Headteacher Video Messages - School Re-Opening

July 12th

June27.mov

Practical arrangements for School Re-Opening from June 29th.

Only the Main Gates will be open - the Nixonville side gate will remain closed.

Please use the social distancing signs to line up on the footpath leading to the Nursery Class.

All staff will be on hand to meet the children and to show you how to exit the school using a one way system.

All classes will have received a staggered starting time - please do not arrive before your allocated time as we have to ensure that children enter the building in the correct order.

Mrs Hedges / Mrs Donnison - 8.45am

Miss Thomas / Mr Morgan - 9.00am

Miss Sheppard/Mrs Tricker/Mrs Davies - 9.10am

Mrs Evans/Miss Jenkins - 9.20am

Miss Long/Miss Gerber - 9.30am

Please be careful when leaving the site as buses and taxis will be using the school parking area.

All children will need a packed lunch and drinks - although please don`t send Coke or fizzy drinks etc.

The children do not have to wear uniform.

At the end of the designated session, please use the field to socially distance at 2m until the staff bring the children to you. You will have also received information about the time that you should be ready to collect your child.

If your child is travelling home on the bus , they will leave school at approximately 1.45pm , so please make sure that you are on the bus stop.

Collection times:

Mrs Hedges / Mrs Donnison - 1.45pm

Miss Thomas / Mr Morgan - 1.30pm

Miss Sheppard/Mrs Tricker/Mrs Davies - 1.20pm

Mrs Evans/Miss Jenkins - 1.10pm

Miss Long/Miss Gerber - 1.00pm

We can`t wait to see the children - here`s hoping for good weather as well!!

Return to School Plan Summary

Ysgol Rhyd y Grug - Return to School Document.

We have been asked by the Welsh Government/Local Authority to plan for opening the school from 29/6/2020 to pupils from Reception to Year 6 pupils and key workers’ children.

On the advice of the Local Authority , Nursery children (dosbarth Robin Goch) will not be invited back at this time.

Following a Covid-19 Risk Assessment carried out on the school by Merthyr Tydfil CBC Health and Safety Officers, we have established that to adhere to the 2m social distancing legislation, we cannot have more than 5 pupils in any class at the same time.

As Welsh Government has stated that children in the above year groups should be offered places, brothers and sisters will be timetabled to attend on the same day.

Each child will be invited to attend for one day a week , and that is the day that they will be allocated for the whole period of opening,making 4 visits in total.

We will be open Monday to Thursday, we will be closed every Friday to allow deep cleaning to take place.

Staggered starts to the day will be between 8.45am and 9.30am - you will be advised by your class teacher when you will be expected at school. Social distancing means that you will have to queue on the footpath leading to the Nursery classroom. You will be met by members of staff who will escort your child to their classroom, where they will remain for the whole time they are in school.

The session for all other pupils will end between 1.00pm - 1.45pm - you will be allocated a collection time and asked to maintain social distancing legislation as above.

School transport MAY be operating during this period. This will be confirmed when we have the responses to our next parent audit, which will remove the UNSURE option from the question, at this point we will require a YES or NO from you.

The safety of our school community remains our utmost priority and we have followed WG guidelines in terms of the measures we will be taking.

This is a very difficult time for everybody and it is important that you as parents can make an informed decision about whether you send your child back to school or not at this time.

If you do not wish for your child to attend school at this time, you will not be penalised and distance learning will continue with the class teachers.

Catering arrangements

There will be no Breakfast Club or school lunches provided during the period before the summer holidays - ALL pupils, including Hub pupils will have to bring a packed lunch.

The following measures will apply:

Movement

Entry and exit times will be staggered – it is therefore imperative that you are on time for the entry and exit of your child’s group.
Adults should not gather in the school grounds and should leave the site as soon as their child has been admitted to the building. We will provide signage showing clear routes in and out of the school site.
Children will be in a maximum group size of 5 pupils and will not have contact with other groups during the school day – including break and lunchtimes. Children will remain in the same group each time they attend.
Break times will be staggered and there will be clear zones marked for each group.
Outdoor play areas will be zoned and marked so that groups do not mix – this will include the outdoor areas.
Children will be taught in their usual classroom usually by their class teacher.
Children will be able to access the toilets when they need but this will be monitored to ensure groups do not mix.
There will not be any assemblies or PE lessons.

Hygiene

Staff will not be initiating any physical contact with pupils and will discourage pupils from doing so between each other – we recognise that break times will be the most difficult time to manage this.
Adults and children are to wash their hands-on entry to the school, before and after break, before and after lunch and at any other time they visit the toilet or cough/sneeze into their hands. Hand sanitising gel will be available in every classroom and sinks will have liquid soap and warm water.
Children will be allowed to visit the toilet whenever they need but the numbers will be controlled. Children will be expected to notify an adult that they are going to the toilet and staff will monitor the numbers going and ensure hand washing takes place afterwards.
All rooms will be well ventilated, and all doors will be propped open throughout the school to ensure no need to touch handles. This is with the exception of toilets.
Children do not have to wear school uniforms.
Classroom equipment – there will be no sharing of equipment. Each group will have their own designated playtime and sports equipment allocated to them which will be cleaned throughout the day.
Masks and protective equipment for children is parental choice and will need to be provided by parents/carers, if required.
PPE is not required to be worn by staff, this is a personal choice, unless dealing with a first aid situation.

Curriculum

We will continue to provide online learning and those pupils attending school will complete it as well

In order to have an opportunity to check-in, catch-up and prepare, learning will NOT be taking place in its normal form; wellbeing of pupils will be the main focus for the summer term.

Classroom set-up

We are utilising every room in order to be able to adhere to the maximum number of 5 pupils. Tables will be spaced as to adhere to the 2m social distancing law, and year groups will have carpet markers that will indicate their space for every day. All excess furniture will be moved out of classrooms to maximise the available space and the halls will be used to store all this additional furniture.

Classroom equipment will be set up for each child and they will not share any of it with others.

Behaviour

We accept that many pupils will be feeling anxious about coming back to school and will struggle to settle back into routines. We will be understanding and help them to feel secure and safe!

Any challenging behaviour which requires physical restraint or any behaviour which does not comply with our safety and hygiene measures will not be tolerated. Parents will be informed immediately, with the potential of their child being asked to stay at home.

Groups

Once we have allocated the groups, we will send you information for each group and details of the route your child will enter and exit the school building. Daily groups are being determined by siblings in the first instance and cannot exceed 5 pupils in total in any class. We realise that there is no easy way to do this, we will try our very best to ensure that friendship groups are kept intact, but we must be honest and say that this will not always be possible.

Equipment

Children SHOULD NOT bring;

school bags
pencil cases
money
PE kit
toys

books

The only things they should bring to school are;

a filled water bottle
sun hat
coat if it looks like rain
packed lunch & fruit. All waste will be returned home.

Food, Drinks & Snacks

All children must bring a filled water bottle.
They will have 2 break times, fruit for these must be included with their packed lunch (not chocolate or sweets).
Packed lunches and water bottles will be stored in their classes.

School Uniform

We are not expecting children to wear school uniforms on return to school, but clothing should be of a similar practical nature. We will be spending a lot more time outdoors, which may include activities that require children to be physical or get dirty. Footwear should be trainers.

Attendance

We will not be imposing any attendance sanctions for the foreseeable future. It is a very personal decision whether you choose to send your child to school during the current conditions and we will not be seeking any explanation from you. Key Workers' children are encouraged to only attend on the days when childcare is needed.

Next steps:

You will be sent a text message regarding returning to school this week. There will only be a YES or NO option. Once we have received your response, we will have enough information to inform transport to arrange buses if you need them, and will allow us to allocate which day of the week you child/children are to attend.

The class teachers will then e-mail you directly with the day, the time that you will be expected to arrive in the morning and the collection time which will be between 1.00pm - 1.45pm

Parents/carers are asked not to enter the building at the start of the day. Staff will collect the pupils at the school gates.
Parents/carers can enter the school grounds to collect their child/ren. They will be asked to line up on the school yard in their allocated line, 2 metres apart and the class teachers will bring the children to parents one at a time. (Brothers and sisters together)
Only one parent/carer per family to enter the school site at any one time.

The school will not look anything like our ‘normal’ school, but has to reflect the guidelines that we have been provided with to make it as safe as possible at this difficult time.

The whole school community has been working extremely hard over the last few months to plan, teach, feedback, support and keep in touch, whilst also trying to look after their own families. You are all very important to us all and we have missed you all greatly. There is nothing more that we want than to be back together in our lovely school working together with you all. This will come in time.

I appreciate that there is a lot of information to take in, but I think it is fair to say that things will look and be very different to normal (the ‘new normal’ as it is now called). September may look different again, we will have to take it day by day.

However, at this stage, the above information is what is safe for our school, pupils and staff. Please be patient and remember that everything is subject to change depending on Welsh Government and Local Authority Guidance.

Alun Williams - Pennaeth / Headteacher

COVID-19 Home School Agreement

The School

The school will;

Provide as safe an environment as possible which has been cleaned and prepared as thorough risk assessment has dictated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic;
Adhere to the social distancing rules as set out by the government in so much as is reasonably possible.
Continue to provide a curriculum that meets the needs of your child's well-being, mental health and academic needs whether they are in school or continuing to learn from home at present.
Contact parents/carers if your child displays any of the recognisably associated symptoms of COVID-19 and ask you to take them home and self-isolate for 7 days (family members for 14 days) or until a test is completed and negative results returned.
Inform you if staff or children in your child`s class show recognisably associated symptoms of COVID-19 as this will mean you will all need to self-isolate at least until the test comes back negative. need to check this

Continue our clear and consistent approach to rewards and sanctions for children as set out in the Behaviour Policy as well the expectations and procedures outlined in this agreement.
Communicate frequently through email and the school website alongside phoning in emergencies or if one of the triggers mentioned above is activated.

The Parent

To best support my child and the school, I understand that:

My child will have their temperature taken at home before arrival at school.
I will not attempt to mask any symptoms my child may have by using over-the-counter drugs, as this puts other children and staff at risk.
If my child, or anyone in my household, shows symptoms of CV-19, I will not send them to school. We will self-isolate for up to 14 days as a family & will be tested. I will let the school know the results as soon as possible via telephone and a follow up email.
When dropping or picking up my child, I will stick strictly to the published timings for my child`s class & will adhere to the 2-metre social distancing rules.

Apart from packed lunch & water bottles, my child will not bring any items into school or take any items home from school.
If my child forgets their packed lunch or water bottle at home, I will deliver it to school in a clean, labelled carrier bag and place it in the designated box in the school reception.
If my child, or another child in the class, shows symptoms of CV-19 at school, I will collect my child as soon as possible.
I will remind my child about social distancing rules but accept they are difficult to follow and that my child may not always do this successfully.
My child must use good respiratory and hand hygiene.

I will not be allowed into the school without a pre- arranged appointment, made only via telephone or email.
I need to support all staff in their efforts to create as safe as possible environment.
I must read all letters/messages/emails that are sent home.
I will inform the school immediately of any changes to parents/carer and emergency contacts details.
If my child is deemed unsafe, he/she will be sent home and cannot return to school until they can be safe.

Pupil:

I will do my best to:

Follow the social distancing rules around school and in the playground including not attempting to mix with pupils outside of my class.
Tell an adult if I feel unwell.

Not bring things into school from home, or take things home from school (apart from my hat, packed lunch and water bottle).
Only use the equipment provided to me by school and no other.
Only enter and exit the school building from the designated gate and by following the one-way system.
Follow good hygiene: coughing and sneezing into elbow or tissue (catch it-bin it-kill it).
Follow good hand hygiene, use soap and water for 20 seconds or a hand sanitiser regularly throughout the day.