Parents Guide to Reopening of School

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope you are enjoying your summer holidays and have had the opportunity to recharge before we embark on a new school year. I had to wait until guidance was updated by the Department of Education before forwarding our own guidance to you. Thank you for your patience.

I have attached a parent/carer’s guide to reopening of school at the end of August as a PDF. For those that can not open a PDF on their phone or device, please see below the same guide for parents and carers regarding changes to the school day to ensure everyone’s safety and wellbeing.

Firstly, I would like to inform you that a result of the relaxation of social distancing measures that ALL children will be able to return to full time education from Monday 31^st August. On that day all children should bring a packed lunch to school as there will be no canteen services. Free school meals will begin on Tuesday 1^st September. There will be no option to purchase a lunch initially. This is to reduce the need to handle cash in the office. Canteen services will only be provided for children entitled to free school meals.

School will restart for P7 children only on Monday 24^th August for a full day as normal. The P7 children will need to bring a packed lunch to school that week.

Our pupil’s safety continues to be of paramount importance and when we return to school we will adhere to the following Public Health guidance.

• Pupils who present with symptoms must remain at home and adhere to the governments stay at home guidance.
• Pupils will wash/sanitise their hands more often than usual using hand wash in every class.
• Pupils will be encouraged to avoid touching their mouth, eyes and nose.
• Surfaces that are touched frequently will be regularly cleaned.
• Measures will be in place to minimise contact and mixing e.g. staggered break times, lunch times and end of day.
• Enhanced cleaning procedures in the school.
• There will be restrictions on what items pupils can bring into school
• Uniforms will be worn as normal
• Parents will not be able to access the school building.
• PPE will be available for staff use as and when required.
• Non-contact forehead thermometer will be used to monitor temperatures when a child becomes ill in school.
• New child friendly signage will be displayed throughout the school.

Please continue to:

• encourage your child to wash their hands using the 20 second rule.
• teach your child the rules of use it, bin it, kill it

School in the new academic term will most definitely be different. Please see below a range of changes to normal procedures to ensure the safety of you, your children and staff:

Morning- See diagram of school plan attached whilst following the guidance below:

• School will start at 9.00am for all children each morning as normal.
• The school gates will remain closed until 8.45am. Please do not attempt to come to school before that time.
• Only the parents of P1-P3 children will be allowed to park in school car park.
• P4-7 children must be dropped off at drop off zone and parents must drive out immediately using the one-way system- Parking attendants will strictly monitor this. Any Parent of a P4-7 child who parks their car will be approached and asked to return to their vehicle.
• All P4-7 children will not be allowed to enter the school playground but rather should go straight to their classroom. P4-7 children should follow route outlined on diagram and will be greeted by supervisors and have hands sanitised then go straight to classes.
• P1 -P3 children should go to their line in playground to be greeted by teacher and go into class.
• Teachers will sanitise the P1-P3 children’s hands in line before entering school.
• Children should hang coats on the back of their chair in class. Cloak rooms will be out of use.
• All pedestrian gates will be supervised and adults walking with P4-7 children will not be permitted to enter the school grounds.
• Children should only bring a lunch box and must have refillable water bottle. Children must not bring a school bag to school. All resources that children need in school will be provided.

Parents of children in P1-P3 should line up beside the blue gates as shown in the diagram at the end of this guide. Staff will be there to supervise this. Parents must not remain at the blue gates when their child has proceeded into the playground to line up.

Lunch times

Packed lunches for children entitled to free school meals will be delivered to classes for teachers to distribute to children. We hope to introduce paid dinners at a later date when it is safe for the office staff to handle cash.

End of School Day

In a further attempt to reduce contact and mixing the following times for classes ending the school day will be (please note where your child should be picked up at the end of the day):

P1- 1.45pm P1A released at SLC entrance. P1B and P1C at Blue gates

P2: 2.00pm P2A and P2C at blue gates. P2B at front of school

P3: 2.15pm- P3A, P3B- Blue Gates. P3C front of the school. P3D outside SLC,

P4: 2.30pm- P4C outside SLC. P4A outside front of school and P4B at blue gates

P5: 2.45pm- P5A at blue gates. P5B and P5C group at front of the school. We would encourage all P5-P7 children to walk home from school if at all possible,

P6: 3.00pm- P6A from SLC entrance, P6B and P6C from Blue Gates. We would encourage all P5-P7 children to walk home from school if at all possible,

P7: 3.00pm- All three classes from front of the school. We would encourage all P5-P7 children to walk home from school if at all possible,

Other measures to ensure the safety of children and staff:

• All staff will have access to face visors, disposable aprons, gloves, tissues, disinfectant spray, cloths, wipes and a mask.
• The pupils will each receive a Ziploc folder with a pencil, rubber, ruler, scissors, markers, exercise books etc. Their name will be on the folder and the folder will be given out, wiped down and collected at the end of the child’s period in school by the class teacher with disinfectant spray or wipes.
• Children will be unable to share equipment.
• Children’s hands will be sanitised with ‘Dew’ sanitising spray when they come into school in the morning, and should be washed before and after break, before and after lunch and before leaving school. Children will be taught to wash their hands using the 20 second rule.
• Children should be taught the rules of use it, bin it, kill it. Please ensure your child brings their own tissues from home, which will stay in school. They should be taught to sneeze into a tissue and bin it immediately. There will be two bins provided in each classroom. One bin for general waste. The second bin will be a pedal bin and children who blow their nose should use the pedal bin mechanism to place their tissue in this bin. Bins will be emptied daily.
• Children should only bring their break, lunch and water from home. No lunchboxes allowed. Children entitled to free school meals should not bring their own lunch as one will be provided. The menu for this will be available on our school website. There will be no paid dinners so this will reduce the use of money in the school.
• School equipment or books should not be sent home or returned to school.
• Children in P5-P7 (P4 after Christmas) will be permitted to bring home Accelerated Reading Books. On their return they will be stored separately for 72 hours before being returned to shelves.
• Cleaners will wash all tables and exposed surfaces, including light switches, taps, handrails, door handles etc. thoroughly using soap and water and then disinfectant daily. Cleaning staff must follow the school cleaning policy.
• After use, all toys, equipment, electronic devices will be cleaned. The sharing of resources will be limited as much as possible.
• There will be clear rules for children to follow and these should be carefully and regularly explained to pupils. In the unlikely event that children deliberately put others at risk through coughing or spitting, this will be considered a serious incident resulting in the immediate suspension of the child from school. Both parents and children will be asked to sign the charter at the end of this letter.

Moving around the school

• Movement around the school must be kept to a minimum
• Children will not be sent on messages between classes
• If a child forgets their break or lunch, it will be provided by the school. Parents will be unable to bring it into school
  
• If a child needs to leave school early for an appointment, you must phone the school before 12.00.
• Two classes should not go up or down stairs, or use the same corridor at the same time. One class must wait until the other class has passed.

School Uniform

Marking work

• As far as possible all work should be marked by the children themselves or provided orally by the teacher. Where work is marked by staff it will be left for 24 hours before marking.

Homework

• P1 & P2- will operate 2 homework books and will set full week’s homework on a Monday. This will be collected on Friday and stored until Monday. Homework Book 2 will be issued the following week. Some teachers may also set some homework using Seesaw.
• P3-P7-Only online homework will be set using Google Classrooms for P3-7. This will be issued on a Monday for the week ahead.

Health and Safety in the Office

It is important that we keep office staff safe and indeed all visitors to our school. With that in mind please adhere to the following guidance:

• Everyone entering the office should remain in front of the glass screen.
• The office staff have been instructed to keep the glass screen closed and will speak to parents and visitors through the screen. We realise this is not particularly welcoming but is necessary to protect the office staff.
• No parent is permitted to go around the school unaccompanied.
• Parents advised that in the case of an urgent message you should contact the school via telephone call and office staff will call the teacher.
• Parents are only permitted to leave in critical items for children e.g. medication. These will be collected through the hatch by office staff. Items such as break or lunch will not be sent up to class. If your child forgets their break or lunch the school will provide this.
• When paid dinners are introduced, parents will be asked to place the correct amount of money for dinners in an envelope. Change will not be given. Dinners must be paid for the week and must be paid on a Monday.

Contact details

• It is vital that we have your most up to date telephone numbers and email address so you can be contacted immediately if your child is ill. Please contact the school office to from 17^th Aug to update contact details if necessary.

If your child is showing corona virus symptoms

We sincerely hope that none of our children or staff will develop the symptoms of Corona Virus. However, if this does occur we will follow this procedure:

• Mr Rodgers or senior member of staff will be informed immediately.
• Your child will be collected from the classroom by Mr Rodgers or senior member of staff and will be supervised in a designated isolation room.
• Your child’s temperature will be taken using an infra-red thermometer.
• The office staff will telephone you to ask you to come to the school and take your child home.
• Your child will remain in the isolation room with Mr Rodgers or senior staff member until you arrive to collect your child at the entrance to the P3 classrooms. The office staff will direct you to that location via the playground.
• In an emergency we will call for an ambulance by dialling 999.
• You will be instructed that you should have your child tested for Covid-19.
• If the results are negative the child can return to school after 48hrs.
• If your child tests positive, he/she should not return to school until 7 days after symptoms subside.
• If the results come back that any child in school has tested positive for coronavirus the school will follow the guidelines set out by the PHA and all children and staff who have been in contact with the child will be required to self-isolate.

Well Being

We recognise that when children return to school that they will need time to adapt to school and discuss with the teacher and class mates what their experience was like during the period of school closure. With that in mind children will:

• Have conversations to identify and acknowledge both negatives and positives in recent experiences. We will open a dialogue where pupils and staff (separately or together) start to consider what has been good or bad about the change to educational arrangements.
• Experience assemblies by video conference in class or in small groups.
• Have continued opportunities to talk about their experiences over the past number of months;
• Have opportunities for one-to-one conversations with trusted adults where they can feel supported;
• Experience some refocussed lessons on relevant topics, for example, mental wellbeing or staying safe;
• Enjoy pastoral activity, such as positive opportunities to renew and develop friendships and peer groups;
• Enjoy a variety of enriching creative and developmental activities.