Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Dear Parents,

The New School Year

I am now in a position to share with you our plans for the full reopening of school in September. We are delighted to be able to welcome the children back, and whilst there will be some changes, we will do everything we can to make the transition back to school as smooth and as normal as possible.

This letter outlines our plans for school opening on the 2^nd September to all pupils. A lot could change over August, so I will write again at the end of the summer holidays to confirm the final arrangements.

Expectations of the school to prevent the spread of COVID-19:

Schools have been given a set of actions they must take in terms of PREVENTION:

1. 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
2. clean hands thoroughly more often than usual
3. ensure good respiratory hygiene by promoting the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach
4. introduce enhanced cleaning, including cleaning frequently touched surfaces often, using standard products such as detergents and bleach
5. minimise contact between individuals and maintain social distancing wherever possible
6. where necessary, wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)

We are confident that our plans meet all of the expectations listed above.

These are the steps the school must take in terms of RESPONSE to any infection

1. engage with the NHS Test and Trace process
2. manage confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) amongst the school community - this will include sending any classes home where there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19
3. contain any outbreak by following local health protection team advice

Class Groups:

From September, children will be taught in their new classes in their own zone. This will include their own classroom, unisex toilets and outdoor space. There will be staggered drop off and pick up times, and staggered break and lunchtimes to minimise interaction between different classes. Your support in sticking to these times is appreciated. These details are listed below:

During the morning drop off time, a member of staff will be on the relevant gate to welcome your child into school. At pick up time, we will open the gates to allow parents on to the playground to avoid over-crowding at the gates. Please note that parents will not be allowed in the main building.

Reception and Nursery – First Day Back:

We know that your child’s first day is a big deal, and we still want to enable parents to mark that special moment. For children starting Reception or Nursery, on their first day back, we are requesting that parents arrive from 9.15am to 9.30am, when all the other children have arrived in school. We will set up some activities outside, so parents can bring their child into school (albeit outside) and help them settle for their first day, meet the teacher and also take any photos.

Breakfast and After-School Club:

From the 2^nd September, we are offering breakfast (from 7.45am) and after school club (until 6.15pm), this will mean some children mixing bubbles at the beginning and at the end of the day. Unfortunately, we can’t avoid this but will be handwashing at the start and end of these sessions. These sessions must be booked in advance (including Breakfast Club) on Scopay. Breakfast and Afterschool club will be based in the current Year 2 classroom, which is next to the office. Children can be dropped off and collected via the main entrance. We do ask that parents do not use the staff car park.  There will be no other, extra-curricular after school clubs within the first half term.

PE Days:

Children will need to bring their school PE kit to school on PE days and take it home afterwards for washing. Unless the weather is absolutely horrific, PE will be taught outside. A little rain won’t stop us! PE days are as follows:

Uniform:

From September, we will be returning to our normal uniform policy. Please remember that we are phasing out the light blue polo shirts over time. So if you are buying new uniform this summer, please buy a white polo shirt. Uniform can now be ordered online here: https://holmeps.imagescotland.com/

School Dinners:

In September we are reintroducing hot school meals, which will be delivered to the classrooms (rather than all the children gathering in the hall). School meals should be ordered on lunch shop before 9am on the day. A copy of the proposed 2-week menu is available on our website.  Please note, that due to a significant increase in costs from our meal provider, Orian, we have had to increase our school meal price to £2.65 per day for children in key stage two. We will send a reminder to order your meals towards the end of the summer holidays.

Curriculum:

We can’t wait to work with all the children again. We will spend the first half term focussing on the objectives which were not taught this year for English, Mathematics and Science. During the lockdown, we have completely replanned our curriculum to ensure that we have lots of repetition of key concepts across the foundation subjects, and that each new topic and each lesson begins with a recap of the knowledge that they need to succeed in their new topic. In the first few weeks we will focus heavily on the transition back to school and in supporting children with that process.

If you have any questions, then please do not hesitate to contact me via the school office.

With best wishes,
 

Craig Dewar-Willox
Headteacher