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The School Day

Over the last 18 months, there have been many changes to operational arrangements in schools following government coronavirus guidance. Many of these changes have made life difficult and put enormous strains on our school community.  We would personally like to thank parents, pupils and school staff for what they have done to support the school during this difficult time.

Recently we have seen the slow lifting of covid restrictions. We all hope that this gradual process continues and that by September we might be able to return to some sort of normality.  However, we need to be mindful that the situation could change. It is also important that we learn from the last 18 months to ensure that, post restrictions, the school runs smoothly and provides the best possible outcomes for our pupils. The biggest development for schools in recent weeks has been the announcement that pupils will no longer need to operate within bubbles. As long as this remains the case, the school day will run as follows…

Drop off

Year 5 & 6 pupils will enter through the Palmerstone Court Gate between 8.30 and 8.40 and walk round to their classroom for a soft start to the school day (this is the same as the current arrangement). Staff will be on duty to oversee entry and pupils movement round to classrooms.

Year 1,2,3 and 4 pupils will be dropped off at the main gate between 8.30 and 8.40 and walk round to their classrooms for a soft start to the school day (this is the same as the current arrangement). Staff will be on duty to oversee the entry and pupils movement round to classrooms.

Reception pupils will be handed over to staff at the main gate between 8:40 and 8:45 and make their way round to their classroom.

Registration for all pupils will be at 8.45, any child who enters school after this point will be marked down as late.

Pick up
Reception will be collected at 3.00, Year 1 at 3.05 and Year 2 at 3.10

Reception, Year 1 and 2 parents and carers will continue to come round to collect their children from the big playground as they do at present and line up in their child’s class line. All parents are asked to continue to observe the one way system around the school grounds.

Year 3 & 4 will be collected at 3.15

Year 3 and 4 parents and carers will continue to collect their children from classrooms, however they will not be expected to follow the one way system around the school building and can turn back and exit the way they came in. 

Year 5 & 6 will leave school/be collected at 3.15

Year 5 and 6 will leave via the Palmerstone Court Gate as they do now.

Lunchtimes

Since September 2020 we have had to restrict lunchtimes to 45 minutes so that we could keep year group bubbles separate in the lunch hall and playground and to allow for cleaning the dining tables between lunch sittings. From September 2021, we will be returning to having an hour for lunch times, this is the reason that the school day will be ending 15 minutes later.

Parents/carers who wish to arrange for someone else to pick up their child on a regular basis must inform the school of these arrangements in writing via email. One-off arrangements should also be emailed to the class teacher via the School Office. All children should be collected by an adult. Parents/carers who wish for older siblings (over sixteen years) to collect children should request this via email.

Children who have not been picked up know that they should re-enter the classroom and let their teacher or teaching assistant know and they will be taken to the School Office and their parent/carer will be contacted.

We allow Year 5 and Year 6 pupils to travel home independently. However, to do so, the school must be provided with written permission via email from the child's parents/carers.