You are probably aware that, dependent on how the government assess the progress in controlling the coronavirus, the school may open on 1st June for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children. We have been given lots of guidance on how this could happen, and are, and have previously been, putting plans and procedures together of how we could safeguard children and staff if there was a phased opening of schools.
The government have also provided guidance for parents which you can find here:-
Opening Schools and Educational Settings to more pupils from 1st June: guidance for parents and carers
The school has an action plan in place, and this will be a working plan as we move forwards. We will be implementing hygiene procedures, cleaning procedures, social distancing procedures and drop off and pick-up procedures, amongst others. I thought it would be helpful for parents to understand what school will be like for children if we do open on June 1st. So these are some bullet points:
- Children will be sitting at desks that are 2m apart. Year 6s will fit into class 4, Year 1s will be split between Class 3 and Class 2, and Reception Children will be in Class 1 and The Pod.
- Each group of children will have a teacher or a HLTA delivering the lesson, and this adult will stay with the children each day, to minimise contacts, as per the guidance.
- There is a one-way system through the practical area (middle of school open area) with 2m spacings marked on the floor.
- Children will socialise within their own group, and there will be staggered playtimes and lunchtimes, so that the groups don’t mix. There will also be the expectation that children stay 2m apart at playtimes.
- Children will have their own stationery equipment and trays, as guidance is for children not to share resources. This will also impact on playtime equipment and classroom resources – so children can bring their own toys in to play with during breaktimes.
- Children and staff will be advised to wear different clothes each day, so we will be allowing children to wear their own clothes if they wish, to reduce washing demands at home.
- We will need to share drop off and pick-up procedures to ensure that parents and children are not clustering at the start and end of the school day, and this might involve a staggered start for different year groups. We do not yet know if the school buses will be running, and are waiting to be informed.
- We will still be providing critical keyworker care, and this would be in the hall, so lunch may well be in classrooms, with a packed lunch.
- The remote teaching activities may change for year 2 and 5.
There will be further detail, and there is still a lot to sort out, but I felt it important that we are open and transparent with parents, and that you are fully aware of what school will ‘look’ like if we go back on 1st June. We are working very hard to ensure that we have clear and safe procedures in place to ensure we can do all we can to protect our school community, so please share with friends and keep an eye out on the website.
I would like to reassure you that we will be ensuring we provide children with the teaching and support that they need, and help them with understanding and coping with these different routines and procedures. We will also be ensuring that we offer reassurance and comfort in this somewhat different environment.
We are aware that as parents you may have concerns and worries about your children being in school; worries about their or your families physical safety and protection from the virus, or their mental well-being when working in such a strange and distant environment. We very much appreciate this, and also do not look forwards to working in this way, as it is totally against how we operate as teaching staff. However, we have to follow the guidance we have been given in order to protect the children, staff and families.
We would very much appreciate your feedback and so will be emailling out a survey to all parents (including Year 2,3 and 4) so please keep an eye out on your inboxes.
In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, please do email at head@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk