Dear Parents/Carers and pupils,
Following the Government announcement last night, I wanted to offer you reassurance and clarity regarding our position as a school.
Allerton CE Primary benefits from a strong established staff team, along with an effective, strategic Governing Body and incredibly supportive community of parents.
It is with great confidence in our school community that we can navigate this current situation together. This community cohesion, strength and commitment has already been evident over the last 2 months of closure and lockdown.
Any decisions that are made will be done at a strategic school level but will be made for our school. Therefore I would ask that you ignore all press statements and speculation.
I will be communicating with the Governors, the Local Authority and staff; sending any updates to all our stakeholders, when there are any changes or new information to share. This will be via the usual systems – parentmail, my Headteacher Blog, teacher emails.
Please be reassured that we will not make any decisions to reopen, unless it is safe to do so.
Our pupils and staff are our greatest priority, as you know.
Therefore, the systems and arrangements that we are using at the moment will remain in place, with no changes currently.
Once again, I would like to publically thank my staff for their incredible commitment, hard work and dedication to our school and to your children.
They are a truly amazing team of people, whom we should not take for granted. They have shared the many messages of thanks that you have sent to them, so thank you for taking the time to do that. It really does make a difference. If you haven’t yet, then please do consider taking the time to.
What can you say to your children when they ask what is going to happen next?
Stella in Year 6 sent me some questions, which I have answered….they might help when talking to your children about what happens next.
Will we have to socially distance?
Yes you will be expected to physically distance and we have markings on the floor to indicate that, in main areas around school.
We will be adding to these where we need to. Socialising and supporting emotional well being will be our priority when any year group starts to return.
Will you have to have hand sanitiser?
We have commissioned some hand sanitiser units, which will be placed around school at key points. These will be at external doors and on entry to the main building and site. We will order more, if we need to.
Will we have to wear uniform?
Yes you will be expected to wear uniform….but if you have ordered a Y6 leavers hoodie then Year 6 will be able to wear those.
Will our class be broken into smaller groups?
Obviously we have not had any details yet from the Government or the Local Authority but have already been working on this plan for some weeks. As soon as I know anything, I will communicate that to you.
Yes, classes will be in smaller groups of 10 or 15. We have reorganised a few classrooms to see which are feasible, with the 2m distancing rule in place.
We have no idea how that will work yet but we will only have children back when it is safe to do so and where we can ensure physical distancing can be maintained.
School will feel different though and it would be a good time to remind yourselves about how far 2m really is!
Why did Boris Johnson say reception and year 1 will be the first to go back alongside year 6 – they will be the hardest to socially distance.
Headteachers, teachers and most other people who have experienced Reception and Year 1 in school are all in agreement with you!
I do not anticipate that they will all be back in full time.
Our school priority will be working to get Year 6 back, in some capacity, so that you can have a good ending to your 7 years with us.
Again, this is only my initial thoughts and any further details will be sent as soon as I have them.
Coming to school is a risk, can we stay at home but children who re not thriving at home have face to face catch up with teachers?
We have not heard anything more than you yet.
The Local Authority have scheduled a meeting with all Headteachers on Wednesday at 3.30pm, to discuss all of these concerns and organisational issues.
I have sent them a summary of all the questions that you, your parents and the staff sent back.
We don’t yet know what will happen if parents choose not to send their children in, when schools are reopened to certain year groups.
Will seats and desks be sanitised daily?
Yes, seats and desks and classrooms that are being use during now are being subject to a deep clean every day.
Mrs Horsley sanitises all door handles and push plates, on all doors round school every morning.
Mr Sagoo does the same at the end of the day.
Hopefully that will answer a few of your questions and provide you with some clarity at this time.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries.
Stay safe
yours
Helen Stott