Dear Parents and Carers,
We were all thrilled to hear the Government's plans to bring the nation out of lockdown on February 22nd starting with all pupils returning to school on Monday 8th March. We have been busy looking at ways to follow Government and Public Health guidelines to make sure that school is safe and secure for all year groups to return to learning.
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 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, the measures that were in place during the Autumn term will remain with some changes due to parental feedback and our own self reflections.
We will continue with staggered starts and end of the day and have adjusted the times slightly which you will see below. This is to ensure that there are not too many people at the school gates at any time and that there is a steady flow to allow space when entering and exiting the school site.
The school day has been extended slightly and we already have a lunch break of 45 minutes which has allowed us to introduce an early finish time on a Wednesday, this does not apply to nursery children. This also gives parents the opportunity to continue Wellness Wednesday afternoons with their children. The reasons for the earlier finishing time is as follow;
This gives our site staff the opportunity for a deeper clean midway through the week to decrease the spread of germs.
We are able to provide all staff with the same planning, preparation and assessment time (PPA) so that they can effectively plan high quality educational experiences for your children.
This will decrease the need for staff to move between bubbles for cover and will increase our staffing capacity when covering staff absence.
This will enable us to ensure that your child receives teaching from a consistent group of staff each week.
By reducing the need for staff to move between bubbles we are reducing the opportunity for cross contamination which ensures extra safety for our pupils, staff and families.
We understand that this may cause childcare difficulties for working parents and therefore are offering working parents the opportunity to apply for a place for your child to stay in school on a Wednesday afternoon via this link.
School Day Times
Nursery - usual timings; please see communication from Nursery staff
Reception - 8.30 am - 3.00 pm (Wednesday dismissal 1.00 pm)
Years 1 & 2 - 8.35 am - 3.10 pm (Wednesday dismissal 1.00 pm)
Years 3 & 5 - 8.40 am - 3.15 pm (Wednesday dismissal 1.05 pm)
Years 4 & 6 - 8.30 am - 3.05 pm (Wednesday dismissal 12.55 pm)
All entrances and exits will remain the same as the Autumn term. 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 8.50 am and any late pupils will not be able to be admitted after this time to ensure that pupils do not cross over bubbles. The main school office will be used for emergencies only.
As stated, school will reopen on Monday 8th March and school attendance is statutory for all pupils unless unwell, self-isolating due to COVID-19 or clinically extremely vulnerable.
Pupils will remain in class / year group bubbles until further notice. Robust and regular hand washing will continue throughout the day and all areas will be well ventilated. Communal areas will be cleaned before and after groups of pupils have used them. The staggered playtimes and outside lunch breaks will continue to ensure that pupils stay within their bubbles. Pupils will continue to have lunch in their classrooms and hot meals will be delivered from the kitchen for those who choose this option.
Breakfast club will resume on Monday 8th March with the doors opening at 7.45 am and breakfast being served from 8.00 am. Office staff will be in contact next week to confirm places for those pupils who already attend. Breakfast club places remain limited and preference given to working parents, to ensure that pupils can remain in their bubbles and we have adequate members of staff for this purpose.
If your child is in KS2 and chooses a school lunch or attends breakfast club please ensure that there are adequate funds in their sQuid account to pay for meals and add additional money if required before we return to school.
School uniform must be worn and PE kits can be worn to school on PE days. Your child’s PE day will be confirmed by their teacher once we have returned.
Pupils can bring a book bag or school bag daily but must only bring essential items to school e.g. lunch box, reading books etc. Pupils do not need to bring into school stationery as this will be provided for them. We will continue to provide each child with their own equipment which only they will use. It is not necessary for pupils to bring in any other items from home. Homework will continue to be posted on google classroom.
Although all the children will be back at school, we must still exercise caution to ensure the health of our school community. This means whole school events, assemblies together, trips and mixed year group activities are not permitted at present. We have not been given a timeline as to when these will be possible but I would anticipate this will be within this academic year. We hope to restart after school clubs very soon.
All school staff are provided with Lateral Flow Tests every Wednesday and Sunday. The updated guidance from the government now requires school staff to wear masks in communal areas. Pupils are not required to wear masks within school.
Please continue to encourage and support your child with their Google Classroom learning over the last week. Every online lesson attended and piece of work submitted is a massive help to your child’s learning. 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.
Finally, I would like to pay tribute to the amazing job that you have done with the challenges and demands of ‘homeschooling’, the exceptional work of our staff in supporting children at school and at home and the fantastic critical worker parents who have continued to keep our country going under such difficult circumstances.
If you have any questions, please contact the school office or email office@broadford.havering.sch.uk or your child’s class teacher at the following email addresses.
eyfs@broadford.havering.sch.uk
year12@broadford.havering.sch.uk
year34@broadford.havering.sch.uk
year56@broadford.havering.sch.uk
We can’t wait to see you all on 8th March.
Learning League
Obviously, at the moment we cannot calculate attendance so instead we are going to change the attendance league to the learning league. Each week we will announce which year group has been the most active on google classroom, they will be awarded full marks and shoot to the top of the learning league table. Make sure that you are tuning into those google meets and turning in your assignments to ensure that your year group is at the top of the league table. This week congratulations to;
EYFS & KS1: Year 1 KS2: Year 5
E for Excellence Winners
These wonderful children have demonstrated excellence this week.
Certificate of Presentation
The following children have been recognised for the beautifully presented work in their books. They clearly take pride in all that they do and are doing their best in every lesson.
Bobby, Harry
Star Writers
These children have been awarded a star writer certificate and golden pencil in recognition of their excellent writing, use of powerful vocabulary and sophisticated writing techniques.
Isaac, Ameerah, D’Shawn, Elliott, Cruz, Adalind, Khalifa, Karimah, Anushri, Ayana, Lily-Mae, Chidubem, Abdulmalik, Viviana, Charlie, Amy
Learning Power Awards
These are the key skills that our children will need to learn effectively in class and to be successful later in life.
Reciprocity
These children have shown interdependence, collaborated effectively, listened to others, displayed empathy and have imitated effective ideas and methods from others.
Tommy, Justinas, Oscar,
Reflectiveness
These pupils have planned carefully, revised ideas, identified key features and can talk about their learning.
Joe, Ruben
Resilience
These children have demonstrated perseverance, managed distractions, noticed patterns and been absorbed in their tasks.
Summer, Maisy, Ivan,
Resourcefulness
These pupils have been curious about learning, made links between ideas, shown imagination, reasoned methodically and capitalised on resources.
Charlie, Aaliyah, Sonny, Aryaan, Liroshan
I hope you all have a lovely sunny weekend.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs L Nicholls
Headteacher
