This page is designed to let you know how we will be organising our school so that we can begin to welcome all children back safely in September. We hope you find the information in this page useful, and if you have any other questions, please just ask us.
We appreciate this is an uncertain and stressful time for everyone and that many parents and children may have worries or concerns about returning to school after such a long time away or starting school for the first time. The Government has firmly stated that all children must return to school as it is vital for their education and wellbeing. We are therefore looking forward to welcoming everyone back as follows:
- Children in Year 2 to Year 6 start on Thursday 3rd September
- Children in Year 1, Reception and Nursery start on Monday 7th September
Parents of Nursery and Reception children have already been informed of their induction arrangements via letters in their induction packs and also by email. If you are unsure of the arrangements for your child, please email the school at ststephensceparents@durhamlearning.net however please note that we will be unable to provide a response until the school office opens on Tuesday 1st September.
As you will know, school was open throughout lockdown for children of key workers and then we opened to wider year groups in June. The extensive planning and risk assessments which we carried out ensured that we are keeping children and staff as safe as we possibly can and we are pleased that staff and children have commented that they did feel safe when in school. We have now further updated our risk assessments in line with current advice and can assure you that we will be working tirelessly to ensure it is safe for all children to return.
Helping children to understand the new ‘normal’
As we need to follow the government guidelines to safeguard our pupils and staff, school will not be like it was before, when all children return. School will 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. Your child will need to be prepared that they will be returning to a completely different environment with different rules and expectations. All children will enter the premises alone as the guidance is clear that parents cannot enter the school premises unless they have a pre-arranged appointment. Children will be met at the top of the drive by school staff and will then walk down the school drive under the supervision of the staff on duty. The exception to this is that Reception parents will be allowed to bring their children down the school drive during their first week at school and will be met at the door by Reception staff.
Please be aware, children will need to be emotionally settled to walk into school, as staff will be unable to provide the usual tactile comfort and support, due to keeping socially distant. They also need to be prepared 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
School organisation will remain the same and 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. Please note that the same procedure will not apply at the end of the school day, we will not be allowing siblings to leave earlier or later than their stated end time and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
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 then walked around to their classroom whilst observing social distancing. We kindly request that adults observe social distancing on the journey to school and whilst waiting at the gate and 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. 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 at least 7 days and should arrange to have a test to see if they have coronavirus. Other members of their household (including any siblings) should self-isolate for 14 days from when the symptomatic person first had symptoms.
We kindly ask for your support in ensuring that if your child feels unwell at all, even if you do not think they are showing symptoms of Covid-19, then they should not be sent into school as they could still have another virus, such as a cold or flu – in which case it is still best to avoid contact with other people until they are better.
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 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, all 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. Years, 3, 4,5 & 6 will have a ‘Wonderful Wednesday’ and Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 will have a ‘Fabulous Friday’. 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. We will be starting this from week beginning Monday 7th September.
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 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 and can also be found below and we would like all completed booking forms to be received by Tuesday 1st September. 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:
If you have any queries or concerns please contact us and we look forward to seeing you all in September.
Reception new starters amended letter-Aug 20
