As you will be aware, the proposed government plan is to see a phased return to school starting from 1st June, when nursery, reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils are likely to be returning in the first phase of the plan.
As with all schools, we have been given specific guidance and will be working hard in the next couple of weeks to prepare for the planned return, ensuring the safest possible return for your children. We are sure that your children may well be excited at the thought of seeing their friends and teachers again but we are extremely mindful that the return to school will feel very different to what your children have been used to.
The advice is that classes will be split into groups of no more than fifteen, there will be staggered start times, break times, lunch times and collection times, and schools will obviously need to be particularly vigilant with their cleaning and hand-washing practices. The idea of ‘social distancing’ in early years clearly conflicts with the key principles of learning through play and our staff will be giving careful consideration to classroom layouts, utilising the outdoor classroom environment to the full, and establishing the safest possible conditions given the circumstances. We are also mindful, as always, of the emotional well-being of all our children and families, and recognise the importance of our communication and positive partnership with parents during this key period of transition.
Within all primary schools in England, the plan is to re-introduce all classes by mid June and, as you can imagine, schools will expect to receive further advice and updates on safest practices to enable this to happen successfully. Year groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 will continue to be provided with a home learning programme between the interim period of 1st June and their possible return. The children of key workers within these year groups will be taught in a separate classroom when schools re-open. We will keep you fully informed and are aware that there may be several different opinions amongst our parents on the prospect of the phased return. Please feel free to contact me at head@skyswood.herts.sch.uk if you have further questions or concerns regarding your child’s return to school.
In the meantime, we would like to say how proud we have been of our children, families and staff throughout this period of school closure and remind parents that the phased plan is subject to certain conditions and we will keep you informed and updated of any changes or further details as best we can.