Headteacher's Updates

4 January 2021 Chair of Governors’ and Headteacher’s Update. - Important School Closure Update

Dear pupils and parents and carers,

After Boris Johnson’s announcement tonight, I now feel very disappointed that we will not all be together again in school tomorrow. I am sure you must be feeling in a similar way-sad not to be able to see your friends and teachers, disappointed not to be able to learn in school, worried about when everything might get back to normal. However, if closing school keeps everyone safer and means a return to how school used to be, then we all need to look for the best in the situation. It’s time for all of us, as part of Cherry Hinton C of E Primary, to remember our values of ACT and to act them out.

Boris’ announcement has come late in the day and only hours before we were due to open as one kind of school only to find we now need to be open as a different kind of school. We have no guidance from the Department of Education as yet and need time to prepare for this change.

In discussion with the Rev. Karin, the Chair of Governors we have decided that school will remain closed tomorrow to all pupils. We will open to keyworker children and vulnerable children on Wednesday 6^th January. Our remote learning provision will also be available from then.

If you are keyworkers and have not notified the school office that you would like your child to attend school then please do so as soon as possible. We will be in touch tomorrow with further details.

Thank you everyone for your understanding in this tricky situation.

I will not be seeing you all on the gate, but we will have a Zoom collective worship very soon.

With very best wishes

Sally Haiselden and The Rev. Karin

Reporting a positive case

Please report a positive test result of a pupil as soon as possible by phoning the school office on

01223 568834.

If you receive a positive test result out of school hours (evenings or weekends) then please call this number-

07827417271

Leave a message or a text with-

• Your name
• Your child's name
• Your child's year group
• A contact phone number

A member of staff will get back to you.  

4th September 2020

Welcoming you back next week. 

 

Below is a letter answering many of your back to school questions.

There are two useful attachments:

Important information on how engage with Test and Trace.

A 'Welcome back to school' booklet from the Local Authority.

 

Letter answering many of your back to school questions

 

3^rd September 2020

Dear Parents/Carers and children,

School in September

The purpose of this letter is to answer some of the questions you may have about the return to school next week.

Health and safety

A copy of the current COVID-19 risk assessment has been shared with governors and approved by the local authority and is available on the website under Parents- September opening. Particular measures we have put in place to keep pupils and staff safe in school include:

Hand sanitiser stations outside classroom entry/exit points

Pedal bins

Toilet seats with lids

Increased ventilation with windows and doors open

Enhanced cleaning of key areas at lunchtime

Increased cleaner hours to ensure thorough cleaning in classrooms

These are in addition to:

Regular handwashing during the day

Forward facing desks

Bubbles

With the return to school of whole classes we have planned to have a whole class as a bubble. This means that inside school we will limit as far as possible the interaction between bubbles and the movement of staff between bubbles. At break and lunchtimes as children will be outside, these bubbles will enlarge into a KS1 and a KS2 bubble.

Face coverings

The government is not recommending universal use of face coverings in all schools. The current guidance states, ‘Primary school children will not need to wear a face covering.’ In our school, as we have so many outside doors and the movement of adults and children around school will be limited, staff do not need to wear face coverings. I will keep this under review.

 

Sickness

If your child has any COVID like symptoms please do not send them to school. Also, if staff think your child has developed symptoms during the school day we will call you and ask you to come and pick your child up promptly. Details of how to engage with the Test and Trace process will be sent out with this letter and are also available on the school website under Parents-September Opening.

The school day

We will have staggered start times in September. The reason for this is to limit congestion at drop off and pick up and so we can have a safe, quick movement of children into and out of the school grounds. To help with this we do ask parents and carers to be prompt, not too early, and to move away from the school grounds as quickly as possible. Staff will be out to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Siblings can be dropped at the same time but please drop off at the earliest time and pick up at the latest time. Drop off and pick up will be just inside the main gate.

Lunchtime will be for 45 minutes so the staggered start times do not make for much longer school days. All children will get the length of school day they had in the past.

Lunch

For the first few weeks of term we ask everyone to bring a packed lunch. Our caterers will provide a packed lunch for our free school meals children. Moving onto hot lunch provision will occur as soon as possible and we will keep you informed.

School uniform

Please send your child to school as usual in school uniform.

Attendance

Expectations around attendance are back to how they were before lock down. All pupils are expected to attend full time. The whole school target is attendance of above 96%. If your child is absent from school it is important that you contact the school office. This is really important if your child is absent because they have symptoms of COVID-19. 

What to bring to school

Children need to bring a water bottle, a change of shoes for outside and ACT ACTIVE, a packed lunch and a coat. Each child will be given their own ‘pencil case’ with all of the resources they need in it. Children will keep their bag and coat at their work station in class so we ask that they do not bring in too many additional items.

With increased ventilation in school, classrooms will feel cooler than usual, so please make sure your child comes with a sweatshirt.

Please do not bring in pencil cases or footballs from home. To avoid congestion around pick up and drop off, please also do not bring bikes or scooters to school.

Curriculum

We will be welcoming back children who will have had a range of learning experiences during lockdown, some of whom have been away from school for over a term. We need to make sure pupils are ready to learn, able to learn and eager to learn. The Back to School survey from July in which we captured parent and child thoughts about a return to school has been considered carefully in planning we have put in place for the first few weeks of term.

Teachers will do what they always do at the beginning of the academic year to build a relationship with your child in order to support them academically and emotionally. This September the first 3 weeks will be devoted to this, to strike a balance between identifying gaps, securing basic skills in maths and English but providing a broad and balanced curriculum from the outset. Teachers will use a quality text or a book they know well as the resource to plan this work from, with maths and English in the morning and the afternoon foundation subjects. The afternoon will also be used by staff to work 1:1 with pupils as a follow up to the morning’s work. We will also support the children with any anxieties they may have about their learning, safety, friendships or just being in a new year group. This will be done through PHSE sessions, reflection linked to school values, backed up by our positive behaviour policy, and the emotional well-being strategies we have had in place already since 1 June.

P.E.

Pupils will be doing P.E outside. Children do not need to bring a P.E. kit to school. On P.E. days we ask that they come in their P.E kit. We will not be asking them to change in school.

Transition meetings for parents

To support parents, during the third week we will hold a parents meeting via Zoom. This will be a chance for parents to get to know the class teacher better and to ask questions about the curriculum and for the teacher to explain how any gaps in learning will be addressed.

Teacher: Parent communication

Not being able to come into school means that those informal playground conversations with parents about their children will not be able to happen as they used to. As usual, any pressing concerns about your child will be shared with you over the phone by the class teacher. However as a staff we have discussed the need this year to get to know your child in even more depth more quickly than usual so that a secure bond between teacher and pupil can be established. We also think that during learning at home, you may have developed more of an understanding of how your child learns and what they learn. We want to keep you informed more about what they learn and want to find out from you what they like doing. With this in mind we will be sending out a brief, optional online questionnaire in which we will ask you what your child enjoys doing at home and at the weekends. You as the parent can often explain this better than your child who may take, for example, cycling all day Saturday as a norm. If there are any other changes in circumstances that you think may have an impact on your child then please also feel free to share those in the questionnaire.

Beyond the start of term

Please be assured that many of the things that go on in school that make Cherry Hinton Primary school what it is do not have to stop because of COVID-19. Collective worship, topic, ACT ACTIVE, Trees Matter, Eco-Warriors, house points, Gold Book and all the other enrichment activities for example trips, music lessons and after school activities will happen. We are working hard of thinking how to do all of these to be as safe and inclusive as possible.

The first three weeks back will also give us chance to identify any individual and cohort gaps in learning. Teachers have been asked to look at any key criteria in science, history and geography that need to be re-visited or woven into planning for this year.

Writing will be a particular teaching and learning focus as it is perhaps the area of learning to have suffered the most in lockdown.

How you can help us to help you.

Engage with Test and Trace.

Do not send your child to school if they are ill.

Drop off and collect your child promptly and do not linger at the gates.

Ensure the school office has an up to date emergency contact number for you.

Ensure that your phone is on so school can contact you at any time.

Regularly check parentmail.

Engage with the ways we are engaging with you.

A message from the Chair of governors

‘Just a few days now till we throw open the doors of Cherry Hinton Primary to welcome children back to school. Everyone here has been working so hard to make sure that children will feel safe and happy when they return. Nevertheless there are bound to be some anxieties and fears around...please do make sure you read this letter carefully, and if you have further questions, check out the  risk assessment which you can find on the school's website. 

Two big headline messages I'd like to stress: first it's really important that you do not, this year, send your children in if they have any symptoms of illness, with the exception of a drippy nose. COVID can present in many different ways, so anyone displaying symptoms will have to be sent home, which is distressing and disruptive for everyone. 

But the second point is really good news: because children with symptoms of any illness won't be in school, and because of all the hygiene measures in place, this is likely to be the healthiest year ever for most children... let's all work to make it so!

With huge thanks to the valiant cleaners, caretaker, caterers, teachers, TAs, and Head at CHPS for the ways they've adjusted to these very strange times... and to you parents and carers for all your support, 

Revd Karin

Chair of Governors’ 

Finally…

Looking forward to a fun, safe start of the new academic year.

See you on the gate next week!

With best wishes

Sally Haiselden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2^nd September

RETURN TO SCHOOL

Dear parents/carers and children,

We are looking forward to opening our gates next week and getting school up and running again. 

This email is to confirm start dates and times. A more detailed email will be sent out this week the intent of which is to answer some of the questions you may have around re-opening, for example,  health and safety measures in place, pick up/drop off procedures, curriculum and teacher/parent communication. 

Monday 7th - Yr 4, 5 and 6 return and are in full time from then on.

Tuesday 8th - Yr 2 and 3 return and are in full time from then on.

Wednesday 9th - Yr 1 return and are all in full time from then on. 

The school day will be-

Yr 4,5 and 6 - 8.45am to 3pm

Yr 2 and 3 - 8.55am- 3.10pm

Yr1 - 9.05am to 3.20pm. 

All drop offs and pick ups at the main gate not the main reception. Siblings can be dropped at the same time; please drop off at the earliest time and pick up at the latest. 

See you then!

Best wishes

Sally Haiselden.