Return to Prep School September 2020

We are very much looking forward to welcoming all children and staff back to School in September. The Department for Education have stated that attendance at School is compulsory for all, but we appreciate that for some this may be a daunting prospect. We want to work with parents and pupils to ensure a smooth transition back into School.

If you are concerned that your child may struggle with this transition then please do not hesitate to contact the Deputy Head Pastoral, Chris Neesham, neeshamc@ashfordschool.co.uk, to discuss the support we can put in place.

The full guidance for schools is linked here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools

As we did in the second half of the Summer Term, we will continue to stagger arrivals for children at school and to adhere to the system that was in place before with some slight changes. This is to allow children to arrive in a calm manner and to ensure that parents are able to drop their children at the front of school with minimal delay. If a child has a sibling in another class, the parents may pick a time to drop off/collect and the other child will be supervised for this time. Please let the front desk know of the arrangement and stick to the same times.

Nursery arrangements will be shared separately with parents.

The Prep School’s opening hours are from 07:30 – 18:30, Monday to Friday with Reception being manned from 08:00 to 18:00. Pupils will not have access to the main School buildings before 08:00.

Breakfast Club will be available from 07.30-08:00 for Nursery and Reception children in the Nursery. For Years 1-6 children will be based in the Friars Hall. There will be a charge for this, and parents will need to sign up ahead for catering purposes. Details of how to do this will be forthcoming.

After-school club will be available from the end of School until 18:30 and we will need parents to sign up their children in advance, so we are aware of numbers in year groups. A questionnaire will be sent out to all parents in due course, to sign up for Breakfast and After School Club.

Children must bring their own items of equipment to school as sharing of stationery will not be allowed.

• Handwriting pencils
• Handwriting pen
• Colouring pencils and pens
• Purple pen
• Eraser
• Sharpener
• Highlighter
• 30cm ruler
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Children in Years 3 and 4 in particular are encouraged to bring their school book-bag with their equipment (rather than a large rucksack).

All items must be named.

In Pre-Prep, stationery for children will be provided and sanitised regularly.

The bag store will NOT be available as this may lead to congestion in certain areas so pupils will be required to carry all personal items with them throughout the school day or leave them in their form room.

As stated in our July correspondence, the expectation is that all children wear full school uniform. Although the second hand uniform shop is not currently in operation, please contact Elaine Williams (williamse@ashfordschool.co.uk) should you require anything.

Specific information relating to PE kit, including the requirement that pupils in Years 3 – 6 arrive at School in their games kit on days when they have a games lesson, can be found in the co-curricular section of this document

Hand sanitiser stations will be placed at the entrance as well as around the school. Hand sanitiser will be available in classrooms, as well as equipment to clean tables. Children will have the majority of their lessons in the form room but for some subjects: such as music and DT, the room and equipment will be cleaned between each class.

Communal areas and door handles will be cleaned regularly throughout the day by the School cleaning team.

Assemblies will be held in Year groups, or virtually via Microsoft Teams accessed in form rooms.

To ensure children have access to the full curriculum, they will be in Year group bubbles throughout and lessons will take place in their normal classrooms to ensure full availability of key elements of each curriculum.

A one-way system will be in place throughout the School and all children will be walked through this on the first day back at school.

Children should bring a snack for break time as well as a water bottle. As usual, please ensure this does not include chocolate, sweets, crisps or anything containing nuts or sesame seeds.

Each year group will have specific outside areas to use during break and lunchtime and these will be supervised accordingly.

We endeavour to get the children outside as much as possible but if the weather is particularly poor, children will have their break in their classroom. Children should have wellies and a waterproof coat as well as a hat and sun cream for better weather.

Our caterers, Holroyd Howe will be providing hot lunches however, we will be changing the timings of lunch for some children. Children in Years 5 and 6 will have lunch a little later so a larger morning snack would be beneficial. The full menu is available to review below.

If anyone in the School becomes unwell with a new and persistent cough or a high temperature, or has a loss of, or change in, their normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia), they will be sent home and advised to follow ‘stay at home: guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection’, which sets out that they should self-isolate for at least 10 days and should arrange to have a test to see if they have coronavirus (COVID-19).

If a pupil tests positive whilst not experiencing symptoms but develop symptoms during the isolation period, they should restart the 10-day isolation period from the day they develop symptoms.

Other members of their household including any siblings should self-isolate for 14 days from when the symptomatic person first had symptoms.

If a child is awaiting collection from School, they will be moved to a room where they can be isolated behind a closed door (depending on the age and needs of the child) with appropriate adult supervision if required. A window will be opened for ventilation. If it is not possible to isolate them, they will be moved to an area which is at least 2 metres away from other people.

There will be an available bathroom if they need to go to the toilet while waiting to be collected. The bathroom will be cleaned and disinfected using standard cleaning products before being used by anyone else.

PPE will be worn by staff caring for the child while they await collection if a distance of 2 metres cannot be maintained (such as for a very young child or a child with complex needs).

As is usual practice, in an emergency, 999 will be called if someone is seriously ill or injured or their life is at risk. Anyone with coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms should not visit the GP, pharmacy, Urgent Care Centre or a hospital and this will be robustly followed at School. Advice from our Health Centre staff, and School Doctor will be sought and followed, in any suspected cases.

Any members of staff who have helped someone with symptoms and any child who has been in close contact with them do not need to go home to self-isolate unless they develop symptoms themselves (in which case, they should arrange a test) or if the symptomatic person subsequently tests positive, or they have been requested to do so by NHS Test and Trace.

Everyone will be asked and encouraged to wash their hands thoroughly for 20 seconds with soap and running water or use hand sanitiser after any contact with someone who is unwell. The area around the person with symptoms will be cleaned with normal household bleach after they have left to reduce the risk of passing the infection on to other people.

Public Health England is clear that routinely taking the temperature of pupils is not recommended as this is an unreliable method for identifying coronavirus (COVID-19).

Public Health England does not (based on current evidence) recommend the use of face coverings in schools. This evidence will be kept under review. They are not required in schools as pupils and staff are mixing in consistent groups; furthermore, because misuse may inadvertently increase the risk of transmission. There may also be negative effects on communication and thus education. Face coverings are required at all times on public transport (except children under the age of 11), when attending a hospital as a visitor or outpatient, or when in a shop or a supermarket.

We have good supplies of PPE equipment around the School and are prepared and ready for all of our pupils to return safely into our care. We have the support of our local Health Protection Agency too and will be working collaboratively with them should any cases arise. Masks, aprons, gloves will be available from the Medical room. Hand sanitiser and sprays will be available from the Facilities Office.

We are not able to have parents or guardians on site unless an appointment has been booked; however, we will be able to offer telephone or online meetings whenever necessary.

We understand that the last few months will have affected us all in many different ways. It is important that we create an environment where we can talk and share concerns and support each other in moving forward.

As ever, Form Teachers should be the first point of contact for parents and pupils but there is a huge support network available in the School:

• Teachers
• Deputy Head Pastoral
• Health Centre
• Wellbeing Team (School Counsellors)
• Chaplain
• Mental Health First Aiders

Each child will be asked to identify a trusted adult (a go-to person); a member of staff they feel they can talk to if they are worried but should remember that they can talk to anyone in the School about their concerns.

The School is committed to delivering a comprehensive, high-quality and inclusive curriculum for all pupils. It will deliver its full curriculum for all year groups from the start of the academic year and children will be taught in year group bubbles.

Teachers will build upon their learning from the previous academic year and ensure the curriculum is addressed based on where they left off from last term as well as identifying any further support. Subject departments will make effective use of regular formative assessment during lessons in order to check both prior and new learning.

The full academic timetable will run from the start of term in September. Lessons, at this stage, have not been shortened although start/finish times of lessons may sometimes need to change to allow for safe movement around the school for both staff and children if changing rooms. This will remain under review.

In order to facilitate the delivery of the School timetable, all teachers will be able to teach across different classes and year groups. Where staff need to move between classes and year groups, they will endeavour to keep their distance from pupils and other staff as much as they can, ideally at two metres from others.

To maintain social distancing, teachers will stay principally at the front of the class during lesson time. This means in lesson planning all teachers will minimise the need to walk around the classroom space amongst desks. Therefore, close 1:1 support of pupils at their own desks will not take place. Instead, teachers will stay at the front of the classroom and will make wide use of the main whiteboard to support pupil learning.

Classroom based resources, such as books and games, will be used and shared within year group bubbles. These will be cleaned regularly, along with all frequently touched surfaces. Resources that are shared between classes or bubbles, such as sports, art and science equipment, will be cleaned frequently and meticulously and always between bubbles, or rotated to allow them to be left unused and out of reach for a period of 48 hours (72 hours for plastics) between use by different bubbles.

Outdoor playground equipment will be more frequently cleaned. It is still recommended that pupils limit the amount of equipment they bring into School each day, to essentials such as snack boxes, hats, coats, books and stationery. Bags are allowed. Unnecessary sharing of personal equipment will be avoided, especially where this does not contribute to pupil education and development.

A written report for each child will be published at the end of the Autumn Term. The School’s Reporting Schedule for the 2020-21 academic year will be published on the Parent Portal at the start of September.

From the start of term in September, SEND and EAL pupils will receive interventions and support during the School day. In order to facilitate the delivery of the School timetable, SEND and EAL pupils will attend lessons in their year group bubble. Learning Support Assistants will endeavour to maintain 2 metres distance during all 1:1 help and will be seated side by side pupils and facing forwards, rather than face to face with pupils. If possible, they will try to work at the back of a classroom or to the side of a classroom where there is more space, unless the child needs to be seated at the front. If social distancing is difficult to maintain in small classrooms, Learning Support Assistants may choose to work with the pupil outside of the classroom in a larger teaching space.

In the event of a local lockdown and the school once again needing to revert to online learning, all classroom lessons will be conducted remotely. In such instances, online learning will align as closely as possible with in-school academic provision, and the length of all lessons on the School timetable will be adjusted slightly. If a Parents’ Evening is scheduled to take place during a lockdown, all appointments will be conducted live via Microsoft Teams. Please note that all textbooks and class readers that are used at home during School closure must be returned to School.

Co-curricular clubs, activities and enrichments will be phased in from the start of September. We will provide an activity for each year group after school each day from 4:15pm – 5:00pm for Years 3 – 6 during the first full week back. For Pre-Prep this will be from after school until 4:00pm. Full details of the co-curricular programme will be sent to parents and pupils at the start of term with the sign-up process to be completed on-line. As the co-curricular programme is phased back, the capacity will increase.

Visiting Music Teachers will continue to deliver private music lessons and with some exceptions, these will happen face-to-face rather than virtually.

The PE and Games programme will follow the most recent guidelines from the DFE guidance whilst taking into consideration the National Governing Bodies advice. There will inevitably be changes to the sports programme as we try to run lessons taking place outside wherever possible. This will mean a number of important changes to how the programme runs next term. In particular, please note below:

Sports Kit

All children from Years 3 – 6 are expected to arrive at School in their games kit on days where they have games or PE lessons. This is to reduce the use of the changing facilities where pupils would be in close proximity to each other. Studs and astro shoes should be brought in a separate bag and not worn in School.

School Tracksuits are expected to be worn by all years around School. If you do not have the school tracksuit, these can be purchased from School Blazer – https://www.schoolblazer.com/

• Children will not have access to the bag room for storing bags
• Curriculum swimming lessons will be running
• It will not be possible to lend any item of sport clothing including swimming kit to children
• The school has a range of sports equipment and this will be cleaned between uses should children need to use it.

PE and Games Curriculum

Children will be partaking in their normal Autumn sporting activities from the start of term. Currently there will be no sporting fixtures with other schools.

We have tried to be as thorough as possible in sharing this information. However, we anticipate there will be some queries. At this stage, please email these to Elaine Williams (williamse@ashfordschool.co.uk).

We will be offering a range of enrichments and activities for the Autumn term, the majority of which will commence on Monday 7 September. The timetable is having to be refined to accommodate current operating guidelines. The selection window will open on Wednesday 26 August and will close at 18:00hrs on Monday 31 August. You will receive an email letting you know that the window is open, thereafter selections will then be processed, and confirmation emails sent out by close of play on Wednesday 2 September.

For those new to the School the activities are managed by way of CHQ, which is accessed via the parent portal. Please contact mis@ashfordschool.co.uk if you do not yet have access to the portal. Where activities are oversubscribed, they are allocated randomly with preference given to those previously on any waiting list, so you can take your time whilst the selection window is open.