COVID-19 School Arrangements

Information on COVID-19 symptoms and school procedures

To help protect your children and the wider community, please be as honest as possible with school around symptoms, testing and results. You shouldn’t be embarrassed or concerned about reporting a suspected or confirmed case.

We want to provide as much information as possible on our approach to coronavirus symptoms, testing and isolation periods. Please see the answers to key questions below.

1. What do I do if my child displays symptoms?

• In line with government guidance if your child develops symptoms of coronavirus , they will need to stay at home and self-isolate until they can be tested. If your child develops symptoms in school, you will be contacted immediately to collect them.
• If your child develops symptoms at home, please keep them at home and call the school to let us know.
• Information will be provided on how your child and household can be tested for coronavirus and we ask that tests be undertaken as soon as possible.

2. Will the school tell me if another child in the class is displaying symptoms?

• No - The symptoms of coronavirus are like many other common conditions. To avoid unnecessary concern, we will only let parents know if there is a confirmed case within the school. Any child showing symptoms will be sent home immediately and cannot return to school until they have had a test, or a period of 14 days has expired.

3. How many children have to be off school with unconfirmed symptoms before you notify parents?

• The leadership team and Governors will be carefully monitoring the situation. With advice from West Berkshire Council (and Public Health England if necessary) we will inform parents if we think it is appropriate to do so.

4. Does my child need to take a test in order to come back to school?

• Any child displaying symptoms should be tested for the virus. Detail of how to obtain a test can be found here.

5. What do I do if my child tests positive?

• Please call to let us know as soon as possible. You, your child and your wider household will then need to self-isolate for 14 days. Your child will not be able to return to school until their symptoms have gone and you will need the agreement of the Headteacher before they can return.

6. What do I do if my child tests negative?

• Please let the school know and provide a copy of their negative test result. Upon receipt the Headteacher, or member of the Senior Leadership Team will confirm that your child can return to school the next day.

7. Will the school tell me if another child in the class tests positive?

• Yes, if a case is confirmed in your child’s class, we will write to let you know. All children and staff in that class will be required to stay at home for 14 days. If they don’t develop any symptoms during that time, they can then return to school. During that 14 day period the classroom and immediate surrounding area will be deep cleaned ready for the children to return.

8. Will the school tell me if another child in the school tests positive?

• Yes – we will inform parents of all children attending school if there is a positive case. There will be no need for anyone outside of the affected class to stay at home.

9. What if someone in my family is isolating because they have tested positive with to the virus?  Is my child expected to stay at home too?

• Yes – in line with the Public Health England advice, your child will need to stay at home if a member of your household develops symptoms.

10. What if someone in my family is isolating because they are aware they may have been exposed to the virus?  Is my child expected to stay at home too?

• No – in line with the Public Health England advice, your child will only need to stay at home if a member of your household develops symptoms.

11. What will happen if my child's teacher or TA is off sick?

• We will try to cover with other school staff by using teachers or TAs who have not been teaching any other class to avoid mixing. We will ask that teacher to work outside of a classroom environment for 7 days following that period.
• If we are unable to provide cover with school staff we will seek to arrange a temporary supply teacher.
• We will not split a bubble class up and mix them with other classes.

This information is based on Government Guidance at the time of issue 21st May 2020 and is subject to regular review.

Things you need to know for September

See below for information on:

• Attendance
• Grouping
• Preventing viral transmission
• The curriculum
• Wild Wood Club
• PPE
• Staggered start and end of the day
• School lunches
• Anxiety in children 
• School uniform
• Home learning
• Contingency plan
• What they should bring to school

Attendance

The Government has made it clear that school attendance will become compulsory again, and that they expect every child to return to school.  Exceptions to this would be for pupils who are shielding due to medical conditions.

Grouping

Pupils will be in their class ‘groups’ and staffing will be pretty much back to normal. There is a shift in focus now from small bubbles’ (which has enabled pupils to social distance) to ‘groups’.  Consistent groups reduce the risk of transmission by limiting the number of pupils and staff in contact with each other to only those within the group. 

Where we can social distance we will, but when we can't, the important thing is that we keep different 'groups' as separate as possible.  In order to keep groups separate we will need to run a timetable with different breaks and lunchtimes for different class groups.  Groups will not be allowed to mix in the playground, lunch hall, for assemblies etc.   We plan to continue running assemblies through zoom, in order to bring classes together, 

Preventing viral transmission

Preventative measures will be key. Much of the good practice that we already have running in school, will need to continue such as:

• Pupils, staff and other adults will not be able to come into the school if they have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, or have tested positive in the last 7 days
• Anyone developing those symptoms during the school day will sent home
• We will need staff, pupils and families to actively engage with NHS Test and Trace
• Where we have people displaying symptoms we will look at what essential actions we can take to further reduce the risk of transmission
• Cleaning needs to continue to be of a high standard and done regularly
• We will support children to maintain robust hand and respiratory hygiene with a focus on handwashing for 20 seconds and  ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ with coughs and sneezing
• Classrooms will need to be organised to minimise the movement of pupils and staff. This may mean that we have fewer group tables and more pupils sitting in rows facing the front of the classroom
• Staff will need to continue to maintain distance from pupils, and other staff, as much as possible
• Parents, carers and other visitors will not be able to come into school unless absolutely essential and pre-arranged

The curriculum

The guidance states that we should work to offer 'a full curriculum' by the summer of 2021 In the short term, there will be a focus on assessing pupils learning and where there are gaps in learning, and supporting pupils to catch up. 

It looks likely that we will be able to have PPA lessons running as normal with specialist staff teaching pupils subject such as music and French, but with pupils remaining in their normal classrooms.

 Wild Wood Club

The government guidance accepts that if we do run wrap-around care pupils will be moving into a different ‘group’ for that part of the day.  It is looking likely that WWC may be able to open and we are currently working on a separate plan to ensure that we can do that as safely as possible.  More information about that plan will be sent out when it is complete.

Personal, protective equipment

Pupils will not be allowed to wear face coverings in school. Public Health England does not recommend the use of face coverings in schools (based on current evidence). They are not required as pupils and staff are mixing in consistent groups, and because misuse may inadvertently increase the risk of transmission.

The use of PPE will remain the same as it is currently – for first aid and cleaning.

Staggered start and end of the day

The guidance states that if we can, we should continue to have pupils arriving and leaving schools at different times, in order to avoid large numbers of people gathering.  The current systems are working well and we are looking to continue this.   We are currently considering whether we need to stagger the start of the term, in order to embed new systems.

School lunches

Our kitchen will be open and able to provide meals for pupils. The school kitchen will provide cold lunches at the start of term in September.  Once we are settled back in we will review when we can move to hot meals, and whether we will be able to use the hall again or save hot meals in classes. 

The current price of school meals is £2.35

It is our ambition that we move to hot meals as soon as possible.

Pupils who are showing high levels of anxiety

It would be really helpful for us to know if your child is overly anxious about returning to school.  Please contact your child’s current teacher on their year group email.  Staff will then be able to offer you some guidance on how you can support your child and consider any further support that school can put into place.  

School uniform

We will be asking that all children return in September in their uniform. The new guidance states that pupils should wear school uniform as “uniform can play a valuable role in contributing to the ethos of a school and setting an appropriate tone.” It goes onto say that uniforms do not need to be cleaned any more often than usual, nor do they need to be cleaned using methods which are different from normal. In Early Years, pupils are able to wear a pale blue polo shirt. 

Home learning

Home learning, which mirrors the in-school curriculum, will be provided for pupils who are shielding or self-isolating.  This will be through a mix of online and paper resources, and involve interaction with teachers.

Contingency Plan

Currently, there is no government guidance on what to do if we need to return to half class sized bubbles.  However, in that case, we would hope to run a part-time timetable so that all pupils have access to school, and when they are not in school, pupils are working on projects or consolidation activities at home.  

In the case of a local or national lockdown, the guidance is saying we should plan to remain open for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers, and provide remote education for all other pupils. If this occurs we will be looking to build on our current remote learning support and offer:

• a curriculum that reflects what pupils would have been learning in school if it were open 
• access to high-quality online and offline resources and teaching videos from government approved providers
• lessons led by pupil’s own teachers to allow interaction, assessment and feedback
• printed resources, such as textbooks and workbooks, for pupils who do not have suitable online access
• appropriate teaching for younger pupils and pupils with SEND

What should children bring to school?

• A water bottle
• Their lunchbox if needed (don't forget we are a nut-free school)
• Suncream
• Sun hat or cap
• A rain coat 
• Their pencil case on a Monday 
• A box of tissues to leave on their table
• Children can bring in bags if needed. To make storage easier, bags should be as small as possible, eg a PE kit type bag.
• Outdoor Learning clothes and PE kits when these are needed.