We are excited about seeing all the children back at school and nursery on March 8th 2021. As we will still be within the Covid 19 pandemic, we have to follow Government guidelines to keep children safe. We have outlined below the guidelines and protocols we are adopting as a school and nursery to keep our children safe, they are very similar to September but there are a couple of changes so please do read this letter carefully.

Our amazing staff are looking forward to seeing their classes again and will be starting with assessing your child and working out where they are in order to make their learning as seamless as possible. There will be plenty of time put aside to settle your child into school and nursery and a gentle embracing of school routines, so that all children feel comfortable with learning and can share their experiences whilst away from school or at school in lockdown. If you are worried about your child settling back into school or have had some traumatic experiences during lockdown – please do let us know it will help us to accommodate your child.

Attendance It will be statutory to send your child to school from the 8th march – so the normal rules about children being away from school and nursery apply. Please phone in by 8.45am if your child is ill and not attending school or nursery. Holidays need to be taken outside of term time – this is especially important as the children need to be in school and nursery as much as possible to ensure they catch up with their gaps in knowledge.

Social distancing The school and nursery will be following social distancing guidelines and would appreciate all families do the same, so that we keep staff and children safe. Please ensure that you social distance at the gate and keep your children with you at all times. Please do not wait for your child by the road or on the path by the fence, as this needs to be clear for local residents and people to walk down when leaving. Please wait on the green so that staff can easily see you when dismissing your child.

Covid 19 illness/suspected or confirmed If you or your child have any symptoms of Covid 19, please do not send your child to school – let the school know and get them/yourselves tested as soon as possible. Please do let the school office know the outcome of the test as soon as you can as a positive test will mean that class bubbles will need to be closed and deep cleaning take place. Parents may need to collect their children at very short notice if there is confirmed case of Covid 19, or staff feel that a child has signs of a high temperature, cough, lack of taste or smell. Please do let your employers know that this may affect you.

Class bubbles The children will stay in their class bubbles during lesson and play times – this is to reduce the number of contacts they make during the day. If one of the children or staff in that bubble has a confirmed case of Covid 19, the whole bubble will shut and the rest of the children will need to isolate. We would like to avoid this – so please make sure you are extremely careful at home to follow social distancing guidelines at all times.

Lunches Our catering company will be providing hot lunches for those who qualify free School Meals or are in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2. Other children can also order lunches at the normal cost daily, payment by Parentpay as usual. Children will eat outside or in class groups. If you do not want a school lunch, then please send your child in with their own packed lunch.

Water bottles Children need to bring water bottles each day – named please. Outdoor play clothing All children, except nursery where it is provided, need full outdoor kit in school. Waterproof legging/trousers, coat that can get dirty and wellingtons. The children will need to be on the field in ALL weathers as we need to space children out at playtimes.

PE PE will be mostly outside and the children need to come to school and nursery in PE kit for the whole day. PE kit available on the website. https://www.monkhouse.com/c/3989/Tibberton-Primary Uniform School children will be expected to wear school uniform – but it should be fresh on each day. On PE days children need to come to school in PE kit including trainers. This should also consist of navy joggers/leggings and a school PE navy sweatshirt with a logo. The school PE sweatshirt is available on the uniform website. https://www.monkhouse.com/c/3989/Tibberton-Primary Nursery children need to come ready for PE every day in velcro trainers, joggers or legging or shorts, t shirt and non-hooded sweatshirt. These can also be bought form the website. We play out in all weathers, so if it is cold or wet ALL children need to wear a coat with hood to school or nursery and if it is hot they will need a sunhat and cream already applied.

PE days – days to wear PE kit to school and nursery

 Nursery – Everyday  Reception – Tuesday and Friday

 Year 1 – Monday and Wednesday

 Year 2 – Tuesday and Wednesday

 Year 3 and 4 – Monday and Thursday

 Year 5 and 6 – Monday and Friday

Morning drop off Parents will need to drop off their children at the green pedestrian gate in the mornings. Nursery, Reception and Year 1 and 2 will need to be dropped at the gate at 8.45am - they will go straight into their classrooms. Years 5 and 6 will need to be dropped at 8.55am. Years 3, 4, will need to be dropped off at 9am – they will go straight into their classes. We realise this may be annoying if you have children in different year groups but it is recommended in government guidelines and is the only way we can spread the children out and reduce crowding at the gate. Year 1 will use side green gate for entry and exit. Please stay socially distanced at the gate. Nursery pick up for children coming mornings only. This will be from the green gate at 11.45am – staff will bring children to the gate. Afternoon pick up Staff will bring children to the green gate to be received by parents.

Nursery children staying all day will need to be picked up from the green gate at 2.45pm.

Reception –Pick up will be at the green gate at 2.55pm.

Year 1 and 2 children will need to be picked up at the green gate at 3pm. Year 5 and 6 children will need to be picked up at 3.10pm.

Year 3 and 4 children will need to be picked up at 3.15pm

We appreciate that it may be less than convenient for multiple pickups, but we do ask you to be patient and on time to pick up your younger children promptly, even if you have to then wait for your older ones. Please acknowledge social distancing guidance whilst waiting and be aware of the neighbours who live around school, keeping away from the road and neighbours fencing.

Drop off at green gate 8.45am Drop off at green gate 8.55am Drop off at green gate 9am Pick up at green gate 11.45am (Nursery/Reception Half day) Pick up at green gate 2.45pm (Nursery Full day) Pick up at green gate 3pm Pick up at gate at 3.10pm Pick up at green gate 3.15pm Nursery Reception Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 4 Year 5 6

Equipment – bags and pencil cases KS1 and KS2 Children will NOT need anything other than a water bottle, their lunches, personal medication and reading books/book bags in school. Please do not send in rucksacks or bags as they clutter the corridors and make less room for children and staff to keep social distancing. EYFS children will need a bag of spare clothes to be left at school or nursery – named please. All children can leave a named bag of forest school/outdoor clothes at school.

Keeping in contact If your child cannot come to school/nursery or you need to get hold of school or nursery in an emergency please phone/email the office. Although we love to see you and miss the contact, visitors are discouraged from coming to the office – if possible, please ring or email any enquiries.

The classes will still have Tapestry so you can continue to use it to upload photos to your child’s account and the staff will post photos of some activities at school too. As the staff will be teaching every day, they will not be monitoring it as closely as they do now, so please email any urgent questions to the office.

Music lessons Piano lessons will start back once the children settle back to school and nursery. Martin will contact you to inform you of a start date.

The curriculum In Nursery staff will give priority to helping the children adapt to their new routines and resettle, concentrating on stories, singing and games and how children can learn in age-appropriate ways about how they can keep themselves safe. Activities will include regular handwashing and staying safe.

The Reception staff will be focusing more on the prime areas of learning in the EYFS, including communication and language, personal, social and emotional development, and physical development. In the EYFS, the teachers will assess and address gaps in language, early reading and mathematics, particularly ensuring the children’s acquisition of phonic knowledge and extending their vocabulary.

For pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2, staff will prioritise identifying gaps and re-establishing good progress in the essentials (phonics and reading, increasing vocabulary, writing and mathematics). They will identify opportunities across the curriculum so the children read widely, and develop their knowledge and vocabulary. Staff will ensure the curriculum offer remains broad, so that the majority of children are taught a full range of subjects over the year, including sciences, humanities, music and the arts, physical education and sport, religious education and, at Key Stage 2, languages.

After school and breakfast clubs As the children need to stay in class bubbles and not mix, staff are looking at ways they can offer these clubs. The guidance indicates that they can run adhering to guidelines. Please bear with us and we will come back with an offer to families that have indicated a need for these clubs.

Play therapy We feel this is an important option for parents whose children may need to access play therapy after 6 months of lock down - please let the office know if you are interested in accessing play therapy sessions. The Play Therapist has clear social distancing rules and a Covid 19 risk assessment in place.

Risk assessment Our risk assessment will be updated and is on the website. Please do have a look. We hope that our protocols continue to work well to keep everyone safe.

We are striving to make school as normal for the children as possible and together we can work as a team to get children settled back into school and to build on all the home schooling you have been doing with them. Thank you The Tibberton CP School and Early Years Team