Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
Updates towards plans for opening school (projected for June 1st)
Opening of school to children requires much planning and adaptation as guidance is amended and we learn more about who will access the invites made. This is not a straight forward process for schools, Local Authorities or Government and I hope that you are patient and understanding of the need to take steps to keep children and the community safe.
We will review our plan and actions fortnightly or when guidance dictates. As a result, by the nature of the circumstances all measures are subject to alteration.
Plan outline (unchanged)
As already announced in previous notices, Ashgate Primary School is initially inviting access to school to all EYFS, Year 1 and Year 6 children in two groups. These are referred to as group A and B. This is the first step in readiness for a full reopening when directed by the Department of Education (DfE).
Working in this way has enabled us to plan for small 'bubbles' of pupils, which will allow as much social distancing between staff and pupils as possible.
Remember, the Department of Education have confirmed that it will not always be possible to ensure the 2 meter social distancing in primary school settings, and we cannot guarantee this either.
School will be closed to all but non key workers/vulnerable children on Wednesdays to allow a deep clean process. This is an important hygiene step designed to further reduce risk of contamination.
Parents are reminded that DfE have confirmed that families will not be penalised for non attendance during this period.
All children will continue to be provided online learning activities regardless of acceptance of invite, year group or days school is available to that individual.
Confirmation of actions due this week (updated)
Parents of children in invited groups will have their group confirmed on Friday 22ndby text message. If you do not receive a message by 3pm, you may contact the school office for confirmation (01332 343928).
You do not need to inform us or commit to attendance, however, if school is open on June 1st (government announcing pending) you must contact us if you DO NOT send your child. This is simply for enduring children are accounted for and safeguarded.
How long will access be restricted to two days as Group A and B? (new information)
Clearly, access to school on only some days presents a challenge for families, particularly those who cannot work at home. This is in place to keep children safe.
I can confirm that:
The first review of numbers will take place on June 8th. Should grouping allow a merge, steps to address this will be announced by June 12th. After this point, a fortnightly review will take place. I wish to be clear, this is not a guarantee and is subject to the demand. Likewise, if schools are later directed by the DfE to accept children in other year groups, grouping may be necessary across the school.
There are no plans at this time to remove the Wednesday deep clean.
My child currently attends school in the Key Worker/Vulnerable Children group. Can they attend in Group A or B and later in the week join the Key Worker group again? (Clarification)
No. Guidance requires that groups mix as little as possible to reduce the risk of cross contamination. Parents of Key and Vulnerable group entitlement need to make a decision.
You cannot switch between the two. Should your circumstance change or the offer made by school extended at a later date, a change in group needs planning and must be arranged in consultation with the school. An expected 5 working day notice is required and will require agreement by the Headteacher. Parents cannot swap and change at a whim.
If you feel that you are entitled to access to the school as both parents are key workers and there is no safe alternative, you must apply for access to this group. Those already accepted need not re apply.
Some updates on expectations if you send your child in
School uniform is preferable. However, I am acutely aware that it is more important that children attend school in clean clothing. If you have limited uniform, non uniform is acceptable if this increases hygiene standards.
Children should not bring book bags and the school library will remain closed. You can imagine that as educationalists, this is difficult for us to tell people. Clear guidance is available to say that contamination from the sharing of books is a high risk, as is bringing in items from home unless very necessary.
Children will need to bring their own water bottleand this should be clearly labelled.
Inviting children to return to Ashgate Primary School –
Early Years Foundation Stage, Year 1 and Year 6 only – June 1st
In this document, I wish to outline the steps to be carried out in order to follow the Government’s direction to open schools once Phase 3 of their Covid 19 recovery plan has been initiated. This is currently anticipated to be on June 1st 2020. I wish to assure you that the school has considered the guidance presented by Gov UK and applied this to the development of strategies and actions individual to Ashgate Primary School.
Why are you contacting us?
It is well known that there are mixed feelings around the directive to reopen schools. Some will welcome the opportunity for their child to return, whilst others will be anxious. I wish to emphaise that children are invitedto return to school and be very clear that parents need to make their own assessment as to whether to do so. We cannot advise parents on their choice, but we will respect any decision to either send or not send a child. At this time, DfE have confirmed that there is no intention to penalize or prosecute parents for a child’s non-attendance. But, if you are notintending to send your child to school for any reason, you must inform us as per normal absence procedures so we can safeguard children’s whereabouts.
Will my child be safe?
Safety is at the core of these plans and we will do all we can to mitigate risks of transmission of Covid 19 to staff, children and others visiting the school site. However, I must be clear that there is no guarantee that these steps will prevent infection to any individual.
Our aim is to protect the staff, pupils and community from the virus and to limit any impact of it by applying 3 key strategies:
What protective measures are you putting in place to mitigate risk?
Cooperation from parents is essential. Failure to comply could lead to the place for your child being temporarily withdrawn.
Note: We will take your child’s temperature if it is viewed that they have suspected symptoms, but not on entry to the school. This is in line with government guidance.
Is there anything we can do to prepare our child if we are sending them back to school?
Parents are to emphasise to the children the essential nature of social distancing, prior to them arriving in the school grounds.
It would be helpful if you explain to the children that school will be different to before. The children may not be with their own class teacher or working in their usual setting. The government has empowered Teaching Assistants to take on teaching roles with groups throughout the day and this may be applied if numbers or pupils attending require this in order to meet class size guidance.
Good personal hygiene is identified as the greatest defence against the risk of infection. Whilst some of what is listed below is common sense and commonplace, I do wish to make the expectations very clear.
Very important
Remember: if your child or any member of the family living at home is unwell with any of the symptoms of the virus, you must self-isolate for a period of 14 days and not send your child to school. You must inform the school of this.
What are the arrangements for entering the school grounds?
What will the ‘new normal’ operation of school look like?
What will the lunchtime arrangements be? Will they need to bring a lunch or will school provide one?
When will I know when my child can come in?
Group information will be shared with parents by text no later than May 22nd.
Opening days
Monday and Tuesday: Those identified as Group A
Thursday and Friday: Those identified as Group B
School will be closed on Wednesdays to provide deep cleaning.
Start times
Early Years Foundation Stage: 8:30am until 2pm
Year 1: 9:30am until 3pm
Year 6: 10:30am until 4pm
As an example, if your child is in Year 1 and you are informed that they are in Group A:
School will start at 9:30am on Monday and Tuesday.
We understand that some parents may have children in more than one group. This is unavoidable.
What will be the arrangements for collection at the end of the school day?
Parents will arrive at school in time to collect their child from the playground using the same gates as their drop off.
As with entry to the school:
Key things to remember:
If my child already accesses school as a child of a key worker or similar, will they still be able to come on days their group are not in?
Those currently accessing school under the remit of ‘Key Worker’ will continue to have access to the school on days where their child is not in class. This is applicable to children in all year groups and be based on the original format.
How will I know more information when it is relesed?
Please visit the school website Noticeboard for updates. We will text you to infom you if updates are available, but it is your responsibility to view the information and act accordingly.
Dear Parents and Carers of children in Early Years Foundation and Years 1 and 6 (ONLY)
As you will be aware, the government have issued directives for schools to open as of June 1st, subject to appropriate conditions being met.
School will initially only be open to children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6.
What will happen next?
We await the ‘green light’ for opening closer to June 1st; however, we have put together action planning in order to open as stipulated.
This bulletin is an initial message to confirm how you will receive information around opening in relation to your child and give you a brief outline of what to expect. Further details will follow.
What will opening look like?
In order to meet the strictest of measures to keep children safe (as set out in the ‘Implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings: DfE May 2020’) school will be open to the year groups identified on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday, Fridays.
School will be closed weekly on a Wednesday to allow for deep cleaning and for staff to continue supporting children who remain in lockdown.
Note – school will remain open on Wednesdays for those children previously accessing school as a key worker child or identified as vulnerable and every day for those in this category who are still in lockdown.
Access will be restricted to children to two days with staggered starting times. Without this, guidance on managing infection risks as provided by Gov UK would be impossible.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
How many children will be in class and what will infection prevention look like?
Guidance from Gov UK is 15 pupils maximum. Classes at Ashgate will be less than 10 in all cases, and in many cases smaller. This is achieved by establishing groups A and B across all year groups affected. It should be noted though that this is subject to alteration if Gov UK open the school to more pupils prior to the summer break.
Gov UK guidance recognises that keeping 2 meters apart will not be a realistic expectation for primary settings. We will however do all we can to maintain as much social distancing as possible. Again, grouping as planned enables as much distancing as can be reasonably expected.
Classes will be cleaned daily and as already stipulated, deep cleaning will take place on Wednesday and in addition extra cleaning on Friday’s as school closes. This will restrict risk of infection spreading between groups. Children will clean hands before and after changes in location and activities.
Please keep an eye out for more information on the school website, including more specific guidance for parents and carers regarding when your child can access school. This will include further FAQ answers.
Dear Parents and Carers
Following last night’s brief from the Prime Minister, and after stating continuously that I would update you whenever I have information, I write today to keep you in the loop of the status of school. There were some messages last night that could be ‘open to interpretation’. I hope that clarity on these will be given in today’s parliamentary session, led by Mr Johnson, at around 3:30pm.
However, parents will need some immediate clarification from management of the school on some matters and I aim to give this now. Please read all the information (important note re may half term is enclosed).
Outline:
In the short term nothing has changed for schools. Schools remain closed and we are awaiting further guidance on expectations/criteria for re-opening. We learned of the proposals at the same time as you and we anticipate clarity being given in the coming days.
Specific information:
As always, I will try to frame these a questions parents have or may ask.
My employer tells me that I can now go back to work and has told me to turn up. Is school open for my child in this case?
Schools remain closed. An employer stipulating that you can return to work as you cannot work from home does not automatically entitle your child to access school - nor does this make you an essential key worker. This is a challenge for both schools and employees.
Government guidance on access to schools has not changed. School is only open to those children and only those who continue to fall into the following criteria may access the school if it is deemed safe and only when there is no safe alternative:
Defined by the Department of Education as having a social worker
Including Health staff, teachers, police, essential delivery services and essential food retail (not cafes restaurants etc).
For most, if not all, this means that even if asked to return to school by your employer you will not have access to school under the current status, even after last night's statement.
The Prime Minister says schools will be open for Reception, Years 1 and 6 from the first of June. How will this work?
Firstly, it must be made clear that this is the target and is subject to further government details and conditions being met. These include continued drop in infection rates (R) and schools being able to fulfil a Risk Assessment/Risk Actions. However, it is the plan to open for these groups of children as of June 1st.
Access to school will be subject to criteria set by health professionals and government, likely to include social distancing and restrictions of numbers on site. These are (at the point of writing) unknown. Once these are set, firmer plans can be made and shared.
It is important to establish now that this equates to approximately 150 pupils; close to half the school population. It will not be safe to open to all these children at the same time and, as I have said before, result in children accessing on only given days and with staggered start and end times. Please be prepared for the reality that this will not be an ‘open as usual’ Monday to Friday option if and when we are given permission to open.
I have my child in school because I am a key worker. Will school be open for May half term (May 25th to 29th) as it was over Easter.
No. School will be closed for May half term. This will be necessary in order to ensure all is in place ready for receiving child.
As always, I will update you as and when more is known.
Mr Seargent.
Hello to all our families.
I hope you are as well as can be.
I wanted to update you all on some developments and to keep you abreast of steps towards wider unanswered questions. In doing so, I aim to alleviate any unnecessary worries and put minds at ease, but also to manage expectations amidst a world of press speculation. Apologies in some cases where I do not have all the answers.
Simply answered, we do not know – but we may know more soon.
What we don’t know:
There is no firm indication yet as to when schools may open, although we know that there will be a briefing on Sunday by the prime minister who may give us a clearer view. A recent report made clear that even if schools were given the go ahead to re-open at some level, the earliest possible date would be June 1st, but this could be as late as September. Even in these cases, there would be limited access initially.
What we do know or can be sure of:
A rapid or immediate ‘full open’ is not likely if current medical advice is maintained. With this in mind early indicators are that specific year groups will be the first to re attend school. We do not have confirmation as to whether or not schools will decide on these or whether there will be central government direction – the latter is likely.
What we can say is that is that it will not be routine opening and there will need to be clear, calculated and medically guided routines. These are likely to include (but not exclusively):
It may be necessary that in order to meet stipulations given to us, children attend only on given days and not Monday to Friday.
As I have always promised, when any information is known (based on fact and not speculation) I will let you know.
Year 6 staff have already spent considerable time uploading and sharing information about your child to the secondary schools between working on school site and when in lockdown. This includes their academic skills (forecasted SAT results), individual needs, known areas for development etc. This has been done by a central portal established to get information to the schools quickly and effectively.
This has not been a quick task and I wholeheartedly thank my teachers who have worked diligently and with pace to submit the information and make what has been a new system managable.
You will be receiving information from the secondary schools in the not too distant future I am sure. They, and not the primary schools, will arrange this. They, like us all, are awaiting guidance on what access children can have to schools and this will be key to their planning for September and the transition of Year 6 children.
Teachers are currently preparing a report for you all. It will be based on a similar format to those normally issued, but clearly there will be information about some aspects of learning that will be less data driven and more teacher assessment. This is not necessarily a bad thing as I have always been proud of how well staff individually know their children.
As some learning time has been lost, staff will have to focus only on what they have taught the children and how they have progressed within that time scale. These will not be standard end of year expectations. The focus will be on the core learning of mathematics and English (reading and writing). For Years 2 and 6 assessment will be based on where they were a the point of lockdown.
I have yet to set a date for these being released, but they will arrive to you before the end of the summer term.
As many of you know, school remains open in line with guidance from the government for vulnerable children and those of key workers. The message has been and remains that whilst children in these categories have a safe alternative to coming to school, they must do so.
I opted to keep the school open during the Easter break as well for these families which was well received.
Staff are attending school on a rota basis to support the children who attend, and like many other key workers working from home when not on site. Staff have not been furloughed and continue to work Monday to Friday on a set of given tasks, including assessment, planning, publishing home learning, communicating with families, training and information sharing with external agencies. I have been very impressed with their commitment to using this time effectively and as always, they work long hours to ensure that the children are well supported on and off site.
Mrs Forte, Miss McKnight and I have been liaising with all those linked to safeguarding, including Social Services, Health Care and other support agencies to ensure that all those in need of specific help get everything they can. Some doorstep visits have been undertaken and on a weekly basis agency meetings are undertaken remotely to ensure that children are safe at home and information sis shared at appropriate levels.
Communication:
If you have any urgent questions, the school office remains open between 0800 and 1600 Monday to Friday and we will be available to speak to you. We ask though that you limit your calls to those that are of an urgent nature. Where we do not have an answer, we will try to direct you to the right people.
In the meantime, stay home and stay safe where you can. We will update you as we hear more.
Mr Seargent.