I cannot believe how quickly this term is flying by. All the children have now settled in really well and we have even had a few days of 100% attendance, which is fantastic!

Our COVID procedures and routines are almost second nature and certainly seem like the ‘new normal’. We do, however, come across aspects of our provision that do not work so well and we are continually updating our procedures and risk assessments.

We have looked at our morning drop off arrangements and have identified a few aspects that we need to change to avoid congestion in the Class 2 outdoor area and promote good hand hygiene when children are arriving into school. So, from tomorrow:

• Class 4 are going to access their classroom from the door at the side of the school. (Their usual entrance and exit and the one currently also used by Class 3.)
• Children will now enter the building or classroom with their belongings, put them away and then sanitise their hands. At the moment, they are struggling to sanitise whilst holding on to book bags and lunches etc. They are then picking their bags up again transferring anything that could be there back onto their hands!

Please ask children to minimise the amount they bring in. For most days, they only need to carry a book bag and lunch bag with potentially a water bottle, if it does not fit in either bag. For the remainder of Bikeability, to reduce the amount they have to bring in, children can come to school in the clothes they are doing Bikeability in.

Please encourage your children to carry in their own belongings where possible. As those who attended the Curriculum launch last year will know, increasing independence amongst our children is a key area of development for us. Carrying their own bags, even if they are young,  is a small but significant step towards this!

We are really pleased with how well the curriculum information sessions have gone and have had very positive feedback. Once the question and answer session has taken place, we will put a copy of the content on the class pages. Please do email us though if you need any further clarification about any aspects of the curriculum. The Year 1 and 2 session takes place tomorrow; I will send a reminder of the link. The Reception and Nursery session will take place next week and a link to the Power Point will be sent on Friday.

We have now finished baselining all the children and have identified any gaps in learning as a result of remote education and partial school closure. If your child needs an intervention or there is any aspect that we need to work on, you will be contacted by their class teacher. We will give you details of what we will cover, when the intervention will take place and how you can help at home. These sessions will not only cover areas to ensure children achieve the expected levels but will, in some instances, ensure children achieve a greater depth understanding, if we feel this is appropriate.  In a few instances, interventions may take place before or after school with in our staggered drop off and pick up times. We will talk to you individually if this is the case.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about any of the above.