Update regarding Coronavirus

Dear Parents,

Further to our letter dated 12th March I said I would give updates regularly about school arrangements at present and how we are preparing for the coming weeks. Please do take a moment to read about where we are up to with our planning and how you can help us with some actions at home.

The past few days have changed things quite markedly in the outside world and this is starting to impact upon our lives to some extent and is likely to impact further over the coming weeks.

The Year 5 children had a fantastic trip to London on Monday and Tuesday but we could see how London was starting to close down and prepare for "Social Distancing". I would like to thank the children and staff for their attitude and calmness despite the disappointment of having to come back a day earlier than planned. Thank-you to all parents for their support with this challenge. I certainly think the children enjoyed all the activities we did in the short time.

I know that we would all like some clarity at this time and I appreciate there will be parental opinion as to how we respond but at this point the guidance we must follow is that we must try to remain open until instructed to close by DFE and Public Health England.

We are however preparing for the eventuality of closure and how we might support the children and families during these difficult times.

There are two possible scenarios which we are preparing for.

The first scenario will be one of a partial closure - This will be when the situation arises where we are short staffed due to illness/ self-isolation. In this case we will aim to communicate this at the earliest point identifying which year groups will be closed. We will consider if it is possible that this is a "rolling closure" meaning that we all share the burden by closing on a rota.

The second scenario is where we face a full closure due to Government instruction or staffing limitations. In this case all children will be off. On the first day there will be some transition time where teachers are preparing suitable teaching resources and activities which will become available on the website under each year group. If we need to remain closed for any length of time we will develop more materials and suggested activities and it will be a very useful resource for children and parents.

In both events we will aim to keep you up to date by sending out regular texts and emails.

In the meantime parents should be aware of the following most recent Government guidance.

 If one person in any household has a persistent cough or fever, everyone staying there must stay at home for 14 days.

 People should minimise their social contact.

 People should avoid non-essential travel

 Everyone should avoid gatherings and crowded places.

Within School Actions:

We are having to make some changes in light of the guidelines.

 Y4 Swimming Lessons cancelled

 Y2 trip to Chatsworth cancelled

 After school clubs and activities cancelled from Monday until after Easter

 PA Easter Bingo cancelled

 Parents Evenings cancelled (we will provide some further information shortly)

 Y3 French Day cancelled

 Y1/Y2/Y3/Y5 sports events out school cancelled

 Y5 Bikeability cancelled

Additional measures are:

 We will no longer allow non-essential visitors into school.

 There will be no music lessons delivered by peripatetic music teachers.

 There will be no whole school assemblies- these will take place in classrooms.

 Continued regular handwashing.

 Continued staggered lunchtimes.

We also ask that all parents do not enter school under any circumstances other than through main Reception.

Please note we will continue to offer Breakfast club at this time but we request parents do not enter the school building and "handover" at the main reception.

Looking after your children’s emotional well-being

We appreciate that there are all sorts of emotions we have during this uncertain time. The news, social media, Government documents, stories from friends mean it is difficult for us adults let alone the children to make sense of it all. We will aim to be calm and measured in our approach to minimise children’s distress and anxiety. We will acknowledge the current local, National and Global picture with children as it comes up and we will talk to them and answer questions from them responsibly and as factually as possible providing some reassurance if we feel this is needed. Children will talk and gossip (just like us adults!) - if you can offer them some support at home that would be really helpful.

In addition we will continue to stress good hygiene control.

Absence from School

If for any reason your child will be off school either illness or through self- isolation of the family please email or call school leaving name, class, reason for absence. Should your child need to be off for more than two weeks (14 days isolation) please call/ email and update us so we can record absence accordingly and avoid unnecessary follow up calls during this difficult time.

Further Information

If you require further information then I am sure there is a wealth of sources on the internet but the link below would be a useful reference.

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-action-plan

We will keep you posted and I would like to thank-you for your support and understanding during these challenging times.

Best wishes to you and your family.

A. Buckley