20.8.20

Dear Parents/Carers,

 

I am writing to you to outline the changes that we have put in place in order to welcome all children back on Tuesday 1st September 2020. As a school we have reviewed all the Government guidance and adapted our systems, procedures and risk assessment in line with this.

 

In order to safely welcome all the children back we have made some changes to the way we worked previously in school. All staff will be receiving training on this prior to the children coming back to school. One of the biggest changes that will affect you as parents and carers is the staggered drop-off and pick-up times that will start on Tuesday 1st September. These are outlined below, and further details can be found in this letter:

 

 

 

We are aware that there are a number of families in the school who have children in different year groups which is why we have adopted this system. Children in the same family but with different surnames should come with the eldest sibling. Parents are to collect youngest sibling first and then collect others.

 

The above times will ensure that not all children are entering and exiting the school site at the same time and will allow for less congestion around the school grounds. Safety is paramount and this will allow for a calmer, safer start and finish with a controlled traffic flow. There are also social distancing markers outside the school grounds to ensure parents and children can keep a safe distance.

 

All children and parents will enter through the Glebelands Road gate and then follow the one way system around the school.  Staff will be on hand to offer assistance.  Please be aware that this system will be reviewed throughout the first week of term and may be subject to change.

In keeping with the Government guidance, it is encouraged that only one parent or carer drop-off and pick-up their children.

 

Hot Dinners:  All of Foundation Stage, Year 1 and 2 are entitled to Universal Free School Meals Service. We encourage all the children in these year groups to have this hot meal each day.

If you have a child in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 and are in receipt of income based Free School Meals, your child will continue to have a hot meal each day.

 

If your child will receive the Universal Free School Meal remember to still apply for Free School Meals as this releases a Pupil Premium allowance to the school, which can support you in other ways. Please talk to Mrs Knighton in the school office next term for advice and paperwork.

 

Please Note - At this time, we are unable to offer hot meals to Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 and therefore all children will need to bring a packed lunch to school, unless of course, as already stated, your child/children are in receipt of Free School Meals, then these children will receive a daily hot dinner if requested.

 

Uniform: Children will be expected to wear their normal school uniform from Tuesday 1st September.  On days when children have PE they will be expected to arrive at school in their PE kit (white t-shirt, dark shorts or joggers and school fleece, jumper or cardigan. We will be maximizing the school grounds for PE lessons and where at all possible PE will be outdoors.

 

School Day and Classroom: The school day and the children’s classrooms will be a little different to what the children were used to prior to lockdown in March. The main changes will be that we will not be having ‘whole school’ assemblies in the hall from September.

 

Class teachers will share and discuss our themes daily in their classrooms with any follow up activities -  which may include home activities. Singing will not be introduced until we have Government directives to do this safely.

The layout of most classrooms will be different as Government guidance suggests that tables and chairs will need to face the front of the classroom.  Given the limited space in some of our smaller classrooms, this has not always been possible however alternative measures have been put in place to minimise the amount of time children are face to face.

 

FCS will offer after school sports clubs from the 1st September. Please check the FCS website for further details. https://fcscoaching.co.uk

We understand that the above changes will affect all of the children and families of Glebelands in some way. During the first term there will be numerous staff on site in the morning and in the afternoon to fully support you all on these new procedures and systems. We operated the staggered day informally when we partially re-opened for some classes on 1^st  June and this was very successful.

 

If you have any questions or queries regarding the above changes please feel free to contact the office via email: office@glebelands.leicester.sch.uk or call on 0116 234 0010. Emails will be picked up but not responded to until at least 24^th August. Once we understand your queries it may be just a simpler, shorter letter to everyone in response to your questions rather than an individual response.  There will be someone to answer calls on the above number from 24^th August.

 

I recognise that this is a lengthy letter, but I wanted to give you as much detail around the changes to allay any worries you have about sending your child/children back in September. Our full Re-opening Plan and Risk Assessment can be found on the school website in the KEY INFORMATION tab from Monday 24^th August.

 

We are all very much looking forward to the new academic year and seeing all your children again together in school.

Yours sincerely