St John's CE (Aided) Primary School
Jubilee Road, Shildon DL4 2EQ
During half term at Shildon Alive children can eat free on selected daily meals.
There is a notice board outside of Shildon Alive to advertise this offer.
The meals are made from donated supermarket food and cooked on site at Shildon Alive.
Important Information to All Parents
Full Re-opening of School – Thursday 3rd September 2020
Dear Parents and Carers,
We have been working hard to prepare and welcome back all pupils for the start of the new academic year, and we have many protective measures in place.
We do understand, that as parents, you may have anxieties or concerns about your child’s return to school. Please contact us via telephone or email if you have any specific concerns that you would like to talk through, or any help or support you or your child may require.
The following information is there to provide you with a reference to the key points around the return to school. We will continue to keep this updated if things change and provide further guidance.
Key Information: A reminder and additional information.
Risk Assessment
· The ‘whole school’ risk assessment will be on the school website on Wednesday
2nd September prior to opening. This shows the full measures we have taken for opening.
Attendance and Punctuality
· The Government have repeated the fact that attendance is mandatory, not optional.
· Although they have different starting and finish times we look forward to seeing all pupils from Nursery to Year 6.
· Parents must telephone school if their child will be absent due to illness, and to give reasons why.
· Further information on attendance is included in the following ‘Policy’ Attendance Policy Information for Parents Leaflet and links to Attendance on the school website. Please familiarise yourself with this information.
Daily Routine (Summary)
· Drop off times will be staggered with only one parent/carer allowed to do this at the school gate. The Head teacher
and Staff will monitor the safe entry of pupils to the school building.
· Children must arrive at the allocated times, not earlier or later.
· Pick up time: these are also staggered. We have allocated a waiting area just inside the school premises but away
from the building. There are yellow spots at the front of school for parents to stand whilst waiting for their child.
· Initially you will be directed to the area for your child’s class by a member of staff (There are two sides).
· We will ask you to stand in the same place every day.
· The children will be sent to their parent/carer in order so please be patient.
· When leaving the premises please maintain social distancing.
· Please do no drive cars into the entrance road for drop off or pick up.
· Parents will not be permitted to enter the building and we would expect Staff not be approached at the beginning or
end of the day to talk about any issue.
· Communication with Staff should be through email or telephone.
· Parents should avoid coming onto the school site at any other time unless invited.
Additional Information about Grouping and Organisation
Class Grouping, Teaching and Learning:
· The children will remain in their Class group throughout the day, including playtimes and lunchtimes.
· Teachers and other staff are allocated to each Class group.
· Children will be assigned a desk and equipment to use where they will sit throughout the day.
· Children in Y1 to Y6 will be sitting facing the front of the classroom.
· We will continue to teach an enriched, broad and balanced curriculum.
· Break and lunch times are also staggered to ensure social distancing can be adhered to as much as possible.
· There will be no ‘Whole School Activities’ in the Hall.
· Pupils will be expected to follow all school rules, including those introduced as a result of the current pandemic. They will be guided through these. Further information to follow.
School Uniform, PE Kit and other items:
· School Uniform should be worn each day. It is essential that each item is clearly named.
· Please ensure your child has a coat or jacket for Outdoor play, every day.
· All children will need a Filled Water Bottle. This should be clearly named and returned home every day for a wash and refill.
· PE kit will not be needed for the first two days.
· PE Kit will be needed by all children, however specific information on the day and other guidance on this will follow.
· Please do not bring any other items in to school including scooters and bikes.
Lunches:
· If your child is entitled to a free school meal they will be able to have a free lunch from school.
· If your child is in Year 1 or Year 2, a ‘universal’ free school lunch will be provided.
· Parents can purchase a school lunch via Parent Pay.
· If your child does bring a packed lunch from home, please be careful about what you put into the lunch box.
· Please use a lunch bag (Carrier Bag) that can will be easily stored in the classroom and moved to the dining room. Preferably no large rucksacks.
· Please do not give your children ‘too much’ as time is currently limited.
· All items must be things that they can open themselves. Please check! Staff or other children cannot help them.
Changes to other School based activities:
Unfortunately,
· There will be no After School Clubs until further notice.
· There will be no events for parents.
· No Breakfast Club to start with, however we are planning to resume this as soon as possible, initially for parents who have previously used the service.
· There will be no whole school Collective Worship or Church Services.
· Collective Worship will be class based.
Health Guidance
Prevention:
· An enhanced cleaning regime will be in operation.
· Routines will continue to be in place for regular handwashing throughout the day.
· ‘Catch it, kill it, bin it’ approach to respiratory hygiene.
· Minimising contact between individuals.
· Staff may be wearing PPE at specific times. Staff must wear PPE to administer close First Aid or to supervise the isolation of a symptomatic child if 2m distancing cannot be maintained.
Response to infection: (Summary)
· Parents and Carers must be willing to take part in the NHS track and trace process.
· If your child shows any signs of illness we will call you and you must collect your child immediately.
· If your child shows any symptoms they will be placed in supervised isolation whilst they wait for you to arrive.
· Symptomatic children and the members of their household must be tested. (We have been informed that by the start of term we will be provided with a small supply of home testing kits. These are for exceptional circumstances only.)
· If the test is negative for all members of the household, then the child can return to school. Evidence of a test
result is required immediately. A child or adult who has a confirmed case would be required to self-isolate for
seven days. The household would be required to self-isolate for fourteen days.
· Where there is a confirmed case within a Class, the children and staff within that Class would be sent home to isolate for fourteen days following the ‘Stay at home Guidance’. The other household members would not need to self-isolate unless the child displayed symptoms and subsequently tested positive.
· In the event of a confirmed case, School will receive support from the local health protection team.
· In the event of a Local Lockdown, school would be in regular contact with Public Health England and further advice
would be issued accordingly.
Finally, to help us support your children and your family, please remember:
We require the names and telephone numbers of at least two emergency contacts. If you need to update the information we have for you, please call the School Office.
Follow all social distancing protocols as part of the Government guidance.
At the time of writing specific guidance on the wearing of masks is changing daily. If this has any impact on procedures in school, we will pass that on to you.
If you wish to communicate with staff, please call the School Office.
Our continued very best wishes to you all.
Mr Andrew Farnell (Head Teacher)
Mrs Nicola Pallister (Deputy Headteacher)
Mr Andrew Kay (Deputy Headteacher)
Alison Tweddle (Chair of Governors)
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are really looking forward to welcoming all the children back to school in September, along with our Nursery children. Children will be welcomed back to school on Thursday 3rd with our Nursery new starters beginning the following week.
In order to return as safely as possible, we have created flexible start and end times throughout school.
Our Nursery times are now:
Morning Nursery: 9.00 to 11.45
Afternoon Nursery: 12.30 to 3.15
These revised times are to support children and parents to maintain social distancing, avoiding overcrowding on entry and exit from school. For this to be successful we would like to limit the number of people dropping off and picking up to one adult only where possible.
When the children enter Nursery we ask that they hang up their belongings and then wash their hands with soap and warm water for twenty seconds before fully entering the Nursery room. We also ask for children not to bring items in from home at this time.
In Early Years we will continue to offer an exploratory curriculum during the children’s ‘free choice time’, where our areas will be set up and resourced to support the children to learn and develop. Alongside this we will continue to deliver carpet sessions for music, story time and focused group activities, whilst following the Government guidance on resource rotation and cleaning.
Nursery and Reception will both be in separate ‘bubbles’. Therefore, the children will remain in their own class and not transition between the two rooms. Both classes will have access to the outdoor area, however again this will be at a staggered time.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Mrs Forrest
Nursery Teacher
Following on from the letter about plans for re-opening in September, the staggered start and finish times for all pupils are as follows. Nursery will receive a separate letter.
Reception (from 14.09.20), Year 5 and Year 6
8.30am to 2.40pm
Year 3 and Year 4
8.40am to 2.50pm
Year 1 and Year 2
8.50am to 3.00pm
We are fully aware that this will require some of you to wait, however we have tried to keep this to as short a time as possible.
Your patience and understanding is again appreciated.
We are expecting the majority of Year 6 and many Year 5 pupils to walk home independently. We will be sending a separate survey to check on this in late August.
The week before pupils return we will post further information.
Important Information to All Parents
Full Re-opening of School – Thursday 3rd September 2020
Dear Parents and Carers,
On Friday 17th July we are closing for the Summer Break. Before providing you with further information on our initial plans for September, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your patience and support throughout these most challenging times. It has been really appreciated.
The Government has now published guidance for the safe re-opening of schools, and following this we are now looking forward to welcoming all children back to school.
At the time of writing we are continuing to develop policy and procedure and a full risk assessment (in line with this guidance) with the focus on keeping your children, you and our staff safe. The school day may look very different to the majority of children and families, however our routines for the Key Worker groups and the classes who returned in June have worked really well. It is amazing how quickly the children have adapted and how positive they have been.
The following information is there to provide you with a reference to the key points around the return to school. We will keep this updated and provide further guidance where required to specific year groups, particularly around start and finish times.
Key Information
Attendance and Punctuality
Daily Routine (Summary)
Additional Information about Grouping and Organisation
Class Grouping, Teaching and Learning:
School Uniform, PE Kit and other items:
Lunches:
Changes to other School based activities:
Unfortunately,
Health Guidance
Prevention:
Response to infection: (Summary)
Finally, to help us support your children and your family, please remember:
We require the names and telephone numbers of at least two emergency contacts. If you need to update the information we have for you, please call the School Office.
Follow all social distancing protocols as part of the Government guidance.
At the time of writing specific guidance on the wearing of masks is changing daily. If this has any impact on procedures in school, we will pass that on to you.
If you wish to communicate with staff, please call the School Office.
Our continued very best wishes to you all
Mr Andrew Farnell (Head Teacher)
Mrs Nicola Pallister (Deputy Headteacher)
Mr Andrew Kay (Deputy Headteacher)
Alison Tweddle (Chair of Governors)
Dear Y6 Pupil, Parents/Carers
You are invited to attend school on the morning of Monday 13th July for a short visit of 15 minutes to enable us to say goodbye to all of our Year Six pupils.
This will take place outside, at the front of school, to enable social distancing. There will be three groups of 10 pupils at a time.
We will send you your time slot via text. Please help us by arriving on time, not early or late and leaving at the end time.
Unfortunately, there will not be time to ‘mingle or talk to individual pupils and families as much as we would like. Also, we can only apologise if the short notice and time slots do not fit in with your work or other commitments. We cannot fit this in at other times for many other reasons, but please call school to speak to Mr. Farnell.
We look forward to seeing you all!
Mr. Farnell
Mrs. Pallister
Mrs. Bennett
Mrs. Pearson
Dear Parents/Carers,
The Summer Food Fund is an addition to the free school meals voucher scheme and will support children who usually receive benefits-related free school meal.
Through the Covid Summer Food Fund, school can support eligible pupils with a £90 voucher to cover the 6 week holiday period.
Vouchers will be ordered in the usual way, e-code directly to the parent or e-gift card printed in school on behalf of the parent.
Vouchers will be ordered one week before schools break-up.
Thank you
Vikki
Dear Parents/Carers
The Class Teachers for September 2020 are as follows:
Nursery: Mrs Forrest
Reception: Miss Smith
Year One: Miss Bramley
Year Two: Miss Clarey
Year Three: Mrs Barker
Year Four: Mr Kay
Year Five: Miss Ramage
Year Six: Mr Ward
Further information on the roles Mrs Pallister, Mrs Moan, Mrs Pearson and all other Staff working in classes will follow in September.
Parent Governor Vacancy
Date Notice Circulated to Parents: 25.6.20
There is currently a vacancy for a Parent Governor.
All parents of children at the school are eligible to stand for election. This includes:
Parents who are employed at the school for more than 500 hours per year are NOT eligible to stand for election as Parent Governors.
If you are interested in becoming a Governor please contact the school for a nomination form.
Nominees must be proposed by a parent of a pupil registered at the school.
A parent may nominate his/her partner.
Where the number of nominations is equal to, or fewer than, the places available no ballot will be necessary and any remaining vacancies will be appointed by the Governing Body.
The completed and duly signed nomination form should be returned to the school by Friday 10th July 2020.
Should a ballot be required the school will send each parent a voting form.
When the process has been finalised, the school will inform the parent body via its newsletter, website or other means and the School and Governor Support Service will write formally to the candidates with the outcome.
Mr Farnell
On behalf of The Governing Body
Dear Parents,
Please read the updated letter on our plans to partial re-open school.
Phase 1 Letter 2 – 5th June 2020
