School Closure: Update #15

 
Grendon Newsletter
  School Closure: Update #15 Thursday 28th May 2020  
 
  Hello Visitor,

Parent Information: Update

I have added links below to a Parent Information update which includes some minor but significant amendments which you should all familiarise yourself with between now and 1st June. These have been highlighted in red text so that you quickly find the changes.

Parent Information Update - Click Here

From our parent survey, school knows that approximately 55% of those eligible children will be returning. There is an uneven split, with the majority of Early Years pupils coming back, just over half of Year 1s and only a minority of Year 6s.

What Will School Look Like From 1st June?

We find ourselves in the strange situation where parents, who are no strangers to the corridors and classrooms of our school, won't be able to set foot inside the building for the foreseeable future. Naturally, you are all wondering exactly what it will look like and it is my intention to share photos with you, hopefully over next weekend. You will appreciate that there is a huge amount of work currently being undertaken to prepare the school for reopening on Monday.

Can You Loan A Gazebo To School?

Whilst this isn't an absolute essential part of our plan, it would be fantastic if, in our efforts to take learning outside at every opportunity, the school had, for just a few short weeks, 2 or 3 gazebos that some kind soul might consider loaning the school until the end of term. I'm not suggesting that you uproot your garden gazebo and go without but if you have an unused spare or know of someone who has one then we would be very grateful. If you can help, please email me at  

Washing Clothes!

Another means by which parents can support the school's efforts in implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings is by the (and I quote from the DfE guidance) 'washing of clothes following a day in an educational or childcare setting.' Clearly this is not something school's can effectively police, more something that we want to encourage and draw your attention to.

We would like all pupils, including children of key workers, to come to school in uniform (apart from their PE days).

It's possible that an increased frequency of washing may leave you short on uniform - the school will consider relaxing rules around wearing uniform for all children if enough of you start to run out of kit. Please just let us know. 

Hot Weather

As per the Parent Information already shared, you will know that much of the learning for those children in school from 1st June will take place outside. Combine this with the limited physical contact allowed between those on our school site and the glorious forecast for next week and we potentially have a recipe for sunburn! Please choose one of the following options to ensure that all of our pupils are safe from the sun:

  • The school knows from parental feedback and prior knowledge over recent years that some parents/children already choose to apply suncream before school with no expectation that school staff will apply it during the day. This arrangement can obviously continue as before.
  • If your child needs to apply suncream during the day and they can apply it themselves, they should bring in a named bottle of suncream which will then remain in school to reduce the number of items passing backwards and forwards to school each day.
  • If your child needs to apply suncream during the day and they cannot apply it themselves, they should bring in a bottle of suncream spray which staff can administer for the child to then rub in, thus protecting the child and limiting physical contact between the member of staff and the child.

Apologies for labouring the point about suncream but DfE guidance (and our own Risk Assessment) recommends that staff should wear PPE for any type of 'intimate care' (which applying suncream would fall into) and so by following the above expectations, we minimise risk of spreading infection, protect children from sunburn and save on rubber gloves which would have to be changed between each application of suncream. You get the general idea.

PE Days

On PE days, children should come to school in their PE kits. They will remain in this kit all day and so please do not also send uniform. PE days are as follows:

Year 6 - Thursday

Year 1 - Wednesday

Early Years - Thursday

Key Worker Chidren - Tuesday

Final Thoughts Before 1st June

From a teaching and learning perspective, the necessary limitations on social interaction and the restrictions on the content and layout of our beautiful learning environments (that are being carefully dismantled as I type this) go against every instinct of every one of our members of staff. It's a sad time for sure - on discussing the revised layout of their classroom, one teacher even said: 'Wow, this is what it must be like in a normal school.' We might be many things but we will never be normal. For our parent body, which has invested fully in our school's vision and embraced and contributed to the curious, exciting and brilliant things that the school gets up to, any feelings of anxiety about what happens next are justified. It is important to remember that the same minds responsible for shaping the culture, feel and optimism of our school are the same ones seeking ways of re-establishing those intangible things that make Grendon CE Primary School rather special. As we prepare for next week, teachers and support staff will bring the same levels of imagination, care and creativity that they always have done, perhaps even more than ever, to compensate for the things that we cannot yet do. It's entirely right that communication from school about our response to Covid-19 is as it is - formal, clinical and to the point. However, the control measures in place to minimise risk will seem softer and friendlier in practice. Yes, school will feel different, but it will still be a happy place simply because the staff, parents, governors and pupils will make sure it's that way. 

 
  Grendon Church Of England Primary School
Main Road
Grendon
Wellingborough
NN7 1JW
Tel: 01933 663208
 
  https://grendonprimary.net/