Friday 3rd September - Update
Hello! I am hope you all have had a lovely, relaxing summer. I look forward to welcoming all the children back to school on Monday (6th September).
As promised, here are the updated Covid procedures ready for the new school year, alongside a few messages.
Please note, that the current Covid procedures follow government guidance, if there is an increase in cases or guidance changes, procedures in school will also change. I will keep you up to date with any changes. You can read a summary of the government’s guidance here.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
New Reception Children
I look forward to welcoming our new Reception children to Winshill Village Primary and Nursery School. Many of them having taken part in transition, and I hope that this will make the start of the new school year as smooth as possible for them.
On Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th September, the new Reception children will either be in school during the morning session (9-11am) OR the afternoon session (1:15 - 3:15pm). Parents should have received a letter outlining which session their child is attending, but we will send a text out as reminder. All the Reception children will be be in full time from Wednesday 8th September.
If your child is attending the morning session, please wait on the playground, until I call you up. You will then come to the office gates at 11am, and collect your child from the Reception door via the Reception playground.
If your child is attending the afternoon session, please come of the office gate for 1:15pm, where you walk round to meet me by the entrance. You will then collect your child at 3:15pm from the Reception door via the Reception playground.
Please note that parents will not be permitted into the building - we find that this helps the children settle quicker. We will let you know if there are any worries.
Start and End of the Day
We will be returning to our normal times at the start and end of the day.
Breakfast Club will run from 7:30am every morning.
Doors will open from 8:45am. School starts at 9am.
Gates will open at 3pm ready for the end of the school day
School will finish at 3:15pm for Reception & KS1 (Years 1 & 2)
School will finish at 3:20pm for KS2 (Years 3 - 6)
The afternoon session for Nursery will finish at 3:30pm (although dismissal will start at 3:15pm for those who have siblings in the school).
Parents are requested not to walk up the ramp in the morning. (New Reception parents can walk their children up the ramp for the first couple of weeks.)
Parents will not permitted into school first thing in the morning.
We will not be taking temperatures on arrival, however we will keep the thermometers just in case a child becomes poorly in school.
Face Masks and Social Distancing
Wearing face masks on the playground will be personal choice and we will respect whatever decisions are made on this, however with the number of the adults on the playground at the end of the day, then we would recommend wearing a face mask when collecting your children.
Social distancing is encouraged, we have plenty of room on the playground for parents to spread out, so please use all available space and gates.
However, we will still request that masks are worn by parents when they come into school, including the school office area.
We will continue to open all the gates to avoid any bottlenecks, please use the nearest gate.
(Please note the car park gate has moved, and will now open directly onto the playground.)
Positive Cases and Self Isolation
If a child tests positive, they will be asked to isolate for 10 days. Remote learning will be put in place if your child has to self-isolate.
Close contacts with the positive case, will no longer need to self-isolate, they will be expected in school as normal. (This applies to all children under 18 and adults who are double vaccinated.)
Close contacts will be contacted by track and trace and will request that your child has PCR test.
I will send a message to the class saying that there is a positive case in the class, and I will recommend a lateral flow test is completed.
If your child shows any symptoms in school, then they will be sent home and a PCR test will be requested.
School staff will continue to use lateral flow tests twice a week.
Regular lateral flow testing is recommended, and free tests can be collected from most pharmacies.
More details about our Covid processes for September 2021 can be found here.
PE Days
On PE Days the children can continue to wear their PE Kit to school.
However, we will insist on school PE kit; t-shirt, black leggings, joggers or shorts and wearing their school jumper, cardigan or fleece. On PE days the children should wear trainers or plimsolls to school.
The PE days for each year group are as follows:
Reception: Tuesday & Thursday
Year 1: Monday & Wednesday
Year 2: Monday & Wednesday
Year 3: Tuesday & Wednesday
Year 4: PE on Wednesday; Swimming on Thursday (letter to come out during the first week back at school).
Year 5: Tuesday & Friday
Year 6: Tuesday & Friday
Term Dates
The new term dates can be found in the Parents tab at the top of the home page. Please note that there is a change to the finishing date for Summer 2022, this is due to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. All dates and events can be found on the school calendar. A summary of key dates can be found here, please note that these might change due to Covid restrictions or the events might not take their usual form.
Some Gentle Reminders…
Please can your child bring in their Summer Challenge Pack. They should give the pack to their class teacher on the first day back at school. Prizes will be given out to children who have completed activities. Please hand in your pack regardless of how much work has been completed. Thank you.
Your child will need their own water bottle when they come to school. Children should not have squash or fizzy drinks in their water bottle.
Please ensure that your child is in the correct school uniform from Monday, including black shoes (this can include black trainers). Thanks.
Sad news…
I am sure that you all remember the sad news, that one of our Year 3 children was diagnosed with a brain tumour last school year. Unfortunately, this brave young lady passed away over the summer holidays. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family. We will remember her fondly and we treasure the time that she was with us, we all will remember her smile.
If your child was a classmate and they are struggling with the news, please let us know, and we will be able to signpost you to agencies that may be able to help to support you and your child. We will be commemorating this young lady in school and will be dedicating a bench in her memory.
See you all on Monday. Happy New School Year!
Miss Goodson
