Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope that you have all had an enjoyable and safe summer break.

Please click on the link to be reminded who your child’s teacher is going to be in September.

Meet-your-teacher

See you soon,

Mrs Tomlinson

School Infection Control Procedures for Parents

The Sir Alexander Fleming team have all been working hard on a robust plan to ensure the best possible safety around our full reopening of school in September. Please find below some of the measures we are putting in place and that you MUST follow:

• Do not arrive early or late, we are trying to ensure a limited number of parents on site and a swift drop off and collection at your allocated time and drop-off point.8:30am – 3:00pm: Year 1, Year 4, Year 6

  8:45am – 3:15pm: Year 2, Year 5, Year 3

• Children need to be dropped off and collected from their classroom external doors – these will be clearly labelled
• Do not hang around on the playground or at the front of school talking with other families or friends – you will be politely asked to move on.
• All entrance and exit points will be staffed to ensure sensible queuing
• Only 1 parent to bring children to school
• Enter school through the main front gates ONLY
• Exit school through the Car Park gate ONLY
• Follow the one-way system at all times
• Stand 2 metres away from all other families, door entrances and teaching staff
• If you need to talk with the class teacher in the morning, then please pass this message to the adult on the door, remembering to stand 2 metres away.
• If teachers speak to you at the end of the school day, this will be outside at a 2 metre distance.
• If you need to come into the Reception foyer, then please adhere to one person in at a time and stand back from the glass.
• Use the hand sanitiser at the main entrance before entering the building.
• If your child is bringing their own packed lunch to school then this needs to be brought with them at their start time. We are unable to move around school to deliver packed lunches brought from home.
• Ensure your child brings their own water bottle to school and takes it home for careful washing each day.
• School uniform is required.
• Long hair MUST be tied up – if not teachers will supply hair bobbles.
• NO jewellery is to be worn – the virus can live on certain metals for up to 72 hours. Children will be asked to remove this on entry to the classroom.
• If children are travelling to school on public transport, then they must wear a mask. On entry to school they must dispose of the mask in the lidded bin in the classroom immediately and wash their hands. If it is a reusable mask, then the child must keep this in a sealed plastic bag in their bag.

Attendance Statement for September

Please find attached a letter from Telford and Wrekin regarding children’s attendance in September.

Dear Parent/Carer,

This is a message for parents about school attendance from September 2020.

Telford & Wrekin Council are working in partnership with all schools across the Borough to welcome all children back to school in September following several very difficult months for parents, children and schools. We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to parents for the work you have done in ensuring your child/ren have received education during this period.  We have heard of many cases of parents often in very difficult circumstances who have done their very best to support their child’s learning whilst schools have been closed to most pupils.

Some children have been fortunate to have attended school during the lockdown. This may have been because they are the children of critical workers or are vulnerable children, or because they are in the year groups which began a phased return from 1^st June.

We are sure parents are delighted that schools are re-opening to all pupils in September 2020 and children can return to their usual routines and benefit from and enjoy all that is on offer to them at school.

The government have pledged significant financial support following this unprecedented closure of schools, to allow schools to begin to address any gaps in learning for children. All children will benefit from this focused approach to teaching, particularly during the first term from September.

In March when the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was increasing, the government made it clear that no parent would be penalised or sanctioned for their child’s non-attendance at school as schools were then closed to all but those specific groups of pupils.

Now the circumstances have changed and the measures taken by the government have meant that children can safely return to school. It is vital for all children to return to school to minimise as far as possible the longer-term impact of the pandemic on their education, wellbeing and wider development.  We know that children have not only missed out on learning but also missed being with their friends and the wider social aspects of school.

Missing out on more time in the classroom risks pupils falling further behind. Those with higher levels of absence tend to achieve less well in both primary and secondary school. Therefore, the Department for Education have confirmed that school attendance is compulsory again from the beginning of September 2020 when schools re-open after the summer break.

This means from 1^st September 2020, the usual rules on school attendance apply, including:

• It is a parents’ duty to send their child to school regularly if they are of compulsory school age;
• It is schools’ responsibility to record attendance and follow up absence
• the local authority is able to resume the use of legal sanctions, including penalty notices and processes that may lead to prosecution in court for persistent absence.

If you have any concerns about your child returning to school when they re-open in September you should discuss your concerns with the school directly.  The school will be able to offer reassurance about the protective measures they have in place, and all schools work closely with health and other agencies who may also be able to help if needed.

In addition, the local authorities view is that it would not be advisable to take your child out of school for a family holiday or other term time leave once schools re-open, as your child could miss out on the focussed additional support for pupils to close the gap in learning missed during the period of lockdown. If any parents are considering taking their child out of school they must request the leave by following the schools ‘request for leave of absence’ procedure, allowing ample time for the Headteacher to consider if there are exceptional circumstances. The more regularly your child attends school, the more they will be able to benefit from teaching and catch up.  Any leave that is unauthorised by the school may lead to Penalty Notices being issued.

After so much disruption to your child/ren’s education over recent months, the most important thing is that schools and parents work together to get children back into school. The school is ready to listen so please contact them if you have any worries and they will try to help you.

We wish you and your child all the best for the coming academic year.

As schools and colleges prepare to close for summer, we know that many of you will be concerned about supporting pupils’ mental wellbeing over the coming weeks. To help with this we are sharing  primary and secondary #SelfcareSummer packs to offer children and young people some fun self-care activities and signpost to additional support if needed.

The #SelfcareSummer Primary pack is full of fun activities designed to help children look after their mental health and wellbeing while enjoying themselves. It also signposts them and their families to additional support if they need it.

The #SelfcareSummer Secondary pack helps young people to create their own individual self-care plan for the summer holidays based on strategies which other young people have found helpful, and also signposts to additional support if they need it.

What an eventful year it has been so far! The children at Sir Alexander Fleming have, as always, worked very hard this year, both in school and at home! In recognition of this, we have written Annual Reports for all children. Next week, your child’s class teacher will email their report to the email address you have provided us with and it should arrive between 9am Monday (13th) and 12noon Wendesday (15th). If you have not received your report by Wednesday afternoon, please contact your child’s class teacher.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please let us know!