Latest Newsletter

July Newsletter

July 9^th 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

Firstly, thank you for your patience and understanding whilst we firm up our plans for the start of next term. Also, apologies for the amount of information! I wanted to let you know as soon as possible so you have the time to make any changes you may need to with how we are organising the school day next term. Thank you for your understanding.

 

 I will be honest and tell you that the whole process is a logistical nightmare, especially in an older building, but all our decisions are based on safety and the emotional wellbeing of your children and staff. Our plans focus on the government’s guidance of ‘bubbles’. These will be class bubbles from the start of next term. Your child’s class will be kept separated from every other class at every possible opportunity, we must do everything possible to minimise mixing and contacts between classes. This will reduce risks of transmission and also enable quicker and easier identification of those who need to self-isolate in the event of any cases of Covid-19.

 

Unfortunately, we will not be opening Breakfast or ACE club for at least the first half term. This is because we want to avoid children mixing beyond their class bubble. I know this will be disappointing and inconvenient, but we want to ensure a safe and happy start to the new school year.

 

There are some basic strategies we will be using on entry and exit to school, these include:

• Only one adult per family group on drop off and pick up.
• The current one way system will stay, entrance to the school site will be from the Burton Road entrance only, and exit will be through the back gate. I’m sure you will respect that there can be no deviation from this, your cooperation is vital to make this work.
• Entry into school will be a staggered start, as will the end of the day. It is impossible for us to welcome all the children into school at the same time. We have chosen to do this using family surnames, to help those of you who have children in multiple classes. Times will be allocated to groups in alphabetical surname order and do need to be followed. The group times are a 10 minute window, you can arrive at any point within this. Children will go straight to their classrooms on arrival, with allocated entrances for each class. There will be no lining up, members of staff will be at entrance points to welcome children. Punctuality will be very important and parents/ carers must leave the site immediately. Foundation Stage pupils times will be different until they start school full time, information will be sent out on a separate letter.
• Leaving school will be similar; times are allocated in 10 minute blocks. For those of you who wish your children to walk home alone, this is allowed and children will be talked to about leaving the school site as well as the importance of social distancing. Children will need to be picked up from their allocated entrance/ exit and then taken straight off site
• No scooters or bikes allowed on the school site
• No mobile phones for older pupils unless circumstances are exceptional ( please contact me if this is the case)

We appreciate that your child is going to find school a very different place, especially for those who have not had the experience of being in a school bubble. Your children will not only have to deal with coming back to school after such a long absence, but also become accustomed to the new ways the school now has to operate. We have thought about this carefully and have decided that the first three days of school will be phased. I also want you to know that we have liaised with local primary schools and Ivanhoe College. We have consensus on some form of extra staff training (in our case Wednesday 26^th in the afternoon) and a phased return.

 

Wednesday 26th August- We have many children who have an additional need or who are particularly vulnerable. We will be having an extra ‘invitation only’ session from 9.30 am to 11.30am for these children. Invitations will go out by text by the end of this week. These will take place in their new classrooms. Children will need to be brought into school, class teachers will be waiting at their classes allocated entry point , your child will need to line up ( for this session only) and will then be taken into school. We will be using the afternoon to ensure that all our protocols are finalised.

 

Thursday 27^th August- Half of each class will attend school as a normal school day, using the staggered drop off and pick up times. We will text to inform you if your child is attending the Thursday or Friday session.

 

Friday 28^th August - The remaining half will attend a normal school day as above. This will enable your children to get used to the new routines and their new classroom and staff.

 

Tuesday 1^st September - Full opening using staggered times

 

To give you an idea routines will include:

• Using hand sanitiser stations on entry and exit to the classroom
• Classrooms, especially in Key Stage 2, will be organised with front facing desk in rows wherever possible
• Playtimes will be staggered and there will be a designated area of the playground for your child’s bubble to play in
• Some classes will have to eat lunch in their classrooms due to increased spacing needed in the hall. Hot dinners will be available as usual
• Social distancing from staff as much as is possible, especially for older pupils.
• There will be no joining together in the Hall for daily Collective Acts of Worship. These will be class based.
•  Children are to come to school in PE kits on those days when PE takes place. Information on this will be sent out at the start of next term

Staggered pick up and drop off times as follows

Family surname Group, alphabetical	Arrival time between	Exit time ( 10 minutes between to allow for leaving site)
A-F	8.40 -8.50	3.00- 3.10
G-O	8.50-9.00	3.10-3.20
P-Y	9.00-9.10	3.20-3.30

 

Drop off and pick up entrances as follows

Year 1  Mrs Pimperton and Mrs Thompson	Main Key Stage 1 entrance
Year 1/ 2 Mrs Brady	Entrance at the rear of Key Stage 1
Year 2  Miss  Kemp	Main hall entrance
Year 3 Mrs Trahearn Mrs Murray	Fire exit onto playground
Year 3 /4 Mrs Jordan	Main entrance
Year 4 Miss Miller	Main entrance
Year 5 Mrs Burrows	Main mobile entrance
Year 5 /6 Miss Butler	Class fire exit
Year 6 Mr Watts	Class fire exit

 

Over the summer break we will be adding protocols to the school website , which will give you detailed information on how we are keeping your children safe as well as the general measures we are putting into place to ensure we are compliant with Health and Safety at Work and Government legislation.

 

I appreciate that I have included a lot in this letter and I hope it’s clear! As always, if you have any questions then I can be contacted directly on liz.powell@ashbyce.leics.sch.uk or you can ring school to talk to Mrs Trahearn or Mrs Brady, or request a call back from me.

 

Finally, just a reminder that you will also be sent a link by text this afternoon which will take you to a video recorded by your child’s new class teacher, I hope you and your children enjoy watching them.

 

Life continues to be uncertain, but together, we will make sure that your children get back into full time education in the safest possible way.

 

Thank you for your continued support

 

L Powell

Headteacher

30 Jun 2020

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