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• Back to school plans for 8th March

  Fri 26 Feb 2021 Mrs Mellor

  26^th February 2021

   

  THE RE-OPENING OF OUR SCHOOL TO ALL CHILDREN

  MONDAY 8^TH MARCH

   

  Dear Parents and Families

   

  Following the government’s announcement on Monday regarding the reopening of schools to all children on Monday 8^th March, we are all looking forward to welcoming the children back to school and I wanted to give you as much information as possible about how this will happen at Newlands and how we will ensure that returning to school will be as safe as possible, taking into account the latest guidance from the Department for Education.

   

  We are currently updating our risk assessment to make sure that we continue to minimise the risk of infection.  We are also reviewing our contingency plans, in case of any local outbreak or of any changes in restrictions.

   

  Much of the content of the latest guidance replicates what served our school so well during the autumn term.  I have a legal duty to protect people from harm, which includes taking reasonable steps to protect our staff, children and members of our community from coronavirus in our school.  This means implementing sensible and proportionate control measures to reduce the risk to the lowest practicable level.

   

  The system of controls in school is the set of actions we take to reduce risk and create a safer environment.  We continue to work in partnership with Public Health England, as well as with officers of Southampton City Council, including Debbie Chase, our local Director of Public Health and staff from the city’s Education team, to control the spread of the virus while ensuring we can welcome our children back to school as safely as possible.

   

  To prevent the spread of the virus at school, we will:

   

  1. Minimise contact with individuals who are required to self isolate by ensuring they do not attend school;
  2. Ensure our staff are kept safe by visitors to site wearing face coverings in accordance with the latest guidance;
  3. Ensure everyone washes their hands thoroughly and often;
  4. Ensure good respiratory hygiene for everyone by continuing to promote the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach;
  5. Maintain an enhanced cleaning regime, including cleaning frequently touched surfaces often, using effective detergents;
  6. Minimise contact across our school site and maintain social distancing wherever possible;
  7. Keep occupied spaces well ventilated
  8. Ensuring individuals wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) where necessary
  9. Continue to engage in asymptomatic testing across our staff team.

   

                         In response to any infection, we will:

   

  1. Promote and engage with the NHS Test and Trace process;
  2. Manage and report confirmed cases of Covid-19 amongst our school community;
  3. Contain any outbreak by following local health protection team advice.

   

  Children, staff and all other adults must not come to school if they or any member of their household, support bubble or childcare bubble have any symptoms of coronavirus, or are required for any reason to quarantine or if they have had a positive test.  They must not attend school for at least 10 days from the day after the start of their symptoms or the positive test date if they had no symptoms (whatever type of test showed as positive).

   

  If anyone at our school develops a new and continuous cough or a high temperature, or has a loss of, or change in their normal sense of taste or smell, we will:

   

  • Send them home to begin isolation – the isolation period includes the day the symptoms started and the next 10 full days;
  • Advise them to follow the guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus infection;
  • Advise them to arrange to have a test as soon as possible to see if they have coronavirus.

   

  Other members of their household (including siblings and members of their support or childcare bubble) should also self isolate and must not come onto the school site.

   

  Members of staff and pupils who have been in close contact with someone with symptoms of coronavirus does not need to go home and self isolate unless:

   

  • The symptomatic person subsequently tests positive
  • They develop symptoms themselves (in which case they should self isolate and arrange to have a test)
  • They are requested to do so by NHS Test and Trace or the Public Health England advice service
  • They have tested positive from a Lateral Flow Device test as part of our school programme.

  
  Face Coverings

  Face coverings for children in primary schools are not recommended and we will not expect our children to wear one onsite. 

  Parents must wear a face covering at all times onsite unless exempt.  Our staff will wear face coverings when greeting visitors to the site (eg at the school gates) or when working in situations with other staff or children where safe distancing is not possible and where this does not impede on teaching and learning.

   

  Good Hygiene and Cleanliness

   

  All children and staff will be expected to wash their hands regularly with soap and water or with hand sanitiser, including:

   

  • When they arrive at school
  • When they return from breaks
  • When they change rooms (for example going to the hall for PE or lunch)
  • Before and after eating.

   

  This is regular practice in school and we have hand sanitiser stations as well as plentiful supplies of soap and disposable paper towels for everyone in school.

   

  We will continue to ensure there is a plentiful supply of tissues and lidded bins in each room to support children to follow the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ routine at all times.

   

  We will continue to maintain an enhanced cleaning schedule, including:

   

  • More frequent cleaning of rooms and any shared areas that may be used by different bubbles;
  • Frequently touched surfaces being cleaned more often than normal;
  • Regular cleaning of toilets;
  • Encouraging children to wash their hands thoroughly after using the toilet.

   

  Bubbles

   

  We know that consistent groups reduce the risk of transmission by limiting the number of pupils and staff in contact with each other.  We will be keeping our class (or year group bubbles for specialist teaching and outdoor play)  separate at all times and seating the children carefully in their classroom and the lunch hall so we limit face to face contact within 1 metre.  These actions make it quicker and easier in the event of a positive case to identify those who may need to self isolate and to keep that number as small as possible.  Our staff will keep seating plans for each room to help that further.  

   

  Maintaining bubbles during the autumn term meant that we were able to assure the quality of teaching and breadth of the curriculum, while ensuring there were very few occasions we had to ask children to self isolate and this will continue once all children return to school.

   

  Classrooms based resources, such as books and games, can be used and shared within a bubble but will be cleaned regularly.  Sports and science equipment which may be used across bubbles is cleaned thoroughly after each use or allowed to be left untouched for at least 48 hours (72 hours for plastics).  Each bubble has their own set of outdoor play equipment which is cleaned daily.

   

  Teachers and other staff can operate across different classes and year groups to facilitate the smooth operation of the school.  However, where staff need to move between groups, they will try to keep their distance from the children and other staff as much as they can and we will always minimise the number of interactions or changes wherever possible.

   

  We also realise that positive relationships are part of what makes good schools work well and there are times when staff need to work more closely with children when, for example, looking at work together, supporting their learning or emotional support.  This will continue.

   

  We will continue to hold assemblies online so that groups and the entire school can come together virtually to celebrate achievement and share information efficiently whilst we cannot all meet in the same space.

   

  Arriving and Leaving School

   

  The latest guidance is very clear, that schools should consider staggered starts and adjusting start and finish times to keep groups apart as they arrive and leave.  Like before, we would like families with more than one child in school to arrive in Group 1 and those with just one child in school to arrive in Group 2.

   

  Group	Drop off Time between	Pick up Time between
  Group 1 Sibling/Family Groups	8.30-8.40am	3pm-3.10pm
  Group 2 Single children	8.45-8.55am	3.15-3.20pm

   

  You can arrive at any time during your 10 minute entry slot and do not have to arrive before this time! We are hoping a 10 minute window will support with less queuing. Following feedback from parents, you can use whichever gate is closest to home in order to drop off and pick up your child(ren). We will be opening the bottom gate (Ullswater/Mansel Road East) as well in the mornings as an extra drop off point. We are hoping that 3 drop off gates will also ease the queues. Ullswater and Windermere Gates will be open for pick ups and we will run the same one way systems as before to pick up and exit the site safely. Please be patient and again use the pick up slot wisely, so there is less queuing!

   

  Where children are accompanied to school, only one adult should come onto the site. That adult must wear a face covering, unless exempt – if exempt, you must have a way of proving this to staff please. Parents must not gather around the school gates or come into the building without an appointment.  We encourage all children and families to walk, cycle or scoot to and from school wherever it is possible and safe to do so.  HOWEVER PLEASE NOTE BIKES AND SCOOTERS CANNOT CURRENTLY BE BROUGHT ONTO SITE SO WOULD NEED TO GO HOME WITH PARENTS.

   

  Where you need to use public transport, please follow the safer travel guidance for passengers.

   

  Now that the lighter evenings are here, we ask that, where it is safe to do so, Year 5 & 6 children arrive at school and go home by themselves in Group 2. (A permission form will need completing if you have not already done so). Their school day will end at 3.15pm. This will ease pressures on gates and allow them the independence they would usually have at this time in their school career.

   

  School Uniform & PE Kits

   

  Children need to be back to school in uniform please. We ask that on PE days, they continue to wear suitable PE kits for the whole of those days. This worked very well in the autumn term. For some year groups, additional PE has been added to their timetable so they may need to wear PE kits on more than one day. Teachers will communicate days to you.

   

  What to bring:

   

  The updated guidance says children  should bring as little to school as possible!

  Children will need:

  lunch boxes

            water bottles

  hats and coats (dependent on the weather)

  book bags for reading books and home work

   

  Ventilation

   

  In order to reduce the concentration of the virus in the air, we will maintain good ventilation and a comfortable teaching environment through natural ventilation as well as effective heating throughout the building.  In the event of cold weather, we advise an extra under layer as windows will be open.  We will keep the inside temperature under constant review as cold children and staff do not work well! All rooms have doors and windows open when rooms are empty during break and lunch to enable good circulation of air.

   

  Breakfast Club

   

  Limited spaces are available in Breakfast Club but only for parents/carers who need to use this facility to enable them to go to work. Places must be booked and paid for in advance. Children will be kept in their bubble groups during this time. We will review places again after Easter and hope to open more widely then.

   

  After School Clubs

   

  After School Clubs will not begin until after Easter but we are hoping to offer a wide range of exciting outdoor clubs during the summer term. Further details will follow before Easter.

   

  Remote Learning

   

  If a child or bubble is forced to self-isolate remote learning will be put in place. Again there is the expectation that children will continue to access education remotely in this situation. School is expected to monitor engagement in remote learning unless your child is actually unwell.

   

  Chromebooks & Laptops

   

  For those children who have had laptop or Chromebook loans during the school closure period, we ask that all devices are returned to school by Friday 12^th March. These devices will then be signed back in, checked and thoroughly sanitised, before returning to classrooms to support learning in school. We have a set of Chromebooks to lend out, should a bubble or individual be asked to self-isolate and we are sure this will help to support remote learning if required in the future.

   

  School Lunches

   

  The full school lunch offer will be back in place from 8^th March. All children in Years R, 1 and 2 are entitled to a free school meal under the Universal FSM scheme. In addition, children who are entitled to benefits-related FSM will be offered a free school meal. Meals can also be purchased for any other children. The FSM voucher scheme and food parcel offer stops on the return to school.

   

  Staff Asymptomatic Testing

   

  For a number of weeks now our staff have engaged with twice weekly asymptomatic testing and this will continue as part of our plan to suppress the virus. Children in primary schools are not part of the regular school testing programme (unlike those in secondary schools).

   

  Finally, I hope my very full letter gives you all the information you need to be reassured that we are certainly going above and beyond to keep every member of our school community as safe as possible.  We realise that children have been out of school for long enough over the past year and as adults we have missed the normal routines and just seeing all the children every day.  The guidance is clear that school attendance is compulsory for all pupils from Monday 8^th March and we are really looking forward to welcoming everybody back.

   

  If you have any questions about any aspect of our plans, please do contact us.  Once again I would like to thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.

   

  Karen Mellor       

  Headteacher

• Online Safety Newslatter

  Sat 13 Feb 2021
  Please have a look at this updated newsletter, It was sent out to parents yesterday but an online copy is available here,

• Safer Internet Day

  Tue 09 Feb 2021

  In these unprecedented times, when learning online has become an enormous part of the current offer in schools to help children continue their learning at home, it is of vital importance that we continue to educate our children about safer internet.

  Tuesday 9th February is 'Safer Internet Day' and across this week our children will be learning about how to use the internet safely and to stay safe online.

  We have a whole range of activities planned that children can do in school or remotely at home.

  Parents can find useful supports too at:  https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2021/i-am-parent-or-carer

  We look forward to you sharing your learning with us through Google Classroom, your year group emails or when you return your paper work packs.

  We have also produced our own 'Online Safety Newsletter' https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/newlands-primary/UploadedDocument/1595b77814e24997871fe1632d68ea0e/online-safety-newsletter.pdf

  Stay safe!

  

• Coronavirus: How to keep children healthy, happy, learning and entertained at home

  Mon 18 Jan 2021

  Dear Parents/Guardians,

   

  Here is your free e-copy of Family First magazine, packed full of information to help keep children happy, learning & entertained at home during lockdown- We hope it helps in some way.

  
  Please click on the link below:
  
  https://issuu.com/sevenstarmedia/docs/ff_issue_7_digital211220

  

• Food Parcels for Families

  Wed 13 Jan 2021

  We are so proud of our kitchen staff have done a marvellous job preparing food parcels for families who are entitled to free school meals.

  Many of you will have read reports of some schools offering parcels produced by commercial companies which have fallen short in terms of value and nutrition. As you can see the parcels that are being collected from Newlands are well considered, offering a wholesome balance of food types including fresh food together with some cupboard staples.

  Our catering team have planned and ordered the ingredients for these parcels and the school staff have been distributing these safely from the front Hall doors to families, along with work packs where requested. So far over 200 parcels have been produced this week. Please contact the school office for more information.

  

• Whole School Closure Information

  Tue 05 Jan 2021 Mrs Mellor

  5^th January 2021

  School Closure

  Dear Parents and Carers 

   

  You will now be aware that a new national lockdown has been announced to run from 6^th January until February half term.  In line with the guidance from the government, school has now closed to the large majority of our children. I am very relieved to say that our decision not to open the school yesterday was very prudent and has avoided us having 400+ children in the same space with so much being unknown about the new variant of the virus.

   

  The school remains open to a limited number of children who are classed as vulnerable or children whose parents are critical workers who are required to continue attending their work places (under the strict definitions as issued in the updated government guidance.)

  Vulnerable children and young people include those who:

  • are assessed as being in need under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, including children and young people who have a child in need plan, a child protection plan or who are a looked-after child
  • have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
  • have been identified as otherwise vulnerable by educational providers or local authorities (including children’s social care services), and who could therefore benefit from continued full-time attendance.

  Critical workers

  Parents whose work is critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and EU transition response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors outlined in the sections detailed at the end of this letter.

   

  Whilst we wish we could have all children in school, it is currently safest to only have a very limited number of children on site and this enables us to implement better social distancing measures for both adults and children. Thank you to those critical workers who have already contacted us requesting spaces, this has helped us to quickly set up our provision (info@newlandsprimary.co.uk ).

   

  Remote Learning (Home Learning)

  Our teachers plan meticulously for deep learning and our curriculum will continue online on our website. Children are expected to work from home – this is not optional! Primary school pupils are expected to work for an average of 3 hours a day if at home.

  https://www.newlandsprimary.co.uk/home-learning/

  Click on your child’s year group to access the weekly home learning grids and resources. Teachers are busy planning for children’s learning at home and will shortly be posting videos to support the children and to stay in touch. We realise that not everyone has access to online learning and therefore we will continue to provide paper work packs for those who request them if you cannot access things online.

  Teachers are available on the year group emails and look forward to hearing from you if you need any help or want to show off any great learning from home. Teachers will also make weekly contact with children via phone calls.

   

  Benefits-related FSM Eligibility

  If your child is entitled benefits related Free School Meals, we will be providing food parcels for them. The school has made the decision to put this support into place immediately whilst we await any further information on whether the government will use a national scheme for this period of lockdown. The school will make contact with families about how to go about collecting food parcels if you are entitled.

   

  We understand that this is a worrying time for all families, but it is important that families continue to follow Public Health advice and if you should have any health worries, please go to 111 online in the first instance. Remember if you are unwell or self-isolating, you should not be leaving the house for a period of 10 days.

  If we all follow the rules, we will get through this together.

   

  Should you need to get hold of anyone at school over the closure period, please call the school office or email the school at: info@newlandsprimary.co.uk. Staff will be checking this email daily, but may not be able to reply straightaway.

  If you have a question about learning, please use the year group email address:

  Year R              year.r@newlandsprimary.co.uk

  Year 1              year.1@newlandsprimary.co.uk

  Year 2              year.2@newlandsprimary.co.uk

  Year 3              year.3@newlandsprimary.co.uk

  Year 4              year.4@newlandsprimary.co.uk

  Year 5              year.5@newlandsprimary.co.uk

  Year 6              year.6@newlandsprimary.co.uk

   

  We will send out any updates during the closure period via MarvellousMe, email and our Facebook page, or text message if needs be. Please ensure we have up to date contact numbers and email addresses and that you keep your MMe notifications turned on.

  Thank you for your on-going support and stay safe. We hope to see you soon.

   

  Karen Mellor

  Headteacher

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  CRITICAL WORKER LIST:

  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 distributors of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

  Education and childcare

  This includes:

  • childcare
  • support and teaching staff
  • social workers
  • specialist education professionals who must remain active during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response to deliver this approach

   

  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
  • journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting

  Local and national government

  This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of:

  • the coronavirus (COVID-19) response, and the delivery of and response to EU transition
  • essential public services, such as the payment of benefits and the certification or checking of goods for import and export (including animal products, animals, plants and food), including in government agencies and arms length bodies

  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)

  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 coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and EU transition)
  • 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

  Transport and border

  This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response and EU transition, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass and those constructing or supporting the operation of critical transport and border infrastructure through which supply chains pass.

  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 coronavirus (COVID-19) response
  • 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
  • waste disposal sectors

   

• URGENT School Closure and changes to the start of term

  Sun 03 Jan 2021

  3rd January 2021 SCHOOL CLOSURE & CHANGES TO THE START OF TERM FROM MONDAY 4th JANUARY 2021

   

  Dear Parents and Carers

  I am writing to inform you that in light of an evolving situation regarding scientific and union advice, unknown staffing levels and LA guidance, we have made the difficult decision to implement the following changes to our start of term. I realise that this is extremely short notice and may cause inconvenience for some of you. For this I am truly sorry but I hope you can understand the difficulties we are facing.

   

  Newlands Primary will be CLOSED to ALL pupils on Monday 4th January. This is so we can carry out the relevant safety training, respond to unforeseen staff changes or absences as well as plan and prepare blended learning across all classes. This will be in place of the INSET planned for Friday 12th February which will now be a normal school day.

   

  We will then open only to vulnerable children and those with parents who are Critical Workers on Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th January.

   

  Parents/Carers whose children are considered vulnerable will be contacted by phone tomorrow.

   

  Parents who are Critical Workers can email info@newlandsprimary.co.uk to request a place, stating your critical worker status and we will get back to you as soon as we can tomorrow with further information and timings for these days.

   

  All children not in school will be expected to carry out learning via the school website Home Learning section which will start on Tuesday 5th Jan. It is vital that we all commit to safeguarding our children’s learning as much as possible. Further guidance on expectations around remote learning will be provided tomorrow.

   

  Once again, I apologise for challenges this may present and I thank you in advance for your understanding.

   

  Finally, I would like to share my sincere gratitude for your ongoing support and understanding throughout this lengthy and unpredictable period of disruption and uncertainty. As always, please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any further help. We will contact you all again as soon as we have a clearer picture on wider school opening later in the week. Many thanks and please take care

  Karen Mellor - Headteacher

• BSL Christmas Songs

  Thu 17 Dec 2020

  Mrs Ahrns and the HI Team have been working with all our pupils to use British Sign Language performances of some wonderful Christmas songs.

   

  Follow these links to watch;

  KS2 perform 'Merry Christmas'

  https://newlands-primary.primarysite.media/media/merry-christmas-shakin-stevens

   

  Year R perform 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'

  https://newlands-primary.primarysite.media/media/we-wish-you-a-merry-christmas

   

  Year 1 perform 'Jingle Bells'

  https://newlands-primary.primarysite.media/media/jingle-bells

   

  Year 2 perform 'Rudolph'

  https://newlands-primary.primarysite.media/media/rudolph

• INSET DAY 18th December

  Thu 10 Dec 2020 Mrs Mellor

  9^th December 2020

   

  IMPORTANT COVID-19 Update at Newlands:

  INSET DAY Friday 18^th December 2020

   

  Dear Parents & Carers

   

  Thank you all for the amazing support you are continuing to give the Newlands community in these ongoing unprecedented times. It means so much that parents are thanking staff and feeding back on the measures we have put into place and recognising the continued hard work and dedication of our team.

   

  Yesterday, the Department for Education gave permission for schools to move an INSET day to Friday 18^th December and at Newlands, we have decided to take this opportunity. We are moving our INSET day that was planned for 22^nd July 2021 and having it on Friday 18^th December 2020 instead.

   

  This means that the school will close a day earlier for all children and our last day will be Thursday 17^th December next week.

   

  I appreciate the short notice of this decision but hope that families will understand that we have only just received information from the government and could not plan any further ahead. (As a result, the last Breakfast club of the term will be Wednesday 16^th December, to allow for deep cleaning).

   

  Reporting COVID during the Christmas Holidays

   

  The Government wrote to all headteachers to tell them that they would need to be ‘on call’ for the first 6 days of their Christmas holiday, in order to report any cases of COVID to the Department for Education and Public Health England.

   

  Mrs Halsey, and myself will be on call throughout the first 6 days of our Christmas holidays in order to notify all members of our school community of a relevant, positive case.

   

  If, during the first 6 days of the school holidays up to 23/12/20, your child has a temperature, new and persistent cough or loses their sense of taste or smell and has a positive COVID test result, please email the school office email: info@newlandsprimary.co.uk. Please do not phone, as school will be closed!

  We will be monitoring the email account and I will be responsible for linking in to the DFE/PHE direct line. We will then be required to contact all families that your child may have had contact with via MMe and email in order to notify you of the potential COVID contact and the requirement to isolate.

   

  We very much hope that we will not need to contact anyone but we have a duty to protect our community, should a positive case be confirmed.

   

  Many thanks for your continued support.   

  Mrs Mellor

• Clever Never Goes - Safeguarding Advice

  Thu 03 Dec 2020
  Hampshire police have put together this new leaflet to support parents with teaching their children how to stay safe on the walk to and from school.