Return to school - 8th March 2021

1^st March 2021

 

Dear Parents and Carers, 

 

As I am sure that you are aware, the government has announced that schools will reopen to all pupils on 8 March. We’re very much looking forward to welcoming back more of our pupils to face-to-face education then.

Attendance

From 8 March, school attendance will be mandatory and our usual rules on attendance will apply. However, please remember that your child should self-isolate and not come to school if they:

• Have coronavirus symptoms or have tested positive
• Live with someone who has symptoms or have tested positive
• Are a close contact of someone who has tested positive

For pupils (Y1-6) who are self-isolating, we will continue to provide a daily ‘Sway’ to support those unable to be at school, but there will be less content and feedback due to the fulltime commitment of teachers to the face-to-face learners.  For our EYFS children, we will be signposting activities for them to enjoy, but no new videos will be uploaded.  Should a whole class/year group be required to self-isolate due to a Covid case in school, we will revert to full remote learning for the entire group.

Breakfast and after school club will operate as usual, taking into account our additional safety measures.  Children already booked for sessions will keep their places.

Safety measures

Each one of us needs to take responsibility for our safety and that of those around us – we sometimes forget about social distancing, and it’s up to us all to offer polite reminders when needed, both inside and outside school.

Across school:

• all staff will remain in their designated areas and stay 2 metres away from each other at all times;
• those members of staff who move across school as part of their jobs, will do so as infrequently as possible, wearing protective masks/visors and cleanse hands often;
• staff have home testing kits and are taking the lateral flow test twice weekly;
• some staff have already been vaccinated; we enable staff to accept the earliest possible appointment by releasing them during the school day if necessary.

In Key Stage 2:

• desks will be arranged to reduce contact with others;
• children will remain in their places for the majority of their learning, and have access to hand gel and tissues;
• adults will remain at least 2 metres away from each other and children, except for brief periods (for example when giving individual feedback), when they will be wearing protective visors;
• adults will cleanse hands when moving from one child to another;
• break times will be mainly outdoors, with physical games available for small groups

 In EYFS and Key Stage 1: 

• adults will ensure that they remain at least 2 metres from each other; 
• adults will remain 2 metres away from children whenever this is reasonable, and where this cannot be guaranteed, will wear protective visors; 
• adults will cleanse hands when moving between groups of pupils; 
• adults will support children in maintaining high standards of hygiene.

 

Lockdown has been a challenging period for all of us, and we would like to thank you for your continuing support during this difficult and uncertain time. If you or your child have any concerns about returning to school, or if you think your child might need extra support when they return, please get in touch with Mrs Watson swatson@frenchwood.lancs.sch.uk.

 

We would also like to thank you for all your support in helping your child learn from home. We will continue to keep in touch if we update our plans or if we need to make changes due to new government guidance.

 

 

Warm regards,

 

Cathryn Antwis

Head teacher