Welcome to the new year
4 September 2020
We hope that everyone has had a great and sunny summer holiday. We have had a busy few weeks. The school has been thoroughly cleaned and we have reviewed our risk assessment so that we are ready to welcome pupils next week.
Below you will find information about school operations for this term. This information was sent in a whole school letter at the end of July.
We ask that parents read all of the sections below as some arrangements have changed in line with updated guidance from the government.
We know that we will all quickly settle in to the new routines that are in place and that we will have a fantastic year. We are all looking forward to seeing the excellent learning that our children will complete this term.
If you have any questions about any information, please phone the school office or email:
sao@heronsgate.greenwich.sch.uk
SCHOOL OPERATIONS / INFORMATION
2nd September 2020
Promoting excellent hygiene
In preparation for the return to school, we ask that all parents talk to their children about the importance of avoiding the spread of germs. We will be using the catch it, bin it, kill it message.
Keeping everyone safe – what to do if a member of your family is showing coronavirus symptoms:
If a child, or any member of your family, is showing COVID symptoms then you must not enter the school grounds.
You must:
Stay at home (self-isolate) – do not leave your home or have visitors. Anyone you live with, and anyone in your support bubble, must also self-isolate.
Get a test – get a test to check if you have coronavirus as soon as possible. Anyone you live with, and anyone in your support bubble, should also get a test if they have symptoms.
Phone the school – so that we can contact our local health teams. The main symptoms of coronavirus are:
a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you have noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
If a child shows coronavirus symptoms during the school day, then they will be removed from class and placed in an isolation space with a member of staff. Parents will be contacted, and we ask that they collect the child immediately and follow the steps above. Therefore, please ensure the school office has your up to date contact details.
Attendance from September
The Department for Education has instructed schools that school attendance is now compulsory. If a child is absent for any reason, then parents should phone the school office to note the absence and give a reason.
We will work with families to support full attendance from September. If you have any questions about our school operations, please contact the school.
Start and end of school day
To allow us to maintain social distancing at the beginning of school and at home time, these times will be staggered so that different year groups arrive and leave at different times. These times were shared in the letter at the end of July.
Changes to the school day
To keep everyone safe, children will spend most of their school day in their class group – this will be called a class bubble. There might be times when different children come together for learning breaktimes or other activities. We will keep this to a minimum and we are creating a timetable that means only a limited number of bubbles meet each other.
There will be no large school events – assemblies will be cancelled. We will also not be going on any school trips for the first part of the term.
School uniform
Children should wear school uniform as usual.
Parent / school contact (update)
The school office remains closed to parents. If parents wish to talk with a member of school staff then they should phone the school office or email:
sao@heronsgate.greenwich.sch.uk
As always, we ask that parents do not have lengthy conversations with teachers at the start of the school day as teachers are focussed on getting their classes safely into school. If parents have an urgent message, please phone the school office.
If parents are talking to school staff then they should follow social distancing guidance.
Face coverings (update)
The DFE guidelines for primary schools states that primary school children do not need to wear a face covering.
The school will not be enforcing the wearing of face coverings by parents. For now, parents will not be entering the school building and parents should maintain social distancing when they are waiting at the start or end of the school day.
Parents are reminded that face coverings should be worn on public transport.
Breakfast club/After school club
Breakfast and After school club will not be available in the first week of term. We hope to be able to offer these clubs from Monday 14th September. We will give more information about this next week.
There will be no other clubs in the Autumn term.
