Broadstone HallPrimary School

VERY IMPORTANT: Proposals to Reopen Broadstone Hall Primary School to Specific Year Groups

Proposals to Reopen Broadstone Hall Primary School to Specific Year Groups

18/05/20

Dear Parents/Carers,

Firstly, I would like to thank you for supporting the school and your children since school has been closed, you have done a great job home schooling your children in very challenging circumstances. Thank you for all the letters and responses to work that you have sent into school over the last few weeks, the teachers have really appreciated them.

 During this time, we have had around 20 pupils in school each day working with staff in rotation and despite the strange circumstances things have gone well. More importantly, there has not been a circumstance where any child has had to self-isolate and we have had no positive cases of Covid 19 in any staff or children who have been in school over the last 8 weeks.

As you will know, the government have proposed that children in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6 classes, may return to school after the Whit holidays, only if the outcomes of the 5 national safety indicators are met.

There has been a very mixed reception to this proposal from the British Medical Association, Teachers Unions, School leaders and parents and the future picture remains very unclear. Guidance seems to change many times each week so it is difficult to forward plan with any real clarity.

However, at some point, (whether it is June, July or September) children will return to school and the school’s Senior Leadership Team and Board of Governors have been working on a reopening plan that can be put in place, when the time is right.

As you will be aware, Stockport primary schools' final half-term of the school year was due to start on Monday 8th June. However, the Local Authority have now allocated Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th June as training days for teachers to regroup and make final preparations for the return of children.  The Local Authority have stated that no children will be onsite during these days. We will therefore be welcoming children back from Wednesday 10th June at the earliest.

We are currently aiming for the following timescales:

Wednesday 10th June - Reception pupils and Key Worker children in school only.

Thursday 11th June - Year 1 children return. Reception and Key Worker children continue to come to school.

Friday 12th June - Year 6 children return. Reception, Year 1 and Key Worker children continue to come to school.

Monday 15th June - Phased return of Nursery children. Reception, Year 1, Year 6 and Key Worker children continue to come to school.

Any Key Worker children not in the age groups planned by the Government to return to school at this point would continue to attend, being placed with teachers in separate classes.

This plan allows us to avoid having up to 250 children returning to school at the same time, and will allow the children to slowly be introduced to their new classrooms and routines.

We have written a risk assessment, which meets all the expectations set out in the DFE guidance on the safe opening of educational establishments; some of the main points are set out below.

  1. Children will be placed in fixed groups of no more than 15 in a room and as far as possible, with the same adult. This means that your child may not be in their usual classroom with their usual teacher, but this guarantees that they can attend full time in reception, Y1 and Y6 to begin with.
  2. Social distancing will be observed in the classrooms and encouraged around the school, as far as is possible with young children.
  3. If any child shows symptoms of Covid 19, they will be isolated and parents will be required to collect them immediately. Other parents in that group will be informed.
  4. If the test proves positive, the whole group of 15 pupils and staff member will be required to isolate at home and the local Health Services will be informed.
  5. Movement around the school will be limited and children will not be moving to different classes during the day.
  6. Pick up and drop off times at the start and end of the day will be staggered to avoid large numbers of people in any one area.
  7. Play times and lunch times will also be staggered for the same reason.
  8. The dining room and the hall will not be used for lunches during this time to avoid large groups of pupils mixing.  Lunchtime staff will deliver lunches to the classrooms where children will eat with their group.
  9. Children can bring in their own packed lunches as usual.
  10.  School meals will continue to be provided by Taylor Shaw but this will be a sandwich option only during this time. Orders for lunches will be placed via Lunch Hound as usual.
  11. Rooms that are usually used by several groups over the day, such as the library and the computer suite, will be closed during this time.
  12. Resources that are usually shared by different classes in a day, such as the music trolley or i-pads, will only be used by one class a day and thoroughly cleaned afterwards.
  13. Large gatherings, such as assemblies, sports days and concerts, will not take place.
  14. All rooms that are used during the day will be deep cleaned once the children have gone home. Additional cleaning will take place during the day as required.
  15. The nursery will not be open on Wednesdays to allow a deep clean to take place as this room will have to be used by two groups each week.
  16. Book bags will not be brought into school during this time and reading books will not be sent home. Parents are encouraged to use the online reading library that was highlighted via the school spider app some weeks ago.
  17. No clubs will be running for the foreseeable future including breakfast club and The Hub.

For further information, please see the government advice for parents in the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/reopening-schools-and-other-educational-settings-from-1-june

There will be many difficult decisions ahead for parents, staff and governors over the timing and manner of children returning to school and our plan may need to be revised and updated if guidance changes between now and June the 8th.

Some of you may be happy to send your children back to school and some of you may be firmly against it. The DFE have said that if parents do not wish their child to attend school during this time then there will be no penalties against them.

I would advise all parents to read the current guidance and think carefully about what they feel is the best action for their children and families at this point. We will be touch again shortly to gauge the numbers of children we are likely to expect to return, so that we can plan for staffing etc.

Please keep looking at school spider and the school website so that you are up to date with the latest information and guidance.

Yours sincerely,     

Simon Langley - Headteacher

Laura Thomas - Chair of Governors  

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Broadstone Hall Primary School Broadstone Hall Road,
Heaton Chapel, SK4 5JD
Nichola Keith | Office Manager 0161 432 1916