Friday 5th June 2020
Dear Parents and Carers
This has been a very interesting week at school, with all of us having to adapt to another new way of working. The children have been fantastic! It is no small ask of Reception children to keep away from their friends and to ‘stay in the bubble’ but they have managed it really well. With almost a third of our children in school, and all the staff, we have had to keep reminding ourselves of frequent handwashing and keeping hands away from faces. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the children, on their attitudes to following the rules, and the staff, who are doing everything in their power to keep school a fun and safe place to learn.
It is obviously incredibly important to the health of our children and staff that, if they are showing any signs of the virus, that you keep your children at home and inform me as soon as possible. With that in mind, from now on we will only test the temperature of children in school if they complain of feeling unwell or we think they may be coming down with something. Would you please, therefore, carry out some basic checks to ensure they are well before bringing them into school.
Plans for the wider opening of primary schools to other year groups are still very uncertain, but I will, of course, keep you informed as soon as I can.
I do hope that, in the meantime, if your child is not in school, you are still able to access the home learning being signposted by the teachers. Please let the teacher or me know if you are having difficulties with any of it and we will do our best to help. If you are struggling in any way, there are many different ways we can support, including help to access other agencies, such as the school nursing service and the Family Partnership Zone, and financial or emotional support. Please don’t hesitate to contact me in the strictest confidence if there is anything you need help with.
We all hope that school life will return to normal as soon as possible. Most of the organisational aspects of school have carried on as before, including staffing arrangements. I previously let you know that Miss Buxton will be teaching our youngest children in September, and I am delighted to let you know that we have now appointed Mrs Helen Bettiss to work with her part-time. Mrs Bettiss is a very experienced early years teacher and we are looking forward to her sharing her expertise with us. Miss Buxton has already made a start preparing for her new class and would like children in our current Reception to colour in and return the Hazel leaf they are coming home with on Monday. This will then make up a very colourful display for when we start again in September. If your reception children are not currently in school, there are some in the grit bin by the bike shelter for them.
Despite the school not yet being fully open, I am receiving a significant number of enquiries for places in September, which, combined with our expanding, strong team, is all leading to a very positive picture for us.
With best wishes
James Stanford