UPDATE from Mr Speck - Please read statement below regarding our plans for the New Year. The information is extensive so please ensure you read to the end. May we wish you all a peaceful and safe Christmas and every good wish for 2021!

Dear Parents & Carers,

End of Year Arrangement & New Year Plans

First of all, thank you for your continued support throughout this strangest of years. No one could have predicted the challenges that lay ahead in 2020, the way we have had to adapt as a school to provide learning and how you have had to adapt to support us with this. With this in mind, I want to take this opportunity to share a few things with you in the hope that we can start 2021 with optimism, positivity and a continued commitment to our wellbeing, both individually and collectively.

2020 has certainly been a year like no other; I cannot recall a time when so much disruption impacted upon schools or when routine words took on a whole new meaning! Bubbles, lockdown, Zoom, contact tracing, super-spreader……….I could go on. When we were first faced with the complexities of lockdown way back in March, I genuinely did not think that we would still be negotiating a route through the minefield of Covid-19 come December, but unfortunately, as these last few weeks have revealed, the prospect of a return to the normal practices we once knew and took for granted still seem a long way off.

Since returning to school in September, I have been heartened that the steps we put in place to try and give our children a semblance of ‘normal’ schooling have been in the main successful. Early indicators suggest the assessment outcomes for the term are extremely encouraging and the children have made significant academic progress. Our aim is to share this information with you early Spring Term. Throughout, we have tried to deliver a curriculum that remains diverse and enriching; indeed, a mid-term visit from the Local Authority’s Literacy Improvement Partner commended us on the way we had adapted our teaching and lesson planning without school feeling too unnatural. It’s my belief that school should still strive to be a place of nurture, aspiration and inspiration and we should not lose sight of this as we move forward to the New Year.

I am also mindful, however, that you need to know that our operational practices remain robust and that we are a safe environment for all children. Local Authority regulations prevent us from publishing cumulative totals of absences, but I can report that the recent cluster of positive cases appear to have peaked as we are not aware of any new cases that could be linked to school for more than a week now.    

Of course, there is no infallible system. No school can say with 100% certainty that they will never have an outbreak of Covid-19, due in part to the fact some children – and adults – can be carriers and spreaders of the virus without either being poorly of having a single symptom, and that is impossible to legislate for.

What we need to do is to continue to mitigate against the risk of an outbreak like that happening again. What can we learn from it? How can we move forward together to give ourselves the best possible chance of remaining safe, protecting ourselves, our children and indeed our wider family members.

When the children return to us on 5th January, I want them to do so with the full knowledge that we are doing everything we possibly can to keep those risks of infection and the possible spread of the virus at bay. We have recently been visited and inspected by members of the Council’s Health and Safety Team; their findings and responses to our internal practices have been reassuringly positive. But there is always scope for improvement and to this end, I want to set out to you what the strategy will be for the first half term, taking into account some of the observations they made and a few of the more common questions parents are likely to have:

Will you be changing the timings of the school day again?

In the main, no. We have found that the staggered starts for each year group at ten-minute intervals has worked very well. We are also mindful that making significant changes again would have a negative impact on our working parents who are already juggling different start times and schools, so there will be NO change to the standard school day timings for now. This will be reviewed at half term.

What about the early finish on a Friday afternoon? Is this to be revisited?

Yes, this has to be main concession. Because teachers are allocated regular planning time (commonly known as PPA), it is impossible to continue with the model we have been running, or indeed any other model, if the H&S recommendation of limiting staff movement between Year groups is to be taken into account. I do not have twelve spare staff at my disposal to meet this statutory obligation for individual class teachers, as that is what it would mean in practice. What I CAN do, though, is offer PPA as a block of time which I intend to do on a Friday afternoon. So ALL children will finish school after lunch and at the end of this letter there is a timetable of how this will run in practice. All children will be off-site by 1.30pm. I fully understand that this may cause difficulties for some of you, but hope you understand there is no other way for us to become compliant with Health and Safety advice. This will come into force on Friday 15th January and will be reviewed at half term.

What steps are you taking to address mixing of staff or classes in school?

This is a huge challenge for all schools, but particularly those like us that are more than one form entry. This is because we have twelve classes, sixteen teachers and seven teaching assistants who have to provide for all needs, including our more vulnerable children. It is impossible to meet the needs of all without allowing limited movement of staff between bubbles. The key is can we do this in an even safer manner to try and limit further exposure in the event of a bubble closure, whilst still providing a challenging and enriching curriculum? Whilst we have always been fully compliant with Department of Education’s guidance, we have reviewed our practice and have made further adaptations, where necessary, to limit the movement of staff between classes to the absolute minimum. This means in the event of a child or staff member testing positive for Covid, the chances of mass bubble closure will be significantly reduced.

What about lunchtime? Do children mix in the dining hall?

Being able to offer children the full meal service has been one of the biggest challenges since we returned in September, and this was one area where the H&S Team had the most significant concern due to the safe capacity of the dining hall and how dining tables have had to be arranged. We have taken on board their advice and liaised with the School Meals Consortium Team to come up with a solution. So, from January:

  • Children in Year 3 and 4 who would ordinarily have their hot meal in the dining hall will instead have their hot meal in their individual classrooms; meals will be brought over to the classrooms by the catering staff in disposable packaging and children will eat together within their classroom bubble.
  • Children in Year 5 and 6 will continue to access the dining hall with children arriving in their class group, seated on rows of front facing tables.
  • The menu will be modified in line with this  change, so please ensure you are happy with the offer. We will provide the first main meal choice per day, but there will be no sandwich grab bag option and the alternative to the main meal will be a jacket potato with a choice of topping plus dessert. Each day there will be two options. We will run with this model until half term and review it again then. I am hoping the vast majority of parents will continue to access the service, even on a paired down basis, and of course children with food intolerances and dietary requirements will still be fully catered for.

Wet Weather Conditions:

Generally speaking, we will aim to send children outdoors for fresh air at lunchtime and break time even if it is raining, so please ensure when the forecast looks grim, your child arrives at school in appropriate outerwear. If it is particularly foul weather, or dangerously icy, indoor break protocols will apply.

Are you changing your practices of PPE and face coverings?

The DfE guidance has always been quite clear on the use of PPE within the primary sector and it is not compulsory for staff to wear it. However, it has ALWAYS been available right from the start and I have been happy for staff to use discretion around the appropriateness of doing so.

However, I have enforced some non-negotiables moving forward with regard to PPE and this includes:

  • Full face protection and additional PPE (gloves/aprons etc.) when administering first aid or dealing with a poorly child – this was standard practice in any event, but I have reinforced the importance with ALL staff.
  • Full face protection with the option to wear disposable gloves when conducting small group work on a one-to-one basis, primarily with SEND children or when listening to children read in a small group environment.
  • When cleaning packed lunch tables between lunch sittings
  • When moving around the classroom to direct a child or assist in general lessons where the 2mtr or 1mtr plus rule cannot be effectively enforced

Discretionary PPE within the classroom is recommended for other housekeeping duties such as the regular disinfection/wipe down of tables/taps and the handling of pupil books. Staff may choose to wear a face covering when moving around school or when out on the yard and I am happy to support a child doing the same but please reiterate with your child the reasons as to why you want them to wear one and when they would need to remove it. We will continue to wash hands and sanitise at every possible opportunity.

What about access in and out of the grounds and congestion at drop off/pick up?

This is one area where we really must work together and take a stronger line; I have listened to concerns raised by parents and Governors around congestion in Chapman Street and the through flow of people at key times of the day. This week, we have set our Year 3 and 4 children attending school the artistic task of designing some new signage for the perimeter railings. I must stress to you the importance of following our basic requests – access gates have been allocated per class for a reason. It gives us a clear three-way control measure of access in and out of the grounds, but the safety measures once through the school gate will fall apart if parents do not follow the basic principles:-

  • Only arrive at your allocated gate for the official registration time, not before, and please do not be late.
  • Wherever possible, stand away from the gate to give children the opportunity to enter without having to push past adults standing directly in the route. I suggest the far side of the street.
  • When arriving in Chapman Street, please try to follow the simplest route. We suggest the following:
    • If your child enters/leaves Gate 1 (classes 1,6,7,12) please line up between your gate and the Community Centre. Please leave Chapman Street down the cut to Dorking Road.
    • If your child enters/leaves Gate 3 (classes 3,4,9,10) please line up between your gate and the top of Chapman Street (Royal Marine end). Please remain in your area for the minimum time necessary and leave Chapman Street past the Royal Marine.
    • If your child enters/leaves Gate 2 (classes 2,5,8,11) please line up between Gates 1 and 3. Please remain in your area for the minimum time necessary and leave Chapman Street down the cut to Dorking Road

Four key messages to help us to keep bubbles intact:

  1. When waiting on the street for handover, please do so in the identified zone so as to not encroach on other gate zones.
  2. Please leave the street immediately once your child passes through the gate
  3. At the end of the day, please make sure only ONE adult enters the grounds for pick up. On collecting your child, leave the grounds immediately. Please keep younger children with you at all times and don’t allow them to run around in the yard when waiting.
  4. If your child is in Year 6, consider arranging a meeting place set back from the school grounds. It is far easier to dismiss children without the need for adult collection if we know they have an arrangement to meet you at a designated spot. For example, many parents arrange to meet their child at local shops rather than having to come into Chapman Street. If you are considering this, please e-mail Mrs Anderson before we return to school on 5th January and advise what your collection plan is going to be.

PLEASE CONSIDER WEARING FACE MASKS OUTSIDE SCHOOL GATES IF IN CLOSE PROXIMITY OF OTHER FAMILIES

What would be the impact if we had another large-scale outbreak of Covid-19?

The virus is amongst us in our communities; it is impossible to give 100% assurances that cases will not occur again. However, by everyone playing their part, we can minimise impact. As far as possible, teachers will maintain a 2-metre perimeter zone at the front of the class, and if more direct support is needed by a child, time within 2 metres will be strictly limited. If we all work together, we can largely keep bubbles intact, therefore avoid multiple bubble closure. However, as outlined above, the challenge is huge and complex, and there can be no guarantees.

In the event of future closures

As we have up to now, we will aim to let you know as soon as possible, including weekend notifications. I hope you would agree that our Remote Learning offer has in the main been successful and evolved over time. To help with this, we are in the process of setting up a Microsoft platform that will be far more user friendly for children, won’t rely on parent emails, and will offer a broader range of resources and learning templates so keep an eye out for further details on this when we return in the New Year.

Finally, may I thank those of you who have contacted me or members of my team, directly or indirectly, with your kind words of support and praise throughout this incredibly challenging time. We have been thoroughly heartened by the volume of positive messages received – and this serves as a reminder that we are all in this together. I have no doubt our unique community spirit and sense of togetherness will see us through the worst of this pandemic, so let’s ensure we continue to rise to these challenges as we move into 2021.

All that remains is to wish you all, on behalf of the staff and Governing Board, a peaceful, safe and healthy Christmas and the very best for 2021. We look forward to seeing all children back with us on Tuesday 5th January.

Warmest regards,

Peter Speck
Head Teacher

Friday Afternoon Collection Times

Supporting information

Year 3

12.00pm

Where you have a child in more than one year group, the younger sibling will remain on site with their class teacher until the older sibling’s finish time. Children will then be dismissed via the OLDER child’s access gate.

Year 4

12.30pm

 

Year 5

1.00pm

 

Year 6

1.30pm

 

Other Points of Note:

  • Do not send your child to school if you are even slightly concerned they may be unwell; a child who complains of feeling unwell when at school WILL be sent home.
  • Don’t forget to advise us of any changes to end of day arrangements: joanne.anderson@schools.sunderland.gov.uk
  • We will process positive Covid-19 outcomes up to Christmas Eve 24th December, but please support us in reporting a positive case no later than 12.00pm NOON daily and provide as much information as possible on the communication (send directly to Mrs Anderson). Positive cases reported AFTER 24th December will not be actioned until we return to school.