lockdown restrictions in the coming months, when the children return to school on Monday 8^th March, there will still be significant restrictions in place in relation to social contact and mixing between households, both indoors and outside.  It is really important that everyone continues to follow these restrictions to ensure everyone’s safety.  One child or staff member testing positive can impact a significant number of families if the class or year group has to close and everyone isolate for 10 days.  Not following the rules set out poses a risk and makes our whole school community vulnerable.  After missing time in school for over two months, it is crucial we are able to have as much uninterrupted learning as possible.

We are really looking forward to welcoming all of our children and families back to school.  The systems and processes that we have put in place, as we know from the Autumn term, may be more time consuming than normal but we know they help us protect children and staff.  Please be patient if you are waiting a little longer than usual, particularly in the first couple of weeks while we all become familiar with and adjust to our routines once again.

Best wishes.

Mr Chamberlain                     Mrs Gray

Head Teacher                        Deputy Head Teacher