Head Teacher:

Grove Road Mrs B Waite

Houghton Regis
Bedfordshire Email: [email protected]
LU5 5PE Website:
Telephone: www.thornhill-primary.co.uk
01582 863516
’Every child is unique and at the heart of everything we do’

4th September 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

This year has been an eventful year in many ways with lots of changes. With these changes we have
grown and found out many things about our strength, our resilience and connection with our
community. As the beginning of the term approaches we wanted to re-share with you some of the
arrangements we have put in place for a safe and effective return back to school on the 7th of
September.

We know that parents and families will have lots of questions about the reopening of school in
September. To help parents and families understand the actions we are taking to help keep everyone
safe and our expectations of everyone, the information below summarises the main points in the risk
assessment. We hope you find this information useful.

Our key principles for opening in September are:

 We expect all pupils to attend school.
 School uniform must be worn. PE kit must be worn to school on days the child has PE (this
will be advised on Monday 7th). Children will be required to bring in book bags.
 We will teach a broad and balanced curriculum.
 We will implement a wide range of intervention support.
 We will reduce the risk of spreading the virus as far as possible.
 We will implement social distancing as far as possible.
 We will have in place a contingency plan for home learning.

Good Hand Sanitisation//Hygiene Routines such as:

 Stringent hygiene and hand washing routines in place. There will be hand sanitisers in
classrooms and across the school.
 Correct hand washing techniques will be retaught and remodelled
 Pupils and adults hand sanitising and washing throughout key transition times during the day
 School initiatives to remind and promote the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach when sneezing
and coughing.
 Lidded bins in every classroom to dispose of tissues. These bins will be emptied regularly
throughout the day.

Enhanced Cleaning
 Cleaning frequently touched surfaces (e.g. door handles, light switches etc) regularly using
standard products, such as detergents and bleach. This will be done constantly throughout the
day.
  Toilets cleaned regularly throughout the day.
 Thorough whole school cleaning at the end of each day to ensure the highest hygiene
possible.
 Enhanced, deep cleaning will continue to happen.
 Each classroom to have cleaning products to be used throughout the day on regularly touched
surfaces.

In Class/School
 To minimise contact with others and mixing, children will be placed in class group bubbles.
This will be consistent with minimal contact with other bubbles
 Within the classrooms furniture will be placed to allow and reinforce social distancing with 2
children sitting at a table forward facing and in rows.
 Sections of the playground allocated to ‘bubbles’ of children to play in during playtimes.
Each bubble to have their own box of playground equipment. Equipment will be cleaned and
sanitised after each use.
 Staggered lunchtimes to ensure class group bubbles of children do not mix reducing contact
with other ‘bubbles’ as much as possible.
 Different start and finish times to reduce the crowding at the beginning of school and home
times (please see the risk assessment for times and drop off / pick up points).
 Children will be reminded to social distance at all times.
 Individual stationary packs and pencil cases to reduce the sharing of resources.
 Increased opportunities for learning to take place outside in the playground / on the field as
this reduces the spread of the virus.
 Soft furnishing removed to reduce surface contamination.
 Toys and resources will be regularly cleaned/sanitised after each use.
 One-way system in place to encourage social distancing.
 Clear signs to encourage and remind people of the importance of social distancing.
 We recognise that social distancing with the younger children is a challenge so we will
remind them regularly about it, but we cannot guarantee that it can be maintained with the
younger children. The government guidance states that schools do not need to insist on social
distancing with the younger children. We want our children to learn through play and
interaction with others.
 Staff will continue to maintain 1m+ social distancing wherever possible. Our staffroom will
not be used for staff to congregate and our school office is out of bounds to all but a few
members of our team.
 We will not allow visitors or parents into the school building to maintain good social
distancing, however we are still available to talk to parents either over the phone or email.
 The week commencing 7th September is Wellbeing Week. In Wellbeing Week, the whole
school will focus our energy and thoughts towards strategies for supporting our wellbeing and
character strengths. Lots of discussions and activities will take place to give pupils the
opportunity to explore our school values and how they can help us with our well-being. It will
help to re-establish relationships, and to set the tone for the rest of the term.
 All our teaching team will receive further training on the Teacher Training days in September
about strategies to support wellbeing and our recovery curriculum.
 Our priority is around wellbeing and health.
 When the children have settled in, their teachers will assess the them all over the first few
weeks and will plan support for anyone who needs additional help in Reading, Writing and
Maths.
  All teachers and leaders have reviewed the curriculum and adjusted our plans so that it
enables the children to repeat aspects they may need to, but also supports rapid progress.

Recovery curriculum
Very detailed plans are in place to identify and close gaps in children’s learning.
This includes all aspects of the learning missed due to many children’s absence from school from
March 2020. The focus of the Autumn Term will be to ensure these gaps are closed and to ensure
children move on to their current year group’s curriculum as soon as possible. The key focus will be
on addressing issues in reading, writing and mathematics as well as supporting their resilience and
wellbeing.

Specific curriculum adjustments

We plan to offer a broad and balanced curriculum in September covering all subjects of the National
Curriculum however there will be some changes to how that curriculum has been designed from
previous years. The vast majority of lessons will be taught in the usual way.

Sadly, we have had to remove some elements from the school day until further notice.
No large gatherings are permitted including:
 Singing practice
 Celebrations such has Harvest
 Christmas performances
We will also not be able to hold assemblies in our usual way, but we will be conducting class
assemblies across the school.

PE
Children must attend school in their P.E. kit on days when they have P.E. to minimize spread of
infection which may be caused by changing and the need for some children to be assisted with
changing. Teachers will let you know which day this is at the start of term.

We will be sending details of how we will be operating parents’ evenings later in the Autumn Term.

Drop off/Pick up times (please refer to risk assessment)

 Each class / key stage will have a different start and end of school time. It is important that
you stick to the times as this will ease the congestion at these key times in the day.
 Parent/carers to social distance when collecting and dropping their children off. Please do not
crowd together.
 Only one parent/carer per family to collect child/ren from school.

Attendance
 It is vital that all children return to school to minimise the long-term impact of the pandemic
on our children’s education, well-being and wider development. Missing more time in the
classroom risks children falling further behind therefore hindering their educational growth
and interaction with their peers.
 School attendance will be mandatory again from the beginning of the Autumn term. The usual
rules on school attendance resumes and applies again. It is a parent’s duty that their child
attends school to receive an education.
 The school will record your child’s attendance and Ms Gow will follow up on absence
 Fixed penalty notices could be sanctioned in line with the local authorities’ code of conduct.
Covid-19
 If your child becomes ill displaying symptoms of Covid, (high temperature, continuous
cough, loss of taste or smell) they MUST remain at home, and the household will need to
follow the Government’s self- isolating guidelines.
 If your child displays symptoms at school then the parent will be contacted and expected to
collect their child immediately. The child will be isolated from other children but looked after
by a member of staff. Please ensure that all the contact details we hold for the school are
correct and up-to-date so that should we need to contact you we can.
 The person looking after the child would wear personal protected equipment and the areas
where the child has been based would be thoroughly cleaned.
 Any staff member who is experiencing symptoms will not attend school and will follow
Government guidelines.

Contingency plans for extended home learning

In the unfortunate event of a full or partial closure we will revert to our well established pre-existing
offer based on Google Classroom posted on our website. Information regarding this will be posted on
the school’s website under the Parent Info → Home Learning tab.

Thornhill Primary have put very clear guidance and risk assessments in place for all adults and
children about returning to school in September. These plans will be constantly reviewed to
ensure that we are complying with the most up-to-date guidance from the Government and keeping
your children as safe as we can. We will change routines and behaviour as new information and
guidance is provided. However, with the controls that have been put in place at our school we
still cannot guarantee that your child will not contract symptoms.
We hope that the guidance within this letter provides you with some reassurances of the safety
measures that the school is putting into place to help minimise the potential risks of COVID-19.
However, should you have any further questions about our plans, then please do not hesitate to
contact us via the School Office and we will endeavour to answer your queries.

Everyone’s health and safety is our priority and we hope that, by reading this document, all parents
and families are reassured that the school staff are taking every possible measure to create a happy,
healthy and safe learning environment for all our community.

Yours sincerely

Mrs B Waite
Headteacher