Welcome To
Regents Park Community Primary School
Believe in Yourself - Anything is Possible!
Dear Parents/ Carers,
As you know, earlier this month the Government made some announcements regarding the possible reopening of schools from June 1st. At the time I told you we would look at what the Government was asking schools to do in terms of planning to reopen for Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children.
Since then, myself and the leadership team have been busy reading through all of the many documents the Government have published for schools on reopening, looking at and creating risk assessments for reopening and planning what it would look like and also meeting and discussing with governors, other school leaders and the local authority, Birmingham City Council, to decide on what would be safe for all the children and staff of Regents Park.
In addition, I also sent out surveys to the parents of children in the year groups identified by the Government. It was clear that the vast majority of parents feel it is still too soon to be sending children back in to school as in each year group between 60 - 80% of parents said "No" they wouldn't send their children in to school on June 1st and many others said they weren't sure.
Like many of the parents, I also still have concerns and feel there are some questions that need answering before being fully confident that children and staff can return to Regents Park safely. Of course the Government may make a decision not to reopen schools anyway from June 1st but, unfortunately, we will not know this until May 28th at the earliest. As a result, at this time, I have asked the Governing Board to agree that school does not reopen on June 1st, even if the Government announce in the next week that it is safe to do so.
Regents Park will remain closed during the week beginning June 1st whilst we continue to assess the situation at national and local level. We will continue to plan our reopening but this may not be until at least June 8th providing myself and the Governors feel it is safe to do so.
When we do return to school and begin to reopen, it is unlikely that we will have all of the identified year groups in at the same time. We are likely to reintroduce children back in to school slowly in small groups and possibly on a part time basis in order to make sure everyone is safe. I will provide more information about this when we have confirmed the date for our reopening.
In the meantime, we will continue to provide support for all children and signpost you to activities and ideas on the school website so that children can continue their learning at home supported by parents. Teaching staff will continue to call and check up with families on how they are doing in terms of their health and wellbeing and also how children are getting on with their learning. We are continuing to provide support in the form of vouchers for children eligible for Free School Meals and we will also continue to support the key worker/ vulnerable children who have been coming in to school whilst we have been closed.
I am sure all parents will agree that we are doing the right thing at this time for all the children and staff at Regents Park. We do not want to keep the school closed longer than is necessary as we are conscious of the impact it has on our children's learning. However, it is our number one priority to make sure that everyone is safe and healthy and to make the right decision on reopening at the right time.
Just a reminder that whilst school is closed, there may be no one available to answer the school telephone so please email enquiry@rgntpark.bham.sch.uk if you have any questions or require any further information.
If you are celebrating Eid this weekend then I'd like to wish you Eid Mubarak on behalf of all the staff of Regents Park. We hope you continue to stay home as much as you can and stay safe and healthy.
Eid Mubarak everyone,
Mr Beale