Kingsford Community School

Announcement

School Re-opening Arrangements

Screenshot 2020 04 18 at 16.07.40

24th August 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

Re: September 2020 School Re-opening Arrangements

I am writing to you with information about the school’s plans for re-opening in September 2020.

My staff and I have been in touch with many parents and pupils, and I fully understand the challenges that families have faced during the period of school closure and lockdown. The staff and governors of Kingsford Community School are very grateful for the support that you have provided for your child’s education during this time.

By September, the vast majority of our pupils will not have experienced any ‘in-school’ education for nearly six months. In addition, we will be welcoming a cohort of new Year 7 pupils who have had none of the usual induction visits and instead have had to learn about their new school via the online resources we have issued and the documentation that has been posted to their homes. As well as excellent teaching arrangements, as a school it is our strong belief that the mental health and well-being of our young people need to be amongst our highest priorities when pupils return to school, following what has been an extremely difficult and somewhat restrictive period for them. We believe that it is vital to ensure that all pupils experience a safe and positive return to school in order to reduce their levels of anxiety or concern and to provide them with the best opportunity for success in their studies. In order to achieve the above intentions for when pupils return to school in September, the school’s re-opening will consist of two stages as follows:

Stage 1 – Staff INSET

In Stage 1, during the first week of the academic year (Tuesday 1st – Monday 7th September 2020), we will welcome our staff back to Kingsford Community School and prepare the school for Stage 2, which is the time at which we will welcome back all of our pupils. The school has made the decision to provide staff with intensive support and preparation in Stage 1. This is to ensure that in relation to Covid 19, staff are trained to deliver safe and supportive school arrangements which are comprehensively implemented for our pupils, in addition to the usual start-of-term staff training activities. As well as providing excellent education for pupils upon their resumption of school, it is our goal to ensure that all health and safety risks are fully noted, mitigated and understood by our staff, and that they are equipped to support the safeguarding, mental health and wellbeing needs of our pupils.

Stage 2 – Full School Re-opening for Pupils

Stage 2 will begin on Tuesday 8th September 2020 and will remain in effect unless or until the Department for Education (DfE) reviews the ongoing national guidance issued to schools. On the first day of term Tuesday 8th September 2020, Kingsford Community School will be open to new Year 7 pupils only so that they can receive a full induction and orientation day, supported by all of our staff. On Wednesday 9th September 2020, pupils have been allocated staggered arrival times as detailed below:

Start dates and times for each year group

Date

Time

Year Groups

Tuesday 8th September 2020

10.30 a.m.

Year 7 

Wednesday 9th September 2020

8.30 a.m.

Year 7 and Year 11 

Wednesday 9th September 2020

10.30 a.m.

Year 9

Wednesday 9th September 2020

11.00 a.m.

Year 10

Wednesday 9th September 2020

11.30 a.m.

Year 8

 

All pupils are expected to attend school full-time from September 2020 onwards.

Detailed information and guidance will follow shortly, about how the school will meet the government guidelines for pupils returning to school, along with details of school equipment requirements, teaching and learning arrangements and health, safety and hygiene requirements. The school will offer a regular timetable of six periods of learning across all subjects. All usual rules relating to attendance, punctuality, uniform and behaviour will be in effect, with some necessary additional rules relating to pupil behaviour.

Despite being open to all pupils, the operation and structure of the school will be significantly different from our pre-closure arrangements. This is necessary in order to comply with the guidance from the DfE, particularly with regards to reducing the number of contacts between children and staff through keeping pupils in each year group separate in ‘bubbles’, so as to maintain distance between individuals whilst also ensuring that all pupils continue to be taught the wide range of subjects in the curriculum.

Health and Safety Measures, Hygiene Procedures and Response to Covid-19 Cases in School

The school will follow in full, all of the guidance relating to Health and Safety measures and hygiene procedures. The school will also fully carry out the legal responsibilities related to dealing with individual cases or larger outbreaks of Covid-19. The school is currently in the process of finalising the update to the whole-school Risk Assessment and will publish this on our website before the beginning of the new academic year. It is not envisaged that any member of our school community, staff or pupils, (with the exception of First Aid and personal care staff) will be required to wear items of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at the current time but the school strongly encourages individuals to do so if they choose.

The school has reviewed risk assessments to create separate ‘bubbles’ for each year group and to deliver the full curriculum for the Autumn term. The overarching principles are as follows:

  • Year groups will have their own distinct school entrance and exit route
  • Pupils will be expected to arrive at school as from 8.00 a.m. – please note it will not be possible for them to access the school site before this time.
  • Each day will begin with a 15 minute ‘Welcome and Wellbeing’ period. There will be no gatherings of the whole Year Group for school assemblies during this period.
  • Every effort will be made to ensure that pupils of different year groups do not mix with one another.
  • Each year group will be allocated to a specific area of the school and will (with some exceptions for practical subjects) receive all of their teaching within the classrooms in that area. Year groups will only be able to access zones of the school allocated to them.
  • Pupils from different classes who are in the same Year group are permitted to socially mix with their peers in their allocated area of the school premises but for most subjects they will be taught in consistent teaching groups.
  • Classrooms will be adapted so that desks face the front of the class.
  • Teachers will move to the classroom where their class is situated – pupils will remain in the specific location assigned to their year group in order to reduce movement.
  • Social times (Break and Lunch times) will be staggered so that no more than one year group is taking a break in one location at a time. Catering will not be provided at break time, but there will be hot meals available for purchase at lunch time.
  • A Grab and Go lunch menu will be in operation and a cashless payment system will be strongly encouraged. Parents and carers will be provided with details of how to fund pupils’ accounts through Parentmail to prevent the use of the cash machines in school. This will help to reduce handling of cash and therefore the potential transmission of Covid 19.
  • The school day will end at the usual time.

In order to ensure that we can safely welcome our pupils back in September whilst following the national guidance, the school is putting all statutory measures in place. Some very difficult decisions have had to be made while prioritising national public health advice and the safety, mental health and well-being of our pupils and staff. Further information on all of the above, for pupil and parent reference will be sent to you shortly in the form of an extremely detailed guidance and information handbook. The information will also be posted on our website. After receiving the detailed guidance and information document that I have referred to, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Tutor or Year Progress Leader at the school. I trust that you are reassured by this information and we all very much look forward to welcoming your child back into school in September.

With best wishes and kind regards,

Yours sincerely,

J Deslandes

Joan Deslandes OBE
Head Teacher

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