St Luke's C of E Primary School

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Reopening of school to all pupils

Thank you once again for all our support through this unprecedented and challenging time.  As you are aware from recent Government announcements schools will be re-opening to all pupils in September 2020.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming our learners back to St Luke’s.  As per our letter dated 9th July 2020, all pupils in Year 1 to Year 6 will be returning to school on Wednesday 2nd September 2020.  Pupils in the Reception Class will visit on allocated days the week beginning Monday 7th September and commence school on allocated days and times on the week beginning Monday 14th September.

We have updated the School Risk Assessment (available on the school website) to reflect these changes and, as part of our risk assessment, we are required to continue to address health and safety concerns and reduce risks for our learners and staff. Therefore, we have put the following precautions in place:

Systems and Controls:

  • The school will limit interaction, sharing rooms and spaces as much as possible. Adults will remain 2m from other adults and children whenever possible.
  • Children will remain in ‘bubbles’ in their classes. This means that they will share outside spaces, with a few classes but remain in their ‘bubbles’.  They will have lunch in the hall in their ‘bubbles’.  We would ask that if your child brings in a packed lunch that this is in disposable packaging (where possible). 
  • There will be no assemblies or social gathering.
  • There will be no swimming or educational visits in the Autumn Term.
  • PPE (gloves, masks, aprons) are provided for personal care and for administering first aid.
  • We are limiting visitors to the school to those visitors who provide educational and wellbeing support for our pupils and will continue to conduct meetings virtually where possible. Where necessary, contractors will be permitted on site to carry out repairs.
  • Children should, where possible, follow the social distancing rules outlined in government guidance when they are not in school http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing

Handwashing

As we are aware, good hand hygiene is crucial to reducing transmission rates of Covid-19.  There are several visuals throughout the school making it clear the expectation of the school, that from the moment of arrival until leaving the school premises, regular handwashing is the expectation.  All children, staff and visitors are required to sanitise their hands on arrival and regular handwashing throughout the day. 

Clothing

Children should wear their uniform.  On days when they have PE, they should wear their PE Kits.  The expectation is that your child will wear the school approved kit as outlined in our uniform policy. 

Arrival and Departure:

As you will have seen in the letter from Lambeth’s School Streets Team, from 2nd September 2020, Linton Grove will have restricted vehicle access at the junctions of Elder Road and Basil Gardens between the hours of 7.45am to 9.15am and 2.15pm to 3.45pm (the original letter sent by Lambeth wrongly stated 2.45pm to 4.15pm) during term time. Parents will NOT be able to access Linton Grove to drop off or pick up children during these times.  This is to aid parents and families to social distance, as well as making the journey to school safer for pupils. 

Ideally, children should travel to school by walking, cycling or scooting wherever possible.

If you and your child need to travel on public transport, TfL are planning the following:

  • Designating some existing regular buses as School services, which will be prioritised for school travel. Non-school passengers will be advised to travel on the normal services. 
  • Passengers aged 11 and over are required to wear a face covering when using public transport services or at stations, taxis or private hire services. They would advise anyone exempt from wearing a face covering to carry an exemption card. 
  • TfL are also asking customers to carry hand sanitiser and wash their hands before and after they travel.

Please note that there will be no changes to fares and ticketing for children in September.

Arrival at School

  • Pupils should arrive at school at the normal time.
  • A member of Senior Leadership Team will be at the gate to welcome your child into school. Parents are not permitted to enter the school premises at the present time due to social distancing.
  • If your child is wearing a face covering, they will be asked to remove the covering as they enter the school premises. They will be asked to dispose of disposal masks in the bin.  If the face covering is not disposable, your child will need to place the mask in a sealable bag.  Therefore, please ensure that you provide a suitable bag, such as freezer food bags if required.
  • Pupils will enter their classrooms instead of lining up in the playground.
  • Please do not arrive to school too early to avoid waiting outside the school.
  • Please ensure that your child is in school for 8.45am, ready to start their learning at 8.50am.
  • We ask that pupils, that are not siblings, do not mix with other year groups on the way to school.
  • Only one adult should be accompanying their child/children to school.

Breakfast Club is via invitation only.  Those children who are invited were sent an email on Wednesday.

After School provision will commence on Wednesday 2nd September from 3pm – 5.30pm only.  If you wish your child to attend the after school club, please contact them directly as a form needs to be completed in advance of attendance.  Payment will also need to be made to them directly.

For the autumn term, there will be no other after school activities taking place.

At the end of the day, we ask that parents wait outside the school gates. 

  • KS1 (and reception) parents should line up from the Elder Road direction
  • KS2 parents line up from Basil Garden direction.
  • Parents of children in KS1 and KS2 can choose either line to join.
  • Members of the Senior Leadership Team will see you and arrange for your children to be brought to the gate to be collected by you.
  • We ask that parents and carers observe social distancing and keep themselves 2 metres apart from others when queuing and are patient whilst we ensure that your child/children are handed over to you.
  • It is extremely important that you arrive on time to collect your child as there will not be any facilities for late collections.

Pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 who are walking home unaccompanied, require the permission slips on Arbor to be completed.  They will be not able to walk home without this being done.  

Attendance

As per Lambeth’s attached letter, all pupils are expected to be in school.

The school has a very clear plan about the management of a child or staff member displaying symptoms and the implications for the school, staff, pupils and premises.  This has been developed in line with Public Health England (PHE) and Government guidance. 

If your child shows any symptoms of Covid-19 (a new, continuous cough or a high temperature or a loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell) do not send them to school.  You should arrange a test online. You must notify the school if the test is positive.

If you develop these symptoms, however mild, or you have received a positive coronavirus test result, then you should immediately self-isolate and stay at home for at least 10 days from when your symptoms started.  Members of your household, including siblings, should self-isolate for 14 days from when the symptomatic person first had symptoms.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance

If your child has a cold, they will still be expected to be in school. 

If your child has diarrhoea, sickness or chickenpox etc, they should not be in school.

If your child or a staff member does present with symptoms whilst in school:

  • the school has an identified isolation room for pupils waiting to be collected by parents
  • the classroom will be closed and a deep clean will take place
  • parents of children within the ‘bubble’ will be informed that there has been a child/staff member sent home presenting with symptoms and/or a child with a positive/negative test result
  • if a child or a member of staff in a ‘bubble’ tests positive for COVID-19, all staff and children within the ‘bubble’ will be sent home for 14 days.

Please ensure that your contact details are correct on Arbor so that we can contact you.  If you are not allowed your mobile at work, please ensure that we have your work telephone number. Please update your details as necessary on Arbor.

The school will be working closely with the school nurse team and the Educational Welfare Officer to support pupils to attend school. 

The usual safeguarding attendance procedure will be adhered to including contacting parents if a child is not in school without a reason and a referral to the Educational Welfare Officer if a child is missing education (absent for at least five days without parental contact) or attendance is a concern.

Communication

As parents are not permitted on the school premises at the moment, please either contact the school via Arbor, email or telephone. 

All copies of letters will also be available on the school website, either under the news or Coronavirus tab. 

Please do not use Class Dojo to contact the school office from now on.

Free School Meals / School Dinners

  • The Free School Meals voucher scheme has now finished
  • If you have been receiving the Magic Breakfast deliveries to your house, these will continue for a little while longer, unless you notify Magic Breakfast or the office that you do not wish to continue receiving them.
  • If your circumstances have changed and you believe that you are now entitled to free school meals, please visit https://pps.lgfl.org.uk/ If you are eligible, the school will receive confirmation and you will not be required to pay for your child’s meals.
  • If your child is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 and you are eligible for free school meals, please complete the form as the school receives additional funding for pupils entitled to FSM.
  • Pupils in Year 3, who are not entitled to free school meals, will now need to pay for meals as Universal Free School Meals are for pupils in Reception to Year 2.
  • Meals will remain at £2.50 at this present time.
  • Please ensure that your child’s meal type is correct on Arbor. If you have switched to packed lunches and it is not correct on Arbor, you will be charged for any meals ordered.
  • School dinners should be paid via Arbor (we no longer use SIMSPay)
  • Please contact the school office if you are experiencing difficulties with dinner payments
  • We recently sent out information regarding special dietary needs, please ensure that you complete the forms if this is applicable for your child.

Additional Information

  • Pupils should not wear bandanas as face coverings whilst wearing their school uniforms.
  • Bags should not be brought into school.
  • The water fountains will not be in use, therefore please provide your child with a water bottle.
  • If you were loaned a device (laptop or iPad), please ensure that these are returned to the school as soon as possible.
  • Unfortunately, school journey for the Year 6 pupils has been cancelled as it is too expensive to arrange a new date after SATs. We will be contacting you shortly to arrange any payments to be returned to you.
  • School journey for Year 5 is currently planned for May and we will write to you shortly with the details.
  • Please ensure that your child’s medication is in date, if it is stored at school.
  • If your child requires any new medication, please contact the school office regarding our medication procedures.

Please find attached a letter from Lambeth and the amended letter from School Streets.

I would like to thank you for your continuous support, and we look forward to seeing you all in on Wednesday.

Kind regards

 

Nicky Zeronian-Dalley

Executive Headteacher

 

September 2020

 

 Letter_to_parents_and_carers_re_school_return_27_August_2020_Lambeth.pdf