Letters

                                                                                              Thursday 21^st  May 2020

Dear parents and carers,

School leaders aim to re - open our school on Monday 8^th June 2020 for all children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6. The children of key workers in Years 2, Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5 are also allowed to come to school from this date.

We want to make the re-opening as safe as we possibly can for all children, staff and their families at home. School leaders are currently undertaking a detailed risk assessment to minimise the chances of anyone becoming sick or spreading the virus within school or the wider community.

Below is a very brief outline of the safety measures we will be taking in school to prevent the spread of infection:

• Children will be educated in small groups or “bubbles” with a maximum size of 15 children in each bubble. The children in each bubble will stay together all day, every day – whilst learning, eating lunch and at playtimes – to limit the spread of the virus.
• Children in each group/bubble will use the same classroom, the same resources and be taught by the same 3 adults (a teacher and 2 TAs) every day – to limit the spread of the virus. However this may not be the child’s class teacher and may not be in the regular classroom.
• Social distancing within classrooms will be organised with desks 2 metres apart. For younger children in the Early Years this will be more of a challenge but staff will encourage children to remain apart and explain why this is important now.
• The single most important measure we will take is to do everything possible to make sure that pupils within one bubble/group do not mix with other pupils from another bubble. THIS IS ESSENTIAL TO LIMIT THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS.
• Therefore playtimes and lunchtimes will be staggered and the playground itself separated into zones so bubbles don’t mix
• Most pupils will eat lunch in their classrooms to  avoid any mixing of groups/bubbles
• There will be a one –way system in use within school so pupils do not mix with other groups.
• A staggered start and end to the day to avoid pupils and adults mixing
• Regular, supervised handwashing and hand sanitiser  - 6 times per day – on entry to school, before and after playtime, before and after lunch, and before leaving school.
• Enhanced cleaning procedures within each class on all hard surfaces and around school on frequently touched surfaces like door handles etc

Above are just a very brief summary of safety measures we will be undertaking. There are many other safety measures too numerous to mention here to keep all pupils and staff safe.

Parents can help by:

Parents can help by dropping off and picking up their children promptly at the new staggered times set out below;

• Parents should enter the alleyway from either Dudley Street or St James Road, hand children over to staff immediately and leave via the pedestrian gate at the bottom of the staff car park. Please do not linger to talk to staff or other parents  or congregate in groups.

• Please do not send your child into school if they are sick. The main symptoms of coronavirus are a new, continuous cough, a high temperature or a change to the senses of smell and taste; however, other symptoms include vomiting/diarrhoea and generally feeling unwell. It is important that if your child (or someone living in your household) has any of the symptoms identified, that you DO NOT send your child into school. If your child has a temperature and you have given them medicine for this, you must still keep them at home. The medicine will temporarily mask a raised temperature, but they may still have the virus.

• School undertook a survey of parents to find out roughly how many parents from Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 intended to send their children to school from Monday 8^th June. If you have said no and later change your mind and want your child to attend, please Email/phone the office and give 48 hours’ notice so we can “manage” the size of groups/bubbles.

• Please send children in clean school uniform every day – this will mean additional laundry

Other key changes to note

• There will be no breakfast club or after school club the first week back, although this will be reviewed
• There will be no toast for children in the mornings so please don’t send in any money. Children can bring a piece of fruit instead
• There will be no external visitors – no hymns, no music tuition, no sports coaches etc
• All queries and questions should wherever possible be managed by phoning the office or emailing school
• Only one parent will be allowed into the school reception/security lobby at a time and a queue system (2 metres) apart outside to be observed similar to supermarkets
• Any child who becomes ill will be immediately isolated within school and parents asked to collect them immediately

Those pupils not attending school :

Pupils in Year 2, Year 3, Year 4 and Year  5 will not be returning to school on 8^th June unless they are key worker children. It is as yet unclear when they will return. Some parents of pupils in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 may choose to not send their children into school. This is your decision and your right ( at this time as normal regulations have been suspended) and school will not seek to penalise parents for non- attendance and they will NOT face fines/prosecution at this time.

School will continue to provide daily, on line learning for these pupils not attending until further notice.

I do hope this letter sets out the school’s current position clearly and no doubt I will be in touch again in the near future with another update.

If you have questions or queries please use the school email address:

 stthomasofcanterbury.rcprimaryschool@salford.gov.uk

God bless,

Mr Deane OBE

Head teacher

Dear parents and carers,

There has been a great deal of coverage in the news  about the coronavirus (COVID 19) in schools and workplaces. School receives daily advice from Public Health England (PHE) and the Department for Education (DFE) and will be guided by them in terms of next steps. Our number one priority, as ever, is the health and wellbeing of our children, staff and families who make up our learning community.

What is happening in school now?

All children wash their hands on entry to the school using soap and water or hand sanitiser. Pupils have all been briefed on the importance of thorough hand washing. The school cleaning regime has been reviewed and additional measures are now in place. Planned trips and visited will be risk assessed in the light of new advice.

Will the school close?

It appears that there is a possibility the government might decide to close some or all schools at some point. We will not close unless we are instructed to do so by the government. We are mindful of the real difficulties and knock on effects of a school closure for an extended period of time and will only take this step if advised by the proper medical authorities to do so.

If this does become necessary, school will endeavour to produce a simple series of work bundles for each class that will hopefully be accessible electronically to all pupils via the school website. We will provide more details of this and other updates via text messaging and the school website in due course.

How can you help?

Continue to send your child to school as normal for now.

Tell us if anyone in the family returns from a category 1 infected country.

Tell us if any member of the family become ill ( new persistent cough or high fever), ring 111 and take the advice and self –isolate for 7 days if instructed to do so.

Remind your children of the importance of personal hygiene.

Hopefully this disturbing and unpredictable public health emergency will be mercifully short and we can get back to normal sooner rather than later

God bless,

Mr Deane OBE

Head teacher

On Thursday 5th March for World Book Day we will be having a treat meal. The kitchen will be serving lunches inspired by your favourite book character.

If your child does not currently have a school meal but would like to join in for a charge of £2.10, please can you let the School Office know by Wednesday 4th March.

On Thursday 5^th March, our school will be celebrating ‘World Book Day’. Children are invited to come to school dressed as a character from one of their favourite books.

Throughout the day, the whole school will engage with many special experiences and activities relating to reading.

Why are we celebrating?

World Book Day is a worldwide event! It’s a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. In fact, it’s the biggest celebration of its kind, taking place in over 100 countries all over the world. It certainly reflects the love of reading that we promote everyday here in our school.

By participating in this event, we hope that the children will continue to explore the pleasures of books and reading.

On Thursday 16th January we will be having a treat meal. If your child does not currently have a school meal but would like to join in for a charge of £2.10, please can you let the School Office know. Thank you

12^th December 2019

Dear Parent/Carer

 Milk Money is only payable for children in years 1 to 6 who are NOT eligible for BENEFIT free school meals (not universal free meals as in years Reception to Year 2). Please check parentpay to see if you need to pay.

We are now ordering milk for the Spring term i.e. from 7^th January to 9^th April 2020 and the cost is £7.70.  If you would like your child to continue (or start) receiving milk then please let the school know by paying online via www.parentpay.com

As we are a ‘CASHLESS’ school, payments and orders can only be made online at  www.parentpay.com using your username and password. . If your current method of payment is a PAYPOINT card then please contact the office where they will issue you with a new PAYPOINT barcode to cover MILK ONLY. 

Please contact the school office if you are experiencing any problems.

TO BE PAID FOR NO LATER THAN 19^TH DECEMBER. NO ORDERS WILL BE TAKEN AFTER THIS DATE

Thank you for your co-operation.

Yours faithfully

Mr D Deane

Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will carry out jointly an inspection of Salford. Under the Children and Families Act 2014, the government placed new duties on the local health, social and education services that provide for children and young people with SEND. The inspection will evaluate how effectively the local area:

• identifies the needs of children and young people with SEND
• meets the needs of these children and young people so that their outcomes and chances of participating fully in society improve.
  The views of children and young people with SEND, and the views of their parents and carers will be gathered during visits to a number of early years settings, schools, colleges and specialist services. These views are critical to the inspection process. During the inspection, Ofsted and CQC inspectors will be keen to speak to as many children and young people and their parents and carers as possible. Inspectors will not be visiting your child’s provision.
   
  How can local children, young people, parents and carers contribute their views during this local area inspection?
   
  There are several ways in which children, young people, parents and carers from your provision can engage with the inspection process and contribute their views:
   
  1. The inspection will include an online recorded webinar to allow Salford parents and carers of children with SEND to contribute. The webinar will take place from noon on Monday, 2 December 2019 until 11:59pm on Tuesday, 10 December 2019.
   
  Parents and carers who would like to take part in this webinar can follow this internet link to register: http://bit.ly/LASENDWebinarSalfordCityCouncil
   
  2. Parents and carers can contact their local Parent Carer Forum at info@salfordparentvoice.co.uk to request details of how they can attend the discussions held between parents and carers and the Ofsted/CQC inspection team. The local authority must also provide the details of this meeting.
   
  3. Parents and carers can email their contributions to Lasend.support@ofsted.gov.uk.
   
  4. Details about the local area SEND inspection will be available on your local authority’s website and distributed through the local area’s Clinical Commissioning Group/s (CCGs). Information about how children and young people with SEND can share their views about the local area’s effectiveness should be included in the local offer.
   
  During this inspection, the inspectors will collect information about children and young people in the area. They will be looking at local area records, speaking to area officers and leaders at educational settings, and speaking to children, young people and parents or carers. No names will be recorded, but some of the information collected may be capable of identifying a particular child, young person or adult. Ofsted and CQC will use this information to prepare their report, and for the purposes set out in their privacy notices. No information will be published that identifies any individual in the inspection report.
   
  More information is available in the Ofsted and CQC privacy notices which can be found here:
  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsted-privacy-notices/social-care-ofsted-privacy-notice#local-area-send-inspections
   
  http://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/our-policies/privacy-statement.
   

Reminder – Application for Reception 2020

27^th November 2019

  Dear Parent/Carer

Reminder – Application for Reception 2020

In September Salford School Admissions sent you details about how to apply for a reception school place for your child for September 2020.  As per the date of this letter School Admissions have not received an application from you. 

If you have not yet applied please note that the closing date for applications is 15 January 2020.  If the application is received after this date it will be treated as a late application which may reduce the likelihood of your child being offered a place at your preferred school. 

 To apply for a reception place:

You can apply online at www.salford.gov.uk/school-admissions-online.  You can also pick a form up from the Gateway Centres (Pendleton, Eccles, Swinton and Walkden), or schools; or by contacting School Admissions at school.admissions@salford.gov.uk.

If you have received this letter and applied online, please contact the School Admissions Team to check if your application has been submitted successfully.

The completed application form must be returned to the address given on the application form. 

If you are resident in another authority and have applied through them, then please ignore this letter.

If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact School Admissions at school.admissions@salford.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Mr D.Deane OBE

Headteacher

CHRISTMAS DATES 2019

Dear Parents and Carers,

As we move towards Christmas, the children and staff are busy preparing a variety of special Christmas celebrations and performances in school. To make sure our hardworking parents and carers don’t miss any of these, and to hopefully give you enough time to arrange time off work if necessary, I have listed below the main Christmas events in school.

• Monday 9^th  Dec’ – at 2.00pm  in Parish  Hall – both Year 1 classes will present a special  Christmas nativity/ assembly, followed by Head teacher awards for all infant classes – all Year 1 parents welcome

• Tuesday 10^th Dec’ at the new, earlier time of 5pm in St Thomas of Canterbury Church – Traditional Junior Carol Service led by Year 5– all children and parents in Year 3,4,5 and 6 most welcome.

• Thursday 12^th Dec’ – at 9.30am in dining hall - Nursery performance of Christmas nativity for parents followed by Head teacher awards.

• Thursday  12^th  Dec’ - Reception classes – Christmas Nativity performance in dining hall – 2.15pm , followed by Head teacher awards for Reception children only  - all Reception parents welcome

• Friday 13^th December will be a non - uniform day and we encourage children to wear a Christmas jumper or simply their own clothes. A £1 donation to local charities is requested.

• Friday  13^th Dec’ at 9.05am in the Parish Hall -  Head teachers termly awards for all junior classes -  Y3,Y4,Y5,Y6 – parents welcome.

• Tuesday 17^th Dec’ – End of Autumn Term mass in church at 9.15am – mass will be in church - all welcome

• Wednesday 18th   Dec’ – Christmas dinner available in school for all children – cost is £2.10. If you want your child to have Christmas dinner in school and they don’t normally have a school dinner, then please send the £2.10 into school in an envelope marked Christmas Dinner.

 We hope to see many of our parents and carers at these special Christmas events and thank you once more for your continued support.

God Bless,

Mr Deane