Dear Parents and Carers, 

I hope you are all well.

As promised earlier in the week I said I would inform parents about the re-opening of school to all children on Monday 8^th March. I know the last 6 weeks of home schooling will have very challenging at times but I also hope there have also been moments of joys. But nevertheless WELL DONE… there is light at the end of the tunnel. One week to go…

I know I speak for all teachers and everyone who works in school when I say we are all really looking forward to have children back in school again and school life returning to some kind of normal. I would like to remind you that school attendance is compulsory again and all parents have a duty to ensure their child attends school regularly.

The long and short of this letter is school will return to what is was like before Christmas with very few differences. The key difference being

• I am asking all parents and carers to drop off and collect their children to wear a face covering while on school premises.
• One adult per family to limit the number of people of school premises

Keeping children safe

Our primary objective, as always, is to ensure the safety of all children and adults who attend school. A copy of our Risk Assessment is online.

It is obvious that early years and primary aged children cannot maintain social distancing all the time. Instead, school will work through a ‘hierarchy of measures’ to reduce the risk by:

• avoiding contact with anyone with symptoms
• frequent hand cleaning and good respiratory hygiene practices
• regular cleaning of settings
• minimising contact and mixing when possible
• promoting good ventilation in classrooms

If your child or anyone in your household has symptoms of Covid-19 please stay at home and contact 111 to arrange a test. You must also let school know as soon as possible. YOUR CHILD MUST NOT COME TO SCHOOL UNTIL YOU KNOW THE RESULTS.

If we suspect your child has symptoms of COVID-19 in school they will be isolated immediately and we will ask you to come and collect your child as soon as possible. Please can you make sure we have your up to date contact details so you can be contacted throughout the day. 

What will school look like?

It will look very similar to what it looked like before Christmas.

Returning to school is vital for children’s education and for their wellbeing. When school re-opens on 8^th March

• Breakfast club will resume from 7:45 with the charge of £1 a day.
• Reading books will go home and be returned as normal
• Selective classes will eat their lunch in the hall or their classroom.
• Children will not be allowed to mix with other children in different classes as strongly recommended by the Local Authority
• Children should wear full school uniform as normal.
• There will be no whole school assemblies; including Golden Awards.
• Children can wear their PE Kits on their PE day

Drop off and Collection

When dropping off and collecting your child please try your best to maintain social distancing and remember to

• Arrive AFTER 8:45. Please do not arrive before causing a congestion of people at the front of school. Registers will close at 9:05 and this should give everyone plenty of time to safely drop their child of.
• When collecting please arrive after 3:00pm. Again to stop people gathering at the front of school. All children need to be collected by 3:10.

• Wear a face covering
• One adult per family

The only entrance to school will be through the front gate. The back gate from the Health Centre will be open but only to leave school premises.

If you have anything you would like to discuss with your child’s class teacher, please let them know at the door and they will give you a call after school or make contact through Class Dojo.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries or questions. You can do this by emailing me at james.waddington@meadowheadinfants.blackburn.sch.uk.

Everyone at school looks forward to seeing all the children back at school on Monday 8^th March.

Stay safe,

Everyone at the Meadowhead Infant Family