This page will detail the protocols and controls that we have established within Bridge School in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This replaces the 'New Normal' document that was published and updated throughout the 2020-21 academic year and is based upon the Schools COVID-19 Operational Guidance published by the DfE. You can find a summary of this document on the COVID Guidance page of the school website.

Please note that this is a working document and will be reviewed regularly. Any changes will also be published on the Headteacher Newsletter.

 

Attendance

School attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age unless they have a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19. The guidance remains that pupils displaying any of the key symptoms should not attend school in order to protect pupils and staff from possible infection.

 

Beginning and End of the Day

The 'soft start' to the day is being maintained - gates will open at 8.40am and will close at 8.50am. Anyone arriving after this time must enter through the school office and will be marked 'late'.

At the end of the school day, the gates will open at 3.15pm and children should be collected by 3.25pm. Any children remaining in school will be placed into the Bridge Bees BASC provision. The gates will open for Year R parents at 3.10pm.

Parents can use either gate. It is recommended that parents of Year R and Year 1 children use the playground gate and other parents use the car park gate as to not create a 'bottleneck'.

 

Bags

We continue to request that backpacks are not brought into school. Children can bring in a book bag or cotton tote back which can be folded and placed within their tray.

 

Bridge Bees BASC Provision

Children attending Bridge Bees BASC will continue to be collected from their classrooms by a member of the Bridge Bees staff.

At the beginning and end of each session, parents can still collect their children from the side gate but no longer need to exit via the minibuses, i.e. we no longer have the one-way system.

 

Classroom Practice

Standard classroom practice will resume. There will be no requirement to maintain specific seating arrangements or individual stationary items/learning resources.

 

Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Children and Staff

All children and staff should attend school unless they are under specialist or paediatric care and have been advised by their clinician or other specialist not to attend.

 

Collective Worship

Throughout the pandemic, Collective Worship has continued to take place in class, year groups and online. These will continue to take place in smaller 'phase groups', i.e. 2 or 3 years groups at a time.

 

Contingency Plan (also known as Outbreak Management Plan)

Should a significant number of positive cases be identified within the school, the school may take one or more of the following steps:

  1. Re-introduce a 'bubble' for the year group(s) impacted;

  2. Combine classes or other groups of children to ensure continuity of provision;

  3. Recommend that all children in an identified group get a PCR test and ongoing LFD testing;

  4. Ensure any staff deemed 'vulnerable' are protected; this may necessitate working from home;

  5. Review the situation on a ongoing basis to determine if there is any in-school transmission. 

 

Curriculum

The school will retain its focus on a broad and balanced curriculum with high quality teaching of all subjects. There will be additional support available to pupils in key areas of language acquisition, reading, spelling, opportunities for extended writing and key mathematical concepts, i.e. multiplication tables.

 

Educational Visits

These will resume although risk assessments will now take into account any 'COVID-aware measures' that the venue has established.

 

Extra-Curricular Clubs

We recognise that these have been sorely missed by the children and, as a school we understand the importance of additional opportunities for children. These have now resumed.

 

Face Coverings

We are no longer asking that staff/visitors wear face coverings whilst in communal areas around the school although these will still be aviable for those who wish to use them.

Whilst face-coverings to not have to be worn on school premises, can I ask parents to give due consideration to those around them and, if you are unable to keep a distance of 1m, please do consider wearing a face mask. This is particularly pertinent when speaking to staff or waiting to collect your child from Year 1 or Year R specifically.

 

Home Learning

The school will not be setting additional home-learning to address gaps in children's education. Our policy remains that daily reading and frequent practice of key knowledge and skills (i.e. times tables and multiplication tables) is the best way to support learning.

As is school policy, Year 6 will have regular weekly homework to prepare them for the expectation in secondary school.

 

Infection Prevention

Cleaning Schedule

Classroom based staff will continue to wipe down all hard surfaces and contact points twice daily.

Personal Hygiene

Children will still be asked to wash their hands on entry to school in the morning and when returning from the playground. A mild foam soap is provided in every classroom and we also have E45 cream to soothe any sore hands.

Respiratory Hygiene

The 'catch it, bin it, kill it' message will continue to be reinforced with tissues provided in every classroom.

Ventilation

Ventilation will be prioritised with windows open and the opening of internal doors. Where possible, external doors will also be kept open where they are not fire doors.

 

Infection Response

Pupils, staff and other adults should continue to follow public health advice on when to self-isolate and what to do. They should not come into school if they have symptoms, have had a positive test result or other reasons requiring them to stay at home due to the risk of them passing on COVID-19.

If anyone in the school develops one of the key COVID-19 symptoms, however mild, they will be sent home and they should follow public health advice.

Pupils awaiting collection will be placed in the SLT office as this has an external door and allows for increased ventilation. Appropriate PPE should be used if close contact is necessary. If they are required to travel across the school, this will be done utilising the external doors, i.e. walk around the outside of the building.

 

Tracing Close Contacts

Contact tracing has now ended and the will no longer be routinely informing parents of individual cases of COVID-19 in the school. We will, of course, contact parents if there is a significant number of cases.

 

Isolation

Children who live in the same household as someone with COVID-19 do not need to self-isolate.

The self-isolation advice for people with coronavirus (COVID-19) has changed. It is now possible to end self-isolation after 7 days, following 2 negative LFD tests taken 24 hours apart. The first LFD test should not be taken before the sixth day. For example a child tests positive or has symptoms on the 5th January (this is day 0), the earliest that they can return to school would be 12th January (day 7) following two negative LFT tests on day 6 and day 7 and providing that they no longer have a high temperature.

 

Lunch Arrangements

School Meals

There will be no change to the provision of school meals and all information can be found on the School Meals section of our website.

Timings

Children will come into hall for their school lunches at the following times:

  • Year R: 11:45am
  • Year 1: 11:50am
  • Year 2: 12pm
  • Year 3 and 6: 12.15pm
  • Year 4 and 5: 12.30pm

 

Mixing and Bubbles

Classes and year groups will no longer required to be kept in discrete 'bubbles'. This means that:

  • children from different year groups will be permitted to socialise during break times;
  • children attending the Bridge Bees BASC provision will no longer be kept in phase groups;
  • after-school clubs can be attended by more than one year group.

 

Parents

As a school, we pride ourselves on our relationships and open communication with parents and parents remain welcome in school. There will be no large indoor gatherings of parents and events such as Meet the Team and information sessions will continue to be held on Zoom and recordings placed on the school website.

Parent Consultations will continue to be offered via Zoom although a face-to-face consultation will be available for parents who wish it.

 

PE

There has been a great deal of positive feedback about wearing PE kit to school - this has meant less time lost and less lost property therefore children should continue to attend school in their PE kit on allocated PE days.

We ask that children wear their school sweatshirt and dark, plain tracksuit bottoms, leggings or shorts with trainers.

PE lessons will take place outdoors where possible.

 

Primary Assessment

Arrangements for the 2021/22 academic year have now been confirmed and will be held as normal.

  • Year R Baseline
  • Year 1 Phonics Screening Check
  • Key Stage 1 Tests and Teacher Assessment
  • Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check
  • Key Stage 2 Tests and Teacher Assessment

 

Walking Bus

The walking bus was suspended at the beginning of the pandemic and we currently do not have the capacity to bring this back. We are seeking parental volunteers to run this; if you are interested then please speak to the school office.

 

Visitors to the School 

Any visitor attending the school is asked to confirm that: 

  • they have not developed a fever (above 37.8C), new, continuous cough or a loss of taste or smell within the last ten days. 
  • no-one in their household has the above symptoms and has not yet had a test. 
  • they are not required to self-isolate for any reason in accordance with Government guidelines. 

On arrival, all visitors are asked to sanitise their hands and will be escorted around the school to ensure that there is no ‘cross-contamination’. 

Disposable face coverings will be made available to visitors who wish to use one but these are not mandatory.

 

This page was last reviewed on Friday 25th February 2022.

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