Transition arrangements for new classes in September 2020
The Covid19 crisis means we have not had the opportunity to complete the transition arrangements that we had planned for the summer term; we know that the return to school after such a long time may be a source of anxiety for some children.
In order to try to reduce that worry for children and parents, we are asking all pupils returning to St John’s on Wednesday 2nd September to follow the routes and use the same gates/doors that they used when they were last in school ‘proper’ in March. They will go into their classrooms that they were in at that time, with the teachers they were with (Mr Gibson’s class and Miss Heyes’ class will be greeted by a familiar adult).
We hope that this familiar routine on the first day back will mean that children feel confident about coming in to school.
The children will spend some time with their ‘old’ teacher, and during the morning their ‘new’ teacher will collect them from their ‘old’ classroom and escort them to their ‘new’ classroom. During the day the children will be shown all of the details they need to know - where to go once they arrive on the school premises in the morning, which entrance to use, which toilets to use, the route that they will go out of school to be collected at the end of the day. Emergency evacuation procedures will also be explained. Children from Y4 up will be allocated a locker for their belongings and other children will be allocated a cloakroom space.
From Thursday 3rd September onwards the children can then use the usual routes to their new classrooms
In summary, the start of the new academic year in September will look like this:
Tuesday 1st September | Inset Day
Wednesday 2nd September | children from Y1-6 will use their ‘old’ routes/doors to enter school
Wednesday 2nd September-Friday 4th September | Nursery and Reception pre-visits will take place.
Thursday 3rd September | children from Y1-6 will use their ‘new’ routes/doors to enter school.
Monday 7th September | Nursery and Reception children will begin school
(please note that these transition arrangements have been developed on the assumption that all pupils will be permitted to return to school in September. This is very much St John’s preferred position. Should there be any government guidance over the next few weeks that indicates otherwise, we will of course be in touch with any necessary revisions.)