Back to School - Monday 7th September

 Dear parents and carers, 

The countdown Monday 7th September and we hope that your children are looking forward to returning to school as much as we are looking forward to seeing them all. We are still living in very testing and challenging times and we hope that these temporary arrangements will be short lived. I wanted to take this opportunity to confirm plans for the return to school for you. 

Whilst the spread of infection is steadily reducing, we still do have to be mindful that it is 'still with us' so we still need to ensure we have effective measures in place. The Department for Education (DfE) and Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson have advised that classes can resume in September in larger 'bubbles', these being normal class sizes and year groups. However, they still advise against multiple groups of children and also adults gathering within and around school. Therefore, there will be some initial changes. The most significant for you as parents and carers are changes to the start and finish times and the ways in which children will enter and exit school at these times. Please refer below:

Nursery

Please refer to the letter that you have received from school staff regarding your child's start date. 

Reception

Please refer to the letter that you have received from school staff regarding your child's start date. 

Only parents and pupils in Nursery and Reception will be able to use the gates by the school office as they will enter the school building via the nursery doors and the door by the reception slope. 

Years 1-6

Morning

All pupils must enter the school site via the large vehicle gate towards the bottom of the hill on Farringdon Avenue. Children will make their way into the playground and stand on the coloured spot according to their class. Their teachers will be there to meet them and accompany them to their classrooms. During this time we ask parents to drop pupils at the gate to minimise the amount of people on the school site. 

Afternoon 

Parents are asked to enter the school site via the large vehicle gate towards the bottom of the hill on Farringdon Avenue. Please stand on a spot which corresponds to your child's class. The teachers will dismiss the pupils when they can see who is collecting them. Once you have collected your child please exit the site via the gate on Farringdon Avenue by the new hall or if you have a buggy, bike or scooter you can exit the via the vehicle gate. Please observe the barriers to ensure there is enough room for all. 

There will be members of staff available in the morning and afternoon to assist you. 

8.30 am - 2.50 pm 

Year 4 & Year 6

8.40 am - 3.00 pm 

Year 1 & Year 2

For the first week, year 1 parents are invited to accompany year 1 pupils into the playground to support them. 

8.50 am - 3.10 pm 

Year 3 & Year 5

Coloured Spots

There are two sets of coloured spots. The first set are the ones closest to the sports field. Classes will stand on the following coloured spots. 

Coloured spots - set 1

Red 1 - Rowan, Larch, Redwood

Blue 1 - Pine, Birch, Willow

Yellow 1 - Mulberry, Ash 

Coloured spots - set 2

Red 2 - Walnut, Elm 

Blue 2 - Apricot, Almond, Cherry

Yellow 2 - Beech, Lime, Cedar

Can I ask that only 1 parent brings and collects your child/children so that we can avoid gatherings on school premises. Please ensure that you drop off and arrive at the correct time to ensure that there are a minimum number of people in one place at any one time. The gate will close at 9.00 am and any late pupils will not be able to be admitted after this time. The main school office will also be used for emergencies only.

• BUBBLES: We will have year group ‘bubbles’ in school made up of pupils in each year group.

• SOCIAL DISTANCING: Children will not be expected to socially distance within their bubbles. This is in line with the guidance released from the government. However, we do ask parents to take responsibility for their own social distancing when on school grounds collecting pupils. 

• SCHOOL UNIFORM: All children will be asked to return to school in uniform in line with our policy. Please see the school office for further information.

• PE DAYS: On the days that children have PE we will allow them to come to school wearing their school PE kit. This will be for the Autumn term and will be reviewed at Christmas. You will receive further information regarding PE days from class teachers during the first week of the term. 

• PERSONAL ITEMS: Children will be encouraged to bring minimal items into school. Pupils can use a school bag for essential items only. Reading books and spelling books. There is no need for pupils to bring in their own pencil cases; all classroom equipment will be provided for them. 

• WATER: Children must bring a clean named water bottle into school each day and take it home at the end of the school day. 

• Playtimes and lunchtimes are going to be staggered within year group bubbles of the school.

• LUNCHTIME ARRANGEMENTS: Lunchtimes will have to be staggered and will look a little different to the canteen system that we were using to serve meals before lockdown. We will be in a position to offer school meals from September but the choice will be greatly reduced temporarily and will be a cold service of sandwiches, fruit and water. We will send further details of the menu when this has been confirmed with Havering Catering Services. Pupils will eat in their classrooms and will then go outside but will stay within their bubbles. 

• ASSEMBLIES: We will not be holding school assemblies but the children will still have daily reflection and celebration time but this will be class based for the time being.

• ACCESS INTO SCHOOL: Sadly, we do not anticipate being in a position to be able to welcome parents into the school building in September. Please use the following communication methods:

• Leave a message with staff on the gate in the morning to pass onto the class teachers. 

• Telephone the school office on 01708 342880

• Email the school office - office@broadford.havering.sch.uk

• Use the Facebook messenger application

• Email class teachers via the year group mail boxes

eyfs@broadford.havering.sch.uk

year12@broadford.havering.sch.uk

year34@broadford.havering.sch.uk

year56@broadford.havering.sch.uk

• WHOLE SCHOOL EVENTS: There will be no whole school events for the first half of the Autumn term at least, this will then be reviewed for the second half of the term but may not change. This will mean there will be no whole school assemblies or stay and learn sessions. We are in the early stages of exploring ways we can celebrate these events AND include parents and carers by revisiting the virtual world that we have relied on so much over the past few months. Watch this space!

• AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS: Unfortunately there will be no after school clubs for at least the first half term. We will then review this and explore how we may be able to offer a smaller range of after school clubs to year group bubbles. The reason for this is because of cross infection and the spread of infection as children from multiple classes or bubbles attend and again, we have been advised against this. 

Further information will be sent home within the first week regarding PE days, reading books, homework and curriculum. Each year group will send home a newsletter with all of this information on. 

FINALLY…

We appreciate that some families may feel anxious about their children returning to school in September.  If you haven’t seen our transition blog which was posted in July you can find the information here. These pages were prepared by staff before the summer break with information about new year groups for September. Hopefully this information will alleviate any anxieties your children may have. 

Please remember, the safety of your children and our staff comes first in all of these plans. If we feel that anyone is at risk, we will review, assess and change if necessary.  

I promise that we will continue to work very hard to ensure we support every individual family on your return to some sort of normality. As always we want our whole community to be safe AND we want our pupils to continue on their learning journey. We will try as much as we possibly can to make school 'normal' and ensure that these plans do not hinder the education of our children. We will continue to celebrate and reward the hard work of our pupils to ensure that they are successful. 

Thank you for your continued support.