Dear Parents

We are looking forward to welcoming all the children back to school on Monday 8th March.  We have revisited our risk assessment considering the current Government guidance.  Our previous protocols remain in place with the addition of some further safety procedures.

• Staff will wear face masks when moving around the building and in common areas.
• Staff now have access to lateral flow testing twice a week. (Infant age children are not expected to wear face masks and there will be no asymptomatic testing of the children) 
• Where possible, parents/carers should wear face masks when dropping off and collecting children.

The Government have said that schools can now provide wrap around childcare and run outside clubs.  Unfortunately, we are currently not able to offer all the above.  Our after-school club was closed due to lack of numbers and was not financially viable.  Our breakfast club has always been well attended and we do hope to offer this in the future.  Currently, we do not have the available staff to run the club. The age of our children means we could not maintain socially distanced groups in the breakfast club, and this could impact on the confidence of staff and parents in our procedures. 

In the summer term, we will be offering outdoor after school clubs to children in key stage one.  These clubs will be run in class bubbles.  This means clubs will not run for as many weeks as usual to ensure all the children are given equal opportunity.

Please find below a reminder of our general procedures and protocols for parents: 

Drop off and Collection:

The school will continue to operate a staggered start and end to the day. Groups will continue to be staggered by year group, not class.

Sibling drop off

If you have multiple children who attend Field Place you may drop them all off just before 8:40, there will be a sign up!

Sibling collection

If you have year 3 children to collect from The Orchards you may collect all of your Field Place children at 2:20. If you have multiple children just at Field Place you may collect them all just before 2:30, again there will be a sign up!

• Parents should not arrive earlier than their allotted time.
• Unless your child has a significant need, only one parent should accompany children to school.
• When you arrive, please queue along the path observing a 2-metre distance from other parents. 
• Your children should stay with you and not socialise with other families as you wait.
• During your ten minutes drop off time, the class teacher will be waiting on the playground to welcome the children. The teacher will begin taking children to the classroom once the first half of the class have arrived, in order to begin hand washing. Support staff will greet and take down all other children arriving during this time slot.
• Children will leave you at the gate and go into school and line up with their teacher
• If you arrive after your allotted time, your child will need to walk by themselves to their classroom.
• There will be a one-way system in place, which means you will leave the school through the carpark. (This will be safe, as no cars will arrive or leave during these times.
• To keep the flow of people moving and maintain social distancing, we cannot store bikes or scooters at this time.  If your child arrives by bike or scooter, you will need to take this home with you.
• We anticipate that queues may extend onto the pavement outside the school. NO DOGS should be secured near where parents or children are queuing. Please leave dogs at home.
• Parents should maintain social distancing and not gather in groups before or after school.
• At pick up time, class teachers will bring the children onto the small playground to wait for their adult.  Parents should queue using the same protocol as the morning.  The adult on the gate will ask who you have come to collect, and your child will then be sent to you. We will ensure that siblings can be collected at the same time.
• Families will then leave the site using the one-way system
• Teachers will be unable to talk to parents at the beginning or end of the day.  Any concerns or problems will be addressed via phone.  

What will my child need to bring to school?

• A water bottle
• A sunhat
• A coat (depending on weather)
• A packed lunch if they are not having school dinners
• A school book bag

The children will not need to bring in a PE kit, but should come to school dressed for PE on PE days. For hygiene reasons, children cannot bring in any toys or other items from home. Things made in school will be brought home on Fridays, allowing time for these items to stay in children’s drawers for 24 hours or more.

We are aware that children in the nursery and reception may need a transition toy.  This is a developmental stage where transition objects can be supportive, and we understand that leaving parents at the gate can be tricky for such young children. If a nursery or reception child needs a transition toy, it will be stored in the teacher’s cupboard and only used by the one child when needed.

Children will be bringing home books from school, as learning to read is a priority skill for infants.  Once returned, reading books will be stored out of circulation for 48 hours before being used by other children.

Hygiene and Cleanliness Procedures

The children will be washing their hands regularly throughout the day – on arrival, before and after play, before and after lunch, before PE and after PE and at the end of the day.  They will also wash their hands if they cough, sneeze or are seen to specifically lick their hands or put their fingers in their mouth. Children will be told to use a tissue or their elbow if they need to cough or sneeze and then bin the tissue and wash their hands.

As class sizes are returning to 30, it is not possible for each child to sit at a separate table.  However, all children in key stage one will have their own drawer and a pencil case with their own frequently used resources – (pencil, handwriting pen, crayons, scissors and glue stick). Children will have their own ruler, which will be kept in their drawer. 

In Nursery and Reception, play equipment will not be shared between groups and will be cleaned regularly.

Where possible, each class will have exclusive use of a toilet block.  This means that girls and boys will be sharing a toilet block.  Where this is not possible, no more than two classes will use a toilet area.  These toilets will have additional cleaning throughout the day.  Staff will monitor the use of shared toilets to avoid children from different classes coming into contact.

Door handles, toilets and tables in classrooms will be disinfected regularly during the day. Each classroom will be cleaned with disinfectant/bleach at the end of the day.  Classrooms will be well- ventilated, and windows left open whenever possible.

Distancing Procedures

Classes will use their outside doors to enter and exit the building.  Apart from going to the Hall for hot lunches, classes will not need to use the corridors.  There will be no whole school assemblies and PE will be timetabled for outside whenever possible. 

The school office will not be open for parents to drop in.  If you have a query or need to purchase school items, please call the office on 01903 700234.

Play and Lunchtime

The large playground will be separated into play zones. We are lucky that we also have the small playground and the reception play area.  This means that we can successfully timetable separate play areas for each group of children.  Teachers will explain to children where they can play and that they cannot play with children in a different zone.

With more children in school, we will now need to use the Hall to serve some lunches. No more than two classes will eat in the hall at any one time and tables will be disinfected before the next sitting.  Some hot lunches will be served to children in their classrooms.  After lunch, the children will go to their play zone.

What happens if someone becomes unwell?

It is very important that if your child or anyone in your family has any of the three confirmed symptoms of Covid-19, you should not bring your child to school. These symptoms are:

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

If your child or a member of your family does have any of these symptoms, you need to be willing to:

• Book a coronavirus test
• Contact the school immediately once the test result is known
• Provide details of anyone you have been in close contact with if you were to test positive
• Self-isolate if you have been in close contact with someone who develops Covid-19 symptoms or someone who tests positive for Covid-19

If a negative result is confirmed, your child can return to school as soon as they feel well.

If you or your child do not have a test, they will be unable to return to school for 10 days after the first sign of symptoms.

If a positive result is confirmed, the sick person should self-isolate for 10 days.  After 10 days, if the person who showed symptoms does not have a high temperature, they do not need to continue to self-isolate.  If they still have a high temperature, they should continue to self-isolate until the temperature returns to normal.  They do not need to self-isolate if they only have a cough or anosmia after 10 days, as these symptoms can last for several weeks after the infection has gone.  Other household members must not leave the house for 10 days.  if anyone else in the household starts displaying symptoms, they should also book a test.

If school is informed of a positive test, we will contact our local public health department and follow their guidance and advice.  Procedures in school mean that we will be able to trace the groups of children who have been in close contact with the child.

If a child shows symptoms of Covid-19 while at school, they will be isolated from other children.  A trained first aider will support the child and remain with them until an adult arrives to collect them.  If the first aider is unable to maintain a two-meter distance, they will wear PPE while they wait with the child.  This will comprise of a facemask, gloves, and an apron.  Children who are unwell will be cared for in the side entrance to the school.  This will allow parents to pick children up with ease.

If a member of staff becomes unwell, they will book a test straight away.  The school is able to employ supply teachers to cover absence. Classes will not need to close unless positive testing leads to local public health officials advising the school to do so.

Changes to Curriculum

The school is dedicated to providing children with a broad, balanced and creative curriculum.  However, our core purpose within the infant phase is to ensure that children enter the junior school able to read, write and work with numbers to 100.  Reading is the gateway to all other areas of the curriculum and children who do not gain these skills can struggle to access the other areas of the curriculum moving forward.  We know that parent have been doing a fantastic job to support their children at home, but loss of learning over time is potentially going to be a significant challenge for this cohort of children.  We will therefore be focussing our initial teaching up to Easter on these core skills.

We know that the emotional wellbeing of the children is also paramount and our Personal, Social, Heath and Relationships curriculum will be enhanced to support the children.  There will be many opportunities for children to play together and work outside the classroom with a focus on science and art pursuits. Our curriculum cornerstones, the power of talk, growth mindset, broadening horizons and love of the natural world, will continue to underpin our offer where possible. 

We will reintroduce further areas of the curriculum after Easter.  Subject leaders will identify the key skills the children need as a foundation to the next stage in their education. 

In the event of a child/group of children needing to self-isolate, home learning will be available for all children. 

Attendance

Attendance at school is mandatory from March 8th and our usual protocols will be in place.  Please contact the school as soon as you know your child will not be attending.  All unreported absence will be followed up daily by the admin team.  Unauthorised absences of 10 sessions (5 days) will be referred to the school entitlement team.  If you are having any difficulties getting your child to school, please talk to us as soon as possible so we can support you.

We look forward to seeing you all on the 8th March and will continue to use parentmail for any further updates.  If you have any whole school questions regarding the return to school, please contact us via office@fieldplace.org.uk If you have any individual concerns about the return to school, please contact us via secretary@fieldplace.org.uk 

With Thanks

Theresa Alford