Welcome Back - General info for parents including lifting of COVID restrictions

Dear Parents/ Carers,

 

We hope you have all had a wonderful summer holiday and that you are all healthy, safe and well. We are looking forward to welcoming back all the children to Regents Park next Monday 6^th September at 8.40am.

 

Obviously there are some changes to tell you about below now that the Government have lifted many of the COVID restrictions that were in place last year. We hope that life in school can return to normal as much as possible, although there will still be some things that we keep in place, at least temporarily in order to keep children, families and staff safe. There are other changes we are putting in place that we feel help with the running of the school and we hope you will support us during this period.

 

COVID restrictions

 

Many of the Government’s general COVID restrictions were lifted at the end of July with further restrictions ending during August. For schools, one of the most significant changes is that children no longer need to stay separated from each other in class bubbles.

 

This means that from the start of this term:

• There will no longer be staggered starts and finishes to the day – all children are expected to arrive at school by 8.40am and no later than 8.55am and all children will be released at the end of the day at 3.00pm
• Staff do not need to wear face coverings when working with children around school
• All children can have lunch in the hall
• We will be able to reintroduce Breakfast Club and After-School Clubs this term
• Children will be able to take part in assemblies together in the hall
• Children will be able to change for PE in school

 

Having said that, we know there is still some concern about what impact returning to school may have on COVID cases so there are still some precautions that we will be taking until at least the end of September:

• Staff will be using Lateral Flow tests twice a week to test for asymptomatic COVID cases
• We will be monitoring classrooms and teaching spaces to make sure there is always good ventilation and continuing to encourage outdoor learning where possible
• Children will be expected to wash hands and use hand gel regularly and maintain good health and hygiene routines
• We will continue to encourage parents and staff to use test and trace, to take up offers of vaccination and to self-isolate when requested to do so
• We will continue to limit face to face contact between parents and staff where possible – for now, there will be limited opportunities for parents to come into the school building. Where they do come into the building, parents will be asked to wear a face covering.

 

Another significant change is to do with requirements for self-isolation. Previously, all those who came into contact with someone who had COVID symptoms were expected to self-isolate. This meant that we had many children and staff that had to self-isolate last year. The Government have now changed this to reduce the numbers of children being sent home so it doesn’t interrupt their learning.

 

Individuals are not required to self-isolate if they live in the same household as someone with COVID-19, or are a close contact with someone with COVID-19, if any of the following apply:

• They are fully vaccinated (i.e. they have had two vaccination jabs)
• They are below the age of 18 years and 6 months

 

There is still a recommendation that anyone who has had contact with someone who has COVID-19 should get a PCR test however.

 

This means that if a parent or another family member has tested positive for COVID-19, everyone in the family should get a PCR test but the children can still come to school.

 

It is very unlikely that we will be advised to send children home because of possible contact with others who have COVID-19 or that we would have to partially close school unless there is a significant breakout of cases and we are advised to do so by Public Health England.

 

However, anyone who has COVID-19 symptoms would still be expected to self-isolate and take a PCR test to confirm. If it is positive they would need to self-isolate for 10 days. If it is negative they can return to school.

 

Arrangements for collecting children at the end of the day

 

One of the changes we made when children returned last year was to organise for different collection points for children at the end of the school day. This was to help reduce contact between pupils and between adults and staff.

 

We feel this arrangement helped to reduce crowding around entrances and exits and made it much more manageable to ensure children were collected safely so, although we are moving away from a staggered finish back to one collection time of 3.00pm, we want to keep this organisation in place.

 

So, continuing from Monday 6^th September, all children will be released at the end of the day from a designated exit.

• All pupils with siblings in school will be released from the main playground; Parents collecting siblings may enter the playground from either the Dixon Road or Arthur Street entrance but are expected to wait behind the marked line until children are sent to them.
• Nursery, Reception, Year 1 , Year 5 and Year 6 pupils with no siblings will be released from the Camelot Way entrance
• Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4 pupils with no siblings will be released from the Arthur Street entrance.
• Wherever children are collected from, the children should tell staff when an adult is there so they can be released.
• Parents should collect children and then leave the school site as quickly as possible
• Parents no longer need to wear a face covering when entering the school playground; there will be limited opportunities for parents to speak to members of staff, however, if they do so they should keep a distance and preferably wear a face covering
• Children in Y5/Y6 classes can go home alone but only if parents have informed the class teacher.
• Parents should make every effort to pick children up on time. Parents that are not collected at 3.00pm will be taken to the school office and parents will need to come to the Arthur Street entrance to collect them
• We will monitor late collection of children and, if necessary, we may charge parents who are regularly late £1 for every 15 minutes if their children are not collected from the office by 3.15pm

 

We will confirm with you by text on Monday where your child/ children will be collected from.

 

Uniform

 

Just a reminder for parents that we expect children to start the new year wearing correct school uniform. Last year children were sometimes allowed to come to school in PE kit or in clothes to wear in the Forest School; however, some children took to wearing clothes which were not school uniform on days that they weren’t supposed to.

 

It is an expectation that children wear correct Regents Park school uniform and have at least a jumper/ cardigan/ sweatshirt with the school badge on to wear when on trips or off-site.

 

Please make sure that you have correct school uniform for your child at the start of the new term with your child’s name written or sewn into it:

• White shirts or polo shirts
• Bottle green jumpers, cardigans or sweatshirts with the school badge on
• Grey or black trousers or skirts
• White or grey socks
• Black shoes (not trainers)
• Bottle green, black or grey headscarves
• No jewellery

 

Children should bring PE kit to school in a bag which can be left in the classroom. They will change into their PE kit in school. PE kit should also have your child’s name written or sewn into it.

 

Correct PE kit is:

• A plain white t-shirt
• Plain black or grey shorts or tracksuit trousers
• White socks
• Plimsolls

 

Uniform such as sweatshirts, cardigans and shirts with the school badge on can be ordered and bought from the school office. Alternatively, parents can buy a sew-on school badge to attach to sweatshirts, cardigans or polo shirts bought elsewhere. Please contact the school office for more information.