13^th May 2020

Dear parents/carers,

We know you will have seen in the news that schools may partially reopen on 1st June to include nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6 pupils if the government thinks it is safe.

It is a very unsettling time for us all, but rest assured that we are going to be doing everything we can over the coming weeks so that we might be able to begin to welcome children from these year groups back, if it is safe. Some of the precautions we will be considering include:

• Social distancing
• Staff use of Personal Protection Equipment
• Limiting class and group sizes and reducing session length
• Staggering break/lunch times and pick-up and drop-off times
• Increased cleaning
• Keeping pupils and staff with coronavirus symptoms at home

If school does reopen and we need to introduce these safety measures, school may be a very different place to the one children left. To separate children into smaller groups, they may be in a different classroom with a different member of staff. As safety will need to be our first concern, they will not be able to play or interact as they did before. The priority will be their well-being rather than their usual curriculum and learning.

If your child is clinically extremely vulnerable, or living with someone who is in this group, they should not come back to school and should continue with remote home learning. If your child is clinically vulnerable (but not clinically extremely vulnerable), you should follow medical advice to decide if they should come back to school. Please refer to government guidance for further details of these groups. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-ineducation-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-educationand-childcare-settings#shielded-and-clinically-vulnerable-children-and-young-people

I want to reassure you again that we will not be pressuring parents to send their children to school and you will not be fined for any non-attendance choices – you know what is best for your child’s health and wellbeing. We will provide you with more details on the arrangements in the coming weeks so you can make the appropriate decision.

If you have a child in the relevant year groups, we would be grateful if you could give us an idea of your feelings at the moment by completing this survey:

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/V61ZP4/

Please be reminded that in the meantime, the school is still open only for vulnerable pupils and the children of critical workers. Until we are told it is safe to do so, we are unable to provide places for other children. We will keep you updated once we know more about when the school will be able to open for other year groups. For pupils at home, we will continue to support you and your child with home learning. If you have any questions, please contact school

Lynn George

Headteacher

Alison Johnson

Chair of Governors