Welcome to the first newsletter since we began the return to school!
As we near the end of the second week of the return, we are delighted to have welcomed back children from Reception, Y1 and Y6, as well as continuing to care for pupils in other year groups who are children of key workers. On Monday we will see the return of some of our Nursery pupils too. It is great to see more children in school, and to hear them singing, laughing and talking right throughout the building and on the playgrounds.
The preparation for re-opening was thorough and carefully planned. We were keen to have procedures in place that supported the safety and well-being of everyone in school, but which ensured that school remained a pleasant and enjoyable place to learn. I think we have managed to strike that balance; this is thanks to a great deal of effort by all of the school staff, including the site team, the catering team, the administrative staff, the learning support staff and the teachers.
I would like to thank parents who responded to our survey regarding the return to school as it helped us to plan the provision and to be well-prepared. I would also like to thank parents for following our drop-off and pickup routines, and observing social distancing advice at the start and end of the school day. Can I remind parents not to gather on the pavement outside the school gate; if you want to wait for your child to go into school, or if you want to collect them in person, please come through the gate and wait in the designated areas, which facilitate social distancing.
With 13 ‘bubbles’ of children in operation, the majority of our teachers are involved in face to face teaching on a daily basis. The few remaining teachers are endeavouring to provide online learning resources for every year group so that pupils who are at home can still take part in learning. We know that the online learning provided since March has been very well received by pupils and parents alike, and we are keen to maintain our high standards and expectations.
If your Reception, Y1 or Y6 child has not returned to school yet, but you are considering sending them, please can you contact the school office in the first instance; our ‘bubbles’ have no more than 15 pupils in each and some of them are almost full, if not full already. We can set up new ‘bubbles’ to accommodate further pupils, but would need notice in order to get the arrangements in place. Thank you for your help and understanding with this.
School Crossing Patrol
We want to make parents aware that there won’t be any school crossing patrol on the zebra crossing and Brownshore Lane for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, at this stage they are not being deployed but Staffordshire County Council are monitoring government guidance for patrols; when we are informed by the council that we may have patrol cover, we shall inform parents as soon as possible.