Update 18/6/2020
Dear Parents and Carers
I hope you are all keeping well. I know the news of lots of our children not coming back to school before the end of term has left lots of parents feeling upset. We are continuing to follow the guidelines from the government and will not be increasing school places due to lack of staff and rooms. Whilst the 15 children in a class limit is in place we are restricted to what we can do. We are monitoring the situation closely, and hoping for further relaxing to enable us to do some face to face transition before the end of the year (probably towards the end of July). For our Year 2 children moving to Year 3, we are looking for ways to try to say goodbye. We are all very upset by the situation and want nothing more to open our doors for everyone. Very sadly, we cannot.
Yesterday it was confirmed to myself and other heads during a webinar with Public Health England that we are still currently classed as stage 4 in the pandemic. They confirmed we were at the bottom of stage 4, and are hoping that we will move to stage 3 soon. We are still restricted by class numbers and to think of our classes as a social 'bubble' or 'pod'. This is to limit the spread of infection if somebody has a confirmed case of Covid-19. We were advised to remind parents that social distancing is still in place. Some elements have been relaxed, however limiting how many people you see/are in contact with is important. Please find attached the latest guidance regarding social distancing. If your child is attending school, they are already in a social bubble with up to 15 children and two members of staff. If it comes to our attention they are mixing with different larger groups of children outside of school, such as the park , who are not in their school bubble, then potentially you are putting the whole school at risk of closing if we have a confirmed Covid case. In the case of keyworker children, we will retract the place offered, if children are attending any group activities with children who are not in their bubble. There are waiting lists for both groups, so your place will be filled quickly.
We hope everyone has enjoyed their zoom calls last week. I know the teachers have allocated time for them each week to talk to the children. We are also updating blogs and videos as well as the learning on Year Group learning pages. The children in the Keyworker bubbles are doing exactly the same learning set as their respective year groups, and this is the same for Year R children who are not in school. Keyworker children attend on days their parents need them to, not every day, so there is no advantage for them. It is a necessary for keyworkers to do their essential roles, as recognised by the government. Because the groups grew much bigger, as per the wider opening guidance from 1st June, we were able to create a Year 1 group and a Year 2 group, making some curriculum work possible. It is still not like school as we know it and lots of activities take place outside as they are at home. We have been amazed at the learning that is taking place by the majority of families-both set by us and by you! All the children are happy when we call and we love hearing from them. I have put a new story to share on the video section today.
Lastly, we had a visit from our new Otter class teacher, Miss Miners, this week . She said hello to all the current Bat Class, who will be with her in September. It was lovely for them to see their new teacher.
I hope you are all keeping well
Best wishes
Mrs Riches
