Dear Parents and Carers,
Click here a letter from Kevin Gordon, the Corporate Director for Children's Services about the latest guidance on LFT.

Dear Parents and Carers,
Please find attached the arrangements regarding the school day for the start of the Summer Term.
Very little has changed for parents/carers of children in Beech, Ash, Rowan and Oak. However, please be aware that Maple Class will now be using the main entrance for drop-off and the playground for collection at the end of the day, so arriving on time will be even more important (see attachment and following bullet points). We have reminded staff of this too and we will endeavour to stick as closely to the specified times as possible. Maple Class will retain the same timings for their school day (8.50-3.15). There will be staff on hand to help Maple Class parents and children know where to go at both ends of the school day.

Please try to minimise waiting on the surrounding streets before or after your drop-off or pick-up time and please show consideration to our neighbours by parking considerately and respecting front garden/driveway boundaries.

Enjoy the last day of the holidays,
Best wishes,
Mr Horner

* If you have multiple children attending school, please drop them off at the correct time and then please wait (at a distance from other families) until subsequent times. We would ask you not to wait in the school driveway during this time as this adds to congestion. We will allow children to enter the school site approximately 5 minutes before their specified start time, assuming that other ‘bubbles’ have cleared the area. Please avoid arriving too far in advance of this time.

*At the beginning of the school day, all parents should now drop their children off at the main school gate or in the driveway (following the one-way system). Please only do this at the correct time and please do not enter the playground before school.

*At the end of the school day, Maple, Beech and Ash Class parents should not enter the school playground until just before their allocated pick up time. Please wait on the opposite side of Alchester Road. However, if you have collected a child from a different bubble, you may wait on the playground (in the correct location) until subsequent times.

Dear Parents and Carers,
We are aware that some families now have lateral flow (LFD) tests at home as part of the 'households and bubbles of pupils' scheme and that some parents are choosing to use these tests for children. Having consulted with local Public Health England colleagues, they would like us to clarify that these tests are supposed to be used for asymptomatic adults and are not intended for primary age pupils. If your child develops coronavirus symptoms, please see advice below. Your child will need a negative result from a PCR test (booked at a test centre) before they are able to return to school.

As the Easter break is nearly upon us, please remember that we need to know about any child developing COVID symptoms and requiring a test during the holidays, particularly during the first two days (Thursday 1st April and Friday 2nd April), as this may affect isolation for groups, and towards the end of the break, if isolation will affect a return to school for the Summer Term. Whilst COVID symptoms/positive results during the holidays may not affect isolation of 'bubbles' or cause time off school for your child, we would be grateful if you could keep us informed. Please use the office email address for any updates.

The most important symptoms of COVID-19 are recent onset of any of the following:
- a new continuous cough
- a high temperature
- a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)
If you have symptoms of COVID-19, arrange to have a PCR test if you have not already had one. Stay at home while you are waiting for a home self-sampling kit, a test site appointment or a test result. Do not use the rapid lateral flow testing service as this is only for people without symptoms.

Link to explain use of LFD tests.
Households and bubbles of pupils, students and staff of schools, nurseries and colleges: get rapid lateral flow tests - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Iain Horner Headteacher
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are really looking forward to welcoming all our pupils back to Chesterton on Monday. Lots has changed since some of you were last in school, especially with our new, extra-large playground!

Please find attached a document to explain logistics and organisation for the return to school. You will be aware of some of the content from the Autumn Term's arrangements, but please take the time to re-read the whole document and pay particular attention to any blue text (new information). Please note that timings/drop-off locations may now be different for your child/ren.

Specific information relating to pick-up and drop-off for each 'bubble' will follow tomorrow.
Kind regards,
Mr Horner

Dear Parents & Staff
We are writing to let you know that households, childcare and support bubbles of primary school children and staff will have access to regular lateral flow testing made available to them as schools reopen.

This link will give you more information including where and how to access tests should you wish to participate.
About 1 in 3 people with coronavirus do not have symptoms but can still pass it on to others. Regular testing of people without symptoms is important to help stop the virus spreading and protect...

Please note: Tests are not available from school.

Please also download a letter from Kevin Gordon, the Corporate Director for Children's Services regarding the return to school on March 8th


Dear Parents and Carers,
Following the Government announcement earlier this week, we are looking forward to seeing all pupils back in school on the 8th March! I will write to you with further details regarding organisation and logistics for our full return to school in due course, but please be reassured that Chesterton will be fully open from this date. Organisation will be broadly similar to what you and your children will have been used to during the Autumn Term, so we don't foresee any major issues with adapting back to life in school.

In the meantime, please note the following:

School Meals: We will continue to serve a hot meal option for Lower School only, and cold options for the whole school, at least until Easter. We will be changing to the Summer menu after the Easter holiday and also hope to re-introduce the hot option for Upper School children if possible.
Please ensure you place your meal orders for w/c 8th March by Wednesday 3rd March.

Breakfast Club & Tree House: Our wrap-around care will be available for all year groups from Monday 8th March. Although there will be a range of activities available, we are currently unable to offer our usual timetable of Tree House activities, so the club will be purely for parents who need after-school care. We are hoping that, after Easter, we will be able to extend the activities on offer. Bookings should be made in the normal way via Scopay.

Kind Regards,
Mr Horner & The School Office Team


Please note if you are a key worker parent you will receive an additional email!

Dear Parents and Carers,
This will be the first of a series of emails, from me, the office or class teachers, regarding arrangements for Home Learning and other matters associated with 'Reduced Provision'.

First of all, a heartfelt thank you for the many messages of support that we have received since yesterday evening's announcement. As always, the positive comments that we receive from Chesterton families are hugely encouraging for all of the staff and it means a lot to know that our efforts are appreciated. As you can imagine, school is not 'closed' in every sense of the word and teachers are currently working very hard to put together a package of Remote Learning for their pupils. Given the timing of the announcement, and the fact that the staff had all planned this term's topics for face-to-face teaching, this is no small task! Therefore, we ask for your patience and understanding whilst this is prepared.

By tomorrow, we hope to have uploaded some general curriculum enrichment documents for each class, similar to our usual termly Home Learning, that will give you a multitude of ideas for activities and tasks to engage your children for the rest of this week. Teachers may supplement this with additional tasks as the week progresses. All our usual favourite educational websites, including PhonicsPlay, Mathletics and TT Rockstars, also have many engaging activities for the children to access and the links on last term's Home Learning Documents may also be useful. Please be aware that the school website format has changed (with a password required for accessing photos), but all the usual content should still be available. More information regarding password access to follow soon.

From Monday (11th January), we will be returning to the format that most of you will be familiar with from the first lockdown: weekly timetables for each class with a full range of activities for each lesson and supporting resources. Teachers will be in regular contact 'virtually' through video conferencing (for pupils) and email (for parents). Please look out for further details on this from your child's class, as the format will differ depending on the age of the pupils. Please be aware that this 'virtual' contact will not take the form of whole class online teaching.
If you require any support with the Home Learning curriculum, or have any issues with accessing the material online, please don't hesitate to contact the teachers and they will assist you. Printed versions of resources can be organised and collected from the school office if necessary.

Office and Senior Leadership staff will be in school each day, so please feel free to contact via email or telephone with any other questions or concerns. If your child has items at school (e.g. wellies, school bag, a lunchbox growing mould...!) that you would like to collect, please contact the school office and this can be arranged.

Lastly, although we are no longer fully open to pupils, it is imperative for the school to be kept informed of any COVID-19 symptoms that arise over the next day (before 4.00pm on Weds 6th January) as this may affect contact tracing. If your child attends school at any point during Reduced Provision, please continue to follow the usual guidelines regarding symptoms and isolation, as this may well have an impact for staff and other pupils in school.

That's all for now!
With very best wishes,
Mr Horner


Dear Parents and Carers,
I am writing to you following the announcement from the Prime Minister that schools will be 'closed' to the majority of pupils from tomorrow. This is obviously not the news that any of us wanted to hear, but sadly seemed inevitable given the current situation in the country. The messages that I have already received from staff this evening are those of sadness that we won’t be seeing most pupils in person over the coming weeks and I share those wholeheartedly.

As the announcement has come at such short notice to communicate our plans to families, this email will only cover immediate arrangements for tomorrow (Tuesday 5th January). Further details and clarification, along with full Home Learning resources, will follow in due course and we ask for your understanding and patience while this is being prepared.

Tomorrow, the school will only be open to children of 'Key Workers', who cannot otherwise be looked after at home. Those of you with children in Year 1 to 6 will be aware of the definition of these roles. Those of you with children only in Reception, please see below for further details. I have no reason at this point to believe that this definition has changed. We will update you in the coming days if this is the case.

If an adult is at home tomorrow (for example, if one parent is a key worker and the other is working from home), we ask that you please do not bring your children to school to allow us the maximum possible capacity to organise fully for the coming weeks.

If you do urgently require provision for your child/children tomorrow and meet Key Worker status, please contact the office as soon as possible via email. The same applies to Breakfast Club and Tree House (tomorrow only – this provision may change). The school day will run from 8.50 – 3.15 – entry will be via the school hall. If your child does not need to attend, there is no need to reply.

Until I write to you again, we wish you and your families the very best.
Kind regards,
Mr Horner

Key Worker passage from March 2020 letter
We are asking parents to inform the school if they believe they meet the key worker criteria and would like their child to be considered for a place in the 'reduced provision'. Please remember that your child should only attend school, "If your work is critical to the COVID-19 response, or you work in one of the critical sectors listed, and you cannot keep your child safe at home. Many parents working in these sectors may be able to ensure their child is kept at home. And every child who can be safely cared for at home should be. This is an offer to parents and carers and there is no requirement for parents and carers to send their children to school if they do not need or wish to do so."
Please do consider this, as children remaining at home wherever possible will support the government's aim of preventing further spread of the virus. ("If children can stay safely at home, they should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading.").
You may also notice that schools have been encouraged to support 'vulnerable children' and families. If your child is included in this group, the school will contact you directly.

Key Worker List
1. Health and social care
This includes but is not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

2. Education and childcare
This includes nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach.

3. Key public services
This includes those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting.

4. Local and national government
This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms’ length bodies.

5. Food and other necessary goods
This includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines).

6. Public safety and national security
This includes police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.

7. Transport
This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.

8. Utilities, communication and financial services
This includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure), the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors.


Download
Dear Parents and Carers,
I understand that some parents will be anxious about the return to school; myself and the staff share in some of those feelings. However, I would like to re-iterate that the school risk assessments have been fully reviewed, discussed with colleagues at OCC and Public Health and shared with staff. We are all committed to reducing the risks as much as we possibly can to protect all members of the school community, including ourselves. These risk assessments and procedures were reviewed throughout the last half term and will continue to be in the future, however we must be realistic that it is not possible to eliminate the risk altogether.

In addition to the email and document sent on Friday, which I would ask you to refer to if you haven’t done so already, I would like to add the following points.

Cleaning & Handwashing

• The school was fully cleaned over the three days remaining before half-term, with additional cleaning last week. This, along with the amount of the time that the school has been empty, vastly reduces the risk of infection and meets PHE requirements.
• Additional cleaning during the school day of frequently touched surfaces or resources, in both classrooms and communal areas, has been taking place and will continue to do so. Staff have obviously been reminded of this before we return to school.
• Children and staff are required to wash their hands and/or use hand sanitiser on multiple occasions throughout the day. The importance of this will continue to be emphasised.

Bubbles

• Our school remains divided into three ‘bubbles’: Maple Class, Beech/Ash Class and Apple/Oak Class. For a number of reasons, including staffing levels, shared facilities and split year groups, it is not possible to divide the school any further. Pupils do not mix with those in other bubbles during the school day.
• Movement of staff between bubbles has been, and will continue to be, minimised. For logistical reasons and safe supervision of the children, it is not possible to ensure that all staff remain with the same bubble for the whole school week. However, on the limited occasions that a staff member is working with/supervising a different bubble, additional efforts will be made to maintain distancing etc.
• Additional measures will be taken to further reduce contact between staff members, including the requirement to wear face coverings for adults in internal communal areas.

Classrooms

• Classrooms doors and windows will continue to be opened as much as is possible to aid ventilation and increase air flow, particularly in any shared spaces. Children and staff will be permitted to wear additional layers (coats etc.) if necessary as the weather is becoming colder.
• Seating will continue to be arranged in the classroom to avoid children sitting opposite one another. There are occasions when children will need to sit/stand in other locations, but this will only be if necessary and they will continue to use their personal resources (if applicable).

Drop Off & Pick Up

• We are confident that the new arrangements will reduce congestion and aid distancing for parents and carers.
• Some parents have asked about the mandatory wearing of face coverings. Whilst this is not part of our risk assessment, any adult attending the school ‘gates’ is encouraged to wear a face covering if they feel it necessary or if they don’t feel able to maintain social distancing. Please do not enter the school driveway (Lower School) or cross the road (Upper School) until the appropriate time.
• These arrangements will be continually under review, as before half-term, and further changes will be made if necessary. Please read the guidelines carefully and be considerate of other parents / families.

Thank you for taking the time to read this information. I hope that it answers some of the questions that you might have. If you would like further clarification on any of the school’s risk reduction measures, please contact the school office and we will endeavour to get back to you as quickly as possible.
Kind regards, 
Mr I. Horner - Headteacher
Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope that you and your families are doing well, despite this being a very different half-term spent in some degree of isolation for a large number of us. I appreciate that this has been a very difficult and worrying time for many members of our school community. Hopefully, the information below will provide some reassurance. Given the number of cases in the local area and across the country, this may not be the last time we have to make the difficult decision to close part or all of the school. However, we will be making every effort to avoid a re-occurrence, while continuing to provide a varied and enriching curriculum for your children.

Thank you for keeping the school informed throughout the past week and a half, for the supportive comments and for your messages of concern for other members of the school community – they have been very much appreciated. I am pleased to report that most symptoms seem to have been relatively mild and those individuals who have been most unwell are making good recoveries. If you have not yet informed school about a potential case, please contact the office at the earliest opportunity, stating the date of first symptoms, date of test and date of any result.

I appreciate that the information below and on the attached document is lengthy, but it all applies specifically to Chesterton School and I would be very grateful if you could take the time to read it and, if necessary, discuss with your children.

Return to school and isolation periods
For some families, mandatory isolation periods will affect the start of the new half-term. As you should be aware, Maple and Beech Class will re-open on Tuesday 3rd November, whilst Ash, Apple and Oak remain closed for an additional day, opening on Wednesday. Please look out for Home Learning for Tuesday if your class is closed. If members of your family still need to isolate once your child’s class is open, either as a result of a more recent positive test or as a 14-day ‘contact’ quarantine is finishing, some pupils will not be able to return to school straight away. Please continue to keep the office informed if this affects you or your child. If your child is able to attend school after completing a period of isolation, but you are unable to transport them to school (due to continuing ‘contact’ isolation), please contact the school office as we may be able to assist.

Organisation and Start Times
As we are nearing the return to school, I am writing to inform you of a few changes to our organisation and timings (see attached document). Some aspects of this were already planned after reviewing the procedures last half term and some are as a result of the COVID cases at Chesterton and the rising numbers across Oxfordshire. Please be aware that the school staff have been reviewing all aspects of our risk assessment and advice has been sought from Public Health England and the Local Authority. You will of course be informed of any elements that affect what we will be asking of parents.
As before, we appreciate your patience and understanding with any inconvenience caused by staggered drop-off and pick up times or by these changes. There is no perfect system, especially given the space constraints of our site, but we feel that these adaptations should make it easier to avoid congestion and maintain social-distancing. In order to do this, we ask that you read the attachment carefully, even though you will be familiar with some aspects of it.

Early / Late Arrivals
We appreciate that the morning routine can be challenging for a number of reasons, but please do everything that you can to avoid arriving later than the allotted time. Doing so will make it more difficult to keep children separate from those in a different bubble and may require additional contacts with staff in the office. Please also avoid arriving too early. Maple Class children will be allowed into the hall just before their start time of 8.40. The gate will only be opened for the Beech/Ash ‘bubble’ once Maple families have cleared the driveway (and not before 8.45). However, please note that pupils will be stood on the playground until their class start time.

Lower School Parents (*please note this advice will be new to Maple Class parents)
To help ease congestion at the end of the day as much as possible, when it is your class’ turn to be collected, can I ask parents to keep moving forwards into the driveway as space becomes available? Obviously, we ask you to maintain a safe distance whilst you do so. When you near the front, you will then be called to collect your child from the teacher by the school hall. In order to avoid cross-over, we will not be sending pupils to parents waiting a distance away. We then ask you to make your way out as quickly as possible past the school office and out of the school gate, using the one-way system. If you then need to collect another child from a different class, please wait on the opposite side of Alchester Road until the appropriate time.

Contact with staff
Unless urgent, or approached by a member of staff, please avoid stopping to talk to staff members at drop-off and pick-up time as this can add to congestion and make it difficult for staff to fully supervise.

If you have any questions regarding these arrangements or require clarification as to when a child can return to school, please don’t hesitate to contact the school (office.3082@chesterton.oxon.sch.uk) or (head.3082@chesterton.oxon.sch.uk) as these accounts will be monitored over the next few days.
Kind regards,
Mr I. Horner - Headteacher
Dear Upper School Parents and Carers,
Apologies for the delay in contacting you again. The remaining test results have been slow to come through. I am writing to inform you that we have unfortunately now received one positive test result for an individual in close contact with Upper School pupils. This individual’s symptoms were identified within 48 hours of the last contact with Upper School, and test results were confirmed late last night. Unfortunately, test results do not all come through at the same speed and there was also a wait to speak to PHE this morning, hence the delay in informing you.
Although a number of days have passed since the school was closed, the last contact for the class with this positive case, within 48 hours of the person developing symptoms, was Tuesday 20th October. After discussing with our local PHE team, and in line with the national guidance, your child must unfortunately now stay at home and self-isolate until midnight on Tuesday 3rd November. If your child is well at the end of the 14 days period of self-isolation, then they can return to school on Wednesday 4th November (second day of the new half-term). Upper School will therefore unfortunately be closed on Tuesday 3rd November. Our apologies in advance for any inconvenience that may cause, but we must follow the guidelines given to us by PHE.
Dear Ash Class Parents and Carers,
I am writing to inform you that we have unfortunately now received one additional positive test result for an individual in close contact with Ash Class pupils, in addition to the one that we notified you about on Wednesday morning.
The last contact with a positive case for the class, within 48 hours of a person developing symptoms, is now Tuesday 20th October. In line with the national guidance, your child must unfortunately now stay at home for slightly longer and self-isolate until midnight on Tuesday 3rd November. If your child is well at the end of the 14 days period of self-isolation, then they can return to school on Wednesday 4th November (second day of the new half-term).
Dear Beech Class Parents and Carers,
I am writing to inform you that we have unfortunately now received two additional positive test results for individuals in close contact with Beech Class pupils, in addition to the one that we notified you about on Tuesday morning.
The last contact with a positive case for the class, within 48 hours of a person developing symptoms, is now Monday 19th October. In line with the national guidance, your child must unfortunately now stay at home for slightly longer and self-isolate until midnight on Monday 2nd November. If your child is well at the end of the 14 days period of self-isolation, then they can return to school on Tuesday 3rd November (first day of the new half-term).
Regrettably, I have to inform you that we have had to make the decision to close the school for the remainder of this week (Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd October) as a result of COVID-19 factors.

I appreciate that this is very short notice, but, as with yesterday’s decision, there have been further developments overnight that we have had to take into consideration. This is not a decision that any school wants to make but, unfortunately, we are now in the position where there is not a sufficient staffing level to open the school safely. Whilst there have been no further positive tests results received at this point, we have some staff displaying symptoms and awaiting test results, some isolating as a result of contact in school and some as a result of contact tracing. At this point, it seems very unlikely that results will be received in time to re-open the school safely before the half-term holiday.

Therefore, all Ash, Apple and Oak Class children should stay at home today and tomorrow, returning to school after half-term on Tuesday 3rd November. At this point, there is no official requirement for these children to isolate as they have not been in contact with a confirmed case. We will inform you at the earliest opportunity if this changes.

The situation remains unchanged for Maple and Beech pupils.

Pupils in all classes at school do not need to get a test at this point, unless experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Please see yesterday’s Public Health England letter for further clarification.

We have currently received no positive test results for pupils, but please continue to keep us informed if your child has required a test and subsequently whether the result is positive or negative. Although the school is closed, this may affect isolation requirements for other pupils.

I am writing to you at the earliest opportunity, before seeking additional advice from Public Health England when the helpline re-opens later this morning. If we are given further instruction, I will write to you again with more details. I appreciate that this will cause inconvenience for many of you, but the health and safety of our pupils, staff and wider school community has to come first. Myself and the staff are deeply frustrated and saddened that we are in this situation and look forward to being back on track after half-term.

In the first instance, you should refer to the Home Learning activities on the school website and the timetable. We will be in touch with further advice and resources should that be necessary.

In the meantime, please confirm receipt of this email and let any other parents know who might not have checked emails. If necessary, please contact the school office by email for further information. However, please be aware that the office staff are likely to be busy.

Kind regards,
Mr Horner
Dear Maple Class Parents and Carers,
As you know, we have been made aware that we have a confirmed positive case of coronavirus (COVID-19) at Chesterton Primary School. Thank you for your co-operation this morning with making arrangements at very short notice and for the many supportive messages that we have received.
We have followed the national guidance and have identified that your child’s class has been in close contact with the affected person. In line with the national guidance, your child must unfortunately stay at home and self-isolate until midnight on Friday 30th October. Maple Class and Beech Class will therefore remain closed for the rest of this week, re-opening after half-term on Tuesday 3rd November. If your child is well at the end of the 14 days period of self-isolation, then they can return to usual activities from Saturday 31st October onwards.
Letter for Maple and Beech classes Letter for Ash, Apple and Oak classes

Unfortunately, I have to inform you that we are closing Maple and Beech Class today (Tuesday 20th October) as a precaution following a positive COVID test result from a member of staff. I appreciate that this is very short notice, but notification of this positive test result was received overnight. All Maple and Beech Class children should stay at home tomorrow, but do not need to get a test at this point, unless experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Please see this Public Health England letter for further clarification. Siblings in other classes or settings are able to attend, unless experiencing symptoms as they have not been direct contacts of anyone with symptoms.

I am writing to you at the earliest opportunity, before seeking additional advice from Public Health England when the helpline re-opens later this morning. Once we have been given further instruction, I will write to you again with more details. I appreciate that this may cause inconvenience for many of you, but the health and safety of our pupils and staff has to come first.

In the first instance, you should refer to the Home Learning activities on the school website and the timetable. We will be in touch with further advice and resources should that be necessary.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please confirm receipt of this email and let any other parents know who might not have checked emails. If necessary, please contact the school office by telephone or email for further information. However, please be aware that the office is likely to be busy at the start of the school day and our staff team may be stretched at this time.

Kind regards
Mr Horner It has been a very encouraging start to school and the small number of parents who have had to contact us regarding absence due to illness over the past few days have been extremely supportive regarding following the correct procedure. To reassure parents, to date, no child or staff member at the school has tested positive for COVID-19.
We have had a few requests for clarification regarding what course of action needs to be taken for what symptoms.

Advice for parents: Test and Trace

Coronavirus in children
Children can get coronavirus (COVID-19), but they seem to get it less often than adults and it's usually less serious.
Symptoms of coronavirus in children
The main symptoms of coronavirus are:

• a high temperature
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot, for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
• a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – this means they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

What to do if your child has symptoms

• Contact the school to notify of their absence
• Get a test to check if they have coronavirus as soon as possible.
• Stay at home and do not have visitors until you get the test result – only leave your home to have a test.
• Anyone you live with, and anyone in your support bubble, must also stay at home until you get the result.

Other Symptoms
If your child develops other symptoms at home (e.g. sore throat, headache, cold like symptoms) they may still be able to attend school but, as always, the decision lies with parents as to whether the child is too unwell to come to school. For symptoms other than the Coronavirus symptoms listed above, the school will not expect you to seek a test or to isolate. If you are unsure, feel free to check with the school office.
Our usual protocol for sending children home from school if unwell still applies. We will not ask a parent/carer to collect a child unless they are displaying the key symptoms for COVID-19 or if they are not well enough to remain in school for another reason (e.g. sickness). For 'non-COVID' symptoms, we will often encourage the child to see how it goes for a little while, whilst keeping them under observation, to avoid unnecessary calls to parents/carers.

The 48 hour rule for absence due to diarrhoea and vomiting still applies.

Kind regards,
Mr Horner and the School Office Team

School photographs
We are writing to let you know that the school photographer will be coming into school next Wednesday 16th September at 9am.
This year, owing to current guidelines and restrictions, we can only offer individual photos. Children will be taken into the hall in their class groups and have a head and shoulders picture taken standing up. The School Photography Company have produced a risk assessment and their photographer will follow guidelines set by the school.
Children will bring home a bar coded card for ordering prints online.

Advice if your child is unwell or injured

Returning to Primary Sch - what parents need to know

Latest Government advice, last updated 1st Sept

Letter from Kevin Gordon, Director for Children’s Services


If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
If any families are due to be subject to quarantine restrictions when term starts, having returned from specific countries, please notify the school office as soon as possible.
Kind regards, Mr Horner

Letter explaining full details for the start of the new academic year

2020-21 New School Year Organisation


We hope you are all enjoying the Summer holidays! This is the first of various updates/reminders that will be coming your way over the next couple of weeks.
The first day of term is Thursday 3rd September; further details will follow about logistics and also staggered starts where appropriate.

We will be continuing with our cold meal lunch options for at least the first three weeks of term, please look out for further updates. If you would like your child to have the cold option from the beginning of term, please order online in the normal way by 4pm Wednesday 26th August. If your child is going into Year 3 you will now need to pay for school lunches by loading your Scopay account first. (please note if you are eligible for free school meals via Universal Credit, you just need to order in the normal way and will not be charged.)
The menu is posted on the school website here
If you are new to school and are not sure of the process, please contact the school office via email.

We are hopeful that our wrap-around care (Breakfast Club and Tree House) will be able to re-start in the Autumn Term and have set a provisional date of Monday 14th September for this to commence. We will contact you in the first week of term to confirm details.