We are thrilled about the return of the children in September and getting back into a school routine.

 

Starting back to School:

Tuesday 1st September is an INSET day. This is the whole school review our school development plan (SDP), our English and maths initiatives and resources, to update all staff on the school policies and procedures and to undergo training for professional development.

Wednesday 2nd September 2020 is a School Preparation Day – this is a day for organising the school in practical and procedural terms for the return of the children including tables, chairs, storage, stock, signage, barriers and new processes for covid and school safety.  First aid and anti-covid training will be included. This is in line with Wallace Fields Infant School who are also preparing their school on this day.

Thursday 3rd September 2020 will be all children returning to school. There will be no phased returns and systems will be adapted according to how well it works. See the staggered start and end times table.

 

Some new procedures:

Pupils will be kept in year group bubbles throughout the school day and due to this, we have had to make some changes to the normal procedures in school. Pupils within their year group bubbles are not expected to socially distance from each other however, they are still required to socially distance from all staff where possible (and staff distance from each other).  There will be additional cleaning in place to ensure that high standards of hygiene are evident.

 

Below is an outline of some of the arrangements that will be put into place in school for when your child restarts in order to keep the bubbles apart;

 

All children will be expected to come back in full school uniform and can resume to their normal bags and PE kits. PE and games procedures are being adapted to improve changing arrangements in the upper school Year 5 & 6. This was a priority from earlier this year.

 

In order to keep all pupils and staff safe there are some changes that will need to remain in place along with some new procedures;

  • Assemblies will be in class. A few whole bubble assemblies may take place and outside whenever possible.
  • Parents are not to come on site. Drop off is via staggered starts at the front gate only.
  • No parents to enter the school office - any meetings required need to be by appointment only and will usually be a phone call in place of a face to face meeting.
  • Parents are expected to adhere to year group bubbles when travelling to and from school and to support the school in the message of social distancing from adults.
  • If your child is walking or cycling to and from school independently, they must follow the above guidance and not mix with children from outside their year group bubble. Usual permissions and rules apply.

The new government guidance for the full opening of schools in September is here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools

There is also a compacted summary of the guidance as relevant to Wallace Fields Juniors on the website that has been adapted to create a risk assessment and lists many of the intended plans and considerations that we have to implement to meet the guidance requirements. For ‘Guidance for Full Opening’ the page link is:

https://www.wallacefields-jun.surrey.sch.uk/our-school/covid-procedures

 

Beginning and end of school day

Drop off is via staggered starts at the front gate only. Please be on time, do not arrive early or late as this negates the point of staggered starts. Each year group will have approximately 5 minutes to come into school. Be on time to collect. Parents should maintain social distancing outside school.

School may start later than usual and finish earlier than usual.

Year 6 & 5 will need permission to walk home alone if they are doing so. If they are not accompanied for arrival they must not be dropped off early or arrive late for their group’s entry into school. Duty of care remains with the parents until they enter the front gate.

 

Year Group / Bubble

Start Time

Finish

Year 3

8.40am - 8.45am

3.00pm

Year 4

8.50am – 8.55am

3.10pm

Year 5

9.00am - 9.05am

3.20pm

Year 6

9.10am - 9.15am

3.30pm

 

All times are subject to review and change, you will be informed of any changes via email.

 

In cases where you have two children, you will not be able to drop both children off at the same time and the later child will need to join the line at the relevant time. Where you have children in different year groups, you must wait outside school at a reasonable distance from the front gate (to prevent obstructing the flow of children) until the later child is due out. A child late for their entry slot into school may need to wait until all other groups are in school before they are admitted. This will be marked as late in the register.

 

Where there is a clash of times with a possible infant child collection, please contact your child’s class teacher and collection can be planned.

To avoid congestion and danger to the children (with increased numbers outside school at one time), please avoid driving if at all possible.

 

Hand Washing

Pupils will be expected to wash their hands on entering the school building and will be encouraged to wash their hands/ sanitise their hands at regular points throughout the school day. Any parents or professionals with appointments will also be expected to use hand sanitiser on entry into the school office.

 

School Meals/lunchtimes

The routine for lunches has changed in order to allow for going into lunch and having a lunch break whilst keeping groups apart. Meals will be hot meals for a trial period and may be reverted to cold lunches if unsuccessful. Packed lunches carry on as usual but follow the year group timings set in school.

 

Playtimes and Breaks

The children will have allocated zones to play in that prevent the crossing over of groups and normal play is permitted. Play equipment will be allocated per zone, for the use of that year only and then cleaned at the end of each break. The activity centre is not in use for the time being.

 

Curriculum

Our key goal is to establish school routines as soon as possible. You may have heard of something called the ‘Recovery Curriculum’ – this is simply a set of approaches to help support children returning, to build up their confidence in school and to help them get into the routines again. We have also increased our pastoral input to include the pupil’s return to school and we will analyse the parent feedback to plan a suitable recovery curriculum taking your responses into account.

We are planning a ‘catch up curriculum’ which will focus on maths, English and wellbeing as advised. A broad and balanced curriculum will remain in place though some subjects may be reduced slightly whilst we catch up on the core curriculum. Some core subjects will be achieved through cross curricular tasks. More details will be sent out to you as they are drawn up. Any new guidance sent out by the DfE will be assimilated into the school routine as necessary.

All tables will face the front of the classroom. All trays and equipment is not to be shared between children so pupils will need to have everything they need in their pencil cases (Year 4, 5 and 6). Bags are permitted but these should be as small and modest as possible. As usual avoid large and oversized pencil cases as this restricts room on the table for working and creates an unhelpful distraction.

The teachers will be carefully formatively assessing all the children to find out where they are with regard to maths and English on return. Formal written tests will be avoided as much as possible though some concept areas will require formal testing. We usually have an assessment week each term so this should not be any more taxing or unusual for most pupils. It will also be good practice for the new Year 3.

 

Breakfast Club and After School Care

The school’s provision for breakfast club and after school care is organised by Club Vale. There number is 07905 394 029 and they can also be contact via a link on the website. The link is:

https://www.wallacefields-jun.surrey.sch.uk/parents/wrap-around

Please contact them directly, especially if you are a new Year 3 parent who is interested in taking up wraparound care that is smoothly transitioned from club to school and then school back to the club. Instructions for arrival, collection, payment and pick up will be sent to you directly from Club Vale. For any enquiries contact Club vale. Please do not contact the school office admin team regarding enquiries for Club Vale.

 

Extra-Curricular activities

Clubs have been postponed for autumn term 1 (up until half term) at which point they will be reviewed in light of guidance and how things have been. You will be updated as provision changes and hopefully expands.

 

Attendance and absence

All school age children registered at Wallace Fields Juniors are expected to return to school from 3rd September 2020 and the usual expectations are now reinstated including the school’s responsibility to record and follow up absences with the option to impose sanctions for non-attendance including the issue of fixed penalty fines (FPNs) in accordance with Surrey County Council’s guidelines.

 

New Classes and Class Teachers

  • New teachers:  Due to the covid pandemic and the challenges this has presented, the teachers have primarily remained in the same year groups – this means they can continue to develop and adjust a curriculum they are familiar with and in the event of any future school closure they can continue to build the online curriculum that lines up with the plans they have already constructed for the year. Obviously requests for particular teachers cannot be taken into consideration as all our teachers here are all highly skilled and will fully meet all the needs of the children including their pastoral and academic needs. 

Current class (July 2020)

New class (Sept 2020)

New class teacher

3A

4D

Miss Day

3M

4G

Ms Gough

4G

5C

Mrs Crabb

4D

5S

Miss Serjeant
5C 6C Mrs Clayton
5S 6H Mr Hurd

 

  • New Classes: As the children have only had a term and a half of schooling it seems highly appropriate and necessary to keep the class groups exactly as they were. This means that friendships can continue to grow and they are familiar with those around them during the lessons. Friendships can continue to grow during playtimes, lunchtimes and whole year activities as this is their ‘bubble’ which includes their neighbouring class.
  • Introduction to new class teachers: Some children attending the school transition days have had (or will have) the opportunity to meet their new teachers this side of the summer term. The feedback from parents so far has been very positive. For those who will not have the opportunity, there will be lots of introductory and transitional lessons early in term to ensure the children become familiar with the routines, roles and expectations within their new year group.
  • Information About the Year Ahead: There is a summary of the year groups, along with information about the year group curriculum and trips on the school website: https://www.wallacefields-jun.surrey.sch.uk/classes Although this is very helpful for subjects and curriculum content some of the information will be adapted over the summer break as staffing and trips are reviewed. The staffing changes to meet the needs of the children and the trips are still under review due to the pandemic.
  • Supporting Your Child: It is appreciated if you could take some time to look over the class webpage relevant to your child and talk about the topics they will be covering, look at the books to be involved in the English lessons and to gain some insight into the expectation for homework etc. If you do have time to do this, then it will put them at ease as we have not been able to do the usual transition activities in school.
  • Special Educational Needs and Transition Information: Our special needs lead Mrs King has worked hard on ensuring all the relevant information has been updated and has spent significant time on our new Year 3. For the other year groups, the class teachers are given plenty of opportunity before the school starts on 3rd September 2020 to share the information they have including friendship groups, attitude, commitment to tasks, medical plans, allergies and academic targets.

Updates:

The government intends to send out more guidelines at the end of term and in mid-August. This means that these basic systems are subject to review on a daily and weekly basis. We will endeavour to keep you up to date but without inundating you with long detailed emails.

Whilst I remain aware of the fact that the covid virus could increase, resulting in school closure and possibly local area lockdown, we will work on a basis of normal school as much as possible and inform you of details regarding closure if it is imposed.

I would like to thank all parents for your amazing support over these last few months, for the gifts and messages of support, for the feedback on the online curriculum and for remaining so resilient, adaptable and positive.

More details will follow this information so please be patient. We look forward to seeing you and, even more importantly, the children, in September.

 

Parent Questionnaire and Safeguarding

We have sent out a questionnaire recently in order to get feedback about how the period of lockdown has affected your family life so far. From the evidence we glean from your responses we can look at what areas of support are most needed. It does mention one reply per child but if you do not have the time then simply complete for one of your children. Thank you to those who have already responded.

If you have particular safeguarding concerns regarding your child, please contact your child’s teacher in September and we will endeavour to discuss them with you and judge if we need additional measures to those we have planned in for their first few weeks at school.

 

Parent Toolkit: This time has brought into focus our role as parents and given us time to reflect on how we go forward with family life. This increased focus is something that has been handled in different ways, for some it has been a very positive and strengthening experience, for others it has been a very stressful and difficult time balancing our own needs (both personal and professional) with the needs of our children. There is a very good webpage on the BBC Bitesize site, that has a ‘Parent Toolkit’ – this covers many aspects of the things families have faced during lockdown and lots of helpful advice. The link is: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/znsmxyc . The advice includes helping your child as they return to school, including noticing the impact of our feelings, managing your child’s worries, embracing change, and building routines again. These articles are aimed at parents not children and so be aware when watching some of the videos included.


 

 

Kind Regards

Mr S Lee

HEADTEACHER