2nd September 2020

Re: Full school opening – September 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you and your families have had a restful and enjoyable summer break and that you feel excited for the new school year. We are very much looking forward to welcoming all of our children and families to St. Dominic’s Primary School. We welcome Years 3 to 6 children back from Thursday 3th September and Years 1 and 2 back from Monday 7th September. Early Years children will begin to attend school from 14th September.

We have continued to update our risk assessment, policies and procedures in line with Government, Department for Education and Local Authority guidance and we are confident in our plans for full opening.

Public Health England’s ‘ System of Controls’

As many of you are aware, it is the Government’s plan that all pupils, in all year groups, will return to school full-time from the beginning of the Autumn term. Schools must ensure they are adhering to the PHE (Public Health England) endorsed ‘system of controls’ and have revised risk assessments in place. The Government believes that if this is done effectively, it will minimise risks. Please refer to the link below for the recent Department of Education guidance for parents and carers in preparation to returning to school.

Attendance

The Government, in its guidance, states that circumstances have changed and it is now vital for all children to return to school to minimise the longer-term impact of the pandemic on their education. This means that from September, the usual rules on school attendance will apply:

• all children need to attend school daily and on time
• we will be recording attendance and following up any absence in the usual way, following Camden guidance

It is very important that we work together to secure regular school attendance from the very start of term as this will be essential in helping children catch up on missed learning, make progress and promote their wellbeing and wider development.

Preventative Measures

We will continue to have protective measures for children and staff in place from last term and have added to these as appropriate to support all children to return to school. Schools have been asked to minimise the number of contacts that a pupil has during the school day to reduce the risk of transmission. However, class-size restrictions have been lifted and the size of the bubbles need to be increased to regular class sizes to allow for the normal operation of the school.

The following preventative procedures are in place:

• Individuals or someone in their household who have coronavirus symptoms will not attend school.
• Lessons will be taught in all classes about the importance of good hygiene and hand washing. Handwashing areas will be available in every classroom.
• Cleaning hands thoroughly and more often than usual, using the sanitiser stations and spray resources positioned around the school and in classrooms. Children will also sanitise their hands as they are collected at the gate by an adult in the morning at drop off times.
• Good respiratory hygiene, promoting ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach. Tissues will be available in every classroom to support this routine.
• Enhanced cleaning schedules, including the regular cleaning of frequently touched surfaces such as handrails and door handles, classroom based resources and toilets.
• Minimising contact between individuals by maintaining consistent groups and older children maintaining social distancing, wherever possible.
• Start and end of day times, breaks and lunchtimes will be staggered to support social distancing requirements.
   

Procedures for Staggered Entry and Exit at School

Because of social distancing requirements, the school is not presently able to operate its soft start policy or have parents on the premises. Children will be collected from their drop off point in the morning by a member of their class staff and brought to this collection point at the end of the day.

Please follow the entry and exit plans carefully so that we avoid groups of parents and children congregating in any drop-off zone. If your child is late they will be sent to the main gate for entry into school, they will not join another class bubble coming in as children cannot mix in different bubbles.

School Uniform

All children should return in full school uniform. Your child can wear their PE kit all day in school on the day they have their lesson with the PE coach, you will be informed of which day this is.

Additional Resources

• Children are allowed to bring in a labelled water bottle and a book bag or school bag.
• Children in the Early Years and Key Stage 1 are provided with a break time fruit snack. In Key Stage 2, all children are encouraged to bring in a piece of fruit or a cereal bar for break time. Nut based products are not permitted due to allergies in school.
• The school is currently unable to store bicycles and scooters during the school day, unless it has been separately agreed with School Leaders.
• All medication must be sent in to the school office.

Catering

Caterlink will offer a hot ‘lunch in a bag’ option for all children in Reception and Key Stage 1 and other eligible children. In Key Stage 2, parents who would like their child to have a hot school meal should pre-order as normal.

Conclusion

We have planned lots of wellbeing, nurturing and emotional-based learning sessions at the start of term to welcome the children back and will support them with any understandable concerns.

We hope that you have found this information useful and if you require any further clarification, please contact the office by phone or by email at :admin@stdominics.camden.sch.uk 

 Take care and we look forward to seeing you all very soon.

Ms Giverin and Miss O’Prey