COVID-19 update 1st November 2020

Good afternoon Clockhouse

I am sure like me you watched the announcement from Boris Johnson last night who was clear about what we face come Thursday. This is obviously dependent on what happens in the House of Commons over the coming days.

As it stands it means that nothing will change for the children. School will remain open and the children should continue to attend as normal unless the current situation prevents them from doing so i.e. they need to isolate due to symptoms / positive cases in the family home etc. or they are too unwell to attend for a different reason. We have been informed that we should receive updated guidance from the Government tomorrow and will obviously consider this and communicate anything that we need to with you as quickly as possible.

I can assure you we will continue to do all we can to support the children and yourselves to keep everyone as safe as possible and to keep the children’s education and well-being firmly in mind. It is a hard time for us all but as we always do, we will do all we can for the Clockhouse community.

With the increased measures in place please can we ask (remind you of) the following:

• You only come onto school site if absolutely necessary
• When dropping children off and picking them up (Nursery – Year 3) you keep moving, maintain 2 metre distancing from one another and not getting too close to staff members.
• Should you wish to talk to your child’s class teacher at any length, you message on Class Dojo and ask them to call you.
• Unless you are exempt you wear a mask on school site. If you are exempt you wear your badge so show this.
• You do not hang around outside the school, do what you need to do and then return home or go to work etc.
• Only one parent per family comes onto site at any time.
• When queueing you maintain a 2 metre distance. We would advise that you make use of the staggered start and come a little after your year groups entry or pick up time to avoid queueing as far as possible.

Please be aware that one of the measures we put in place in school is to keep rooms as well ventilated as possible. This has been in place since the children returned to school but as the weather becomes increasingly colder we are aware that classrooms may become cold. This is obviously unavoidable but will also do all we can to make it as comfortable a learning environment for the children as possible. If your child is particularly susceptible to cold weather we would suggest that a base layer of thermals, a vest, or t- shirt is worn. Whilst the heating will be on to warm the building before the day starts, the need for constant ventilation of classrooms means that the effectiveness of the heating system throughout the day is compromised. If the temperatures drop further coats can be too bulky to move around in comfortably in the classroom, so body warmers or gilets might be a helpful further layer is possible but please do not go out and buy this especially. The children will also continue to do PE outside as far as is possible. Please bear this in mind when deciding what your child will wear on PE days.

I know this is a difficult time for everyone and the above is not ideal but please be assured that all this is in place to keep our whole community as safe as possible during this difficult time. Please look out for more updates as the situation progresses.

Thank you to you all for continuing to adhere to the rules and support us in any way you can, it is appreciated more than you know. As always thank you in advance and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Stay safe team Clockhouse!

#ourclockhousefamily

Kind regards

Mrs Savidge