19th June 2020
Dear parents
COVID-19 Update 19.6.20
I hope you are all well. Thank you for supporting your child’s learning as always, most children have been engaging well and those that have had difficulties engaging with the set online activities have kept contact and have been sharing their learning. We are very lucky to have such dedicated staff, children and parents.
Behind the scenes, we are continually ploughing through updated guidance, attending web meetings with other schools, the local authority, Public Health England, partner schools in other countries ahead of us timewise and with each other, risk assessing, planning and policy writing. We are constantly reviewing practice and working out how we can get children back to school safely and as soon as possible. Those who are back at school are thoroughly enjoying being back and actively encouraging their peers to do the same. Government guidance has recently changed to encourage those who have a school place available to attend, even if there is somebody to look after them at home.
We invited Brian O’Neill, Public Health officer for Cornwall Council, to our joint staff and governor meeting this week to talk about the UK/local picture, the PPE debate, safety etc. All seemed very positive and enabled us to update the risk assessment on the wider reopening of school. We were able to move categories from high risk to low risk in light of scientific evidence of children not being super spreaders, PPE (including social distancing measures and consistent staffing) and safe class/bubble sizes and due to the national alert level moving from 4 down to 3. In order to complete the feasibility study for the wider reopening of our schools, we need to gauge the confidence levels of parents on their children returning (part time both this side of Summer and full time from September)so I would be extremely grateful if you could complete the survey below. This will also give me an indication of the number of pupils for this term and will aid planning for September. I will briefly explain how this might look to help you answer the questions. We do have a few scenarios in mind but I will explain the most favourable (please answer questions with the following scenarios in mind):
Wider re-opening from 29/6/20 – favourable Scenario
Open to Year one children on Mondays, year six children on Tuesday-Thursday and to reception children on Friday mornings. Children will be in bubbles of no more than 15 children, bubbles will not be mixed and children will be with their present classteacher where possible.
Transition mornings for all other year groups in their September bubbles, so they get a taste of what September might look like and be reunited with staff and peers – music activities, sport, etc (protective measures in place)
Face to face meetings/videos for new reception families, virtual or face to face tours
September reopening to all pupils- favourable scenario
School open to all pupils (staggered pick up/drop off times, lunches, breaks), children bring packed lunch, free school meals are packed lunch provided by school. Children in bubbles of approximately 15 children or less (with protective measures in place) and with their present classteacher/teaching assistant where possible. Reception/year one bubble will be split so both year groups may be part time (could differ for Germoe where year one could be full time and reception part time due to numbers being lower). Years 2 – 6 full time in separate bubbles. Some bubbles will be in areas which are yet to be developed, such as outdoor classrooms (being made weatherproof and heated). We feel that all children would benefit from being full time and are therefore committed to developing our space to ensure a safer environment in a smaller bubble, initially for the first half of Autumn term (even if government advice is to expand bubbles). We also feel that being with their present classteacher where possible will provide them with security and continuity. This may not be possible for all year groups due to some staffing changes but we will do our best to ensure the teaching assistant will remain the same for them in this case.
Staff changes
Unfortunately, we will have a couple of changes to staffing in September. We are very sad to be losing Miss Michelin, Mr Brassington and Mr Hemsley. They have all been a great asset to our team and we know they will stay in touch in the future and help where possible with the transition. We wish them the best of luck in their future ventures. Mr Watson will replace Miss Michelin and Mrs Reeves will replace Mr Brassington as she returns from maternity leave. Miss Blackburn (Junior) will replace Mr Hemsley’s full time role.
Please find the link to the questionnaire here: https://forms.gle/DhxgdR6TBNQ4m2BFA.
It would really help if ALL parents could complete it to give us a general picture of our present situation. As always, any questions please do not hesitate to contact me on head@germoe.cornwall.sch.uk
Take care, have a lovely weekend
Paula Blackburn
