Questions from the survey & responses
These questions came out of the online survey so I have answered these below. Other things raised hopefully have been addressed in the other correspondence which I have sent out / posted on the website or in the newsletter.
Are you planning to check the temperature to all kids every morning so kids with more than 37.5 are not admitted? What will be done about parents sending their children to school with colds and who are clearly unwell?
No, we believe parents and carers should always decide if their children are well enough to come to school. We would only check temperatures of children if they became ill during the school day as per normal medical policy. We would always call parents and carers if we thought children were too ill for school.
Are you still going to continue to provide a full time place for children of Key Workers?
Yes, provision for key workers and vulnerable children will continue full time.
Is the whole day on Wednesday required in between the two groups?
There are three points here: 1) This is important in allowing the school to deep clean and reset rooms for a new group of children. 2) In addition, teachers will continue to need their Planning, preparation and assessment time and if this was not allocated during the Wednesday, they would have to be released during the other four teaching days which would break pupil groups and they would need to be taught by other adults. 3) We still believe there should be some time in the week where children are not ‘online’. For a significant chunk of the school population, online learning will continue all week. These sessions are designed to give children a break and the wellbeing tasks are some suggestions for you to follow.
We would like to wait a couple of weeks after schools reopen to see if the contagion rate flares up again or stays the same and joins school before the end of term. Is this an option?
We would have to wait and see how things develop and as part of our risk assessment. Adding children who join later to an already established ‘bubble’ goes against the health advice.
Would siblings be able to come to school on the same day? Would my child be in a group with his friends?
We have tried to accommodate these features as much as possible in consultation with class teachers.
If parents choose to remain at home, will they still have access to online materials to continuous home learning?
Yes – this will continue on Mon, Tues, Thurs and Fri mirroring what is taught in school. Wednesday would remain a wellbeing day.
Will there be different arrival and exit times for families. Could each family have a time slot?
We have thought hard about this. There will be staggered start and finish times for each year group, but not each family as this would be impossible to stay consistent – not everyone is on time! There are designated routes for each year group into the building. For siblings, families can arrive together.
Why only two days? The school is generally empty and can most likely accommodate the returning children five days a week. The risks are there if they come back for half a day a week or for all five.
Offering a two day in / two day out model means that we are thinking about minimising risk for children and staff
Addressing staff own health and personal situations and therefore managing staff capacity effectively.
Ensuring there is equity in each class getting the same offer whilst maintaining social distances – remember, each class will be spread across two classrooms
As more year groups re-join, we want to be able to provide the same offer. We could not do this if EYFS, Y1 and Y6 return full time – we would not have enough space.
Maintaining home learning whilst we know % of children returning to school will initially be lower.
Why the wellbeing day?
This was purposefully designed to give children a break from working online and to reduce time staff were sat at a screen working. Furthermore, a large number of parents requested more flexibility and less structure which we responded to after the Easter holidays. The activities provided are only suggested and we are happy for children to pursue their own interests or do other things. We have reviewed the tasks set so far and believe they have been sufficient for the days, but will continue to bear these in mind moving forward.
Regarding the school trip for Y6, the balance was due by the end of this half-term, though I assume the school trip won’t take place anymore. Should I be expecting a refund for the funds I’ve paid already?
Yes, unfortunately the school journey will not take place; a sadly casualty of this pandemic. We will be refunded by the company in due course and will reimburse any payments made to parents.
How long will the kids be in school? Will they stay all day in the classroom?
As far as we can manage, it will be a normal school day but without school trips, assemblies etc. The children will be based in a classroom but also have access to the outside facilities as planned by the teacher. Outdoor play is actively encouraged.
If I decide to keep my child home would I be fined?
No. We will monitor attendance of both in-school and online learners and there would be the expectation for you to continue to engage with the online learning provided if you do not return to school.
Could my Y6 child’s younger sister in Y2 return to school?
At the moment no. The Government has not yet announced further plans to admit Years 2 – 5.