St Luke's C of E Primary School

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Coronavirus Update 16/04/2020

Dear parents and carers,

You will have seen in the media that Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, has announced that the government’s target of getting all primary school children back into the classroom before the summer holidays cannot be met.

Lack of capacity, social distancing requirements and smaller class sizes have made this impossible for many schools, including St Luke’s.

The school has remained open since 23rd March for vulnerable children and the children of key workers. On 3rd June the school expanded to a phased return for Y6. We recognised the need to support the transition of these pupils from Y6 to secondary school.

St Luke’s intends to remain open for key worker and vulnerable children, Monday to Thursday. The school will also remain open for all Y6 children until Friday 26th June 2020From 29th June 2020, Y6 will then work remotely from home and Y5 will attend school Monday to Thursday. 

All other year groups should remain at home and access their online learning set by their teachers via Google Classroom. Staff will continue to contact learners and families to offer both academic and pastoral support. Staff will continue to monitor the engagement of learners with their learning. If you would like any assistance with online learning, please do your class teachers know via Class Doio or email to the school office. Many staff are in school or supporting learning remotely. We are all here to support you during this period.

The expectation is that ALL our Y5 learners will return to school with the exception of those who are medically unable to do so or those who live with family members who are deemed medically vulnerable.  Kindly contact the school if you are unsure about your personal circumstances.  There is a robust risk assessment in place to ensure the safety of our staff and learners on site (this is available on the school website).

Additional Information

Pupils should wear their own clothes, clean clothes each day

Children should not bring bags to school, only packed lunch containers as necessary.

Pupils should also bring a water bottle into school

Expectations on arrival and collection

Start time: 8.45am

End of day: 3.00pm

The beginning and end of the school day are the busiest times for children and adults congregating together in one place and maintaining safe distances within normal arrangements can be a challenge. We have implemented the following measures for when pupils return to school:

  • SLT will be available to support and monitor at the start of the school day and for leaving at the end of the day.
  • Parents will not be permitted on site except in the case of an emergency.
  • Clear signage and posters displayed to support learners and families
  • We ask that all adults dropping or collecting their children stick to the 2-metre rule. Please keep your children with you until you have dropped them off.

Collection – parents must inform the office if their child is expected to go home alone otherwise they will not be permitted to leave the site.  A new permission slip is required.  Preferably, parents can give permission via Arbor, otherwise written notice will need to be received. 

Arrangements for break times and lunchtimes

We recognise the importance for all pupils to have a break from learning and to enjoy time outside during the school day. Reconnecting with friends will be an important aspect of pupils settling back into school life, but we have made some adjustments to break and lunch times.

  • Staggered break times and lunchtimes
  • Zoned areas of the playground to ensure social distancing
  • Caterlink will continue to provide meals and only children in the pupil bubbles of 8-10 will be in the hall for each sitting. Bagged resources assigned to each pupil bubble i.e Footballs, skipping ropes and other outdoor equipment to avoid cross contamination.

We currently offer a cooked meals and those entitled to Free School Meals will be provided with their meal on-site.  Pupils who usually have a paid meal will be charged as normal; payment is now through Arbor (and not SIMSPay). 

Pupils and parents should do all they can to ensure they travel safely.

This can be done through:

  • not leaving home if anyone in their household, has symptoms of coronavirus
  • avoiding travelling on public transport, particularly at peak times
  • maintaining a 2 metre distance from others who are not in their household
  • ensuring good respiratory hygiene by using the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach
  • avoiding touching their face
  • washing their hands thoroughly before and after travelling
  • wearing a face covering if they need to use public transport

When deciding whether children wear a face covering on school transport, it is also important to remember:

  • children and staff won’t usually be expected to wear face coverings in school
  • it is important that those using face coverings are able to do so properly
  • children under 3 years old, or those who may find it difficult to manage them correctly, are not recommended to wear face covering

In line with the current NHS and government advice, you should keep your child at home if they develop coronavirus symptoms for a period of seven days.  Symptoms include a high temperature or a new, continuous cough. Where symptoms continue after seven days, or begin to worsen, you should call 111. If someone in your child’s household has symptoms, your child must self-isolate for 14 days from the day the other person’s symptoms started. This is because it can take 14 days for symptoms to appear. More information regarding symptoms and actions can be found on the NHS website: (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/).

If you think your child may have been exposed to or has coronavirus, or if your child receives a positive test result for coronavirus, please contact the school on 0207 274 4847 at the earliest opportunity.

If you have any further questions please contact the office either by email, Arbor or telephone.

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Nicky Zeronian-Dalley

Executive Headteacher

 Corona Update 15062020