School reopening – Monday 8 March
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Dear Parents
Everyone at Belmore is looking forward to children returning to school and getting all of us back to something approaching normality on Monday 8 March. All children in all year groups will be returning on the same day. We will not be staggering the return of different year groups as we did in September.
Most of the arrangements that we had in place last term will remain in place and we will be adopting the same protective measures to keep children, parents and staff safe as we did before.
Whatever may have been said recently about a roadmap out of the current situation, let’s not forget that the virus is still very much with us and still very much a threat to people. We simply cannot afford to be too relaxed or complacent about the measures we have in place. They are there to protect us all so we must all do our best to follow them.
As a reminder, this is how it will work:
- Children will stay in year group ‘bubbles’. This means that children are taught mainly in their class groups but they are able to mix with children in their year group. They are not allowed to mix with children from other year groups at break or lunch time.
- Inside classrooms, children are not generally sitting at tables facing each other. Adults are mainly teaching from the front.
- Everyone, children and adults, are expected to be washing and sanitising their hands regularly throughout the day. A more frequent cleaning schedule is in place across the school particularly in relation to frequently touched surfaces
- Parents/carers are not currently allowed to enter the school building without an appointment and should wear a face covering when invited on site
- During drop off and collection we will be staying with the routes for parents and children in each year group to follow in order to continue to keep children apart and socially distanced
- Only one adult should drop off and collect children. All adults should be wearing a face covering when on the school grounds
- Children should wear school uniform. On days when they have PE they come in their PE kit and wear that for the rest of the day
- Children bring their own water bottle, preferably reusable
- Children bring their own bags and equipment but we are providing most pupils with their own set of equipment to use in lessons which won’t be shared with other children
- School meals are provided as normal with staggered lunch breaks for each year group to ensure they are not mixing. Children can bring packed lunches in lunch boxes if parents wish
- Breakfast Club will be running for those parents who signed up last term from 7.45am
The new school day times remain the same as last term:
| Year Group | Start times/ window | Finish Time | Drop-off/pick up location | Queuing system |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursery | 08.35am | 11.30am | Nursery gate entrance – distanced queuing | Exit through Nursery front gate |
| 12.15pm | 3.15pm | Nursery gate entrance – distanced queuing | ||
| Reception | 8.45am | 2.40pm | Front of school - side of Reception | Exit through small playground gate |
| Year 1 | 8.35 to 8.50am | 2.40pm | Front of school - caged area (enter through first gate) | Exit caged area through opposite gate |
| Year 3 | 8.35 to 8.50am | 2.55pm | Front of school, Breakfast Club gate – distanced queuing | Queue around Conservatory path |
| Year 2 | 8.35 to 8.50am | 2.45pm | Large playground gate. Parents to drop children off close to gate and children to make their way to classroom Designated queuing in marked lines outside classrooms to collect children at end of day | Exit through small playground gate |
| Year 4 | 8.35 to 8.50am | 2.45pm | ||
| Year 5 | 8.35 to 8.50am | 3.00pm | ||
| Year 6 | 8.35 to 8.50am | 3.00pm |
Any child showing Coronavirus symptoms MUST stay at home. Please be aware that if any child starts showing symptoms during the day they will be isolated and parents will be phoned to come and collect them. They will then need to get a test for the virus and we will advise you how to do this. In the event of someone in the school testing positive for the virus we will be advised by Public Health England about the measures we need to take. This may involve some children being asked to stay at home and self-isolate. If you are at all unsure about whether to send your child in please contact Ms Marsh, our Welfare Officer, or Ms Payne, our Attendance Officer before sending your child in.
You will possibly have seen that the Government wants to make Covid test kits available for the adults of all children in each family even if they are not showing symptoms. Please be aware that these test kits are not issued by schools. If you’re a member of a household, childcare bubble or support bubble of staff or a pupil you can get a twice-weekly test:
- through your employer if they offer testing to employees
- at a local test site
- by collecting a home test kit from a test site
- by ordering a home test kit online
The Government has said very clearly that Primary age children do not need to be tested unless they are showing symptoms.
There will be times when you might have questions or issues you will want to raise with your class teacher or your child’s Year Leader. As before, we ask you to use the Year Group email addresses on the school website or phone the school and someone will get back to you.
I look forward to seeing children and some of you next week.
Thanks
Paul Bateman
Headteacher
