Dear Parents

Happy New Year!

I am sure that you, like the staff in school, did not expect this week to develop in the way it has, and I would like to thank you for your patience and support at this challenging time. Like you, we only found out about the Government’s intentions to close schools on Monday night, and staff have worked incredibly hard to put all the necessary measures in place to support school staff and yourselves to continue your child’s education. I appreciate there have been some teething issues, but hopefully these will reduce in number as the days go on.

Please can I clarify a few things:

• All children are expected to access daily home learning, ideally online. School has a limited number of laptops we can loan out, and are using the questionnaires you returned last term to help identify families who have no alternative method of accessing the work set. We are working our way through the list as fast as we are able to.
• Children need to submit the work they have completed – whether it be online or by returning paper copies to school. This is so the work can be marked, and next steps planned accordingly. Please support your child to do this – they have been shown what to do in school.
• For those children in school, we are still following the measures of bubbles, staggered playtimes and dinnertimes, and good hygiene. As part of this involves good ventilation in classrooms, which at this time of year means it can become cold at times, during lockdown, the children can come to school in their own clothes, but these must be appropriate and suitable for PE lessons.
• During lockdown, the school day timings will return to doors opening at 8.45, and children needing to be collected at 3pm – on both occasions from the usual doors.
• For those who feel their child is entitled to a key worker place, we are following the guidance on how these can be granted. Please do not request a place unnecessarily, as you are increasing the risk to your child and those in school. The safest place for your child to be is at home if possible. For those who have requested a place, please do not send your child to school until it has been confirmed that you have one, as we need to ensure the arrangements in school are in place before we can increase numbers.  Thank you for your continued support - Mrs Pridgeon.