A warm welcome to the first official communication for the academic year 2020/21. I hope this letter finds you all well and on behalf of the whole school staff we wish you all the best and hope you’ve all had a lovely, if not slightly surreal summer holiday.
Due to the frequently changing guidance regarding arrangements for schools to reopen, I have not rushed to make this communication as I did not want to be sending out information only for it to change and then possibly change again but it would appear that the circumstances are stable enough at this time and Doncaster is actually holding out well. It will be no surprise for you all to hear that things will be a little different this academic year to how we would normally like to run things and I thought I would take this opportunity to make you aware of the key measures we are taking to keep your children as safe as possible and like anything else, as the song goes, the beginning is a very good place to start.
Before I talk you through the start times and other arrangements, let me emphasise this: as parents and carers you have a very clear duty of care to yourselves, the community and beyond to disclose any signs or symptoms within your family unit to the school immediately and without delay or exception. It is imperative that you contact the school if you have been directed to isolate or have been in contact with someone who has the virus. It goes without saying that if a child or any member of the household has symptoms of COVID19, they should not attend school under any circumstances and should self isolate. Only when the child or member of the family showing symptoms has been tested and confirmed negative and no longer feels unwell or shows any symptoms, should the child return to school.
Schools in their very nature provide a network of connections that could lead to a large outbreak of COVID19 within and indeed beyond Doncaster should anyone not heed the guidance and having suffered so much, now is not the time to lessen our resolve or let our guard down.
At the start of this new school year, Wednesday 2nd September, we will be running staggered start and finish times to the school day. Please refer to the table below:
| Year Group | Arrival Window | Teaching Begins | School Closes |
| Y3 | 9:00 to 9:10 | 9:10 | 3:35 |
| Y4 | 8:30 to 8:40 | 8:40 | 3:05 |
| Y5 | 8:50 to 9:00 | 9:00 | 3:25 |
| Y6 | 8:40 to 8:50 | 8:50 | 3:15 |
In the interests of safety, it is important to adhere to the times indicated as this will reduce contact and greatly aid our plans for social distancing and protective bubbles. While your natural impulse will be to remain in the waiting area just inside the school gates or just outside on the road, It is important that you do not do this as other children will be arriving imminently and we must minimise contact between households and classes.
Should you have more than one child at school who are in different year groups, you will be permitted to bring both your children in at the same time – again both children will go directly to class. If any of these arrangements are going to cause you significant issues, please contact the school to discuss this further. If you need support with childcare before or after school, please contact Carl Adams from Buddies, our independent Wrap Around Care Provider who can be reached via email: [email protected] or if urgent, call: 07540701090. I would stress that this is not a free service provided by school .
During the school day, we will be staggering play times and classes will be restricted to designated areas on a rota basis. We will also be staggering lunch times too and inevitably, this will lead to shorter periods of time in the dinner hall. Again, like playtimes, children will be allocated specific zones for recreational purposes before and after their time in the dinner hall. In line with government guidance, there is no requirement for children or adults working in schools to wear face masks but anyone wishing to do so will not be prevented from wearing them unless they are being used in an unsafe or inappropriate manner. As we are seeing, good hand hygiene and minimising contact with others has been key to inhibiting the spread of the virus to date. Within classrooms, furniture will be arranged in such a way that, as far as possible, children are not directly facing each other and we will be adapting the curriculum and teaching styles accordingly to minimise close contact. In addition, each child will have their own individual tray with equipment provided just for them to minimise the risk of contamination.
Each class will effectively form their own bubble but these will be expanded during playtimes and lunchtimes to include the other half of the school year eg: 3MW and 3HJ. Extensive plans and risk assessments have concluded that this would be the best way to keep the school open but at these recreational times, children will be outdoors and not in direct contact with one another so the risk is reduced anyway. Whole school communal events such as Class Assemblies in the main hall are cancelled until such times as we are able to resume large gatherings in confined spaces. Children will still be able to choose whether to take a packed lunch or a school dinner but as normal, we would ask you to give the kitchen notice of at least a week if you plan to change as meals are still ordered in advance. At this time, we will still be providing a more restricted menu but there will be a hot meal choice daily including a vegetarian option. Children will not have as much free choice about where they sit for lunches also at this time in the interests of safety.
I’m sure you will appreciate, there has never been a more important time to ensure your child’s clothing is clearly named and anything such as book bags and water bottles also carry a very clear identifiable name tag or label. Every year we are left with mountains of unclaimed uniform, unnamed and unclaimed which is a tragic waste so stress the need for your children to take care of their things too. There are no planned uniform adaptations or changes in colour so you can shop with confidence and this might be a good time to ensure that you are well stocked up.
In a further attempt to reduce transmission of COVID19, we will not be using physical reading books for the children to take home as we would have done historically. As reading is imperative to any child’s academic development we will be providing access to an electronic library of books that can be accessed on any web enabled device. We will be using the same system as the Infants for consistency and the system will also provide the children with questions around the text they are reading which will be useful and is perhaps something that you could explore with them. For really advanced readers, who will be used to making independent choices about their texts, I would urge them to explore the site in the short term and to use their own texts to supplement these resources.
One final thing I would like you to consider is what your child brings to school. All bags and coats will be brought directly into the classroom whilever it is practical to do so rather than using cloakrooms. This of course will provide logistical challenges so I would ask for your support in ensuring your child only brings what is absolutely necessary. They will not need reading books, planners, pens or pencils etc and as such, please could they bring the smallest bag possible with only the essentials of PE kit and anything else essential. All trading cards and other such items will not be permitted in school for obvious reasons.
Before I finish this very long letter, I would like to assure you that a great deal of thought and consideration has gone into planning your child’s return to school, far more than can be covered in here. The staff have been well briefed and we have been working full time, operating in similar conditions, providing education on site for a number of children all the way through the lockdown period. While we all wish to return to normal as soon as possible, we acknowledge that it is not yet safe to do so. Furthermore, our experiences during lockdown will have been very different so we have allocated additional time to explore the social and emotional anxieties that your children have faced to date. We know from experience that, until a child feels safe and secure within their environment, they can never achieve their full potential. In school, we operate as CREW in line with XP practice which augments our previous child centered focus, providing children with a voice and a sense of unity. These daily sessions will provide a sound level of emotional support for all.
We will continue to update you as the term progresses and I would urge you all to sign up to the school website to receive updates on key information. All you need to do is enter your email address into the field and hit subscribe. You can find this on the right hand side of our homepage if you scroll down a little.
Best wishes to you all and enjoy the last week of the holiday!
Kind regards,
A Hayes
Headteacher