Happy Monday to you all :)

It was lovely to see our Year 1s this morning!! After a slightly nervous start and one of them spraying the sanitiser in their eye by mistake, they had a lovely morning!

School is dealing with the situation arising from of one of the Year 6 boys suffering from Covid symptoms over this last weekend. We have spoken to all parents of the children actually attending school, but I am writing to let you all know what has happened so that you are fully up to date, with accurate information.

The boy has not been in school since last Thursday and neither have his 'Bubble Mates'. The bubble he is in did not attend school today and they will not attend till the results of the test are known. We have initially closed the bubble for all of this week so that parents can plan their week as effectively as possible. If the results come back earlier and are negative then the bubble can re-open. If the results are positive then the school will need to close for two weeks for a deep clean. Staff who covered this bubble last week will not attend school till the results are known. School will update everyone with any new information as soon as possible.

The bubbles have kept very much apart, even on the playground, so cross contamination is extremely unlikely. The boy's bubble have not mixed with the Key Worker bubble at any time.

Mrs. Barnes and I would like to say a big 'Thank you' to all our parents, for giving such positive feedback and encouraging remarks when we called today. This made a difficult situation as easy as it could be for us. It was very much appreciated.

Enjoy the lovely weather this evening and keep safe and well.

Mrs. Perry :)

Good evening to everyone :)

I hope you have had a nice weekend and that you are safe and well?

I am looking forward to tomorrow, when school welcomes back a small number of Year 1 children. Staff have been planning interesting activities: phonics;maths and 'other stuff' as well :)

It has stopped raining for a while where am. The weeds and bind weed are having a lovely time!!

Josh bought three new fish for the pond in the garden.  They have settled really well and are very pretty colours.

Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Missing you all. Mrs. Perry. xx

Anyone remember Dixon of Dock Green​? That was the opening line each week.... you are all too young to remember. I used to watch it with my Dad. Both my parents were teachers. My Dad went into teaching late, but became a Head Teacher in Bury until he retired. My mum was a teacher in Bury all her working life and taught Reception for 25 years. The conversation round our tea table was interesting as you can imagine. I went to see my mum today (she is 88 and still has her 'I survived the war' head on. Good on her. She is very up beat!)

I am so proud of our children and families. Year 6 returned this week and we survived each other. It is lovely to see how they have grown (literally) and as people in their own right.

On Monday we will welcome back Year 1 and then Reception.

Key worker children numbers continue to grow as parents go back to work. 

THE INTENTION is to bring back Y5 in the week beginning 6th July, but this is dependent on KW children. I am working with Mr. Longworth to put a transition package together for Years 2,3 and 4. We are thinking that this is likely to be via ZOOM. (Now that I am happy about it's safety.)

I will be working with staff to support your children as they move in to a new year group. Information to follow asap.

I hope that you have a lovely weekend and that your families are safe and well.

Lots of love and hugs (Virtual obviously!)

Mrs. Perry

xx

Good afternoon all

Finally!!!! It has stopped raining!! It was a bit grim standing out in the rain this morning, so Dennis has bought us some very fetching waterproof ponchos (like you get at Disneyland except not!!) Keep your eyes open for them..... you won't miss them!

Thank you to the Year 5 parents who have stated an interest in the children returning. This will possibly happen on the 6th July. I will tell you nearer the time IF IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. The reason for the uncertainty is that the number of Key Worker children is rising quickly as parents return to work. School MUST give priority to these families. If we get five more KW children then school will be at full capacity and there will be no room for Y5 children. Please be patient. I will let you know asap.

Take care and keep safe. Mrs Perry

I hope you are having a good day.  I have done my emails, some school work, and been for a run with Charlotte.

Her new school in Warsaw has been in touch, thankfully! She starts on the 18th August, so now we have the fun of finding somewhere to live!!

Just to let you know my peas are growing nicely, but there is a squirrel showing some interest (and in my raspberries). 

Also this afternoon I had to dispose of a wasps nest in my back garden ( I hope you think I was brave?!)

This evening I am looking forward to watching TV with Char and J. Your parents may remember Waterloo Road and Downton Abbey. I usually nod off half way through and have to watch it all all over again.

Mr. Longworth will be thrilled that the footy is back on and I guess things are getting back to normal (what normal??) over time. I hope that you are all as happy as you you can be and safe.

Lots of love 

Mrs Perry

Good afternoon Parents and Carers.

I hope your day has gone well. We have survived our second day with Year 6 (or is it that they have survived day two with us??) They are doing really well and are enjoying being with their friends. We recognise that this is another big change for them.

Our Year 1 children will return on the 22nd June and our Reception children a week later. Classroom arrangements are well under way for them.

I would like to CONSIDER extending re-opening the school to more children: our current Year 5. This would be from the week beginning 6th July. Provision for Year 5s is less easy to predict as six of our classrooms are already being used, as is the hall and Hawthorn for the Keyworker children. If our number of KW children continue to grow we will need to use the Year 5 classroom and the school will be at capacity. There will not be room for any more children.

This may not be the case every day. I just do not have that detail yet.

It would be helpful to me if Year 5 parents could email school stmargarets@bury.gov.uk and register an intention of interest for the 6th July. I would really like to be able to accommodate Year 5s even if it is only for a couple of sessions to meet their new teachers.

If there are more than eight Y5s interested the children would have to come in on  a rota basis because we cannot fit more than eight in the classroom.

 Please can you let school know your intention by the end of Friday this week. I apologise that I cannot be more certain about Y5s returning. It is completely dependent on the number of KW children.

Thank you so much.

Have a lovely evening.

Mrs. Perry

Hi everyone

I hope you are having a good afternoon. I am in school putting the final arrangements in place for the re-opening of school for Year 6 on Monday. Mrs. Owen and Mr. Longworth have planned great activities for the three groups.

I hope you have had the chance to have a look at the Risk Assessment! I know it is very long but it just reflects school's thinking on how things will need to be altered to keep all of us safe and well. It will change all the time as the children return and present us with new ideas.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Keep safe and well.

Mrs. Perry

Good afternoon Parents and Carers

I have been in school all day and it was lovely to see the children there having such fun. I have also really enjoyed talking to parents in person and on the phone. The children planted some sunflowers  and hopefully when they grow you will be able to see them from Heywood Road. Having said that, when I got home the sunflowers I planted have been blown over by the wind. :(

Can I make a plea. Several parents have emailed school this week asking for information about school re-opening for more children. Please can parents read the information school puts on the website. All the information you need is there. 

Bury's Cabinet met yesterday. St. Margaret's is acting within their guidelines and continues to make plans to re-open school for:

Year 6 on Monday 15th June;

Year 1 on 22nd June;

Reception Class on June 29th.

Decisions made, have come directly from our detailed Risk Assessment. This will be available on the website tomorrow. It is very lengthy and is a working document, meaning that it will be subject to regular change as new guidance is published.

All PPE equipment has now been delivered and is in place. We feel we are good to go!!

Have a lovely evening. I will be in touch again tomorrow.

Mrs. Perry

Our Ref                   KD/AB

Your Ref                 

Date                       11 June 2020

Please ask for           Karen Dolton

Direct Line               0161 253 5501

E-mail                     k.dolton@bury.gov.uk

Parents/ Carers of Bury primary aged children

Dear Parent/ Carer

OPENING OF BURY PRIMARY SCHOOLS TO MORE PUPILS

I am writing to you about the recent government announcement about the re-opening of primary schools. 

Since schools closed to most pupils in March, families have had to adjust to home learning whilst many have been working from home and others have been furloughed or have lost their only source of income. This continues to be a very challenging time for many families.  

On 28^th May the Prime Minister announced that the government’s five tests had been met and that primary schools could re-open to more pupils from 1^st June.  Bury primary school leaders have been working tirelessly to plan for the re-opening of schools and it is anticipated that all will re-open to more pupils by no later than 22^nd June.  However, please be aware that these plans will be kept under constant review and may need to change at short notice.  The most important consideration is the safety of pupils and staff. 

I would like to thank the headteachers for undertaking robust risk assessments, taking into account regular government guidance updates, prior to re-opening to more pupils.

Every school is different due to the school buildings, including the size of classrooms and entry/ exit points, the number of staff available to work in their schools and also the demand for places.  The vast majority of Bury schools have remained open, including during school holiday periods and Bank holidays, in order to provide for children of critical workers.  Over the last week the number of children of critical workers accessing provision has increased significantly which has affected the number of places that can, under each school’s risk assessment, be offered to year groups.   I am sure that you understand the need for the children of critical workers and vulnerable children to continue to be prioritised.  Parents should therefore be aware that every school’s offer to its community will be different and may not be convenient for all families. 

As our schools open to more pupils in a phased way, teachers will be continuing to offer home learning to the pupils that are not in school.  This places an additional pressure on the staffing given that the maximum group size is 15 pupils and, in many cases, groups will need to be smaller due to the limited size of some classrooms. I know you will appreciate that the level of home learning may be reduced especially as schools open to more and more pupils. 

Our schools will need your continuing support as they move into this next phase of re-opening to more pupils, thank you. 

Yours sincerely

Karen Dolton