Friday 12th March Update
Let’s try again, shall we?
I am delighted to inform you that school will be opening to most pupils on Monday (15th March).
However, if your child is in Year 1 and they were in school on Friday 5th March, they should not return until Tuesday 16th March. This will be 10 days from possible contact with a positive case.
All other children will be able to return on Monday.
Apologies for the school closure, I know that many of the children were looking forward to returning to school last week. However, I am glad we did, as a number of positive cases came to light over the week. By closing the school, we eliminated the risk of transmission and it helped keep us all safe.
We were not the only school in Burton that had to close, and the number of cases in Winshill is still above the national average. Therefore, vigilance is needed, please continue to follow our Covid precautions, please continue to social distance, please continue to wear masks and to leave the school grounds as quickly as possible. More information about our precautions can be found here.
As I mentioned earlier, a number of positive cases came to light, this week including staff. Therefore, not all staff will have completed their self-isolation by Monday. Consequently, for the first couple of days, your child might not be taught by their usual class teacher. We appreciate your support with this, and believe that getting children back into the routine of school was the priority. All staff, who are self-isolating, should be back by the end of the week.
I would like to thank the staff for their hard work and dedication through this stressful time. From uploading the blogs, to completing the Zooms, to supporting pupils and colleagues and stepping up when it was needed, thank you. All this, in some cases, when they were feeling poorly. The dedication of the staff to Winshill Village Primary and Nursery School, is second to none, they have been fantastic!
Staff will complete a lateral flow test on Sunday, to ensure that they are negative for the start of school. Any positive results on Sunday, may impact on us fully reopening the school. If anything changes, I will let you know as soon as possible. With the increase in testing, I think this is something we have to get used to for a while.
A Reminder of the New Dropping Off and Collection Times
There will be a slight change to collection times, please read the information below carefully.
In the morning, the doors to the main building and nursery building will be open from 8:40am, in preparation for a prompt 9am start. This also encourages a natural staggered start in the morning. Breakfast Club will be running as normal and starts at 7:30am.
At the end of the day, the school gates will unlocked at 3:05pm.
If you are only collecting children from Nursery, Reception, Year 1 or Year 2; you should collect them between 3:05 and 3:10pm.
If you are only collecting children from Years 3, 4, 5 or 6: you should collect them between 3:15 and 3:20pm.
If you are collecting children from both the lower part of the school (N, R, 1 and 2) and the upper part (3, 4, 5 and 6): you should collect them between 3:10 and 3:15pm.
Older children (Years 3-6) will not be dismissed before 3:10pm - therefore please do not arrive too early or too late.
Please collect your youngest child first.
Please exit through the nearest gate to avoid congestion.
Please adhere to social distancing.
Please wear a mask where possible.
Where possible, only one adult should collect.
Please leave the school grounds as quickly as possible to avoid congestion.
A Reminder about Lateral Flow Tests
The lateral flow tests are easy to use and give you an indication of whether you are positive or negative. Positive results are always confirmed by the laboratory based PCR tests. If you have children in school or someone in the household works in a school, you are able to access lateral flow tests. If you follow the link, you can find out how to order the tests or where to collect them.
Lateral flow tests are not compulsory, and it is individual choice. However, government guidelines suggest that testing twice a week, helps control the spread of the virus, helping to keep the community safe. I fully understand that some parents may not wish to test their child, and it is their personal choice. Whether you do or not, will not impact on your child’s attendance at school. My personal view is that the more we test, the less likely we are to have a wide spread outbreak.
If you decide to test your household including the children, I would recommend that you test on Sunday, before the children are due to return to school on the Monday. If positive, the child and the household would need to self-isolate for 10 days.
Before I sign off, I would just like to say a huge thank you to those of you, who sent messages this week, wishing us all well and hoping everyone was ok. I have said it before, but I will say it again, the community spirit from all of you, all the way through the pandemic, has been phenomenal. I am eternally grateful for all the support and well wishes. Thank you.
I look forward to welcoming the children back on Monday… our first step back to ‘normality’.
Stay safe… and help keep others safe.
Miss Goodson