Latest News | Regents Park Community Primary School

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

Fri 03 Sep 2021 Mr Beale

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.

End of Year Newsletter - July 2021

Tue 20 Jul 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers,

Firstly, Eid Mubarak to all our children, families and parents celebrating either today or tomorrow. We wish you a safe and happy Eid with your families.

Tomorrow is offically the last day of term and so we are now at the end of what has been another challenging school year due to the on-going Coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has caused problems for so many people in many different ways but, from a school point of view, it has been hard for pupils, families and staff. Having said that, I'd like to thank everyone for their hard work and dedication during this difficult time.

To the children, I'd like to say thank you for the way you have shown such perseverance throughout the year in what has been a very difficult time for you. I know that you have made a great effort to keep making progress and succeed and, although I'm sure there is still work to do to catch up, you can feel proud of how you have adapted to learning at home and how you have worked hard when you've been back in school.

To the parents and families, I'd like to say thank you for your support. At times you have had to manage your own commitments whilst also helping your children with their learning at home which I know has been hard but I hope you feel this has been worthwhile. In continuing to support your children to catch up I'm sure you will continue to work closely together with the staff in school next year. Children learn best when there is a good partnership between school and home.

I'd like to also thank all the staff of Regents Park and I'm sure you would too, for their hard work and their adaptability in difficult circumstances. They should also be commended for their passion and commitment to making sure that no child at Regents Park gets left behind. They have shown real dedication to making sure that all the children succeed and that parents and families are well supported. I know that this will also continue next year so I hope they all manage to get a good rest during the holidays and recharge their batteries ready to work hard again next year.

COVID UPDATE

Since Monday, restrictions have begun to be lifted within wider society and, as such, we hope that things will begin to return to normal at school; however, we will be continuing to make decisions to keep everyone safe, including children and staff. We will monitor what happens during the summer but we are hoping to begin lifting our own COVID restrictions in September.

Certainly, we know at this stage that there will be no more class bubbles and children may not have to self-isolate if someone in their class tests positive for COVID-19 in the future.

We have also been told that there is no requirement for adults and staff in school to wear face coverings; however, we will keep this under review. It may be that for the first month of the new school year in September that we continue to ask adults who come into the school building to wear a face covering.

Given the removal of wider COVID restrictions, it is our intention that in September the following things will happen in school:

No more class bubbles - children will be able to mix with others in school as well as outside
Remove class seating from rows to groups in KS2
Return to full school uniform with children changing in school for PE and Forest School
Assemblies as normal in school
All children returning to have lunch in the dining hall with a choice of food when being served
No staggered start or finish to the day (although we may keep some parts of the finish to the day)
Breakfast Club and After-School activities to begin from week beginning September 13th

To help make sure that we do our part to limit the transmission of Coronavirus, we will continue to:

Promote good health and hygiene
Ensure there is thorough cleaning around school
Ensure there is good ventilation in classrooms and shared spaces
Encourage all staff, children and parents to follow guidance and advice on quarantine, self-isolation, vaccination and testing

We will send more updates to parents about our detailed plans for September nearer the start of the new term.

GOODBYE AND GOOD LUCK TO YEAR 6

Last week we were able to get the whole school together in the playground for our Gold Achievers assembly and to be able to say goodbye and good luck to all our Y6 leavers.

We were also able to watch their Y6 leavers assembly which was recorded and filmed and then shared with the whole school - thank you to the Y6 teachers and Mr Marlowe for their hard work in putting the film together for us. It was sad that we were unable to invite parents into school as we would normally do but Y6 parents still have the chance to see the children perform as the video will stay on our school website until this weekend.

The Y6 children have worked hard and done incredibly well to make such excellent progress this year and we are very proud of them. Although they have had a disrupted Y5 and Y6, they have risen to the challenge of remote learning when they needed to and worked hard in school to catch up and plug any gaps in their learning. We are confident that the will go on to great success in their respective secondary schools and wish them all the very best for the future.

STAFF NEWS

It is very sad that we have to say goodbye this summer to some of the staff who have worked so hard with your children in recent years. Unfortunately, the following staff are leaving but we'd like to thank them all and wish them well in their new schools and every success for the future:

Miss Miles has worked at Regents Park since 2015 and has taught in Y1, Y3 and Y6. She has also been responsible for Computing across school. We wish her well in her move from Birmingham and at her new school
Miss Wilson, Miss Hassan and Miss Ahmed have all taught at Regents Park since 2019. We also wish them all the best in their new schools.

IMPORTANT DATES SO FAR FOR 2021-2022

Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd September 2021	School CLOSED – Staff Training Days
Monday 6th September 2021	School is OPEN to all children in Y1 to Y6 with phased starts for children in Nursery and Reception
Wednesday 8^th September	Reception begin full time at school
Wednesday 13^th September	Nursery begin full half day sessions at school
Friday 22nd October 2021	School CLOSES for half term
Monday 1st November 2021	School REOPENS after half term
Friday 17^th December 2021	School CLOSES for Christmas holidays
Tuesday 4^th January 2022	School CLOSED – Staff training day
Wednesday 5^th January 2022	School REOPENS for all pupils

Please remember to keep up to date with more school news on our school website, school app, twitter and by text message.

Have a wonderful Summer everyone and we look forward to seeing you all in September.

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Beale

Headteacher

URGENT: School Closure on Monday 19th July 2021

Wed 14 Jul 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers,

Due to Eid falling on Tuesday 20^th and Wednesday 21^st July, we are having to rearrange our staff training day next week from Wednesday to Monday 19^th July.

This means school will not be open to pupils on Monday 19^th July.

Obviously, I apologise for the late notice. Like many of you, we have only just become aware that Eid will fall on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some of our staff will also be celebrating on Wednesday so I hope you will understand the reason for changing the date of the training day at short notice so that they can also celebrate with their families.

We will be open as normal on Tuesday 20^th July and Wednesday 21^st July, although I recognise that many children and families will be celebrating Eid on one of these days.

If you feel that you are a critical worker and are unable to organise childcare for Monday 19^th July at short notice, then please ring and contact the office before this Friday 16^th July and someone will speak to you about this.

Yours sincerely

Mr A Beale

Fire alarm incident at lunchtime today - 12/07/21

Mon 12 Jul 2021

Dear Parents/ Carers,

Your child/ children may have come home today and told you about an incident that happened at lunchtime when the fire alarm went off. The children were evacuated safely from the building after what was a false alarm. However, the fire alarm could not be turned off due to a fault and children had to wait outside in the playground with staff for an hour before the alarms could be reset.

This caused a lot of disruption as some children were in the middle of having their dinner and others hadn't had it yet.

Once the alarm was finally switched off and it was safe to return to the building, all the children ha dtheir dinner although later than usual.

We apologise that children were left waiting and some had theur dinner later than normal.

Thanks to all the staff who helped get lunches to the children as quickly as possible.

Mr Beale

Y7 Transition Day - Y6 children working at home on Weds 7th July

Wed 30 Jun 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers

Next Wednesday 7th July is due to be Year 7 Transition Day. Normally Y6 children would be out of school on this day visiting their new schools. However, because of COVID, many of the secondary schools are planning for children to take part in remote transition activities on this day. As there are different timetables and expectations for different schools, it is easier for children to take part in these remote tranisition activities at home so we are not expecting Y6 children to come into Regents Park next Wednesday 7th July.

Instead, children should take part in and complete the transition activities provided by secondary schools at home. We will also provide activities and work for children to complete online that will be shared with secondary schools. All these activities should be completed on that day so they can be sent on to the secondary schools. Please let us know in advance if your child needs to borrow a laptop or iPad for the day to complete the activities.

I'm sorry for the late message but unfortunately many secondary schools have not given us a lot of notice as to what they are planning to do on transition day; some haven't given us any notice at all.

If you have any issues with these arrangements that you wish to discuss, please feel free to ring the school office and a member of the leadership team will get back in touch with you.

Many thanks,

Mr Beale

Update for parents on COVID guidelines and the rest of the Summer term 2021

Fri 18 Jun 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers,

On Monday 14th June, the Government announced that there would be a delay in the further lifting of COVID restrictions which was due to take place on 21st June. This is because of concerns about what is known as the Delta COVID variant and the impact this seems to be having on increasing positive cases. As such, the Government have delayed lifting restrictions until July 19th.

Birmingham has seen a significant increase in the last few weeks and the Government has also listed the city as an "enhanced response area". Small Heath is one of the 15 wards in the city which has high COVID rates and low vaccination take-up so there will be a surge in vaccination capacity in the area. I would urge you, if you haven't already done so, to book your vaccinations as soon as possible to help lower the risk in the local area.

The Government have also issued further advice on socialising and travelling in Birmingham, including minimising travel into and out of the area and not taking unnecessary journeys. The advice is that people should:

meet outside rather than inside where possible in Birmingham
keep 2 metres apart from people that you don’t live with (unless you have formed a support bubble with them) - this includes friends and family you don’t live with
minimise travel in and out of the city

There have been a number of class bubbles that have closed in recent weeks due to positive cases. I would urge parents to follow COVID guidelines, take extra precautions and make sure that, if a child or a member of the household are showing symptoms, they get a PCR test (preferably from a testing centre) as soon as possible so we can limit any potential virus transmission.

As a result of the national guidance and the local advice, we will be keeping all of our COVID guidelines in place until the end of this term which means no change to any of the procedures currently in place. Parents are still expected to come onto the school site wearing a face covering and we will continue with the staggered start and finish to the day. Children will continue to be taught in class bubbles when indoors but will mix in year group bubbles outdoors.

This means that, unfortunately, we are not able to invite parents into school for Sports Week activities or to school assemblies this term.

Children will take part in a Sports Afternoon in their year groups and we will post as many photos of the events so you can see what they are up to.

As we have done previously this year, assemblies will be recorded and shared with the parents of the children in the class for a limited period so you can see them perform. This will include the Y6 leavers assembly.

We will aim to send out children's reports to you by Friday 9th July and you will have time to respond to the report either in writing or, if you wish to, book an appointment so that you can speak to your child's class teacher on the phone.

Just a reminder that in the last week of term, we will be closed on Wednesday 21st July for a staff training day. We will be open on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th July but we understand that many children will not be in on at least one of those days becasue of Eid-ul-Adha.

Also a reminder that school reopens for children after the Summer holiday on Monday 6th September.

We hope that with everyone remaining vigilant and more people getting a vaccination, that things will return to normal as soon as possible. We hope that everyone enjoys the rest of this term.

Thank you,

Mr Beale

Dates for the end of Summer term and the start of Autumn term 2021

Wed 09 Jun 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers,

I am writing to let you know about dates for the end of this Summer term and the start of the Autumn term in September.

For Birmingham schools, the last day of the Summer term this year is Wednesday 21st July; however, Regents Park will be CLOSED to all pupils on 21st July for a staff training day.

School will be OPEN as normal on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th July although we are aware that attendance might be affected on these dates by Eid-ul-Adha which is due to fall on one of these two days. As on previous occasions, we will be able to authorise one day of absence for families that are celebrating Eid-ul-Adha on either one of these two days.

After the Summer holiday, term dates begin on Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd September; however, Regents Park will be CLOSED to all pupils on both of those two days and they will also be used as staff training days.

This means that the first day back for pupils will be Monday 6th September.

Please contact the school office (0121 464 6746) if you have any queries about these dates.

Mr Beale

Update for parents - COVID19 guidance in school

Wed 12 May 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers,

This week the Government gave their latest update on lifting COVID19 restrictions in England. We know that there are changes that are coming in from May 17th, e.g. more social contact indoors and outdoors, relaxing social distancing amongst family and friends, etc.

The only significant change in schools involves children and staff wearing face coverings in the classroom and this mostly affects secondary schools rather than primary schools.

As such, at least until June 21st, we will be continuing with the COVID19 guidance we currently have in place at Regents Park for pupils, parents and staff which includes:

Pupils and staff should not need to wear face coverings when working in the classroom
Staff and any other adults will wear face coverings when in communal areas around school
Parents that come on to the school site to pick up children or to speak to staff will be asked to wear a face covering
Pupils will continue to remain in their class bubbles when working indoors
Pupils will be allowed to mix in year group bubbles when outdoors in the playground
The staggered start and finish of the day will continue with parents collecting children from current locations at set times
Staggered playtimes and lunchtimes will continue with KS2 children having their lunch in their classrooms
We will continue to encourage as much outdoor learning as possible whilst indoor learning areas will be kept well ventilated
Staff and any other adults in school will be encouraged to remain socially distanced where possible
Staff will be encouraged to continue using rapid flow testing kits twice a week to check for positive asymptomatic COVID19 cases in school
Pupils and staff in school will be expected to continue to follow good health and hygiene procedures in school
Pupils, families and staff will continue to be expected to engage with NHS Test & Trace and to self-isolate and get tested if they or any of their household develop symptoms

I'm sure parents will continue to be supportive of all of these measures which are designed to keep everyone safe - pupils, families and staff.

We will review them again and update you closer to the next date for restrictions to be lifted on June 21st.

Thanks again for your support and continue to stay safe,

Mr Beale

Update for parents and families celebrating Eid this week

Wed 12 May 2021 Mr Beale

Dear Parents/ Carers,

We now know that most families will be celebrating Eid tomorrow on Thursday 13th May, although there may be some who are celebrating on Friday 14th May instead. We are sure you are looking forward to a very happy and peaceful day celebrating with family and friends.

Just to remind you that we are only able to authorise one day of absence for religious observation whether this on Thursday or Friday. Unfortunately, any further absence will be marked as unauthorised.

Children that are not celebrating Eid should attend school on both days as normal.

We have rearranged our Eid Celebrations in school and this will now be on Friday 21st May when children will be able to come to school in non-uniform or their Eid clothes.

We wish Eid Mubarak to all those who are celebrating Eid this week.

Mr Beale

EUSS - European Union Settlement Scheme

Mon 10 May 2021

Birmingham City Councils European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) have sent us this information please Click here. All EU citizens currently residing in the UK are required to apply to the Home Office in order to continue to live here post Brexit. There are 3 partner organisations providing free advice and support to any European citizens living within Birmingham that require assistance with applying to the governments scheme. The deadline for making an application is June 30 2021.