We are really pleased with how the children have settled back into school and it has been so lovely to see our school routines getting back to normal. Whole school assemblies have been lovely, especially hearing all the children singing together!

This week, we were privileged to have a presentation from James in Year 6 on Deafness. James’s brother, Jasper, has just joined us in Reception. James was involved in a project on Equality in the Summer Term and choose Deafness as his project focus because of his family connections. We were all impressed with James, and learnt about how society has responded to deafness both now and in the past, and how we can support children, and in particular Jasper, who have hearing loss.

In the assembly, I also talked to the children about our Global Curriculum and the process of ‘learn, think, act’. We discussed what ‘act’ might ‘look like’ in a global context for the children in our school. We agreed that, for our youngest children, this may be helping their friends, looking after their toys etc. By the time the children get to the top of the school this may have a wider context: it could be raising money for charities, taking individual action to prevent climate change etc. It has been lovely how many children have responded to this and how many global badges I have been able to award in recognition of their globally aware ‘actions’.

I really hope that you have all had a lovely summer. We are very pleased to see all of the children and welcome our new Reception children into school.

As I wrote in July, we no longer need to organise our school into bubbles or continue with staggered starts. However, I would like to reassure you that we still have many COVID measures in place and will do everything we can to ensure the continued safety of all children and staff. We have revised our full Risk Assessment which is on our Statutory Information page. We also have a written Contingency Plan should we have 5 or more cases in a group of staff or children who may have mixed closely or if there is a new variant of concern. All staff have taken lateral flow tests prior to returning to school.

As we learn more about COVID, it is clear that good ventilation is an effective measure to reduce the risk of transmission. As we have done previously, we will be ensuring adequate ventilation at all times. The government have announced that they will be sending carbon dioxide monitors to all schools in the Autumn Term to allow us to check air quality. As soon as I know more details of this, I will let you know. In the meantime, especially as the weather is cooler at the moment, please send your child in with an extra layer.

Our plans are all drafted with regard to the following government guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/schools-coronavirus-covid-19-operational-guidance

Please could I also remind you that attendance in school is now mandatory for all children and we will continue to monitor this closely. All holidays and excursions will be unauthorised and should be discouraged. Full details of our attendance policy and any sanctions are detailed in the attendance policy which is published on our website.

Here’s to a happy new school year!