Dear Parent/Carer
We have received your request / application to attend Alaw which your child/children will be attending from the 29th June – 24th July. Your child will be attending one day a week and you will be text to confirm your child’s day and times Week beginning 22nd June. Additionally to this we will be providing daily provision for key workers from 8.00 a.m. Please note that this is an emergency provision and an application must be submitted, which is found on the council’s website. The school will continue to provide weekly updates relating to this via text and information will be shared on the school website www .alawprimaryschool.co.uk. However, If there are family at home who could possibly care for your child/ren we would recommend that your child remains at home and children are only to be brought into school once a week for their contact time as set out in the Minster’s speech where a maximum of 1/3 of children should be on site at any one given time to limit the risk of contracting covid-19.
This letter will provide you with information you will need in advance of attending Alaw.
As you are aware Alaw is based over two sites upper and lower buildings Parking for drop off is at EGYPT Street only and not the chip shop side – this gate will remain closed. Your child will be greeted in the main school car park and we will be operating a staggered start and finishing time so this will limit the amount of people in this area at one time in order to ensure strict social distancing guidelines. When you arrive you will be directed to wait for maybe a few minutes in order to follow the strict hygiene protocols and temperature checks before your child can enter the school building which will operate a one way system.
You will be asked a number of questions on arrival. These include:
- Is your child well?
- Is anybody in your house ill?
- Do you require lunch ?
- What time will pick up be?l if you are a key worker, which days will they be attending ?
- Who will pick up your child/children?
- Is your child allowed to walk home?
- Does your child have any medicine that needs to be administered across the
day?
- Is there anything else that we need to be aware of today?
We will then admit your child into school. They will be asked to sanitise their hands as they enter the building.
Preparing your child for a day ‘the new normal’ classroom / learning situation:
It is important that you talk to your child before coming into school to prepare them for what their day will be like.
A short video of the ‘new normal’ classrooms will be posted on the school websites in the parent Parent COVID section and this will also be shared via Seesaw early next week in order to support these discussions. The day will be structured to provide some opportunities for exercise, relaxation, play and to develop their understanding of the current situation, preparing the children emotionally, mentally and socially for the new layout in September.
Teachers will be planning every Friday, a maximum of ten online activities per week for the continuation of home distant learning for ALL children. These activities will be scheduled for release every Monday by 8am It is very important that the children have time allocated for them to do some of the work set by their teachers at home and your cooperation and commitment for this to work succcesfully is essential and greatly appreciated.The Alaw staff will of course support them with their work via messaging, emailing and providing effective feedback.
We are hoping that the fine weather continues over the coming weeks and that we can spend time outside and thus we intend to maximise focusing on the physical, mental and educational benefits of outdoor learning approaches Therefore, please can you make sure that your child has access to sun cream, which they will need to administer themselves. They will also require a sun hat and should be wearing school uniform if possible, suitable footwear and a water bottle is a must, as there will be some exercise and many opportunities for outdoor activities as discussed above. Your child will not be able to access the water fountain independently but we will make sure that their bottles are filled up regularly, in line with the schools risk assessment, we would also recommend they bring a healthy snack. If your child is bringing a packed lunch, packaging will need to be disposable and the children will not be allowed to store their belongings in their locker due to social distancing, so will be asked to place their belongings underneath their allocated learning area /table.
Children are not permitted to wear jewellery, bring in mobile phones or any kind of toy or blanket due to cross contamination. Please can you support us with this by explaining this to your child in advance of returning to school.
Where possible children will be grouped according to their current class organisation and will either be with their designated classroom teacher or teaching support workers . Children will only be in family groups during allocated key worker days when the school is not open to other children. All children and staff will be expected to follow social distancing at all times.
Robust risk assessments for each year group, a new school timetable, an overhaul of how the school space will be used will be provided in the LA schools’ guidance and shared on the school website. Additionally, a new home-school charter will be issued in order to ensure we are all clear on the required standards and behaviours to keep our children and staff as safe as possible.
Lastly, an enormous debt of gratitude to Miss Davies and her team. We could not ask for more from our school and she has the wholehearted support of the Governing Body.
We do hope that this information gives you a good understanding of how Alaw will work and If you have any questions please contact Miss Davies either by email admin.alawprimary@rctcbc.gov.uk or telephone 01443 432350.
We will be in touch as soon as we can confirm final dates and arragements and look forward to seeing your child/children very soon.
Take care and be safe
Very best wishes
Alaw Primary School Governing Body and Staff