Dear Parents/Carers,

We have shared our intentions and plans with those parents who have attended our ‘Report Collection Days’. These have been very positive and well attended and we thank you for your support. If you have not been able to attend, your child’s report will be waiting for you to collect in the school office. Please note that you will only have until 3:30 on Friday 17^th July to collect.

September Procedures

Timings:

We are lucky to have an expansive site and therefore we do not need to have staggered start and finish times.

Nursery: 8:45 – 11:45 and 12:30 – 3:30

Reception – Y6: 8:55 – 3:15 (However all school entrances (see website) will be open to accept children from 8:45 to allow a free flow in to school.)

Siblings can enter the school through any one of the entrances that apply to your children. The children will then make their way to their individual classrooms.

At home time the staff will release the children in small groups to avoid congestion and we hope that you can leave the school grounds as promptly as possible.

At all times can we ask parents to maintain social distancing whilst waiting on the playground.

School meals:

School meals will still be available to order and pay for through Squid but all lunches will be eaten in the classrooms.

For break children can bring their own snack or take the option of fruit or biscuits (these will replace toast as a healthier option). This will still be charged at 20p per day (£1 week) and your child will have the option of a piece of fruit or 3 biscuits.

School uniform:

We are proud of our school uniform but have decided to stop the need to wear a tie for all children apart from Y6. We still expect the children to wear white collared shirts (not polo shirts). We will keep some ties in school that can be loaned to children who represent the school e.g: choir

Clothing can be a carrier of the virus so we politely ask you to maintain the cleanliness of your child’s uniform.

We will be trying to take PE activities outside as much as possible so we would like you to pack an outdoor tracksuit for your child. Kits will be sent home every weekend to be washed.

Pelsall Pirates:

• Provision will continue but we are unfortunately having to reduce our maximum to 30 children.
• We will still provide provision from 7:30 – 5:30 (previously 6:00)
• Whilst in the provision the children will sit/play in their class bubbles.
• Please contact Mrs Mowe for further details.

Attendance:

In September, the government expect all children to return to school unless you are able to produce medical evidence in relation to the COVID-19 virus. As a school we do not want to process fines for non school attendance so we want to support you with ensuring your child is in school as much as possible.

We understand that child can have a range of illnesses. The procedures for other illness such as sickness remain but we are adopting the following approach in relation to COVID-19:

1. Use your child’s temperature as the main point of guidance. If the temperature is 37.8 or higher then keep your child from school and contact the doctor in relation to possibly taking a test. If a test is completed, please inform us of the result as soon as possible. If your child’s test is negative then your child can return to school providing they are well enough. A positive test will lead us to contact Public Health England and follow their guidance on any closure of parts of the school.

1. Please remember that we are able to administer medicines in school with your permission for headaches, coughs, common cold.

1. If your child has a cough, runny nose etc this does not indicate that they have COVID symptoms. Please bring your child to school and inform us of any cough etc and we will monitor the temperature throughout the day. We will inform parents if your child’s temperature increases or their wellbeing does not improve.

Classrooms:

• Children will hand gel when entering and leaving a classroom.
• Classroom tables will be organised in rows facing the front.
• Antibacterial spray will be used to regularly wipe down tables.
• Doors will be left open whenever possible to prevent the need to use handles.
• Windows will be open to support ventilation.

Toileting:

• Children will be able to go to the toilet as necessary.
• Only one child at a time will be allowed in the toilets and correct handwashing will be expected.
• Toilets will be cleaned during the day.

Breaks:

We are fortunate to have several areas that can accommodate break times and therefore children will take breaks in their class bubbles or, at times, year group bubbles.

We will be having one outdoor break in the morning and in the afternoon as well as our lunch time break.

Social, Emotional, Mental Health:

• When the children return on Wednesday 2^nd September we will begin the term by supporting their wellbeing through 8 days of planned activities that will help them to settle back in to school life and prepare them for normal curriculum work starting on September 14^th. The aim of these activities is to reduce any anxieties and help the children to be happy at school – this will then promote more positive learning.
• We will not be testing the children unless absolutely necessary, instead assessing them through quiz style activities and the general work produced in the classroom.
• We have not yet had the details of the ‘catch-up’ funding but we will be supporting interventions that are needed in all year groups.

Behaviour:

• We have updated the behaviour policy with an additional section relating to COVID-19.
• We are expecting that any low level behaviour issues will be reduced due to smaller bubbles at play and lunch times.

Resources:

• We will provide all resources for tables that your child will be able to use without sharing. Your child will not need to bring a pencil case as this is potentially another carrier of the virus.
• We politely ask that no other items from home are brought in to school such as toys, cards etc.

School Office:

• Our school office will remain open with the availability to talk to school staff. The office already has a Perspex window but we will still ask you to use the hand sanitiser provided.
• We will keep a register of all parents and visitors who visit the office in case we need to track and trace due to an outbreak of the virus.

School App:

We are aware that some parents may still not have the school app on their phones. From September, we will be using the website to share some ‘Pre-Learning’ with you. This will happen everyday so it is important that you have the app or access to the website on another device.

Search in APP store – The school App (blue icon with white school)

The app will automatically look for school in your area.

Select Pelsall Village and the app will upload.

You can sync the diary to your phone diary and then keep up with messages and information from us.

Please email school if you have any questions postbox@pelsallvillage.co.uk or help@pelsallvillage.co.uk and we will try and answer any queries as quickly as possible.

We are really looking forward to September when hopefully we will return as normal (apart from the changes we are getting used to). We have asked parents attending our Report collection days to read with their children and use Times Tables rockstars as much as possible. We hope you can support your children with this as well as spending great family time together be it local or further afield.

Stay safe and have a lovely summer.

All the Staff at Pelsall Village School.

G.Bagley

Head teacher