Welcome Back to School Autumn Term 2020

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Dear families and friends of Rachel Keeling,
 
We are looking forward to welcoming you to school over the next few weeks and I wanted to share with you the measures we have in place to help keep everyone as safe as possible.
 
Success of wider opening  A rigorous Risk Assessment, additional cleaning and handwashing regimes in school and a reorganisation entry points and visitors are some of the  changes for Autumn Term but the success of wider opening will depend on the following factors –

Excellent personal respiratory hygiene – we will be supporting children to wipe their nose, sneeze or cough into their elbow and wash their hands afterwards. Please support them at home with “Catch it, Bin it, Kill it”.

Rigorous personal cleaning – we will be supporting children to wash their hands as they arrive at school and regularly during their sessions. Please support your child to wash their hands before leaving home and when you arrive home after school.

Social distancing between adults – one adult only may accompany your child into school, we will be spending most of their session in the garden in the fresh air so please ensure your child is dressed warmly and has a waterproof coat and wellies on their peg for wet weather. Please label all coats, shoes and wellies.
 
The communities’ willingness to follow test and trace- as soon as you or your child develops a cough or a temperature they must present for a test
https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test
ANY CHILD OR FAMILY MEMBER WHO IS DISPLAYING SYMPTOMS MUST NOT COME TO SCHOOL! ISOLATE, GET TESTED AND LET SCHOOL KNOW.
If we go into further lockdown we will follow Government Guidelines as appropriate.
Day to day at Rachel Keeling Nursery School:
Please walk, cycle or scoot to school if possible. There is a bike rack so you can leave bikes/scooters in school safely.
Please make sure you are on time for the beginning of your session and to collect your child.
When you arrive at school for the beginning of your session, you will be let in through the front door (only one adult per family). You and your child will wash your hands and proceed to the garden to say “Hello” to a member of your team (Rose, Bluebell or Sunflower). As soon as your child is settled, you will be encouraged to leave. We know this is not our usual Rachel Keeling way as we love to have families spending time in school but we are sure you understand that the fewer adults onsite, the lower the risk.
Please note, as the number of children increase during the Autumn Term we will be introducing a second drop off point for children at the beginning of the morning session. We will inform you of this when it is introduced.
Please do not bring bags to school. Your child will have a bag on their peg for their clothes in case they need to change. They may only need a packed lunch if they are full time and you have chosen that option. Packed lunches may be handed through the hatch into the school office (do not leave packed lunches on pegs please.)
We ask you to communicate regarding dinner money or questions via telephone in the office from 3 September or email to Pam or Becky. Visitors will not be permitted during the sessions without prior arrangement. Visitors will not be permitted into the office currently.
We cannot expect the children to socially distance themselves from each other but we will ensure regular handwashing and using tissues to catch coughs and sneezes where possible as well as reminding children not to touch their faces. Please support your child with these at home.
We have looked at our provision and removed many resources/furniture that may have been difficult to keep clean. Regular cleaning of resources between sessions and at the end of each day will keep our environment hygienic and minimise transmission of germs.
If your child is staying all day we will be organising lunch in our usual daily style service with careful attention paid to handwashing and social distancing at their tables.
We will be strictly following guidance from our health colleagues regarding symptoms: if you or your child are displaying any COVID symptoms we ask you not to attend school, use the link above (also on our website) to get a test. The system so far has been quick and children may return as soon as a negative test result is received and symptoms disappear.
In the current climate intimate care for children needs to be managed very carefully. PLEASE ensure you have toilet trained your child, we will help them change if they have an accident but it is paramount that staff and children are kept as safe as possible to minimise risk of transmission.
We are very excited to welcome the children back to school and really understand the strains the past six months may have put on you and your family. Hopefully you may have also enjoyed some time together doing wonderful things such as cooking, going for a walk and reading together.
In October we will be launching a wonderful booklet for you and your family to share, designed and made by the Rachel Keeling team during lockdown and filled with ideas of lovely simple things to do with your family.
Please do keep an eye on our website as it is a rich resource and holds much information about our wonderful school and community.
Finally, we do ask you to bear with us as we navigate this new world and we will do our best to keep you informed of updates and get through this together.
Best wishes and here’s to a rich and busy Autumn Term.

Becky Dolamore
Head teacher