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Latest news:
26.6.20
Dear parents, carers and guardians,
We are really looking forward to the return to school next week - it has been far too long! When we closed and repurposed at the end of March 2020, we did not expect it to be for this length of time. I just wanted to write again before Monday to reassure you that we are ready for the children to return. The class teachers will have sent you video messages to show you your entrance point to the school and your individual class procedures.
It is important that before you send your children to school that you have checked their temperature and that they are feeling well and not showing any signs and symptoms such as a high temperature, a new and unexplained cough or a loss of taste and smell. If we could also ask you to keep to your designated time slots for arrival and pick up, this will aid with social distancing at the school. Markings have also been outlined at your designated arrival entrance to support with social distancing. It is important that parents and children are mindful of these when waiting to enter the building.
As you are already aware, the return to school is now for 3 weeks before the summer holidays, and the last day of term for the children is the 17th of July 2020. You have already received your timetables with your allocated slots and this is to ensure that we do not have more than one third of the children in the building at a time. This also means that each class will have their own playtime on the yard so they will have plenty of space to enjoy whilst outdoors. The children won’t need to bring anything with them as we have prepared individual packs for them in class and they have their own disposable cups for water. We have new hand sanitiser dispensers at the entrances to the building and the children will be encouraged to engage in regular hand washing.
As a staff, we feel these ‘check in, catch up and prepare’ sessions are invaluable, as they will support the children in their return to school. These sessions will provide the children with an opportunity to check in with their class teacher and some of their friends, and it will also enable the class teacher to introduce the weekly learning missions or challenges. These sessions will give the class teacher an opportunity to answer any questions or issues that the children might need support with, and will provide a firm foundation on which we can build moving forward.
If you have any questions or queries do not hesitate to contact me at the school on 01792 781811 or email me on thomasa493@hwbcymru.net.
We look forward to seeing you all next week.
Kind regards,
Mrs Thomas
Headteacher
Dear Parents/Carers
It is now over two weeks since my last letter to you all and I wanted to provide you with a quick update on the current position here in Swansea. As you are all aware our schools are pulling out all the stops to plan for the safe return of learners for ‘Check in, Catch up and Prepare’ sessions.
There will be different approaches across our schools based on a lot of different factors. Each school has been carrying out risk assessments to help them identify the approach that is right in your child’s school.
However, we have agreed a number of key principles with our headteachers to ensure that wherever possible there is consistency.
We also want to stress the arrangements we are putting in place will not mean a return to school and classroom education as we know it. Due to the restrictions on the numbers that can attend at any one time, the days/sessions your child can attend will be limited.
All children, where possible, will be offered a few visits to school in the now three-week period between 29 June and 17 July. Each school risk assessment will determine how often this can take place.
We would like to highlight the following key points:
The last day of this school term for pupils in Swansea schools will now be Friday 17 July as originally planned. There has been no national agreement with the trade unions for the planned additional week and to ensure consistency across our schools and in line with a large number of other local authorities we will close for the summer on 17 July.
In line with Welsh Government expectations, childcare remains our top priority and the demand for emergency childcare in each school will influence their capacity to provide check in, catch up and prepare sessions.
Childcare for our key workers will be offered between 8:30am and 3:30pm at every school, 5 days a week. Opening hours can be extended (if needed) by short periods of time at the beginning and end of the day, to facilitate drop off and collection times. Please remember, only children of key workers and our most vulnerable pupils can access this childcare and then only as a last resort.
The local authority recognise that schools (following a detailed risk assessment) might not to be able to offer nursery and reception children the opportunity to check in and catch up before the summer holidays.
Where possible, parents and carers should travel with their children to and from school. Social distancing should be maintained on the journey to and from school.
The council’s Transport Team is working with schools and childcare settings to determine the demand for home to school transport for eligible pupils and will endeavour to meet these requirements.
All children will need to bring their own packed lunch to school, unless a school offers half day sessions where no lunch at school is required.
All children will be encouraged to wash their hands regularly with soap and water throughout the day/session. Hand sanitizer will also be available.
Wherever possible, all pupils should have contact with their current and next school year’s class teachers/form teachers when they attend their school. It is possible that this contact might be online. There will also be at least an online opportunity for transition between primary and secondary schools.
As well as a thorough daily clean, a “clean as you go” process will be deployed in all schools to minimise the risk of cross contamination and transmission of Covid-19.
We know you will still have a number of questions which may be specific to your child or your child’s school. Please be reassured your child’s school will be providing you with a lot more detail between now and 29 June and our frequently asked questions (FAQs) have been updated https://www.swansea.gov.uk/covid19schoolsandcolleges. Please take a look at these first. If they do not address your questions, please contact your child’s school or you can email us at coronavirusenquiries@swansea.gov.uk.
If you would like to speak to someone in a language other than English/Welsh, please email EMAU@swansea.gov.uk with your phone number and the name of the language.
The safety of our children and staff remains our top priority and this will not change. For those who feel the time is not right for their children to attend school then attendance is not compulsory and parents/carers will not risk fines.
Thank you for your continued support.
Yours sincerely
Nick Williams
Director of Education
12th June 2020
Dear parents/carers/guardians,
I hope you are all safe and well. I write today to update you with information regarding the re-opening of the school following its closure at the end of March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I have waited to communicate my plans until the guidance was finalised by Welsh Government and the Local Authority. I know this is a big step for everyone and that is why I have considered the safety of everyone in the planned timetable I now offer to you. Between 29th of June and the 24th of July 2020, the children from Reception – Year 6 and the STF/OAU pupils, will be offered, one half day per week for ‘check-in and catch-up’ with their class teacher. I do feel this is a vital opportunity that you should take advantage of, if you feel able to. These sessions have been planned with the utmost safety in mind. We have arranged the timetable so that only one third of each class will be in at any one time. In addition, we have considered having the classes in for different sessions so that your child/children will have their own designated entrance to come in through, they will have their own break time on the yard, for just their small group, and they will not be in school over the lunch period.
When the children are in the classroom, they will have their own socially distanced area to sit in, and we have already prepared their own labelled packs with pencils, ruler, rubber and everything they need for each session. I feel with these procedures in place, you can feel safe in the knowledge that we will have done everything we can to keep everyone safe. I feel these ‘check in and catch up’ sessions are extremely important as the pupils can see their teachers again and can come back to their schools and see some of their friends, who I am sure they will have missed. It will also be a time where they can chat with their teachers but also an important time where their teachers can introduce their online learning activities for the week. The teachers can introduce the literacy and numeracy concepts for the week and set the children off on their home learning. This blended approach will then enable the teachers to check how the children are getting on with their learning and resolve any areas they might be struggling with. The following week the teachers will then be able to check how they have progressed, see if there were any issues and set them off on the new week ahead. I feel this is an approach we can build on as we move forward.
For the children of Key-workers who have been attending our Emergency Hub, during the school closure period, those sessions will continue to run at the reduced times of 8.30am – 3.30pm. The day that hub pupils ‘check-in and catch-up’ with their teachers, they will not be able to attend the Hub. I am also afraid to say that the hub pupils will have to bring their own packed lunch and snacks when they attend the hub from the 29th of June as the meals will no longer be provided. The hub provision will cease on the 24th of July 2020, as school staff are not being asked to provide this care over the summer holidays.
It is of immense importance that we continue to follow current advice regarding hygiene and social distancing. Please see previous guidance from UK/WG websites. Pupils will be encouraged to engage in regular hand washing whilst in school. Before attending school it will be important that you check your child’s temperature and that they are well before attending their session. Your class teacher will inform you of your timings to attend school and your entrance point to the building. It is important that you follow these time slots and maintain social distancing while dropping your child at school.
Please be assured that the health, safety and wellbeing of all is of paramount importance and we continue to monitor this with the relevant bodies.
These arrangements follow the guidance issued to schools by the City and County of Swansea and will be monitored on a regular basis. We will keep you updated via the school website and usual communication channels.
We look forward to seeing as many of the children as possible before the summer holidays and I hope we have alleviated some of your worries. As always, any questions or queries please contact me immediately on the school number 01792 781811, or email me on thomasa493@hwbcymru.net or speak to the class teacher.
Kind regards,
Mrs Alison Thomas
HeadteacherDear Parents/Carers,
We want to share with you the latest information about the phased re-opening of all Swansea schools. The Minister for Education in Wales (Kirsty Williams) announced on 3 June 2020 that all children would have the opportunity to ‘Check in, Catch up, Prepare’
for summer and September. The next phase will start on 29 June 2020 with term extended by a week and will end on 27 July 2020.
This is an anxious time for everyone. We know that we have seen a fall in COVID-19 cases nationally and your actions have made a big contribution to this. We also know that some families and children have found lockdown very difficult to cope with. Some
will have been personally affected with loss and grief, others will have encountered financial challenges and we have all experienced change and uncertainty. The next stage is how we can now open things up gradually and sensibly so that we do not see
an increase in cases locally.
We know you will feel uncertain and have many questions about your child’s individual circumstances. We want to help deal with those questions and address your concerns. The safety of children and staff is our priority.
Pupils who are in receipt of a shielding letter due to their medical vulnerability or who live in a household with someone who is in receipt of a shielding letter should not return to school. School leadership teams will be carrying out risk assessments to help them identify the approach that is right in your child’s school. As a council, we acknowledge that not all schools will be able to meet the Welsh Government’s ambitions immediately. Capacity in schools will vary and many schools will need to introduce a phased re-integration. This might affect the year groups that can attend and the days available.
Schools will work very differently, at least for the rest of this summer term. Class sizes will be small and schools will implement social distancing. This means lessons may run differently, break times and lunch times may be staggered, school start and finish times
may be different. We will be working closely with schools and governors to try to ensure consistency in terms of principles and approach.
If your child requires home to school transport, these arrangements will change as strict safety and social distancing arrangements will be applied on the vehicles. We will provide further details in due course. We know that schools not being fully open can create difficulties for working parents. We are creating a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) for the council website
https://www.swansea.gov.uk/covid19schoolsandcolleges. Please take a look at these first. If they do not address your questions, you can email us at
coronavirusenquiries@swansea.gov.uk.
We are also setting up a dedicated telephone
enquiry line on 01792 636033 and 01792 636034. All these will be available from 9am on Monday 8 June 2020.
If you would like to speak to someone in a language other than English/Welsh, please email EMAU@swansea.gov.uk with your phone number and the name of the language. Schools on our behalf will be asking you as parents/carers on your intentions through a survey. It is also worth noting that emergency childcare will continue alongside the above.We all agree that it will be good for children to return to school but it has to be when schools and parents are confident that this is safe. Swansea Council continues to work closely with all our schools who, we are sure that you agree, have performed a fantastic job under very difficult conditions.
I will write to you again once we have had further guidance from Welsh Government.Lots to consider I am sure you appreciate and there will be more information for you as soon as possible. Thank you in anticipation of your continued support.
Yours sincerely,
Nick Williams
Director of Education