Tuesday 9th February 2021
Dear Parents and Carers,
Return to School!
We are delighted to be able to tell you that we can start welcoming Foundation Phase children (Nursery, Reception, Year 1, Year 2, ISTF) back to school after half term, starting from 23rd February! We know that many of our youngest pupils have found home learning difficult and have missed the school environment so I am sure you will also welcome this decision.
Arrangements for a Calm and Safe Return
We are keen to make the return to school as calm, safe and welcoming as possible for you and your children so we are planning a phased return for the first week. We will have a third of each class in on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday then whole classes from Friday onwards. Your child’s class teacher will let you know soon which day will be your child’s Induction Day (Tuesday 23rd, Wednesday 24th or Thursday 25th). Having small groups into school to start with will enable us to do two things;
- Give each child lots of individual attention on their first day back, giving them the best chance of settling well and enabling us to find out where they are with their learning
- Practise safety routines, such as hand washing and ensure all children understand what is expected
With all this in place we will have everyone in from Friday 26th February and hopefully every day until the end of term!
Arrangements will be slightly different for our new afternoon Nursery children and Mrs Hall will be in touch with families about this.
There will be no breakfast club or school lunches during this first week but school lunches will resume on Monday 29th February. Children will need to bring a packed lunch for this first week.
Start and finish times will be staggered as last term, as follows;
| Class | Start time | Home Time |
| Nursery | 8.40 | 11.10 |
| Reception | 8.50 | 3.00 |
| Year 1 | 8.40 | 2.50 |
| Year 2 | 8.50 | 3.00 |
| ISTF | 9.00 | 2.50 |
The safety and success of this return to school will depend not just on how we run the school but upon the actions of our families and our wider community. As the Minister for Education has said, this is not the time to resume ‘normal’ socialising for families, as Tier 4 restrictions remain in place. I would therefore like to remind you of the following;
- Parents should stay 2m away from other families on the journey to school and at the school gates. They should consider wearing face coverings on the journey to school.
- Parents must not organise play dates, parties or sleepovers, even for children who are in the same class
Parents must wear face coverings on school premises both inside and out and should use the floor markings in the school yards to ensure they are waiting at least 2m away from each other.
We understand that ‘Enforcement Officers’ may be deployed to deal with any families who appear not to be following the rules as schools re-open.
Return of Older Children
We are still unsure when Key Stage Two (Junior) children will be allowed to return to school but we hope it won’t be too long! In the meantime emergency on-site provision will continue to be available in school from 8am – 3pm starting on Tuesday 23rd February for families who have no alternative safe childcare. Please ensure you always book your child’s place before 3pm on a Thursday. Remote learning will continue for our older children and we hope they will make the best of all the learning opportunities they are given. Your continued support with this is very much appreciated and we thank you for your patience.
If you have any concerns about your child’s return to school please do not hesitate to call me or Mrs Davies in school. Alternatively you can email me directly at HewittC23@hwbcymru.net
Your child’s class teacher will let you know through Class DoJo when your child’s induction day will be by this Friday.
Yours faithfully
C M Hewitt