Good afternoon to you all,

I am aware that as we approach the start of the new term, some parents will be anxious about sending their children back to school. Please be re-assured that the school has given the most serious consideration to the safety of all children, parents and staff. Things will be different for the foreseeable future but every effort has been made to make school as safe and friendly as it possibly can be. 

Our Risk Assessment is fully up to date and can be found on the school website. It will answer many of your questions; but admittedly not all, as Government advice changes so regularly. 

Where possible, the children will sit in rows facing the front of the class. However, the youngest children will work in the classroom environment in which they are used to. This will be one of the major differences the older children will see. The children will go to the toilet one at a time and staff will disinfect the toilet handles, door handles etc after use.

Start times and pick-up times will be staggered for now, which will not have an adverse effect on the time spent learning. This is because lunchtimes will be staggered and the children will spend less time on the playground over lunch. Also there will be no assemblies at this point as schools are advised to keep the bubbles of which children are in as small as possible for as often as possible. This will 'free up' half and hour for learning time each day.

Children can bring their own school bag in to school, but they do not need to bring any stationery as these items will be provided by school and the children will be actively discouraged from sharing anything. Children can bring their packed lunch in their lunchbox from Wednesday 2nd September.

School is aiming to re-open Smarties from Monday 7th September. We recognise that many parents need this facility so that they can return to work and we have brought the re-opening date forward as a result of this recognition.

If you have any concerns or questions then school is here to help, please do not hesitate to ask. One thing I have learnt in the past few months is that no question is a silly question. We are living in very different times and it is important that we support each other. I look forward to seeing you again next week.

Lots of love,

Mrs. Perry