Orchid Vale Primary School

Children will be working within their class group with their class teacher and teaching assistant.  In most cases, the working group will be restricted to their class.  However, in some year groups, the children will work as a year group bubble to enable us to run some groups across the year group.  

Children will be seated facing the front of the classroom – this is to limit the possibility of breathing across each other.  The teacher will be based at the front of the classroom.

Any individual (adult or child) with symptoms of COVID-19 should remain at home for 7 days.  Anyone with symptoms should book a test and inform school of the result.

We expect all members of the school community to engage with the Track and Trace system.  It is essential that we, as a school, are kept informed of any confirmed cases or direct contact with confirmed cases so that we can plan accordingly and encourage relevant people to access a test.

We hope that we won’t need to close bubbles.  However, it is really important for us all to be prepared for that eventuality.  We will close a bubble if:

1. There is a confirmed case within a bubble (child or adult) – closure will be for fourteen days. 
2. We are unable to staff a bubble due to members of staff having suspected symptoms or due to other illnesses. 

We will inform the parents of the children in that bubble if someone is being tested and will inform the whole school if there are any confirmed cases and which bubble the confirmed case was in.  If we have any confirmed cases, we will see advice from Public Health England and follow the relevant procedures.  It is essential that we have up to date contact details of someone who will be able to answer their phone so that we can close down any bubbles quickly and safely.

We will not be able to hold assemblies or parent meetings in the foreseeable future.  However, we are planning to find opportunities for the children to perform so that we can video them and share their achievements with you.  We have planned in dates for class assemblies as normal and will be making them available to you as parents.  If the situation remains the same as we approach Nativity season, we will take the same approach. 

Movement around the school building will be kept to a minimum and where possible, children will be taken around the outside of the building.

Pick up and drop off organisation will be as it is currently, with everyone using the one way system around the school.  Entry is via the main gate and then you will be directed around the one-way system (dropping your children off as you pass their door).  There will be large numbers of people moving through the playground at this time so we ask that numbers are kept to a minimum i.e. one parent only and that you try to maintain the 1m+ distance between families as you come into school.  We also ask that, where possible, any messages for the teachers be sent via email so that we are not holding up the movement. 

We have allocated time slots for drop off and pick up times.  These are short slots so as to avoid large gaps for families with several children and to ensure that parents are able to get to work. To ensure that this works efficiently, families are asked to arrive promptly for their slot.  Where families have more than one child, you may drop your children at the time of the slot for your first child and collect at the time of the slot for your last child.

The times are as follows :

8:30am for Nursery

8:40 for Y6 and Y2

8:45 for Y5 and Y1

8:50 for Rec and Y4

9.00 for Y3

Collection times are as follows :

3:00pm for Reception

3:10pm for Y6 and Y2

3:15pm for Nursery

3:20pm for Y5 and Y1

3:25pm for Y3 and Y4

Parents won’t be able to come into the classrooms with their children but if your child is feeling particularly anxious, a member of staff will come out and spend a few minutes with you and your child so that they can adjust.

Lunchtimes will be staggered so that classes are able to have their own zone within which to play.  Children will all have 20 minutes to eat, 20 minutes indoor recreation time, 20 minutes outdoor recreation time.  For the youngest children, their indoor recreation time will be immediately after their eating time so that they have plenty of time to finish their food before going outside.  Lunches will be eaten in the classrooms to avoid unnecessary movement around the building.  Hot meals will be delivered in take-away boxes.

Any visits to members of staff or children will be strictly by appointment only.  Visitors and parents will be provided with a visitor agreement which they will be expected to read and sign.  We will still maintain our open door policy and will be happy to meet with parents but this must be done on an appointment basis so that we can set limits to the number of additional adults that we have in the building.  On arrival at school, visitors and parents will be asked to give their name and contact details in case we need to trace anyone who has been inside the school building.  This will apply for visits after the school day too.

Within classroom bubbles, strict social distancing is not practical.  However, teachers will teach from the front of the room and pupils will sit facing the front.  Staff will make every effort to maintain social distancing within the building and we will maintain distance from anyone visiting the school.  In Early Years and Year 1 (until Christmas), the classrooms will be organised in groups and children will spend time with those consistent groups. 

The sharing of equipment will be kept to a minimum and practical resources will be disinfected between uses.

We need to minimise the amount of equipment being moved between school and home.  However, children will need to take home reading books and they will need to bring in lunch if they are having packed lunches.  Since June 1^st, we have been asking for disposable lunch containers but this is not a long term solution.  Children may being in reusable lunch boxes and water bottles.  Reading books will also come home and be returned to school.  We will ‘quarantine’ books on their return to school before lending them out again.  Children should not bring anything else into school as everything else will be provided.  Children should not bring back packs.  The fewer items each child brings in, the lower the risk.

Children should wear school uniform on their return to school in September.  This includes no jewellery, no hair dye and no nail varnish.  However, we do understand the fact that shoe buying has been challenging and that some items may be difficult to get hold of during this period and we will accept that there will be a transition period before uniform is fully available.  Clothes should be washed each day to avoid the transference of any contagions.

We would like children to come to school ready for PE on their allocated days.  This should include warm layers as the majority of PE teaching will take place outside (weather permitting).  This avoids the need for PE bags around school and will remove the chance of pupils touching each other’s clothes.

In school, we will have very strict routines around hand washing.  Children will wash their hands at the beginning of the school day, after break times and after vising the toilet.  They will also wash their hands after the sharing of any equipment.  It will be helpful if the children are ready for this. Some children have had sore hands as a result of such frequent handwashing or from the alcohol in the antibacterial wash.  If this is the case, please let the class teacher know and we will let them bring in hand cream.  We have a daytime cleaner on site who is keeping door handles and toilets clean during the day.  The cleaner is also available if we need to deep clean a room if we have any diagnosed cases.  We will also be reminding them of the ‘Catch it, bin it, kill it’ mantra, especially as we approach the cold season.  If you could also remind them of this at home, it would be very helpful.

Staff at school are not required to wear PPE for the majority of the time.  However, if your child requires support with toileting or changing, the staff member carrying out the support will wear a mask, an apron and gloves.  This will also be worn if carrying out any first aid treatment.

If you use public transport to being your child to school, please let us know and we will discuss drop off and pick up times with you to ensure that you can travel in the safest way.

All pupils are expected to return to school full time in September.  However, if your child has a medical need and you have been advised by a medical professional to shield, then please make contact with us and we will work closely with you to establish the best way to ensure that your child receives the work and support that they need.

Children will all react to the return to school differently.  We will be sending out some materials to help your child with this transition on Monday.  We have also sent out a questionnaire for you to complete so that we can target support for the right things and for the right children.

Pupils with Special Educational Needs will continue to receive the same level of support as before lockdown.  Our understanding is that external professionals will begin to visit again in the Autumn term.

Teachers are preparing their materials for teaching in a viewer friendly way.  Materials from lessons will be accessible for home learning should a bubble or the school have to close.  Teachers will also provide information about the learning over a term so that parents can support.

The key thread in the guidance is around minimising the cross-over of bubbles.  Our breakfast club and after-school club involve the bringing together of children from 14 different bubbles.  An outbreak in one of these two groups would lead to the closing of the whole school.  We have, therefore, made the decision to postpone the reopening of these facilities until October half term when we will review the situation.  Our priority is to get the whole school open and running safely.  Once we have achieved that huge step, we will aim to provide wraparound care again.

We will not be running additional clubs during the autumn term but will review the situation at October half term.  We are aware that, as restrictions relax, many of your children will be mixing outside school.  It is really important that, if your child has been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID outside of school, the same rules should apply in that your child will need to be tested before returning to school.

Government restrictions and advice may well change over the coming weeks.  If this leads to any changes to our provision, we will update you via email.