Dear Families

Thank you once again for your support, patience and kind words during this difficult time. The staff have greatly appreciated the messages and emails that have been sent in to school. I am very proud of our school community and I would like to send a massive thank you to my staff who have worked hard to provide a great standard of home education as well as supporting the children coming back into school. I hope that you all have a good summer break and manage to find some time to relax.

Provisional Plans for September

On 3^rd July, the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, announced plans for all children to return to full time education at the start of the autumn term. The Government published supporting guidance that provides schools with the details to plan for a full return.

The guidance for the full opening of schools from the start of the autumn term can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak

The guidance for what parents and carers need to know about schools in the autumn term can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

We have managed to welcome back nearly 250 children in some form this term, which has been a great team effort. The children who have been in school have had a very positive experience and have loved being back at school with their friends. We are planning carefully for September so that children can get back into school happy and safe. We are really looking forward to seeing all the children again.

The Y1 – Y6 children will start back full time from Wednesday 2^nd September. We will be operating a ‘Year group bubble’ system which will give us more flexibility with staff, enable us to run catch up programmes and interventions and also allow the children to socialise with their friends at playtime in the other classes.

School Opening times

There will not be any lining up in the playground and the children will come straight into the building. School opening times will be staggered to support social distancing rules and to allow movement between sites and to prevent large gatherings at any one time. If the times cause a problem, for example, siblings in other year groups, please let us know. Only one adult will be allowed to bring/collect the children to ease congestion.

 

PE and Sport

As part of our ongoing Risk Assessment, we are trying to minimise the amount of equipment that will come in and out of school. We have therefore decided that we will NOT be asking the children to bring PE bags into school, at least for the first half term. Instead, each year group will have a PE/Active day each week – you will be informed of this in September. On this day the children (and staff) will come to school in their PE kits and will have a day to do their formal PE sessions and maybe some outdoor learning.  We will be active on other days – wake and shake, daily mile, etc so it will be important that the children come to school every day in suitable footwear for activity.

We are hoping that the Y4 children will go swimming when we return in September, however we are currently awaiting a detailed risk assessment from Bramcote Swimming Baths.

Catch Up Intervention programmes

As mentioned in a previous letter, we will be launching our Catch-up Programmes in September. These are best carried out by our own school staff who know the children well. Once children are settled, staff will properly assess the children’s needs during the first three weeks and direct additional support to those children who need it the most. We may look at running some after school Catch up Interventions too but we will provide more detail about these in September.

Preparing for all Pupils to return in the Autumn Term

We do understand that for some children this is a huge step and they may be anxious about their return. Whilst we are expecting all children to attend, as school attendance will be mandatory in autumn, we will do our best to be supportive. If your child is coming back to school for the first time, please make sure that you go through the information, pictures and videos that can be found on the school website.

Lunch Times

We will have a phased approach to reintroducing hot cooked meals back to children. This will allow us to test the systems and make sure it continues to be as safe as it can be and avoid the mixing of bubbles.

 

All other children will need to bring a packed lunch. Please note that all Free School Meals Vouchers will cease as of 28th August. If you are in receipt of Free School Meals we will provide a hot meal or sandwiches in line with the dates above.

School Uniform

We have relaxed school uniform policy during coronavirus; the government is encouraging us to return to our usual policy in the autumn. Please try to ensure that the children are in uniform (this does not have to have the logo) The guidance states that uniforms will not need to be washed any more than usual, or by methods any different from normal. In order to avoid having to be unnecessarily close to children, we strongly encourage children to wear shoes with velcro fastenings if they are not able to tie shoelaces themselves and trousers/skirts and tops which have no buttons/fastenings. Shoes must be practical to enable active learning – no open toe sandals. NO earrings or other jewellery should be worn.

Equipment in School

In line with the new Risk Assessment we will be minimising the amount of equipment coming into and going out of school. The children will be provided with their own pencil cases, books, etc to use in class. They will need to bring a water bottles, piece of fruit for playtime, lunchbox if they are having packed lunch and a small book bag with their book and reading diary. Nothing else should be brought into school please unless the teacher has asked – this may be a homework project, piece of work from home. Scooters and bikes cannot be stored on the premises. Mobile phones will not be allowed in school.

Cleanliness

The children and adults will wash their hands frequently throughout the day. All surfaces in classrooms, sinks and toilets will be cleaned regularly. All shared resources will be cleaned after use or stored for at least 72 hours before they are reused. Children will be reminded about how to wash their hands and the ‘catch it, kill it, bin it’ approach to hygiene. Please continue to remind them of this at home.

Social Distancing

We do not expect the children to maintain social distancing but staff will maintain a distance of up to 2m from each other and parents/carers wherever possible. We expect parents/carers to maintain a 2m social distance from staff and other adults from different households. This includes when dropping children off at school and collecting them.

Communication with school

Parents and carers will not be able to enter the school building unless by prior appointment.  The class and office email system will continue in the Autumn term and staff will reply promptly. If you need to meet face to face, we will expect you to adhere to the social distancing rules.

CHAS After School Club

CHAS provides wrap around care for the pupils at The Lanes. Whilst they have managed to open in the summer holidays, we are still liaising with them around the management of September. We hope to have further details of this soon.

Summer Holiday work

We have created a section on the website with some summer holiday learning ideas https://www.thelanes.notts.sch.uk/summer-holiday-learning/  My end of year assembly will introduce the summer reading challenge to you – the children may want to get involved. We have provided a menu of activities for the children to have a go at but we would like them all to do lots of reading and to prepare a presentation about themselves or a mini project to share with their new class. I have also put together the list of general websites that may be of interest to keep the children going – don’t forget that you can always do the Times Tables Rockstars  and practice spellings too! Just keeping a bit of learning going will really help when your child returns to school.

Once again, thank you so much for everything during this very unusual school year. I cannot tell you how much we are looking forward to welcoming you all back to school. We will be in contact again at the end of the holidays to confirm arrangements. Meanwhile, keep an eye on the website https://www.thelanes.notts.sch.uk/september-return-to-school-information/as we will continue to update this with relevant information during the holiday. Please also bear in mind that arrangements may change if there is any new government advice before September.

Take care everyone and see you soon. Make sure you look at the website for the last staff video and the Year 2 show video. https://www.thelanes.notts.sch.uk/video-messages/

 

Mrs Revill and The Lanes staff