Happy New Year!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you all, I hope you all had a relaxing Christmas. I am looking forward to seeing all the children again tomorrow (Tuesday 4th January) for the start of another busy and exciting term. Please have a look of the calendar to see what activities we have planned this term .

I am sure that you are all aware of the rapid increase in Covid infection rates over the Christmas period, I know some of you experienced positive cases within your families over the holiday season. The new variant - Omicron - is more infectious than previous variants, however the news seems to be that people experience milder symptoms - particularly children and those adults who are fully vaccinated. However, we must continue to remain vigilant and do everything we can to keep ourselves safe and other safe.

As yet, we do not know how this is going to impact school. Therefore, I have tightened the Covid guidance for school (see below), to help keep everyone as safe as possible. These restrictions will be in place from the beginning of term, and will be reviewed at the end of January, when we will have more information. I, of course, can not guarantee that we will not have positive cases in school, however I want to do as much as possible to minimise the risk of infection to staff and children, which would lead to isolation, and a possible disruption to teaching and learning. If you have any questions about the school’s Covid response, please do not hesitate to contact me via email: win-headteacher@win.jtmat.co.uk

Positive Cases and Self Isolation

  • If a child tests positive, they will be asked to isolate for up to 10 days. If a child tests negative on a lateral flow test, on days 6 AND 7 of isolation, they can then return to school on day 8. (This applies to all children under 18 and adults who have received their booster vaccination. Adults, who are not completely vaccinated, will have to self isolate for the whole 10 day period).

  • However, if a child has any Covid symptoms, they should continue with self-isolation regardless of any test results

  • Close contacts with the positive case, will no longer need to self-isolate, they will be expected in school as normal, however daily lateral flow tests (negative results) will be recommended before coming in to school (This applies to all children under 18 and adults who are triple vaccinated.)

  • Close contacts will be contacted by track and trace and will request that your child has PCR test, Miss Goodson will send a message to the class too, recommending daily lateral flow tests before coming to school.

  • 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 at least twice a week.

  • Regular lateral flow testing is recommended, and free tests can be collected from most pharmacies. (Please keep checking the government website for availability)

Start and End of the Day

  • The school day will remain at its normal times, but we do request parents use all the space provided, to help with social distancing.

  • All gates will be open at the end of the day (including those via the car parks) to avoid bottle necks - please use the nearest gate to exit.

  • Please do not use the school car parks to park your cars.

  • 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.

  • Parents will not permitted into school first thing in the morning.

Face Masks and Social Distancing

  • Wearing face masks on the playground will be a personal choice and we will respect whatever decisions are made on this, however with the number of the adults on the playground at the beginning and end of the day, we would recommend wearing a face mask when dropping off and 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. Where possible, if you could contact the office via telephone or email rather than coming in to school, that would be gratefully appreciated.

  • Staff will be wearing masks in school when they are in communal areas and when they are working closely 1:1 with a child. They will not be wearing masks when they are teaching the whole class.

  • Visitors into school will be kept to a minimum

Bubbles and Remote Learning

Due to the higher infection rate with Omicron, we will be moving back to the bubble system for the time being. The bubble system will enable us to reduce the number of close contacts if there is a positive case in school. Hopefully, this move will be temporary, until we know about the impact in school.

  • There will be 5 bubbles in school: 1) Nursery; 2) Reception; 3) Years 1 and 2; 4) Years 3 and 4 and 5) Years 5 and 6

  • The bubbles will be kept separate from each other inside the school building, reducing the amount of close contacts.

  • There will be no whole school assemblies, but there will still be bubble assemblies

  • Each bubble will have its own designated toilets

If a bubble has to close due to the number of positive cases - or we are short of staff due to staff positive cases - then work will be set for that year group via the school website. You will receive a text message, and a message will be put on the blog to inform you whether this applies to your child. Remote learning work will not be set if individual children are off with Covid, as they are technically ill. If they are well enough to do some work, there is lots of work on the website from last year that they can access, plus MyOn for Reading and TT Rockstars for the older children.

Cleaning and Ventilation

We will, of course, continue with the deep cleaning of the school and being extra vigilant with touch points. Sanitiser and soap will be used regularly throughout the day by both children and adults in school.

Ventilation is an excellent way of helping to reduce the risk of Covid and therefore we will be opening windows and internal doors during the school day. Please make sure your child is wearing the school jumper to keep warm!

I know all this information can seem daunting, but all of our procedures have been very effective so far, and by working together, we can do our utmost to keep us all safe. Please note that attendance at school is still mandatory and expected - and JTMAT attendance procedures will be followed for persistent absences and lateness.

The guidance is constantly evolving and I will do my best to keep you up to date via this blog and the text messaging service. Please bear with us, as often schools find out what is going on at the same time as you do. Please also remember that we are not doctors, and we can only give our thoughts and advice on what you should do if your child is poorly, we can not diagnose!

I am sure that by working together, we will get through this new wave of Covid, just as we have for the last 18 months. If I know anything, I know that in times of challenge and uncertainty, the Winshill Village community rallies round and supports one and another.

Stay safe … and help keep others safe

Miss Goodson

Andrea Goodson