Message from Mrs Lumsdon14 May 2020 (by admin) |
Over the course of this week I have been in contact with all staff, governors and parents to collate people’s views around the re-opening of school. Many people have understandable concerns about their children being back in school. We have listened to everything that has been said and need to share with you our initial plans for the phased re-opening of school. The touchstone for all the decisions we are taking has been, ‘Is this the best we can do to keep our children and staff as safe as possible?’ We can only do the best we can, although we cannot provide any guarantees.
We understand that your children are the most precious things you have. You, as parents, will need to make the decision as to whether or not your child returns to school this term. Government have made it very clear that there will be no repercussions whatsoever if parents choose not to send children back.
School will not be the same as it has been. Children will be taught in small groups with one adult. They will not be able to mix with their friends, lessons will be much more formal, playtimes will be taken on a rota system, lunches will be taken in classrooms and movement around school will be very limited. We will aim to observe social distancing measures, will continue with a regular hand washing routine and will minimise the sharing of resources and equipment as far as we possibly can.
On June 1st we will be opening school ONLY to Year 6 pupils. We will then start planning as to how we manage the re-opening of school to our younger children. This will be phased over time, is very unlikely to be full time provision and may not be every day. I will communicate more as further plans are formulated but will give you plenty of notice to allow you to organise things.
On Monday, I will be contacting all Year 6 parents, either by email or phone, to give further information of what school will look like for Year 6 children and to ask parents to let us know whether or not their Year 6 child will be returning to school on 1st June.
Please remember that all schools will be different and will be planning their re-opening depending on their own circumstances so no two schools will look the same.
At Castletown, all staff and governors want children back in school as soon as possible however we all need to make sure that children and staff are protected and are as safe as possible in the circumstances. From your responses to our survey it is clear that you share the same thoughts.