Wednesday 13^th May, 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement that children in year R,1 and 6 MAY return to school from the 1^st June (please note this will be the 8^th June for Cliftonville Primary School due to our 2 week half term), I once again want to say thank you for your patience, understanding and kind comments these last few days.

For me, there continues to be a great deal to read, digest and carefully plan and prepare for. I would like to reassure you that any return to school will place the well-being and safety of everybody at the forefront. There are difficult decisions to be made and I will only communicate these when I am confident and secure in everyone and so today at the time of writing, I am not in the position to tell you exactly what will happen and when. We will be continuing to look at these documents, alongside all other relevant literature to make plans for the 8th June (note the two week half term). The government has just released further guidance for parents and carers regarding the reopening of schools; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/reopening-schools-and-other-educational-settings-from-1-june

What I can tell you it that school life as we know it will be very different for the foreseeable future. Any return to school will be in a phased manner and will be planned so that we can do everything possible to keep our children and staff safe and will follow any guidance from the Government. Because we are trying our very hardest to ensure that children and adults are all as safe as possible, we have no alternative but to think of ways to enable us to do this. This may include, part time or flexible school hours and your child may not be with their usual teacher but we would do our very best to ensure it was someone familiar. It is important to note that children in their small groups would have to stay within their same group all day. They have to socially distance as much as possible, they have to be with the same adult and cannot mix with other adults or children and this includes playtimes and lunchtimes. There would be staggered starts and ends of the day and a one way system around the school.  These measures have to be in place in case there is a case of Coronovirus at the school. Any child that has symptoms would be sent home straight away and tested. If positive, everyone in their group would be sent home and all would have to self isolate for 14 days. Then if a child at home present with symptoms, at home, then everyone in the household must self isolate for the next 14 days.

Below is a list of the things that we already have in place, or are considering putting in place, to support a safe phased return. This is not exhaustive.

• Staggered and different drop off and staggered collection times and areas for each year group
• Staggered breaktimes and lunchtimes (if we have enough safe provision only packed lunches will be served and eaten outside where possible)
• One way system around corridors- children will be kept to their year blocks and the use of outside areas
• 2m markings around the school for queueing purposes
• Zoned play areas
• Designated classroom (separate buildings from other year groups – this also may not necessarily be their usual classroom
• Designated seats and desks (areas will be disinfected during any changeover of groups)
• Designated learning resources for each child
• Small groups 10-15 children
• Surfaces disinfected throughout the sessions
• Regular handwashing throughout the sessions- including at the start and finish of every new activity
• Although not recommended by the Government, Face masks are optional for both staff and children.

Obviously, the decision would be yours and we will be welcoming children back wholeheartedly- we are as excited to see them as they will be, however I think it is important to be clear about what a return for children would look like.

The Government have confirmed that families will NOT be penalised for keeping their children off of school during this pandemic

To help us move forward with our planning please complete one survey for each of your children- regardless of their year group. This is as an expression of interest and to inform our planning only. As soon as we have finalised our plans, I will share these with you and ask for confirmed places for the provision. Please click on the link below to access the form by Friday please.

https://forms.gle/Rq4umEohsXAaoMmc6

In the meantime, stay safe and keep well.