Woodland View Primary School

Re-opening for Year 6 children

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are now in a position to re-open to all Year 6 children from Monday 22^nd June. Please check our safety agreement for parents and children as an addendum to this letter- it is very important you read both of these documents carefully before you make your decision about sending children back to school. To keep children, your families and staff safe, please follow our safety agreement from the time you receive this letter even if your child is not returning to school yet. Please note, there will be no fines for non-attendance.

For children not returning, high quality school work will still be set by email and the bus will still travel to its designated stops every Thursday. The work on the bus will mirror work set by email.

Welcoming children back

From June 22nd, we are welcoming Year 6 children back into school. We are looking forward to seeing them again. Once the children are in, we will be supporting mental health, of course, and delivering normal lessons. If your child is not coming in, then bus work and work emailed home will be basically what we are doing in class.

We are very aware of the need for our Y6s to have closure and we are working with secondary schools to try to help them become better acquainted with them too. When we have the information from them, we will share it with you. As part of celebrating our Y6s, we have, as you know, ordered hoodies, we have arranged for the individual photos taken at the beginning of the year to be placed in one photograph so that they can have a class of 2020 photograph (available shortly through Star Vision Photography) and we are in the process of organising some fun activities for the last week to finish off in style. Sadly, there can be no leavers' assembly but please be assured that we will do our best to make the end of the year as good as we possibly can for the children.

Timings of day

The timings for each group are detailed below.  Please note school finishes early on a Friday for a deep clean.

22nd June: children to return as follows:

• Key worker children will continue to come.  

• Reception children will continue to come.
• Year 6 will be able to start back. Times will be staggered to ensure safety:
  • Please arrive no earlier than 9.05am for a 9.10am start. Year 6 won’t be able to enter the site until 9.05am for safety reasons.
  • Please collect at 3.10pm (apart from on a Friday when Year 6 should be collected at 20pm)

Arrival and Pick Up

We have a one-way system in use for dropping children off in the morning and for collecting children at the end of the school day. We are asking that only one adult brings a child.

Please enter school through the main entrance gate. DO NOT ENTER THROUGH THE SIDE ENTRANCE.

Please wait with your child at the next available cone. DO NOT LET YOUR CHILD RUN AROUND.

Cones start in front of the gate used to access the school field. There will be members of staff out there to direct you.

A member of staff will call your child forward and sent to their “bubble”. Their temperature will be taken by holding an infra-red thermometer close to (but not touching) their forehead. If their temperature is normal, they will be allowed into school.

Children will enter into the building with staff and will then remain in a “bubble” with the same group of children and the same staff members.

Please exit school past the science garden and through the school grounds to the side exit.

Please follow the same procedures for pick up. Your child will be sent to you when you get to the front cone. Please exit immediately past the science garden and through the school grounds to the side exit.

Lunch

Please consider ordering a school dinner for your child. This can be done through Parent Pay. If your child is entitled to free school meals, please book through Parent Pay too. A menu is available on the app and website. If you must send a packed lunch, please send it in disposable bags. Please also send your child in with a named bottle of water as we are currently unable to give cups to children. All lunches will be eaten in classrooms and the children will not mix with children in other groups.

Uniform

Pupils will be required to wear school uniform, where possible. If children have outgrown items, they may wear a light coloured top with dark trousers/skirt/shorts. They should be as smart as possible. Items need to be washable.

Uniform/clothing should be freshly laundered every day, where possible.

Children should wear appropriate footwear for outside play. Children do not need to bring a PE kit because we cannot have PE kits or bags of any kind in school at the moment, but we will be doing lots of outside lessons.

What to bring to school

Please bring a coat (depending on the weather) and a named clean water bottle.  Children can refill their bottles with drinking water from the tap but cups will not be available due to the risks this presents. Please ensure your child brings a school jumper or cardigan in case it is cold - as classroom windows will be open.

Do not bring bags including reading & PE bags, no reading book, no reading diary, no mobile phones, no toys, no scooters or bikes.

Sun cream: To be applied before school.  Staff cannot apply sun cream during the day due to the risks this presents.

Handwashing: We will be ensuring that children wash their hands regularly following the current advice from Public Health England. Please practice this at home with your children – encouraging with songs/counting as appropriate for a period of 20 seconds or more using soap.

We will ensure children wash their hands on entry to school, before leaving, prior to and after lunch time and play times and before any food preparation as well as when appropriate throughout the day. Your child’s hands may become red or sore, but they will still have to continue washing their hands. If you would like your child to use baby lotion, please email your normal class teacher to give written permission. We cannot have any other moisturiser in school.

School cleaning: We will be ensuring that our schools are as clean as possible and extra cleaning during the day will occur. Common touch points such as door handles, toilets, desks and chairs are regularly disinfected. We have extensive guidance that has been shared with all cleaning and site staff as well as to all staff to maintain a clean environment and checks in place to ensure this is monitored. Our staff will also be regularly wiping surfaces and equipment down throughout the day.

Movement around school: We will work with all staff and children on safe movement around school – utilising a one-way system (where this is possible), stop and wait and social distancing practices as suitable. On the rare occasions that children need to leave their allocated room (e.g. toilet visits, break times) this will be carefully managed.  We are also staggering school start and end times, play times and lunches to minimise movement of children around school and to ensure that this movement is staggered by group.

Class sizes and groupings: We will set class sizes to reflect the numbers of staff available and keep them as small as possible. The government has recommended class sizes up to 15; however, we are aiming for a maximum of 11 due to space.

We will use the ‘bubble’ approach where the same members of staff will stay with the same group of children all week. This will also include teaching assistants and midday supervisors. It is important to emphasize that it is unlikely your child will be with their class teacher or in their usual classroom, depending on the number of children from each year group we have in school, but we will do our best to ensure there is a familiar adult with the children.

We will set up classrooms to support social distancing and will also ensure that children have their own resources where possible with regular cleaning of surfaces during the day and washing of hands. Rooms will also be well-ventilated in line with best practice.

We will be minimising the risks and reducing any possible spread of the virus by ensuring children are regularly washing their hands throughout the day as well as staff regularly wiping surfaces down throughout the day. We are lucky to have outdoor space, so we will also encourage our children to be outdoor in their ‘bubble’ groups and not mixing with any other ‘bubble’ groups during the day.

If anyone in school becomes unwell with a new, continuous cough, a high temperature or a loss of, or change in, their normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia) they will be sent home and advised to follow the ‘staying at home’ guidance.  All the other children in their bubble will also be sent home for 14 days or until a negative test is returned.

Coronavirus: Support and Guidance for families

We encourage all parents and carers to read the guidance below – and to support your child in understanding what this will mean for their safe return to school.

Symptoms: For the latest live guidance please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of any of the following:

• a new continuous cough
• a high temperature
• a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness. However, if you have any of the symptoms above you should self-isolate at home.

How are schools supporting safe return to school? How can families can support this?

All of the guidance below will be practised across our school. We are, and will continue to, work to the latest guidance and requirements for schools and, as a school and local authority, will review this on a daily basis in line with guidance and our school specific Risk Assessments. Parents can support children in preparing to return by talking through the measures you have been taking at home and how these can continue in school. Please practise safety measures, such as frequent handwashing for 20 seconds or more, at home.

Continuous coughs: We will monitor children throughout the school day. If a child is coughing, then we will contact the parent/carer and ask them to collect their child from school. If your child has a persistent cough please do not send them to school. This is because we want our children and staff to feel safe and reassured while coming to school. We are aware that not all coughs will be Covid-19 related but we want to be able to offer as much reassurance as possible to all coming into our school.

Safe practices for all: Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands. Wash hands immediately after doing so.

Catch it, Bin it, Kill it: Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, throwing tissue in the bin and washing hands.

High temperatures: We have thermometers on site and any child presenting as unwell may have their temperature checked. We encourage you to take your child’s temperature regularly. If your child presents a high temperature, please do not send them to school. Children are entitled to coronavirus tests and we urge you to take this up.

Wellbeing and mental health: We are also passionate about our children’s mental health and wellbeing and the children will be supported in school by staff and by external support where appropriate as part of the return to school approach. We appreciate that returning to school will lead to mixed emotions for children, parents and staff and we will be here to support to the absolute best of our ability. If any children have significant worries or concerns about returning to school, or if they begin to find the return to school difficult, we would encourage parents to communicate this to us.  We will continue to use Class Dojo and/or email for communication with parents.

Social distancing: We will be helping and teaching children to socially distance

This will be challenging, particularly with younger children who may not fully understand how important this is. Parents and carers can help by reinforcing the social distancing message at home so that children know what to expect when they come to school.

Each child should be encouraged to keep apart from other children and staff by at least 2 metres.

Social distancing is very important in limiting the spread of the virus.  Please be aware that if any child’s behaviour compromises social distancing, we may have to ask for them to be taken home.

Meetings with parents and families: Where a meeting is required, every effort will be made to complete this remotely via phone, email or video call. Please be aware that you will not be able to speak to anyone face-to-face at the school reception.  You will need to contact us by phone/email to arrange a meeting (see contact details below).

How can parents and carers help?

• Please consider how your child will get to school.
• Try to reduce any unnecessary travel on public transport where you can.
• Reinforce the social distancing message at home so that children know what to expect when they come to school along with other practices around hand washing etc.
• Avoid gathering in groups at the school gates, leaving straight away once you have dropped your child off and always follow the social distancing guidelines. Please remember that we are requesting one parent only to drop off each child.
• Parents should ensure they have maintained social distancing outside of school by not mixing socially with other families.

What is the advice if my child is sent home from school?

The current advice from Public Health England is that anyone with a fever or a new continuous cough should isolate, along with their family who live at the same address, for 14 days. If any child or adult in the class ‘bubble’ has these symptoms, all members of that ‘bubble’ will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days or until a negative test is received. You will be able to access testing facilities. If you have a positive test result you MUST inform school as soon as possible.

Please note that if the bubble leader is away, then that bubble will not be able to attend school as we don’t have enough adults to provide cover. This may be at short notice and we apologise for any inconvenience.

Remember, if you have questions, please ask us as we are here to help.

Email – office@woodlandview.notts.sch.uk

Phone – 01623 487087

Yours sincerely

Mrs Grey

Headteacher