We appreciate this is an uncertain and stressful time for everyone and that many parents and children may have worries or concerns about children attending school during the current pandemic. The Government has firmly stated that all children must attend school as it is vital for their education and wellbeing and we have carried out extensive planning and risk assessments to ensure that all children could safely return to school from September. We are constantly reviewing our policies and risk assessments to take into account the most up to date Government guidance and out latest risk assessment can be viewed below.
Helping children to understand the new ‘normal’
As we need to follow the government guidelines to safeguard our pupils and staff, school is not like it was before.. We need to be regimented, clinical and strictly disciplined in an effort to enforce the required level of social distancing, which is still so crucially important at this time. Children need to be understand that they will only be socializing with their class bubble and will be unable to play with their friends from other classes. Our new way of working has been developed in line with our risk assessment to ensure the health and safety of our children and staff, which is always our highest priority, and we know we can rely on your support in communicating to your children the reason why things have to be so different than normal.
School organisation and staggered timings of the day
We have staggered the start and end times of the school day in order that we can maintain social distancing:
| Class | Teacher | Start time | End time |
| Reception | Mrs Foster-Lilly | 9.00am | 3.00pm |
| Year 1 | Mrs Bulmer | 8.45am | 2.45pm |
| Year 2 | Mrs Greaves | 8.50am | 2.50pm |
| Year 3 | Miss Wilson | 8.55am | 2.55pm |
| Year 4 | Mrs Charlton | 9.05am | 3.05pm |
| Year 5 | Mrs Binks | 9.10am | 3.10pm |
| Year 6 | Miss Binks | 9.15am | 3.15pm |
For any children who have siblings in a different year group, we will allow their siblings to enter school on a morning before their official start time, in order to prevent parents gathering at the top of the drive. So for example a Year 1 child may arrive at 8.45am and their Y5 sibling would start at 9.10am but we would allow both children to enter at 8.45am. This only applies to families with more than one child, all other children should arrive for their specified start time. Similarly, at the end of the school day we will hold younger siblings back in school and bring them up the drive for the time at which their older sibling leaves.
Arrival and home time arrangements
All children must be brought to school and collected by an adult and we greatly appreciate your support in ensuring that you arrive at your allocated time, no earlier or later please. When you and your child arrive, please wait outside the main school gate where children will be met by staff and will walk around to their classroom whilst observing social distancing. We kindly request that adults wear a facemask when dropping children off and observe social distancing on the journey to school and whilst waiting at the gate. We apologise that in line with guidance, adults are not permitted to enter the school premises or the school building at any time, unless by prior appointment however if you have any queries or concerns please speak to a member of staff at the school gate. At the end of each day all children must be picked up by an adult, please arrive at your allocated time and wait outside the main gate. Staff will bring your child to the main gate for the specified time. Year 5 and Year 6 children will no longer be allowed to walk home by themselves as it is important that everyone continues to maintain social distancing on their journey to and from school and we therefore expect all children to be picked up by an adult. We greatly appreciate your support in this to ensure the safety of yourselves, your families and the wider local community.
Preventing the spread of infection
Schools must minimise contact with individuals who are unwell by ensuring that those who have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, or who have someone in their household who does, do not attend school. Ensuring that pupils, staff and other adults do not come into the school if they have coronavirus symptoms, or have tested positive in the last 7 days, and ensuring anyone developing those symptoms during the school day is sent home, are essential actions to reduce the risk in schools and further drive down transmission of coronavirus. If anyone in the school becomes unwell with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature, or has a loss of, or change in, their normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia), they will be sent home and advised to follow ‘stay at home: guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus infection’, which sets out that they must self-isolate for 10 days and should arrange to have a test to see if they have coronavirus. Other members of their household (including any siblings) must self-isolate for 14 days from when the symptomatic person first had symptoms. It is vital that parents inform school if they or anyone in their household develops symptoms and requires a test or if children have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive. We also ask parents to provide proof of any test results prior to children returning to school.
Class ‘Bubbles’
When in school, each year group will become a class ‘bubble’ with their teacher and a teaching assistant and they will remain with this bubble at all times. Children will not be able to move between or socialise with any other ‘bubbles’. This is to help reduce the spread of the virus and to ensure effective tracking and tracing, as if any person within a bubble was ever to test positive for the virus then everyone within that ‘bubble’ would have to self-isolate for 14 days. We will be adhering to Government guidance in relation to social distancing within ‘bubbles’.
We will be operating split break times and lunchtimes to enable all ‘bubbles’ to remain isolated. Reception, Year 1 and Nursery children will eat their lunch in the school hall but all other year groups will eat in their classrooms. Trays and cutlery will all be sanitised before use and all tables will be cleaned before and after lunch.
What children need and what not to bring
All children should wear school uniform and it is recommended that they wear clean clothing each day where possible. Children will have lots of opportunities to spend time outdoors so will require suitable clothing depending on the weather ie: rain coat, wellies, sun hat, sunscreen. Please bear in mind that school is highly ventilated in line with our Covid-19 risk assessment, doors and windows will be open, so at times it may feel slightly cool, therefore, please ensure your child wears their school jumper and brings a coat.
It is recommended that staff and children have their own items which are not shared so school will provide all the necessary resources for children and they must not bring any items/bags/toys in from home, apart from a named water bottle and/or a packed lunch if they are not having a school meal. These should be carried and not brought in a bag or rucksack please. Packed lunches and water bottles will be wiped down with antibac by staff when children arrive at school and we ask that parents wash them thoroughly when they get home.
Children do not need to bring in a PE kit every day as we will be dedicating one day per week for PE and sport. On these days we would like children to come to school wearing outdoor PE kit (shorts/joggers, T-shirt, trainers and jumper/hoody) and they will have opportunities throughout the day to take part in sports and fitness activities.
Health, safety and hygiene
Disciplined handwashing will be integrated throughout the day to ensure the highest level of hygiene, with staff working tirelessly to clean surfaces during the day as required and to carry out deep cleaning at the end of every day.
Whilst the government have stated that school staff do not require PPE (personal protective equipment), guidance from unions and other sources is that staff may wear PPE if required and we have taken the decision to provide all staff with clear safety visors. These are more appropriate than face masks as they will be less intimidating and children will still be able to see the adults face. These will help to protect staff (especially those who may have factors which make them more vulnerable) and will also protect children. The government is very clear that children do not require PPE and the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced by: regular handwashing, ensuring good respiratory hygiene – promoting the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach, increased cleaning and hygiene measures and social distancing where possible.
In the event of any child requiring first aid whereby the 2 metre distance rule has to be broken, then the adult (who will be a trained first aider) will wear full PPE in the form of face mask, gloves and an apron.
Wraparound Care
We initially thought that we would no longer be able to continue to offer wraparound care due to social distancing and the need to keep class ‘bubbles’ apart, however, the latest Government guidance states that schools should consider resuming breakfast and after-school provision where possible. They recognise that this will be logistically challenging for schools and we have had to carefully consider how we can offer provision safely alongside our wider protective measures which includes keeping children within their ‘bubbles’ if possible.
We have reviewed our risk assessments and explored our options and are pleased to say that we will be able to offer breakfast club at the usual times of:
- 7.45am to 8.45am for £2.50
- 8.00am to 8.45am for £2.00
We will also be able to offer after school care, however, in order to keep within the Government guidelines and ensure the health and safety of pupils and staff, this will run differently than normal. We will be offering care from the end of the school day until 5.00pm for a reduced cost of £5.00 and this will take place in the school hall instead of the nursery building in order to maintain social distancing and keep class ‘bubbles’ separate. We will be able to access the outdoor areas for different activities, however, we will not be able to provide any food so children would need to bring their own snack.
Further details about wraparound care and a booking form have been emailed to all parents and can also be found below. Please note that children can no longer come to breakfast club on an ‘adhoc’ basis so all sessions now need to be booked in advance.
Thank you for your support
We greatly appreciate your support in these challenging times and although school will be very different for us all, you can be assured that we will continue to provide a safe and nurturing environment for all the children in our care. The full guidance for parents is available at:
St. Stephen’s CE COVID 19 risk assessment – September 2020
St. Stephen’s CE Covid-19 risk assessment addendum – November 2020
St. Stephen’s CE January 21 Whole School Update
